Novel Full Chapter 79: "Jiangbei... Witness the Birth of This King!
Chapter 79: Chapter 79: "Jiangbei... Witness the Birth of This King!
A darkness so thick you couldn’t see your own hand enveloped the sky above the Celestial Pit.
But within the cave behind the City Wall, the lights were bright.
One bright, one dark.
The rocking chair swayed slowly, its creaking sounds like a lullaby. Having been under immense pressure since arriving in this world, Chen Fan listened to the laughter and chatter of Zhou Mo and the others in the camp and gradually began to relax.
A night breeze blew across his face.
The cool, rain-tinged air extinguished his restless mood.
Lying in the rocking chair, Chen Fan unconsciously drifted into a dream, his chest rising and falling gently with each breath. His body greedily savored this moment of tranquility and ease.
Seeing this, the people inside the camp cave instinctively lowered their voices.
Their gazes turned to the figure of Chen Fan on the rocking chair by the City Wall.
The light from the Ghost Fire traced a soft, glowing outline around his profile.
At this sight, Zhou Mo subconsciously stopped roasting the meat in his hands. He straightened up and stared, as if in a trance. He thought he could see the station master, with just himself and his chair, splitting the endless night in two. Behind the rocking chair was the camp the station master had built with his own hands; before it was the all-devouring eternal night.
It was as if...
...the man sleeping in the rocking chair was the camp’s true City Wall.
Keeping the darkness at bay.
...
「Jiangbei City.」
"Tonight is the 12th night since the rainy season began."
The Wild Wolf Gang Leader stood on the City Wall, his expression complex as he stared out into the darkness beyond the city, silent for a long time. Several days had passed since the last Meat Worms’ Ghost Tide, and Jiangbei City had, against all odds, survived the disaster.
But... the losses were devastating.
The Wild Wolf Gang had lost nearly half of its foundational resources. Even with the support of the common people and merchants, it wasn’t enough to cover the deficit. Those precious and Rare Exotic Treasures were difficult to replace; their accumulation depended on luck and time.
However, the rainy season wasn’t over yet. There were still nearly twenty days to go.
"Gang Leader."
A confidant beside him stepped forward and said in a low voice, "The Wild Wolf Gang’s resources are no longer enough to defend the city. We may have to retreat to the gang’s territory. Unless... unless we spread the news that the Jiangbei Chen Family impersonated our men and took our supplies on the night of the Meat Worms’ Ghost Tide. We could get the people and merchants of the city to pressure the Jiangbei Chen Family into helping defend the city."
"..."
After a long silence, the Gang Leader spoke, his voice hoarse.
"We’ve already done our best."
"There’s no need to spread this. Even if all the people and merchants in the city apply pressure, as long as the Jiangbei Chen Family hides behind the Level 3 City Wall in their own compound, no one can do anything to them. It would only turn us into outright enemies."
"The city... will most likely fall."
"When the city is about to be breached, according to past customs, the Jiangbei Chen Family will offer protection to some people. At least a portion will survive."
The confidant nodded heavily and continued, "Then do we continue to defend the city?"
"Continue to defend it."
The Gang Leader shook his head and sighed softly. "We’ll keep defending as long as we don’t face a major crisis. If we encounter another one like the Meat Worms’ Ghost Tide, the brothers will take their families and retreat to the gang’s territory."
"I can use up the gang’s resources to defend Jiangbei City."
"But I can’t sacrifice the lives of my brothers to do it."
"Understood."
The confidant replied once more.
...
Meanwhile—
In another place, shrouded in darkness.
A man wearing a cloak and sitting cross-legged on a jade platform slowly opened his eyes. A piercing, brilliant light shot out from them as if it were tangible. A scarlet triangle within his pupils rotated slowly, an incredibly strange sight.
Shattered Ghost Stones were piled up beside him.
"Just one final step."
The man sat in the rain, arms outstretched as he greedily breathed in the rain-filled air. His eyes were full of longing as he murmured, "Cultivation really is faster during the rainy season. I am now just one step away from advancing to Ghost King!"
