Chapter 144: Utterly Confident!
“Where shall we build it?”
Kobei gazed at the enormous map Luo Ling had unrolled, frowning slightly as he fell into deep thought.
The region encompassed by the map Luo Ling prepared was simply too vast. It practically covered the entire Earth, with the exception of Sky Corpse Mountain, the stronghold of the God race, and Ten Thousand Beast Mountain, the stronghold of the ferocious beasts.
Choosing a location for the base city meant they certainly could not build it anywhere near Sky Corpse Mountain or Ten Thousand Beast Mountain! Those were the headquarters of the God race and the ferocious beasts, so Kobei directly ruled out any areas close to those two zones.
“Well, the human base city cannot be built too far away, otherwise it won’t be easy to develop!”
Kobei rubbed his chin, his gaze sweeping across the massive map.
“Have you decided?”
Luo Ling leaned against Kobei, her bright, dark eyes occasionally scanning the entire map and occasionally resting on Kobei’s furrowed brow.
“Not yet.”
Kobei slowly shook his head. The map was simply too vast; for the moment, he could not make up his mind or figure out where the base city should be established.
“Hehe, no need to rush, take your time choosing.”
Luo Ling offered a gentle smile, holding Kobei’s hand and speaking in a soft voice.
“Moon-Gazing Lake?”
Suddenly, as Kobei was examining the entire map, his eyes lit up abruptly.
“Yes, we’ll choose right here!”
The moment he saw Moon-Gazing Lake, Kobei made up his mind! Moon-Gazing Lake was not too far from the Peak Base City, and most importantly, the Heaven-Enlightening Pagoda was located right at Moon-Gazing Lake!
Once Kobei completed the advanced martial arts mission, he would be able to activate the Heaven-Enlightening Pagoda. By then, even against peak God-tier realm powerhouses, Kobei would have the confidence to put up a fight!
Establishing the base city at Moon-Gazing Lake meant that thanks to the existence of the Heaven-Enlightening Pagoda, even if the armies of the God race and ferocious beasts attacked, they could completely retreat and defend from within the pagoda!
Having the Heaven-Enlightening Pagoda meant having a flawless fallback plan. The Heaven-Enlightening Pagoda stood at the very pinnacle of divine artifacts. As long as they retreated inside it, they would be absolutely safe!
The God race and ferocious beasts would never be able to breach the Heaven-Enlightening Pagoda!
“Linger, let’s build the base city at Moon-Gazing Lake.”
Thinking of the Heaven-Enlightening Pagoda, a faint smile played on the corners of Kobei’s lips. He pointed to a small dot marked Moon-Gazing Lake on the map and looked softly at Luo Ling.
“Moon-Gazing Lake?”
Luo Ling looked at the spot Kobei was pointing to, then looked at the area surrounding Moon-Gazing Lake, and slowly nodded.
“Have you decided?”
Actually, Moon-Gazing Lake was not necessarily a great choice. Luo Ling had originally had her eyes on a ruined city quite close to the Bright Moon Base. However, knowing Kobei wanted to establish the base city at Moon-Gazing Lake, she understood he must have his reasons, and if he had made up his mind, she would support him without the slightest hesitation.
“Mm, I’ve decided!”
A flash of resolute determination crossed Kobei’s eyes! Moon-Gazing Lake might not seem like the best location to others, because building a base city was extremely complex. Many people chose to build upon ruined cities; although ruined cities were dilapidated, they could be moved into after some remodeling, which was much simpler than starting from a flat piece of land and building a base city anew. Yet for Kobei, Moon-Gazing Lake was undoubtedly the optimal choice!
“Alright, we’ll build it right here!”
Luo Ling’s cheeks beamed with a happy smile, her eyes filled with boundless warmth as she gazed at Kobei with infinite tenderness.
Moon-Gazing Lake would be their home from now on. The thought of living there with Kobei in a base city they built with their own hands brought two rosy flushes to Luo Ling’s cheeks.
With the location chosen, the next step was to hire someone to design the blueprints for the base city, and then construction could begin!
Once the base city was mostly built, they could go about recruiting residents!
Hiring someone to design the blueprints was not difficult, nor was building the base city; these were things the forces behind Luo Ling could easily resolve. The difficult part was finding residents to move in!
By now, the entire continent was free of zombies and ferocious beasts, and humanity had ushered in a golden age of development. Many God-tier realm powerhouses wanted to build base cities, the prodigies of the three major bases wanted to build base cities, and the original base cities were looking to expand even further.
With so many base cities being established all at once, the human population simply was not enough!
Not nearly enough!
Even if the base cities were built, what sort of base cities would they be without residents to move in?
To entice residents, the original base cities had already promised to build houses for the ordinary people living in the slums, let alone the genetic warriors. Those people were currently hot commodities, and major base cities were scrambling over them.
Yet whether they were genetic warriors or ordinary people, faced with so many choices, they would naturally select base cities with better conditions—those guarded by God-tier realm powerhouses.
With no background and no connections, how was Kobei supposed to snatch meat from the jaws of tigers?
“Building the base city isn't hard, I can ask my father for help, but it will be very difficult for us to secure residents…”
Luo Ling frowned, looking at Kobei with a hint of worry.
“Hehe, it’s fine, just leave it to me.”
