Chapter 43: The Blade Statue

The sensation caused by the individual score rankings did nothing to disturb the people within the misty woodlands of the Dream-Mansion.

Whether it was Qian Gongyu, the scion of the Blue-Belt prestigious clan, Shang Xinlei, the aristocratic young lady from the Vermilion Gate, or Jie Yuanshao, the young mistress of the Purple-Ribbon lineage, all of them now had to run out into the jungle to scavenge for garbage.

They quickly discovered the changes in the jungle: apart from the area directly behind the shelter, the dense fog in all other directions had dissipated significantly. Consequently, their exploration range expanded from a radius of one hundred meters around the shelter to five hundred meters. With such a vast area, half an hour was entirely insufficient to search thoroughly, especially given that the terrain was complex and obstructed by dense jungle foliage. Therefore, they could only grab whatever they laid their eyes on.

As the half-hour mark approached, Jiang Shi came running out of the jungle, with Shang Xinlei and the other two already waiting in the courtyard. The yard was filled mostly with timber and stones, along with a portion of sulfur and crystals that Jie Yuanshao had picked up along the way—yes, she had suddenly spotted a massive pile of sulfur and crystals lying on the ground, as if someone had deliberately thrown those resources there for her to find.

Since these were the rare resources Jiang Shi had previously mentioned, a faint look of self-satisfaction appeared on Jie Yuanshao's face. She was just waiting for Jiang Shi to ask about them, so she could casually explain how she managed to discover them. In truth, she was not overly proud since she hadn't exerted much effort and was merely blessed by good fortune. However, as destined nobility belonging to the Jiang clan of Jiangnan, it was only natural for her to be favored by destiny...

Swish, swish—

Jiang Shi selected an open patch of ground and dumped out a pile of sapphires. These rubies—err, sapphires—were exceptionally huge in size, accumulating into a pile as large as a small hill. Their dreamlike, mesmerizing luster dazzled the young maidens.

"Did you find a sapphire mine?" Shang Xinlei suddenly asked.

"A mine?" Jie Yuanshao keenly caught onto the crucial point.

"At the spot where Xiao Yu and I first hauled stones, I went over just now and discovered that the rocks had regenerated. Moreover, it concealed a stone quarry inside, and the stones within were of just the right size, requiring only transportation," Shang Xinlei pointed toward the pile of stone materials stacked on the other side. "Otherwise, it would have been impossible for me to collect this many stones in just two quarter-hours."

"That stone quarry differed drastically from the surrounding jungle terrain. Back then, I wondered if other resource points existed where precious resources could be gathered just as effortlessly."

"Your guess is probably correct," Jiang Shi said calmly. "Aside from timber, which might not have fixed resource points, all other resources likely have locations where they can be mined in large quantities. Where did that pile of sulfur and crystals come from?"

"I picked them up along the way," Jie Yuanshao said somewhat dejectedly. "I didn't find any resource point."

"I didn't find a resource point either," Qian Gongyu raised her hand. "But I hauled back tons of wood!"

"You all did very well," Jiang Shi glanced at the resources in the courtyard. "You've already exceeded my expectations."

Needless to say, upon hearing Jiang Shi praise her, Qian Gongyu was so happy that a metaphorical tail seemed to be wagging behind her. Smiles involuntarily appeared on the faces of Jie Yuanshao and Shang Xinlei as well, though they soon felt a faint sense of oddity—Am I actually being praised by a Black-Belt guard?

Ignoring their psychological activities, Jiang Shi squatted down and said, "We still have a little time before the next wave of assaults. We must finalize a strategy as quickly as possible. Come over here."

When everyone gathered around, they found that Jiang Shi was drawing on the ground, and rather poorly at that. The crooked lines resembled earthworms—could a normal person draw such lines with their fingers?

"Right now, we have 132 timber, 101 stone, 50 sapphires, 12 sulfur, and 12 crystals," Jiang Shi pointed at the first drawing and said, "This is a bunker, which costs 50 timber and 30 stone."

"This is a wooden crossbow, which costs 10 timber."

"This is a barricade wall, which costs 20 stone."

"This is a catapult, which costs 10 timber and 20 stone, and can be built multiple times."

"This is a guardian tree, which provides 10 timber after every wave of attacks is survived, and costs 50 timber."

"This is a guardian stone, which provides 10 stone after every wave of attacks is survived, and costs 50 stone."

"This is the Blade Warrior statue, which costs 10 timber and 30 sapphires."

No one interrupted Jiang Shi. Everyone memorized every single word she said attentively. The moment she finished speaking, Jie Yuanshao immediately asked, "What does the statue do? Can it be built multiple times?"

Jiang Shi replied, "During every assault, it transforms into a true Blade Warrior to fight for us. Even if it dies, it merely reverts into a statue, and once restored, it can take the field again. It cannot be built multiple times."

"If the bunker is just the house we live in, then building a bunker is completely pointless," Shang Xinlei stated. "Staying in the small wooden cabin we started with is more than enough."

The others nodded in agreement. They were here to undergo a trial, not to enjoy a life of luxury, so there was no need to waste resources on upgrading their living environment.

"You can understand it this way: only by upgrading the shelter's tier can we build more powerful structures, and the buildable area will also expand," Jiang Shi explained. "This courtyard in its current state can only accommodate 12 buildings, including the barricade walls."

"Then I understand," Shang Xinlei said. "My proposal is to build the barricade walls, the guardian tree, the guardian stone, and the Blade Warrior statue, and fill all remaining slots with wooden crossbows."

"Agreed," Jie Yuanshao crossed her arms over her chest. "For the sake of the long term, the guardian tree and guardian stone are absolute necessities."

