Chapter 128: The Monument of Campaigns

"This is bad!"

As soon as he saw those five gigantic, paralyzing severed heads, Wei Cheng knew trouble was coming. This was a technique that could only be mitigated by mental barriers; nothing else, not even the Flame Ring, would work against it. He had briefly considered transforming into a Flame Giant to lure them away, but that was clearly impossible. There was no time, and it wouldn't have mattered anyway—the heads were specifically targeting their high-end Zixia and Lingyan cultivators.

"Damn those bastards!"

Seeing the five colossal heads bypass the front-line shield formation and drift directly toward them, ignoring the numerous Banshan cultivators, Liu Wenli cursed and turned to run. The other high-end Zixia and Lingyan practitioners scattered as well. Damn it, they didn't want to be paralyzed again. They were fast, and having been prepared this time, they actually managed to flee back to the safety of Cangwu City.

The result was that the five heads turned their attention toward the front-line shield formation; these things dared not venture within five hundred meters of the city walls.

"Everyone—"

Wei Cheng shouted, then clamped his mouth shut. It was pointless; no one could escape. But in that split second, he cast ten Immovable Golden Bells each on his side's two Qingmu cultivators. The Qingmu must not fall.

In an instant, every person in the front line heard a bizarre, terrifying laughter. Then, their vision went black—they could hear, but they could not move. Paralyzed.

Except for Wei Cheng.

A golden light flashed at the center of his brow, exempting him from the paralysis. A second later, he rushed to his two Qingmu cultivators, retracted the Immovable Golden Bells, and grabbed one with each hand.

"Dispel according to my list!" Wei Cheng roared.

On this battlefield, there were only four high-end Banshan cultivators. Wei Cheng counted as one, Bai Han as half, Tang Yuanshan as half, and Yu Liang and Mei Renli together as half—these counts were based on the medium-grade artifacts they held. Additionally, Zhao Xiong counted as half, and one of his subordinates also counted as half. One of Liu Wenli’s subordinates also barely counted as half. These four and a half units were enough to save the day.

The two Qingmu cultivators were efficient, mostly because they were obedient; Wei Cheng’s full, unrestrained aura was so terrifying that staying near him for even a second created a suffocating sensation of being crushed and ground to dust. In the blink of an eye, Bai Han, Tang Yuanshan, Yu Liang, Mei Renli, Zhao Xiong, and the other half-high-end Banshan were freed from their state of paralysis.

Wei Cheng ignored the rest. At that moment, the demon army was pressing forward with full force. Although there were no boss-level threats like the Flame Birds or Magma Giants, the battle remained difficult. The minor monsters were just as troublesome. As for relying on their high-end Zixia and Lingyan cultivators, that was out of the question; their internal energy had been nearly depleted by the fierce battle against the Magma Giants, and they were currently hiding on the city walls, frantically trying to recover their mana.

But they didn't actually need them!

"Open!"

Bai Han let out a sudden roar. A palm-sized rectangular shield in his hand expanded violently, transforming into a real shield wall one hundred meters long, thirty meters high, and five meters thick! Even the agile demons, upon approaching this wall, felt as if their legs were shackled by mountains, rendering them unable to jump or climb. There was nothing flashy about it—no profound or magical transformations. It was simply massive, black, and crude; whatever medium-grade artifact this was, it was clearly a retired standard-issue piece.

But it was truly effective. At that moment, the trial-takers behind the wall let out a collective sigh of relief.

It felt incredibly secure. At the same time, Tang Yuanshan, Yu Liang, and Mei Renli activated their own shields, carving out half of the battlefield. As for Zhao Xiong and the other half-high-end Banshan, they didn't hesitate to unleash the ultimate form of the Immovable Golden Bell, blocking the surging tide of the demon army.

Following this, as Zhou Wu and the others were freed from paralysis, the shield wall began to reform. However, after only three seconds, Yu Liang and Mei Renli were the first to falter, their massive shield walls shrinking back into palm-sized trinkets. The tide of the demon army immediately found the gap.

At this point, the two Qingmu cultivators had only managed to dispel less than a hundred people. They couldn't stop the flood. Or rather, stopping them was futile; even if they cast Immovable Golden Bells, how many monsters could they contain? They were Banshan, not Zixia or Lingyan.

Even Wei Cheng didn't bother to intercept them; it was useless. Tang Yuanshan’s defensive artifact gave out next. The gaps widened; the shield wall collapsed. Wei Cheng simply encased the two Qingmu cultivators in Immovable Golden Bells again and began casting them across the entire field. Without boss-level demons, his Immovable Golden Bell was an absolute trump card; no matter how many minor monsters there were, they couldn't break it. All they needed was time.

"Push forward!"

"The Banshan are here, hold the line!"

