Chapter 73: The Golden Bell Shield Reaches Perfection

Cheng An was taken aback. He thought for a moment, but in the end, he still shook his head. Even though he had been illuminated by the divine light for four seconds, which had cleared the way for him to advance to the seventh cycle, he still wasn't quite ready; he needed more time to perfect the Mountain-Moving Visualization Diagram.

Mei Renli also shook his head. "Boss Wei, the time is too short, and the ominous aura in this place is so intense. Even if we were allowed to cultivate here, we wouldn't be able to focus."

"Boss, I’m definitely able to advance to the sixth cycle," Yu Liang said with confidence. He was still on his fifth cycle, and the osmanthus wine had an enormous effect on him, practically propelling him into the next stage. However, after the sixth cycle, the spiritual efficacy of the wine would be cut in half.

"Nonsense, what use is it if you make it to the sixth cycle? What Boss Wei needs is the seventh cycle—that’s the bare minimum for self-preservation and the foundation to cultivate the second stage of the Mountain-Moving technique," Mei Renli refuted bluntly.

For a moment, the group lapsed into silence again, while Wei Cheng hesitated.

"I still believe we need to seize every opportunity to grow stronger," Wei Cheng spoke once more, his tone calm yet filled with resolve.

"Therefore, it’s unwise to rush out of the poison zone. Though it’s dangerous here, the rewards are generous. For example, every checkpoint conquered guarantees five hundred jars of osmanthus wine. This is clearly the trial immortal's greatest hint."

"Especially at the beginning, with the countless projected stone tablets for skill transmission—if there weren’t a thousand, there were at least eight hundred. You all saw them with your own eyes. Do you really think the trial is designed to have us flee the poison zone as quickly as possible?"

"I agree with what Liu Sui just said. Zhou Wu misled us at the start by showing us a map to Cangwu City, and subconsciously, we all assumed that this trial is some kind of game scenario crafted by the trial immortal, performed as if writing a novel."

"But the greatest possibility is that these are true stories from the cultivation world, actual events that happened before the great invasion of the demonic forces."

"The only difference is that we’re participants, growing through these events, but never able to change the outcome, because everything has already happened."

"So my suggestion is: everyone should seize the time to cultivate and comprehend here. Tomorrow morning, we’ll set out immediately, find and take down a demon stronghold if possible. If we can’t find one, it doesn’t matter—we’ll move a hundred miles outward and face the fourth wave of the Shadow Curse there."

When Wei Cheng finished, Xu Shan let out a helpless sigh. "These men, they just don’t know when to stop—each one so ambitious, their way of thinking completely different from mine."

Liu Sui was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, Wei, I trust your judgment. We’ll stay. But cultivating the Purple Mist technique is not easy—even with an extra day and night, and even with the efficacy of the osmanthus wine, the most I can do is gain another ten years’ worth of internal force. That may not be much help in the grand scheme of things."

"Have you perfected your Purple Mist Visualization Diagram? Have you begun refining the finer details?" Wei Cheng suddenly asked.

Liu Sui was startled, as were the others. Because their spiritual power had never been high, they hadn’t realized, nor had they had the time to discover, that the visualization diagrams could be further refined.

"My Mountain-Moving Visualization Diagram is now quite advanced, and because of it, I’ve also comprehended a new life-saving skill," Wei Cheng said.

"Not only that, but external techniques can also be understood through visualization diagrams. Basically, when you acquire the sixth stage of any external technique, you can comprehend its diagram, but only if your spiritual power is up to par. Xu Shan’s sixth-level Cloud Ladder, Liu Sui, your sixth-level Wandering Dragon Palm, and all your sixth-level Golden Bell Covers, it’s the same."

"My advice: don’t focus all your energy on advancing internal power. Consolidating your foundation is equally important. If you think you can’t advance, then use today to refine your internal or external technique visualization diagrams."

"Boss, can’t we go attack a demon stronghold right away? I don’t believe that an extra day and night will give us much of an advantage," Xu Shan asked, voicing what everyone was wondering.

Indeed, even if consolidating the basics was important, as Wei Cheng said, how much could they actually improve in less than twenty hours?

Wei Cheng looked from Xu Shan to the others, the words on his lips but swallowed them back. He couldn’t bear to tell them the cruel truth.

In such a short time, their improvements would be limited. But for Wei Cheng himself, the gains would be enormous. For instance, if he could master the ninth stage of the Golden Bell Cover perfectly, wouldn’t that be a huge advantage?

