Chapter 416 - 177: Ruling the World, Ghost Tide Landing

Chapter 416: Chapter 177: Ruling the World, Ghost Tide Landing

This period of calm was like a Fleeting Appearance, gone in the blink of an eye.

As the long-awaited rain began to drizzle upon the Jiangbei Defense Line, it signaled the arrival of this year’s rainy season.

This might also be...

...the last relatively safe rainy season for the Jiangbei Mortal Realm.

「Late October, Year 381 of the Eternal Night Calendar.」

Chen Fan stood atop the City Wall of the Jiangbei Defense Line, his gaze sweeping over the Jiangbei Wilderness toward the darkening sky in the distance. The rain’s chill kept his mind exceptionally clear. When night fell, this year’s rainy season would begin.

As always, the Jiangbei Defense Line completely encircled the Mortal Realm, including Jiangbei City.

This would also be the Mortal Realm’s last ordinary rainy season.

By the next rainy season...

...the Undersea Ghost Tide would make landfall.

"..."

He stood there, gazing silently into the distance for a long time. He was constantly mulling over his preparations. ’Is everything ready? It feels like it should be enough, but something tells me it isn’t.’

Just then—

Wang Kui approached, holding an umbrella. He sheltered Chen Fan with it and reported in a low voice, "Domain Lord, it’s cold out here. Perhaps you should head back inside."

"Cold?"

Chen Fan shook his head and chuckled. "Have you forgotten our first rainy season? We didn’t even have rain hats or coats back then, yet we worked in the downpour every day."

"Come on, let’s head back."

He said nothing more, simply turning and heading down from the City Wall.

Before leaving,

he glanced at the Soul-Devouring Sculpture placed at the base of the City Wall. With a soft chuckle and a shake of his head, he walked through the rain toward the Mortal Realm High-speed Rail parked below.

Several months prior,

he had obtained a Celestial Dao Stone from the Sacrificial Tower. It was the fourth such stone the Mortal Realm had acquired.

He had ended up using it on the Soul-Devouring Sculpture.

It was a support-type structure capable of greatly reducing the Ammunition Consumption of nearby City Defense Buildings.

His thoughts began to drift.

He faintly recalled the panel he had seen that day.

-

[You have used a Celestial Dao Stone on the Soul-Devouring Sculpture and received three Celestial Dao Blessing Effect options. Please choose one within one hundred breaths.]

[A building may only possess one Celestial Dao Blessing Effect.]

[1. Celestial Dao Blessing Effect (Perfect Aim): Increases the accuracy of City Defense Buildings within its range.]

[2. Celestial Dao Blessing Effect (King’s Domain): Increases the firing range of City Defense Buildings within its effect, allowing them to surpass the range limit imposed by Ghost Fire.]

[3. Celestial Dao Blessing Effect (Last Stand): When there are no Ghost Stones to power the City Defense Buildings within its range, they can continue to fire for three hours. Afterward, the Soul-Devouring Sculpture and all affected City Defense Buildings will shatter.]

-

In the end, he chose the third Celestial Dao Blessing Effect.

Last Stand.

He didn’t need more accuracy. The Jiangbei Defense Line relied on saturation strikes, and with the damage overflow from its Max Level Effect, precision was unnecessary.

He didn’t really need more range, either. The area covered by the Max Level Ghost Fire was already sufficient, and for anything farther, he had the Mortal Realm’s cruise missiles.

In comparison,

the third option was better.

Although it would only last for three hours after they ran out of ammunition, those three hours could be enough to survive the night. It provided an extra margin for error, whether they needed to retreat or wait for logistical support the next day.

...

「Back in Cave No. 1 on Nameless Mountain.」

Chen Fan sat on the wall as he usually did, listening to Wang Kui’s report.

"Domain Lord."

Wang Kui glanced down at the small notebook in his hand and began in a low voice, "Over the past year, the Mortal Realm has developed steadily, with multiple projects proceeding in an orderly fashion."

"The ’Sparks Set the World Ablaze’ project on the New Continent is in its final stages. It’s expected to be fully completed after the rainy season ends."

"Some of the logistics personnel supporting the project have already begun an orderly withdrawal back to the Mortal Realm."

"Total consumption was 3.406 billion Ghost Stones."

"Furthermore—"

"—with that major expenditure out of the way, the number of Ghost Stones in the Mortal Realm Warehouse has started to steadily increase again. Our current reserves stand at 617 million Ghost Stones."

"At the Mortal Realm’s current excavation rate, we’re on track to have a reserve of approximately 4 billion Ghost Stones before the next rainy season arrives."

"Excavation on the New Continent is also proceeding smoothly. There are still many Ancient Battlefields left to be mined, which we estimate will be fully depleted in about four years."

"Mm."

Chen Fan nodded from his rocking chair. The Sparks Set the World Ablaze project was finally complete. It had been the single most expensive project in the Mortal Realm’s history in terms of Ghost Stone consumption.

He was fortunate that the year had passed without incident.

Otherwise, if any major crisis had occurred, the Mortal Realm would have had virtually no strength to fight back, having poured all its resources into this one project.

The entire, vast Mortal Realm could have collapsed overnight.

After finishing his brief report,

Wang Kui walked down from the wall, leaving Chen Fan sitting there alone. Night had now officially fallen. A darkness like melting chocolate swept in from the horizon, quickly blanketing the world.

He looked down at the small object he had been fiddling with in his hand.

It was a...

...small glass trinket.

A small figurine that bore a passing resemblance to him.

It looked like a common toy sold in a local Marketplace.

This was a Blue Level special resource he had obtained from the altar via sacrifice. Special resources came in many forms—they could be Ghost Stones, Exotic Treasures, or even Building Blueprints.

Over the past year, he had obtained a total of four Blue Level special resources through sacrifice.

The first two and the last one were all Ghost Stones.

In total, he had received thirty million Ghost Stones.