Chapter 18: No One Is an Exception

“Stand behind me—no one else come out!”
Having instantly grasped the situation, Wei Cheng shouted loudly, but he was still a moment too late. The bald man and Hu Hailong, who had been in the second line behind him, had already rushed out to his left and right, though the bald man was just a bit slower.
Almost simultaneously, more than a dozen larger snow apes clinging to the cliff suddenly let out a white glow from their claws, and a sharp ice spike, as thick as an arm, materialized!
Wei Cheng managed only a single cry of “Watch out!”—he even anticipated the direction of the attack—but it was impossible to intercept in time. Too fast. Or perhaps he was simply too slow, even though his speed now far exceeded that of an ordinary person.
But with the Golden Bell shield fully activated, his movements slowed further, and these enemies were nothing like ordinary foes. The dozen sharp ice spikes brushed past him, smashing directly into Hu Hailong’s Golden Bell shield.
Even though he had mastered the third tier of the Golden Bell technique, his internal force from the Mountain Moving method amounted to barely two cycles and lacked the reinforcement from the Mountain Moving visualization diagram. Thus, his shield was obliterated instantly, and he was slain by the residual force of the ice spikes, his body shattered into a spray of icy fragments before he could react!
These ice spikes even had a terminal blast effect—utterly ruthless!
The abruptness and cruelty of the scene finally brought the others face to face once more with the terror of death’s dominion.
Hu Hailong had been the second most accomplished Mountain Moving practitioner in the team, claiming, by his own account, to be one of the twin tanks alongside the bald man.
Yet his death was so trivial, so swift, so meaningless.
“Screech, screech, screech!”
The snow apes on the rocks above shrieked gleefully, some even making faces at Wei Cheng.
More snow apes’ hands flickered with faint white light; Wei Cheng hastily stepped in front of the bald man.
But the bald man’s sense of cooperation was clearly not on par with Hu Hailong’s, a seasoned real-time strategy gamer. Rather than simply and rigidly hiding behind Wei Cheng, he kept shuffling in tiny steps, nimble as could be!
Wei Cheng had no time for anything else, nor any means to seize victory, for the next barrage of ice spikes was already screaming down.
Some targeted Wei Cheng, others cunningly aimed for the bald man. The snow apes had quickly grasped the secret to their joy: picking the softest targets.
Wei Cheng immediately channeled his Mountain Moving internal force, maximizing the Golden Bell shield’s defense, though his agility was now at its lowest. It was all he could do, and whether the bald man behind him could withstand the assault was entirely uncertain.
But with no eyes in the back of his head, Wei Cheng didn’t realize that the bald man was still shuffling erratically; the ice spikes locked onto him were powerful but incapable of changing course.

So as Wei Cheng endured nearly forty ice spikes, almost ten crashed into the ground, spraying shards everywhere but posing little real threat.
Catching his breath and restoring his shield, Wei Cheng turned to find the bald man still full of vigor, his Golden Bell shield shining, even offering a goofy smile.
Yet Wei Cheng couldn’t smile back—being pummeled with no chance to retaliate was infuriating.
“Brother Xu, fall back!”
Wei Cheng ordered, but the next moment, Yu Liang, Wang Wei, and Cheng An rushed out from the mine tunnel, with Zhang Yong and Han Dong poised to charge after them.
Damn it, these people truly were risking everything!
Then again, at this point, what else could they do? At least Wei Cheng could still hold the front line, stabilize the situation. So long as no one acted foolishly, they had to fight.
“Screech, screech, screech!”
The snow apes shrieked with glee, leaping and climbing rapidly along the cliff to adjust their attack positions, leaving the group only seconds to react.
A volley of more than a dozen ice spikes flew down from various angles, followed a second later by another, then a third, then a fourth.
The snow apes’ teamwork was astonishing, their grasp of the battle situation beyond belief, changing tactics so swiftly that the group could barely keep up.
In truth, it was more than just hard to keep up; with limited space and the group recklessly charging out, even the bald man’s shuffling steps were rendered useless.
Not a single ice spike from the first volley landed on Wei Cheng, nor could he match their speed.
Even with the bald man, Yu Liang, Wang Wei, and Cheng An behind him, they couldn’t withstand the snow apes’ advantage in numbers, position, and attack speed—their reactions were simply too slow.
Boom, boom, boom!
The sound of ice spikes shattering echoed. In the first wave of fifteen, Yu Liang took five, his second-tier Golden Bell shield shattered.
Only his two cycles of internal force kept him alive, but the impact left him spitting blood and his internal energy in disarray.

The interruption of his internal force robbed him of his fighting ability.
Wang Wei suffered similarly, enduring four ice spikes; her shield was destroyed, her blood and energy reversed, her meridians damaged.
The bald man, slowed by the crowd, also bore five ice spikes; his Golden Bell shield was destroyed, but his mastery of external techniques was a tier higher, leaving him unharmed and able to immediately restore his shield.
The real surprise was Cheng An.
Cheng An’s Golden Bell shield was only tier one, yet he withstood five ice spikes, the last on behalf of Wang Wei—otherwise, she would have been doomed.
Though his shield was shattered as well, his body suffered little injury, and he could immediately channel his internal force to restore his shield without pause.
This was clearly because he had cultivated his internal force to three cycles and broken through the third innate meridian, giving him an advantage that could rival or even surpass the benefits of external techniques.
But this was only the first wave; the second volley of ice spikes was already incoming.
Fortunately, Wei Cheng had already rushed over, grabbing Yu Liang in one hand and Wang Wei in the other. A moment later, seven or eight ice spikes struck him, causing only a ripple in his Golden Bell shield.
Yet the bald man still refused to retreat, hoping his shuffling steps would see him through.
Almost immediately, as a powerful snow ape let out a roar, the apes abandoned Cheng An and focused their fire on the bald man, apparently furious with his shuffling.
A dozen ice spikes shot out in rapid succession; somehow, the snow apes had adjusted their tactics, and the bald man’s shuffling was obliterated—nothing left but fragments.
“Fall back!”
Wei Cheng roared in fury. What were these people thinking?