"And—"
Pockmark Wang paused briefly before continuing, "The Rivernorth Chamber of Commerce wields tremendous power. We cannot target Sky-Flattening without any justification, lest the Rivernorth Chamber of Commerce intervene."
"The Rivernorth Chamber of Commerce does not permit such cutthroat competition, as it would disrupt the business environment."
"By then, the enemies we would face would not only be Sky-Flattening but also the Rivernorth Chamber of Commerce."
"Unless we have a justification that no one can find fault with."
Pockmark Wang's reasoning was sound.
But—
He was hardly receptive to it.
That sounded like too much trouble to him.
Regardless, they must start a Chamber of Commerce. He could see the effects of Extraordinary Treasures without having them appraised, which meant that he could keep all the useful Extraordinary Treasures for himself.
And sell off all the inferior ones.
They would secure a profit margin far wider than any other Chamber of Commerce!
He believed there was an easier way to do it. They need not slowly nibble away at them; just uproot Sky-Flattening, then everything would work out."
He had already thought of a justification.
Chen Quan, the current heir of the Rivernorth Chen Clan and the grandson of Sky-Flattening's owner, had used schemes to drive Chen Fan out to the wasteland.
Should he return to Rivernorth City for revenge—first wiping out the Chen Clan, then Sky-Flattening, that would be perfectly reasonable.
No one could find any fault with it.
Chen Fan had a just cause for action.
And what justification would sound more compelling than—
"The first trueborn of the Rivernorth Chen Clan, persecuted by a villain, came back to the Chen Clan to reclaim his rightful position as heir and annihilated the villain's family."
"Hah."
Upon reaching this point, Chen Fan laughed. This justification could not be more appropriate. The remaining problem was how to eliminate the "Rivernorth Chen Clan" and the "Sky-Flattening Chamber of Commerce."
...
A night passed.
By mid-morning the next day, the camp gradually grew lively.
It was the 18th day of the rainy season.
In about ten more days, the rainy season would end.
During this time, "Qian Xi" seemed to have vanished, not showing up at all. To lure Qian Xi here, Chen Fan had even had Zhou Mo leave a trail of Eerie Creature corpses leading to the canyon.
Yet, nothing had happened.
There had been no response at all.
Meanwhile, inside the cave.
Everyone gathered to discuss a very important matter.
As a force that was going to take center stage, they got to have a banner. After thinking this over for several days, everyone had come up with their own proposals.
A stick of incense's time(about 30 minutes) into the discussion.
The force's name and banner were finally decided.
The name: "Fan Sect."
The design of the banner: "A single character: Fan (凡)."
"Qiu Junior."
"The design of the banner is entrusted to you."
"No problem." Qiu Junior nodded confidently in response.
...
After settling on the name.
Everyone dispersed, returning to their respective duties. Chen Fan followed Qi Chong to the farmland, looking at the rows of Sunflowers with a smile as he walked up to check the panel.
Qi Chong told him that the batch of Sunflowers planted seven days ago had matured.
He had witnessed it himself over the past few days that Qi Chong had almost been tending this plot of farmland day and night, his mouth parched and his voice hoarse.
The harvest seemed quite abundant.
"Extraordinary Treasure Name": Sunflower (mature).
"Extraordinary Treasure Grade": Green.
"Extraordinary Treasure Effect": If eaten when ripe, bolsters one's cultivation. Due to excellent care during the growing period, the quality is optimal, boosting one's cultivation 50% more than normal Sunflowers do.
"PS: One person can only absorb one stem per day."
"Not bad."
Chen Fan gave his approval and couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Indeed, everyone had their own area of expertise. He immediately plucked one Sunflower and headed toward the "Spirit Nurturing Pavilion" to try it out.
There were sixty to seventy Sunflowers here.
He remembered there weren't even that many seeds.
...
Inside the Spirit Nurturing Pavilion.
After a stick of incense's time(about 30 minutes).
