Chapter 153: Burning the Boats (Dedicated to Alliance Leader Nuanyang1314, 3/100)

At this very instant, Wei Cheng felt as though he were surrounded and engulfed by a surging torrent from the front.

This was yet another characteristic of the blade-wind frenzy: it behaved somewhat like a flowing current, yet was not entirely water, possessing an extremely powerful binding property.

When a rushing stream encountered a large obstacle, although it generated impact force, it would flow around it and continue on its course.

Only this blade-wind frenzy, once blocked, would not flow around the barrier; instead, using the obstacle as its center, it formed a terrifying blade-wind vortex.

Countless wind blades began to spin at high speeds until they had ground down and destroyed the obstacle, leaving nothing to block their path, before continuing forward.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!"

Wei Cheng's blazing heavy armor was sliced open, and it proved to be no exception.

In terms of defensive hardness per unit area, it was actually inferior to the Immovable Golden Bell.

In the blink of an eye, the tenth and even the ninth layers of the blazing armor were shredded, with an absolute smoothness. To describe it as cutting through bamboo would not be an overstatement.

However, Wei Cheng did not panic. In the next second, a consecutive trio of flame runes materialized, instantly re-aggregating a large amount—no, all—of the severed flames, once again forming two brand-new, undamaged layers of blazing armor.

That's right. Even if the blazing armor was sliced to pieces or smashed to smithereens, it did not change the burning essence of the flames; it was merely a matter of rebuilding the internal structure all over again.

Who was afraid of you?

The blade-wind frenzy continued to slash, and Wei Cheng continued to tirelessly carve flame runes.

At a glance, it seemed as though nothing was happening, but the intensity of the confrontation between the two sides was terrifyingly high, and seemingly endless.

One hour passed. Wei Cheng still had ten layers of blazing armor.

And the blade-wind frenzy remained unstoppable.

Yet it could advance no further, because the total volume of Wei Cheng's flames had not diminished by even a fraction.

Two hours passed. Wei Cheng's entanglement with the wind fiend continued, clinging together so tightly that separating them was impossible.

Three hours passed. Wei Cheng remained full of physical strength and in high spirits, with an ample supply of Mountain-Mover internal energy, capable of sustaining a fierce battle for three days and three nights without any pressure.

Only the blade-wind frenzy was weakening.

It had no choice but to weaken. After all, it was the one outputting and consuming energy the entire time; every single layer of armor it ground through inevitably resulted in the dissipation of a small number of wind blades.

Of course, it would be wonderful if it could effortlessly toss out a gale rune just like Wei Cheng did.

Unfortunately, it would have to consume, eliminate, and devour Wei Cheng first in order to master that ability.

Four hours later, the blade-wind frenzy abruptly stopped—listless, languid, completely devoid of any temper.

It seemed as though everything had come to an end.

But how could that be possible?

For Wei Cheng, everything was just beginning.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

Massive fireballs were hurled out in rapid succession, instantly blanketing a radius of five hundred meters, while the shockwaves swept across a radius of a thousand meters. Within this expanse, everything transformed into a sea of fire in the blink of an eye.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak!"

A despairing and furious screech suddenly erupted from within the sea of flames, and a gigantic monster revealed itself four hundred meters away.

The monster was roughly as tall as a ten-story building, lacking any distinct body contours, resembling an oversized slug.

Yet it also seemed weightless, capable of vanishing into the air at any moment.

At this moment, a massive outer layer of the monster's body suddenly decomposed into countless small slug-like creatures. They charged into the sea of flames wave after wave, actually carving out a path through sheer numbers.

Goodness gracious, so that was it! This wasn't just a single monster, but rather an integrated entity composed of a massive horde of monsters, much like an ant colony.

But if they thought they could escape, there was no chance in hell!

The flame giant transformed by Wei Cheng roared, continuing to hurl more fireballs, burning the monster until it shrieked ceaselessly. No matter how many of them charged into the sea of flames wave after wave, it was completely futile, and they were ultimately burned to death layer by layer until they were utterly incinerated.

In the next second, a transmission stele emanating a cyan glow and standing a full three hundred zhang tall slowly descended, and everything finally returned to its proper track.

Wei Cheng first gathered back all the flames, reforming them into the blazing armor, and then spat out the fire jade to absorb the blazing armor back inside.

However, what frustrated him was that despite his utmost care and effort to recover the flames during this round, the fire jade had shrunk by a circle.

