Chapter 147 (Dedicated to Alliance Leader Nuanyang1314 - Part 1/100)

"Boss, whatever you decide, I will always support you unconditionally!"

Yu Liang was the first to shout out. His mind wasn't the most agile, and he didn't like to overthink things, but at least he knew how to choose a direction he believed was right and stick to it all the way through.

"Let's take a vote. I certainly can't wipe out all the fiends and demons by myself."

Wei Cheng smiled and immediately raised his hand.

That's right, this was what he believed. To achieve the ultimate perfect clearance, sacrificing immediate benefits was worth it in his eyes.

Call him a fool if they wanted to; let others say what they would.

At the very least, if they wanted to fight the foreign fiends three hundred years in the future, they, these people from Earth, had to show some genuine capability. They needed to show those immortal cultivators that what the cultivators couldn't do, they might just pull off.

If they didn't even have this courage and determination, and were still haggling over petty gains and acting stingy, then it could only be said that those whose paths differed could not make plans together!

"Fine! Count me in! As an old man from the eighties, I may fear death, but I won't disgrace the reputation of my fellow old-timers from the 1980s."

Mei Renli raised his hand right after, even though his strength and status in the team were practically negligible.

"Damn it, you make it sound like us post-2010s and post-2020s generations would lose to you old antiques. I agree too!"

Chen Ce spat out a mouthful of air, then said with a solemn expression:

"Listen up, everyone. Brother Wei has already made this very clear. It's nothing more than trading five hundred golden dragon coins for twenty days of usage rights for the teleportation array."

"It sounds like a heavy loss of profit, but it can open up a brand new battlefield. By weakening the demon legion, we can reduce the pressure on the defense of Cangwu City two months from now. What if—what if we actually manage to successfully defend Cangwu City?"

"Or, taking a step back, even if we can't hold it, wouldn't getting a perfect clearance rating be amazing? This kind of holistic advantage will accumulate and carry over to the next stage. Do you all remember the past events of Floating Cloud City? Those five legions currently in the Grade-A difficulty tier are all the ones that obtained the perfect clearance rating back in Floating Cloud City."

"Alright, then I agree in principle."

Bai Han gave a bitter smile and raised his hand as well. He understood what Wei Cheng meant and recognized the grand strategic picture, but it was just such a pity—an absolute pity.

"I agree too. Old Wei said something right: we cannot let ourselves be pushed around by the trial mechanism. Now that we have this teleportation array, it's equivalent to having a retreat route. The only loss is five hundred golden dragon coins. From my perspective, using five hundred golden dragon coins to gain a strategic advantage is well worth it."

Liu Sui spoke solemnly and then raised his hand too.

"Both of us agree." Qin Yang, who had always kept a low profile, suddenly raised his hand and shouted.

"I strongly disagree! Unless you let me go deliver the message. I'm the Spirit Swallow; I run fast and know a lot of people..."

Xu Shan was only halfway through her sentence when she suddenly realized she was no longer a Spirit Swallow. She covered her face again, cursing inwardly. What on earth was going on? Where was her composure? Her composure! Their team already had one big fool named Wei; they didn't need a second fool or a clown like Xu.

"I am a Spirit Swallow, I can go, I run fast!"

Chen Ce hurriedly shouted.

"Get lost! You're not suitable!"

Bai Han shoved Chen Ce back with a wave of his hand. Who would believe a word you said if you went?

"I'm afraid only you can go, Brother Wei. None of us have that kind of prestige. Qin Douzi, Zhou Wu, Zhao Xiong, Liu Wenli—which of these four is an ordinary person? Especially since the current situation they're in is already quite advantageous, who would be willing to take a risky gamble?"

"In fact, I'll be blunt upfront: let alone any of us, even if Brother Wei goes personally, it's not guaranteed that he can invite all four of them over."

"The only ones who might be persuaded are Qin Douzi and Zhou Wu. Zhao Xiong is a toss-up, not to mention that fellow Liu Wenli!"

Bai Han had a much clearer insight into human nature.

"Then we'll just do our best!"

Wei Cheng's gaze was resolute. As trial-takers, they had to find a way to make some changes. They needed to have their own ideas rather than being marionettes, blindly following the trial mechanism.

If the trial mechanism were truly that formidable, why didn't it wipe out the foreign fiends itself?

"Just in case, and remember, the plan I mentioned is merely a hypothesis."

"Also, if I fail to return within the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, and this protective barrier is at risk of dissipating, you must immediately evacuate through the teleportation array. In short, people come first."

With that, Wei Cheng stepped into the teleportation array. At that exact moment, he sensed the activation of the array—a structural energy body beyond description, extremely exquisite, grand, and profound.

It was so perfect, so miraculous. Sensing it felt like trying to comprehend the secrets of heaven and earth and reaching the other shore of the Dao.

Wei Cheng almost lost himself in it, but in the end, a wisp of cyan light pulled him back and bound him. This cyan light was the trace left by the immortal cultivator just moments ago, and it also served as the destination coordinate.

Wei Cheng had no time to ponder. The moment his consciousness covered it, a flash of white light blinded him, the world turned dark, and the universe spun as if his soul and physical body were swapping places.

Yet immediately after, everything returned to normal. Opening his eyes once more, he found himself in an unfamiliar building surrounded by pavilions and terraces of exquisite craftsmanship. An unprecedented, dense aura of energy enveloped his body, reaching the level of a secret realm stele.

Wei Cheng was stunned for a moment before realizing this must be the City Lord's Mansion of Cangwu City.

"Oh? So it's the little brave warrior!"

