Chapter 138: Embarking on the Journey

Soon, Qin Yang dragged a reluctant young man into the small courtyard. Upon seeing Wei Cheng, he grinned and said with a flattering smile, "Boss Wei, this is my friend, Qi Fengchu."

"Qin Yang, please have some backbone!" The young man glared at Qin Yang, wishing he could sever ties with him on the spot.

"Please call me Qin Wolong!" Qin Yang hurriedly corrected, then continued to smile ingratiatingly at Wei Cheng. "Boss Wei, don't hold it against him. He's just going through a prolonged rebellious phase; his heart is in the right place. Besides, his proficiency in ancient scripts is much higher than mine, and he has many important hypotheses regarding the history of Cangwu City. Anyway, we won't hold you back."

Wei Cheng glanced at Qin Yang, then at Qi Fengchu. What a small world—no, wait, they were originally from P City; running into each other was hardly surprising.

Indeed, this was an old acquaintance. Back on Earth, when Wei Cheng was first learning the Swift Swallow Heart Technique, he had been ambushed by a newbie named Zixia. Had Wei Cheng's performance not been decent, this guy would have been crippled for sure.

Furthermore, his surname was Qi, and he had a sister named Qi Mei.

So what?

Wei Cheng looked at Qi Jia, who still wore a defiant expression, neck stiff and acting like a little punk, and sneered, "From now on, cultivate the Zixia Heart Technique with all your might. No more messing around with other nonsense. If you can't manage that, I hope you fend for yourself, and especially, don't drag your friend down with you!"

"My life is my own, it's none of your business!" Qi Jia actually snapped back. However, upon meeting Wei Cheng's gaze, he couldn't help trembling slightly and immediately looked away. "Using your power to bully others... it's true I can't beat you, but I still refuse to submit."

Truly, a prolonged rebellious phase. Compared to his sister, he was worlds apart.

Wei Cheng stopped Qin Yang, who looked as though he wanted to say something more. "We set off tomorrow. Get yourself prepared. As for this Fengchu here, I'm giving you face and won't hold it against him, but his rebellious phase needs to end."

As soon as these words fell, Qi Fengchu wanted to retort, but Wei Cheng directly trapped him inside an Immovable Golden Bell. He could only jump around and curse furiously in vain, though not even a sound could escape.

The entire world instantly fell silent, and blissful it was.

"Th-th-this, Boss Wei—" Qin Yang's face drained of color in fright.

"It's fine, he just needs some quiet time. Besides, Qin Yang, I consider you a smart man and an adult. You know very well what the current situation is. If you can't even handle this matter, it will make me doubt your ability. Let's consider this the first test for you joining the team. If you can't do it, get lost too! I have no mood to play adolescent growing-up games with you guys."

With that, Wei Cheng turned and walked to the next room. He intended to use this time to strengthen everyone's Flame Rings as much as possible.

This expedition into the untamed wilderness had to be thoroughly prepared.

---

Dawn was about to break.

Wei Cheng, Bai Han, Liu Sui, Chen Ce, Xu Shan, Tang Yuanshan, Yu Liang, Mei Renli, and the others gathered once more outside the East City Gate, followed closely by Qin Yang and Qi Jia.

Who knew what method Qin Yang had used to persuade him, but this Qi Fengchu had finally resigned himself to fate and stopped acting up.

That was good. Wei Cheng valued Qin Yang's analytical ability, and if this Qi Jia truly possessed a solid understanding of ancient scripts, he could also prove useful.

For instance, the scripts of the Immortal Cultivation Realm shouldn't rely forever on translation through inheritance steles. If one could decipher them independently, learning and mastering them, wouldn't that be wonderful?

Right now in the trial stages, everything was fine. But in the future, as the realism increased and they truly arrived in the Immortal Cultivation Realm, would they still need to hire a local native to translate for them?

In doing things, one must plan for the long term.

His team needed to absorb all kinds of talent, just like Jiang Haoyu.

"Boss Wei, you truly are my great benefactor! I really want to go on this wilderness expedition with you, but if I leave right now, I won't be able to explain it to Master, and my alchemy secret techniques won't continue to level up. But from now on, whenever Boss Wei gives the word, I will rush over through fire and water."

"These are the Mind-Calming Pills I refined yesterday—three failed, three are substandard, and only four are barely usable. In addition, these are the Hemostatic Pills and Qi-Nourishing Pills I've refined myself over this past period. I'm giving them all to you. I hope everything goes smoothly for everyone, and that Boss Wei creates more brilliant achievements by slaying the Fog Fiend Boss!"

Jiang Haoyu cupped his fists, his gaze sincere.

Wei Cheng smiled and returned the gesture by cupping his fists as well. By now, they were increasingly adapting to the local customs.

Bai Han, Liu Sui, and the others also cupped their fists in return. Everyone thought highly of this Jiang Haoyu. Facts proved that a full-time alchemist supported by a team was bound to have a bright future.

Just then, a commotion came from the direction of the bounty stele.

"Great! Wonderful! The Fog Fiend first-kill announcement is out!"

"Awesome! Wen Yu of the West City is truly my goddess! This must be the leading first kill, right? She definitely played a crucial role."

"Needless to say! The district's number one Zixia, come at me if you're not convinced! Besides, my boss Zhao Xiong ranks second; he is thoroughly worthy of being the district's number two Mountain-Mover—"

"Pfft, how do you know he's the second Mountain-Mover? Following this first kill of the Fog Fiend, he's definitely the district's number one Mountain-Mover now. It's just like academic grades: ups and downs, ebb and flow. Sailing against the current, if you don't advance, you fall behind."

