Journey to the West: Building a Celestial Empire Starting from Lion Camel Ridge

"We can't hold on..."

Chen Ping'an continued, his gaze resolute.

"Then let's figure out a way to hold on."

Ali glanced at him, her eyes flickering slightly.

She clenched her fists silently. Yes, she had to hold on.

Having faced life and death together multiple times, their tacit understanding was beyond words.

......

Chen Ping'an stood up, walked to the center of the shelter, and slowly looked around.

He soon realized that this was the first time he had seriously looked at his shelter.

At the same time, he silently considered the location and purpose of each item.

Now, and even in the future.

Knowing yourself and the enemy is the only way to survive a hundred battles.

You have to figure out your own resources before you can talk about how to fight.

Right in the center, the purification altar.

The stone platform, about half a person's height, has no intricate patterns on its surface; it is as plain as a stone picked up casually from ruins.

But when Chen Ping'an stood next to it, he could feel the warm golden light emanating from the tabletop, gently enveloping his entire body, like an invisible hand guarding the way, driving away the deathly aura that had seeped in from outside.

In addition to eliminating death energy, it also provides spiritual energy in return.

And, a slight healing effect.

To the right of the purification altar is a weapon rack.

It's also about the height of a person, with three squares from left to right, two of which contain items.

The first item is the Iron Bamboo Hunting Bow.

This bow has been Ah Li's old companion for several years. After the bow arm broke, it was repaired and upgraded by the weapon rack. When it came out, it was made of iron bamboo, and the feel, string strength, and accuracy were all improved to a higher level. Even Ah Li said it was "amazing".

Its characteristic is power storage—the bow can store the archer's power. When the string is fully drawn, it is a true harmony between the bow and the archer, making aiming less strenuous and the arrow travels more steadily.

The problem is that we still don't have nearly enough arrows.

Yes, we need to replenish our arrows.

If you have enough demon crystals, you can upgrade to the next level, up to the current level of your shelter.

The second skill is the Bone-Splitting Spear.

The bone knife is the blade, and the wooden stick is the handle.

This is what Chen Ping'an tied up himself on the first day he transmigrated here.

After the weapon rack was upgraded, the original bone knife became a true spearhead, and the spear shaft was no longer a rough wooden stick. The material was indescribable, but it felt exceptionally solid and sharp when held in the hand.

Its special feature is Shock Crack – when the piercing strike hits a hard target, it inflicts shock damage, and cracks explode outward from the point of entry, breaking through the boar's armor and shattering the Death Toad's head.

The third slot is still empty.

There is no third weapon yet.

Chen Ping'an made a mental note of it and continued reading.

To the left of the purification unit is the planting rack.

This was recently built; it has three floors and nine sections, with three pear saplings planted on the top floor.

The saplings were only knee-high, with tender green leaves, curled up, looking as if they hadn't fully woken up yet.

The panel says it will be ripe in fourteen days.

Based on the 1.5x acceleration effect of the planting rack, it would actually take about ten days.

Once the pears ripen, they will have one more food source that they won't have to risk hunting for every day.

Although it doesn't fill you up, something is better than nothing.

More plants need to be transplanted, and the risk of them going out to forage will increase significantly during the rainy season.

The shelter currently consists of only these three buildings, making it appear quite isolated.

There are two other living people.

The shelter in White Bone Town, the shelter where you and I live.

What a mess.

Ali looked at Chen Ping'an with a puzzled expression as a smile suddenly appeared on his lips.

......

The outermost layer is a golden light barrier.

It is this thin membrane that separates this dilapidated house from the ruins outside.

The deathly aura that permeates the ruins will be partially dissipated in front of this membrane, and the bone demons that try to break through will be continuously burned by its evil-suppressing properties.

This is their biggest asset at present.

To upgrade to the next level, you need 80 Demon Crystals.

This is all the shelter has to offer.

Chen Ping'an sorted out his thoughts and looked at Ali, who was dozing against the wall.

"Ah Li?"

