Chapter 49: The First Kill at the Beginning

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Yet, Wei Cheng did not die!

He poured every last drop of his Mountain-shifting inner strength into a desperate charge, putting pressure on the antlered demon, provoking it into unleashing a barrage of devastating attacks.

Three massive fireballs bought the others a total of nine seconds.

He had done his utmost.

Meanwhile, Yu Liang and Wang Wei, along with the black giant ape they had been entangled with, were blasted away by the shockwave. Fortunately, being farther from the epicenter, they suffered less.

Only Liu Sui, fragile as he was, seemed as helpless as a chick before the force of the blast.

At the critical moment, the old man Mei Renli threw himself forward and tackled Liu Sui to the ground.

When the shockwave passed, the flesh and blood on Mei Renli’s back was mangled, exposing bone, his organs shaken apart.

Had he not been a six-decade Mountain-shifter, with a body as tough as leather and monstrous vitality, he would have been blown to bits on the spot.

Only Liu Sui emerged unscathed.

“Charge!”

With blood streaming down his face, Liu Sui seemed possessed, his entire body erupting with a purple mist more than a foot thick. He hurled himself up the slope like a violet hurricane!

The entire Wei Cheng squad coordinated seamlessly, finally buying Liu Sui three seconds.

Yes, the great fireball required three seconds to form, but with Liu Sui’s speed, he needed only one to reach his target.

After that, it was no longer anyone else’s business.

Whether antlered demon or purple-skinned fiend, all cowered beneath the onslaught of those countless purple palms.

One could almost glimpse the shadow of a flying dragon weaving through the air!

In a single second!

The demon scout squad, antlered beast included, was annihilated. Even a second’s delay would have meant defeat.

But such reckless, all-out attacks came at a steep price—draining inner strength to the brink.

When a massive Transmission Stele descended slowly from the sky, Liu Sui’s legs simply gave out.

He stood there, dazed and blank.

“Honey!”

Xu Shan threw herself into his arms, ignoring the monumental Transmission Stele that had landed so close by.

It seemed, in truth, that all this way it had been Xu Shan carrying Liu Sui along.

Just then, Han Dong suddenly accelerated. The rest of Wei Cheng’s squad was more or less half-crippled, while he alone was unscathed. If he didn’t seize the first touch on the stele now, when would he?

But when Wei Cheng slowly turned and fixed him with a sharp gaze, Han Dong flushed and instead rushed toward the few remaining, badly wounded black giant apes.

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At the end of the day, he could not bring himself to act so shamelessly.

“Old Wei!”

Xu Shan called out, wanting Wei Cheng to claim the stele, but Wei Cheng instead lifted the gravely injured Cheng An. Now was not the time to debate credit; saving lives took priority.

The divine radiance he’d obtained at the fifth checkpoint was already of excellent quality. He had no need to fight for this one.

Meanwhile, Yu Liang helped up the bloodied Mei Renli. The old fox, eager to move quickly, had neglected his Golden Bell shield and suffered grievously for it.

“Cheng An first, Mei Renli second, Liu Sui third, Yu Liang fourth, Wang Wei fifth, Xu Shan sixth, I’ll go seventh, Han Dong eighth.”

Wei Cheng pronounced the order for touching the stele.

No one objected.

In an instant, divine light shone on Cheng An, healing his wounds rapidly, and there was even surplus—the radiance lasted a full eight seconds.

Moreover, the quality of this light surpassed even that from the demon scout squad at the fifth checkpoint.

Next, Mei Renli received five seconds of healing light.

Liu Sui, three.

Yu Liang, two; even Wang Wei got one second.

The rewards were astonishing!

So, by the time Wei Cheng, seventh to touch the stele, stepped up, he too obtained the seventh stage of the Golden Bell technique.

It seemed this Transmission Stele permitted fifty claimants.

A moment of jubilation swept through them all!

