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

There is only one demon crystal left.

Chen Pingan stared at the panel for a long time, then pulled out the two newly unlocked features and read them word by word.

[Exorcism]: It has a burning effect on evil spirits that approach the barrier. It is triggered passively and does not consume durability.

[Pickup]: Automatically picks up the demon crystals obtained from slaying monsters, which can be stored in a designated location within the shelter at the host's discretion.

Ali was leaning against the wall, about to close her eyes, when she saw Chen Ping'an muttering to himself and asked curiously, "What are you doing?"

"The shelter upgrade unlocked two new features," Chen Ping'an said.

"Firstly, the bone demon will be continuously burned when it gets close to the barrier. This is triggered passively, so we don't need to do anything."

Ali paused for a moment, then sat up straight: "Getting close will get you burned?"

"Yes. Getting close will cause a burn, retreating will stop the burn, but the injury won't heal, and if you get close again, the burn will continue to spread."

Ali was silent for a while, it was unclear whether she was imagining that scene.

Then nod and close your eyes.

"Good."

"The second one," Chen Ping'an continued, "is automatic pickup. The demon crystals fly in after you've defeated them, so you don't have to bend down to pick them up yourself."

Ali opened her eyes again, stared at Chen Ping'an for two seconds, and had a strange expression.

"...So, the reason you were always crouching down to pick things up before was because that feature wasn't available?"

"right."

"You're too much—"

Ali paused for a moment, then closed her eyes again. "Okay, I understand."

Chen Ping'an: "..."

He put the panel away, stood up, walked to the edge of the barrier, looked at the dark ruins outside, and took a deep breath.

Tonight is the time to inspect the goods.

---

The first bone demon approached the barrier at the end of the Xu hour (7-9 PM).

It covered the broken skeleton with a light screen, trying to find a gap at the edges—

Then it paused for a moment.

It made a low, somewhat strange sound, took a half step back, then moved forward again, backed away again, and moved forward again—like a hand repeatedly touching the edge of a hot pan, pulling back each time it touched it, but unable to resist trying again.

Chen Ping'an stared at this action, his heart filled with joy.

it works!

The added evil-suppressing properties prevent the bone demon from being scattered all at once.

Instead, it causes a continuous, low-intensity burn. Once the bone demon gets close, the burn continues to accumulate; once it retreats, the burn stops immediately.

But the wounds that have already been inflicted will not heal; they will only accumulate as you get closer.

Given enough time, the Bone Demon will be unable to hold on by itself without them having to do anything.

For both of them, this would undoubtedly save a great deal of physical energy.

......

As time passed, the Bone Demon's speed became increasingly sluggish.

Chen Ping'an walked to the edge.

The bone knife was handed out without much aiming; it pierced through the core of the bone demon's eerie fire in one strike.

The bones scattered, and the demon crystal fell to the ground.

Then, under Ali's watchful gaze, the demon crystal moved on its own.

It slowly floated up from the ground, passed through the light curtain, and landed steadily at Chen Ping'an's feet.

Automatic pickup.

Chen Ping'an looked down at the demon crystal at his feet, and couldn't help but twitch his lips upwards.

"It's quite convenient."

Ali twitched the corner of her mouth.

"Automatic pickup is actually quite useful," Chen Ping'an explained. "If the bone demons are densely packed, it's impossible to go out and pick up demon crystals. We'll just be watching a treasure trove right in front of us, unable to use it, and ultimately being dragged to our deaths by these monsters."

Ali thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

"How are the burns going?"

"It's burning, but slowly. We can't expect it to burn to death directly; we have to take action ourselves."

Chen Pingan did the math.

"knew."

The string is released, the arrow is fired.

Outside the light barrier, a bone demon was circling. The ghost fire was pierced through it, and its skeleton shattered. The demon crystal floated up on its own before landing, passed through the light barrier, and landed steadily inside.

Ding.

The soft thud as it landed was exceptionally crisp.

Ali turned around this time, looked at the demon crystal that had flown over to her feet, and quieted down.

"...It really works well."

-------

This night was completely different from last night.

The demon-suppressing force continued to burn the approaching bone demons. Each one that got close to the barrier was silently being worn down. By the time they actually tried to attack, they no longer had the fierce energy they had the night before—their movements were sluggish and their reactions were slow.

Chen Ping'an basically doesn't need to aim; he can hit the target every time he pokes someone.

Ali felt less strained—the burns weakened the bone demon's spirituality. The bone demon, which used to circle around and seek out blind spots, requiring her to predict its landing point in advance, began to move slowly as it circled around. Unlike last night, it no longer required her to calculate the angle precisely, making it much easier to shoot.

The demonic crystals flowed in like water.

[Defeat 1 low-level Bone Demon to obtain 1 Demon Crystal]

[Defeat 1 low-level Bone Demon to obtain 1 Demon Crystal]

[Defeat 1 low-level hungry ghost and obtain 1 demon crystal]

……

Amidst the clanging and jingling sounds, Chen Ping'an sensed something he had never felt before.

Calm.

The shelter has food and clean water.

He and Ali had knives and arrows.

The barrier's durability was decreasing at a rate one-third that of yesterday, which made Chen Ping'an know for sure that the light barrier would not collapse.

Before the next bone demon gets close, it has already been burned soft. After the demon crystal is defeated, it will fly over on its own, so you don't have to bend over.

This is a true vigil.

Just after 9 PM, the demon crystal reserves had reached ten.

Chen Pingan glanced at the numbers and did some mental calculations.

