Chapter 88 Farewell, Baldy (Fourth Update)

“Old Wei, the conditions here may not be the best, but at least it’s spacious. There are forty-two guest rooms on the second and third floors, and the first floor is for dining. If you have any family or friends in P City, you can bring them all here to stay. It’ll be easier to look after everyone together.”

“Thank you. That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

Wei Cheng nodded. He had asked his parents about it before, but hadn’t gathered any useful information from them. He didn’t know whether they had already entered the dream trial and been eliminated—thus forgetting everything—or if they hadn’t entered at all.

But either way, with the infiltration of the alien fiends, even if one forgets everything, it’s no longer easy to live as an ordinary person.

As they spoke, Xu Shan’s phone kept vibrating with messages, and she had to answer calls from time to time.

“Old Wei, don’t be fooled by how peaceful P City looks right now. That’s just because the alien fiend that infiltrated here was taken care of by you. In other cities across the country, where the fiends weren’t intercepted in time, there have already been cases of trial-takers disappearing without a trace.”

“In fact, these infiltrating fiends are even more cunning and ruthless than we imagined. Over the next few days, power supply in most cities across the country will probably become unreliable.”

“Abroad, some small countries have already lost contact with the outside world. The flames of war are spreading.”

“We still can’t be sure whether there are any fiends hiding in P City. They probably won’t target ordinary people directly, but for us trial-takers, it’s another matter. To be safe, it’s best to close up shop for now. If anyone tries to force their way in without an invitation, I plan to strike first.”

“By the way, Old Wei, do you need to meditate and cultivate? I can stand guard for you.”

“Not for now. I can stand guard for you all instead,” Wei Cheng suggested. The gains he’d made in the poison zone had also paved the way for Xu Shan’s advancement.

As long as she meditated and cultivated, she could quickly break through to the Seven Cycles Spirit Swallow level—a crucial milestone. Not only would she be able to practice the second stage of the Spirit Swallow Heart Technique, but she could also fine-tune her innate meridians, and her Ti Yun Zong external techniques would see greater improvement as well.

“I can wait a bit. There’s important news we can’t miss. Old Wei, did you know that our Southeast Province has formed twenty-eight trial-taker legions? I think—”

Wei Cheng suddenly interrupted Xu Shan.

“I suggest you turn off your phone, disconnect from the internet, and go cultivate right now. We have only fifteen days to stay on Earth before we have to enter the seventh trial again. Do you want to keep dragging me down forever?”

“There may be chaos outside, and information is flooding in every second, but what real good does it do you to keep up with it all? Most of it is just noise. The greatest benefit you can gain is from your own strength.”

Xu Shan was stunned for a while before she nodded solemnly. “You’re right. I was too attached to the outside world. All that turmoil has nothing to do with us.”

With that, she really did turn off her phone, quietly gave a few instructions to her family, and went up to the third floor to meditate.

Wei Cheng followed, checked on Liu Sui, Cheng An, Yu Liang, and Mei Renli himself, reinforcing each with an Immovable Golden Bell, then climbed to the rooftop, found a corner, and lay down as if dozing. At the same time, he sent his spiritual sense outward to observe everyone’s progress in cultivation.

He couldn’t help but care.

After all, the five of them had come this far together and were quite remarkable companions. They might not have reached the point of life and death together, but at the very least, they’d all passed the trials side by side.

Especially in the toxic zone of the sixth trial, everyone had made significant gains, enough to turn into real combat power in the blink of an eye. Such progress couldn’t be overlooked.

Wei Cheng first turned his attention to Liu Sui. As a class that only truly flourished in the mid to late stages, Liu’s growth and cultivation were both arduous.

But now things were different—Liu Sui’s breakthrough to Six Cycles was a certainty.

Wei Cheng had experienced both the Purple Haze Visualization and the Wandering Dragon Visualization, and the thing that impressed him most was control.

By mastering control, one could dictate the flow of battle.

This control also indirectly provided the Purple Haze class with considerable defensive power. If an enemy’s attacks couldn’t get through, there was no need for defense at all.

In other words, any tangible attacks could be countered.

