47: Chapter 47 Opening the City with the Furnace

The four characters "Furnace Cave Fortress" had just appeared when the ranking bell in the Black Well Outer Ring also rang.

It wasn't one ring.

It was three in a row.

As the bell chimes faded, the Outer Ring's weekly ranking board and the arena battle screen lit up simultaneously. The black text at the very top was stark and imposing.

[The next round of draws for the Freshman Ranking Battle will be locked at midnight tonight.]

In other words, Lu Jin didn't have much time left.

If he didn't open the fortress now, he would still be using the Cave Settlement to hold the line in the next match.

If he started opening it now and didn't finish before midnight, the half-finished product would be dragged directly into the public plane. By then, with the outer walls not locked tight, the wells unstable, and the War Nest and Brood Nursery Court hanging in mid-air, if someone stepped in, half of the materials and the fortress he had fought so hard to reclaim would be ruined.

Shi Jiukui stared at the light screen, his face tight.

"Locked at midnight?"

"Is this damn bell trying to rush us to our deaths?"

Instructor Wu Heng arrived at some point, leaning against the black railing. He glanced at the light screen and tapped the railing lightly with his black iron prosthetic finger.

"Once you reach this position on the Freshman Ranking, the academy won't let you drag your feet anymore."

"Either finish opening the fortress tonight."

"Or bring a half-ruined fortress into the match tomorrow."

He paused, then looked at Lu Jin.

"Advancing from a Cave Settlement to a Furnace Cave Fortress is, by definition, the threshold for the late stage of an Apprentice God Realm Controller."

"Among the freshmen at Zhuixing Academy this year, not many have reached this threshold at this level."

"If you succeed, more eyes will be on you."

Lu Jin didn't respond to the latter part.

"How many hours are left?"

Instructor Wu Heng raised his hand to check the light gauge.

"Three."

"That's enough." Lu Jin turned and walked away. "Shi Jiukui, seal the Outer Ring."

"Duan Chenzhou, have the dragging snail guard the well entrance."

"Zhong Xiaoqi, get the beehives on the walls."

"Don't let anyone in tonight."

The members of the Black Well Class didn't waste a word and scattered immediately.

With a sinking of his consciousness, the entire Dead Ash Mine pressed down.

The Stability Stones they had just dragged back were still hot. The white patterns in the Brood Nursery Court were lighting up one by one, and the Nest-Paste Worker Rats and Cart-pulling Rats were running back and forth. The skeleton of the three sections of the outer wall was already in place. The Return Fire Well and the Brood Nursery Court occupied either end, but the middle was still empty. It wasn't just a physical gap; it was the most critical spine of the entire Divine Realm that was missing.

Lu Jin raised his hand and directly pushed open the ascension light screen in his Sea of Consciousness.

Deep black characters lit up row by row.

[Apprentice God Realm Controller Stage · Divine Realm Ascension Project]

[Current Divine Realm: Cave Settlement]

[Available Ascension Path: Furnace Cave Fortress]

[Required Cores: Complete Outer Wall, Stable Smelting Well, War Nest Gate, Priest Well, Brood Nursery Court in parallel]

[Warning: During ascension, the Divine Realm structure is exposed, and load-bearing capacity is reduced.]

[Once hit by a frontal impact, unfinished structures will be directly rendered half-useless.]

Grey Pupil looked up first, his grey eyes steady and unblinking.

Wu Fu also stood by the pool, watching those lines of text. The brood filaments behind her tail swayed gently.

These two had both risen above the level of ordinary units.

One guarded the battle line, the other managed the brood.

If this fortress were to truly grow, its skeleton would have to be supported by both of them.

Lu Jin didn't hesitate.

"Open the fortress."

Boom!

The entire mine trembled.

The first thing to move was the outer wall.

The scroll of the Furnace Cave wall map, which had long been unrolled and used, was flipped out from his Sea of Consciousness. The black iron patterns, like a sheet of red-hot bone pages, slapped into the outer strata with a crack. Once the wall map landed, the grey-patterned walls that had previously only grown at three key points sank simultaneously. The base of the walls bit into the mineral layer, growing wildly along the old school patterns and heat-transfer trenches.

But it got stuck halfway through.

The first three sections of the wall were fine.

Just as the fourth section started, the base began to waver, as if something underground couldn't support it and was trying to drag the whole wall back.

Grey Pupil spoke immediately.

"It lacks load-bearing bone."