Chen Fan opened his eyes, his fists clenched as he felt the power spreading through his body. A trace of surprise flickered in his eyes. He had digested it fast; in just a stick of incense's time, he had assimilated the Sunflower.
And...
He had a feeling that he could continue ingesting.
The tenfold cultivation acceleration at the Spirit Nurturing Pavilion actually aided in absorbing Eerie plants.
It seemed that his cultivation had increased by about one-tenth. If absorbing nine more, he would advance to a Level 2 cultivator.
Have a try.
He returned to the farmland and found Wang Kui, bent at the waist, continuously uprooting Sunflowers to store in the warehouse. Chen Fan took nine more with him to the Spirit Nurturing Pavilion.
Another two hours later.
Chen Fan, sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, vaguely sensed something break inside his body, followed by a surge of warmth streaming from his abdomen to his limbs.
A successful breakthrough.
He was now a Level 2 cultivator.
"Phew..."
Chen Fan slowly opened his eyes, exhaled a long breath, and then sighed, "Cultivators in this world are truly pitiable."
Before this.
He had been unclear about the difference between a Level 1 and a Level 2 cultivator. But now he understood.
There wasn't much difference at all.
A bit more strength.
That's all there is to it.
There were no abilities like assaulting the enemy with spiritual energy from a distance, nor techniques like sword-flight. Perhaps those would come later, but one thing was certain: a Level 2 cultivator could definitely not fight a Level 1 Archery Tower...
"But it's not bad."
Chen Fan got to his feet and stretched with a chuckle. After breaking through to Level 2, he indeed felt much more refreshed, more agile than before, and the previous backaches were gone.
He sensed that he could no longer digest Sunflowers.
Being in the "Spirit Nurturing Pavilion" aided assimilation, allowing him to ingest ten Sunflowers in a day.
Afterward, he spoke to the air.
"Zhou Mo."
"The Sunflowers have matured. With the help of the Spirit Nurturing Pavilion, you can make a fast breakthrough. Back at the old camp, I promised to assist you in cultivating. Return early today, get Sunflowers from Wang Kui, and advance to a Level 3 cultivator ASAP."
His voice reached Zhou Mo over a great distance via the Eerie-Flesh Mother Child Fruit as he galloped on a Skeleton Horse across the wasteland.
...
With that.
Chen Fan ambled out from Cave No. 1 contentedly, surveyed the caves dug by Heyhey on the canyon walls the previous night, and prepared to continue erecting Cannon Towers to complete Phase Two of the "Meat Grinder."
The camp currently had an ample Eerie Stone reserve.
A full 92,000 pieces.
Enough to cap the Meat Grinder!
As for the twenty Eerie Fires that had been lit last night, they had already fallen apart. He needed to build twenty Eerie Fires again. Phase Two of the Meat Grinder was intended to catch the enemy off guard.
If the enemy became wary, that would defeat its purpose.
After consuming 1,260 Eerie Stones, he deployed the Eerie Fires in place.
Chen Fan then spent 10,800 Eerie Stones to set up a Level 5 Cannon Tower in each of the twenty new caves.
Heyhey was much more efficient last night.
It had been slow at first because digging from Cave No. 1 all the way to the canyon was too arduous. Once it was done with the artery, the rest of the excavation would become much easier.
And now—
There were forty Level 5 Cannon Towers on the canyon cliffs.
Plus thirty-eight on the cliffs of the abyss pit.
Making a total of seventy-eight!
If those on the battlement were included.
That would be eighty-nine Level 5 Cannon Towers and one Level 6 Cannon Tower!
"..."
Chen Fan, from the middle of the abyss pit, scanned the pockmarked cliffs, resulting from last night's Flesh Worm Ghost Eerie Tide, his eyes filled with satisfaction. At last, he felt somewhat secure.
He had no idea how Rivernorth City was fortified.
How did the camp's defenses compare to Rivernorth City's?
There was nowhere he could use the remaining Eerie Stones for now. Heyhey had failed to dig as swiftly as he earned Eerie Stones.
But he could understand.
The mountain rock was hard, after all.
Digging through it was a laborious job.