Chapter 178 - 130: Celestial Pillar
The Mortal Realm looked somewhat impressive now, but its foundation was still a bit lacking.
The most obvious sign was that the main buildings in the settlement were still predominantly White Level, with even Green Level buildings being rare.
There was only one Green Level building: the Warehouse.
And only one Yellow Level building: the Vehicle Workshop.
A building’s Level was important, of course.
But its grade was also especially important.
Take the Warehouse, for example. With its Jiezimai Room effect and the ability to store Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, it could do things a Wooden House never could, no matter how high its Level was raised.
But high-grade Building Blueprints were not so easy to come by.
It was only after arriving here that he had obtained two Green Level Building Blueprints: one for an Anti-Aircraft Cannon and one for a Godslaying Cannon. The settlement also had the Building Blueprint for a Port in storage.
It just had not been used yet.
Actually, there was one other Yellow Level building, the Observatory, which allowed him to observe the movements of the Ghost Tide over a vast area.
Strictly speaking, however, it was considered a "Wonder."
The Yellow Level Building Blueprint in his hand was the Mortal Realm’s second true Yellow Level Building Blueprint.
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[Exotic Treasure Name]: Celestial Pillar.
[Exotic Treasure Level]: Yellow.
[Exotic Treasure Effect]: Building Blueprint. Once constructed, grants one Celestial Pillar.
-
’It’s just a pillar.’
’A rather tall one.’
’Hundreds of meters high.’
’It’s just that the array patterns on the blueprint are incredibly complex, and I can’t really make sense of them. The specific effects aren’t detailed, so I’ll have to build it to find out.’
"I’ll give it a try!"
Chen Fan glanced around, tucked the Jade Scroll and Storage Ring into his robes, crushed the Building Blueprint in his hand, then quickly vaulted onto Hey Hey’s back and returned to Nameless Mountain.
’If this thing works out, it’ll be incredibly powerful.’
...
「Soon」
Chen Fan arrived at the summit of Nameless Mountain, right next to Hey Hey’s lair.
After taking a deep breath, 5,000 Ghost Stones shattered. An outline of the Celestial Pillar, composed of white lines, quickly materialized before him. As it rapidly solidified, an immense pillar rose up beside the cliff.
Below the adjacent cliff was the Celestial Pit settlement.
"..."
He looked up at the pillar before him, which soared hundreds of meters into the clouds.
Its appearance was strange.
It was not straight and smooth.
Instead, it had a twisted posture, as if struggling tragically upward like a weed in the Wilderness. Made of neither stone nor metal, its texture was extremely coarse.
It was not a cylinder; its cross-section was square.
The top was as wide as the bottom.
Ten meters wide.
Its surface was carved with all sorts of runes and patterns he could not understand.
There was a small door at the pillar’s base. Pushing it open revealed a hollow interior. At the bottom lay a Stone Slab with a jade button next to it. When the button was pressed, the Stone Slab would rise like an elevator, carrying him to the top of the pillar.
Chen Fan entered the Celestial Pillar alone, stood on the Stone Slab, and pressed the jade button beside him. The Stone Slab beneath his feet began to rise slowly.
Soon, it delivered him to the top of the Celestial Pillar.
He emerged onto a platform, ten meters long and ten meters wide, suspended hundreds of meters in the air.
The view was staggering.
"Holy shit..."
The wind howled past his ears. Chen Fan instinctively flattened himself against the platform’s floor, carefully shuffling toward the edge to look down. As far as he could see, the Jiangbei Wilderness resembled a boundless, wrinkled sheet of dead skin.
He could see Mortal City.
It was tiny.
It stood upon the Wilderness, and he could vaguely make out numerous Skeleton Horses and pedestrians moving to and fro within Mortal City. It seemed as if someone was looking up at him.
Reason told him he was perfectly safe here.
But his body’s instincts still made his legs feel weak.
"This is too damn high!"
Chen Fan realized he might have a fear of heights. Only one question filled his mind: ’If I fall, can the Jade Staff protect me? Can it keep me alive?!’
He was someone who liked to experiment.
When he had an idea, he had to test it.
But...
This time, however, he had no intention of running that particular experiment. ’No one experiments on themselves. I’d need to find a guinea pig, at least.’
He let out a long breath.
After taking a deep breath to compose himself, he lay at the edge of the platform and looked at the Celestial Pillar’s panel.
The panel was very simple.
-
Can attract lightning during the rainy season and store its energy, to be released when needed for defense or other purposes.
Attack range can exceed the settlement’s boundaries.
Upgrade to next Level: Requires 10,000 Ghost Stones.
Current Storage Progress: (0/100).
-
’So this thing is just a lightning rod.’
’But it’s a bit better than a normal one.’
’It can attract lightning and store the energy.’
’It arrived a little late, though.’
’It would have been perfect if it had arrived before the rainy season.’
’However...’
’This is a good observation point, though. The view is completely unobstructed. Ignoring the height, the line of sight is pretty good.’
He did not linger.
He quickly left through the interior of the Celestial Pillar. The wind was whipping around, and the platform didn’t even have a handrail. He didn’t want to wait around for a strong gust to blow him away. He could accept dying to a Ghost Object because he wasn’t strong enough, or at the hands of another faction.
But if he were to fall to his death...
...that would be far too pathetic.
He did not upgrade the building. It was of no use in the short term; he would have to wait for next year’s rainy season. However, if the Celestial Pillar could store lightning from four consecutive rainy seasons, it might have a miraculous effect in the great war four years from now.
...
"..."
Back on solid ground and feeling secure again, Chen Fan looked up at the Celestial Pillar, clicking his tongue in wonder. "Why does it have to be four years?"
He had already formulated a series of four-year development plans for the Mortal Realm.