I Build a Shelter in the Eternal Night

He didn’t finish his sentence, but the implication was clear.

Architects have the weakest personal combat abilities, while Demon Cultivators have the strongest.

The two weren’t even in the same league. How could they possibly fight?

"Let’s try."

"Well... alright, then."

...

「In an open area within the Celestial Pit.」

Qi Yue looked at Chen Fan with a serious expression. "Domain Lord, you can make the first move."

"Alright."

Chen Fan didn’t waste any time. Leaning on his staff, he stood a dozen meters from Qi Yue and gave a slight nod.

The next moment—

The 21-meter-long section of the City Wall at the entrance of Cave No. 1 suddenly came to life. It began to move rapidly, enclosing Qi Yue in the blink of an eye.

The barrel of a Godslaying Cannon pressed against his forehead.

...

Before Qi Yue could even react, Chen Fan’s figure vanished from his sight. When he looked up again, he found himself completely surrounded by a seven-meter-high City Wall.

And the very same Godslaying Cannon he had just witnessed was pressed against his skull.

Chen Fan’s voice drifted from outside the walls.

"Are you ready? I’m about to attack."

"Domain Lord!"

Qi Yue screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice ragged with panic, "Stop! Stop! We can’t fight like this! I’ll die! I’ll really die! I can’t take a hit like that!"

He was a Tenfold Body Tempering Martial King, an incredibly powerful individual.

But he knew with absolute certainty that he could not possibly survive a blast from that cannon.

To take that hit was to die.

"Just one hit."

"Not even one hit! Domain Lord, I really can’t take it!"

...

’Not even one hit, huh.’

With a regretful wave of his hand, Chen Fan had the City Wall retract into a circle. He then made it slither rapidly around the Celestial Pit encampment, just like the classic game of Snake.

Lame Monkey and the others stood on the sidelines, completely dumbfounded.

’Is that a fucking City Wall?’

’What is happening to the world?’

’A City Wall that can run?’

"Heh."

A grin suddenly spread across Chen Fan’s face. ’The Jiangbei Defense Line I plan to build is 170 kilometers long—that’s 170,000 meters! If I really manage to build it...’

’Then if anyone ever pisses me off...’

’I could just send the City Wall after them.’

’A 170-kilometer-long dragon... Anyone who came would die.’

’The only drawback is...’

’The City Wall can only move within the encampment’s range, and its turrets can only attack creatures within that same range.’

’So...’

"Hmm..."

Chen Fan gazed thoughtfully at the City Wall. ’Is it possible,’ he wondered, ’to place Ghost Fire directly onto the City Wall?’

’I’ll have to experiment with that later.’

He maneuvered the City Wall back to block the entrance of Cave No. 1 and issued an order to Qi Yue and the others. "From now on, kill any unauthorized person who dares trespass into the Mortal Realm on sight. No exceptions."

’I have to protect this City Wall.’

Although this Legendary Mutation was shared across all City Walls, its core was tied to that original one-meter section. If that single meter of wall was ever destroyed, the Legendary Mutation would be lost.

’This is my first Legendary Mutation.’

’I even suspect it might be the only one I get in the next ten years. How much insane luck does it take to randomly get a Legendary Mutation effect?’

’I have to protect it at all costs.’

If it broke, he imagined he’d feel like a lottery winner who loses their ticket. It would be enough to make him want to go hang himself from the Southeast Branch.

"Shao Qiu."

Still not quite satisfied, Chen Fan turned to Shao Qiu. "You’re skilled in stealth and assassination, right? How about we give it a try?"

"Domain Lord..."

Shao Qiu’s face was a mask of misery. "That’s really not a good idea. There’s no way I could test that."

"What a shame."

Chen Fan shook his head, disappointed. He had really wanted to test his "Long Dragon Strangulation" move against an expert to see how it would perform.

’That’s right.’

’I’ve named this move ’Long Dragon Strangulation’.’

’It’s very fitting.’

’The only weakness is that the City Wall is too short. A Level 3 City Wall is only seven meters high, and even the section I upgraded to Level 4 is just fifteen meters.’

’Not high enough.’

’What if they just fly out?’

’If it were several dozen meters high, that would be perfect. No one could fly out then. Once I trapped them, no matter how powerful the expert, they would be strangled to death by me.’

’It’s just too overpowered.’

That was his final, awestruck conclusion about this Legendary Mutation.

...

「Inside the Encampment.」

Chen Fan sat alone atop the City Wall, pondering whether it was possible to install Ghost Fire on it. He finally concluded that it was feasible.

Ghost Fire could indeed be installed on the City Wall.

However, to complete his 170-kilometer-long dragon—spanning Jiangnan and charging straight for the Guanxi Plain—there were still many problems to solve.

For instance...

The altar couldn’t be placed on the City Wall, for one. For another, Ghost Fire installed on the wall would be fragile. If a Ghost Fire shattered somewhere, a section of the encampment’s range would be lost. The speeding "long dragon" would get stuck in place, with the middle section of the City Wall unable to move.

There were many difficulties.

But that was fine. This was just an idea. He would find solutions eventually.

’Four years from now, on the day the Undersea Ghost Tide makes landfall, my 170-kilometer-long Jiangbei Defense Line will be ready. It will march south and head for the Guanxi Plain. If my Jiangbei Defense Line protects the Guanxi Plain from invasion by Ghost Objects... surely it wouldn’t be unreasonable to collect a little protection money, right?’

...

Chen Fan sat alone on the City Wall, lost in thought.

Meanwhile, Qi Yue, Lame Monkey, and the others stood outside the wall within the Celestial Pit. They stared at the crater, over ten meters wide, in the rock face, silent for a long, long time.

The shocks they had received tonight were simply too much to process.

"If you were Level 20, could you take that blast?"

Shao Qiu asked, turning his head to look at Qi Yue.

"I don’t know."

Qi Yue shook his head. "But I feel like I probably couldn’t. Have you forgotten? This is a world of Ghost Objects. Humanity’s only shield against them are the Architects."

"Architects are the first line of defense against Ghost Objects."

"No matter how high our Cultivation, we only play supporting roles. We have no say on the main battlefield. You’re a master of assassination, but when the Ghost Tide arrives, can you go assassinate a Ghost King?"

"You can’t."

"These structures are built to fight Ghost Objects. We warriors can’t possibly block them. If you calculated the overkill damage from that one blast... it would be enough to wipe out my entire clan nine times over."

...

Shao Qiu fell silent. For the first time, he felt utterly powerless. That one cannon blast had shattered every last shred of his pride.

’Is it too late to go to Mortal City and steal back the Architect’s Order that the Wang Clan bought?’

’I want to be an Architect, too.’

’It felt like being an Architect was a much better career path. The power of that one cannon shot was worth more than several years of him painstakingly chipping away with his daggers. He’d have to chip away for years to dig a pit that deep.’