With a sigh, he changed his approach.

"From all indications, each time the Shadow Curse erupts, the demons’ strength increases by a level. Their numbers and types change drastically as well—you’ve all seen this for yourselves."

"Now, with the third wave just past, the demons have all leveled up and reorganized. Their offensive is at its sharpest, and it’s entirely possible that some bizarre new mutations have appeared. Meanwhile, we’re comparatively weak."

"Do you see now? In another twenty hours, the demons won’t get stronger, but even if our own gains are small, they still increase our chances of survival. I don’t want to see anyone die."

"Also, from now until tomorrow morning, I’ll maintain the Immovable Golden Bell over everyone. That way, you can all focus on cultivation without having to post guards. Of course, this will consume a huge amount of my Mountain-Moving internal force, so I’ll need all of you to give me half your osmanthus wine."

"Any objections?"

No one objected—everyone was now of one mind.

Soon, after placing an Immovable Golden Bell over everyone, Wei Cheng found himself with fifty jars of osmanthus wine, and with the twelve jars he still had in his basket, these were all the resources at his disposal.

He also had twenty hours left.

It was clear that he still couldn’t break through to the eighth cycle, even if all bottlenecks were cleared.

Because the quality of his Mountain-Moving internal force was now 1.5 times higher than ordinary, the resources needed for advancement multiplied accordingly.

These sixty-two jars of osmanthus wine were far from enough.

Fortunately, Wei Cheng still had many options.

Casually placing an Immovable Golden Bell on himself, he quickly sat cross-legged in meditation. In his mind, the profound meaning of the ninth stage of the Golden Bell Cover emerged.

This was the highest stage of the Golden Bell Cover, but it offered no more overbearing or powerful sigil than before. Instead, it was a comprehensive summary of the entire technique, outlining both its strengths and its weaknesses.

At first glance, this might disappoint some.

But to Wei Cheng, it was a treasure. He spared no effort, soaking his mind in it, reciting, pondering, and comprehending it word by word, integrating it with his understanding of the previous eight stages, bringing everything together, and reflecting it against the comprehensive summary of the ninth stage.

Ultimately, this allowed him to grasp the technique on a higher level.

He could even use the Golden Bell Cover as a means to indirectly understand the Mountain-Moving Heart Method.

Simply put, this was the joy of learning.

"The Mountain-Moving Heart Method is based on turning the tangible into the intangible: what you see is a mountain—real—then in your mind you move this mountain—that’s intangible. You use the real to reflect the imagined, to visualize, and thus generate Mountain-Moving internal force, so that in the mysterious realm of the body, vast ranges of mountains are formed. Even the derivative doctrine of non-contention stems from this."

"The Golden Bell Cover, on the other hand, is not a real bell. It is formed through the operation of Mountain-Moving internal force, the understanding of sigils, and the various combinations and rearrangements of energy, temporarily strengthening the body’s defenses."

"Internal force is intangible, the Golden Bell is tangible."

"The first five stages of the Golden Bell Cover are like groundwork; the shield it forms is the basis for the Immovable Golden Bell, a secondary level of defense."

"So at the sixth stage, the Golden Bell Sigil appears, which is the comprehensive embodiment of energy combinations—the key to turning the intangible into the tangible, and thus the Immovable Golden Bell comes into being."

"The seventh stage builds on the sixth, adding a backup Immovable Golden Bell."

"The eighth stage increases the flexibility of the Immovable Golden Bell—within fifty meters, friend or foe, anyone can be shielded."

"So this ninth stage conveys a simple truth: the strength of a heart method comes from the tangible; external techniques derive their strength from the internal. External techniques are called ‘external’ because they cannot stand alone—without sufficiently powerful Mountain-Moving internal force and spiritual strength, skill in external techniques is useless."

As this thought arose, Wei Cheng couldn’t help but chuckle. It sounded like a redundant platitude, but in fact, it was the most central insight of all.

The ninth stage of the Golden Bell Cover was, in essence, a clear directive to all practitioners: integrate the Mountain-Moving Visualization Diagram with the Golden Bell Visualization Diagram.

Or rather, draw the power of the former into the latter, merging it with the Golden Bell Diagram. After all, one must always have a primary and a secondary focus; the Golden Bell Diagram can never influence the Mountain-Moving Diagram.

But as long as the Mountain-Moving Diagram influences the Golden Bell Diagram, the result is earth-shattering.

It may even lead to perfect mastery.