Chapter 32: Golden Bell Talisman (Extra Chapter for Alliance Leader Lan Ruoruo 6/10)

At night, Floating Cloud City lay in tranquil silence, as if the army of demons and monsters did not exist at all.

Wei Cheng did not continue cultivating; instead, he practiced the sixth layer of the Golden Bell Shield technique. This layer was particularly difficult, requiring the full mobilization of Mountain-moving inner force, using the mind as a brush to instantaneously inscribe an incomparably complex Golden Bell sigil, and then infusing it with three cycles of Mountain-moving inner force all at once. Only then would a formidable Golden Bell barrier be formed.

Wei Cheng had known from the moment he touched upon this technique that mastering it would be exceedingly arduous. He even felt that it departed from the realm of martial arts, bearing little resemblance to the previous five layers of the Golden Bell Shield. The first five layers were simple enough, essentially following the circulation pattern of the Mountain-moving mind technique, combined with some guiding movements and breathing rhythm—easy to grasp.

But the sixth layer demanded intense mental strength; if one’s spirit was even slightly weaker, mastering it was impossible. In other words, unless one had been bathed in divine light, even given the sixth layer’s technique, they would never learn it in their lifetime. And even those who had experienced the divine light only had a greater chance of success, nothing more.

With Wei Cheng’s current spiritual power, he still found it extremely taxing—far more difficult than comprehending the Mountain-moving visualization diagram. “Wait, this Golden Bell sigil feels a bit like a visualization diagram, doesn’t it?” A bold idea suddenly sparked in Wei Cheng’s mind.

With this thought, he no longer simply tried to memorize the sigil, which was more complex than a QR code, but attempted to understand it in a more three-dimensional way. This was actually harder, with a sense of not knowing where to start or how to find a pattern. Yet, Wei Cheng had experience with observing and memorizing the deeper layers of the Mountain-moving visualization diagram, and he knew that once he found the right entry point, it would become much easier.

He seized the time, focusing all his mental strength and began reverse simulation of the Golden Bell sigil. In other words, he treated it as the Golden Bell visualization diagram, believing there must be a point, a line, or even a surface where the first stroke was laid.

All things have a beginning and an end, this principle could not be wrong, could it? Like a complex landscape painting, its creation starts with just a point or a line. By extension, a mountain in the real world could also be described by a point or a line at its inception.

This was Wei Cheng’s simple idea—ignorance is fearless, perhaps. He scanned, analyzed, hypothesized, and deduced the Golden Bell sigil with high-intensity mental effort. At first, he did not feel much difficulty, but after only a few dozen minutes, his mind felt as though it had exploded, like an engine running madly without any oil, unable to stop.

Wei Cheng sensed extreme danger but was helpless; it was the first time he felt his thoughts and spiritual power slipping out of his control. Though his understanding of the Golden Bell sigil was rapidly advancing every moment, he could just as easily plunge into a bottomless abyss, shattered to pieces.

It was, in a way, the irony of “hearing the Way in the morning and dying by evening.”

Soon, as his comprehension of the Golden Bell sigil broke past eighty percent, his condition grew even more perilous.

In desperation, he broke open the clay seal of the osmanthus wine, draining one jar in a single gulp, then another. His reserve of twelve jars was emptied in the blink of an eye. Regardless of whether the power within the osmanthus wine could be endured, he was thoroughly intoxicated almost immediately, and the runaway stream of consciousness was forcibly interrupted.

With a loud crash, he collapsed to the ground, mind blank, knowing nothing at all.

Only the Mountain-moving inner force continued its slow circulation, as natural as breathing and heartbeat, unaffected by his total loss of consciousness.

—

When Wei Cheng awoke again, it was to the booming sound of gigantic bells.

His mind was still muddled, like a pot of porridge—he did not know his current state or how much time had passed.

“Boss! The demon army is storming the city!”

The anxious voices of Cheng An, Yu Liang, and others rang outside. Wei Cheng, jolted awake, sprang to his feet, opened the door, and saw the group waiting there, each with a look of utter panic.

“Why the panic? What time is it now?” Wei Cheng asked in a deep voice. His condition was recovering rapidly, with even his thinking speed and efficiency boosted several times over.

This feeling was extraordinary—the entire world seemed to hold no more secrets from him.

He could clearly sense the changes within his body while simultaneously recalling, in vivid detail, the feeling and scent of perfume from the beautiful lady who held him when he first arrived at kindergarten twenty-six years ago.

Of course, he also remembered every detail leading up to his collapse.

That intricate, mysterious Golden Bell sigil, and the visualization diagram that unfolded from it—a virtual success.

His judgment had been correct.

The Golden Bell sigil could truly be transformed into a visualization diagram.

He just could not fathom why the trial immortal had simplified it into a sigil.

For, as he felt now, the effect of the sigil was at least halved.

If it became a visualization diagram, the potential would be far greater.

“Perhaps the answer isn’t hard to guess,” Wei Cheng mused. It was because his mental strength was exceptionally powerful and he already had the Mountain-moving visualization diagram as a foundation that his thinking was unbound and he had the capability.

But what about others?

Would weak mental strength prevent further cultivation?

Certainly not. The trial immortal provided the simplified Golden Bell sigil, and perhaps there would also be Mountain-moving sigils, Spirit Swallow sigils, Purple Mist sigils.

“Let’s call it the Immovable Golden Bell,” Wei Cheng thought quickly. His understanding of the Golden Bell visualization diagram was unexpectedly clear and thorough.

Thus, aside from normal methods, he now possessed two powerful cards: the Way of Non-contention and the Immovable Golden Bell.

But the Way of Non-contention could be used only once, and then not again for a long time.

The Immovable Golden Bell could be deployed as long as inner force was sufficient—but its drawback was that once cast, he truly could not move, able only to withstand blows without striking back.

“Boss, it’s around noon. The demon army isn’t giving us any time to prepare; they’ve arrived early,” Yu Liang said in frustration. Since returning yesterday afternoon, they had been cultivating madly under the miraculous effects of the osmanthus wine, and with the divine light’s blessing, their progress was swift.

In less than twenty hours, Cheng An had reached five cycles of cultivation.

Yu Liang and Wang Wei had barely managed four cycles.

But that was all. The others, not having been bathed in divine light, were still far behind, even with the aid of the wine.

If only they had another two or three days, they might all reach four cycles.

“No use dwelling on it—let’s go!” Wei Cheng did not comfort them. He strapped on his basket, gathered all his belongings, and strode toward the northern city wall. At this moment, the entire sky above Floating Cloud City was shrouded in a seven-colored barrier, some unknown immortal magic.

As they stepped onto the city wall, each of their minds was automatically filled with the ancient voice of the trial immortal:

“Demon army assaults the city. Those who hold for one hour may pass and depart, receiving the basic reward.”

“For each additional hour held, the reward doubles.”

“On this foundation, the top one hundred in demon kills will receive even richer extra rewards according to their ranking.”