Chapter 36: The Tide Has Turned

In just a few short minutes, the surroundings of Wei City became rivers of blood and mountains of corpses. At least a thousand flying demons had crashed to their deaths against the golden bell. Yet the bell stood unshaken, immovable and steadfast. In truth, Wei Cheng was experiencing this Golden Bell Visualization for the first time. Only after releasing it did he realize: unless the inner strength of Moving Mountains he had infused was entirely spent, the rigid state of the bell could not be ended.

His only frustration was that he had just poured in sixty years’ worth of Moving Mountains strength.

But that frustration soon turned to delight.

With a series of bizarre roars, a boar demon, larger than an elephant, charged up the city wall like a tank, trampling and crushing everything in its path—friend and foe alike.

Wei Cheng’s gleaming golden figure was the first thing to catch the infuriated boar demon’s eye. It let out a thunderous bellow, hooves pounding and its thick tail thrashing wildly as it barreled toward him, like a mountain in motion.

Wei Cheng’s heart was in his throat, but there was nothing he could do—he could only stare wide-eyed—

With a deafening crash, the golden bell finally moved, and a massive peal rang out in all directions, sending the surrounding sharp-horned demons sprawling, writhing in agony.

As for the monstrous boar demon, its giant head was reduced in an instant to a gruesome stew of red, yellow, green, and white, like tomato and egg drop soup. Its enormous body was similarly rendered into a pile of boneless pork, unmistakably dead.

Wei Cheng, however, was unharmed.

Yet such a tremendous impact consumed half the Moving Mountains strength within the bell. In other words, just one more boar demon…

No sooner had the thought occurred than another boar demon charged in, fearless of death. The moment it died, the golden bell around Wei Cheng trembled violently, then faded away like mist and smoke.

Caught off guard, he was buried beneath a torrent of flesh and blood, swallowing several mouthfuls of unknown liquid. Panicked, he scrambled out, no longer daring to take the brunt of the assault. He quickly drew out a piece of Flame Stone, struck it a few times, and flung it back over his shoulder. It struck another rampaging boar demon dozens of meters away.

Wei Cheng didn’t expect the explosion to kill the boar demon. In fact, at that moment, he even considered making his escape. But to his surprise, as the Flame Stone exploded and ignited a great blaze, the boar demon instantly went mad, erupting into a wild, frenzied dance right on the spot.

The creature was simply too massive. Though the city wall was not exactly narrow, it was hardly spacious. As the boar demon thrashed about, the unfortunate victims were the other demons nearby.

Wei Cheng watched in astonishment as the boar demon transformed into a hellish tank of fire. On the city wall, it unleashed utter havoc, trampling and hurling demons in all directions, leaving carnage in its wake.

Crouched aside, Wei Cheng was both terrified and exhilarated, as if a new world had opened before him. Gripping a Flame Stone in each hand, he hurled them at any boar demon that managed to storm the city wall. His aim hardly mattered; it seemed the boar demons went berserk at the mere sight of fire.

After throwing just three Flame Stones, the entire northern defense line was dominated by three flaming boar demons. No matter how many enemies surged forward, none could withstand their rampages—all were sent flying or trampled beyond recognition.

Wei Cheng only needed to evade in advance, easily avoiding harm and gaining precious moments to catch his breath.

What’s more, the boar demons’ flesh and blood contained a remarkably potent energy, perhaps due to their high rank or some other reason. Earlier, when Wei Cheng inadvertently swallowed several gulps of boar blood—initially revolted—he soon discovered it could be rapidly converted into Moving Mountains strength, far superior even to osmanthus wine.

So, without hesitation, he threw himself onto the spot where the two boar demons had died, drinking heartily, setting aside all disgust—anything to survive the second round.

While Wei Cheng struggled atop the northern wall, explosions from Flame Stones and the crazed howls of boar demons echoed from other directions as well. Clearly, there were many clever minds among the defenders.

However, this tactic was not so friendly to the southern wall, where Zhou Wu’s team held the line. After the second round began, fewer than ten remained on the northern wall, about fifty on the west, and a hundred on the east. Only the southern defense, being elite, retained over a thousand trial-takers.

On the north wall, Wei Cheng simply tossed out a few Flame Stones, drank blood, and ate flesh to restore his strength. The east and west fared reasonably well too. Only in the south did the boar demons’ frenzied attacks sow indiscriminate destruction. Numerous trial-takers failed to dodge in time, meeting their end beneath hooves or being flung aside. The quick-witted escaped, the slow perished unjustly.

With the help of boar blood and Flame Stones, Wei Cheng’s Moving Mountains strength was quickly recovering, and the northern defense line was plunged into chaos. For a moment, he almost felt as if he could see a path to victory.

But in reality, he had only fourteen Flame Stones. They lasted barely half an hour before being spent. There were simply too many demons, too many boar demons. The other walls had long since fallen silent, with no more explosions to be heard.

In the end, Wei Cheng was the only one left atop the northern wall. Like a drowning man, he had no choice but to activate the Golden Bell Visualization once more. A bell weighing a hundred thousand pounds formed around him, and he endured wave after wave of demonic assault. When the bell was finally shattered, he knew that would be his end.

Yet, the other defenders were in even worse straits.

Suddenly, a tremendous crash resounded from the western wall—the Transmission Stele there shattered and vanished into nothingness. All the trial-takers on that side had either fallen in battle or chosen to leave in their final moments. With none remaining, the stele lost its purpose.

Moments later, the Transmission Stele on the eastern wall also crumbled.

This seemed to affect the defensive formation as well; the city’s protective barrier became ragged and incomplete. The tidal wave of demons surged forward unimpeded, howling as they poured into Floating Cloud City. The city had fallen!

No doubt the group in the south was beside themselves with frustration. Who could have foreseen that the locals would refuse to help defend the city? Or that the four Transmission Steles were linked to the protective barrier?

But Wei Cheng had no time left to think.

With a resounding bang and a clang, a crazed boar demon charged in, sending dozens of sharp-horned demons flying and turning itself into another pile of boneless pork. The golden bell swayed but did not fall.

A few seconds later, yet another boar demon crashed into him, dying in the process and shattering Wei Cheng’s second golden bell.

The swarm of sharp-horned demons surged in, and several fire-spears flew overhead. With the defenses in shambles, even antlered demons were now scaling the walls.

Wei Cheng could only smile bitterly—his fate was sealed.

Summoning the last reserves of his Moving Mountains strength, he unleashed the visualization once more. Phantom ranges of mountains appeared, and the roar of a mighty river resounded—the Way of Non-Contention was released.

In that moment, his body seemed to flow with water. No matter how dense the attacks, the torrents deflected their aim, blunting their force and rendering him untouchable. No one could restrain him—like a slippery eel, he broke through the encirclement with a few bursts of speed and leapt down into the city.

The defensive formation was gone, but he was determined to fight on in the streets.

Until the very last moment, he would not give up.