Chapter 105: A Thousand Days of Raising Soldiers

“Old Wei?”

Xu Shan jumped up eagerly, full of anticipation, and the others rubbed their hands in excitement as well—the recent gains had lifted their spirits.

Wei Cheng, however, remained silent, merely listening intently. From the roar of the magma giant, he could gauge the fierceness of the battle.

After a moment, he shook his head. “No need to go there. That team from Sector 13 of Zone C has enough strength to kill the magma giant. We’ll head upstream.”

The magma river beneath the cliff wasn’t a single stretch but extended widely, with no end in sight either upstream or downstream. Theoretically, there should be more than one magma giant.

Wei Cheng’s judgment was correct. After walking several miles upstream along the cliff, the roar of the magma giant disappeared. The team from Sector 13 was indeed formidable.

Even if no one mastered the Way of Non-Contestation, a few ultimate forms of the Nine Cycles Mountain-Moving technique could easily block the immovable golden bell defense.

The only problem was that there weren’t enough reward slots for the Transmission Stone Tablets.

“Yu Liang, Lao Mei, keep a hundred meters distance from me. Xu Shan, Liu Sui, stay a hundred and fifty meters apart. The magma giant is huge; just a few steps and it can close the distance. We won’t have time to scatter.”

Wei Cheng gave instructions and then deliberately approached the cliff. If there was another magma giant in the magma, it would surely be disturbed.

They advanced five or six more miles upstream when suddenly Wei Cheng’s spiritual senses detected an intensely scorching aura. He immediately signaled and turned around to run back.

In the next moment, a towering wave of fire roared fiercely as a magma giant, clearly enraged, burst from the magma, leaping onto the cliff with a massive wave of molten rock.

But instead of forming a flaming armor and a blazing greatsword, it summoned thick magma spears with a wave of its hand.

With a furious roar, it hurled a dozen or so terrifying magma spears, which swiftly closed in, enveloping Wei Cheng.

Does the magma giant’s attack pattern include randomness?

Wei Cheng silently counted himself lucky. Had the previous magma giant attacked like this, their unprepared team might have been wiped out.

Yu Liang and Mei Renli, with their short legs, couldn’t have dodged or withstood such an assault.

In an instant, golden talisman lights flashed in Wei Cheng’s eyes. The golden light sigils rapidly formed fifteen immovable golden bells around him, but they were shattered instantly.

These magma spears were far more ruthless than magma fireballs and much easier to pierce through shields.

Wei Cheng barely endured the attack, only for a second wave of a dozen magma spears to come flying again.

The speed was overwhelming, leaving him flustered.

After just three waves, half of his Mountain-Moving internal power was drained.

Yet the magma giant didn’t charge but kept drawing more magma from the sea—a stamina test no one could endure.

For the first time, Wei Cheng felt he might fall here, as he didn’t even have a chance to switch to the Lingyan technique to escape.

“Xu Shan!”

After long preparation, it was time to call forth Lingyan.

Before the words fell, Xu Shan was already rushing through the air.

Unexpectedly, the magma giant was smarter than they had thought. It abandoned Wei Cheng and immediately hurled a dozen magma spears toward Xu Shan.

The ferocity of the scene was terrifying, especially with all escape routes blocked, creating overwhelming pressure.

Even the experienced and brave Xu Shan turned pale in fear, narrowly dodging.

At this moment, it was clear what it meant to be an underachiever sparrow.

Even though she hadn’t mastered the second level of Lingyan technique, she shouldn’t have been so flustered.

Wei Cheng shook his head inwardly.

Before he had cultivated Lingyan, he could only watch in awe. Now, he could instantly discern skill levels. Xu Shan, supposedly an eighth cycle Lingyan, was merely a sparrow.

Fortunately, this moment was enough for Wei Cheng to switch to Lingyan technique without reservation.

In an instant, he moved like a gentle breeze, gliding close to the ground with effortless grace, instantly halving the distance—this move far surpassed Xu Shan’s.

His sudden advance forced the magma giant to spin rapidly, and it could only summon nine magma spears, fewer than before, due to the abruptness of Wei Cheng’s attack.

These nine magma spears sealed all directions around Wei Cheng—up, down, left, right, front, and back—just like before.

Yet Wei Cheng, like a willow leaf swaying in a breeze, rose gently, circling and weaving, effortlessly slipping through the blockade.

It had no effect on him.

The next moment, the gentle breeze transformed into a raging hurricane, rushing to the magma giant with such speed it was a blur.

The giant was caught off-guard. In an instant, Wei Cheng pierced the magma giant’s right eye with a crude iron rod, plunging the weapon deep.

Simultaneously, Wei Cheng used the momentum like a spring to launch himself backward, bounding twice along the ground and leaping over a hundred meters away with smooth, flowing movements, showing no sign of fatigue.

