"Here are eleven water pouches. The clear water I've already evenly distributed among them. Each one has enough for five drinks."
"There are also 11 vegetable cakes."
"These are the items I scavenged from those dried corpses. Now, I'm dividing them among all of us."
Within the mine, Wei Cheng spoke calmly. Actually, he had been torn before, contemplating if he should keep everything for himself. If he did so, he could cultivate his Inner Strength to the Third Hook Level in one go.
And nobody would likely dare to say anything.
However, considering the existence of other teams, especially the first-kill reward of the Stele of Energy Transference, which was the true treasure, he needed to maintain unity among the team as much as possible and raise everyone's average strength.
For he didn't know what they would encounter next?
For a moment, everyone's expressions varied, all quite surprised.
"Brother Wei is generous."
Yu Liang, grinning from ear to ear, gave a thumbs up. He swiftly took away a water pouch and a vegetable cake, both were treasured items.
"Thank you, Brother Wei."
Zhang Yong came over to claim his share, his eyes evincing a hint of shame.
The bald-headed brother came over, sharing a hearty smile without saying a word, and claimed his share.
The reticent Han Dong also came over, gave a nod to Wei Cheng, and claimed his share.
The others quickly stepped forward too. Formalities aside, none of them would miss such an opportunity.
After all, they were all happy to have a kind-hearted individual like Wei Cheng around.
Wei Cheng also took his share. Of course, it was unnecessary for others to know about the two full pouches of clear water, twenty vegetable cakes, three pieces of jade ore, and one piece of iron ore he had hoarded previously.
That's human nature, easily bought over bit by bit.
He did not need these individuals to be extremely loyal to him, nor would he worry about them making decisions for their own benefit after careful consideration. Wei Cheng only hoped that these people, in times of chaos and emergency, would instinctively follow his orders. That, to him, was sufficient.
As a simple and kind-hearted man, what ulterior motives could he have?
Next, everyone used their available time to cultivate, striving to accumulate the Inner Strength of the Second Hook Level and to open the second Innate Meridian.
As for Wei Cheng, he was not in a rush to cultivate. Instead, he sat there, seemingly lost in thought.
At this point, many things had become clear, such as the reason for their swift cultivation progress.
On one hand, the initial three-second divine light exposure likely changed everyone's physical constitution.
On the other hand, it was due to the unique clear water and vegetable cakes, objects beyond the mundane world.
The last factor was the Stele of Energy Transference that directly drilled the cultivation methods into their minds, creating this accelerated learning effect.
Originally, Wei Cheng did not find anything wrong with this.
However, after his spiritual power was significantly enhanced by exposure to the special light three times consecutively, he could cultivate much more effectively, giving rise to further contemplation—the more profound secrets of the Method of the Moving Mountain.
Then he discovered that while the Moving Mountain Inner Strength seemed to be entirely under his control for him to manipulate and use as he wished, on a subtler level, it was actually guiding him.
To put it nicely, the Moving Mountain Inner Strength was incredibly miraculous.
To put it bluntly, he was nothing more than a puppet on strings.
He had a crude understanding of how to operate the Moving Mountain Inner Strength, how to fill it throughout his body in a crude manner, how to harshly stimulate the Golden Bell Shield, but he did not understand nor was he clear on how the Moving Mountain Inner Strength interacted and resonated with his body to offer him such significant advantages.
He understood the phenomena, but not the underlying reasons.
If Wei Cheng's spiritual power was not strong enough, if it was not at this level of proficiency, even if he had thought of this point, he would not have been able to do anything about it.
It's like if a bunch of red beans and green beans are mixed together. Everyone knows how to pick them out, but no one can actually do it.
Now, however, Wei Cheng's immense spiritual power allowed him to discern the true pattern amidst the multitude of details.
So, he was not in a hurry to continue cultivating the Moving Mountain Inner Strength.
He wanted to understand the true essence of the Method of the Moving Mountain.
Taking out a water pouch, he took a big swig of water. Wei Cheng gently exhaled, slowly adjusted his breath, introspected, and his powerful spiritual power, at that moment, ventured deep within to meet the Moving Mountain Inner Strength.