Naturally, Kobei had thought of this issue as well. While he had no immediate solution right now, the advanced martial arts mission given by the system provided him with a clear direction. The mission assigned by the system was to become a grandmaster, to build a base city, and to propagate martial arts!
How does one become a grandmaster? How does one propagate martial arts?
Although Kobei did not fully understand it yet, since the system had issued such a task, there had to be a way. Kobei had a vague inkling of how it might work, though he could not be certain just yet.
“Alright, let’s divide our forces. Hehe... I’ll go build the base city, and you go find the residents.”
Actually, Luo Ling didn't care at all whether they could secure residents. To her, as long as she could live together with Kobei, that was quite enough.
“Alright, off you go. Hehe, make sure the base city is built large, otherwise it won’t hold all those residents.”
Kobei smiled with absolute confidence as he spoke to Luo Ling.
“Mm, I’m off then.”
Luo Ling packed away the enormous map, nodded slowly, and walked out of Kobei’s dormitory.
“Hoo~ I hope my guess is right!”
Watching Luo Ling’s retreating figure, Kobei drew a slow breath, then sank his consciousness into the system disk deep within his mind.
“How does one propagate martial arts?”
Kobei gazed at the system disk, his thoughts stirring as he asked slowly.
“The host may impart the six martial arts lineages he has acquired to others!”
“I can impart them to others?”
Hearing the crisp prompt from the system, a faint smile emerged on the corners of Kobei’s lips. He had guessed correctly!
Kobei had acquired a total of six martial arts so far: the Little Li Flying Dagger, the Dragon-Elephant般若 Technique, the Nine Yang Divine Skill, the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, the Six Meridians Divine Sword, and the Spirit-Revolving Wave-Treading Step!
If all six of these martial arts could be passed down, how could ordinary people resist the temptation of such tremendously powerful techniques? Even genetic warriors would likely find it impossible to resist such martial arts, for in this apocalyptic era, everyone yearned to become stronger!
Yet as ordinary people, they were not genetic warriors; they were destined to lose the opportunity to become powerhouses, spending their days in a daze. But if Kobei now offered them hope of growing stronger, would they still content themselves with mediocrity?
“For each martial arts technique, the host may only impart it one hundred and ten times!”
“The first ten people who receive the host’s legacy will obtain one-tenth of the host’s cultivation base, while the remaining one hundred can only obtain one percent of the host’s cultivation base!”
Hearing the system’s prompt, Kobei nodded slowly. When the system mentioned that martial arts could be passed down, Kobei knew there would surely be restrictions, so the system’s prompt did not come as a surprise.
“Can those who have received the legacy continue to increase their cultivation through their own practice?”
This question was crucial. Otherwise, relying solely on Kobei’s initial transmission, how many ordinary people could truly become strong?
“Yes.”
The crisp system prompt sounded once again. Hearing the system’s affirmative answer, Kobei finally set his mind entirely at ease.
Since they could cultivate, ordinary people should be able to practice as well—it was just that those who received his legacy would start at a much higher baseline.
Kobei nodded with a smile. Since ordinary people could practice these martial arts, he would have no trouble finding residents. As long as he let those ordinary people see the hope of becoming strong, countless ordinary people would flock to him.
“The Hall of Martial Arts, the Scripture Pavilion, the Pill Refining Chamber—what are these things?”
Kobei’s gaze fell upon the ancient characters glowing with golden light within the three grid spaces on the system disk, and he asked softly.
“The Hall of Martial Arts has a total of six floors. Practicing martial arts inside the Hall of Martial Arts grants a cultivation amplification: the first floor grants a one-fold amplification, the second floor two-fold, the third floor three-fold, up to a maximum of a six-fold amplification on the sixth floor.”
“When the population of the base city established by the host exceeds ten thousand, the system will reward one Hall of Martial Arts! At one hundred thousand, a second Hall of Martial Arts is awarded; at one million, a third Hall of Martial Arts. At ten million, a fourth. The system grants a maximum of four Halls of Martial Arts.”
“The Scripture Pavilion has a total of three floors, containing a total of one hundred thousand introductory martial arts manuals. When the base city established by the host reaches a population of ten thousand, there is one quota per month to enter the Scripture Pavilion; at one hundred thousand, there are ten quotas per month; at one million, one hundred quotas per month; and at ten million, one thousand quotas.”
“The Pill Refining Chamber produces three kinds of pills: Lesser Restoration Pills, Body-Tempering Pills, and Greater Restoration Pills.”
“One hundred Lesser Restoration Pills and Body-Tempering Pills per month, and ten Greater Restoration Pills per month.”
Hearing the system’s detailed explanation, Kobei’s face lit up with wild joy as he abruptly clenched his fists tightly.
“Hahaha, with the Hall of Martial Arts, the Scripture Pavilion, and the Pill Refining Chamber, why should I ever worry about not finding residents!”
Kobei now possessed absolute confidence to build a base city—a base city that could surpass all other base cities, and even rival the three major bases!
Humanity currently had a total population of around one billion, of which no more than one-tenth were genetic warriors, leaving the remaining nine hundred million as ordinary people. Yet Kobei had the ability to turn these ordinary people into existences far more powerful than genetic warriors!
Filled with high-spirited ambition, Kobei believed that before long, the city he established would become a sacred land in the hearts of ordinary people! By then, there would not be a single weakling left among all of humanity!
(To be continued)