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

The moment I broke free of the barrier, the stench of rotting flesh and the chilling aura of death assaulted me, as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water, along with all the debris inside, onto me.

Chen Ping'an didn't stop. He lowered his body and made his way eastward, using the shadows of the broken walls and ruins as cover.

This was the first time he had faced the world alone.

The road to the ruins of the eastern city was eerily quiet.

The lingering power of the golden light had not yet dissipated, and the low-level ghosts wandering nearby were so intimidated that they shrank into the shadows and did not dare to approach rashly.

Chen Ping'an only saw a few dark red blood essences floating lazily in the rain. As long as he didn't approach them, these intangible things wouldn't attack him.

About half an hour later, Chen Ping'an reached the edge of the market ruins.

This used to be the liveliest place in White Bone Town, but now only a collapsed archway and muddy ground remain.

Chen Ping'an stopped at a collapsed area that resembled a restaurant cellar. He brushed aside the mud and sand and spotted a corner of an oil-paper wrapping soaked in mud and water deep inside.

There is a play!

This kind of oil paper is usually used to wrap food. If we're lucky, we should be able to get through tonight.

Chen Ping'an was overjoyed and was about to step forward.

But the hairs on the back of his neck stood up instantly.

boom!

A dark shadow pounced out from the blind spot of the ruins on the side. Chen Ping'an instinctively rolled to the side and crashed into the mud. The shadow missed its target and landed where Chen Ping'an had been standing, its claws carving four deep marks on the broken bricks.

A demonized wild dog.

It is a medium-sized dog, not large, with sparse, yellowish fur and clearly visible ribs.

But those eyes had been stained a deathly dark red by demonic energy, staring fiercely at Chen Ping'an.

Roar!

The wild dogs bared their teeth and slowly approached Chen Ping'an, who was lying in the mud.

Chen Ping'an struggled to his feet, holding the bone knife horizontally in front of him, and slowly retreated while quickly calculating.

There must be no bleeding.

Once blood is drawn, all the nearby blood essence will be attracted, and that's when true death occurs.

A direct confrontation wouldn't work either; he knew exactly how weak this body was.

That last dodge had already exhausted most of his strength.

He clenched his teeth and pressed his heel against a section of dilapidated low wall.

There's no way to retreat.

The wild dog gathers its strength, its hind legs arching—

Chen Pingan took a deep breath, recalling his childhood experience of beating dogs.

Although this thing has become demonized, its original nature should still be intact.

Chen Ping'an slammed the bone knife heavily onto the ground, making a loud noise.

At the same time, he grabbed a piece of broken brick nearby and slammed it hard against the ground next to the stray dog's head.

Snapped!

The shattered bricks exploded, splashing mud and water everywhere. The loud bang at close range completely terrified the mutated wild dog.

It froze for a full second, then tucked its tail between its legs, darted into the shadows of the ruins with a whoosh, splashing mud and water in its wake, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Chen Ping'an leaned against the crumbling wall, catching his breath, and looked down at the cold sweat seeping from his palms.

He gave a wry smile.

Even a half-grown mutated wild dog nearly forced him to flee for his life.

This body is incredibly weak.

......

Chen Ping'an dug through the soil, unearthed the oil paper package, and slowly opened it.

Three pieces of black bread, as hard as stone and somewhat moldy, and a small piece of dried meat.

In this city, it's more valuable than gold.

......

When Chen Ping'an stepped back into the pale golden barrier, carrying the bone knife and the oil paper package, it was already completely dark outside.

The temperature inside the barrier was much higher than outside. The moment I returned from the cold and damp place, the heat hit me like I had entered another world.

Hearing the noise, Ali, who was curled up in the corner, suddenly raised her head.

Seeing Chen Ping'an covered in mud and rainwater, looking like he had crawled out of the ground, her pupils contracted slightly.

"You're back."

She probably wasn't aware of what was in her voice.

Chen Ping'an nodded, walked to the corner and sat down, placed the bone knife beside him, and then put the oil paper package covered in mud between the two of them.

The oiled paper was unfolded, and the black bread and dried meat fell to the ground.

Ali's eyes widened.

She gritted her teeth, made a gurgling sound in her throat, and stared at the piece of dried meat with the eyes of a hungry wolf eyeing its prey.

