But from what happened during the day, he could tell that there weren't many travelers passing by here!
He couldn't earn many Eerie Stones by charging accommodation fees. To live long enough, he had to kill Eerie Creatures to obtain Eerie Stones.
He couldn't just sit and eat through his resources.
He needed a stable source of income!
The next moment—
He thrust his arm into the blazing flames of the "Eerie Fire." Strangely, neither his skin nor his clothes were damaged in the slightest. He retrieved a complete Eerie Stone from the fire and clenched it alongside the Stone he had just earned. Slowly, he closed his eyes.
Immediately after!
Under Crippled Monkey's disbelieving gaze, the two Eerie Stones in his hand began to rapidly melt into a milky-white liquid that seeped through his fingers. Before falling to the ground, they transformed into dozens of ethereal white threads floating in mid-air, beginning to take shape and gradually solidify.
A few seconds later.
A "steel animal trap" fell from the air onto the ground.
This was the Level 1 animal trap he had just created at the cost of 2 Eerie Stones. It could inflict damage on low-level Eerie Creatures, thus providing a steady inflow of Eerie Stones!
"It's done."
Chen Fan stood in place, smiling at the sight of the simple-looking trap on the ground. The complex emotions of tension, fear, and confusion that came with suddenly transmigrating to this dangerous and unknown world dissipated quite a bit in that moment.
At least... There was hope.
There was no longer despair.
"Young master!"
Crippled Monkey, who had witnessed all this firsthand, now went pale with excitement. But after glancing at the wooden hut, he lowered his voice and whispered tremulously, "Young master, you... You've actually awakened as an Architect!"
"And on your first attempt at building, you actually succeeded!"
"As long as the Patriarch hears word of this, young master, you can return to the clan immediately and enjoy the best treatment. No one will ever dare bully you again."
"The Patriarch will definitely right the injustices you've suffered all these years!"
"No."
Chen Fan's eyes sparkled as he chuckled lightly, "I don't really like others standing up for me."
...
Hundreds of years ago, the Perpetual Night descended.
The world's order fell apart as a result. Countless people fell victim to "Eerie Creatures," and corpses littered the fields. But through exploration paid for with countless lives, people gradually discovered ways to survive.
As long as one absorbed an "Eerie Stone," they could enhance their physical constitution and even learn spells to fight against Eerie Creatures like immortals.
These people were collectively referred to as "Cultivators."
Only—
In this world, hiding was the mainstream way to survive. No matter how powerful a "Cultivator" was, they couldn't fight against the endless tide of Eerie Creatures in the darkness. If the Perpetual Night descended and they weren't near a "Eerie Fire," even if they were strong enough, they would be worn down until death.
And a smattering of lucky individuals, upon absorbing an "Eerie Stone," would become special Cultivators that possessed rather unique abilities.
"Night Walkers," who could still maintain a certain range of vision after the Perpetual Night descended, were an example.
Or "Alchemists," who could use Eerie Creature corpses combined with spiritual herbs to create pills with various miraculous effects.
Compared to ordinary Cultivators, special Cultivators like "Night Walkers" and "Alchemists" were stronger with more means, and any force they went to would welcome them as honored guests. If they were willing to sign a contract and join, they would receive a substantial monthly stipend.
And among these special Cultivators, one type held the highest status and was the rarest. That was... the "Architect"!
Things like "Eerie Fire" were the work of Architects. Aside from Architects, no one could create structures like Eerie Fire.
Without Architects, this world would have perished long ago.
Be it the majestic city walls of various cities or the defenses of the headquarters of various clans, all were part of an Architect's means!
To assess the foundation of a force, one of the criteria was whether that force had an Architect.
The foundation of the "Rivernorth Chen Clan" was precisely a Level 5 Architect Clan Guardian!
The Chen Clan had 77 stations, and the "Eerie Fire" at each station was created by this Clan Guardian. And these stations provided for a continuous, substantial stream of income to the Chen Clan's coffer.
And he had now also become an "Architect."
Only...
He was actually an Architect, a bit more advanced. According to his memories, all other "Architects" couldn't directly use "Building Blueprints." After killing a high-level Eerie Creature, there was a small chance for a Building Blueprint to drop. Other Architects would collect materials based on the exterior of the building on the blueprint and expend Eerie Stones, attempting to build it through trial and error.
Once the construction succeeded, they would memorize the formula and orally pass it down generation by generation as a secret.
For example, "Eerie Fire," the most common structure, was one of the few with a leaked formula. Its widely circulated construction formula was, "Requires 10-30 Eerie Stones, a strand of hair from a Pseudo-Human Ghost, the head of a Back-Carrier Ghost, the heart of a Daytime Ghost, a strand of withered grass..., 7 materials in total."
But in reality, according to the blueprint for "Eerie Fire" on his panel, constructing an "Eerie Fire" only required 3 Eerie Stones and a strand of easily plucked, withered grass as an ignition source.
As for why such a complicated formula came about...
It was because others couldn't see the full content displayed on the "Building Blueprint." Through trial and error, they combined those 7 miscellaneous materials, all neutralizing each other, leaving only the strand of withered grass effective.
It could be simply understood that, with numerous bugs canceling each other out, the program ran smoothly.
If any one of those steps were missing, it would collapse again.
And there was no need to spend so many Eerie Stones. It was simply because if they didn't follow the Building Blueprint, there would be energy loss. But he did otherwise, achieving 100% energy utilization. Compared to other Architects, he would spend fewer resources constructing a building, which would be more stable as well.
If others went up the mountain via a winding mountain road, he took a cable car—the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.
More efficient, more direct, faster!
...
"Hah..."
He let out a soft breath, carefully placed the "Level 1 Animal Trap" at the edge of the circle of light, then gave it a kick, sending it into the darkness, and was already looking forward to the harvest after daybreak.
He had no intention of returning to the "Rivernorth Chen Clan."
If it were the previous owner of this body, he would definitely want to head back to the Chen Clan immediately, hoping for his father's recognition. But he entertained no such nonsensical idea.
Once a man seeks recognition from others, his life is already half-ruined.
Besides, even if he wished to go back, he couldn't.
Without a communication talisman and enough travel funds, he would be unable to return to the clan or contact them.
What he needed to do was slowly build a shelter of his own here, accumulating enough power to protect himself, before he would consider other things.
This world didn't just have ghosts that ate people at night; there were also 'ghosts' that ate people during the day.
He shouldn't take only Eerie Creatures into account.
Prepare thoroughly, act cautiously, and seize power only when the time is ripe!
This motto was what outlined his plan for the days to come.
He wasn't going anywhere.
He would be staying right here!