However, against intangible attacks like the Shadow Curse, the Purple Haze class was virtually powerless. That’s when the Immovable Golden Bell of the Mountain Moving class had to step in for protection.

There are gains and losses in everything.

After checking Liu Sui, Wei Cheng’s spiritual sense moved on to Cheng An, Yu Liang, and Mei Renli.

Their growth potential, mental strength, and cultivation progress were all on par. At this moment, they were attempting to break through to Seven Cycles, and by the next morning at the latest, all three would undoubtedly succeed.

Once they matched the second stage of the Mountain Moving Heart Technique and further mastered the seventh stage of the Golden Bell Shield, with a bit of practice, they should reach the level Wei Cheng had achieved at Floating Cloud Pass.

There can never be too many defensive specialists.

It was foreseeable that, in the seventh trial, many new trial-takers would be merged in. This small team would have to expand, and with more strong Mountain Movers, they could better protect the newcomers.

A strong, disciplined, and united team was exactly what Wei Cheng hoped for.

As for going it alone—however carefree and simple it might be—Wei Cheng was certain it was the wrong choice, as it ran counter to the original intent of the Immortal who designed the trials.

Why else would there be three professions? Wasn’t that an obvious hint?

But then again, what would happen if a trial-taker managed to master all three professions?

So far, the trials hadn’t provided any clues on how to embark on the path of true cultivation, nor had they been generous with martial arts techniques.

From this, it was clear that the requirements for cultivation were unimaginably strict.

“This is just the Innate Realm for martial artists. There’s still a long way to go,” Wei Cheng thought. Earlier, Song Feifei had speculated that the seventh trial would be the Battle to Defend Cangwu City, but he disagreed.

After all, demons and fiends were not the same. The Immortal who set the trials had never said that demons were equivalent to fiends.

Moreover, if the events in the trials were just a replay of the old stories from the cultivation world, then Wei Cheng thought little of that world—it would mean it had been easily toppled by the fiends.

So, things couldn’t be that simple.

—

Late at night, Cheng An was the first to break through to Seven Cycles.

Two hours later, Mei Renli followed.

At dawn, Yu Liang also succeeded.

All these breakthroughs were rooted in the divine light they had absorbed in the toxic zone.

“Boss, after clearing the seventh innate meridian, how did you choose between the two fine-tuning options?” the three asked Wei Cheng after sunrise.

“I chose quality, but that fine-tuning path isn’t suited for you at this stage. First, your mental strength may not be sufficient. Second, your Mountain Moving Visualization hasn’t been deeply refined. Third, you lack cultivation resources.”

“In my experience, once you start fine-tuning, you can’t stop midway—there’s no pause. You have to finish in one go. So, you’ll need to prepare at least three hundred jars of osmanthus wine.”

“Another piece of advice: before completing the fine-tuning, don’t try to advance further. I can’t say for sure if there are any consequences, but it’s best to be cautious.”

The three were surprised by his explanation and suddenly understood why Wei Cheng, though he had reached Seven Cycles back in the fifth trial, had never attempted to break through to Eight Cycles. This was the reason.

Yet, as they tried to sense Wei Cheng’s aura now, they found nothing. The man standing before them was calm and composed, his handsome features revealing nothing out of the ordinary. He seemed no different from any ordinary man.

They couldn’t even sense the flow of Mountain Moving inner power within him.

The three exchanged a tacit glance, all wisely refraining from asking further. Mei Renli quickly changed the subject. “Boss Wei is absolutely right. I think our next focus should be twofold: deepening our Mountain Moving Visualization and mastering the Golden Bell Shield all the way to its ninth stage.”

“Once we achieve perfection with the Golden Bell Shield, by the seventh trial, we won’t be a burden anymore.”

“That’s right. I feel like I could go through the toxic zone two more times in my current state,” Yu Liang said, beaming.

Cheng An suddenly interjected, “Boss, on my way here yesterday, I ran into Baldy—he was taking his daughter to school. Even from two hundred meters away, I recognized him by that shiny head of his.”

Wei Cheng nodded, his expression calm, though no one could tell what he was thinking.

(End of chapter)