Chapter 59: Earth Dragon Migration
Chen Fan climbed the battered Wall, resting his hands atop the cracked parapet as he gazed out over the Camp. Below, his people scurried about their tasks, each absorbed in the relentless work of survival. He said nothing, his eyes fixed on the distant, gray horizon.
He’d nad this entire relocation: “Earth Dragon Migration.”
He wasn’t even sure why.
Maybe he just liked giving nas to the things he did. There was no grand aning behind it—just a way to mark the milestones of his life. If, one day, he had to face death, at least he could look back and know he hadn’t wasted his days on nothing.
There were nine people in the Camp now, counting himself.
Everyone else was busy.
Even Big Fish, who used to be Wang Mazi’s lackey, wasn’t out scavenging with Zhou Mo today. Instead, he’d joined the butchering crew, swiftly carving Ghoststones from the corpses of fallen Ghostbeasts.
Qi Chong and his pig-farming brother, Ah Le, were sorting through the salvageable supplies in the warehouse and preparing to transplant last night’s surviving Flesh Ghost Twin Seed from the Farmland—ready to take it to the new base.
Crippled Monkey rummaged through the ruined Wooden Houses, stuffing pots, bowls, clothes, and anything else worth saving into ceramic jars.
The corpses left by the Mourning Ghosts after Splitting didn’t yield any Ghoststones.
But the bodies themselves were still useful.
There were well over a thousand Mourning Ghost corpses—far too many to haul away. They’d have to take just a portion to use as fertilizer for the Farmland and sacrifice the rest at the Sacrificial Tower.
Chen Fan exhaled softly. No point in dawdling. He strode toward the battered Sacrificial Tower at the heart of the ruined Camp. The tower still stood, and Wang Mazi’s crew was already piling up stripped Ghostbeast corpses beside it.
The entire Camp bustled with frantic activity, rain soaking everyone to the bone.
Moving bodies was backbreaking work.
He rembered, in his previous life, traveling during the New Year. He’d crossed a rope bridge over a gorge, only to see the bamboo forest below—recently hacked down—its stumps jutting up like Groundspikes. Just like in the movies, where the shotgun above the mantle always goes off, the bridge snapped. People tumbled like dumplings into the bamboo below.
He’d spent hours that day hauling corpses.
They were heavy. Dead weight.
And here—over a thousand bodies. Chen Fan glanced down at his Ghostskin Map, calculating how long it would take to reach the Natural Ghostfire Zone to the north.
Moving house was never easy.
Especially when you had a battlefield this size to clean up.
…
Two hours later.
Noon.
Everyone had worked nonstop, without a break for food or rest.
Chen Fan eyed the little Sacrificial Tower beside the ruined Wooden Houses—a seven-tiered, waist-high structure of blue stone.
“Sacrifice Ghostbeast corpses to gain Special Resources.”
“The stronger the Ghostbeast corpse, and the more you offer, the greater the value of the Special Resource you receive.”
He’d sacrificed most of the Ghostbeast corpses he’d killed over the past few days—skinned, drained, and offered to the tower. But he hadn’t received any Special Resources for his efforts.
There was a progress bar on the System Panel at the tower’s base.
—
[198/500 Sacrifice Points]
[Complete this Sacrifice to receive one Green Grade Special Resource.]
—
The first ti he’d done this, the requirent was just “100 Sacrifice Points.” He’d tossed in a hundred ordinary Ghostbeast corpses and filled the bar in no ti. If he’d completed the sacrifice then, he’d have received a White Grade Special Resource.
But he’d stopped himself.
He realized that reaching 500 Sacrifice Points wasn’t much harder—and that would earn him a Green Grade reward.
Even Qiuhui’s corpse had contributed 20 Sacrifice Points.
He’d planned to hold out for the 500-point reward.
But now, with the migration underway, the Sacrificial Tower couldn’t be moved. The unfinished sacrifice progress would be lost, so he decided to complete the ritual before leaving.
As each corpse was dumped before the tower, they lted rapidly—just like when a Flesh Maggot Ghost self-destructed up close—dissolving into a viscous, odorless fluid that the tower absorbed. The blue stone of the tower began to change.
The first tier turned milky white.
As the progress bar climbed, the second tier was gradually cloaked in an eerie green.
And soon enough—
500 Sacrifice Points. Done.
—
[500/2000 Sacrifice Points]
[Complete this Sacrifice to receive one Yellow Grade Special Resource.]
—
“Yellow Grade…” Chen Fan blinked in surprise. This was the first ti he’d ever seen a Yellow Grade reward. If he completed the sacrifice now, he’d get a Green Grade Special Resource. If he kept going, he could earn multiple Green Grade rewards with repeated sacrifices.
Green Grade was already nothing to scoff at.
He only owned a handful of Green Grade Unique Treasures.
But Yellow Grade…
He’d never seen one before. He wanted it—badly.
He needed just 1,500 more Sacrifice Points. That ant 1,500 more ordinary Ghostbeast corpses. That was impossible—Crippled Monkey and the others had already tallied up the count, including the bodies dug out of the Farmland.
They had only 1,320 Ghostbeast corpses left.
Still short by 180 Sacrifice Points.
He could either stop now and leave with a Green Grade Unique Treasure, or move out and co back to finish the sacrifice later.
“Bring the Mourning Ghost Leader’s corpse.”
Chen Fan turned to Crippled Monkey and gave the order.
He couldn’t see the exact level of Ghostbeasts, but the Mourning Ghost Leader was one of the Ghost King’s four lieutenants—surely it was worth at least 180 Sacrifice Points?
Monts later, the corpse was brought forward and tossed before the tower.
Sacrifice complete.
He gained 50 Sacrifice Points.
…
Chen Fan laughed aloud.
Suddenly, he found the Mourning Ghosts—these splitting, multiplying fiends—downright adorable. If only he could run into more of them in the future! Each Leader’s corpse was worth 50 Sacrifice Points, and he still had fifteen more—spawned from the Splitting of the original Mourning Ghost Leader.
He kept sacrificing.
Soon, every Ghostbeast corpse was stacked before the tower. The progress bar shot up to 1,850. After tossing in three more Mourning Ghost Leader corpses, the bar hit 2,000—exactly.
The third tier of the tower turned pale yellow.
Sacrifice complete.
The three colors faded from the tower’s surface, returning it to plain blue stone. Inside, a chanical click sounded, and a box popped out from the top—bearing a blueprint as thin as a cicada’s wing.
Chen Fan picked up the Yellow Grade building blueprint, awe flickering in his eyes. He couldn’t suppress the excitent spreading across his face.
Every building in his Camp was White Grade.
He didn’t even have a single Green Grade structure.
And now—just like that!
A Yellow Grade building blueprint, in his hands.
Special Resources ca in many forms—Ghoststones, Unique Treasures, Ghost Talents, Building Blueprints—but of all of them, building blueprints were by far the most valuable. He’d gotten lucky. With this, he could develop his Rear Base in the north so much faster.
—
[Unique Treasure Na]: Vehicle Workshop
[Unique Treasure Grade]: Yellow
[Unique Treasure Effect]: Building blueprint. Allows the manufacture of various vehicles.
—
A simple description, but packed with promise.
He crushed the blueprint. Instantly, his Lord’s System Panel displayed a new constructible building:
Vehicle Workshop.
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