But she didn't move.

"Eat."

Chen Ping'an picked up the dried meat, cut off half with a bone knife, and handed it over, saying, "It was dug from the cellar in the market on the east side. Thanks to you for pointing the way."

Ali stared at the meat being handed to her, her hand trembling slightly, then took a small bite and chewed slowly.

Tears fell without warning, pattering onto the dried meat, and she swallowed them along with the bits of meat.

"Stop crying, eat more."

Chen Ping'an gnawed on the moldy black bread, feeling a bit more strength in his body, while glancing at the panel floating in his field of vision.

A gold notification popped up on the panel.

[Host detected bringing back edible supplies; human resident (Ali)'s mood level meets requirements]

[Human Resident Production is now activated: Daily settlement at midnight, current estimated production +1 Demon Crystal/day]

Chen Ping'an paused in his chewing of dry rations.

How many demon crystals can residents produce each day?

He glanced at Ali, who was still silently weeping and gnawing on meat.

There is food, a safe zone, and daily passive income.

He finally managed to tear open the first hole in this damn hellish start.

......

Night fell completely over the ruins of Bone Town.

The rain grew heavier, and the icy raindrops pounded on the ruins, sending up a chilling spray.

In the ruins where all light has been cut off, true terror begins to awaken.

"Crunch...creak..."

The sickening sound of bones grinding together came from all directions.

Chen Ping'an sat in the corner of the dilapidated house, holding a bone knife, staring intently at the pale golden barrier outside.

In the muddy soil, pale hand bones emerged from the earth.

Those were bone demons pieced together from countless broken bones. They had no complete bodies; some had the skulls of wild beasts on their heads, while others used two thigh bones as arms, swaying as they crawled out of the shadows.

In mid-air, a ghostly figure with a sunken abdomen like a black hole wandered silently.

They smelled the life force of living people.

Roar!

A bone demon suddenly pounced on the dilapidated house, its empty eye sockets flickering with eerie green flames, its ten fingers like hooks, fiercely grabbing at the layer of pale golden light.

Just like during the day, the light screen trembled slightly, and the bone demon was bounced away.

These ghosts can't get in!

Chen Ping'an watched the durability on the panel decrease at an extremely slow rate. After doing some calculations, he figured that with the current offensive, holding out for the night was no problem at all.

I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

A bold idea immediately popped into my head.

If you can obtain demon crystals by slaying demon soldiers, then can you also obtain them by hunting these ghosts?

Just do it.

Chen Ping'an suddenly stood up and walked to the edge of the barrier under A Li's tense gaze.

During the day, he had found a sturdy wooden stick and used rags to tightly bind the bone knife to the front end, making it into a simple spear.

Chen Ping'an was well aware of how weak his body was, and that he would surely die in close combat. Therefore, compared to a short sword, a spear was more useful to him.

After all, an inch longer means an inch stronger.

Now, he could take advantage of the barrier's powerful defense mechanism to hide inside and stab the enemy in the back.

Soon, Chen Ping'an set his sights on a small, thin bone demon.

The poor bone demon was crowded with other bone demons and moved slowly. At this moment, it was scratching at the light screen with its bone claws.

Chen Ping'an seized the opportunity, stepped inside the barrier, and through the light screen, thrust the simple spear deep into the ghostly green flame through the gaps in its bones!

Twist it hard!

A snap.

Without the power to hold it together, the bone demon instantly fell apart, turning into a pile of broken bones.

A prompt appeared on the panel.

[Slay a low-level Bone Demon x1, and obtain: Demon Crystal x1]

"I lost money!"

Chen Ping'an's eyes lit up.

Whether it's killing demon soldiers or hunting ghosts, it can all be condensed into demon crystals.

Although each one only has one, which is not as much as that wolf soldier, it is a continuous ATM!

Moreover, Chen Ping'an knew very well that the real demon race was extremely powerful, and that he was able to kill that lone low-level wolf soldier yesterday was purely by luck.

If a large number of demon soldiers are attracted, the durability of this level barrier will not be able to withstand more than a few impacts, and the camp will be trampled to the ground sooner or later.

On the contrary, these ghosts and monsters that lack intelligence and only rush forward according to their survival instincts are the most perfect prey at this stage!

come on!

Go to your death!