"The wall is looking for a spine."

Lu Jin raised his hand and pressed down.

"Heavy Carriage Load-Bearing Beam, rise."

The section of black iron load-bearing beam, just dismantled from the league's heavy carriage, was dragged over by the eight-yard Cart-pulling Rats. That thing was originally meant to weigh down the chassis of heavy carriages; it was thick, heavy, and hard. As soon as it was placed in the gap of the outer wall, the entire layer of ground sank with it.

It still wasn't enough.

Lu Jin again smashed in the fragments of the wind pillar patterns he had snatched during the Unified Exam.

The wind pillar fragments were the remnants of Ji Mingxiao's high-altitude wind pillar set. Usually, they just looked like white wind patterns, but once pressed into the wall, they could distribute the pressure on the wall structure to both sides. To put it bluntly, it prevented the city wall from collapsing entirely the moment it came under pressure.

Once the fragments entered the wall skeleton, the fourth section of the wall finally stabilized.

The wall continued to grow forward.

The fifth section, the sixth section, the seventh section.

The entire circle of the outer wall was no longer scattered and undulating; it was pushing outward in one go. Black stone, Stability Stones, fragments of the old altar, and the heavy carriage load-bearing beam were all swept into this wall shadow, becoming thicker and heavier as it consumed them.

The Nest-Paste Worker Rats also moved.

A dozen of the little creatures scurried back and forth along the base of the wall, applying the white paste from their mouths to seal all the newly formed wall cracks. The originally dry black stone surface, pressed by the white paste, slowly developed a hard, grey-white shell that sounded dull when tapped.

Shi Jiukui was guarding the Outer Ring, and even across the Sea of Consciousness, his scalp tingled watching it.

"This wall is actually growing."

Instructor Wu Heng stood behind him, his eyes never shifting.

"A fortress and a settlement are not the same thing."

"A settlement can hide people."

"A fortress can eat war."

The wall was up; the second bone had to be erected.

Lu Jin looked directly at the Return Fire Well.

The ball of black fire in the well had been stable for a long time, but ultimately, it was still just a well, not a smelting well. The fire was enough to inflict damage and nurture the sacrifice, but to truly support an entire fortress, it was too thin.

"Grey Pupil."

Grey Pupil stepped forward.

"Present."

"The altar's silver rim, the idol fragments, and six vials of spirit liquid—smash them into the well."

Grey Pupil looked up at the material trough on Wu Fu's side.

Wu Fu was looking at it too.

What she lacked most right now was also spirit liquid.

Grey Pupil didn't yield, and Wu Fu didn't back down.

The atmosphere tightened instantly.

Lu Jin's voice dropped.

"Don't fight over it."

"Grey Pupil takes two, Wu Fu keeps two, and the middle two go to reinforce the heart of the fortress."

"Whoever reaches out recklessly today, I'll dismantle their line."

Both sides fell silent at the same time.

Grey Pupil took the two vials of spirit liquid and turned to go down into the well.

It smashed the altar's silver rim with its staff, and the silvery-white fragments spread along the well's edge. The idol fragments were pressed in right after. Once the fragments landed, the ball of black fire in the well first shrank, then suddenly sank downwards. Grey Pupil raised its hand and pressed the two vials of spirit liquid into the heart of the well, one after the other. As soon as the silvery-blue liquid touched the fire, the entire well seemed to have been pierced from the bottom.

Boom!

Grey-red groove lines exploded simultaneously around the well walls.

Those groove lines ran outward along the strata, drilling all the way to the newly raised outer wall and the central axis of the battle line, instantly twisting the originally scattered fire paths into a main artery. The well was no longer shallow; it had collapsed two layers deeper. A ring of grey-black metal patterns appeared around the edge of the well mouth, as if molten veins were slowly flowing underneath.

Grey Pupil stood by the well, its shoulders and back held very straight.

"Gray-Vein Smelting Well, stabilized."

Lu Jin didn't even glance at it and immediately pushed to the third step.

"War Nest Gate."

This time, they were dismantling a carriage.

The Black Shield Bone Carriage on the left was dragged directly to the narrowest slope in front of the fortress. The eight-yard Cart-pulling Rats bit onto the bone ropes, forcefully tearing off the shield bones, wheel beams, and front battering rams from the carriage belly piece by piece. Duan Chenzhou's large dragging snail lay nearby, spitting white paste into the joints of the bone beams, as if applying sinew to this pile of chariot bones.

