"There’s no place like home."

Surveying all the buildings in Skeleton Village and the evolving Sky-reaching Vine, Su Ran saw a peaceful, serene scene, in harmony with the world. Thinking back to the smog and gloom of the Elf Forest, Su Ran couldn’t even bring himself to complain.

With the quest in the Elf Forest over, Su Ran felt liberated, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He had no desire to linger, and if not for the Frost Orb, he would have no intention of dealing any further with that place.

"Next, I need to find Lu Yue to discuss the foundations of the village."

Su Ran hadn’t forgotten the shaky appearance of the Elf Palace. It looked like it might collapse at any moment, and he couldn’t afford such a dangerous situation in his own Skeleton Village!

However, before Su Ran could take a step, he noticed an alert from his friend list.

"Overturning Water, brother, I’ve been waiting for your reply. Where have you been these days?"

"Nothing much, just tied up with a personal quest storyline, unable to communicate with the outside world. It was quite a struggle to get out."

Su Ran felt the concern in Banana’s words and it warmed his heart, "By the way, Banana, I’m back at the Dark Swamp."

"What? Brother, that’s not cool, how come you didn’t call me? Wasn’t it agreed that you were going to bring me into your territory?"

"What’s the rush? Wait until my territory forms an alliance with the elf tribe. It won’t be too late for you to join then. At that time, your elf identity won’t be revoked, saving you from becoming undocumented."

"The Undead forming an alliance with elves? Haha, not a bad idea! Alright, I’ll just level up in the Elf Forest for now. Without the Power of Curse, I don’t have to be on edge all the time. Feels pretty good~!"

Banana’s somewhat anxious voice came through, "Overturning Water, brother, I can’t talk right now. These monsters are too fast, and if I get surrounded, I’ll be in big trouble!" ƒrēewebnovel.com

"This guy, daring to chat while leveling up, serves him right to get surrounded."

With a smile, Su Ran stopped teasing Banana and closed the friend chat window, heading towards the beggar’s hut.

...

"Eh? Lord, what brings you here?"

At the sound of knocking, the old beggar reluctantly got out of bed and, yawning profusely, went to open the door only to find that it was the Skeleton Lord who had come to visit.

The beggar quickly became more animated, squeezing out a face full of wrinkles and displaying his big yellow teeth, laughing as he said, "Lord, I haven’t seen you in days, and your strength has improved significantly! Right, you’re here to inquire about the Demon-sealing Platform, aren’t you? It was enhanced three days ago, and we were lucky, the enhancement effect increased by 50%!"

An increase of 50% in the enhancement effects?!

Su Ran was taken aback, and a rising joy began to swell within him.

The reason the Demon-sealing Platform had been enhanced was that he had used an enhancement blueprint. While the old beggar performed the enhancement, Su Ran went to the Elf Forest, and only today had returned. Had the old beggar not mentioned it, Su Ran would have long since forgotten about it.

"You’ve worked hard, sir."

One of the biggest advantages of being an Undead skeleton was staying unflustered, and Su Ran followed up on the beggar’s words, "Thanks to your Divine Technique, master, the blueprint has achieved its maximum effect. By the way, where’s Dog Egg? What’s he up to?"

"Ah, Lord, you may not know, but after that lad turned into a full-fledged demon, his temperament changed a lot. He couldn’t stand the mundane life and has gone off to make his own way in the Demon World."

A look of desolation appeared in the old beggar’s eyes as he shook his head and sighed, "If the demon heart’s suppression is too harsh, it can backlash. I’m afraid the boy won’t be able to endure it, so I just let him be."

Gone?

Upon hearing this, Su Ran hurriedly opened his domain panel and found that Gou Dan had not defected from his territory, which made him quietly breathe a sigh of relief.

"So that’s how it is."

Su Ran could understand that with Gou Dan’s mortal willpower, he was not on the same level as the demon heart. This was a potential major problem, and sooner or later, the demon consciousness would lash back. By then, whether Gou Dan could survive was up to his own fate.

Now that the elder beggar had chosen to let Gou Dan go out and struggle, whether it was right or wrong was hard to say. However, in Su Ran’s view, keeping a noble demon confined in the village wasn’t right either. This decision may well be the correct one.

"Elder Sir, perhaps by the time Gou Dan returns, he will be able to merge with the demon consciousness and fully control the demon heart."

Su Ran spoke to comfort him, "This is also a day I look forward to."

"Alas, when a child is grown, they cannot be kept by your side, this matter can’t be controlled. Let’s just take it one step at a time!"

The smile had long since vanished from the elder beggar’s face. He decided not to ponder the matter any further and turned to Su Ran, asking, "Lord, you must have other matters to discuss here, right?"

Su Ran then shared with the elder beggar the matter of the foundation of Skeleton Village, spilling all the plans he had in his heart.

"What?"

The elder beggar looked astonished, seemingly finding it hard to accept Su Ran’s plan, and even his voice took on a skeptical tone, "Lord, the Sky-reaching Vine you speak of, that can lift up the domain, is it true or false?"

Heh, a layman, aren’t you?

As soon as Su Ran heard the elder beggar’s words, he knew the old man had never been to the Elf Forest and hadn’t reached that level of understanding. Finding his own knowledge to be even higher than that of an Architectural Grandmaster, he couldn’t help feeling a twinge of excitement.

Afterward, Su Ran picked out what he had seen and experienced in the Elf Forest and told the elder beggar, especially about the colossal vine and the Elf Palace atop it, describing them with animated detail.

"So it’s the Elves, no wonder they can cultivate such transcendent and saintly Sky-reaching Vines."

The elder beggar silently nodded, showing he had accepted this preposterous truth. But immediately thereafter, he slowly shook his head, his expression grave, "Lord, the Elf Forest has both the Life Spring and Earth Spirit Spring, which is why they can cultivate the Sky-reaching Vine. But the vines in our domain..."

The elder beggar didn’t finish his sentence, but Su Ran already caught the implication in his words.

"Elder Sir, rest assured, the Earth Spirit Spring of the Elf Forest has already been emptied by me and is more than enough to cultivate the Sky-reaching Vine. You just need to tell me how to make the foundation beneath the domain solid."

Su Ran chuckled, feeling that emptying the Earth Spirit Spring was a matter of great prestige.

"What?"

The elder beggar was completely dumbfounded.

The dignified Lord, engaging in such thievery, was simply unbelievable!

"Ahem, Lord, I suggest you not consider such impractical matters. To relocate the domain, without a growth of seven to eight hundred years, the Sky-reaching Vine simply cannot achieve it."

The elder beggar voiced his concerns, "If the cultivation of the Sky-reaching Vine is rushed, it might end up inferior and could even damage the vine’s divine root, which would be a loss not worth the gain."