Chapter 19: War of Attrition

The consecutive deaths of Hu Hailong and Baldy finally struck terror into the hearts of the others. Cheng An scrambled back into the mine in a panic, leaving only Wei Cheng outside, who raised his middle finger at the snow apes.

“Come on, you bastards! Your grandpa’s right here—if you’ve got the guts, come kill me!”

Wei Cheng wasn’t blinded by rage; rather, in that very moment, he thought of a solution—albeit a desperate one: a battle of attrition.

He’d realized that the snow apes’ ability to launch ice spikes was more akin to some kind of spell, which meant they couldn’t attack endlessly. In fact, after three rounds of concentrated assault with no effect, the snow apes’ cries turned anxious. When a fourth volley of ice spikes still yielded no results, the entire group abruptly ceased their attack.

A wave of dread swept over everyone.

In the next instant, a larger snow ape slammed its paw down on a smaller companion’s head, crushing its skull. It opened its gaping maw and sucked the smaller ape dry in one breath. Though its body didn’t change, a pale frost shrouded it.

The air in the mine grew several degrees colder.

If only one snow ape had done this, perhaps it could have been dismissed, but over a dozen of the larger apes joined in, and the weaker ones didn’t even resist.

Worse yet, Wei Cheng and his group lacked anyone who had practiced the Spirit Swallowing Mind Technique: even if they tried to interrupt the apes’ sacrificial spellcasting, they couldn’t catch up, and the remaining apes could intercept them with ice spikes at any time.

Except for those who practiced the Spirit Swallowing Mind Technique, who could dodge a hail of ice spikes and still leap ten meters up sheer rock to disrupt the snow apes’ ritual?

Wei Cheng immediately pulled out a piece of Blazing Stone and hurled it, but it only managed to kill a single leader snow ape.

The next moment, the temperature in the mine plummeted to below minus thirty degrees; even a breath turned to frost.

A leader snow ape suddenly let out a different roar. Instantly, all the apes’ eyes turned an even deeper crimson, their fierce gaze radiating pure hatred—clearly, their vengeance was aimed at Wei Cheng’s group.

“Retreat, now!” Wei Cheng shouted, turning to run for the mineshaft.

But he was a moment too late—or perhaps, he simply couldn’t anticipate the snow apes’ second mode of attack.

With a shrill sound, fifteen ice spikes slammed into the mine entrance. Instead of shattering, they unleashed a wave of freezing air that instantly sealed off a ten-meter radius in thick ice, trapping everyone within and cutting off Wei Cheng’s escape.

The icy breath also sealed Wei Cheng’s Golden Bell Shield, turning it into a lantern of flickering golden light encased in ice—a sight both beautiful and deadly.

But such a terrifying, all-encompassing ice spike attack came at a heavy cost: the fourteen remaining snow apes visibly drooped, too drained to launch another volley any time soon.

The rest of the snow apes shrieked and leapt from the rock walls, lunging at Wei Cheng, evidently confident of victory.

Indeed, the cold was strange and insidious. Though Wei Cheng kept his Golden Bell Shield at full strength, he could still feel icy tendrils seeping into his body, making his Mountain-Moving inner force sluggish and unresponsive.

To completely disable him would take at least a dozen hours, given his deep reserves of inner power. But the real danger was that the fifteen leader snow apes would have recovered by then—and if they unleashed another barrage, he wouldn’t survive.

Without hesitation, Wei Cheng grabbed another Blazing Stone and crushed it in his palm.

Had he done this before, it would have been suicide, but now he felt no fear. Though his Golden Bell Shield extended a foot out from his body, this didn’t mean the space within was hollow; in fact, the closer to his skin, the stronger the defense.

He withstood the explosion of the Blazing Stone without the slightest strain.

In other words, his body was like a solid rock: the force of the explosion, unable to affect him, found release elsewhere—unfortunately for the snow apes, the icy shell outside was a perfect target.

