Night of Despair-Chapter 175 - : Strengthening Chapter One

Chapter 175: Strengthening Chapter One

As time passed day by day, Yu Hong continually adjusted and experimented. By imitating the Array Patterns he had drawn and combining them with the Black Mark to attempt enhancement, he finally received feedback from the Black Mark on the fifteenth day that the enhancement had been successfully authorized.

Over the span of fifteen days, two weeks, his Inner Qi had also reached the sixth strand of the third layer of the Thunderbolt Leg Technique. The speed of his progress was much faster than before.

During this period, other than strengthening a batch of nutritional paste, the Black Mark was not used for any other purpose, dedicating its entire capacity to assisting Yu Hong with his experiments.

Using the Black Mark, which could enhance only fundamentally complete objects, Yu Hong continually adjusted and simulated the symbol designs until he copied a section of symbol details from the new Wind and Fire Slaughter Spirit Array, finally obtaining confirmation from the Black Mark.

A complete, basic airflow obstruction Array was thus obtained.

Inside the cave.

...

Yu Hong wiped the sweat off his forehead as he looked at the hand-drawn Array in front of him. Concentrating on the drawing while also expending Inner Qi was a very exhausting task.

But fortunately, with an existing Array to learn from, and by incrementally adding and testing, he finally created a complete version.

‘This version definitely isn’t the most streamlined, but as long as it fulfills the basic functionality, it’s enough for the Black Mark to enhance.’

He sat cross-legged on the basement floor, eyeing the Array patterns on the plank of wood. A notion suddenly struck him, and he took out two spoils of war from a wooden frame in the corner.

One was a ruby-like crystal from a mutated crow.

The other was a black jade-like bone from Speed Man.

‘There’s not much variety anyway, and the Black Mark’s enhancement principle is to substitute synthesis for multiple enhancements… It can only proceed with a second enhancement if new elements are added each time, so let’s try adding these two…’

He didn’t know what these two items were good for; he just relied on the Black Mark to guide the direction.

After placing the two items on the plank, Yu Hong picked it up and walked out of the cave to a wall in the inner courtyard.

Snap.

He placed the plank on the ground, indifferent to whether there were people around.

After all, others couldn’t see the Black Mark or the countdown of the enhancement.

Stretching his hand to press on the ground, his current action resembled someone checking the quality of the soil.

The luminous stone grass on the ground of the inner courtyard had withered long ago, and now it was a bed of transplanted, lush wild vegetables. But with the days of sunlight growing shorter, he wasn’t sure how much longer these vegetables would last.

Yu Hong’s hand pressed against the ground.

‘Black Wind Protection Array enhancement, direction: merge the slowdown Array and two other Black Disaster materials. Enhance the obstruction and slowdown effect against Black Disaster.’

His enhancement attempt aimed to include the large Array, his own drawn Array on the wooden board, and the two leftover items all together.

To reduce construction work, Yu Hong directly allowed the Black Mark to proceed with the enhancement. Although it required more time, it saved much more time in the end as it eliminated the need to dig up the foundation and restore it.

And most importantly, since the enhancement occurred underground, there was no worry about it being discovered by others.

‘I could actually continue to enhance the Black Wind Protection Array’s functionality, but the current form of the Array is too large. The time consumption for enhancing would be huge. By solely enhancing the slowdown Array, it should take less time, and I could use the separately researched slowdown Array in other places.’

This was the path Yu Hong had initially envisioned: learn new things from the enhanced products, comprehend them, add new elements, and enhance again, step by step perfecting the camp.

As it was with Inner Qi, now it was the same with the Arrays.

Soon the Black Mark provided feedback.

The countdown timer appeared: 17 hours 01 minute.

Yu Hong breathed a sigh of relief, knowing his guess was correct, enhancing just one functionality didn’t require much time.

Standing up, he took the wooden board with the slowdown Array and began contemplating the combination of various Array Patterns and symbols.

