Chapter 222 - 145: The Building Atlas Has Lit Up Five Max-Level Buildings
He watched, wide-eyed, as a gecko crawled right into Shao Qiu’s nostril.
He even felt an urge to rush over and pull the gecko out for Shao Qiu.
After a long while, he finally took a deep breath and asked hoarsely, "Can he be stopped?"
"No."
Qi Yue shook his head. "Once Body Tempering begins, he won’t be able to hear any external sounds. Any significant external disturbance would cause him to suffer from cultivation deviation. However, he has two opportunities to give up."
"The first is at ninety percent Body Tempering."
"The second is at Ninety-nine Percent Body Tempering."
"Failing at any other time is different. If he fails while trying to break through to ninety percent or Ninety-nine Percent Body Tempering, he’ll just be severely injured at worst. He can rest for a while and start over. But if he fails while attempting to achieve Tenfold Body Tempering because he can’t endure it, then there is only one consequence..."
"He will explode and die."
"..."
Hearing this, the corner of Chen Fan’s mouth twitched. After a long moment, he couldn’t help but say grimly, "Have none of you noticed that the cultivation speed in the Yunling Pavilion has increased?"
"The Yunling Pavilion’s cultivation speed buff got stronger?"
Qi Yue was slightly taken aback. "And here I thought I’d had an epiphany."
’An epiphany, my ass. If you could have an epiphany that results in 40x cultivation speed, you’d be a true legend.’
"The Yunling Pavilion is Level 10 now. Its cultivation speed is 40x, and it allows anyone inside it who breaks through to Martial King with Ninety-nine Percent Body Tempering to automatically achieve Tenfold Body Tempering."
"There’s no need for Ten Thousand Poisons Body Devouring at all! You just need to take a Martial King Pill to reach Ninety-nine Percent Body Tempering, and you’ll directly achieve Tenfold Body Tempering!"
He was truly exasperated.
’What was the damn rush?’
He had just upgraded the Yunling Pavilion to Max Level. In the time it took to make a quick trip to Xiyang City and back, he returned to find Shao Qiu already boiling himself. The fire under the large vat was raging. With a few spices, you could have made a hearty medicinal soup.
If he succeeded, it would be fine; he’d have just suffered a bit more physical pain at worst.
But if he failed...
It would be a truly pointless death.
The most unjust death in the history of the Mortal Realm.
"Huh?"
Qi Yue froze on the spot, horror flashing in his eyes. ’40x cultivation speed... isn’t that a bit exaggerated?’ But then he quickly realized something else. ’If Ninety-nine Percent Body Tempering automatically becomes Tenfold Body Tempering, then doesn’t that mean Shao Qiu...?’
"Mm."
Chen Fan sighed softly. "Let’s hope he can endure. It would be best if he gives up at Ninety-nine Percent Body Tempering. He shouldn’t try to force it."
He didn’t linger.
Instead, he turned and went back to his room to bathe, change his clothes, and burn some incense. He needed to prepare to inspect the Yellow Level Celestial Dao Stone he had obtained from illuminating five Max Level Building Atlases. Besides, staying there wouldn’t help anyway.
The rest was up to Shao Qiu himself.
...
Soon, having finished bathing and changing, Chen Fan sat on the City Wall again. He took a deep breath, a look of faint anticipation on his face as he looked at the message on the Eternal Night Lord Panel and clicked "Claim."
Soon—
White lines once again formed before him, solidifying into a stone.
It fell from the sky.
He caught it just before it hit the ground.
’Can’t let it shatter.’
It looked extremely ordinary, the kind that nobody would pick up if it were lying on the ground. Its surface was rough, and it was quite heavy.
He looked at the panel.
’Logically, the reward for illuminating five Max Level buildings should be better than the one for three. Since both were Yellow Level, this one has to be a stronger item within the same level.’
-
Exotic Treasure Name: Celestial Dao Stone.
Exotic Treasure Level: Yellow.
Exotic Treasure Effect: When used on any building, it grants the building a "Celestial Dao Blessing Effect." This effect applies to all buildings of the same type within the camp.
PS: Can only be used on a Max Level Building.
-
"Phew..."
Chen Fan couldn’t help but break into a wide grin. ’An amazing item, an amazing item, this is truly an amazing item!’
Although it was only Yellow Level, he felt it was powerful enough to be considered Blue Level!