"Jiangbei..."
"...witness the birth of your King!"
The next moment—
"Hm?"
His gaze fell upon the four Life Stones placed before him, and his brow suddenly furrowed. His expression darkened instantly. One of the Life Stones was shattered—it was Qian Hou’s. Before entering seclusion, he had ordered Qian Hou to take his subordinates and destroy the City Walls of the two cities in the Wilderness.
It seemed something had gone wrong.
’How could this be...’
Anger and confusion flickered in the man’s eyes. He had been to Jiangbei during last year’s rainy season. The City Defense Buildings of those two cities were not strong enough to kill Qian Hou. With Qian Hou’s ability to split apart, he would have been very difficult to kill so long as he wanted to escape.
He said no more.
But his expression shifted continuously.
This meant his plan had gone awry.
Without Qian Hou to destroy the City Walls, attacking the cities would cost him a considerable number of subordinates.
Most importantly... he needed to set up a Blood Sacrifice Grand Array in the Jiangbei Wilderness to help him take the final step to becoming a Ghost King. The materials for the Array Formation and the Ghost Stones were all carried by Qian Hou. With Qian Hou dead, all those things were gone.
The other items were one thing.
But the Mountain Remains Embryo was an exceptionally precious item and the main material for the Blood Sacrifice Grand Array. Without this Heaven and Earth Treasure, the array’s effect would be much weaker, and it would no longer be a one hundred percent guarantee that he could break through to the Ghost King realm.
’Next year?’
’Prepare for another year and wait until the next rainy season to break through to Ghost King?’
The moment this plan surfaced in his mind, he immediately crushed it. He had waited too long for this moment. He couldn’t let all his previous efforts go to waste. No matter the cost, he had to advance to Ghost King during this rainy season!
The man glanced at the army of Ghost Objects lying quietly on the ground around him, a flicker of determination crossing his face.
He picked up two of the Life Stones from the ground and said in a raspy voice.
"Qianxi, hear my command."
"I order you to awaken from the desert, bring the Ghost Stones accumulated over this past year, and lead your subordinates north to the Jiangbei Wilderness. Investigate the cause of Qian Hou’s death, find the lost Mountain Remains Embryo if possible, and assess the damage to the two cities’ City Walls. You are free to hunt with any remaining time."
"Qian Hu, hear my command."
"I order you to lead your subordinates across the Dead Sea, bring the Ghost Stones accumulated over this past year, and head south to the Jiangbei Wilderness. Go to Nameless Mountain and search for the Mountain Remains Embryo. If you cannot find it, rendezvous with Qianxi in the Wilderness and await my arrival."
Every word he spoke materialized and drifted through the air, slowly drilling into the Life Stones in his hand.
Soon.
The two Life Stones in his hand flashed simultaneously. Tangible words floated out of them and appeared on a blank Ghost Skin to the side.
One of the Ghost Skins displayed only two words.
"As commanded."
The text on the other Ghost Skin was a bit more complex.
"My King, Nameless Mountain was the seclusion site of ’that person’ 180 years ago. For all these years, all the Ghost Kings who arose in the Jiangbei Wilderness have tacitly forbidden their subordinates from approaching Nameless Mountain, fearing they might break ’that person’s’ taboo. Should we... really go?"
"..."
The man’s face darkened, and for a moment he was indecisive.
years ago.
’That person’ had cultivated in seclusion on Nameless Mountain. Before leaving, after their Cultivation breakthrough, they had casually swung a hammer. Channeling the power of heaven and earth, they nearly smashed the entire mountain into the ground, leaving behind an extremely clear... hammer crater.
Even if he advanced to Ghost King, he would have absolutely no way of blocking that single strike.
They were not on the same level of power.
He hadn’t witnessed this scene with his own eyes.
But over the years, he had followed the rules passed down by his predecessors and never gone near Nameless Mountain. Even though he knew it was highly likely that a Mountain Remains Embryo could be found there, he had never entertained the thought, instead traveling far from Jiangbei to find a Mountain Remains Embryo elsewhere.