The symbols he now controlled included the luminous stone Array Patterns, vortex Array Patterns, Concealing Symbol, and now the slowdown Array Patterns.

In the basement, Yu Hong looked at these four types of symbols on the paper and already had a plan in his heart.

He spent so much time and was willing to let the Black Mark idle, without enhancing other things, to coordinate with himself and test meticulously to paint a complete slowdown talisman array, all for this moment.

‘These four kinds of runes are already sufficient to form a simple compound Array…’

Yu Hong pondered in his heart.

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‘The essence of the luminous stone rune is enhancement, strengthening the efficacy of the luminous stone itself. So, it should be called an enhancement rune.’

‘The vortex itself represents storage and release, while Concealing is for hiding the presence, reducing and stabilizing the activity of radiation. This can serve as a safety valve.’

‘The last, the slowdown, can be used to control the flow rate of energy, combined with Inner Qi to depict Large Pyroxene Stone powder as a link for conduction pathways.’

“With this, a basic personal compound Array structure is ready.”

Yu Hong’s heart leapt with joy. Completing a basic compound structure meant that it could be repeatedly and infinitely nested.

Observing the four types of symbols, he began to consider which direction to try first.

After a moment, he decided to start with the slowdown Array.

‘Use the vortex talisman array as the power source to absorb and release energy, then tailor it for the purpose of deceleration, apply the Concealing Symbol to stabilize the structure and eliminate the fluctuation of presence, and use the enhancement rune to strengthen the functionality of deceleration…’

Yu Hong made a simple attempt to draw the four types of symbols onto a board, connecting them with simple Large Pyroxene Stone graphite powder lines, and combined them in sequence.

Taking advantage of the simulation structure of the Wind and Fire Slaughter Spirit Array.

Very quickly… After just over an hour.

A brand-new Array wooden board appeared before him.

The wooden board, about the size of a washbasin, began rapidly absorbing the surrounding Red Value to store as energy.

And Yu Hong had also made it foldable, saving on the graphite powder.

‘Now, we wait…’

Satisfied, he put down the board and went up to the first floor to eat something.

‘If this attempt is successful, then I can completely utilize the combination of Array Patterns to enhance other functionalities… For instance, enhance the erosive abilities of the black wind and black fire in the Wind and Fire Slaughter Spirit Array!’

Yu Hong, tasting the sweetness of success, felt that he had finally found the correct way to use the Black Mark.

Researching and absorbing the attributes of enhanced objects, then summarizing the experiences and inspirations, adding a touch of something new, you could enhance and create newer and stronger objects…

In this way, the abilities he controlled became more numerous and versatile, capable of dealing with many complex situations, while the items enhanced by the Black Mark also grew stronger, creating a positive feedback loop.

Just like how he deduced his own Inner Qi basics from the enhanced Cultivation Technique, then directly enhanced his Inner Strength with the Infinite Qi Condensing Technique, which in turn accelerated his Thunderbolt Leg Technique.

Time slowly trickled by.

The sky gradually brightened as the night passed, and the solitary two hours of daylight arrived quietly.

Yu Hong hadn’t slept all night, constantly trialing the various combinations of symbols.

By dawn, he had a drink of water and lay down to rest for a while.

Inside the stone castle.

Old Li and Old Zhou both got up and started their daily preparations: maintaining humidity in the breeding tanks, checking temperatures, adding compost, and arranging the feces of cockroaches and lizards, among other tasks.

They also needed to exercise to keep their bodies in shape and prepare breakfast.

As the main combat forces aside from Yu Hong, Old Li and Old Zhou had to practice fighting skills and simulated shooting every day.

The two discussed the types of Black Disaster they encountered outside and debated the best ways to deal with them.

While everyone went about their daily routine.

Outside the camp, a swarm of black insects gathered and condensed into a humanoid form.

It was an Insect man.

