I Build a Shelter in the Eternal Night

"..."

Chen Fan paused for a moment before nodding lightly. "Alright, I’ll say a few words."

Then, leaning on his Jade Staff, he walked toward the stage.

’I should say a few words.’

...

"Listen carefully."

The Pavilion Master of the World Pavilion, who had come in person this time, stood in the crowd. With a serious expression, he watched Chen Fan walk toward the stage and said in a low voice, "For Domain Lord Chen to have established the Mortal Realm during the rainy season, he must have extraordinary abilities."

"If he’s willing to share something substantial, you and I both stand to benefit greatly."

Tian Qi, who was beside him, nodded with equal gravity.

As for the disciple who had talked back to Chen Fan in Jiangbei City last time, after the incident was reported to the Pavilion Master, the Pavilion Master personally ordered the disciple’s expulsion from the World Pavilion.

The World Pavilion was a famous power in Jiangnan.

The faction had a total of 12 Architects, and its Pavilion Master was a Level 9 Architect.

They typically made a living by selling buildings and by constructing and maintaining structures for other factions.

In Jiangnan, the Vehicle Workshop for West Lake Tower—the faction that originally sold Skeleton Horses—was personally built by the Pavilion Master of the World Pavilion.

This time, the World Pavilion had sent a total of seven Architects, including the Pavilion Master.

One could say they had turned out in full force.

Usually, they wouldn’t send so many people to an Architect exchange conference. But this time, not only were they the hosts, the event was being held right in Mortal City, within the Mortal Realm.

Naturally, they placed special importance on it.

Below the stage, the crowd of Architects looked up at Chen Fan, who was now standing on the platform, their faces filled with anticipation.

"Everyone."

Standing on the stage, Chen Fan’s gaze swept across the faces in the crowd below as he spoke softly, "What I am going to talk about today has nothing to do with technique."

"It’s about the bigger picture."

"I believe the factions attending this Architect exchange conference today are all major, renowned powers from Four Areas Jiangbei."

"I’m sure you have Building Blueprints in your possession that you’ve been unable to decipher."

"Bring them to the Mortal Realm."

"Give them to me, and let me decipher them."

"My method of deciphering is rather unique, and it will destroy the Building Blueprint."

"In return—"

"I will personally travel to your territory and construct the building from that blueprint for you."

"Do you see that tall tower?"

Chen Fan pointed to the Celestial Pillar on Nameless Mountain. Everyone’s gaze followed, landing on a pillar hundreds of meters tall that pierced the clouds.

In fact, everyone had seen the tall tower standing on Nameless Mountain from a distance, back when they were still traveling through the Wilderness and had not yet entered Mortal City.

But by unspoken agreement, no one had mentioned it.

After all, Nameless Mountain was Mortal Realm territory.

The tower might be some kind of foundational structure, a secret of the Mortal Realm. Mentioning it rashly would feel like prying into the Mortal Realm’s secrets, which would not be a good thing.

Now that Chen Fan had brought it up himself, the curiosity that everyone had suppressed resurfaced.

"That is the Celestial Pillar."

Chen Fan’s voice rang out slowly. "It is a Yellow Level building with unfathomable power. As for its specific capabilities, perhaps you will only find out when Ghost Objects besiege the Mortal Realm."

"There was once an Ancient Architect who spent his entire life trying and failing to decipher the Building Blueprint for the Celestial Pillar. I was fortunate enough to obtain that Building Blueprint, and I deciphered and built it in three days."

"His greatest regret before he died was not being able to understand this Building Blueprint."

"I imagine..."

"You wouldn’t want to die with that same kind of regret."

"Many of you probably possess a Building Blueprint that you’ve been trying to decipher for a long time without success."

"Give it to me."

"I will decipher it for you."

"Of course, the specific Building Blueprints will be reviewed by specialists from the Mortal Realm. Any Building Blueprint deemed not worth deciphering will not be accepted."

With that, Chen Fan didn’t linger. He turned and left, disappearing directly into the crowd.

This idea had occurred to him when he overheard those young men discussing how to decipher Building Blueprints. He figured there was a good chance some of these Architects were sitting on a High Grade Building Blueprint that they just couldn’t crack.

If they could be brought to the Mortal Realm, its development would accelerate even further.

...

"..."

"..."

Chen Fan had already walked far away, but the area below the stage was dead silent. The crowd was speechless, looking at one another, and they could all see the intrigue in each other’s eyes.

It was completely different from what everyone had expected. They had originally thought that Chen Fan might be unwilling to share any core Architect techniques and would just gloss over things, or perhaps that he would genuinely share some of his skills.

They never expected that Chen Fan wouldn’t say anything of the sort, but would instead make a suggestion.

Or rather, a proposal.

To give him their Building Blueprints to decipher, and in return, he would personally travel to their territory and construct the corresponding building for them.

"..."

The Pavilion Master of the World Pavilion stood there with his brow tightly furrowed, lost in thought and silent for a long time.

He possessed a Building Blueprint that he hadn’t been able to fully decipher for many years. In fact, he had more than one, but this particular blueprint, which had been with him the longest, was the one he had spent the most time on and most desperately wanted to understand.

If Domain Lord Chen could truly decipher it and was willing to construct such a building within the World Pavilion’s territory, then it wouldn’t matter if the Building Blueprint was destroyed.

After all, once the building existed, he could walk inside it, study its details, and then build more of them himself whenever he pleased.

The proposal was all pros and no cons for him.

The only drawback was that this would make the Mortal Realm even stronger.

Any building that couldn’t be deciphered in a short time was no ordinary structure. It couldn’t possibly be of the White Level; the absolute lowest it could be was Green Level.

And they were extremely rare buildings.

The effects of such buildings were generally quite powerful. No faction wanted to see another rise up or suddenly grow stronger, especially when the reason for that growth was a Building Blueprint they themselves had provided.