"I agree too," Qian Gongyu chimed in hurriedly.

"If we don't build catapults, the damage dealt to the demon leader later will most likely be insufficient, and you will need to step out and assist in combat just like you did earlier," Jiang Shi remarked.

Jie Yuanshao and Shang Xinlei exchanged glances. They finally understood why Jiang Shi had consulted with them this time.

Since the construction plan was unanimously approved by everyone, requiring them to fight later would no longer be Jiang Shi's personal request, but rather their due obligation. Conversely, had Jiang Shi made the building decisions unilaterally without consulting them and later demanded they risk their lives in battle, they inevitably would have harbored resentment after a few repetitions.

Seeing that no one had any objections, Jiang Shi stood up from the ground.

At this moment, everyone held their breath. Three pairs of eyes stared intently at Jiang Shi's every move, attempting to glean some clues. Although no one asked aloud, everyone was overwhelmingly curious—they all wanted to know how Jiang Shi manipulated the sanctuary into constructing new buildings.

More importantly, if Jiang Shi could do it, could they do it as well?

Yet the result was destined to be disappointing. All they could see was Jiang Shi spacing out for a brief moment, after which the wood, stones, sapphires, sulfur, and crystals in the courtyard flew up on their own, snapping and assembling themselves into various structures with a clatter.

The most unique among them were the guardian tree and the guardian stone. After a massive pile of timber gathered together, it suddenly dissolved into a tiny seed that fell into the soil of the courtyard. Within several breaths, it sprouted into a towering tree breaking through the earth. The tree bore no leaves whatsoever, and its trunk was bound with a rope woven from straw. Although it looked even more inconspicuous than the other trees in the jungle, it somehow made the courtyard feel a little less desolate.

The guardian stone was much the same. A pile of stones large enough to fill a house was condensed into a boulder roughly half a person's height, also wrapped in a straw-woven rope, making it look strangely inviting to sit on and rest.

The barricade walls went without saying, and the Blade Warrior statue opened their eyes to a new sight. The sapphires and timber fused together like flowing water, first forming the external silhouette of a Blade Warrior, and then freezing in place like water turning to ice, solidifying the figure into an angular sapphire statue.

"Ah?"

Shang Xinlei and Jie Yuanshao let out simultaneous cries of surprise, but before they could say anything, a sharp screech heralded the descent of the second wave of demon hordes. Dense fog enveloped the jungle a hundred meters away, where demonic beasts ran and darted about, leaving behind a final entity resembling a giant ox.

"Wild Bull Demon!"

Jie Yuanshao's expression changed slightly. "This is a demon that appears in the Tier-3 secret realms of the Zhou State, but texts record that most Tier-3 defensive talismans cannot withstand its full-force charge. It is a quite dangerous demon even among Tier-3 threats!"

"Moo—!"

Accompanied by a heaven-shaking roar, a massive horde of lesser wild bulls emerged from the thick fog and launched a charge straight toward the stone house! As they stepped within the fifty-meter firing range, nine wooden crossbows fired simultaneously, sending the bulls tumbling face-first into the dirt.

Yes, merely tumbling. As long as they weren't hit in the head, lesser wild bulls struck by a single arrow could stand right back up, only collapsing for good when pierced by a second.

Going from a one-arrow instant kill to requiring two arrows to take down meant that even though the number of wooden crossbows had increased from six to nine, the killing efficiency had plummeted by more than half.

Before long, the wild bulls had charged all the way to the barricade walls, while their numbers had decreased by less than a tenth!

Not only was the killing speed of the wooden crossbows insufficient, but the number of wild bulls this time far exceeded that of the ferocious lizards from before!

By now, the four of them had retreated inside the stone house. Seeing this situation, Shang Xinlei's expression instantly turned grave. "We might have chosen wrongly... If we had two catapults right now, the situation would probably be much better."

Qian Gongyu raised her fist and asked nervously, "Are we going into battle?"

"Wait."

The speaker was not Jiang Shi, but Jie Yuanshao. She kept her eyes locked on the vibrating sapphire statue, and said, "Let's watch a bit longer."

Boom!

The statue violently shattered into pieces, and a blade-wielding warrior clad in heavy armor stepped out from within. His armor was covered in rust, the gaps between the plates bristling with spikes, and his entire head was completely concealed inside the helmet without even breathing or eye slits. Every movement he made produced the heavy clanging of metal plates. His feet stepped deep into the earth, leaving heavy prints behind like a lumbering, weighty beast. Dragging two long curved sabers as he walked, he looked less like a warrior and more like a walking corpse.

"I didn't miscalculate after all..." Jie Yuanshao murmured. "If it's him..."

Thud!

The Blade Warrior leaped abruptly, plunging straight into the midst of the wild bull pack and instantly kicking off a storm of flesh and blood. Three nearby wild bulls were hacked into pieces almost instantaneously. The surrounding lesser wild bulls immediately turned their horns to attack him, but he showed no fear, fighting as he walked along the edge of the barricade wall. Even facing hundreds of wild bulls, he did not fall into a disadvantageous position!

"That's from your family's collection, isn't it?" Shang Xinlei asked abruptly.

"Yes," Jie Yuanshao replied. "I never expected to see it in another place..."

"Pardon me... what are you two talking about?" Qian Gongyu asked cautiously, immediately adding defensive padding just in case: "If it's inconvenient, never mind!"

"There's nothing inconvenient about it. I recognize this statue."

"Huh? You recognize it?"

"As long as one is a member of the Jie clan, there is probably no one who doesn't recognize him," Jie Yuanshao said faintly. "He is, after all, the Demon King of the Blood-Iron Graveyard secret realm—the Twin-Blade General."