It mechanically edged along the perimeter of the camp, drawing closer and closer.

Puff.

Soon, a black lizard in the corner spat saliva, which stuck to the side of its face.

But this time, the spitting attack, usually infallible in its ability to humiliate, surprisingly did not provoke any reaction from the Insect man.

It remained motionless and continued to move forward.

Slowly making its way towards a corner of the camp.

Inside the cave.

Yu Hong sat up abruptly, observing the Insect man through the eyes of the black lizard.

He didn’t rashly go outside to avoid triggering any aggressive impulses in the other party.

‘Essentially, the stone castle is concealed with Concealing Symbols, hiding its aura fluctuations. In the eyes of the Black Disaster, it should only appear as a strange camp with a faint scent of living humans. As long as there are more repulsive elements than attractions in the camp, we can achieve eviction… So, we must ensure that no living person goes outside the camp, which would increase the scent of life and its attractiveness.’

Watching the Insect man closely, Yu Hong this time chose not to personally lead it away.

He also wanted to test the specific power of the newly enhanced Wind and Fire Slaughter Spirit Array.

Puff.

Puff.

The Insect man slowly approached the camp’s fence.

It seemed to gaze at the inside of the camp from where its eyes should be.

One step, two steps…

Puff!

In an instant, its entire body turned into a swarm and flew straight over the fence, lunging towards the stone castle.

But the moment it flew into the fence,

the expanded Array immediately took effect.

A stream of transparent air erupted from the ground, hitting the swarm of insects that the Insect man had become.

The stream of air, like a pillar, enveloped the Insect man, continually striking it.

At the same time, streaks of black sparks appeared inside the swarm, attempting to ignite the Insect man.

Suddenly, the speed of flight for the swarm of insects drastically reduced, becoming much slower.

However, even so, the short thirty-meter distance from the outer yard wasn’t enough for it to fly across.

Just as it was about to reach the walls of the stone castle,

suddenly a figure burst out from the inner yard and threw a Radiation Hand Grenade at it.

Bang!

With a negative Red Value of seven thousand, the radiation explosion burst forth, an insult more than anything to the Insect man.

It was also attracted by the strong scent of living humans, and swiftly turned towards the figure, lunging at it.

But with a bang, the figure started to run circles around the outer yard with a speed not any slower than the Insect man.

In open areas, the Insect man was naturally not as fast as Yu Hong, and with the Array’s hindrance, it was even slower.

Thus, one chased and the other ran, quickly completing a full lap.

Then two laps.

Three laps.

Four laps…

The black sparks on the Insect man turned into black flames, layers of black insects burning to death and falling like gravel.

As it continued to circle, it had already stayed within the Array for more than ten seconds.

While running, Yu Hong occasionally slowed down to wait for it.

Seeing the Insect man’s body visibly shrinking in size, he felt relieved.

‘Now it should have reached the Array’s damage limit, twelve thousand units of damage per second. Even if it is an Insect man, with a radiation total Red Value of over a hundred thousand, it cannot withstand such rapid burning.’

As expected.

After a few more laps,

the Insect man’s size had shrunk by half compared to when it arrived.

Now only one meter forty in height, like a dwarf, it sensed something was wrong and immediately turned to flee towards the outside of the Array.

Seeing this, Yu Hong stopped in his tracks, attempting to tempt it to continue the chase.

But this Insect man clearly had some intelligence and, without looking back, maintained its humanoid form and dashed out of the camp, disappearing into the foggy forest in a blink.

Yu Hong chased after it and stood in the outer yard of the camp, looking out.

He dared not pursue further because, apart from Arrays and items, he didn’t dare physically engage with an Insect man.

Standing inside the fence, his expression finally relaxed a bit.

‘The Array will need to be strengthened, but the damage is indeed very high. Except for the speed of Insect men, which are like an eighth-level Black Disaster, all other Black Disasters pose no threat to the camp.’