Lu Jin pressed the thickest section of the heavy carriage load-bearing beam horizontally and inserted the two front battering rams of the Black Shield Bone Carriage into both sides of the slope.

Thump!

As soon as the two battering rams landed, a dull echo immediately rang out from the strata.

The War Nest Gate now had its fangs.

The remaining half of the carriage belly and the wind-guiding wheel buckles weren't wasted; they were all dragged by Grey Pupil to reinforce the horizontal groove behind the gate. Fire hidden inside the gate, slope blocked outside; if someone really charged in, they would hit the battering rams first, then the gate bones, and finally take the full force of the fire trough head-on.

Shi Jiukui grinned while watching through the consciousness light screen.

"If this gate is really used to guard the slope, anyone hitting it head-on will be killed."

Instructor Wu Heng replied calmly.

"It's not just for guarding the slope."

"There are also towing cable grooves and wheel tracks hidden behind this gate."

"As it grows further, it can become a deployment port itself."

Upon hearing this, Shi Jiukui was stunned.

Only then did he realize that the two dark grooves behind the War Nest Gate were not opened randomly. They connected perfectly with the old paths of the Cart-pulling Rats and the bone carriages; carts could enter, materials could pass, and as the back grew larger, troops could be spat directly out from the gate.

This was the thing Lu Jin had never fully explained.

He wasn't building a dead city.

What he wanted was a war nest that could be pushed along and could grow while fighting.

The outer wall, the smelting well, and the War Nest Gate were all in place, but the most difficult well had yet to land.

The Priest Well.

That place wasn't for troops to stand; it was for faith, Sacrificial Fire, and divine oracles to take root. Without it, no matter how well Grey Pupil could suppress, it would only be suppressing from the side of the well. In a real large-scale battle, the War Nest Court and the Brood Nursery Court would not be able to twist into a single whole.

Grey Pupil spoke up first.

"I'll do it."

Lu Jin nodded.

"You suppress the well mouth."

"Wu Fu, give it a branch trough from the Brood Nursery."

Wu Fu said nothing, only gently flicking the three bundles of brood filaments behind her tail to the right. The outermost auxiliary trough of the Brood Nursery Court immediately shifted half a foot, just enough to clear a well position for the heart of the fortress.

Grey Pupil walked over and inserted its sacrificial staff into the ground upside down.

As soon as the staff head entered the ground, dozens of faith lines around it seemed to be pulled, pressing down simultaneously. The Red-Eyed Rats, Cart-pulling Rats, Fire Oil Throwers, and Ambush Rats crouching by the well all lowered their heads one by one. This time, they weren't kneeling to Lu Jin; they were channeling the formed fire and faith within themselves down along Grey Pupil's staff.

That was how the Priest Well grew.

Materials were needed, of course.

But what truly made it stand was whether the entire Divine Realm was willing to send fire into it.

The strata first sank, then slowly cracked open a thin slit.

That slit wasn't wide, but it was very deep; looking down, it was all grey-red fire color. Grey Pupil left its sacrificial staff in the well; the staff body sank inch by inch, finally leaving only half of the staff tail exposed at the well mouth. The surrounding faith lines wound around it, circle after circle, locking the entire well extremely securely.

The black fire in Lu Jin's Sea of Consciousness trembled lightly.

The entire fortress had finally grown its foothold for divine oracles.

Just then, the biggest trouble arrived.

Resources started to run out.

As the wall reached the last half-circle, the Stability Stones hit bottom.

The smelting well had just stabilized, and the spirit liquid was almost empty.

The War Nest Gate and Priest Well were pressed down in one go, and even the white paste spat out by the Nest-Paste Worker Rats began to thin. The newly formed sections of the outermost wall lit up, then immediately wavered, as if the newly grown bones hadn't hardened yet and could collapse back at any moment.

Grey Pupil looked up sharply.

"The wall is shedding its shell."

Wu Fu also turned around at the same time.

"The Brood Nursery Court can still spit."

"Give me materials, I'll patch it."

Lu Jin raised his eyes and scanned, knowing exactly where the problem lay.

It wasn't missing just a few scraps.

It was missing the final layer of shell that could lock the three lines together in one bite.

His gaze shifted and landed directly on the two Spore Nest Breeders.

The spore sacs on their backs were already bulging.

The grey-white spore clumps inside were originally reserved for dividing the troop lines later.

