Over the years.
Only those mindless Eerie Creatures would approach Nameless Mountain.
But...
The scarlet triangles in his pupils were spinning furiously.
According to his plan.
As the rainy season was drawing to a close, he would break through into Eerie King and marry Qiu Kui!
From then on, his era would start.
Should he wait until next year, he would never again encounter a rainy season as rich in Eerie Energy as this year's. Not every rainy season arrives early. He must break through into Eerie King during this rainy season.
Given all these favorable conditions.
The opportunity could not be missed.
After a long while.
The man finally made his decision, his voice hoarse.
"180 years have passed. You-know-who will not return."
"Go on."
"Cross the Dead Sea and land on Nameless Mountain. As long as you find a Mountain Embryo Corpse, I won't forget what you have done for me. Once I advance to Eerie King, I will surely give you as much support as I can."
"As you command, my King."
...
Rivernorth Wasteland, Nameless Mountain.
Day broke.
No Eerie Creatures ever attacked last night.
"..."
After a freshen-up, Chen Fan walked out of Cave No. 1 and looked up at the surrounding sheer cliffs. Then, he cast a glance at the crocodile sheltering from the rain in a cave and sleeping soundly, his eyes filled with amusement.
So this guy sleeps too.
He had almost thought it was made of steel.
The progress was quite good.
A total of 17 pits had been dug into the surrounding cliffs overnight, all at the end of passages excavated by the crocodile. Without delay, he entered the cave, made his way along every passage, and began setting up Cannon Towers one by one.
The passage wound upward.
Soon.
He arrived at the first pit on the cliff.
The crocodile had excavated a "vein" system of passages. It first dug a main passage inside the mountain, then branched out to nodes on the cliffs---these pits.
This reduced the workload as much as possible.
One by one, Level 5 Cannon Towers were set up.
Alongside, City walls had also been built to seal the pits.
Copper pipes were laid in the passages, connecting the Cannon Towers to the Eerie Fire, providing energy for them.
These 17 pits on the cliffs were all no higher than 50 meters, within the camp's range, so there was no need to build extra Eerie Fires.
...
Half a shichen later(1 shichen equals 2 hours).
Chen Fan stood in the center of the abyss pit, looking up at the four cliffs blurred by the rainy mist. Directly ahead was his Cave No. 1. The dark red "Eerie Blood Pattern" on the Level 3 city walls made the entire wall appear quite thick and solid.
The next moment—
With a thought.
Part of the copper pipes connected to the Eerie Fire were lit up.
Suddenly, 18 dark openings appeared on the cliffs all around. Level 5 Cannon Towers were positioned at the edges of these openings, overlooking the abyss pit. Their attack range was the entire abyss pit.
Once these Cannon Towers were activated.
They would form a formidable field of fire.
Any Eerie Creature daring to step into the abyss pit would suffer devastating strikes.
"Hmm..."
Chen Fan rubbed his chin with one hand, looking up at this scene, and nodded in satisfaction.
When these Level 5 Cannon Towers reached Level 3, the upgrade direction he chose for most of them was...
"Bolts imbued with lightning element, paralyzing enemies and dealing chain damage to up to three creatures near the target."
And after upgrading them to Level 5.
The attack method had changed from bolts to light beams.
But they still retained the effect of this upgrade direction, capable of causing chain damage.
Each of these Cannon Towers could inflict significant damage to a group of creatures. The only flaw was... There were still too few of them. It would be great if 100 Level 5 Cannon Towers could be installed on the cliffs.
18 of them didn't offer much of a sense of security.
It was worth mentioning.
For three of these Level 5 Cannon Towers, the upgrade direction he chose was "Arrow Storm", the only active skill in this camp. Activating it once on a Level 5 Cannon Tower consumed 50 Eerie Stones. He hadn't tested it yet and thus had no idea of its power.
Zhou Mo and Dayu had gone out early in the morning, each riding a skeleton horse, to collect supplies from abandoned stations, and also to bring back Eerie Creature corpses from the unmanned outposts.
After the darkness receded.
The camp became busy again.
By now, the camp was left with 2135 Eerie Stones.
"Running low again..."
Chen Fan sighed softly. These Eerie Stones were used up too quickly, gone before you knew it.
He wondered how other forces earned Eerie Stones.
He had obtained over ten thousand Eerie Stones from cleaning out two latrine pits, which was a considerable gain. Normally, a station would need to accommodate over ten thousand passing travelers to earn that many Eerie Stones. How did they run dry so fast in his hands?
He shook his head.
No longer dwelling on it.
Mounting his horse, he headed out to resume setting up unmanned outposts.
An unmanned outpost only required 160 Eerie Stones, thus fairly cost-effective.
...
"Rivernorth Old Demon."
Riversouth, in a vast forest.
A woman in a white dress stood on the grassland, calmly looking ahead at a blue-robed middle-aged man. "Are you really unwilling to marry me? I am my father's only child. After he steps down, you will be the master of the city behind us."
"Nowadays, Eerie Creatures run rampant across the continent. Running around all day will get you killed eventually."
"Stay here, and you can live."
The city behind the woman looked immensely bulky and sturdy.
Nestled within the dense forest.
The city wall was ten meters high. Countless wrist-thick, dark green vines crawled across the city wall like iron chains, extending from the base of the wall into the forest.
The city looked to be part of the forest.
"Impressive, indeed."
The middle-aged man in the blue robe, wearing a conical bamboo hat, casually plucked a blade of grass, putting it in his mouth, and swung his gaze toward the city behind the woman, remarking with emotion, "The city walls are all Level 3."
"And all uniformly with the 'Vine Pattern' ----the most suitable Pattern in a forest. When attacked, the damaged sections of the walls could draw nutrients from nearby plants through the vines to repair themselves."
"A city wall would be given a random Pattern when reaching Level 3. To ensure matching Patterns, you must dismantle walls that have gotten other patterns and rebuild them. That's the only way you can get the walls uniform in Pattern."
"When building this city, it must have consumed tremendous manpower and resources."
"It can even be called a masterpiece of nature."
"There isn't a single city in all of Rivernorth that can rival it."
"My ancestors started constructing the city 57 years ago. A massive amount of resources was poured into this city. It took 2 years to complete. Since then, it has never once been breached by Eerie Creatures, and has only grown more perfect over the years."
A trace of pride flashed in the white-dressed woman's eyes. "How about it? Tempted? Will you marry me?"
"As long as you stay and marry me, this city is yours."
"We can consummate the marriage tonight."
"No."
The man in the blue robe gave a shake of his head, directing a languid gaze into the horizon in the direction of Rivernorth, saying absently, "The rainy season in Rivernorth has arrived early. In just over two months, it will be that old fart's birthday."
"On that day, all of his family will gather together."
"I need to go and kill to my heart's content."
"That matter is more satisfying than consummating a marriage."