Chapter 87: The Newcomer to the Trial (Third Update)

Watching Song Feifei’s graceful figure disappear into the distance, Wei Cheng’s expression remained calm, though he was inwardly somewhat shocked. He had already guessed from the poisonous zone that there was fighting at the heart of Floating Cloud City, but he hadn’t expected it to be caused by cultivators.

The gap between them and these P-numbered legions was growing ever wider.

While they still struggled in the poisonous zone, others had already begun to interact with cultivators.

Although the plot was treacherous, the battles brutal, and the difficulty bordering on despair, those who persevered to the end would surely receive rewards beyond imagination.

So Song Feifei was right; from now on, server groups like P5 that managed to clear the trial would be on a completely different level from those that did not.

“I wonder if they’ve obtained the third level of mental technique, or if anyone has managed to condense a spirit seed?” Wei Cheng murmured to himself, feeling a bit dissatisfied—after all, he was just an ordinary man, eager to compare himself secretly.

Unfortunately, Song Feifei hadn’t mentioned anything about that.

However, he reckoned the process shouldn’t differ much; as long as one was exposed to enough divine light and had a resolute will, condensing the spirit seed should be possible.

The only uncertainty was the fine-tuning direction of innate meridians.

Wei Cheng considered himself someone who had advanced step by step, laying a perfect foundation, so walking this path, he might not be lacking in anything after all.

Just as he was pondering, his phone rang again—it was his sub-landlord, former rival, and distant cousin, Xu Wangwang.

As soon as he answered, Xu Wangwang fell silent, lacking his usual energetic “King of Little Teddy” demeanor.

“Congratulations on clearing the trial,” Wei Cheng laughed.

Unexpectedly, Xu Wangwang burst into tears.

“Little Cheng, I’ve been dumped. I met a uniquely charming girl, but she was eliminated in the fourth stage. When she returned, I went to find her, but she didn’t recognize me. I’m so miserable…”

With a click, Wei Cheng hung up. It seemed true that a leopard never changes its spots—and this was a waste of his time.

As long as this Teddy could still fall in love, nothing else was wrong.

Changing into a fresh set of clothes, Wei Cheng slung his miner’s basket over his back, though it looked a bit odd.

Heading downstairs, he ran into a neighbor—a man about his age, whom he’d seen hundreds of times but never truly met or interacted with.

Unlike Wei Cheng, this man had a harmonious family, a beautiful and gentle wife, and a clever, lovely daughter. They were worlds apart.

“You, you’re Little Wei—Mr. Wei, right?” The man stammered, catching Wei Cheng off guard. He’d changed so much, yet still could be recognized—quite impressive.

“Uh, yes, that’s me.”

“Hey, Mr. Wei, I’m your neighbor—my surname is Song, Song Zishan.” The man tried to strike up a conversation, a bit nervous—not out of poor social skills, but from apprehension. He was a newcomer, just returned from the real trial, profession: Mountain Mover, cultivation: Five Cycles—quite respectable.

“Hello, congratulations on clearing the trial. Is there something you need?” Wei Cheng smiled, cutting straight to the point.

“Thank you, thank you. Could I trouble you for a bit of your time? I’d like to ask about—trial matters.” Song Zishan was anxious.

“Of course.” Wei Cheng didn’t refuse—he was actually curious about this batch of newcomers. With the first group’s guide posted, it should have been easier for them.

“It’s like this, Mr. Wei. You must be a veteran trialist—after all, you managed to bring the miner’s basket back to Earth. Also, I simply can’t see through your abilities at all.”

“So, I wondered—does your team still need new members?”

“Newcomers? But our trial progress isn’t synchronized, is it?”

“No, no, Mr. Wei. Our current progress is right outside Cangwu City, but it’s too difficult to clear. We can’t earn money, can’t find work, can’t even kill wild monsters, and can’t enter Cangwu City. We’re all refugees! For the last ten days or so, we survived on wild grass and fruits. We’re about to collapse.”

“Wait, you all reached Cangwu City?” Wei Cheng was stunned—was this for real?

“More or less. Our first four stages followed your guides exactly and we gained a lot—except for some hopeless idiots, we avoided all the major mistakes. But in the fifth stage, when we exited the mine’s stone gate, we didn’t see Floating Cloud City, but Cangwu City. The city guards told us we were refugees and couldn’t enter without proper status.”

“We tried hunting demons outside, but any random monster would send hundreds of us fleeing in panic. We truly had nowhere to go and didn’t know how to proceed.”

“We suffered for half a month before inexplicably returning to Earth—it felt like a nightmare.”

Wei Cheng listened and felt unsettled, but it also made sense.

After all, this wasn’t a game. With Floating Cloud City destroyed, it would never appear again in the next batch’s trial progress.

This meant that while the first wave suffered heavy losses pioneering, they gained a massive first-mover advantage.

The second wave, though benefiting from opening guides, missed out on many opportunities.

They didn’t experience the Floating Cloud City siege, nor the poisonous zone stage.

Worse yet, they’d likely have to pioneer the Cangwu City stage alongside Wei Cheng and the other veteran trialists.

That was truly miserable.

“Mr. Song, I must be clear—even if I agree to let you join my team, you might not see me in Cangwu City, because we could be assigned to different server groups. You understand servers, right?”

“But I promise, if in the next stage—in Cangwu City—I really see you among the refugees, I’ll definitely invite you to join my team.”

Wei Cheng offered some comforting words and was about to leave when Song Ziwen hesitated again: “Mr. Wei, as a veteran trialist, could you give me some pointers on cultivation methods? I’d be truly grateful.”

“Pointers? How many times have you been bathed in the First Kill Divine Light?”

“Four times. Each stage, after killing the guardian demon, everyone—no matter who touches it first—gets three seconds of divine light. It doesn’t matter who’s first.”

“Oh?” Wei Cheng mused. The difficulty of these trial stages could be adjusted on the fly?

Could it be that the second wave of newcomers, armed with guides, were given universal divine light to avoid mass infighting and cheating?

“In that case, you should settle your mind. Others’ guidance is fleeting; your own understanding of the mental technique is what matters most.”

Wei Cheng said this meaningfully, then turned and walked away.

An hour later, he arrived at an old, three-story building on the northern outskirts of P City—the home of Liu Sui’s parents.

Compared to the bustling main city, this place was a bit chaotic—the patched asphalt roads, rusty bus signs, and electric bikes zipping everywhere gave it a feeling of decades past.

“Dagger Street Boutique Hotel.”

Wei Cheng looked at the sign—the top half of the “North” character drooping like a little Teddy’s tongue, rather amusing.

But now the hotel’s front door was tightly shut, a note pasted over it: Temporarily Closed.

“Old Wei!”

Xu Shan appeared like a ghost, poking her head out from the rooftop, mysterious as ever. She quickly came down and opened the door.

“The situation has gotten this bad?” Wei Cheng pointed to the note, surprised.

“It’s hard to explain. Things are extremely chaotic now, rumors everywhere. But mainly, Liu Sui and the others are meditating, and I’m guarding them. Without your Immovable Golden Bell, I don’t feel secure at all.”

Xu Shan spoke quickly; clearly, her tense nerves were relaxing.

Wei Cheng nodded, saying nothing more. He’d already spotted Liu Sui, Cheng An, Yu Liang, and Mei Renli on the third floor.

Besides them, he saw others stationed on the second floor—mostly relatives and friends, many of them new trialists.

Altogether, there were over a hundred people.

No wonder the hotel had to close.

Wei Cheng suddenly felt an impending sense of apocalypse—as if chaos was about to erupt.

(I never expected it to be published so suddenly, haha!)

(End of this chapter)