"Damn, you use a lot of words; what you say makes sense."

"Hey, did you guys notice? The top three are all from the West City Legion. The West City is rising up this time!"

---

Hearing this discussion, Wei Cheng and the others were quite astonished. Stepping forward to look, they saw the faint light on the bounty stele flickering, transforming into an official proclamation stele.

[City Lord's Mansion Proclamation: Recently, the brave warriors Wen Yu, Zhao Xiong, Hu Weiye, Liu Wenli, Zhou Wu, Xu Guolang, Qin Douzi, King Chu, and one hundred others bravely charged into the fiend's lair and executed the great fiend Fog Whip, restoring peace to our territory. Starting from today, trade routes are unimpeded, and citizens may return to their respective homes; flee no more.]

[City Lord's Mansion Proclamation: The City Lord has once again invited high-level experts and adopted forceful measures to curb the birth of fiends and demons. Starting from today, the outbreak of the Demonic Shadow Curse is delayed to once every thirty days. However, all guards at various posts must remain cautious to prevent lesser fiends from creating chaos.]

---

"Holy crap, no way! They actually got the first kill!"

Chen Ce shrieked in disbelief. The rest of them were also dumbfounded. Well, they had been planning to head to the Fog Fiend's territory to snatch a boss or act cool during a rescue operation, but those four factions had actually joined forces, pushed through in one go, defeated the Fog Fiend in just four days, and cleared the Fog Fiend map.

It was genuinely a bit difficult for them to accept.

Conversely, Wei Cheng wasn't particularly surprised.

No one was a fool, especially people like Zhao Xiong, Zhou Wu, Qin Douzi, and Liu Wenli. By now, the trial rules had been roughly figured out; the bulk of the rewards lay in the battles following the Demonic Shadow outbreak and the final clearance rewards.

So, for a single wilderness map, why should four forces continue to scheme, fight openly and secretly, and bicker over a boss?

Was cooperation not wonderful?

Besides, as long as they killed the Fog Fiend and destroyed its lair, it was equivalent to opening up a second map for novice testers to farm monsters and gather minerals, which was extremely beneficial for the healthy development of the entire district server.

"Old Wei, are we still going?" Xu Shan asked somewhat unwillingly. *Ahhh! Old Lady here just specialized in Azure Wood and hasn't even stretched her limbs yet, and the Boss has already been taken down! This feeling is extremely unpleasant.*

"Go, why wouldn't we go? Before we killed the Fire Fiend, we didn't know about the City Lord's Mansion bounty either. Exploring unknown poison zones is precisely what an elite team like ours needs to do."

Wei Cheng was very calm. This was essentially no different from what they had been doing a month ago.

It was merely that the fiends and demons in the poison zone were more powerful, but they were no longer who they used to be.

Ignoring the group of novice testers who were standing there in shock and basking in reflected glory, Wei Cheng and his team of ten bid farewell to Jiang Haoyu, stepping firmly and silently toward Floating Cloud City.

Halfway there, they happened to run into Qin Douzi, who was leading a group back with a full load of spoils.

After exchanging a few polite words, Wei Cheng didn't hide their intentions.

"Wei Cheng, I know your strength is formidable. Leaving aside our district, even if you were placed in an A-grade difficulty server, you'd still hold a high ranking. But this time, I truly advise you to think twice."

Qin Douzi advised sincerely, "When we killed the Fog Fiend this time, we didn't plan on cooperating at first. It was only after suffering heavy losses that we concentrated our elites and managed to bite through this tough bone by sheer force. For this, all four factions lost nearly a hundred people each."

"And you have only ten people, plus two newbies, going to pioneer an unknown poison zone—it's truly a bit reckless. Why not preserve your strength and wait for the outbreak of the sixth wave of Demonic Shadow Curses? The harvest from a single major battle is no less than pioneering a poison zone."

"What you say makes sense. But I'm sure you also understand that in this trial stage, just thinking about surviving by cowering is useless. Everything is like sailing against the current; if you don't advance, you fall behind."

Wei Cheng mused, "Of course, I will also play it by ear. If it turns out to be beyond our capabilities, we will make an emergency retreat."

"Since that's the case, I wish you all good luck."

Qin Douzi cupped his fists, and Wei Cheng and the others returned the gesture. The two parties parted ways right there, yet the road ahead seemed shrouded in a layer of gloom.

Even Wei Cheng himself was considering whether he was being overly reckless.

Yet, a second later, his resolve hardened. This was bound to be the correct path.

Clearing away thorns and thistles, pioneering and expanding the territory, only when the vast sea rages does the true metal of Mountain-Movers show.

This trip to pioneer the unknown poison zone was both to acquire more benefits and resources, and simultaneously to temper himself and his followers.

Stronger, seemingly more senior senior-testers had already appeared, and the signs of stepping out of the novice village were becoming increasingly obvious. If he didn't seize the time to enhance his strength, consolidate his foundation, and prepare himself now, he feared he would find himself in a very passive position in the future.

Wei Cheng had never discussed this matter, allowing Bai Han, Liu Sui, and the others—who had sensed something abnormal—to remain silent. In truth, it was precisely to stabilize morale so everyone could focus entirely on improving their strength. Meaningless overthinking served no purpose.

"Let's move!"

Wei Cheng said no more, nor did he ask any further questions. Bai Han, Liu Sui, Chen Ce, and the others all wore resolute expressions; none of them retreated.

By now, his small team could finally be considered barely grown.