Judging by this rate, he could only use it two more times.

"This is already not bad."

Wei Cheng was quite content. Li Ying of the Heavenly Mystery Sect was a decent person; if not for the reliance on the fire jade this time, he probably would have had to resort to the Thunder Bolt Talisman, and it might not have yielded such a perfect result.

Next, he was the first to touch the transmission stele. Instantly, a vast divine light washed down, lasting a full thirty seconds. The richness of this reward was in no way inferior to the final boss of the Fire Fiends.

As for cultivation techniques, he only obtained the ninth tier of Cloud-Steading Step and the fourth tier of Azure Wood Command. There was no Iron Prison Code, which clearly required an even more important and powerful boss to drop.

At the same time, this also indicated that this group of wind fiends was not the entirety of them.

However, the good news was that following this baptism of divine light, the state of his spiritual seed sprouting and stirring took another step forward, and breaking through the soil seemed to be just within reach.

"Old Tang, Little Tang, Yu Liang, Old Mei, the four of you come up."

Wei Cheng called out. Facing the wind fiend this time had brought him immense pressure, leading to a clearer realization that within his team, the Mountain-Mover profession was still too scarce and too weak.

In fact, following the tactical logic of the previous battle, as long as there were enough Mountain-Movers, they could likewise exhaust to death this wind fiend.

The prerequisite, however, was that the strength of these Mountain-Movers had to be sufficient.

The four of them—Tang Yuanshan and the others—had only undergone a single quality fine-tuning, so they had to elevate their strength by advancing the deep-level detailing of the Mountain-Mover Visualization Diagram.

So what if it was a fast-tracked fine-tuning? As long as the deep-level detailing progress of the Mountain-Mover Visualization Diagram reached one hundred percent and they condensed a spiritual seed, they could likewise become first-turn spiritual roots, evolving into ordinary, mediocre, and unremarkable immortal cultivators.

Soon, all four of them completed the divine light illumination.

Tang Yuanshan received 28 seconds of divine light, directly elevating his spiritual power intensity to Level 7, on par with Liu Sui and Bai Han.

Tang Xiaojun received 25 seconds of divine light, raising his spiritual power intensity to Level 6.5.

Although Yu Liang and Mei Renli received less divine light, they had followed Wei Cheng all along, and their opportunities for divine light illumination far exceeded Tang Xiaojun's. Therefore, their spiritual power had also reached Level 6.5 at this point—theoretically, having reached the threshold of igniting spiritual fire and condensing a spiritual seed.

After the four of them finished touching the stele, one-fifth of the transmission stele's energy still remained.

Judging by this, there were likely five more slots for divine light illumination. Wei Cheng called out those five junior Mountain-Movers, allowing their spiritual power to reach Level 6. This meant that without needing any special injections, they could become the new generation of human power banks.

"Old Tang, the four of you go back into seclusion. And Old Bai, all of you seize the time to advance the deep-level detailing progress of the Mountain-Mover Visualization Diagram. I can still stall for some time for you. After that, the five of you—the five Mountain-Movers—will face the wind fiend directly. I will not make a move. Either you die a cowardly death, or you ignite your spiritual fire and condense your spiritual seeds for me."

"You guys can no longer hold us back!"

Wei Cheng was unprecedentedly serious, because previously, he still had the confidence to act as a safety net, capable of unleashing all his trump cards if worst came to worst. But this time, even he lacked confidence.

Counting on the batch of newcomers was definitely useless, so someone had to step up and share the pressure with him.

"Don't worry, Brother Wei, we've got this absolutely covered."

Bai Han also spoke solemnly. Ever since condensing his spiritual seed, he had grown much more confident. Whether it was comprehending the Iron Prison Code or advancing the deep-level detailing of the Mountain-Mover Visualization Diagram, everything came to him smoothly. The position of the second-ranked Mountain-Mover in the entire district was something he was determined to hold onto!

Afterward, the group exchanged no further words. Each of them donned their Immovable Golden Bell and seized every moment to elevate themselves. Every tiny bit of advantage accumulated now was a guarantee of survival in the future.

Meanwhile, the sound of the wind drifted over from afar once more; the second batch of wind fiends had arrived.

Wei Cheng glanced back. Chen Ce was still comprehending the Shadow Doppelgänger technique, and Liu Sui was comprehending the Draconic Sword Art.

