Chapter 122: The Many Lives of the Team

After everyone finished speaking one by one, Wei Cheng had a general understanding of the situation. However, instead of feeling frustrated, he smiled and said, "This is actually a good thing. The four major factions are guarding the four city gates, and the strength of each side is relatively balanced. At the very least, this is already much better than when we were in Floating Cloud City."

"As for the subsequent yields from the Fire Demon map, that cannot be counted as ours; it is permitted by the trial mechanism. That magma river stretches for over a hundred miles; could we possibly occupy all of it?"

"Don't the fifteen thousand new trialists who merged in need resources to grow? Relying solely on working odd jobs in the city won't foster development. Whether it's resources, divine light exposure, or combat awareness, they all need to go out into the wild to level up."

"Old Wei, what should we do next? By the way, Qin Douzi hopes we will join the North City Alliance," Xu Shan spoke up at this moment.

Bai Han nodded as well. "It's not just Qin Douzi. Zhao Xiong of the West City Alliance has also sent us an invitation. Of course, Zhou Wu is in the mix too; I think he quite admires you."

"My suggestion is to continue our seclusion and contemplate our respective mental cultivation methods. Everyone, you don't really think you're invincible now, do you?"

Wei Cheng shook his head and said solemnly, "I don't care how they are extending their invitations, but since Zhou Wu, Zhao Xiong, Liu Wenli, and Qin Douzi have already integrated the situation to form a reasonably defensive landscape, that is already very good. If it were up to me, I wouldn't even be able to achieve that."

"The Fire Demon map is our contribution to all the new trialists in this server—a benefit gifted to them. Whether they acknowledge it or know about it is unimportant; as long as they become strong, our goal will be achieved."

"And on this foundation, don't you want to delve deeper? Since we were able to open up the Fire Demon map, we can certainly open up new maps as well."

"But that requires greater strength. Go back, everyone. From now on, continue your seclusion for half a month."

"But Brother Wei, we need resources. How can we continue our seclusion without them?" Bai Han asked with a bitter smile.

"We don't need many resources. We have our Squad Leader tokens, which provide a salary of fifty Copper Dragon coins daily. That is enough for our daily consumption. I ask you all: do you truly feel your foundations are so solid that they no longer need to be reinforced?"

"Everyone back to seclusion. For the next land reclamation, those whose conceptualization of their mental cultivation methods is less than 20% refined will, in principle, be advised to stay behind!"

Wei Cheng emphasized his tone. It wasn't that he was nagging, but that insufficient strength would truly become a liability. Rather than following him to their deaths because of a lack of strength, it would be better to learn from Cheng An, who at least managed to survive safely.

—

"Old Mei, what should we do?"

In the room, Yu Liang sat with a troubled expression. Beside him, Mei Renli’s face was deeply lined with wrinkles, his expression one of bitter irony.

"Actually, this was foreseeable. If your strength can't keep up, you can only become a burden."

"That kid Cheng An is at least clear-headed. He knew early on that he had become a dead weight and retreated while he still could, while you and I remained oblivious," Mei Renli sighed.

"But I still feel indignant, Old Mei. Take you and me, for example. Although we are only at the nine-cycle Mountain Shifting stage, we have at least reached the perfection of the Golden Bell Shield, have Level 5 spiritual power, have completed two fine-tunings, and have mastered the second tier of the Mountain Shifting mental method. Our inner energy quality is a solid 1x, plus we have +16 Flame Rings, Squad Leader tokens, and mid-grade magical artifacts. If we were put out there, which team wouldn't be fighting over us?"

"How did we become a burden to the Boss? Even if he didn't care about our status, surely the mid-grade magical artifact in our hands should count for something, right?" Yu Liang sounded depressed.

"That's not how things are calculated. The mid-grade artifact in our hands is no different from the ones held by Bai Han and Tang Yuanshan—they are standard defensive artifacts from Cangwu City. But you and I have to exhaust all our Mountain Shifting energy just to activate this artifact, and we can only maintain it for three seconds before we are completely drained."

"What use is such a defensive artifact to us? To be a 'three-second man'?"

"Tang Yuanshan can maintain this defensive artifact for a full eight seconds, and Bai Han can already maintain it for twelve. That is the biggest gap."

"So, I think Boss Wei's words make sense. We have already missed the first two opportunities for fine-tuning, and we aren't qualified for the third one yet. So, we can only do our best to deepen our Mountain Shifting visualization."

"But the Boss only gave us half a month. That's not enough!"

—

"If half a month isn't enough, then take a month. If a month isn't enough, take three. Yu Liang, cheer up! We are Mountain Shifters; where has your usual spirit gone?"

"Boss Wei didn't say he was kicking us out of the team. We have this defensive artifact, and our various conditions aren't actually bad—what we lack is the Mountain Shifting visualization. You and I weren't even afraid of dying in the sixth trial; are we afraid of cracking this?"

Mei Renli suddenly firmed his resolve, not just to boost Yu Liang's morale, but his own as well. As someone born in the 1980s, he had endured many hardships in his sixty-plus years. He used to live muddle-headedly, drifting with the tide. Even when he finally woke up, it was too late; he had lived his whole life for others and gained nothing in the end. But now, he wanted to fully grasp his own destiny!