He had always known that defending Jiangbei in four years would grant a Celestial Dao Blessing, but he never knew what that actually entailed. Now, he could obtain a "Celestial Dao Blessing Effect." He knew, of course, that the two weren’t the same.
But since they shared a name, this Celestial Dao Blessing Effect couldn’t be weak.
Most importantly!
Unlike an Enhancement Stone, which could only be used on one building, this effect worked on all buildings of the same type.
For example, if he used it on a City Wall, it would affect all buildings of that same type in his camp.
As for how "in his camp" was determined...
He knew the answer to that.
Anything connected to the Level 5 Ghost Fire in Cave No. 1 was considered part of his camp. The leaders of various factions would extract a drop of their heart’s blood and store it in a porcelain jar. That way, if the leader died, their heir could use this blood to inherit the buildings in the window of time after the Ghost Fire shattered but before the camp’s structures began to collapse.
There were pros and cons.
The pro was that the buildings could be passed down.
The con was...
It easily attracted covetous eyes.
Looking back through history, many faction leaders had been murdered by insiders right after choosing an heir and storing their heart’s blood. Others were ambushed and killed suddenly while away from home, leaving no time to prepare their heart’s blood. This led to all the buildings in their territory shattering and the entire faction collapsing overnight.
Currently, the camp had a total of five Max Level buildings.
The Godslaying Cannon, Farmland, Earth Spike, Yunling Pavilion, and Life Workshop.
Without a doubt!
’I have to choose the Godslaying Cannon.’
City Defense Buildings were always the highest priority. Logistical buildings only had a reason to exist once your defenses were strong enough to speak for themselves.
Without the slightest hesitation,
He slapped the Celestial Dao Stone in his hand onto the nearby Max Level Godslaying Cannon. Soon, a panel floated up before him.
-
[You have used the ’Celestial Dao Stone’ on the Godslaying Cannon. You have obtained three Celestial Dao Blessing Effects. Please choose one within one hundred breaths.]
[A building can only have one Celestial Dao Blessing Effect.]
[1: Celestial Dao Blessing Effect (Awe-Inspiring Might): The power of the Godslaying Cannon will be greatly increased.]
[2: Celestial Dao Blessing Effect (Sweeping Thousand Armies): After the Godslaying Cannon kills an enemy, any overkill damage will carry over to nearby enemies until the damage is depleted.]
[3: Celestial Dao Blessing Effect (Tower’s Son): The Godslaying Cannon will possess the same defense as the City Wall beneath it.]
-
"..."
Chen Fan slowly sat down in his rocking chair, held his breath, and stared at the panel. He wanted to see if the countdown on the panel would stop if he stopped breathing.
A few breaths later, he gasped for air.
’Alright, so it has nothing to do with me. The one hundred breaths aren’t counted based on my own breathing.’
Then, his eyes gleaming, he looked at the three Celestial Dao Blessing Effects.
’All I can say is, incredible!’
Any one of these three effects was top-tier. No wonder even ’that person’ was green with envy over the Celestial Dao Blessing in four years. How could they not be? The real one was bound to be even more amazing.
’I want all three of them.’
But he quickly eliminated the third option. Although it meant the Godslaying Cannon would be nearly indestructible, a turret’s most important trait isn’t defense. It can be destroyed, but it has to make an impact before that happens.
The first one was also very strong.
But...
His gaze lingered on the second one, his breathing gradually quickening.
’Overkill damage that carries over.’
This meant that when the Ghost Tide arrived in four years, the moment the 1,700 Godslaying Cannons along the 170-kilometer Jiangbei Defense Line fired simultaneously, the carried-over damage would be enough to clear out a massive area.
Not a single one would get through.
The Godslaying Cannon was originally a single-target turret, mainly for fighting bosses. Its damage was complete overkill against mobs, a total waste, and each shot consumed a lot of Ghost Stones.
But with this Celestial Dao Blessing Effect...
Then...
’It can be single-target or area-of-effect.’
It was a vastly superior version of the Arrow Tower.
It was countless times better than an Arrow Tower, and it didn’t even require materials to upgrade. Though the upgrade cost was steep, you get what you pay for. He felt the high price was justified.
He thought it was well worth it.
Without further hesitation, he chose the second Celestial Dao Blessing Effect.
Sweeping Thousand Armies!