Volume One: The World of Hell-Level Lords Chapter Seven: Building Stones

Carrying the corpse-eating vine, Chen Gu walked back in the direction he had come for less than half an hour before he spotted a small, raised hill. This hill was not particularly tall—barely thirty meters from base to summit. Between the trees on the hillside, he could see abandoned burrows dug into the earth, their interiors littered with dried leaves and skeletal remains. At the foot of the hill, there were clear traces of wolves passing by—likely the decayed-skinned wolves that had once attacked him.

Upon arriving at Wolf Hill, Chen Gu did not pause. He swiftly ascended, for from the elves’ lookout he had already observed the situation atop Wolf Hill. The decayed-skinned wolves had lingered at the base of the hill for good reason. At the summit lay a massive white-skinned wolf, three meters from nose to tail, motionless at the peak as if dead.

Chen Gu suspected this white-skinned wolf was once the king of Wolf Hill. But he could not be certain whether the creature was dead or alive. When he’d observed from the lookout, the wolf had not moved at all, but it showed no signs of rot or strange activity. Chen Gu felt uneasy and decided to seize this chance to investigate. Not only did he want to see if the white-skinned wolf exhibited any signs of life, he also wished to assess whether Wolf Hill could be repurposed.

If he could activate the hill with certain methods, or perhaps synthesize it into his own pet sanctuary to train wild wolves, it would bolster his combat strength. Gripping his rusty sword, Chen Gu advanced up the hill.

When he was about twenty meters from the white-skinned wolf, the beast, which had been lying still, suddenly opened its eyes. “Attack!” Chen Gu shouted, charging forward with his rusty sword raised.

The white-skinned wolf sprang up, attempting to lunge at him, but a multitude of vines shot from the ground, swiftly entangling the wolf’s limbs and pinning it to the earth. This wolf, unlike the decayed-skinned ones before, possessed a fiercer wildness and a sharper fighting instinct. As the vines bound it, the wolf did not panic; instead, it turned and bit into the vines.

Its jaws gleamed with deadly fangs, a formidable beast, and with a single bite, it snapped two vines. Yet corpse-eating vines were not so easily defeated; Chen Gu commanded ten of them, each with twelve tendrils—a total of one hundred and twenty vines. If he unleashed them all, they could wrap the wolf into a ball of vines.

The loss of a couple tendrils was trivial; it was not as if the entire vine had been dragged out and slain. Chen Gu paid no heed to the wolf’s struggle. He charged forward, thrusting his rusty sword at the wolf’s throat.

Roused to rage, the white-skinned wolf bellowed and tried to bite the sword, but more and more vines wrapped around its body, dragging it down firmly. No matter how agile its neck, Chen Gu’s blade pierced through.

Yet as he stabbed, Chen Gu felt as though he’d pushed into battered hide and fur. His suspicions aroused, he flicked his sword and split open the wolf’s skin. Beneath the pelt, there was no flesh—only a yellowed, desiccated skeleton.

Chen Gu instantly understood the situation and knew how to deal with the creature. He did not strike again but instead raised his leg and kicked the wolf’s skull with force. With a crack, the wolf’s cervical spine snapped. Were it not for the skin still draped over the skeleton, the wolf’s head would have been sent flying.

After breaking the neck, Chen Gu leapt up and stomped heavily on the wolf’s spine several times, forcing it flat. Only then did he pause. At this point, the wolf’s head drooped to the ground, its jaws biting uselessly at air.

Chen Gu slashed the wolf’s back with his rusty sword. Following the broken spine, he sliced open the hide. Originally, he intended to shatter all the bones; surely, if the skeleton was pulverized, the wolf would not remain animate.

But when he peeled back the skin, he realized he was mistaken. Within the wolf’s ribcage lay a fist-sized blue crystal, encasing a large wolf with gray fur.

“Building Stone?” Chen Gu immediately recognized its origin.

In the world of lords, two things are paramount: one is the Heart of the City, used to construct cities. Without it, no one can control their territory or build a city of their own. The other is the Building Stone; without it, the city can only erect a handful of basic structures and cannot upgrade.

One could say the Heart of the City is the bone, the Building Stone is the flesh; only with both can people survive in their domain.

Chen Gu was challenging the world at hell-level difficulty. He had long since abandoned the hope of simply finding a Building Stone in a roadside treasure chest. He had already planned that once Wolf Hill was dealt with, he would take over the haunted elven village, using it as his starting base.

He never imagined he would encounter a Building Stone here—and, evidently, one attuned to Wolf Hill.

He reached in and extracted the Building Stone. The white-skinned wolf ceased its struggle, its bones collapsing upon the earth. Chen Gu had no time to concern himself with the spoils; he examined the Building Stone carefully.

[Obtained Building Stone – Wolf (White) x1]
[Building Stone – Wolf (White): Can be used at a specified location to construct a wolf-summoning building (can be placed in elven, nature, or select human cities)]

Holding the Building Stone, Chen Gu pointed towards Wolf Hill, and a new prompt appeared.

[Would you like to construct a new building at the abandoned wild encampment of Wolf Hill? (After construction, wolf creatures will spawn at a rate of +1 per day)]
[Warning: No Heart of the City energy is present here; after construction, this will remain a wild encampment. Heroes cannot be stationed, soldiers cannot be promoted, and city bonuses will not apply.]

Seeing the newly appeared information, Chen Gu laughed. He had expected as much.

Most people, faced with such an opportunity, would likely build immediately. After all, a new wild encampment could provide at least sixteen initial units, ensuring basic safety.

But Chen Gu had no need for that. He picked up the Building Stone and opened the synthesis interface.

“Prepare to synthesize.”