"Alright! Old Mei, I'll listen to you. I won't listen to that coward Cheng An. Just because he couldn't keep up with the first-tier team, he thinks we can't either. I’m going to make him see what a first-tier team really is! Next time the Boss goes on a raid, if we don't go, we don't go. For these three months, we'll focus on the Mountain Shifting visualization. 20% is nothing—let's go for 50%!"

"Child, 50% isn't enough. It has to be 100%. Uncle Mei tells you, if you can deepen the Mountain Shifting visualization to 80%, I'll give you my daughter. Free of charge, no bride price needed! By the way, she was born after 2000, not far from your age, and your horoscopes are a perfect match. Many children, many blessings!"

Mei Renli looked at Yu Liang with a benevolent expression.

Yu Liang was instantly frightened to the point of tears. His very conviction collapsed. Although he had never met the young lady, he was a proper post-2018 individual.

—

"Old Wei is a bit ruthless."

Next door, Liu Sui and Xu Shan were also having a heart-to-heart talk.

"One should say he has grand plans. Actually, this is the correct approach. Although the major invasion of the demon race won't happen for another three hundred years, those who can't pull themselves together, lack a sense of urgency, and have no plan for their own future at this very moment are destined to be eliminated."

Liu Sui spoke calmly. He actually didn't quite approve of the attitude held by Cheng An, Yu Liang, and Mei Renli, including his wife Xu Shan. It wasn't that they didn't work hard; it was that they lacked a certain seriousness. They always had a subconscious feeling that this was just a game, or that, since there were still three hundred years left, they might as well enjoy themselves and have a good time. They lacked a sense of crisis or urgency regarding the future.

Take Xu Shan, for example. If the power went out in P City for a while, her anxiety would become immense; yet, she didn't want to understand anything about the situation three hundred years from now. It was the kind of refusal where, even if you spoke to her about it or demonstrated it right in front of her eyes, she wouldn't want to know.

But she was his wife, and Liu Sui was confident he could protect her. As for Cheng An, Yu Liang, and Mei Renli, he had tried to persuade them, and Wei Cheng had personally analyzed the pros and cons for them. But what of it? They didn't refuse to listen, but when faced with difficulties, they subconsciously chose the path of least resistance. They lacked the ruthlessness to risk everything to achieve a goal. This ruthlessness was not only against enemies and others, but also against oneself! He only hoped they would learn from their pain and realize this before it was too late.

"Wife, you need to hurry up. There are only fifteen days left, and you are still 5% short," Liu Sui smiled. His own Purple Haze visualization had already been deepened to 28%, and he had benefited greatly, so he understood particularly well how important Wei Cheng's requirements were.

"Tch, I'm a genius. What's a little thing like this? I'm telling you, don't just listen to 'Wei the Fool' for everything. This kind of person is good—good to the point of being willing to take a bullet for you on the battlefield. I want you to follow him, but I don't want you taking bullets for him, understand?" Xu Shan said very seriously.

Liu Sui looked at her seriously as well. He wanted to say, "Woman, you're overthinking it." Even if Wei Cheng was willing to take a bullet for others, it was to further integrate with the Mountain Shifting method and to better fit the professional role of a Mountain Shifter. A Mountain Shifter who doesn't block for his teammates on the battlefield is like a Paladin insisting on hiding in the back row as a healer. Does she understand what professional honor is? This was a truly ruthless man who dared to be harsh on himself, not just some "nice guy." He should be called "Wei the Dark."

But in the end, Liu Sui said nothing. He simply pulled his wife over to coax her, knowing that in a while, she would forget what she had just said.

—

"Old Bai, let me take a look at your Iron Prison Law!"

In another small courtyard, Chen Ce was chatting with Bai Han.

"Get lost!"

"Brother-in-law?"

"Get lost all the same!" Bai Han didn't look pleased. You're not my sister-in-law; I'm not going to indulge your bad habits!

"Damn!" Chen Ce flipped him off and had to change the subject.

"Old Bai, you need to work hard. You are currently the team's second Mountain Shifter, but looking at Wei's ambitious little self, I'm afraid you won't be able to keep up with his pace."

This time, Bai Han went silent. He did indeed feel the pressure, because after five days of seclusion, he couldn't read Wei Cheng anymore—though, to be fair, he couldn't read him before, either.

"Go into seclusion. 20% is just the minimum standard. If you want to rank ahead of Xu Shan during this land reclamation and fish out a Shadow Clone, it all depends on your skills," Bai Han said, turning to walk back into his room.

Chen Ce, usually known for his cheeky grin, finally turned serious. No Spirit Swallow professional would refuse a Shadow Clone technique with a 90% compatibility rate. Judging by Bai Han's guarded attitude toward the Iron Prison Law, it was clear that the technique was capable of completely overturning the Golden Bell Shield.

"I shall wait and see!"

Chen Ce smiled silently. A streak of red cloud swirled rapidly in his hand, stopping in his palm in the blink of an eye. It was a delicate crimson curved blade, only ten centimeters long. But once injected with Spirit Swallow energy, it could be controlled with ease within a hundred meters, with immense lethality. Most importantly, the Spirit Swallow energy required for such an artifact wasn't excessive; based on his nine-cycle cultivation, he could sustain twenty attacks. Even Liu Sui said this was the most reliable reward among the three professions after killing the Fire Demon.

He and Xu Shan had spent half their time over the past few days practicing this artifact, known as the Red Blood Curved Blade.