Chapter 325 - 162: "Killing a Chicken with an Ox-Cleaver.

Chapter 325: Chapter 162: "Killing a Chicken with an Ox-Cleaver.

So far, they had been mining on the New Continent for some time and hadn’t yet encountered a single Ghost Object. This place was still relatively safe.

The only problem was the oppressive aura of death.

Perhaps it was because too many people had died here. Even with so many of them, mostly men brimming with vitality, the dead of night still brought an unsettling, bone-deep chill.

Time trickled by.

The Ghost Stones, Ghost Bones, and other materials mined that day had already been sent to the Mortal Realm. The Mortal Realm Members who had been working late into the night had also finished their tasks, washed up, and gone to sleep.

When a Ghost Object dies, it drops a Ghost Stone, and there is a small chance for an Exotic Treasure or something similar to appear.

The Ghost Stones on the New Continent were untouched.

This meant that neither humans nor other Ghost Objects had been here.

’Since no one has been here... what about the Exotic Treasures?’

Nearly a month had passed, and they hadn’t found a single Exotic Treasure on the New Continent—not even the simplest White Level one. It was as if these Ghost Objects were fundamentally incapable of producing them upon death.

Although it wasn’t a major issue, it was still puzzling.

...

「Deep within the New Continent.」

Aboard the Flying Ship hovering in the air, Wang Mazi stood alone at the edge, gazing into the darkness ahead. This was the furthest reach of the Signal Towers established by the Domain Lord.

Beyond this point, they would lose contact with the Mortal Realm.

They would rest on the Flying Ship for the night and set off again at dawn.

When he was a child, he had always wondered about one thing.

Just how big could a continent be?

No one could answer this question, just as no one could tell him what the vast expanse of stars truly was.

And now, he finally had the chance to see for himself just how vast a continent could be.

"Pavilion Master."

His subordinate, Zhang Damao, approached from behind and remarked with some feeling, "The men in the rear can’t keep up with our pace at all. We’ve marked several Ancient Battlefields in the last few days, but excavation hasn’t even begun."

"The men in the rear are still excavating those seven defensive lines."

At present, most Mortal Realm Members were still mining Ghost Stones on the islands and near the first defensive line.

"Those seven defensive lines were likely the main battlefield of this continent—the absolute front line."

Wang Mazi, still gazing into the darkness from the edge of the Flying Ship Deck, murmured, "None of the Ancient Battlefields we’ve found so far are on the same scale as those seven defensive lines, and their City Walls are of a lower Level."

"If that’s the front line, then excavation is bound to take some time."

"The front line?"

Zhang Damao hesitated. "Then what was that we saw during the day?"

"..."

Wang Mazi remained silent.

According to the plan, the Flying Ship was supposed to conduct a grid search. Yesterday, however, they had spotted an enormous crater on the ground in the distance. Even from afar, they could tell it wasn’t a natural formation. It had been... blasted into existence.

After that, the plan changed.

The Flying Ship made its way directly toward the massive crater. By nightfall, they were close, and its full form was gradually coming into view.

’It’s huge.’

He planned to investigate the Celestial Pit up close at dawn.

’Was it created by a turret?’

’Impossible.’

The Flying Ship he was on was fully armed, but even its full firepower couldn’t create a crater that large. From a single glance, it seemed to cover an area comparable to the entire Jiangbei Wilderness.

If they hadn’t been flying so high, they wouldn’t have even been able to tell it was a crater.

No turret, no matter how High Level, could possibly blast a crater of this magnitude.

They would have to wait until dawn to go down and explore it carefully to find out exactly what it was.

This was the purpose of their Commerce Pavilion.

To explore the unknown.

They might face danger, but their job was to overcome it and uncover the truth.

He hoped it wasn’t caused by a Ghost Object. If a Ghost Object with such power could appear on the New Continent, it would sooner or later appear on the Eternal Night Continent as well.

He didn’t know how the Eternal Night Continent could possibly defend against it.

...

「That night.」

On the New Continent, many Mortal Realm Members were already fast asleep.

Meanwhile, in the Mortal Realm, many people were tossing and turning, unable to sleep. The corpse fragments had been cleared away, and the Exotic Treasures, Ghost Stones, and other loot had all been collected and submitted.

The work was done. But the scene from earlier that night, when the rainy season arrived and the sky exploded with fireworks, was seared into their minds, keeping them from sleep.

Zhang Qianming.

The station chief of the Mortal Realm Jiangbei Bridgehead Station had been summoned to the Mortal Realm before the rainy season, and his family had been brought there as well.

This rainy season, there was no need to worry.

He no longer had to worry about the city being breached.

His mother was from a small village and didn’t have much access to outside information. While she had heard of the Mortal Realm’s reputation, she wasn’t confident it could truly defend against the threats.

But after riding the High-speed Rail with him and seeing the Rainy Season Defense Line—a twenty-meter-high City Wall stretching as far as the eye could see—she felt much more at ease.

After witnessing the display tonight, she was completely reassured.

If even the Mortal Realm could be breached by a Ghost Tide, then there was no point in thinking about where to hide during the rainy season. Hiding anywhere would still mean death.

Gradually, the Mortal Realm Members within the Jiangbei Mortal Realm drifted into a hazy sleep. It was the soundest sleep any of them had ever had during a rainy season in their entire lives.

They had never slept with such a sense of security during a rainy season before.

Never.

They didn’t have to worry about a Ghost Object breaking down their door and disemboweling them in their sleep. They no longer needed to keep a knife under their pillows.

That knife wasn’t for killing Ghost Objects. It was pure fantasy for a mortal to think they could kill a Ghost Object head-on with such a small blade.

It was for quickly ending their own life in case the City Wall was breached and Ghost Objects rushed in.

It would spare them a lot of pain.

...

「On the City Wall of Cave No. 1, on Nameless Mountain in the Mortal Realm.」

Chen Fan was sitting there, listening to Wang Kui report on the spoils from the wave of Ghost Objects while examining a Ghost Stone in his hand.

A Level 4 Ghost Stone.

This single one was worth ten thousand Ghost Stones.

It was the first time he had ever seen a Ghost Stone of this grade. It had been dug out from the body of that Great Ghost.

It was blue.

Like the Fortune Bag, it was a dark, sea-blue, reminiscent of the deep ocean. It was crystalline and quite beautiful.

It was not spherical.

It had many neatly arranged facets.

"Not bad."

After studying it for a moment, he tucked the Ghost Stone away. He decided not to add it to the treasury. The Mortal Realm wasn’t short the equivalent of ten thousand Ghost Stones, but he wanted this specific Level 4 Ghost Stone for himself.

’I’ll keep it as a collectible.’

’I quite like it.’