"Um?"

Ali leaned against the wall and opened her eyes.

"Can you tell me what's going on outside Bone Town?"

Ali frowned.

"What do you want to know?"

"all."

Chen Ping'an pondered for a moment and asked, "What's around us? How far away is it? Is it dangerous? Can we go there?"

"And, the potential dangers."

These are all things they may have to face in the upcoming rainy season.

Ali thought for a moment, then propped herself up on the wall and sat up straight.

"Bone Town is situated in a basin," she said. "It is surrounded by terrain, with low hills on the east and west sides. The ridges are not high, but the slopes are very steep. There are few bone demons, but the ruins block the way, making it impossible to climb over."

"Further west, there is a very wide boundary river that flows from Lion Camel Ridge to the west. There is a stone bridge over the boundary river. In the past, demon soldiers would come across that stone bridge to patrol the ruins."

"What about the south?"

"There's a main road to the south," Ali said, trembling slightly. "The demon soldiers came in through that road. I've never been to the south, and I don't dare to go—that road leads straight to the Lion Camel Kingdom, where everything that lives is a demon. Going that way is suicide."

Chen Ping'an nodded. When Tang Sanzang went on his pilgrimage, he must have taken the southern route, crossed Lion Camel Ridge, and entered Lion Camel Kingdom.

"There's a sandbar to the north."

Ali continued, "Once you cross the sandbar, you'll reach the mountains, where the deathly aura will be less intense; however, the demon race also has patrol teams in the mountains, so you can't go too deep."

"Is it in the direction we went to hunt wild rabbits?"

"right."

"Further north of the sandbar, there's a swamp," Ali paused slightly, "the place where that death toad came from last night. There are countless of them in the swamp. When the rainy season comes, the death energy seeps deeper, and these things start crawling out. There's more than one, probably many."

Ali knew what Chen Ping'an was thinking, so she explained it in great detail.

"Besides the Death Toad, I've heard from the old folks that there are also mutated snake demons, and even," Ali paused, "and crocodiles."

Chen Pingan was taken aback. "Have you seen it before?"

Ali shook her head. "The elders have talked about it, but no one has actually seen it."

Chen Pingan suppressed this information in his mind and gestured for Ali to continue.

"Go southwest for about 15 minutes, and you'll find the Earth God Temple," Ali said, her voice calming down. "That's where Liu Cheng and the others are staying."

"This is considered a usable area, not a dangerous area," she paused, "but it's not exactly safe either. I'm not sure if it can withstand the peak of the rainy season."

"And what about the ruins themselves?"

"Ruins are ruins," Ali said. "There are dangers in all directions. Bone demons and hungry ghosts are the most numerous. The closer to the center of the town, the denser the death aura and the higher the density."

She thought for a moment and added, "There's an old well in town. I've passed by it before, and the deathly aura there is particularly strong, gushing out of the well. I wonder what's down there."

An old well in the town.

Chen Pingan made a special note of it.

"There's a cellar in the east of town whose foundation hasn't collapsed. There might be some stored grain, but I've only been there once. There are bone demons inside, so I didn't dare go deep in."

"And the salt shops north of the town," Ali said, "if there's any stock left, they're an important source of supplies. The deathly aura there isn't weak; we can only search them after defeating the Bone Demon."

Chen Pingan wrote all of this down.

He drew a rough map in his mind:

To the north, mountains. Hunting is possible, but not too deep. Between the mountains and ruins lies a sandbar, next to which is a swamp, the lair of the Death Toad.

To the south, the official road leads to the Lion Camel Kingdom, a dead end; I will not go there.

Low hills on the east and west sides, roads blocked.

The ruins themselves: the air is faintly deathly around the edges, growing stronger towards the center. There is an old well in the town, a cellar to the east, and a salt shop to the north.

In the southwest, at the local temple, there are people who are considered allies, but it's uncertain whether they can hold out through the rainy season.

He mentally reviewed the map several times, then looked up.

"Okay, I think I understand."