At this rate, we'll have enough weapons by the time we finish tonight.

Chen Ping'an glanced at Ali, who also looked relaxed, then turned his gaze back into the darkness, gripped the bone knife firmly, and continued to guard.

......

child time.

The third wave of bone demons has arrived, and it is denser than the previous two.

It seems that the creatures wandering in the deeper ruins were attracted here, crashing into the light screen wave after wave.

Ah Li fired more than a dozen arrows in succession, her archery skills remaining as steady as ever.

But the tension on the bow was accumulating—this bow was originally pieced together, and the marks of three years of use, plus the high intensity of the past two nights, had already stretched the hemp rope at the joints to its limit.

quack!

A crisp snapping sound came from the joint of the bow arm.

Ah Li stopped what she was doing and looked down.

The connection point of the bow arm is broken.

Chen Pingan glanced at it and quickly walked over.

Ali put the bow down, turned the bow over to look at the crack, her expression was calm, but the force with which she gripped the bow arm was slightly heavier.

This bow had been with her for three years, with eight string changes and countless repairs, longer than anything else in the dilapidated house.

"Can it be repaired?"

While suppressing the bone demon, Chen Ping'an turned his head to the side.

"This kind of thing can't be repaired."

Ali gently placed the bow on the ground, sighed, picked up the spare dagger, stood up, and pressed forward. "Continue."

In this wave, the two held out until the bone demons retreated, but Ah Li only had a short dagger left, which drastically reduced the efficiency of her ranged attacks.

The last dozen or so bone demons were dealt with by two people, who had to poke them one by one along the edge of the barrier, which took a lot of effort.

After the tide receded, Chen Ping'an glanced at the total number of demon crystals on the panel.

Forty-three.

Chen Ping'an flipped through the building list, found the weapon rack, and needed 15 demon crystals.

That's enough!

Give me the bow.

Ali looked up: "You know how to repair bows?"

"No, but it can be upgraded."

Ali paused for a second, picked up the broken bow from the ground, handed it over, and asked no more questions.

Chen Pingan took it and found the confirmation button for the weapon rack in the panel.

confirm!

[Weapon Rack - Tier 1 - Under Construction...]

On the ground, to the left of the purification altar stone platform.

New light patterns emerged, smaller in area than the Lingtai, and condensed into a vertical frame about the height of a person, standing there quietly.

There are three squares from left to right.

The grid is not wide, but it is very tall.

He doesn't look particularly good.

Once the frame was complete, Chen Ping'an placed the broken bow inside.

As soon as the bow was placed in its frame, golden light shone forth, enveloping the bow itself.

Golden light seeped in from the broken part of the bow arm, spreading deeper along the bow's grain.

Under the surprised gazes of the two.

The cracks gradually closed in the golden light, the withered fibers in the old wood were reactivated, and the broken hemp rope at the joint of the bamboo arm was reconnected by some invisible tension.

"This is too much..."

Ali opened her mouth wide in surprise, unable to hide the joy on her face.

After all, this bow had been with her for many years, and she had thought there was no hope, but now it seems that it can actually be restored!

But this is only the beginning.

The golden light didn't stop; it continued to seep into various parts of the bow.

The bowstring began to glow, and the color of the bow arm gradually deepened from the dark, old wood color, as if it were transforming into some kind of denser material.

The whole process was silent and slow, but it was clear that it was evolving into something completely different.

About half an incense stick later, the golden light dissipated.

The bow remained suspended in place.

"Give it a try."

Ali nodded vigorously, her hand trembling slightly as she reached out and grasped the bow.

He was stunned for a moment.

The weight has changed; it's a bit heavier than before.

"The material seems different."

Chen Pingan glanced at the upgrade history on the panel.

Upgrade complete

[Iron Bamboo Hunting Bow - Tier 1]

[Function: Archery]

【Special Feature: Charge (The bow can store the archer's power, reducing the stamina required for aiming)】

"The material has been changed to iron bamboo, and it also has the property of storing energy."

"Charging up power?"

Chen Ping'an was pondering how to explain the characteristics of this modern composite bow to Ali in plain language when the latter had already drawn the bow.

hum!

Once the string is pulled, it's completely different from before.

It's not the kind of relaxed feeling that shakes when fully stretched, but rather a taut, even feeling, where every bit of force is steadily caught by the bow, without veering off course or shaking.

The moment she pulled the strings to their fullest extent, she felt something she had never felt before.

The bow and her strength were in harmony; it wasn't that she was wielding a tool that could break at any moment, but rather that the two things were truly in sync.

As if it were an arm or a finger.

Ah Li aimed at a point in the darkness, paused for two seconds, and then released the string.

"It's a magical feeling; it feels like I don't need to exert as much force to aim."

"That's... amazing."

Ali looked at the weapon rack and touched the hunting bow, a hint of joy that she herself might not have realized.

Then Ali raised her head, her expression returning to normal.

He weighed the bow in his hand.

"Why didn't you do this sooner?"

Chen Ping'an: "...Not enough demon crystals."

Ali didn't speak again. She drew her bow again, nocked an arrow, and aimed it at the darkness outside the light barrier.

The string is fully drawn, as steady as a mountain.

She released her grip, and the arrow shot out, piercing through the darkness and precisely striking a bone demon wandering in the distance. The demon crystal tumbled in and landed at her feet.

"good."

Ah Li nodded, which was her assessment of the bow.

Chen Ping'an smiled, picked up his bone knife, and went to set fire to each of the bone demons.

"very nice."

Ah Li silently added another sentence in his heart.