"Surely It Won't Be Used Until Death, Right?"

"Builder?"

The bronze-skinned man following behind Wang Kui had a flash of envy in his eyes. Though Builders were not the strongest among Cultivators, they definitely held the highest status.

After all, no matter how strong a Cultivator was, once night fell, they still had to hide near a bonfire.

In this world, defending oneself and scraping by was the mainstream.

There was no such thing as a Cultivator suddenly charging into the darkness and slaughtering everything in all directions. That was pure fantasy.

"This time, the Chen Family has truly lost a treasure. If the Chen Family head finds out about this, he'll definitely be furious enough to spit blood."

"But, Stationmaster, should we report this to the Lineage? Chen Fan definitely won't be returning to the Chen Family now. He's a newly awakened, unaffiliated Builder. If we can have the Lineage send people to recruit him, that would be a great merit for us too."

The man's eyes rolled around a few times, and he looked rather excited.

"Little Qiu."

Wang Kui did not answer at once. After a while, he patted the man on the shoulder. "I joined the Wang Family at twenty, and I've been a stationmaster for a full thirteen years. Do you know what kind of work a stationmaster does?"

"It sounds glamorous enough. At the very least, you get to call yourself an official."

"But in truth, it's just gathering wealth for the Lineage in a dangerous environment. To put it bluntly, we're worker bees in a hive. Our fate in this life is to work ourselves to death or suddenly die during some Strange Tide. We collect a salary of ten Eerie Stones a month, and that's all there is to it."

"My surname may be Wang too, but I'm not one of the Lineage proper. There's no way I'll ever get promoted."

"You've been with me for three years now. Wherever I'm assigned, I bring you along. You should be thinking about your own future too. Have you ever considered where our prospects lie?"

"Reporting this matter upward would indeed earn us merit."

"But what can that merit bring us?"

"Besides—"

"Since Chen Fan awakened as a Builder only after arriving in the Wasteland, do you really think the opportunity came only after he got here? You could figure it out with your ass—he must have been targeted at every turn within the Lineage, and only here could he truly let loose and make a go of things. He had planned this long ago."

"What does that tell us?"

"It tells us Chen Fan has long wanted to strike out on his own."

"If you report this now, Chen Fan is still weak, so perhaps pressure would force him to join the Wang Family. But do you think Chen Fan would resent the two of us? Would he ask the Wang Family to deal with us? Do you think the Wang Family would hesitate to sacrifice the two of us?"

"You need to think through the stakes involved."

"And if Chen Fan truly wants to establish his own force, and he owes us a favor, couldn't we take the opportunity to join his force? Even if it's a newly emerging force, being a core member of one is still better than being a worker bee in the Wang Family, isn't it?"

A trace of admiration appeared on the man's face. He patted his chest. "You've thought it through far more clearly, Stationmaster. Don't worry. I'll do whatever you say. I definitely won't act on my own."

"Mm."

Wang Kui smiled and patted the man on the back. "Let's go. Back to camp. It's best that you can think this way. All these years, I've kept thinking about one thing: every force needs someone to be a worker bee, but... at the very least, a worker bee who has worked for thirteen years ought to get promoted."

"Surely they can't really use him until he dies, right?"

"What do you think?"

"Young Master."

After Crippled Monkey walked over and glanced into the two porcelain vats on the cart Wang Kui had just delivered, he spoke. "They sent over another vat of water and some food."

"Not bad."

Chen Fan narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke softly, but there was not much smile on his face. He had not wanted to expose his identity as a Builder so early, but those two Arrow Towers would be difficult to hide. Sooner or later, they would be exposed.

If Stationmaster Wang chose to report it, the pressure Chen Fan faced would be immense.

He had to quickly raise the camp's strength. That way, even if outside pressure came, he could hold out for a while. It would be best to design an escape route too. If he truly could not withstand it, he could move elsewhere and rise again from the ashes.

For now, Stationmaster Wang seemed to be a smart man.

Chen Fan hoped Wang could see the long-term benefits and would not let short-term gains rush to his head. He looked toward the patch of Farmland at the edge of the camp, which had just been cleared and planted. The crops there would not mature for another three days, so there was no point rushing.

He still had eight Eerie Stones left.

It was not quite enough.

More importantly, there was no channel to obtain Eerie Stones in the short term. The Beast Trap had not caught a single Strange Entity last night. He did not know what was going on. Logically speaking, Strange Entities moved about in the darkness; it was impossible for all the Ghost Beings in this area to have been killed.

"Let's give it a try."

After pondering for a moment, Chen Fan waved for Crippled Monkey to follow. He tucked the remaining Eerie Stones into his robe, left the station, and pulled the cart toward the depths of the Wasteland.

Practice was the sole criterion for truth.

There was no use in mere guesswork.

After walking for roughly two hours.

There were basically no hills or ravines in this Wasteland. The terrain was flat, and when he looked back, he could still faintly see those two Arrow Towers.

"This place will do."

Chen Fan took the Ghosthide Map from his robe and looked at his position. This Wasteland was not large, and where he stood was already near its edge. There were no stations nearby.

To the east of the Wasteland was "North River Market."

To the west was "Flat City."

To the south lay desert, while the north bordered the sea.

From where he currently stood, walking north for another four to six hours would bring him to the sea.

Generally speaking, travelers crossing the Wasteland mainly traveled back and forth between "North River Market" and "Flat City." The south was an uninhabited region, and since they were crossing the Wasteland, the straight line between two points was naturally the shortest.

Thus, the stations in the middle of the Wasteland were practically packed with travelers every day.

As for the former Chen Family Station No. 37 where he had been, it lay toward the northern side of the Wasteland, far from the central route. Naturally, few people passed through. In all these days, the only traveler he had seen was that middle-aged man in azure robes.

After walking north for another two hours.

There were even fewer people here.

There would be even less chance of a station.

It was practically an uninhabited region.

"Hah."

Chen Fan slowly exhaled, gradually closed his eyes, took three Eerie Stones from his robe, and tossed them into the air. In an instant, the three Eerie Stones turned into milky-white liquid, while a phantom image of an Eerie Fire slowly appeared in the air.

As the milky-white liquid flowed into the phantom, it gradually solidified, but it did not fully solidify like the Arrow Towers had.

He plucked up a handful of withered grass from the ground and tossed it in.

Only then did the phantom fully solidify.

It settled onto the ground.

An ancient Eerie Fire landed firmly upon the earth.

"Y-Young Master?"

Crippled Monkey, standing nearby, watched this scene as his breathing gradually quickened, his eyes filled with disbelief. Eerie Fire was an ordinary building, so its building recipe was widely circulated. He remembered that it required many kinds of materials. How had Young Master merely tossed in a handful of withered grass and finished building it?

And it had only consumed three Eerie Stones?

One Eerie Fire sold for roughly sixty Eerie Stones in the market!

How much profit was there in that round trip?!