Strengthening, Part 1 (Thanks to Immortal Paragon Alliance Master)

# Chapter 31: 031 Strengthening One (Thanks, Immortal Paragon Alliance Master)

Inside the Mountain Cave.

In front of the gray-black Symbol Array pattern.

Yu Hong's palm gently pressed against the cool, dry stone wall.

At the same time, he silently recited in his heart.

'Strengthen the Glowstone Symbol Array, direction: enhance the effect of dispelling Eerie Shadows.'

Hiss.

In an instant, a wisp of black thread flew out from the Black Mark on the back of his hand and burrowed into the stone wall.

One second later.

Feedback sounded.

'Strengthen Glowstone Symbol Array?'

The cold, mechanical voice rang out.

Yu Hong was stunned for a moment, then the corners of his mouth slowly curved up.

'It worked! It really works!' He was delighted in his heart.

This proved his guess that this combination could indeed have the effect of dispelling Eerie Shadows. In this way, after a piece of Glowstone is ground, this Symbol Array can be attached and inscribed on any surface, anywhere.

And with the Black Mark supplementing it, these large Symbol Arrays are no longer disposable items, but can perfectly protect any place around them!

At this moment, a black number appeared in the center of the Symbol Array stone carving on the wall.

'1 hour 12 minutes.'

"Is it because the amount of strengthening is less, so it doesn't require more time?" Yu Hong guessed.

After all, it only took him a third of the time to grind a piece of Glowstone into ink and draw this Symbol Array stone carving. And strengthening this bit of material certainly wouldn't take much time.

'If it only takes a little over an hour to strengthen, I'll give it a try and see how the effect is.'

He was faintly looking forward to it, and immediately replied yes in his heart.

Instantly, the numbers on the Symbol Array stone carving began to count down slowly.

Taking advantage of the countdown, he found a stool and sat to the side, playing with another Handgun without bullets in his hand.

He picked it up, aimed, fired, making an empty sound, and then put it down.

He practiced repeatedly like this, practicing drawing and firing the Handgun from different angles.

Because there were no bullets, the practice was not dangerous.

The United Army running over twice in a row to grab him, trying to use him as a laborer, made Yu Hong feel very insecure.

Although the United Army should have moved away with the people from the Town now.

But he couldn't be sure when they would come back.

And the two people who attacked him last time, he went to check the place where they were unconscious when he went to collect firewood before, and only two sets of tattered underwear were left.

Clearly, the Blood Tide Black Worms of the night had devoured everything, flesh and bone.

This made Yu Hong realize the dangers of the night even more deeply.

'Right, if I can practice shooting myself, practice my marksmanship, and then summarize my own shooting experience, and then strengthen it with the Black Mark, is that feasible? Could I get a better Marksmanship Training Manual?'

After thinking for a moment, Yu Hong quickly came up with a unique new strengthening idea.

'Also, I have to prepare some reconnaissance methods. If I have trap bells or something, placing them around might have a certain warning effect.'

He stroked his chin.

The Mountain Cave Safe House was something he had worked so hard to build, and he couldn't afford to lose it, so he had to ensure its basic security.

As the creator of the Large Glowstone, the appearance of the Evil Shadow would inevitably greatly increase the importance of the Large Glowstone. Subsequently, it was very likely that someone would come looking for trouble again. He had to prepare for a rainy day.

Post Office gathering place.

Several caves were close together, forming a small gathering point.

The largest and most solid of these was undoubtedly the stone basement under the Post Office.

Rather than a basement, it was more like an emergency shelter built to cope with war.

It was very large, equivalent to the size of the entire White Mound Village, and located more than ten meters underground.

Since the outbreak of the Black Calamity, these types of war shelters had become bases for people to take refuge in all over the place.

When encountering extremely troublesome Black Calamity invasions, people who could not survive would hide here, seeking temporary shelter.

At this time, in the dark emergency shelter, the corridors were dark and narrow.

On both sides of the corridor were small rooms.

The green Atomic Lamps overhead cast a dark green glow on the corridor.

Moist and cold wind swirled and surged through the corridors along the vents.

Lao Yu stuck out his belly, constantly looking around, and carefully walked to the front of a room.

The edges of the gray-black iron door were full of rust. He reached out and gently grasped the doorknob.

Click.

The handle was twisted down.

The door was slowly pushed open inward.

Lao Yu was about to enter the door and close it with his backhand.

Suddenly, the skin on his left side went numb. From his left cheek to his left leg, the skin on his entire side of his body naturally broke out in goosebumps.

A strange and familiar sense of horror instantly flooded his heart.

"…" Lao Yu's throat bobbed. He felt something on his left.

In the corner of his eye, he vaguely saw that in the darkness of the corridor on the left, there seemed to be a person standing there.

Gulp.

He swallowed hard and slowly turned his head to look over there.

He was trembling all over, and on his shaking right forearm, his sleeve slipped down, revealing rough, yellowish-black skin.

On that skin, there was a clear, small Black Handprint.

Whoosh! He suddenly turned his head faster, looking to the left.

There was nothing in the darkness. The corridor was empty, with only the sound of his own breathing.

At this time, he was the only one in the entire underground shelter. The others would only move in tomorrow after packing their things.

Originally, he thought he could make it through this one day, just a short day.