If he didn't use them now, the fortress would collapse first.

Grey Pupil frowned first.

"That's the seed for later."

But Wu Fu had already raised her hand and pressed it onto one of the spore sacs.

"If the seeds are gone, we can grow more."

"If the fortress collapses, today's efforts are all in vain."

The two sides clashed head-on for the first time.

One focused on the long game.

One focused on the immediate situation.

Lu Jin didn't give them even half a breath to argue.

"Open the sacs."

"Keep half the seeds, and smear the rest all over the fortress."

Wu Fu acted immediately.

She pressed down with her five fingers, and the spore sacs on the backs of both Spore Nest Breeders split open halfway simultaneously. The grey-white spore paste flowed out along her hands, and the Nest-Paste Worker Rats, as if they had smelled an order, all pounced on it, biting the spore paste and smearing it onto the outer wall and gate bones.

The effect was much more intense than the ordinary nest paste from earlier.

Once the outer wall touched the spore paste, the grey shell immediately grew another layer.

The bone beams of the War Nest Gate also became heavier, and the battering rams and horizontal grooves locked even tighter.

Even the wavering faith lines by the Priest Well were wrapped by the spore paste and stabilized, no longer trembling.

The entire mine seemed to have finally consumed that final material that secured the fortress.

Boom!

The last half-circle of the outer wall closed in one breath.

The Gray-Vein Smelting Well sank another layer deeper.

The War Nest Gate bone frame trembled, and the two transport grooves behind the gate lit up on their own.

A ring of fine grey patterns appeared around the Priest Well mouth, like a fire eye opened half an inch.

The Brood Nursery Court followed the three main arteries and steadily connected the white patterns into the hinterland of the entire fortress.

The Divine Realm had completely changed.

The outer circle was no longer scattered holes, caves, wells, and storehouses, but a complete circle of black-grey city walls with slope angles, fire troughs, and transport tracks. The Gray-Vein Smelting Well at the heart of the city radiated heat, the War Nest Gate guarded the fiercest slope, the Priest Well suppressed faith and Sacrificial Fire, and the Brood Nursery Court distributed broods in circles along the inner ring. Several main troughs ran underground, all connecting to each other.

Lu Jin stood in the heart of the fortress, and at a glance, he felt for the first time that this place truly looked like a fortress.

The city walls could take pressure, the gate could hold troops, and the wells and courts were sending out fire and materials.

This place could now fight, nurture, and be dragged forward.

The rat swarm in the Outer Ring had all quieted down.

The Cart-pulling Rats crouched behind the gate.

The Fire Oil Throwers guarded the slope and the fire troughs.

The Red-Eyed Rats lay in the shadows of the War Nest Gate, their red eyes dim but their composure unbroken.

Grey Pupil stood by the Priest Well.

Wu Fu stood before the Brood Nursery Court.

One on the left and one on the right, they perfectly anchored this newly grown Furnace Cave Fortress.

On the high gallery, Instructor Gu watched the circle of outer wall that had been fully compressed in the Black Well projection and finally stopped pacing.

A nearby instructor whispered, "It's done just like that?"

Instructor Gu's gaze was deep.

"He is still an Apprentice God Realm Controller."

"But the fortress has already touched the Fortress level."

"When he truly steps into the Divinity User level later, this setup will only be fiercer."

Instructor Wu Heng was also watching from the other side, tapping his black iron prosthetic finger lightly on the railing.

"The Black Well Class has truly raised something that can eat battle lines this time."

Just as the fortress was compressed, the ranking bell rang again.

This time it was more direct than before.

The light screen of the entire Black Well Outer Ring jumped simultaneously, and a new match list scrolled down from the top.

The line at the very top shone brightly, almost white.

[Next Round of Freshman Ranking Battle]

[Black Well Class: Lu Jin]

[Opponent: Huo Beichuan]

[Current Ranking: Second]

[Divine Realm Path: Armored Mountain Rhino / Fortress Demolition Heavy Pressure]

Shi Jiukui stood in the Outer Ring, first glanced at that line of text, then turned his head sharply to look at the newly grown Furnace Cave Fortress, his face changing instantly.

"Second place?"

"And it's the path specialized in demolishing fortresses?"

Lu Jin stood in the heart of the fortress, looking up at the light screen, his face calm and unruffled.

The fortress had just risen.

And the person was already here.

This first battle of the new fortress had come at just the right time.