Chapter 152: The Forgotten Corner

Cangwu City.

The East City Gate was the obligatory passage point for travelers heading to the Fiery Demon map and the Foggy Demon map.

Therefore, the teleportation array left behind by Wei Cheng was easily spotted by passing challengers, especially since it came with instructions on how to activate it. This undoubtedly made many rookie challengers eager to try.

However, the activation cost of a single Golden Dragon coin truly deterred most challengers.

Qin Douzi was standing in front of this teleportation array at the moment, lost in thought.

Standing beside him was Zhou Wu.

"Douzi, I thought you'd follow big fool Wei. Didn't his actions align quite well with your consistent philosophy?"

"He is too radical. Such a put-all-eggs-in-one-basket approach is inadvisable."

Qin Douzi shook his head. "Of course, this doesn't affect my view of him. Wei Cheng is a man of grand vision, and I deeply appreciate him."

"Oh, cut the crap. Isn't it really because he failed to rescue that disciple of the Heavenly Mechanism Sect, Li Ying? The bounty mission suddenly disappearing either means Li Ying was rescued by someone else or is dead."

"And the sudden appearance of a teleportation array in Wei Cheng's hands indicates that he did see Li Ying before the latter died. That's why he came up with such an unrealistic plan."

Zhou Wu chuckled. No one was a fool; if Wei Cheng had truly completed the rescue mission, Zhou Wu would have dared to follow him. Rescuing an immortal cultivator would undoubtedly yield generous rewards.

But right now, following him would make one a fool.

"So both of you are here. How about it? Shall we all go support Boss Wei? I can cover the teleportation costs. However many men you send, I'll send just as many."

A robust and tall figure arrived before the teleportation array—it was Zhao Xiong from the West City.

Zhou Wu glanced up at Zhao Xiong and sneered, "So, Boss Zhao is planning to lead how many elites over there? Is Ms. Wenyu going too?"

"Haha, I wouldn't dare to take all the credit. Don't you have any inkling in your heart, Zhou Wu? During the last battle, if Boss Wei hadn't decisively stepped in to help, would anyone from your East City still be around? Now that Boss Wei desperately needs support, you come here running your mouth with sarcasm. Truly a fine sense of loyalty."

"And you, Qin Douzi, you always talk big about cultivating and tempering newcomers, yet you've ended up acting like an old mother hen. Newcomers must be thrown into the most brutal battlefields; only those who survive are called veterans. Let me ask you, you hover over those rookie challengers like a nagging mother, arranging all their tactics, combat orders, and every minute detail. Do you think you're some sort of micro-management master Chiang?"

"When Wei Cheng asks for support, what difference would it make if you gave him a thousand men? Even if only five hundred or three hundred survived in the end, believe me, those three hundred would be worth more than the five thousand in your hands."

"On this battlefield, 'newcomer' is not a term of praise; they should be called little chicks. Is wearing the title of little chick something to be proud of?"

"Heh, you put it so nicely, Zhao Xiong, why don't you go?"

A cold voice sounded as Liu Wenli also arrived upon hearing the news.

"Me? Because I've encountered immortal fate! I have better choices."

Zhao Xiong walked away whistling.

"What a pity. My relationship with Boss Wei isn't very good; otherwise, I certainly would have gone to support him."

Liu Wenli smiled faintly and led his team away. Many jadeite ore veins had been discovered in the Foggy Demon map, and such ores, capable of strengthening lightning rings, were naturally good treasures. They were too busy fighting for territory and mineral veins to care about anything else.

Who would be stupid or brain-damaged enough to head to an underground demon cave, a place that sounded like a one-way trip from the very name?

Zhou Wu and Qin Douzi stood in place for a moment before silently walking away in their respective directions.

People came and went here, bustling with activity, but no one lingered anymore. It became like a forgotten corner.

——

"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."

A gentle breeze blew across the desolate village, causing the few withered grasses that had managed to survive the ordeal to sway desperately, resembling the arms of drowning men pleading for rescue.

A day and a night had passed.

Surprisingly, nothing had happened.

Wei Cheng squatted on a lava rock three hundred meters away from the teleportation array, looking like a giant macaque.

Yet, he was extremely dangerous.

In his arms, he held that savage short sword; in his hand, he gripped a small wine cup. All over his body, golden flame runes floated and intertwined, making him look from a distance as if he had grown a layer of golden fur.

The sound of wind arrived, gradually growing louder.

The black mist in the distance was split open by an invisible, silent force, only to close back up again as if nothing had happened.

High above the clouds, faint singing could be heard—if singing it truly was.

The wind came from all directions.

Casual, lazy, and nonchalant.

"Swish!"

The few withered grasses that had managed to survive the previous battle snapped inch by inch, turning to dust inch by inch, completely soundless.

An unseen, intangible force was rapidly approaching.

It bypassed Wei Cheng and headed straight for the teleportation array, as if the overlapping, immovable golden bells piled up there were easier to crack.

Yet in the next second, boundless flames descended from the sky, forming a massive flame barrier covering a full two-hundred-meter radius.