But... it seemed not.

Sweat ran down his forehead to the tip of his nose, then dripped down.

Lao Yu stared nervously at the left corridor, repeatedly confirming that he didn't see anyone, before turning back, gently pushing open the door, and entering his bedroom.

Quickly grabbing a bag of Glowstone in the corner, he hugged it in his arms and sat on the bed.

The dim light of the candle was lit, illuminating the surrounding area.

The light gave him a sense of security.

He sat on the bed, trembling all over, buried his head in the quilt, and began to cry silently.

He actually didn't escape back on his own, but was discovered to have the Black Handprint and was forcibly driven out.

There was no question of having half of his supplies taken away, simply because he was infected with the Black Handprint. "Why... why do you have to treat me like this?" Lao Yu looked at the candle in front of him, couldn't help but cover his face with his hands, and tears streamed down his face, even wetting his palms.

"I was just greedy for a moment... I returned everything, I returned it all!!"

His eyes were blurred with tears, and he sat alone in the dark bedroom, curled up on the bed, not daring to move at all.

Click.

Suddenly.

The handle of the bedroom door was twisted from the outside.

The clear sound was particularly harsh in the quiet environment.

Lao Yu shuddered and looked up at the door in horror.

He had locked that door from the inside!!

How, how could it be opened!!?

But the fact was that the bedroom door, which was locked and had a metal chain, was opened a crack.

Creak.

The door slowly opened.

Revealing a patch of darkness outside.

Lao Yu stared at the darkness, at the crack, not daring to blink.

The basement door was locked from the inside, with a bag of Glowstones hanging on it, and the corridor leading down was also covered with Glowstones.

He used all his savings to exchange for a large number of Glowstones, bag after bag, hanging everywhere, and some were even ordinary Glowstones with Large Glowstone Symbol Arrays drawn on them.

It was impossible for people or Eerie Shadows to get in, but now Lao Yu's eyes were bloodshot because he hadn't blinked for a long time, and tears were streaming down his cheeks.

But the intense fear and sense of crisis made him dare not move, staring intently at the crack in the door.

Fortunately, the opened crack in the door remained motionless.

It seemed as if it had just been blown open by the wind.

This made a hint of doubt slowly rise in Lao Yu's heart.

Perhaps I was too scared just now and forgot to lock the door when I came in.

With this speculation in his heart, he picked up a Glowstone and glanced at it. The Glowstones in the bag were all intact and had not been consumed.

This calmed his fear a lot.

He raised his head, picked up the candle, and using the light, stood up, intending to re-lock the door.

Whoosh! Suddenly, the candle was blown out in one breath.

Someone, he didn't know who, was right behind him, suddenly leaned over and blew out the candle in one breath!

Lao Yu's whole body was stiff with fear.

In the instant the flame went out.

He vaguely saw a blurry, long-haired figure beside him.

Darkness completely engulfed everything.

Inside the Mountain Cave.

Yu Hong stared expectantly at the large Symbol Array on the stone wall that was counting down.

If this test was successful, it would mean that he could quickly create anti-Eerie Shadow Symbol Arrays anywhere, anytime.

Yes, he called this large Symbol Array a Symbol Array.

If I repeatedly stack and interweave this kind of Symbol Array, or even directly arrange such a Symbol Array with Giant Glowstones, the power will definitely far exceed ordinary Large Glowstones!

Yu Hong thought to himself.

Of course, such a combined Symbol Array would also require an extremely long strengthening time.

Now, his main consideration was what kind of strengthening this large Symbol Array in front of him could achieve.

Soon, the countdown entered the last half minute.

He silently waited, watching the Symbol Array on the wall.

5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Whoosh! In an instant, the Symbol Array blurred for a moment, and then became clear again.

The original rough lines of the Symbol Array became more rounded and complete after becoming clear.

The Glowstone Ink used inside also became darker in color, as if the concentration had been increased.

Most importantly, the entire Symbol Array faintly exhibited a Jade Quality texture, clearly having completely transformed into the material of Large Glowstone.

"Success!!" Yu Hong was in high spirits.

It only took a little over an hour.

This meant that he could significantly shorten the production cycle of Large Glowstone.

The premise was that the effect of the Symbol Array in front of him was not worse than that of Large Glowstone.

Even if the Symbol Array is a little worse than Large Glowstone, as long as it's stronger than ordinary Glowstone, it's still pretty good! Yu Hong calculated in his mind.

Looking at the Symbol Array in front of him, he wondered where he should go to find an Eerie Shadow to test it.

Thinking of this, he quickly squatted down again and began to draw Symbol Arrays on the back of the door, looking for empty spaces.

In just ten minutes, Yu Hong, who was already very skilled at drawing, quickly created a Symbol Array the size of a washbasin on the back of the door as well.

Then he reached out and pressed down, ready to strengthen it.

Wait. Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.

Since I can guide the direction of the strengthening, why not directly strengthen it even more to make its effect stronger? Perhaps I should test the upper limit of the Black Mark's strengthening.

Thinking of this, Yu Hong was tempted.

The Black Mark's strengthening must have its own upper limit of intensity.

Otherwise, why would a piece of Glowstone only turn into Large Glowstone, instead of turning into Giant Glowstone?

Could this default strengthening range be adjusted, and what determines it?