The magma giant’s eye bled a golden liquid that ignited explosively—so close to catching him.

“Roar!”

The magma giant let out a deafening roar, not attempting a desperate fight but spinning wildly before crashing down the cliff with a thunderous clang.

All this took less than half a minute.

Liu Sui, Xu Shan, Yu Liang, and Mei Renli stood dumbfounded. What on earth was that?

Lingyan?

Or a Lingyan even stronger and more outstanding than Xu Shan?

Completely unbelievable.

Moments later, Wei Cheng climbed the cliff, dragging the now slightly less unsightly and shorter iron rod, just as a Transmission Stone Tablet wrapped in blazing flames fell nearby.

The four across the way were still in shock.

“Old—Old Wei, you’re Lingyan?”

Xu Shan was stunned, overwhelmed by the shock. How could the bulky, clumsy Wei big fool possibly be Lingyan? And a better one than her at that?

In truth, seeing Wei Cheng move like the wind was like scoring a hard-earned 90 on a test, only to have the bulky classmate nonchalantly score a perfect 100.

It was like being pierced through the heart by a thousand arrows.

At that moment, Xu Shan even thought of focusing solely on the Qingmu technique—she no longer had the face to claim Lingyan.

“I’ve been cultivating Lingyan in parallel all along but never told you. I hope you’ll keep it a secret; I don’t want to be the center of attention.”

Wei Cheng was somewhat helpless. It wasn’t intentional concealment but the harsh environment back on Earth—if the alien demons found out, it wouldn’t end well.

Also, Xu Shan was too clever and unpredictable; Wei Big Fool couldn’t really become Wei Big Fool.

“Don’t worry, Old Wei. I promise with my integrity.”

Liu Sui was excited and proud. He had initially insisted on leaving the Zhou Wu team to join Wei Cheng’s group. Xu Shan had secretly criticized him countless times, but the result now fully proved his insight.

“Yeah, boss, don’t worry. I won’t say a word, even if you kill me.”

Yu Liang was even more thrilled, his eyes full of admiration. This was a moment witnessing a legend’s birth—the strongest Mountain-Moving master lived up to his reputation.

“Old Wei, rest assured, nothing will be a problem. You go ahead and touch the Transmission Stone Tablet first,” Mei Renli said cheerfully, surprised and delighted.

He felt as if he had found a kindred spirit. This Wei Big Fool was clearly a Wei Old Survivor!

Goodness, this guy held too many secrets.

Wei Cheng then looked seriously at Xu Shan. “Soon, I’ll transmit to you the second level of Lingyan technique. But your performance just now was completely unqualified. As an eighth cycle Lingyan, agility and adaptability are your innate strengths. Even without the second level, how could you be frightened by thirteen magma spears?”

“Remember, if fear takes root in your heart, no matter how strong you become, you’ll only be good at bullying the weak. In life-or-death battles, people like you die the fastest.”

“Of course, thanks for saving me this time.”

With that, Wei Cheng didn’t hold back and was first to touch the Transmission Stone Tablet.

A grand divine light poured down, and one streak of sunrise-like flame entered him, but instead of granting a second Flame Ring, it enhanced the existing one with three more points.

When the ten-second divine light faded, Wei Cheng’s Mountain-Moving internal power was replenished, his constitution strengthened again, but his spiritual power seemed to plunge into a black hole, all absorbed into the spiritual seed with no ripple.

This was nothing new; he was unconcerned, having never felt a spiritual power shortfall so far.

Lastly, he obtained the fourth level of the Cloud Ladder Technique and the second level of the Qingmu Order technique, though the latter was to be cultivated another time.

“Yu Liang second, Lao Mei third, Liu Sui fourth, Xu Shan fifth.”

Wei Cheng casually assigned the order for touching the tablets.

So far, their small team had a reasonable profession mix, but each member’s combat experience and overall strength still had significant gaps.

Especially Cheng An, Yu Liang, and Mei Renli, who ignored his advice and chose a shortcut path. It seemed to close the cultivation gap but left them weak when facing tough opponents.

The magma spears thrown by the magma giant were not single throws but volleys, fast, accurate, and overwhelmingly fierce—enough to break Xu Shan’s defense.

Wei Cheng guessed that even Yu Liang and Mei Renli, using all their skills, could only withstand one wave.

If they couldn’t catch up with Wei Cheng’s pace or prove their value, he wouldn’t carry dead weight.

At that moment, as the Transmission Stone Tablet dissolved into countless stars, a dozen figures sped toward them from downstream—seasoned trialers from Sector 13 of Zone C.

They had heard the magma giant’s roar and rushed over, perhaps to help, perhaps not—human hearts are unknowable.

(End of chapter)