Chapter 52: The Demons' Stronghold (Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader Lan Ruoruo 10/10)

(1/3)

“It’s all my fault! I took my brothers out, but I didn’t bring them back with me!”

Tang Xiaojun’s injuries were severe. Blood covered his entire body. His emotions were in turmoil as he kept banging his head against the ground, wailing uncontrollably.

“Calm down! What exactly happened?”

Zhou Wu’s voice was low, tinged with a trace of anger in his eyes. The men Tang Xiaojun had led out numbered only about forty, but each was strong—especially since now only one of the three top-tier Seven Cycles Mountain Movers remained alive. For their district, it was a disaster piled atop calamity. Things truly couldn’t be worse.

And there was still a joint team that hadn’t returned—another three Seven Cycles Mountain Movers among them!

Don’t think only that fool Wei understood the benefits of cooperation. Zhou Wu understood it just as well, and perhaps even better!

“We... we wiped out a squad of demon scouts. It went smoothly. Thanks to the warning you provided, we hardly suffered any casualties.”

Tang Xiaojun’s face contorted with intense remorse. If only they had turned back then!

But fate had other plans.

“We ran into Wu Lei’s group. They hadn’t found anything, but they’d discovered a demon stronghold about fifty miles out. I foolishly believed what he said and led my men to investigate. Sure enough, it was a dilapidated outpost, apparently left behind by humans. There weren’t many demons inside, but the terrain was treacherous.”

“I thought we could seize it in one swift strike. But as soon as we got close, a dozen or so antlered demons rushed out, unleashing a barrage of fireballs that engulfed us. Only a handful of us escaped. I failed my brothers!”

Tang Xiaojun’s sobs grew louder.

Yet the others had no time to comfort him. A demon stronghold set in dangerous terrain, home to a dozen fireball-casting antlered demons—was this some kind of joke?

“Wei Cheng, what do you think?”

Soon, Zhou Wu and Qin Douzi approached with a dozen others. Besides a few of Zhou’s closest companions, the rest were squad leaders of various teams, including Yang Yufeng and the still-crying Tang Xiaojun.

“Is it possible that this demon stronghold is the main quest of the sixth stage?”

Wei Cheng didn’t stand on ceremony. He directly voiced the possibility.

“Unlikely. Remember the difficulty of the fifth stage. A dozen antlered demons would be nothing against five thousand trial-takers.”

Zhou Wu’s strategist, Qin Douzi, shook his head.

“I agree. The main quest of the sixth stage is still to reach Cangwu City, and there will surely be mechanisms like those at Floating Cloud City. The sooner you get there, the more time you’ll have to develop. But that also means we’ll run into trial-takers from other districts.”

(2/3)

A young man named Xu Guoliang spoke up quickly. He was also one of Zhou Wu’s core companions—a Five Cycle Purple Mist, and the one who had killed the most demons in the fifth stage. He wore a +7 cold resistance Ice Ring.

Such a figure carried considerable weight among all the trial-takers.

For he was undoubtedly the highest-ranked damage dealer at present.

A heavy silence fell. Their squads had been fiercely competitive, often forgetting—perhaps subconsciously—that there were others from different districts.

If their district truly was the weakest, then once they reached Cangwu City, the chaos that had engulfed Floating Cloud City would repeat itself: teams breaking apart, the strong growing stronger, the weak left behind. How many of the teams from the first four stages even remained today?

If they still couldn’t unite, they might not even make it to Cangwu City.

“Perhaps what we’re facing now is similar to the earlier stages—preliminary gates before the real sixth stage begins at Cangwu City.”

“What’s the point of talking about that? We need to figure out how to assault that demon stronghold! Wei Cheng, I propose that Tang Xiaojun train in the second tier of the Mountain Moving Technique. He’s fully qualified! That would give us three top-tier Mountain Movers—surely enough to hold the line!” Zhou Wu declared loudly, revealing the true reason he’d gathered everyone.

“Agreed. You teach him!” Wei Cheng had no objection. At a time like this, he desperately hoped everyone would grow stronger. Wouldn’t reaching Cangwu City sooner be ideal?

Cangwu City, as a provincial capital, would surely offer far higher-quality cultivation resources!

—

A bitter night wind blew, carrying a foul stench of rot and blood.

Looking up, the sparse stars overhead resembled the pale, despairing eyes of drowned souls, watching this world in helplessness.

Wei Cheng circulated the Mountain Moving Technique for a while, but soon had to give up. This world was different from Earth.

Earth was pale and barren, devoid of vitality.

But here, after the rampage of the demons, the air was thick with indescribable darkness and despair, with uncontrollable violence and distortion.

Such energy could not be converted into the internal force of the Mountain Moving Technique.

Wei Cheng even sensed that the longer he stayed in this environment, even without actively cultivating, he would be corrupted and tainted by that power of darkness, despair, violence, and mutation.

“Could the Shadow Curse be about to erupt?”

He felt a twinge of anxiety. But by rights, the Shadow Curse shouldn’t flare up for the first time until tomorrow morning.

(3/3)

Wei Cheng opened his eyes, his gaze sweeping slowly over the group. Aside from those on watch, most people seemed normal, devouring roasted meat and eagerly practicing their techniques—busy and content.

Zhou Wu and Tang Xiaojun were no exception.

Was it just his imagination?

Wei Cheng didn’t dwell on it. He closed his eyes once more, regulated his breathing, and used his mental energy to sense and practice mastering the seventh tier of the Golden Bell Shield technique.

Though he had copied Zhou Wu’s notes, that didn’t mean he could afford to rest on his laurels. There was still much room for improvement in the Golden Bell visualization diagram.

A faint golden light flickered almost imperceptibly around him.

He paused in surprise, his expression odd. He’d failed to control the speed while condensing the Golden Bell visualization.

Still not right!

“My mental strength has improved again, breaking through some limit. And since I copied Zhou Wu’s notes, the process became much simpler.”

As this thought arose, his mind moved once more. His mental energy, like a brush soaked in ink, swept across the canvas in bold strokes, completing the pattern in one smooth motion.

It was effortless—so fluid!

The sensation of achieving it in a single breath was entirely different.

Wei Cheng felt like a seasoned driver, steering the car down the highway with practiced ease—no need to consciously think about anything. He and the car were in perfect harmony, inseparable!

This was a window, a door, a switch, a lock. As soon as he infused it with the Mountain Moving internal force, everything would come alive!

No longer a rigid, passive shield, but a living, flowing Golden Bell.

Unconsciously, Wei Cheng’s hands moved in subtle, complex mudras, forming and dissolving mysterious seals whose traces lingered on, persistent and enduring.

In the end, there were as many as three such marks.