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

Its daybreak.

The morning light shone through the gaps in the ruins, casting a faint warmth on the bluish-gray stone walls.

Ali leaned against the city wall, closed her eyes, and dozed off.

Chen Pingan stood up and stretched.

He slowly walked to the walkway on the stone wall and glanced outside.

As the deathly aura faded with the night, the densely packed bone demons dispersed.

All that remained on the ground were large and small aggregate fragments, scattered sparsely at the base of the stone wall by the morning breeze.

What remains after a night of fierce fighting is not just the battlefield before us.

There are also 203 demon crystals on the panel.

Chen Ping'an was overjoyed; this was the largest amount of demon crystals he had ever acquired!

"If you have good equipment, you'll stand tall."

Suddenly, a sentence popped into Chen Ping'an's mind.

He looked up at the dark arrow tower, where the firing port at the top still glowed with a purple light.

There have always been two bottlenecks in shooting down the strange creatures.

1. The number of arrows is limited.

Second, archers have limited physical strength.

But with the addition of arrow towers, the situation changed completely.

As long as there are enough demon crystals, this thing can automatically detect enemy activity and fire arrows. It will reliably collect one crystal for every bone demon or hungry ghost it hunts.

Roughly speaking, the kill efficiency is more than five times that of two people manually keeping watch at night.

With the rainy season approaching and the deathly energy surging, the benefits brought by the arrow towers will be even more considerable.

Besides the bone demon, the number of hungry ghosts killed last night also set a new historical record.

Yesterday evening, Chen Ping'an thought of this matter—hungry ghosts have an instinctive attraction to the aroma of human food, and are more sensitive and easier to be attracted than ordinary bone demons.

Therefore, after discussing it, the two wrapped the bones left over from grilling the fish in a rag and carefully hung them on the outside of the stone wall.

The fragrance lingered in the ruins until midnight.

To be honest, the two had discussed this a long time ago, but at that time the shelter's attack capabilities were limited, and it was probably not enough to resist a large number of hungry ghosts and bone demons at the same time.

But things are different now.

The stone walls strengthened the barrier, and the arrow towers significantly increased the attack power.

Many things that we dared to think about but not dare to do before, we can now do without hesitation.

"These hungry ghosts have at least eaten their fill."

A sly smile appeared on Chen Ping'an's lips. They hadn't gotten any fresh food, but they had eaten their fill of every volley of energy arrows fired from the arrow tower.

------

As the sun rose to its zenith, Chen Ping'an climbed the stone wall and began planning the location of the second arrow tower.

The one in the northeast corner covers the east and north.

The southwest direction is completely blank—the area near the local temple is usually less dense with bone demons, but during the rainy season, they come from all directions. Once a bone demon gets close to the southwest, it becomes a dead end.

Southwest corner.

Chen Ping'an stood there for a while, looked towards the ruins, carefully calculated the angle and range, found no problems, and clicked confirm.

Ali stood beside him, looking quite relaxed, watching a new arrow tower slowly emerge from the stone wall.

I no longer need to draw my bow and arrow so often, and my energy levels have improved a lot.

But it's Chen Ping'an who's in it.

Ali glanced at it sideways. She had barely slept all night, manipulating demon crystals to put into the arrow tower. Despite having dark circles under her eyes, she still looked quite energetic.

The cylindrical tower is firmly embedded in the wall, with no seams between it and the wall, as if it had always been there.

The tower took shape, its firing port pointing southwest. Pale purple light condensed at the top of the tower, forming three measurable arrows.

Just as he was about to upgrade the barrier again, Ali raised her head and her gaze sharpened slightly.

"They're here."

"Huh? Who?"

Chen Ping'an did not receive a reply from Ali, nor did he need one.

He caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of two figures slowly walking towards him from the southwest.

I've never seen that burly figure before.

But the one behind him is Liu Cheng.

Chen Pingan stood up and narrowed his eyes slightly.

When Liu Cheng came before, they exchanged a few polite words, and he said he would definitely pay a visit when he had time; now it seems that the other party can't wait any longer.

Could something have happened at the local temple?

------

The two walked quickly and soon arrived at the stone wall of the shelter.

Chen Ping'an then noticed that there was another boy he had never seen before, carrying a package, standing next to Liu Cheng. However, because the leader was extremely burly and tall, the thin boy was completely hidden.

"Is this the Brother Fan that Liu Cheng was talking about?"

Ali nodded without saying a word, secretly clenching her fist.

Chen Ping'an understood her thoughts, which is why, despite his great curiosity about cultivation, he had never mentioned it to Ali over the past few days.

Because that would most likely involve a past event that Ali doesn't want to talk about.

"Young Master Chen."

Fan Qiming stopped under the stone wall and cupped his hands in greeting.

"Senior Fan, I have long admired your name."

Chen Ping'an stood on the stone wall, also cupping his hands, and controlled a section of the stone wall to slowly descend.

Amidst the rumbling sounds, Fan Qiming surveyed the ancient, mottled stone wall, his eyes filled with utter shock and astonishment.

At that moment, all he wanted to do was roar at Liu Cheng and ask, "You son of a bitch, is this even a little bit more stable?"

This can no longer be called a shelter!

It would be more appropriate to call it a protective fortress!

Fan Qiming thought about his drafty earth temple and the incense offerings that he could no longer afford, and closed his eyes in pain. He had actually thought of inviting Ali and the other to his shelter. It was just wishful thinking!

Let alone Ali, Fan Qiming even wondered if he was seeing things when he first saw the city wall.

"This wasn't available a few days ago..."

Liu Cheng stammered, his hand pointing at the stone wall trembling uncontrollably.

As someone who witnessed firsthand the stark difference between the past and the present, Liu Cheng was overwhelmed with astonishment. Where did these two people get the materials from, and how did they manage to create such a stone wall with such ingenuity?

That's at least ten feet tall!

What kind of strange creature could climb over it?

Whether there are actually that many stones in the ruins is another matter, but the speed of construction is simply astonishing!

And the craftsmanship involved in its creation...

Fan Qiming suppressed his shock and carefully stroked the stone wall, only to be surprised to find that the stone wall had no seams at all, as if it were carved from a single large piece of stone!

How is this possible?

"Are there really rocks that big?"

Fan Qiming muttered to himself.

Liu Cheng clearly heard himself swallow, and his voice became hoarse.

"Never seen it before."

He tried to turn his neck to look at Boss Fan, who was almost in a daze, and thought to himself, "Boss, what nonsense are you talking about? Even if there is such a big rock, even with your current Qi Refining Ninth Level, can you move it?"

And what is that building, which is more than ten feet tall, on the city wall?

Fan Qiming followed Liu Cheng's gaze, his pupils contracting slightly.

The pale purple light remained dormant at the blast nozzle, yet he had a vague feeling of being locked on.

And an intense life-or-death crisis!

And there were three of the same rays of light!