Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Amass Provisions, Be Slow to Claim the Throne

But what happened today made it clear that not many travelers passed through this area!

He couldn’t earn too many Ghost Stones by charging for lodging. If he wanted to live long enough, he had to obtain Ghost Stones by killing Ghost Objects.

He couldn’t just sit back and deplete his resources.

He needed a stable source of income!

The next moment—

He plunged his arm into the scalding flames of the Ghost Fire, but bizarrely, neither his skin nor his clothes were damaged in the slightest. He retrieved a whole Ghost Stone from the fire, clutched it together in his palm with the one he had just obtained, and slowly closed his eyes.

And then!

Before Lame Monkey’s disbelieving eyes, the two Ghost Stones in his hand began to melt rapidly, turning into a milky-white liquid that dripped from between his fingers. Before it could touch the ground, it morphed into dozens of ethereal white threads that floated in mid-air, began to assemble in an orderly fashion, and gradually solidified.

「A few seconds later.」

A Steel Beast Trap fell from the air and landed on the ground.

This was a Level 1 Beast Trap, which he had just created by consuming two Ghost Stones. It could damage Low-Level Ghost Objects, thereby providing him with a continuous supply of more Ghost Stones!

"It worked."

Chen Fan stood there, a smile spreading across his face as he looked at the exceedingly simple-looking Beast Trap on the ground. In that single moment, the complex knot of tension, fear, and confusion that came with being suddenly transported to this dangerous, unknown world loosened considerably.

At least... there was hope.

No more despair.

"Young Master!"

Lame Monkey, who had witnessed the entire process, turned pale, his emotions in a turbulent state. He glanced at the Wooden House, then forcibly lowered his voice, stammering, "Young Master, you’ve actually awakened as an Architect!"

"And you succeeded on your very first try!"

"If we just let the Master know, you’ll be able to return to the family immediately, Young Master. You’ll receive the best treatment, and no one will ever be able to bully you again."

"The Master will surely right the wrongs you’ve suffered all these years!"

"No."

A glint appeared in Chen Fan’s eyes as he chuckled. "I’m not particularly fond of others making my decisions for me."

...

Hundreds of years ago, the eternal night descended.

The world order collapsed in an instant. Countless people fell victim to Ghost Objects, their bodies littering the land. But through the sacrifice of innumerable lives, humanity slowly discovered a way to survive.

By absorbing a single Ghost Stone.

One could enhance their physical constitution, even learn Magic to fight back against the Ghost Objects, becoming almost like the immortals of legend.

These people came to be known as Cultivators.

However—

In this world, hiding is the primary method of survival. Even the most powerful Cultivator cannot fight the endless, tide-like swarms of Ghost Objects in the darkness. When the eternal night falls, if they don’t stay near a Ghost Fire, they will be worn down and killed, no matter how strong they are.

Then there were the lucky few.

After absorbing a Ghost Stone, they would become special Cultivators, individuals who often possessed rather unique abilities.

For example, Nightwalkers, who retained a certain field of vision even after the eternal night fell.

Or Alchemy Masters, who could use the corpses of Ghost Objects, supplemented with Heaven and Earth Spirit Grass, to create Elixirs with various magical effects.

Compared to Ordinary Cultivators, special Cultivators like Nightwalkers and Alchemy Masters were much more powerful and had more abilities at their disposal. They were treated as guests of honor by any faction, and if they were willing to sign a contract to join one, they would receive a large monthly stipend.

And among all these special Cultivators, one type held the highest status and was the rarest of all... the Architect!

Ghost Fire, for example, is a product of an Architect’s skills. No one but an Architect can create such a structure.

Without Architects, this world would have been doomed long ago.

The towering City Walls of the various cities, the defenses of each family’s main camp—all were the handiwork of Architects!

The measure of a faction’s true power was whether or not it had an Architect.

The foundation of the Jiangbei Chen Family’s power was a retained Level 5 Architect!

The Chen Family had a total of 77 outposts, and the Ghost Fire at each one was the handiwork of this retainer. These outposts, in turn, generated a continuous and massive income for the Chen Family.

And he—

had now become an Architect.

Except...

His was a bit more advanced. According to the memories in his mind, no existing Architect could directly use a Building Blueprint. After killing a High-Level Ghost Object, there was a small chance a Building Blueprint would drop. Other Architects could only study the building’s appearance on the Blueprint, gather the corresponding materials, add some Ghost Stones, and attempt to build it through trial and error.

Once they succeeded, they would memorize the recipe, treating it as a closely guarded secret to be passed down only by word of mouth.

Take Ghost Fire, for example. As the most common structure, it was also one of the few whose recipe had been leaked. The widely circulated recipe was: "Requires 10-30 Ghost Stones, a strand of hair from a Pseudo-human Ghost, the head of a Back-Rider Ghost, the heart of a Daylight Ghost, a wisp of withered grass... and so on, for a total of 7 materials."

But in reality.

According to the "Ghost Fire" blueprint for basic structures on his panel, creating a Ghost Fire only required three Ghost Stones and a wisp of any old withered grass to act as kindling.

As for how such a complicated recipe came into being...

It was entirely because others couldn’t see the full contents of the Building Blueprint. Through their fumbling experiments, when those seven miscellaneous materials were combined, the other ingredients all dissolved one another, leaving only the wisp of withered grass behind.

You could simply understand it as a process that only ran smoothly after numerous bugs were stacked on top of each other.

Miss even one step, and the process would fail completely.

The high Ghost Stone cost was also unnecessary. That was purely because not using the Building Blueprint directly resulted in energy loss. Since he used the Building Blueprint directly, his energy efficiency was 100%. Compared to other Architects, it would cost him less to create a structure, and the process would be far more stable.

If other people were taking the winding road up the mountain, he was taking a cable car—the shortest distance between two points.

More efficient, more direct, and faster!

...

"Hooo..."

He let out a soft breath, carefully placing the Level 1 Beast Trap on the edge of the circle of light. Then, he kicked it out into the darkness and began to anticipate the morning’s harvest.

He had no intention of returning to the Jiangbei Chen Family.

’His predecessor would have wanted to return to the Chen Family immediately, desperate to earn his father’s approval, but I don’t have such convoluted notions.’

’A man’s life is half-wasted the moment he starts seeking the approval of others.’

Besides, he couldn’t go back even if he wanted to.

Without a Sound Transmission Talisman and enough money for the journey, there was no way for him to get back to the family, nor any way to contact them.

What he needed to do was slowly build a sanctuary of his own right here. Only after accumulating enough power to protect himself would he consider other matters.

This world didn’t just have monsters that ate people at night; it also had monsters that ate people during the day.

He couldn’t just focus on dealing with Ghost Objects.

"Stockpile grain, slowly take the crown!"

That six-word maxim would be his plan for the foreseeable future.

He wasn’t going anywhere.

He was putting down roots right here!