Chapter 39: The Second Level of the Mountain-Moving Technique

Thunder rumbled!

Amidst the violent tremors, the Transmission Stone Stele atop the southern wall of the city shattered into pieces, vanishing without a trace.

The entire Floating Cloud City quickly fell silent again, with only a solitary Transmission Stone Stele standing quietly atop the northern battlements. Yet the antlered fiends seemed to pay it no heed; they had ceased their assault, their eyes wide as they searched the endless inferno within the city, determined not to overlook a single detail.

Wei Cheng now hid within the raging flames, not daring to move a muscle, nor was he able to. He watched helplessly as Zhou Wu's team in the south was utterly annihilated, and by now, he had long since guessed the true reason behind the defeat of the five thousand trial-takers.

Zhou Wu and his men had fallen prey to the same elitist mistake as Zhang Yong. They assumed that, by gathering all the elite, they would be invincible, unstoppable in attack and defense alike...

But alas, it was all meaningless now.

If there were other servers, or if future competition against other servers was possible, their own would surely fall into the lower ranks. No—this was a certainty.

In this moment, Wei Cheng seemed to grasp the true pattern behind the real trial.

Time ticked by, each second agonizing. The flames raged on, the searing heat easily exceeding a thousand degrees, yet Wei Cheng’s Immovable Golden Bell was even sturdier than he had imagined.

It was almost miraculous. The Immovable Golden Bell seemed more resistant to magic; in terms of physical defense, however, the Moving Mountains Visualization’s Unyielding Principle was better suited.

As the incense on the Transmission Stone Stele gradually burnt out, Wei Cheng’s Moving Mountains internal energy was slowly depleted. The Immovable Golden Bell grew ever thinner until it finally vanished.

When the blazing inferno surged over him, the time was up. Just then, the Transmission Stone Stele atop the northern wall suddenly emitted a tremendous hum, and a brilliant divine light shot into the sky before shining down upon Wei Cheng.

At last, he had earned the reward for the second round.

This divine light was much the same as before, except that its duration had increased to six seconds—a benefit of the greatest kind.

Wei Cheng’s wounds healed rapidly, his Moving Mountains energy replenished to its peak, his spirit continually strengthened, and every tissue and cell in his body seemed to be reborn.

Everything was improving.

Such was the advantage of being bathed in the divine light for an extended period.

If before, Wei Cheng’s growth potential had merely broken through its initial bottleneck, then now, his physical potential was officially ascending to a new starting point.

There would surely be more bottlenecks ahead, but compared to others, his potential ceiling was now much higher, and his path would go much further.

When the six seconds of divine light ended, everything within Floating Cloud City—including the flames and the demonic horde—receded like a fading, insubstantial dream.

Wei Cheng felt as if he had returned to where the dream had first begun.

Yet, where once there had been thousands, now he stood alone.

Darkness surrounded him, save for three silent, floating Transmission Stone Steles.

These represented three different techniques. Could his reward this time be the chance to select another internal cultivation method?

Wei Cheng’s heart burned with excitement, but his gaze still settled first on the initial stele, whose fiery patterns soon transformed into symbols he could understand.

[Moving Mountains Technique, Second Stage: Innate Martial Realm]
[Prerequisite for cultivation: It is recommended to clear the sixth innate meridian and comprehend the Moving Mountains Visualization before beginning.]
[Compared to the first stage, this technique is far more powerful. The Moving Mountains energy produced is of double the quality—more forceful and enduring, empowering every part of the body and greatly enhancing the defense of flesh, muscle, organs, and skin. The drawback is a lack of agility.]
[Recommended best-matching external techniques: Iron Fortress Code (90% match), Golden Bell Shield (80%)]

This was incredible!

No wonder it was the second-round reward—utterly explosive!

Wei Cheng’s heart raced. This seemed tailor-made for him. Still, he was curious about the other two steles—purely out of curiosity, of course.

He turned to the second stele. Soon, the symbols resolved into words he could read.

[Spirit Swallow Technique, Second Stage: Innate Martial Realm]
[Prerequisite for cultivation: It is recommended to clear the sixth innate meridian and comprehend the Spirit Swallow Visualization before beginning.]
[Compared to the first stage, this technique is much stronger. The Spirit Swallow energy produced is of double the quality—more ethereal and versatile, enhancing agility and adaptability, allowing for the use of force against force, overcoming strength with cunning. When paired with divine weapons, it can make up for its lack of raw damage.]
[Recommended best-matching external techniques: Shadow Clone (90% match), Cloud Ladder Leap (80%)]

Good heavens!

