Chapter 35: The Boar Demon

“Boss, take care!”
Yu Liang and Wang Wei called out, then left with a bitter smile. They knew full well that staying behind would only burden Wei Cheng; their strength at the northern city defenses was simply too weak.
In the end, only Cheng An, steadfast and resolute, chose to remain.
As a Mountain Mover of five cycles, he had never ventured out since the beginning. Though he had expended much inner power later to support others, the three seconds of divine radiance restored half of it. Thus, a desire rose within him to try his hand at a greater challenge.
This was his sole chance to catch up with the foremost ranks.
At this moment, Wei Cheng too recovered half his inner power within the divine radiance, as if the restoration was proportional—he certainly benefited greatly.
But more than that, the greatest boon he received was from the relentless, abundant exposure to divine radiance. The accumulation of quantity brought forth a qualitative leap; the bottleneck that had long hindered his body’s growth shattered completely.
He felt reborn: not only was his mental acuity sharper, but his understanding of the Mountain Mover’s Heart Method and the Mountain Mover’s Visualization Diagram soared to new heights. His grasp of deeper layers leapt from thirty percent straight to thirty-one percent.
Such is the accumulation of quantity, culminating in a leap of quality.
Within the layered mountains conjured by the Mountain Mover’s Visualization Diagram, the Way of Non-Contention appeared vividly. No longer did he need to activate it in moments of life and death—it could now be wielded freely according to the battlefield’s needs.
Beyond the Mountain Mover’s Visualization Diagram, the breakthrough in Wei Cheng’s bodily bottleneck affected another technique: the Golden Bell Visualization Diagram, which he had nearly mastered but had to abandon due to a lack of mental power.
Now, he easily completed the last missing piece, gaining a preliminary understanding of its profound essence.
He realized this was not a diversion, but a transformation from illusion to reality.
In technical terms, the Way of Non-Contention in the Mountain Mover’s Visualization Diagram transforms the real into the illusory: high evasion, high damage mitigation, high immunity—like water dissipating force, neutralizing attacks.
The Golden Bell Visualization Diagram, however, transforms the illusory into the real, increasing rigidity and density in an instant, making him as unyielding as a reef, so that attacks hit head-on, achieving the ultimate goal: the enemy is an egg, he is a stone.
Wei Cheng let out a long breath. Only now did he dare claim, with genuine confidence, that he stood among the first ranks—a status no boast could substitute.
He grabbed a jar of Osmanthus wine from his basket, drank half, and tossed the rest to Cheng An.
From here, they would fight alone.
At this moment, fewer than ten remained on the northern city wall, all seasoned veterans who had deliberately conserved their strength and never ventured out.
Wei Cheng felt no regret; after all, there was still the kill leaderboard.
With his hour-long frenzy, his name would surely appear on it.
A strange horn sounded.
Outside the city, among the demon army, thousands of antlered demons appeared, hurling dense fire spears at the already dim city barrier.

In that instant, star-like spears rained down, bursting upon the city barrier in dazzling yet despairing blooms of fire.
Round after round!
After three full rounds, when the antlered demons’ black jars were emptied, and everyone rejoiced that the city barrier remained unscathed, more black jars were swiftly delivered by the horde from the rear.
Damn it!
Wei Cheng couldn’t help but curse.
Yet he was powerless—if the city barrier fell, what could they defend? The corrosive fluids sprayed by the flesh-mountain demons alone could leave him nothing but bone fragments.
Still, he held onto a sliver of hope: this was a true trial, surely the Immortal overseeing it wouldn’t leave them without any path to survival?
No sooner had he thought this than the city barrier began to tremble violently, massive holes blasted open by fire spears. More spears poured through, igniting fires and wails throughout Floating Cloud City, as if the apocalypse had arrived.
Then, from the sky, flying demons swept in through the breaches like black clouds. Some aimed for the walls, others for the city’s civilian population.
But in the next second, a flash of white light—the deadly defensive array suddenly activated, slaughtering all those flying demons who crossed the boundary.
At the same time, the four transfer stone monuments ignited another stick of incense: the second round had begun.
This round was far more terrifying than the first. With the city barrier riddled with holes, not only did flying demons join the fray, but larger pig demons also entered the battle.
In the blink of an eye, the northern defense line teetered on the edge of collapse.
From the sky, a fierce wind swept in as over a hundred flying demons dove like lightning, as if they were chisels intent on mutual destruction.
This was truly deadly!
“Cheng An, follow me!”
Wei Cheng shouted. There was no escaping now, unless they were spirit swallows of five cycles.
They could only stand their ground!
“Boss, let’s retreat!”
Cheng An cried out in despair, fear overtaking him at the brink of death.
The next moment, he chose to leave.
Yes, that was the only path left by the Immortal overseeing the trial—generous, really. So long as one survived the first round, they could leave at any moment thereafter.
There’s no shame in fearing death.
Admitting one’s own cowardice is nothing to be ashamed of.

Wei Cheng was stunned, though a bit disappointed.
He looked up—
Death’s presence was so near, he felt his blood boiling and surging in his chest, like drums pounding in a storm.
It was his body’s instinctive response to facing death!
But Wei Cheng held firm.
He let the trembling fear reach its peak, allowed the flying demons to dive within mere meters, their winds so fierce he could hardly keep his eyes open.
In that moment, his dormant mental power ignited like wildfire, like a gale sweeping the heavens, like waves crashing upon mountains, crushing his fear, his hesitation, his weakness.
Boom!
For the first time, his unprecedented spiritual will influenced his Mountain Mover’s inner power. An angry force spread rapidly, echoing through the mountains, gathering in a roar.
“Command!”
Thunder erupted from the ground, blasting skyward in a mighty wave. The dozen flying demons closest to Wei Cheng, mere meters away, were instantly reduced to bloody pulp.
The next moment, golden light burst around Wei Cheng, swiftly coalescing into a golden bell over ten meters tall.
But this was not a golden bell barrier—it was the Golden Bell Visualization Diagram!
Or rather, he had successfully released the sixth layer of the Golden Bell Shield.
As vast amounts of Mountain Mover inner power poured into the bell, deep, unending bell tones rang out, and the bell began to shrink rapidly, its reality intensifying.
When it was reduced to just two meters high, it became incredibly tangible and weighty, its mass reaching a hundred thousand pounds.
Clang, clang, clang!
The tremendous collision mixed with continuous bell tones as more flying demons carried out suicide attacks from the sky, only to explode into clouds of blood upon hitting the golden bell, leaving no trace behind.
The bell was simply too hard, too heavy.
In this state, Wei Cheng couldn’t even move.
That was the sole weakness of the Immovable Golden Bell.