The wind might pass through the raging flames, but the demons hidden within the wind could not.

Accompanied by a few miserable shrieks, dozens of strange demons—only a meter tall, with flat, elongated bodies, no limbs, and not even a head—rolled out, resembling giant slugs.

Yet in mere moments, these flattened demons coiled back up and vanished into the wind once again.

"Old Wei!"

Inside the flame barrier, Liu燧 wore a stern expression as the flame ring in his hand blazed brilliantly.

That's right, this flame ring was activated by him. Such formidable power was achieved because Wei Cheng had used a magic bird crystal to upgrade its fire resistance all the way to +35 in one go.

A few seconds later, the flame barrier dissipated. The flame ring could not sustain itself for long; its internal capacity could not store that much flame energy.

Come to think of it, the fire resistance value of the flame ring now seemed more like an energy storage value.

"Is this the wind demon? Why does it feel like we're trying to collect earth, water, fire, and wind?"

Xu Shan cried out from the side. Ever since Liu燧 condensed his spiritual seed, she had felt an extraordinary sense of security.

At this moment, however, neither Wei Cheng nor Liu燧 had time to reply, because an extremely strange rhythm was forming, combining and multiplying in all directions at an unimaginable speed!

Even the air they breathed was filled with this rhythm.

It was as if countless microscopic wind blades were generating at a subatomic level.

Any air inhaled into the lungs at this moment would turn into wind blades, cutting and shattering everything.

"Hold your breath and enter deep stillness!"

Wei Cheng and Liu燧 roared simultaneously.

Except Wei Cheng's roar was like a collapsing mountain, kicking up a massive gale that cleared away the skies and churned the seas, instantly evacuating all the air within a radius of hundreds of meters in a single breath.

As for Liu燧, he directly activated the Purple Mist Visualization Diagram. Countless wisps of purple mist flew out like silk threads, wrapping around him and Xu Shan like a silkworm cocoon.

This was an active control method unique to the Purple Mist profession, but it could also be utilized as a defensive skill.

However, under normal circumstances, unless the deep-level refinement of the Purple Mist Visualization Diagram exceeded 50%, this control skill was quite mediocre.

Yet now, the deep-level refinement of Liu燧's visualization diagram had reached over 80%, making this control skill incredibly potent. In an instant, it isolated the air within a ten-meter radius.

In the next second, across a range of tens of thousands of meters, countless tiny, invisible wind blades finally completed their final multiplication, transforming into a terrifying tide of wind blades.

Dense rustling sounds rang out intensively, though nothing could be seen, yet an intangible terror surged closer rapidly.

Within the desolate village, the few remaining abandoned houses collapsed silently, turning into dust filling the sky.

On the ground, the lava rocks melted by the raging flames were effortlessly shaved away layer after layer.

In just a few short seconds, the earth became flat, losing all jagged edges.

This sight left Wei Cheng breaking out in a cold sweat. Invisible, intangible, without a single ripple or warning, causing direct air fission—challengers who hadn't condensed their spiritual seeds wouldn't even have time to react before being instantly torn to shreds.

And even with a warning, could they really deal with this?

"Hum, hum, hum!"

Wei Cheng didn't run back. Instead, he rapidly hurled seventy or eighty immovable golden bells, landing them in various positions. Only his spiritual awareness could perceive the position, flow, and variables of this wind blade tide.

"Screech, screech, screech!"

A violent grinding sound erupted abruptly. A portion of the immovable golden bells began to radiate blinding golden light, within which the mountain-moving illusions shifted rapidly. At first, they seemed able to hold on, but after just five or six seconds, those immovable golden bells fractured and instantly dissipated.

Wei Cheng's expression changed. These were his immovable golden bells, possessing a defensive capability comparable to the ultimate form of immovable golden bells released by Yu Liang and Mei Renli.

Good lord, this wind blade tide was actually this sharp.

This was going to be troublesome.

"Old Bai!"

Wei Cheng shouted. The next moment, he abruptly transformed into a flame giant. But this time, the flame giant was entirely different, solely because he had utilized that piece of fire jade.

He had to thank that immortal cultivator Li Ying, who had somehow condensed and purified the tenfold flame armor on Wei Cheng's body into a piece of fire jade.

This item didn't have any special features other than making the flames purer, raising the flame temperature higher, and making them easier to control.

Yet reflected on Wei Cheng's current flame giant form, it meant he could maintain the tenfold flame armor while moving normally.

Just this point alone made all the difference.

Previously, after covering himself with the tenfold flame armor, although Wei Cheng's defensive capability became immensely high, it also turned him into a giant fire stump, completely unable to move.

"Roar!"

The flame giant transformed by Wei Cheng let out a heaven-shaking roar, striding forward to block the direction where the volume of the wind blade tide was greatest.

This was the first flaw he had found: once formed, although the wind blade tide remained formless, shadowless, and terrifyingly sharp, it could no longer change direction quickly and flexibly. Instead, it flowed 'lightly' across the ground like water. Though it could alter its trajectory, it remained quite easy to predict.

And thus, it was blocked by Wei Cheng.