Someone in the rear shouted. Then, from atop the city walls, thousands of novice Banshan surged forward like a tide, followed by more novice Zixia and Lingyan. The battles at the North, West, and South gates had already been decided, so the commanders had dispatched most of the remaining newcomers to support them. They were fragile; the impact of a single pig-demon or the shockwave of a fireball could severely wound them. Yet, one had to admit their utility. Many novice Banshan had their Golden Bell shields shattered the moment they charged in and were blown away by fireballs. In a short time, more than half of the novice Banshan were shell-shocked, and the rest were in tears—the literal kind.

Without a perfected Golden Bell shield, running to the front line was a nightmare.

By now, ten full seconds had passed. The bizarre paralysis finally dissipated, and the shield walls awakened once more. One after another, Banshan visualization diagrams rose, and Immovable Golden Bells were cast. The wall they formed did not fall; the mountains loomed tall, and the shield wall held firm.

For other professions, these were just a few seconds, but for the surviving novice Banshan, the moment the thousands of visualization diagrams connected to form a boundless, towering mountain range, their courage and sacrifice were richly rewarded. Their understanding of the Banshan visualization and the internal cultivation method reached a new level. There was no better opportunity than this. Many novice Banshan even broke through their cultivation bottlenecks on the spot.

It was also at this time that the high-end Zixia and Lingyan cultivators, having replenished their energy on the walls, finally arrived. They quickly dominated the battlefield, slaughtering the remaining demon mobs in one go—not leaving a single one for the novices!

This sudden siege, which had arrived alongside the Demonic Shadow Curse, came to an end. Although many flaws were exposed, they had won, and the casualties were low. Even the novices who entered the battle last were protected by Wei Cheng throughout; those he saved didn't even know what happened—they were certain they were doomed, only to be encased by a golden bell.

Pies never fell from the sky, but today, golden bells did!

Living felt good.

In those ten seconds, Wei Cheng had consumed three Golden Dragon coins and cast over nine hundred Immovable Golden Bells. Including his previous actions, he had saved over a thousand people. But no one noticed; he had been casting them from one hundred and fifty meters away, and in the heat of battle, who had the mind to observe such things?

"Victory!"

"Victory!"

Someone began to shout, and the cry of "Victory" spread like a tide from the main battlefield outside the East Gate to the North, South, and West gates. The cheers shook the heavens and the earth. The atmosphere, the fanaticism, and the inexplicable feeling of "I participated, and I am honored" moved even the trial-takers who considered themselves seasoned veterans. To hell with restraint—we won!

"A bunch of idiots."

Inside Cangwu City, Yang Yufeng sneered. His miner's basket was filled with one hundred and fifty Flame Crystals, all scavenged from the corpses of the Flame Birds. They were clearly of immense value. To obtain them, he had ambushed nine people and killed four. These were clever people who had the same goal as him. Unfortunately, they had run into their ancestor.

"You bunch of idiots. You didn't believe in me, but I can still thrive on my own."

Yang Yufeng grinned viciously. After the district merger, he had intended to start over and truly, earnestly build a team. He hadn't expected his notorious past to spread so quickly; he had become the most infamous, evil-doing trash in the merged district, and no one wanted to work with him. Zhou Wu, Qin Douzi, Liu Wenli, and Zhao Xiong—all four major factions had refused to cooperate with him. It was an insult!

But it was fine now. With these Flame Crystals, he was confident he could reach the very pinnacle.

"Huh?"

Yang Yufeng suddenly saw a streak of fire appear above his head, drifting away like starlight. At first, he didn't react. A moment later, he dropped his miner's basket, only to see a scene that made his eyes burst with rage. The Flame Crystals he had worked so hard to snatch and steal were fusing, turning into gas, and flying away like fire.

"No!"

His desperate howl echoed through the city, like a lonely wolf from afar...

At the same time, sparks of starlight gathered in the firmament, becoming brighter and brighter until they dispersed the thick clouds, revealing a clear blue sky. These sparks condensed into a stone monument that reached from the earth to the heavens, its style completely different from the previous Impartation Monuments, Secret Realm Monuments, or Merger Monuments.

Everyone watched nervously. They wondered how the spoils of this intense battle would be distributed. After all, there were nearly sixteen thousand trial-takers; opinions differed, and it was impossible to record whose contribution was greater. Furthermore, what standard should be used to define contribution between different professions? Was it kill count or defensive damage? Even now, some were still complaining that the kill rankings in the Battle of Floating Cloud City were too shallow and unfair.

"Boom!"

A massive divine light suddenly erupted from the monument, instantly enveloping the entire battlefield. The light covered everyone; as long as they had a breath left, they were restored to their peak state, and all consumed internal energy was replenished.

But the divine light lasted for only three seconds before vanishing. Just as many began to feel disappointed, several patterns appeared on the towering monument, transforming into four large characters:

Battlefield Monument!