Several minutes later, when Zhou Wu led his men in a grand rush up the cliff, all that remained was a third of the Transmission Stele.

At that moment, Zhou Wu’s expression remained largely unchanged, but the other squads could not hide their envy and regret.

Some even muttered about Wei Cheng’s squad’s “dog’s luck.”

And why not? They weren’t the only ones who had ever wiped out a demon squad. There were already established strategies. Not every squad present could take down a demon scout team, but at least sixty percent had the strength to do so.

“Captain Wei, how do you plan to allocate the remaining stele touches?”

Someone asked with enthusiasm, for the Transmission Steles dropped by demon scout squads were always generous, allowing dozens of attempts. The first four always yielded divine light and top-tier external techniques.

The next sixteen guaranteed top-tier techniques, and even the final ten gave at least intermediate-level skills.

Wei Cheng’s squad had only ten people—far too few to exhaust the stele’s quota.

“I don’t mind. Captain Zhou can distribute them.”

Wei Cheng was tactful; he had no desire to make enemies of Zhou Wu and the others, especially after taking in Liu Sui and Xu Shan.

Wouldn’t it be better if everyone could happily hunt monsters together?

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“Douzi, you handle it.”

Zhou Wu showed little emotion, tossing the matter to his partner before turning to Wei Cheng.

“Was there anything unusual about this demon scout squad?”

“They grew stronger—the fire spears became fireballs, and the medium changed from jars to a fire seal. But there was no immobilizing head. Of course, other demon squads may still have that configuration.

“Additionally, there was a brainless boar demon that only knew how to charge. Fortunately, the terrain here is steep and rocky, or it would have wiped us out.

“And there were four more black giant apes—tough, powerful, and troublesome.”

Wei Cheng answered forthrightly. This intelligence was valuable, but there was no reason to keep it secret. With nearly a thousand miles to Cangwu City, cooperation was their best chance.

“How powerful were the fireballs?” someone else asked—this time not Zhou Wu’s companion, but Tang Xiaojun, a squad leader from another elite team. Ranked just below Zhou Wu in prestige, he was a leading figure on the East Wall.

He too was a seven-decade Mountain-shifter, had mastered the Mountain-shifting Visualization Map and the sixth level of the Golden Bell Visualization. Except for not having the second stage of the Mountain-shifting Heart Method, he was in no way inferior to Wei Cheng—even his spiritual strength was comparable.

It was said that in the first four checkpoints, he had led his squad to a perfect sweep, monopolizing all the divine radiance from both main and side missions.

As everyone knew, the real value of divine radiance wasn’t in a single exposure, but in the accumulation—quantity led to qualitative change.

Wei Cheng glanced at Tang Xiaojun and instantly understood his intent.

“My advice is, don’t act rashly. If you want to take out a demon scout squad now, your best option is to work with Zhou Wu, ensuring your team includes three seven-decade Mountain-shifters, each of whom must have mastered the Golden Bell Visualization. Otherwise, you’ll suffer heavy casualties.

“And I should add: don’t be reckless. You only have one life, but opportunities abound.”

Wei Cheng’s words were sincere—he had all but revealed that he had mastered the second stage of the Mountain-shifting Heart Method.

After all, nothing else could explain how he’d survived three successive fireballs alone.

Wasn’t that like taking on three by himself?

But Wei Cheng knew full well that their region had already fallen far behind. Of five thousand, only a little over five hundred remained. If they didn’t unite, he doubted they’d reach the seventh checkpoint.

Still, his words elicited varied reactions.

Zhou Wu frowned slightly; Tang Xiaojun narrowed his eyes; Qin Douzi shot a knowing look at Liu Sui and Xu Shan.

As for Yang Yufeng, a six-decade Spirit Swallow, his gaze toward Wei Cheng suddenly became fervent.

Most, however, remained indifferent or confused. It wasn’t their turn to stand out anyway; they would simply wait patiently for their chance.