I Build a Shelter in the Eternal Night

'But he used the phrase "not just," which means he wasn't denying it.'

'But what profound meaning did that "six hundred and sixty-six" hold?'

'Was he just spouting nonsense?'

'Impossible.'

'Someone like him wouldn't just say things carelessly. There's no benefit in deceiving a few juniors.'

'There must be a deeper meaning. And based on the context, it's very likely about how to perform Spirit Drawing quickly.'

"I think I've grasped it."

A keen light flashed in the old man's eyes. He then sat cross-legged on the spot and closed his eyes. "Don't let anyone disturb me."

"That's Master for you."

The young man sighed with emotion. It was the same sentence, yet while he felt nothing, his Master had already begun to achieve enlightenment. He was, after all, the strongest Architect in their Sect.

...

"..."

As Chen Fan walked through the Architect conference, he was actually puzzled by one thing. For Building Blueprints like "Arrow Tower" and "City Wall," the Blueprints themselves had line drawings.

It made perfect sense that one could see the building's structure clearly and then reproduce it through Spirit Drawing in their mind.

But what about more abstract buildings?

For example...

The "Vehicle Workshop."

Or the "Celestial Pillar."

'That was something the Immortal Celestial Master couldn't figure out even on his deathbed. The actual object and the picture were completely different. If someone could figure that out, I'll be damned. No, if they could truly figure it out, they'd be a goddamn prodigy!'

'This won't do.'

'I have to go back and ask.'

'It wasn't appropriate to ask others about what should be common knowledge for Architects. Besides, those young Architects from before seemed easy to fool.'

He immediately turned around and went back the way he came.

Soon, he saw the four youths talking amongst themselves again. Beside them sat an old man, cross-legged on the ground. He was all skin and bones, looking as if he had passed away while meditating.

"This is..."

Chen Fan looked at the old man, a strange expression on his face.

"Domain Lord Chen."

The young man who had been comforting the girl earlier saw Chen Fan approach again and hurriedly said with a respectful expression, "I was not aware of your identity earlier and meant no offense. This is my Master."

"He is currently meditating to comprehend the Dao."

"Comprehending what?"

"Before you left, Domain Lord Chen, you said that one plus one doesn't just equal four hundred and forty-four, but also six hundred and sixty-six. This junior is slow-witted and failed to grasp the profound meaning, but my Master seems to have understood it. He is comprehending the Dao and cannot hear anything from the outside world at the moment."

"We must thank you, Domain Lord Chen, for your generous guidance."

"This junior also has a question I'd like to ask... if I may..."

The corner of Chen Fan's mouth twitched slightly. "Ask."

'So that's how the "one plus one equals four hundred and forty-four" consensus got started.'

The young man took a deep breath and asked the question that had been troubling him for a long time.

"Senior."

"What I want to ask is, how can one minimize the energy loss when constructing a building?"

"A good question."

Chen Fan nodded, his expression calm. "The lower the energy loss, the lower the cost to construct a building. This brings us to the matter of how Architects comprehend Blueprints."

"Do you know how Architects comprehend those Building Blueprints with unclear diagrams?"

"I do."

The young man's expression turned serious as he answered quickly.

"When constructing those buildings with unclear diagrams, there are generally two methods."

"The first."

"Sect inheritance."

"The Master passes down the actual design of the Building Blueprint."

"The second."

"Self-comprehension."

"One attempts to perform Spirit Drawing of the building from scratch in their mind. With each attempt, they carefully identify the successful lines of the Spirit Drawing and continuously refine them until, after many tries, they succeed in comprehending it."

"Correct."

Chen Fan gave a slight nod and said calmly, "And that is where the problem lies. One plus one doesn't just equal six hundred and sixty-six. It also equals eight hundred and eighty-eight."

With that, he turned and left once more.

'Go ahead and mull that over for a while.'

'Just like how he once racked his brains and still couldn't figure out what one plus one was supposed to equal.'

'They all love to spout nonsense.'

'In that case, I'll play along.'

...

After leaving the four youths, Chen Fan continued to stroll about. Today's Architect conference was quite lively, with people coming and going. It was crowded.

Every few steps, he could see groups of Architects gathered together, exchanging ideas.

Architects, who were usually a rare sight, were all gathered here today. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but Architects, a dime a dozen.

'To put it bluntly...'

'If I were the Ghost King, I would spare no expense today to lead an army and kill every single one of these Architects. If this group of Architects died, the Four Areas of Jiangbei could just wait to die during the next rainy season. Not a single one would be saved.'

'Every faction, every city, would be conquered.'

'Countless lives would be lost because of it.'

"Hm?"

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow and walked into the crowd ahead, looking toward an Architect standing on a platform, sharing his experience. A relatively large number of people were gathered here—over a hundred in total. Not counting attendants, there were more than thirty Architects present.

"As we all know."

The one on the stage sharing his experience was an old man, neatly dressed and possessing a dignified air. "After upgrading a building, random Upgrade Directions will appear. We call these a Celestial Dao's Blessing."

"However, we know from experience that there are a total of three Upgrade Directions. But how do we ensure that we randomly get the one we want?"

"My experience is—"

"Sincerity!"

"As long as your heart is sincere enough, you will be able to randomly get the Upgrade Direction you desire."

"Take the City Wall, for example."

"A City Wall with uniform patterns is several times more effective than one with messy patterns. During the process of building a Level 3 City Wall, we often need to tear down large sections with incorrect patterns to ensure the final City Wall's pattern is uniform. This process wastes a large amount of Ghost Stones."