As for the newcomers, those five junior Mountain-Movers whom he had meticulously selected and cultivated had successfully broken through the Seventh Cycle after nearly thirty hours of unsparing, high-cost cultivation, aided significantly by the massive boost in their spiritual power.

Next, they would begin practicing the second tier of the Mountain-Mover Mental Art.

Following that, they still needed to complete their first quality fine-tuning and master the sixth tier of the Golden Bell罩. Accomplishing all this would mean they had initially formed combat effectiveness and could serve as second-line Mountain-Movers.

If luck favored them, half a month later they could all become first-line Mountain-Movers, catching up to Yu Liang and Mei Renli of the present moment.

As for the other new trial-takers, they were also cultivating step-by-step, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!"

The wind rose. Across a radius of tens of thousands of meters, countless currents of air were splitting apart under the guidance of some unknown force, transforming into tiny wind blades. A mere few seconds later, the blade-wind frenzy formed and swept over in a rolling tide.

Wei Cheng also retrieved the fire jade at this moment, transforming into a flame giant, using himself as bait to step forward and block the blade-wind frenzy. Right now, all his objectives boiled down to a single purpose: buying time.

To his utter astonishment, however, no sooner had he intercepted the first wave of the blade-wind frenzy than the sound of wind erupted from another direction, and yet another batch of wind fiends arrived.

Then came the third batch, and the fourth!

From all four directions, four batches of wind fiends formed four separate blade-wind frenzies.

At that moment, Wei Cheng's head rang with a deafening roar, his scalp tingling with terror, plunging him into an icy abyss. This was true Class-A difficulty! Were they trying to wipe out all his hopes and all his chips in a single wave?

He absolutely could not intercept four simultaneous waves of blade-wind frenzies because there was simply not enough time, and he could not be in four places at once.

At this juncture, the five major Mountain-Movers—Bai Han, Tang Yuanshan, Tang Xiaojun, Yu Liang, and Mei Renli—could at best manage to block the blade-wind frenzy from a single direction.

The remaining two directions were utterly impossible to defend.

Liu Sui was a high-tier Zixia practitioner, true, but he could not block it.

Chen Ce was a high-tier Spirit Swallow practitioner, true, yet he still could not block it. This had nothing to do with individual strength, but rather the very nature of the blade-wind frenzy: it poured forth like a cascading river, infiltrating every nook and cranny. Once entangled, one would be dragged into a nightmarish blade-wind vortex.

Only the most powerful Mountain-Mover or flame giant could withstand it and grind it down through sheer force.

Perhaps at this moment, retreating via the teleportation array was the only remaining path to survival.

Yet Wei Cheng was truly unwilling. Was this opportunity, which he had traded for with five hundred golden dragon coins, destined to be just a fleeting flash in the pan?

"Never!"

"Everyone, stop cultivating immediately! Liu Sui, lead the way to break out of the encirclement! Bai Han, cover the rear! Abandon the teleportation array! Listen to me, this is an order!"

"You must trust me!"

"Abandon the teleportation array and break out of the encirclement!"

Wei Cheng roared furiously.

Over by the teleportation array, the startled new trial-takers were thrown into panic. They looked around wildly, yet could not even discern where the enemy was located.

Fortunately, they were no longer pure novices; their individual psychological resilience was quite decent. After all, anyone who had previously chosen to enter the underground magic cave could be considered a person of resolute determination.

Moreover, Liu Sui and Bai Han had both condensed spiritual seeds and could roughly sense the direction of the blade-wind frenzies.

Thus, with one leading the vanguard and the other covering the rear, the entire team completed a rapid relocation.

Almost simultaneously, Wei Cheng collided with the first wave of the blade-wind frenzy. Due to the unique traits of the blade-wind frenzy, it immediately centered its blade-wind vortex upon Wei Cheng. However, this action also created a massive void in the surrounding area.

Seizing the opportunity, Liu Sui led the rapid evacuation from that direction.

Yet barely a dozen seconds later, the teleportation array suddenly flared with a blinding white light.

The formation map jade token had sensed the approaching fiends and monsters, thereby activating its self-destruction mode.

At the same very time, the terminal teleportation array situated on the east side of Cangwu City also turned to ash.

All onlookers could not help but secretly remark on their own good fortune.

They were even more filled with emotion that the legendary oddity, Madman Wei, had thus fallen.

Alas, how lamentable.

(End of this chapter)