Wei Cheng’s eyes sparkled for a moment before he shook his head with indifference, for he had already discerned that, for now at least, these three techniques could not be cultivated simultaneously.

He then turned to the third stele.

[Purple Mist Technique, Second Stage: Innate Martial Realm]
[Prerequisite for cultivation: It is recommended to clear the sixth innate meridian and comprehend the Purple Mist Visualization before beginning.]
[Compared to the first stage, this technique is much more powerful. The Purple Mist energy produced is of double the quality—thicker, longer-lasting, equally suited to movement and stillness, accumulating power patiently before unleashing it. It greatly enhances balance and stabilizes one’s aura, increasing damage output, especially when paired with divine weapons. The drawback is a slower cultivation speed.]
[Recommended best-matching external techniques: Purple Mist Swordplay (90% match), Wandering Dragon Palm (80%)]

“What a shame.”

Wei Cheng shook his head in regret.

All three techniques required only the sixth innate meridian to be cleared as a foundation. In other words, the Immortal overseeing the trial designed this fifth stage for a difficulty level of roughly six cycles.

Had the five thousand trial-takers distributed their strengths more evenly from the start, without such a vast disparity, the city’s shield and defensive formations would not have collapsed so quickly. Then, at least several hundred could have survived to the second round and obtained these precious rewards.

Yet now, he alone had claimed this prize.

As for Zhou Wu, who had already reached the eighth cycle and cleared the eighth innate meridian—did he feel any regret?

Wei Cheng immediately chose the Moving Mountains Technique, Second Stage. An internal method that doubled the quality of Moving Mountains energy would surely grant him a tremendous advantage.

Still, no matter how great an edge, it would mean nothing in the face of a calamity like the one before.

Wei Cheng recalled the scene: tens of thousands of antlered fiends standing atop the walls, tens of thousands of fire spears raining from the sky—good grief, he’d nearly developed a psychological trauma!

The Moving Mountains Technique’s second stage was somewhat complicated, but with Wei Cheng’s current foundation, it should not be too difficult to grasp.

Upon his selection, the three Transmission Stone Steles gradually faded away, replaced by a new, differently styled stele. One glance told Wei Cheng what it was—the leaderboard for demon kills. He was quite confident about this.

If not first place, he should at least make the top ten, right?

But when he looked, he nearly burst a blood vessel.

His kill ranking was precisely one hundredth.

Unbelievable—bottom of the list!

But he’d slain plenty of fiends in that first round, charging madly through the enemy—how could he be only number 100?

He wanted to curse.

A glance at the names above restored his peace of mind, for Zhou Wu’s name was nowhere to be found.

In other words, even Zhou Wu, the first among Moving Mountains practitioners with eight cycles to his name, had killed just as few.

In fact, of the top hundred, Wei Cheng was the only Moving Mountains practitioner on the board.

The others were all from Purple Mist and Spirit Swallow.

First place, for example, belonged to a member of Zhou Wu’s team—a Purple Mist user, five cycles, named Xu Guoliang, with a kill count of 19,827. Savage.

Wei Cheng had slain only 4,249...

Even the jade-faced little Tyson made the list.

As for the Spirit Swallow practitioners who made the cut, they all had at least four cycles, and all were surely armed. Wei Cheng recalled that Xu Shan had a dagger with a faint blue glow...

When he’d sold the ore earlier, the Iron Guild’s owner had offered him three options: a secret art, an item, or money.

Wei Cheng chose the third. Looking back, it seemed everyone had found their own fortune—none better than the rest.

For those topping the kill leaderboard, their reward was likely no less valuable than Wei Cheng’s.

“Claim reward.”

Wei Cheng murmured to himself.

In the next moment, the leaderboard transformed into a ball of flame, which, when it landed in his hand, became a fiery red ring inscribed with a line of twisting symbols. These quickly resolved into words:

“Flame Ring: Fire Resistance +1.”

As soon as Wei Cheng put on the Flame Ring, it gradually faded from view, replaced by a gentle warmth spreading through his body.

Immediately after, an overwhelming drowsiness swept over him, and Wei Cheng fell instantly into a deep sleep.

——