Chapter 71: A Smooth Journey (Extra Chapter 5/12 for Alliance Leader Zhibai)

Wei Cheng had only time to shout a crude curse before he was completely overwhelmed.

What were torrential rain, flash floods, and mudslides compared to this? This was nothing less than a tropical cyclone, a level eighteen typhoon, and a tsunami all rolled into one!

Heaven and earth collapsed, ghosts wailed and gods lamented. The mountains conjured by the Mountain Moving Visualization crumbled in an instant; chaos reigned.

He had accumulated too much inner power from moving mountains—it annihilated everything!

Thunder boomed, shaking the very core of his spirit. Wei Cheng’s entire soul seemed to be swept into a raging storm.

Outwardly, his body split apart, blood poured from his seven orifices, flesh and sinew ruptured in a hundred places, and under the influence of the mountain-moving force, a mist of blood rose from his body.

In that moment, Wei Cheng felt as if he had taken a potent elixir, his body surging with energy, on the verge of transcending this world.

All he could do, the only awareness that remained, was to desperately maintain the Mountain Moving Visualization and to struggle with all his might to activate the Way of Non-Contention.

Though only a few moments passed, to him it felt like an eternity.

Finally, as the roaring floodwaters sounded, at the very brink of collapse, he managed to activate the Way of Non-Contention. By then, all the mountains conjured by the visualization had been reduced to a mere pile of earth, no more than the ruins of Floating Cloud City.

It was all gone—the foundation he had built through relentless cultivation utterly destroyed.

But just then, a deep, distant bell tolled, and the Inheritance Stele manifested in his mind, as if infusing him with new knowledge.

In a daze, feeling a sudden inspiration, he began to slowly circulate the second stage of the Mountain Moving Method.

The newly-born mountain-moving force formed a spring, gathering into a stream, then a river, and finally a mighty flow that wrapped around the small mound of earth like a jade belt.

Suddenly, a thunderclap exploded, rain poured from the heavens, and all things were reborn. The scattered mountain-moving force was rapidly drawn back.

Then, atop the mound, majestic mountains rose anew, evolving from nothing to something, from simplicity to complexity—the Mountain Moving Visualization was reborn.

Among the mountains, seven innate meridians rapidly expanded and grew. When the mountains reached their peak, a dragon’s roar echoed; seven flying dragons, shaped from the land’s energy, soared into the sky, circling and twisting endlessly.

Yet, none of these changes escaped Wei Cheng’s perception. In truth, they were imprinted upon his mental strength. Through this subtle adjustment, he pushed the depth of his Mountain Moving Visualization to sixty percent!

Previously, his visualization was structured by points, lines, and planes—a three-dimensional memory of the flow of mountain-moving force, rooted in ordinary meridians, like a complex electrocardiogram, overlapping with hundreds of peaks.

Now, though the mountains still stood in seven groups, their hierarchy was clear, their unity harmonious, the great river flowing around the peaks more intertwined—mountain, water, and summit fused into one.

The Way of Non-Contention had grown stronger.

At this moment, Wei Cheng truly mastered the profound essence of the Mountain Moving Method’s second stage.

Simultaneously, the harmony between his spirit, his mountain-moving force, and his physical body reached a new height, making his power more efficiently utilized than ever before.

As for his total mountain-moving force, the quantity remained, but the quality had increased by another fifty percent.

In modern terms, his energy efficiency was greatly improved. He could now use less force to create a stronger Immovable Golden Bell—roughly, one cycle of mountain-moving force could now produce two Immovable Golden Bells.

For a novice like Cheng An or Mei Renli, it would take three cycles to produce one bell, and their defensive power would be only a tenth of Wei Cheng’s.

As for Qu Xiong and Qin Douzi, who had already mastered the second stage, they could create one bell with one and a half to two cycles.

Wei Cheng surmised that Zhou Wu could probably manage one bell per cycle.

Of course, these were just estimates.

Beyond this, he had pushed his potential limit a bit further. With enough resources, the path from seven to nine cycles was now smooth before him.

—

“Quick, quick, keep up!”

Over four hundred miles from Floating Cloud City, Zhou Wu called out loudly. Just ten more miles and they would be free of the poison zone.

The thought cheered him, for he had finally fulfilled his duty as a proper leader, keeping his promise never to abandon anyone unless they chose to stay behind.

He had successfully brought three hundred and forty-nine trialists to the poison zone’s edge. Even Yang Yufeng, who had defied him at every turn, was no longer a concern.

He had displayed the magnanimity of a true leader.

Though they had suffered heavy losses in the fifth trial due to strategic mistakes, his performance in the first half of the sixth trial deserved a high score.

Now, among the three hundred and forty-nine, the weakest had reached five cycles, the strongest eight. They had also gathered a wealth of resources—each now carried ten jars of osmanthus wine, bounty from the demon strongholds within the poison zone.

It was almost certain that, once beyond the zone, their team’s strength would climb another level.

If they could develop well in Cangwu City, all of them surpassing seven cycles was not a dream.

This time, Zhou Wu was determined to achieve a perfect pass, for only with perfection would the next stage of the cultivation method be unlocked.

Thunder rumbled in the distance—the third wave of the Shadow Curse had begun.

But what did it matter? By the time the quake reached them, it was but a faint tremor, the ominous atmosphere barely perceptible.

The perpetual black clouds above their heads had thinned; through the gaps, a patch of blue sky was now visible.

Ah, sunlight, blue sky, normal life—even though they had spent less than four days in the poison zone, it felt like an eternity.

But now, they had won.

The edge of the poison zone was within sight.

Just then, from the direction of Cangwu City, a massive ray of radiant light swept across the sky like sword energy, like a nebula, like lightning. In an instant, the dark clouds vanished into nothingness.

The ominous presence that had haunted them like a nightmare vanished in a breath.

As the radiance passed overhead, starlight drifted down, warming them as if touched by divine light.

Wait—was the sword energy transforming into the Inheritance Stele?

Zhou Wu and the three hundred and forty-nine trialists were stunned. Behind them was the poison zone—they had made it out.

But the path to Cangwu City ahead blurred, and only a colossal stele—different from the Inheritance Stele—stood there.

Divine light poured forth for a full five seconds. There was no need to approach; this was clearly the basic reward for clearing the trial, distributed to all—no more, no less.

“No!”

Zhou Wu roared in fury.

How could this be?

Why?

This wasn’t right! Why was simply leaving the poison zone enough to pass the sixth trial? You devious Trial Immortal, why break the rules? Why not let us reach Cangwu City?

Had he known, he would have stayed in the poison zone for a few more waves, no matter the cost!

He wasn’t the only one—many others, realizing what had happened, broke into curses.

How shameless! Why was the sixth trial’s mechanism different from the fifth? We demand a refund!

They had fought to escape the poison zone for a chance to reach Cangwu City, not just to clear the trial.

It was obvious the reward was just another basic consolation prize.

But no matter how they complained, all received five seconds of divine light—and that was it.

Angry and disappointed, they quickly slipped into sleep, awakening in their beds back on Earth.

Yet there was one unexpected delight: the osmanthus wine they carried was coming back with them...