Chapter 102: Revisiting the Poison Circle (Bonus Chapter 10/13 for Alliance Leader Zhi Bai)

“Is this the road to Cangwu City? Oh, it’s so hard to get here—I want to go to Cangwu City!”
“Freedom, freedom at last! Finally, I can leave this miserable place.”
“Form a team! Who wants to team up with me?”
“I’m Yang Wu from P City University. Are there any fellow P City University students? We can form a pioneer team!”
“Pioneer what? Hurry to Cangwu City! There’s a three-month growth period this time. Get to work and earn money to develop yourselves. If you’re late, all the jobs will be taken.”
...
While the veteran trialers remained quiet, the newcomers had already erupted into a boisterous clamor.
A surging crowd poured onto the broad official road, laughter and joy filling the air.
As for newcomers rushing over to kowtow and beg for protection from veterans—such things simply didn’t exist.
This batch of newcomers had tough bones.
They treated this purely as a real-life cultivation game.
Of course, the veterans weren’t much better. Perhaps some team leaders like Zhou Wu were hoping for a three-way meeting, a show of dominance through aura and sharp words.
But in front of the open channel to Cangwu City, none of that mattered. They wanted to go to Cangwu City to develop too.
Because it was certain that with the ancient demons emerging, there would be a massive siege three months later.
And they would have to take part in the defense.
Though they were certain they wouldn’t hold out, they hoped to endure longer and earn more rewards.
They didn’t want to repeat the mistakes made during the defense of Fuyun City.
By the time Wei Cheng came to his senses, only a few dozen people remained here sparsely scattered. The rest had all rushed toward Cangwu City, with even the veterans running faster.
And the once pitiful-looking lone wolf Yang Yufeng was already far ahead; with his speed, he would soon reach Cangwu City.
“Old Wei, are we going to Cangwu City too?”
Xu Shan asked eagerly, her face full of expectation.
Who wouldn’t be excited? Wei Cheng was no exception, yet at this moment, he remained calm.
Indeed, going to Cangwu City was a good choice. With some luck, one could gain great opportunities there. Three months of development time was not short; perhaps by then, everyone would have reached the ninth Jiazi level.
But the more promising that was, the more it meant Cangwu City couldn’t be defended.
He needed to find a way to acquire more resources, such as the magical crystals dropped by the flaming great birds.
“I want to make one more trip to the Poison Zone,” Wei Cheng said after careful thought.
“But boss, the Poison Zone is too dangerous. Going in now means facing the fifth wave of the Shadow Curse, which has increased in power by 200%,” Cheng An said in surprise. The Poison Zone had left deep scars on him, and just thinking about it made him scared. He wasn’t exactly strong-willed either.
“Old Wei, I’ll go with you. I’m at seventh Jiazi Purple Mist now, and my Dragon Palm technique is nearly perfected. I shouldn’t slow you down,” Liu Sui said without hesitation.
Xu Shan immediately shot Liu Sui a glare, then reluctantly said, “Alright, since we’re a couple, we’ll stick together through thick and thin. Count me in.”
“Count me in too! Only extraordinary people can accomplish extraordinary feats!” Yu Liang laughed heartily, fearless as always.
“Ah, even this old guy counts. As an ’80s kid, though I’ve been pinned down for too long, I remain fearless! I won’t disgrace the ’80s generation—old but vigorous, strong despite age, stubbornly alive and mischievous, with bones as hard as steel!”
Mei Renli muttered some strange words no one understood. The ’80s generation of the last century felt so distant.
“Then—I’ll go too.”
Cheng An gritted his teeth and smiled bitterly. He really didn’t want to go, but despite his fear, he felt some things had to be endured.
“Good, then prepare to set out.”
Wei Cheng glanced around. Many shared his thoughts, especially a veteran team of thirty from the Thirteenth Zone who, without hesitation, plunged straight into the Poison Zone.
Of course, these people were truly powerful—five ninth Jiazi Mountain Movers, four ninth Jiazi Spirit Swallows, two seventh Jiazi Purple Mists, one third Jiazi Qingmu, and among the rest, twelve eighth Jiazi Mountain Movers, six eighth Jiazi Spirit Swallows.
Truly a luxurious lineup.
They seemed to have been selected from the cream of the Thirteenth Zone.
In the Fifteenth Zone, two teams remained, each about ten strong, also very powerful.
Xu Shan tried to casually greet them, but they ignored her completely and quickly entered the Poison Zone, radiating the aura of masters.
“Compared to that, our Fourteenth Zone looks the weakest. That Zhou Wu doesn’t even have the courage to re-enter the Poison Zone. He’s such a disgrace!”
Xu Shan fumed angrily. Growing up smart, beautiful, eloquent, and intelligent, she had always been a happy little fairy wherever she went, but now she faced rejection for the first time—blatant indifference.