A somewhat familiar voice sounded, and Wei Cheng saw the immortal cultivator from earlier discussing something with a middle-aged man not far away.

The former didn't seem surprised by his appearance, merely nodding in acknowledgment.

As for the latter, he looked very familiar, though Wei Cheng couldn't recall where he had seen him.

Still, cupping his fists in a salute and addressing him as "My Lord, good day" would certainly not be wrong.

"Hahaha!"

The middle-aged man stroked a wisp of beard on his chin and smiled warmly.

"I remember now. Your name is Wei Cheng, a squad leader of the City Patrol Camp, right? Daoist Li Ying just mentioned your troop of soldiers to me earlier—all quite daring and resolute. For this matter, the City Lord will certainly bestow heavy rewards. However, seeing you in such a rush, do you have something important to report?"

With that, the middle-aged man smiled at Wei Cheng, looking very modest and approachable.

Wei Cheng hesitated. He admitted he had overlooked one detail: the exit of the teleportation array was actually located inside the City Lord's Mansion. How was he supposed to summon reinforcements to provide support here? Normally, soldiers of their rank had no qualification to step foot inside the City Lord's Mansion.

Unless this matter was spearheaded by the City Lord's Mansion itself.

Thinking of this, Wei Cheng resolutely made up his mind. He took two steps forward, dropped to one knee, and said in a loud voice:

"Wei Cheng, squad leader of the City Patrol Camp, indeed has an urgent matter to report to Your Lordship. Well, Your humble subordinate and the others discovered—uh, this lord here, we discovered a gathering zone of demonic shadows, but at the same time, we also found numerous fiends and demons gathering with malicious intent toward our Cangwu City. I was thinking, why don't we just go give them a beating?"

Wei Cheng ran out of proper vocabulary toward the end.

Truly, he didn't know how else to phrase it under these circumstances.

Was he supposed to say: We people from Earth are here to prove we're better than the cultivators of your immortal realm; we're going to retake Floating Cloud City, so you better kneel down and sing surrender to us?

Apologies, he didn't dare; he was afraid of getting beaten flat.

Before the middle-aged man could respond, the immortal cultivator named Li Ying suddenly laughed cheerfully:

"Hold on, Brother Wei. I'm actually only—just a little older than you. There's no need to be so humble with terms like 'your humble subordinate.' Just call me Brother Li. Meeting here in the jianghu, since you're willing to help out loyally, we are friends of the four seas. Isn't that right, Old Du?"

"Hahaha!"

The middle-aged man stroked his beard and chuckled, but his smile gradually grew a bit colder, clearly dismissing Wei Cheng's words as nonsense.

Wei Cheng was taken aback, a bad feeling rising in his heart.

However, Li Ying suddenly spoke up at that moment:

"So, Brother Wei, have you made your choice?"

"Yes, I intend to annihilate that demon legion. But I need that teleportation array to transport reinforcements and supplies."

Wei Cheng gritted his teeth and made his choice. At that exact moment, he clearly saw a flash of mockery appear on Old Du's face.

Hmph, this native immortal cultivator was actually mocking him?

A thought stirred in Wei Cheng's mind, and a bold idea took root.

Could it be that these natives were also bound by the trial stage's constraints, functioning merely as NPCs within the trial, reenacting past events?

"Good! Brother Wei is truly a young hero with boundless spirit! Unfortunately, I need to return to my sect as soon as possible to report on my mission; otherwise, I'd gladly fight side by side with Brother Wei to slay the fiends and demons. What a joyous thing that would be!"

Saying this, Li Ying flicked his hand, and an object flew out. It was a compass-like artifact, extremely mysterious and unfathomable—precisely the crucial instrument for controlling the teleportation array.

"This is the Array Diagram Jade Plate, which can be used to open and close the teleportation array. At the same time, it can serve as a terminal teleportation array."

"Take this item, choose a suitable location within Cangwu City, and lay it down. It will automatically transform into a terminal teleportation array. But remember, this jade plate and the teleportation array in the underground demon cave can only be maintained for a period of twenty days."

"Additionally, to ensure it isn't exploited by fiends and demons, I have left a spell restriction within this jade plate. The moment any fiend or demon approaches within ten zhang of the teleportation array, both the array and this jade plate will immediately self-destruct."

"Brother Wei, take care of yourself."

Li Ying laughed heartily, briefly instructed Wei Cheng on its usage, and then pulled the somewhat disgruntled-looking Old Du away with him.

Wei Cheng bowed again in gratitude and put the jade plate away. The teleportation array that had originally stood within the City Lord's Mansion turned into a streak of white light and retreated into the jade plate.

Truly miraculous.

However, according to Li Ying, this array diagram jade plate only possessed the authority for one deployment and retrieval, restricted solely to the interior of Cangwu City.

In other words, as soon as Wei Cheng found a place to set it down, it could no longer be moved, let alone carried away.

Yet, for him, that was already more than enough.

He hurried out of the City Lord's Mansion through a side door. Before him lay the vast and spacious front plaza of the mansion, which was also the place where global rankings were tested.

At this moment, the area was surging with crowds and bustling with immense activity, as many trial-takers were here to check their global rankings, with quite a few using this method to temper their own visualization diagrams.

Perhaps due to the barrier array on the outer walls of the City Lord's Mansion, Wei Cheng's appearance did not attract any particular attention. After casually asking someone for directions, he headed straight for the North City; he needed to go persuade Qin Douzi first.

Given the attitude Qin Douzi had consistently displayed, this shouldn't be too difficult.