On the city wall.
Chen Fan carefully placed the miniature incense holder on a crenel of the parapet, preparing to begin inquiring of Heaven.
There was no need to light a fire.
With a single thought.
The incense stick on the far left spontaneously ignited, wisps of bluish smoke drifting into the rainy night.
The scent was actually pleasant.
He subconsciously sniffed, then took a deep breath, his expression turning serious.
—
"Forgive my ignorance, O Lord of Heaven."
"I want a building named 'Training Hall'. I wonder how to obtain the blueprint for it?"
—
If the question was too simple, it wasn't worth it.
If the question was too complex, he couldn't afford the price.
So his idea was,
Don't ask about the future.
Only ask questions that are currently relevant.
What he wished for now was the blueprint for 'Training Hall,' which could enhance his subordinates' combat prowess. Buildings alone were not enough for a camp; his followers' strength also mattered greatly. For example, on a trading trip, they needed whatever means necessary to protect themselves and the goods.
Soon.
The wisps of bluish smoke rising from the incense holder slowly gathered together and formed a line of characters.
—
"Requires 10 Eerie Stones."
—
Chen Fan furrowed his brows. Ten Eerie Stones in the warehouse shattered, turning into a milky white liquid that flowed into the incense holder. Only 10 Eerie Stones? Perhaps he had asked a question that was too simple?
He had originally thought this should be a rather rare building.
After all, in his memory, there was no such thing as a 'Training Hall.' Not to mention the Chen Clan, even all of Rivernorth City had none.
The next moment.
The wisps of bluish smoke became another line of characters.
—
"There is no blueprint for Training Hall."
"It is a Qualitative Change upgrade direction that has a certain probability of occurring when the white-grade building 'Wooden Hut' reaches level 4. This is a Qualitative Change upgrade direction evaluated as 'Rare'."
"This is the only way to obtain it."
—
"..."
Chen Fan stood in place, wordless and expressionless, watching the dissipating bluish smoke and the burnt-out incense stick, at a loss for words.
This basically meant that he stood little chance of laying hands on a 'Training Hall' in the immediate future.
Upgrading a Wooden Hut all the way to level 4 required 82 Eerie Stones.
It was like opening mystery boxes.
Perhaps, after unboxing 100 of them, you'd get it.
Or it was likely that after unboxing 1000, you still wouldn't get it.
The probability was uncertain. He only knew it was evaluated as Rare. Who knew how many times you'd have to try to get it?
Actually, he was relatively lucky.
At least he could see the panel.
For other forces that wanted a 'Training Hall,' it would cost even more.
First, they got to consume more Eerie Stones to build and upgrade the Wooden Hut. Plus, they couldn't see the panel. Even if they were lucky enough to actually stumble upon the very upgrade direction, because they couldn't see the panel, they could only get one random upgrade direction.
The probability would suffer as a result.
No wonder there wasn't a single Training Hall throughout Rivernorth City.
This building just wasn't something ordinary forces could afford.
But—
This only cemented his determination to obtain this building. As long as he could get a 'Training Hall,' it would vault his crew far above all of Rivernorth City in terms of cultivation.
Sheer superiority.
After some thought, he lit the second incense stick and asked again.
—
"Forgive my ignorance, O Lord of Heaven."
"What methods are there for me to obtain the Rare upgrade direction for 'Training Hall'?"
—
The next moment.
Wisps of bluish smoke wafted up and formed a line of characters.
—
"Requires 1000 Eerie Stones."
—
"It worked!"
A trace of joy crossed Chen Fan's eyes. His gambling paid off. If the price for this answer had been trivial, it would mean there was no alternative—trying his luck was the only way. But if the price was high, it meant there might be a shortcut!
He had gambled on that shortcut. At worst, he'd lose only one stick of Heaven-Questioning Incense.
There weren't many Eerie Stones left in the camp.
More than half of their Eerie Stones reserve had been consumed to build that 50-meter-long city wall. But there were more outside the wall, all within the camp's range, thus at his disposal.
After using up 1000 Eerie Stones.
The wisps of bluish smoke turned into another line of characters.
—
"When a 'Wooden Hut' achieves level 4, place a 'Mountain Embryo Corpse'----a kind of Natural Treasure---inside the Wooden Hut."
"During the upgrade, the Wooden Hut will absorb the Mountain Embryo Corpse."
"There is a 100% probability of encountering the Qualitative Change upgrade direction for 'Training Hall'."
—
"Worth it!"
Chen Fan heaved a sigh of relief. Spending 1000 Eerie Stones was worth it. He looked at the last incense stick in the incense holder. He didn't plan to use it now. He would save it for later.
He couldn't bear to use it.
Better to keep it for now.
But when the talk turns to Mountain Embryo Corpse.
"..."
Chen Fan turned and walked down the city wall, heading deep into the cave. He strolled up to the wall that blotted out the level 5 Eerie Fire.
The city wall retracted into the ground.
The Eerie Fire lay in a pit, the cold white flame dancing gently.
And within the flame.
A dark red fleshy mass, as large as a human brain, was slowly pulsating. This was the Mountain Embryo Corpse.
It could be used for refining pills, setting up formations, and crafting artifacts.
It was a Natural Treasure.
A creation of heaven and earth.
Building a Training Hall with this Mountain Embryo Corpse was out of the question. The cave had been stabilized solely by it. However... As he had gathered from 'Qian Fu,' there was another Mountain Embryo Corpse hidden in this Nameless Mountain.
He didn't know its specific location.
But perhaps a local native would.
"..."
He swung his gaze onto the crocodile lying outside the cave, with eyes brimming with anticipation and a huge porcelain vat in its embrace. This vat was meant to be Heyhey's bowl, which it had remembered on its own. Even when the Eerie Tide had struck earlier, it hadn't forgotten to carry the vat in its mouth as it holed up in the cave's depths.
It fixed its lantern-sized stare on Crippled Monkey and the others.
Clearly, it was dying to start tonight's seafood feast.
After all, it had never eaten it before.
"Hey!"
Chen Fan shouted.
Upon hearing the sound, the crocodile immediately got up, picked up the vat in its mouth, and trotted towards him from outside.
With its stocky limbs, the crocodile looked comically clumsy as it scuttled over.
"Smell it."
Chen Fan gestured for the crocodile to smell the Mountain Embryo Corpse in the Eerie Fire, then asked with a hint of hope, "Have you smelled this scent anywhere else?"
Heyhey obediently came up and sniffed.
Then, without a second thought, it nodded vigorously.
"Really?"
Chen Fan couldn't believe his luck. With an irrepressible grin, he patted the crocodile on its head. "Go on, go play. Tonight, I'll get you some seafood. Tomorrow morning, take us over there."
This guy.
It was simply his good-luck charm.
He had done him quite a few big favors.
"Wait a minute, come back, don't go play yet!"
"Work overtime tonight to expand the cave."
"Go work."
"Yes, this wall, keep digging."
The warehouse had to be built as soon as possible.
The copper pipes he had accumulated over these days had all been piled on the floor of the abyss pit. During the Eerie Tide attack, some of the copper pipes had been damaged.
Since they belonged to him, even though they were all freebies, he still felt somewhat bothered about that.
But if there had been a warehouse, it would have been a different story. Although it cost dearly to build it, as the panel stated, it boasted an immense internal space.