"Actually works?"
After Chen Fan opened the city gate, he looked towards the crocodile that had vanished, trailing a cloud of dust, into the canyon, his expression turning odd. This boy seemed a bit dog-like.
Initially, he had thought that since it could precisely locate through its own saliva, its sense of smell must be exceptional.
So he had given it a try.
He hadn't expected it to work as it had.
"Not bad."
He couldn't help but shake his head with a laugh.
With a pair of "Eerie Flesh Mother-Child Fruits," he could communicate telepathically with Zhou Mo, who was on external duty. These things were useful, but because they had ripened early, each pair could only last for 7 days. And there weren't enough of them either.
He turned to gaze into the depths of the cave.
After Heyhey had woken up this afternoon, it had further expanded Cave No. 1.
Now the cave was a bit bigger.
Far more efficient than a Level 5 Cannon Tower.
Right at that moment—
A clamor came from outside the city wall.
"Station Master."
Pockmark Wang, Crippled Monkey, and the others were seen carrying chests as they walked from the canyon into the abyss pit, calling out in excitement, "We're back."
"Good."
Chen Fan looked at those chests from the parapet with a satisfied smile.
...
Heyhey seemed to need to hibernate.
That was his guess.
Heyhey had stored a lot of food in its cave, and the Eerie Stones inside those Eerie Creature bodies hadn't been dug out, so this afternoon, Crippled Monkey and the others had gone up the mountain to handle this.
Chen Fan strolled down from the city wall, looking towards the chest full of Eerie Stones.
Wang Kui had already rushed out and started receiving the supplies.
"Didn't I tell you to contact me after you are done, so I could have Heyhey pick you up? Why come down the mountain yourselves?"
Chen Fan turned to Crippled Monkey, standing at the front.
"Hehe..."
Crippled Monkey opened another chest, only to reveal a chestful of pebbles. "Station Master, look at this. After we finished digging the Eerie Stones, we were going to have Heyhey pick us up."
"But we found these pebbles scattered sparsely in the forest."
"The same kind as in Heyhey's cave."
"They glow."
"So we walked down the mountain, picking up all we saw along the way. This way, the camp would have better lighting. It delayed us a bit."
"Not bad."
Chen Fan scooped up a pebble, a sliver of surprise flashing in his eyes. It was indeed the same kind as in Heyhey's cave. He had originally thought that this stuff might be a little valuable, but it seemed commonplace here.
"Alright, carry them all back to the warehouse."
With that.
He ambled back onto the battlement, lying on the rocking chair as it swayed gently, fiddling with a transparent orb in his hand. The clamor from Crippled Monkey and the others busy at work drifted in the air, mixed with the pitter-patter of rain.
That day, he took five Extraordinary Treasures from Heyhey's cave.
One was the "Perpetual Night Land Deed," the second one was the building blueprint for the "Wind Tower."
This transparent orb was one of the remaining three.
Treasure Name:* Water-Avoiding Orb.
Treasure Grade: White.
Treasure Effect: When secured on a boat, can slightly stabilize it amid wind and waves.
Another vehicle that could be crafted in the Vehicle Workshop was the Bone Boat.
Although Nameless Mountain was by the sea, he had never nurtured the desire to explore the ocean.
Mainly because...
Humans are too insignificant at sea. Last time he stood on a shoreside boulder looking out at the ocean, the waves were absurdly huge. He hardly believed that a Bone Boat equipped with a Water-Avoiding Orb could sail smoothly on a sea like that.
Better wait until the rainy season has ended.
The waves might be less outrageous then.
Right at that moment—
Qi Chong suddenly jogged up onto the wall, asking, "Station Master, we've already roasted over 300 Eerie Creature corpses. Should we roast 500? I don't think Heyhey can eat that many at once. Should we finish roasting all today?"
"Get it done today."
Chen Fan shook his head, "Whether it can eat them all or not is his business. Since we have promised to exchange 500 roasted Eerie Creature corpses for his Extraordinary Treasures, we must do it."
"Although it is more intelligent than ordinary beasts."
"It still has a child's mind."
"We must do what we have promised it, lest it thinks we don't keep our word."
"Got it."
Qi Chong wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and, without another word, went back to grilling meat.
...
After Qi Chong left.
Chen Fan turned his attention to the other two Extraordinary Treasures in his hand.
Treasure Name:* Warehouse.
Treasure Grade: Green.
Treasure Effect: Building blueprint of Warehouse that stores supplies.
Currently, their warehouse was a level 3 "Stone House", not a specialized warehouse. This warehouse would be more dedicated, with more functionality, but it occupied a large area and couldn't fit in the cave for now.
The crocodile hadn't cleared out enough space yet.
The other Extraordinary Treasure was a bamboo scroll.
It had several hundred characters on it.
Treasure Name:* Water-Severing Blade Technique.
Treasure Grade: Green.
Treasure Effect: Martial skill type Extraordinary Treasure, for cultivators Level 1 and above to meditate on and master.
"..."
Chen Fan wore a strange look. By the criteria in this world, he actually wasn't an Architect; he was just an ordinary cultivator with the Perpetual Night Lord panel.
This meant...
He could learn martial skills.
Take this martial skill, for example. Ordinary Architects didn't meet the requirement and couldn't train in it, but he could.
"Highest good is like water, benefiting all without contention."
"Suddenly riding the void, tearing silk, severing brocade."
"The blade does not chop waves, but goes for the suspended banner."
"When momentum exhausts, it returns empty..."
Chen Fan opened the bamboo scroll, softly reciting the text of the Water-Severing Blade Technique a few times, and he indeed vaguely felt something mystical and profound arising in him.
Next, he only needed to contemplate the text of this blade technique daily and practice chopping water with a blade by the sea.
It was a matter of three to five years for him to reach Great Proficiency in this "Water-Severing Blade Technique". By then, he could make a name for himself solely through sheer strength.
But—
That was only how things normally go.
He seemed to be an exception.
There were notes at the bottom of the panel.
Note: A cultivator who chooses to learn can immediately ascend to Great Perfection in it; then, this Extraordinary Treasure will be exhausted and shatter as a result.
Note 2: If placed in a 'Training Room,' it will accelerate a cultivator's contemplation of it and won't shatter.
"..."
Chen Fan fell silent with an odd expression. People native to this world---without the panel---are too pitiful, aren't they? As it required several years to master a martial skill, what a cultivator could master in a lifetime would be too few.
This was the first martial skill type Extraordinary Treasure he obtained.
From this body's memory, he could recall the basics about martial arts.
The mastery of a martial skill was divided into five Realms.
Beginner, Skilled, Proficiency, Great Proficiency, Perfection.
With each advancement to a higher Realm, the martial skill increases in power and also becomes more time-consuming. Above these five Realms is "Great Perfection". This Realm cannot be attained through diligent training alone; it requires some insight and luck.
Only...
Martial skills are hard to come by. Unless you join a certain force whose library has martial skills to offer, for a lone cultivator, obtaining a martial skill on your own is extremely difficult.
Just like Zhou Mo.
Although a Level 2 cultivator, he hadn't grasped a single martial skill. If anything, he was only more athletic than ordinary people.