Chapter 383 - 171: A Miracle Like a Bolt From the Blue

Chapter 383: Chapter 171: A Miracle Like a Bolt From the Blue

As he walked, Chen Fan came to a stop. He stood before a Godslaying Cannon Tower, a smile touching his lips as he gazed out at the distant sea.

"I’m ready."

"Bring it on."

In the past few days, he had used up a good portion of the Mortal Realm’s Ghost Stone reserves. Only about 500 million Ghost Stones remained, and he needed to save enough to be used as ammunition.

Once the defense line was fully activated, the daily consumption of Ghost Stones would be in the tens of millions. If he didn’t maintain a sufficient reserve, the defense line would fall silent after just a few days of firing.

...

Time ticked by.

It was now the end of the year.

The end of the tenth month, year 380 of the Eternal Night Calendar.

The rainy season was about to arrive; half a year had passed.

Over the past six months, the Mortal Realm had developed steadily. Mining on the New Continent continued, as did Wang Mazi’s explorations.

Furthermore, after he built several more Flying Ships and the Mortal Realm’s Commerce Pavilion expanded its membership again, the pace of exploration there had quickened considerably.

Now, they had nearly finished exploring the entire continent.

After some calculations, a conclusion was reached.

To cover the entire New Continent with Ghost Fire would require approximately 169,361 Max Level Ghost Fires. This was assuming optimal placement; any mistakes, such as too much overlap between Ghost Fires, would require even more.

The cost of one Ghost Fire was 19,963 Ghost Stones.

Nearly twenty thousand.

With the effect of the Celestial Dao Blessing, he no longer needed any Heavenly and Earthly Treasures to upgrade Ghost Fires, only Ghost Stones.

It’s just...

The rainy season was approaching, and the temperature was gradually dropping. Chen Fan, wrapped in a woolen blanket, sat in a rocking chair on the City Wall of Cave No. 1. He stared at the numbers Wang Kui had presented to him, remaining silent for a long, long time.

"Domain Lord."

Wang Kui reported in a low voice, "According to our calculations, to cover the entire New Continent with Ghost Fire, we will need to consume..."

"...approximately 3.38 billion Ghost Stones."

"The total deployment time is estimated at one year."

"Including the consumption for Flying Ships and other expenses, the total cost should be around 3.39 billion Ghost Stones."

"..."

Chen Fan’s brows furrowed slightly. He stared at the astronomical figure on the kraft paper for a long while before finally letting out a long sigh. Leaning back in his chair, he waved his hand, dismissing Wang Kui.

The number had shocked him.

The Jiangbei Defense Line had only cost a total of 800 million Ghost Stones.

Covering the New Continent with Ghost Fire would require 3.39 billion Ghost Stones.

’Is this even a task a human can accomplish?’ If he didn’t have the Celestial Dao Blessing for Ghost Fire, even if he had enough Ghost Stones, he would never have enough Heavenly and Earthly Treasures to complete the task.

The most important thing was—

The Mortal Realm didn’t have that many Ghost Stones.

From July to the end of October, their total savings had only reached about 1.9 billion Ghost Stones, far from the required amount.

At the current mining speed on the New Continent, it would take at least another year or a year and a half to save up that many Ghost Stones.

The reason the mining speed on the New Continent had increased was that the Mortal Realm had recruited another fifty thousand non-staff personnel at the end of July and sent them to the New Continent.

And even if he did save up that many Ghost Stones...

...he was reluctant to spend the Ghost Stones he had accumulated for so long just to obtain the "Ruling the World" reward.

Chen Fan gently rubbed his temples. ’Based on my experience from my past life, many factions that were developing well would suddenly pour a massive amount of wealth into building something huge, only to collapse as a result.’

The Undersea Ghost Tide would make landfall in only two years.

He had also planned to build more Celestial Pillars during this year’s rainy season. Although the pillars built at this time wouldn’t be ready when the Undersea Ghost Tide first made landfall, they could be used the year after, adding to his foundation.

He would build a few every year, accumulating them like wealth.

He was the only person on the Eternal Night Continent with a "Player Panel." It was just like when he received a reward for being the first to create a Max Level Building; even though Max Level Buildings had existed on the Eternal Night Continent long before him.

In other words,

Any rewards or buildings that required the panel were things only he could claim and use.

Then, he picked up a Sound Transmission Talisman to contact Wang Kui. Soon, Wang Kui returned with an Exotic Treasure, handed it to Chen Fan, and then withdrew again.

-

[Exotic Treasure Name]: Heaven-Asking Incense.

[Exotic Treasure Level]: Green.

[Exotic Treasure Effect]: Light a stick of incense and ask one question. After sacrificing a certain number of Ghost Stones, you will receive an absolutely correct answer. If the question cannot be answered, or if an insufficient number of Ghost Stones are sacrificed, the stick of incense will automatically shatter.

-

This was an Exotic Treasure he had obtained a very, very long time ago.

There were three sticks of incense in total.

The first two sticks had helped him obtain the Yunling Pavilion. This was the last one, and he had been reluctant to use it, intending to wait until he had collected a related Exotic Treasure.

But after all this time, the Mortal Realm had never managed to collect a similar Exotic Treasure.

Now, he decided to let this stick of incense help him make a decision.

He slowly lit the stick of incense before him. As wisps of green smoke drifted up, he took a deep breath and spoke in a solemn voice.

"I beseech the heavens."

"The Max Level Effect of Ghost Fire is ’Ruling the World,’ which grants a special reward if a continent is completely covered in Ghost Fire. I now have the opportunity to complete this task, but it requires me to spend 3.39 billion Ghost Stones."

"This amount of Ghost Stones is a significant burden for me."

"Can you tell me what the ’Ruling the World’ reward is? Or, tell me if it is worth exchanging 3.39 billion Ghost Stones for the ’Ruling the World’ reward?"

Soon,

The wisps of green smoke rising from the Incense Burner slowly gathered together, forming a line of text.