Hmph!
“Let’s go!”
Wei Cheng turned toward the black mist beyond the sword scar. It rolled like a river of shifting sands, and just approaching it brought a chilling, eerie aura. Terrifying images of blood rivers, countless corpses, and desolation flashed in Wei Cheng’s mind.
Even his strong spiritual power was shaken; one could imagine how others felt.
Yet, on closer inspection, he sensed something odd about the black mist. It seemed alive, not just a simple Shadow Curse.
Because Shadow Curses last only a few seconds before vanishing without a trace, truly invisible and colorless.
But this black mist was different.
“Old Wei, is there something strange about this black mist?”
“I don’t know, but everyone try not to touch it,” Wei Cheng said gravely. Entering the Poison Zone required extreme caution. Although the teams from the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Zones had already entered the mist without obvious problems, he remained wary.
“I’ll lead the way; follow closely, don’t look around, and don’t let your minds wander. Especially you, Cheng An—if your mind’s unsettled, better to head to Cangwu City. Haven’t you learned from Sister Zhao’s fate?”
Wei Cheng barked. His spiritual power could sense Cheng An’s anxiety, a fatal flaw prone to the influence of the Shadow Curse.
He remembered that in the sixth trial, Cheng An was the first to break down. His cultivation aptitude was good, but his psychological fortitude needed work.
Even before entering the Poison Zone, he was already tightly wound.
“Boss, I—”
Cheng An’s face went pale. He hadn’t forgotten how Sister Zhao had died.
But he couldn’t just abandon his comrades. He had pride.
“No need to force yourself. Going to Cangwu City is a safe bet. Three months of growth is enough for you to break through to ninth Jiazi. If we fail exploring the Poison Zone, we’ll head to Cangwu City anyway. You can be our scout.”
Wei Cheng suddenly softened his tone, smiling reassuringly.
He truly did not recommend Cheng An’s situation.
During the defense of Fuyun City, Cheng An had faltered once mid-battle. Though not betrayal, it was like a personal demon, a hurdle he couldn’t overcome. If he couldn’t break through it himself, no one else could help him.
“Alright then, boss, Yu Liang, Liu Sui, Old Mei, Xu Shan—you all be careful. If you meet a boss you can’t handle, retreat immediately,” Cheng An finally wavered.
Wei Cheng smiled faintly, then turned to face the writhing black mist. He slowly began to channel his Mountain Moving internal energy.
At first slow, then suddenly surging tens of thousands of feet, the Mountain Moving visualization instantly activated. On the mountain peaks, the roaring of dragons and tigers echoed, waves crashed sky-high, and the gathered momentum converged into one place. The next moment, he roared thunderously.
“Open!”
His roar created an illusion of towering mountains within a hundred meters around him, blotting out the sky.
A vast river thundered like a dragon, and everyone within the area felt crushed under mountains, gasping for air, their thoughts paralyzed, their internal energy frozen solid!
But in truth, they were only enduring the aftershock!
Wei Cheng’s roar truly struck forward in a hundred-meter-wide fan-shaped area.
The once writhing black mist was shattered and dispelled by his roar, clearing the entire area. The eerie aura vanished without a trace.
However, the black mist seemed alive. Though driven back for hundreds of meters by Wei Cheng’s roar, within seconds it writhed and reformed rapidly.
Without hesitation, Wei Cheng channeled his Mountain Moving energy again, roaring to clear a path, giving the mist no chance to approach.
“Boss Wei, isn’t that too draining? I think we should activate the Golden Bell shield and continuously channel internal energy; that should be enough to resist the mist. It looks strange, but it doesn’t seem like a Shadow Curse,” Mei Renli suggested.
Now, he and Yu Liang could also activate the Mountain Moving visualization and channel the energy to produce a massive thunderous wave.
But the cost was high. Even as eighth Jiazi Mountain Movers who had completed two refinements, mastering the second level of the Mountain Moving technique and possessing twenty-five Jiazi worth of internal energy, they couldn’t sustain such consumption.
“No worries, I know what I’m doing.”
Wei Cheng remained surprisingly calm. What looked like a huge energy expenditure to Yu Liang and Mei Renli was negligible to him.
With his current internal energy reserves, he could roar for a thousand miles in one breath.
His confidence came from choosing to improve internal energy quality in both refinements, the advantages of the Mountain Moving technique’s second level, and the benefits borrowed from the Qingmu technique, which helped resist the fourth wave of Shadow Curse.
Most importantly, his Mountain Moving visualization was 95% refined in detail.
Others might strain to roar once, but he only needed to activate the visualization and let the internal energy generate the aftershock naturally, creating the roar’s power effortlessly.
(End of chapter)