Chapter 332 - 164: How long will this take to... dig... dig... dig... dig

Chapter 332: Chapter 164: How long will this take to... dig... dig... dig... dig

He had forged 15 Max Level Celestial Pillars, their power unknown.

He had forged 100 Level 6 Celestial Pillars, their power also unknown.

In total, it had cost him over twenty million Ghost Stones.

...

Chen Fan was taken aback as he tallied the Ghost Stone reserves in the Warehouse. The mining operation on the New Continent was progressing rapidly. He had dispatched fifty thousand auxiliary members of the Mortal Realm there, and they were continuously excavating vast quantities of Ghost Bones and Ghost Stones, which were then transported to the Mortal Realm via the Undersea Tunnel.

But...

He was spending them even faster than they could be mined.

The Warehouse had been significantly emptied for the construction of the Rainy Season Defense Line, but in the last few days, a steady stream of Ghost Stones from the New Continent had replenished it, easing the strain. After forging this batch of Celestial Pillars, however, the purse strings had tightened once more.

He felt his Warehouse was like some kind of clam, swelling up one moment only to shrink back down the next.

Now, the Mortal Realm Warehouse’s Ghost Stone reserves were down to just a few million.

Still, what he got in return was worth the cost.

’A good trade.’

He looked with satisfaction at the rows of Celestial Pillars before him, reminiscent of the statues on Easter Island. The sight was spectacular. Over a hundred Celestial Pillars, each several hundred meters tall, towered over the Jiangbei Coastline. The sheer magnificence of the scene was hard to put into words.

「Three years from now.」

That would be the day this batch of Celestial Pillars would be activated.

True strength required time to mature.

And this batch of Celestial Pillars had a three-year incubation period.

The greatest strength of the Celestial Pillars lay not in their raw power, but in their impossibly unpredictable attack patterns and their extreme long-range strike capability. When a Celestial Pillar reached Max Level, its range expanded dramatically.

’This is Jiangbei... that’s Jiangnan... this must be the Guanxi Plain, and behind the Guanxi Plain is... uh...’

’I don’t know what’s there.’

A semi-transparent map appeared before his eyes.

On it, he could clearly see the deserts of the Jiangbei Wilderness, the region of Jiangnan, the great river that separated them, and even further south, the Guanxi Plain. Key geographical features, like the river and deserts, were clearly marked as landmarks.

’I can hit anywhere I want.’

The range was immense.

He could even see a coastline, far to the south of the Guanxi Plain.

Of course.

He couldn’t see the entire Eternal Night Continent; the range wasn’t *that* massive.

But if he wanted to.

The Max Level Celestial Pillars could easily strike the Guanxi Plain and even the lands beyond it, vastly expanding the Mortal Realm’s sphere of influence.

’Not bad.’

Chen Fan nodded, grinning in satisfaction. He loved these structures. ’Celestial Pillar, though... the name doesn’t quite fit.’ He rested his chin on his hand, pondering. ’Hmm... what would be a better name?’

"Uh," Wang Kui, who was standing to the side, asked tentatively, "Domain Lord, doesn’t it already have a name? It’s called a Celestial Pillar."

...

Chen Fan turned his head to look at Wang Kui, quickly made a decision, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Let’s call them Mortal Realm Cruise Missiles."

"A brilliant name."

Wang Kui’s expression turned serious and full of admiration. He gave a thumbs-up. "It’s fitting! Imposing! Classy!"

’Cruise missile?’

’He could sort of understand the "cruise" part, but "missile" was completely lost on him.’

’But that wasn’t important.’

’Whatever the Domain Lord said, was law.’

It was like when the Mortal Realm High-speed Rail was introduced. At first, no one understood the name. ’High-speed Rail’? They just thought it meant "tall rail." But eventually, everyone in the Four Areas of Jiangbei grew accustomed to the term.

After finishing all this,

Chen Fan forged a single Level 1 Celestial Pillar and set it aside. He planned to run an experiment to see if its attacks could be blocked by Anti-Air defenses.

And while he was at it...

’The Mortal Realm’s development is pretty much stable for now.’

’After the rainy season ends, it’ll be time to head south to the Guanxi Plain. I’ve already collected most of the Ghost Stones in the Four Areas of Jiangbei, and it will take a while for the people’s savings to recover.’

Still, the whole Ghost Stone reclamation cycle was now perfected.

For example, although the monthly salaries of Mortal Realm Members were high, they still had to spend some of it on things like stewed snacks or what have you. That money would then flow right back into the Mortal Realm’s coffers, creating a perfect cycle.

The Ghost Stone yield from the New Continent was substantial, but it was a finite resource.

The total number of Ghost Stones was fixed. It would never increase.

Once they were all mined, that would be it.

He couldn’t afford to just sit back and deplete his reserves.

He had to go to the Guanxi Plain.

Just then—

The Sound Transmission Talisman tucked in Chen Fan’s robes grew hot, and Lame Monkey’s panicked voice came from within.

"Sir, Wang Mazi is mostly physically recovered, but he looks terrified, like he’s seen a ghost."

"He says he has to report to you in person."

"He wants to take the High-speed Rail back to the Mortal Realm right now."

"We can’t stop him. I tried to get him to tell me what happened, or to contact you directly with a Sound Transmission Talisman, Sir, but he refused. He insists he has to report to you face-to-face."

...

Chen Fan frowned. ’It sounds like something serious happened.’

He glanced one last time at the array of Celestial Pillars he had deployed, then strode toward the Port.

"Wang Kui, you’ll remain here to guard the Mortal Realm."

"I’m going to the New Continent."

He remembered Wang Mazi had gone to explore an uncharted deep pit. He’d been out of contact for three days, and now he had come back like this. Logically, there shouldn’t be any major threats on that empty New Continent.

’How could he have seen a ghost?’

’And even if he had, as long as it was a physical entity, the armaments on Wang Mazi’s personal Flying Ship were not to be underestimated.’

...

「Guanxi Plain.」

It was the middle of the rainy season. Located south of Jiangnan, it was one of the largest plains on the Eternal Night Continent.

Plants grown here, whether they were Ghost Plants or medicinal herbs, naturally grew faster and more lushly.

The same was true for livestock such as cattle and sheep.

Furthermore,

the occasional discovery of a Ghost Ore mine made the Guanxi Plain exceptionally prosperous—far more so than Jiangnan.