A blaze shot from Wei Cheng’s hands, bursting through the ice shell like the grandest of fireworks, shattering the frost and blasting away the cold. Seven or eight snow apes, quick to react but too close, were hit by the shockwave and died bleeding from every orifice—their bodies proved fragile indeed.

But that was as far as it went. Though Wei Cheng would have liked to seize the chance for a hero’s charge—perhaps to kill a snow ape with his bare hands—the surviving apes instantly retreated to the rock walls, screeching as ice spikes rained down in chaos. Without their leader’s command, they had lost their discipline.

Wei Cheng, still shielded, grabbed another Blazing Stone and blasted open the frozen entrance, rescuing those trapped inside. Thankfully, the ordeal had been brief and everyone’s inner power deep, so there were no serious injuries.

“Now’s our chance—go touch the stone tablet! Cheng An, you first, I’ll go second, Zhang Yong third, the rest in the usual order.”

His tone was calm. His spiritual strength was remarkable: though the sudden deaths of Hu Hailong and Baldy had nearly thrown him into disarray, he recovered quickly, and the battlefield held no more secrets for him.

He let Cheng An go first to touch the stone tablet, partly due to the latter’s potential, but more importantly, because Cheng An could, when possible, save Wang Wei.

It was a pity about Baldy—Wei Cheng had intended to train him specially.

“Thank you, Brother Wei! I swear I won’t let you down—you’re my boss from now on! Whatever you say, I’ll do!”

Cheng An shouted with excitement. The others’ expressions were mixed—envy, jealousy, but above all, the fear of death.

“Stay close!”

Wei Cheng strode out of the mineshaft, immediately met by a few scattered ice spikes, which he ignored.

His judgment proved sound; in a level four non-mainline dungeon, the difficulty was moderate, so the snow apes were spent and couldn’t continue their relentless attacks.

The apes scurried back and forth along the walls, howling in impotent rage, as if taunting, “If you dare, come up here!”

The group crept from the mine like men treading on thin ice, their nerves taut, relaxing only when Wei Cheng’s figure appeared ahead.

Their earlier ambitions to clear the side dungeon had long since vanished. Without Wei Cheng, they were hopelessly outmatched.

This dungeon run was practically Wei Cheng’s solo achievement. Yet, true to his word, he ceded the first chance to touch the stone tablet—a gesture that transcended mere kindness, marking him as a true leader worth following.

Under the group’s eager gaze, Cheng An was the first to touch the transmission stone, and a miraculous light enveloped him. His rapt expression showed just how great the reward was.

Sadly, the light lasted only three seconds before vanishing.

Side dungeons were, after all, not the same as mainline challenges.

“Boss, I’ve gained the second level of the Golden Bell Shield technique,” Cheng An reported respectfully after leaving the stone.

Wei Cheng nodded; apart from the divine light, the rest of the reward system seemed unchanged.

He stepped forward and, as expected, obtained the fifth level of the Golden Bell Shield technique.

Then Zhang Yong leapt up like a monkey; he’d missed out on the stone in the main dungeon, so now he received the third level of the Soaring Dragon Palm.

Despite all his flaws, for the sake of the team’s growth, Wei Cheng would support him.

Next was Han Dong, who acquired only the first level of the Soaring Dragon Sword, with a compatibility of just seventy percent. It was hard to say whether to laugh or cry; clearly, the rewards in side dungeons were much reduced.

After that came Yu Liang, Wang Wei, and the others. With two members lost, there were more spots at the stone, but most only gained Iron Shirt or Iron Head techniques—hardly consolation prizes.

Perhaps the only good news was the eight snow ape corpses blasted by the Blazing Stone, as well as the leader’s body, which they collected entirely, not leaving even a scrap of meat—over a thousand pounds in all, precious resources for cultivation.

Yu Liang, ever the bold one, went so far as to crouch by a pit of melting ice and blood, drinking until Wei Cheng found him—by then, he’d finished the whole thing.