Chapter 83: Teammate Training Game

Wei Cheng had no time to ponder further; he pressed his palm down at once. Immediately, a golden divine radiance, distinct from any before, thundered down upon him. His depleted internal energy for Moving Mountains was instantly replenished, and even his exhausted mental seed returned to its peak state.

But something was amiss.

He could keenly feel that the mysterious power within this divine light automatically split into two portions: one, as pure energy, rose directly into his mental seed; the other, as turbid energy, sank and merged with his physical body.

Yet in the end, a final strand of golden light fell into the mountains conjured by the Moving Mountains Visualization Diagram, adding a faint shimmer to the already pale gold glow there.

Fifteen seconds later, the divine light faded.

The transmission stele shrank to a height of twenty meters—in other words, Wei Cheng had just enjoyed four-fifths of its power alone.

Still, he was left pensive, for despite the higher quality of this fifteen-second illumination, the gains felt rather meager.

In fact, they seemed less significant than simply having his internal and mental energies restored.

From his own perception, his spiritual power had hardly increased at all.

His body's growth potential had not broken through to any new level.

“No, that’s not it. The reason I didn’t sense an increase in spiritual power is because it was all absorbed by my mental seed.”

“Similarly, the divine light’s nourishment for my body must ultimately be related to that faint golden glow now fused within the Moving Mountains Visualization Diagram.”

“At present, I appear to be just an ordinary Eight-Cycle Moving Mountains practitioner.”

“That’s not a bad thing. Still, is it possible I haven’t yet touched upon an external skill to match the second stage of the Moving Mountains Method?”

Sighing, Wei Cheng didn’t have time to examine the second stage of [Ascending the Clouds], which he’d just obtained. Instead, he dashed away at full speed. He needed to rescue Liu Sui, Xu Shan, and the others right away.

As expected, the Immovable Golden Bell that shielded Liu Sui and the others had long since dispersed. One by one they lay collapsed, emaciated, each sunk in a dying stupor, even their cultivation foundations gravely damaged.

Lacking strength in this toxic zone was nothing short of courting death.

Wei Cheng gathered them all up and took off at a mad sprint, hastily exposing them to the divine light, grabbing a haphazard dozen jars of osmanthus wine, then bundling everyone together and charging out of the poison circle with all his might!

He truly could endure no more.

Even he himself could not last much longer; without effective resources to sustain his Moving Mountains energy, that was the crux of the problem.

One could hardly call for a halt in the middle of a battle just to “replenish mana,” could they?

Behind him, from the distant firmament, came a deep rumbling—as if the gates of heaven were opening, or the gates of hell slowly gaping wide.

Faint tremors once again swept from the ruins of Floating Cloud City—a prelude to the imminent eruption of demonic fire.

In the swirling black clouds, wild winds howled, and in the far distance, enormous fiery birds could be glimpsed dancing in the air.

For now, they had no time to trouble Wei Cheng—they were welcoming their king, their master, and the power that would make them stronger.

But in ten minutes or so, they would scour every inch of this five-hundred-li poison circle, searching with a vengeance.

The rules of the trial had shifted again; where once the challengers had to seek out and attack, now the demons attacked proactively.

Wei Cheng genuinely could not afford to provoke them.

Yet he knew that some other contestants from different servers would persist here longer.

Their performance would surely be superior, their rewards greater.

By now, Wei Cheng had largely determined that this poison circle was the main quest of the sixth trial—a prerequisite for entering Cangwu City.

And Cangwu City would be even more crucial—a truly weighty key stage, merging even more servers together!

Fortunately, he no longer fought alone.

He had, through untold hardship, finally nurtured his teammates to this point.

Truly, the reason Liu Sui and the others seemed so ineffective in this trial was largely due to the brevity of their development. Even with the divine light’s blessings, they couldn’t manifest those gains instantly.

Given time, however, they would grow rapidly.

Liu Sui would certainly advance to Six-Cycle Purple Mist, Xu Shan to Seven-Cycle Spirit Swallow.

Cheng An, Yu Liang, and Mei Renli could all become Seven-Cycle Moving Mountains practitioners—ones capable of mastering the second stage of the Moving Mountains Method.

If they could also master the Golden Bell Shield to the seventh or eighth layer, they’d have little to fear from the third wave of the poison circle, and might even dare to challenge the fourth.

A wild gale swept past, shrieks and howls behind, but ahead, a glimmer of light appeared. In the last minute of the fourth wave of the demonic shadow curse, Wei Cheng finally reached the edge of the poison circle.

He could feel it—the aura of hope and righteous energy!

Crossing that line meant the difference between life and death.

Yet at this moment, he hesitated, then made his decision.

He cast Liu Sui, Xu Shan, Yu Liang, and Mei Renli across the boundary, then turned to face the oncoming fourth wave of the demonic shadow curse.

No matter what, he would look it in the eye—just once.

It wasn’t recklessness, but a burning willpower inside him that would not allow him to slink away in defeat.

Why could others do it, and not he?

He was a Moving Mountains practitioner—he must be the strongest of them all, and that meant knowing no fear.

Wei Cheng’s determination was as iron. His Moving Mountains energy surged within and without like a flood. Without conscious activation, the eight ranges conjured by his visualization spread out around him, spanning hundreds of meters.

Atop the peaks, a golden glow shone forth, and Wei Cheng instantly sensed a surge of warmth. At the same time, the mental seed between his brows resonated with that warmth.

He could not quite describe it.

But at that instant, his spiritual power and physical strength became perfectly unified.

It was a harmony beyond imagination—a seamless accord between will and action.

On that foundation, the Moving Mountains Method, its internal energy and the Golden Bell Shield, the Spirit Swallow Method, its energy, and Ascending the Clouds—these too became highly integrated.

In this moment, Wei Cheng gained a profound realization: through crisis after crisis, under immense pressure, he had achieved a complete transformation.

He was no longer the man he had been a moment before.

A distant rumble of thunder rolled in, and before his eyes, the earth undulated in waves, spreading in every direction.

Wei Cheng almost felt as if a field of wheat was surging around him.

Yet this “wheat” could kill.

In the blink of an eye, the ground where he stood was shaking violently—like a madman tearing a book to shreds, like a garment cut into countless pieces.

Such tremors were beyond anything Earth’s humans could comprehend—enough to shatter the world itself.

And in fact, at that moment, within these five hundred li, an explosion truly erupted!

Terrifying magma and demonic fire spewed forth like water from a high-pressure hose riddled with holes—there was no central point.

This entire region transformed into a storm of molten rock and hellfire.

The world turned crimson!

Countless demons screamed, wailed, roared, exulted, and danced.

Bizarre syllables tore through every medium that could carry sound.

Magma flowed like blood, hellfire cut like knives.

Heaven and earth overturned; humanity drowned in chaos!

The world, under Wei Cheng’s gaze, melted away.

The land ceased to exist—magma and demonic fire surged like the sea, strange hurricanes rampaged wildly.

His only recourse was to activate the ultimate form of the Immovable Golden Bell and float atop the lava.

His shield could barely hold.

But in truth, this was only the appetizer.

For the demonic shadow curse had only just begun.