Unfortunately, the two couldn't resonate nor establish any connection. At that moment, the Moving Mountain Inner Strength felt like a passing stranger to Wei Cheng.
This was the part that Wei Cheng found intolerable.
As usual, the Moving Mountain Inner Strength circulated through his meridians, passed through his acupoints, coursed through his lungs and organs, brushed past his flesh and blood, and swept over his bones, permeating his entire body in an instant. It didn't seem any different from usual.
But today, Wei Cheng intentionally used all his spiritual power to sense any change and discovered a slight difference. The movement of the Moving Mountain Inner Strength was not like a large river flowing constantly.
That's what he used to believe.
But now, he noticed that, on a more microscopic level, the manner in which the Moving Mountain Inner Strength circulated around his body was oscillatory. It constantly underwent intense fluctuations over very short periods of time, like a series of mountains forming.
"Linear? Mountainous? Moving Mountain?"
This revelation excited Wei Cheng greatly; he understood the difference between points, lines, and planes.
His previous understanding was that Moving Mountain Inner Strength moved along the meridians as lines, took acupoints as points, connected the dots into lines, and thereby enveloped the whole body. However, it was difficult for him to comprehend where the two Innate Meridians that had been opened were located.
Indeed, unlocking the Stele had made him aware of such a thing, and he could vaguely sense these two Innate Meridians, but he didn't understand how they actually functioned.
But now, he felt like he was gradually approaching the truth.
The Moving Mountain Inner Strength wasn't simply moving in a linear fashion, but could possibly be sweeping through on a planar level. No, it could even be engulfing in all directions in a three-dimensional fashion.
It's just that he was unable to observe this.
So, Wei Cheng continued to cultivate the Moving Mountain method, but he no longer paid attention to the speed of circulation or the amount of Moving Mountain Inner Strength generated. Instead, he focused on the mode in which the Moving Mountain Inner Strength circulated.
And tried to decipher each curve of fluctuation.
One cycle after another.
After fifteen uninterrupted cycles, Wei Cheng managed to successfully memorize all the fluctuations of his Moving Mountain Inner Strength's circulation. It was truly difficult - there were three hundred and sixty thousand variations. If it weren't for the significant increase in his spiritual power, he wouldn't even have scratched the surface.
But when he had memorized all the variations, a mental image of towering mountains and precipitous ridges naturally rose in his mind.
Yes, it was the image of towering mountains and precipitous ridges formed by the three hundred and sixty thousand variations of fluctuations.
Although this image was rough, like mountains drawn by a beginner artist using lines, it was clumsy.
But it was indeed a mountain now.
"Rumble!"
At this moment, Wei Cheng's mind was filled with the sound of thunder once again, triggered by the appearance of this towering mountain image.
The Stele reappeared, and several pieces of information were unlocked.
Not much, but precious.
To his surprise, he had obtained a secret Visualization Diagram of Moving Mountain!
And it was perfectly paired with the Moving Mountain method.
Now when Wei Cheng cultivates the Moving Mountain method, his Moving Mountain Inner Strength does not circulate by connecting points with lines. Instead, it flows according to the changes in the terrain depicted in the Visualization Diagram.
He could never go back to the way things were, he didn't need to make crude divisions anymore. Regardless of where their origin was, whether they circulated through his bodily organs or limbs, which meridian, which acupoint, none of it mattered now. What did matter was the two Innate Meridians hidden beneath the mountain slopes.
Meanwhile, the circulation of the Moving Mountain Inner Strength brought about powerful sounds like the roar of a dragon or the howl of a tiger, gathering in Wei Cheng's mind. The more sounds that gathered, the clearer they became.
In the end, Wei Cheng was unable to control himself and shouted out loud.
"Control!"
This shout, like a thunderbolt on the spot, made Wei Cheng feel that the Moving Mountain Visualization Diagram in his mind had transformed into real towering mountains in an instant. A majestic peak!
The Moving Mountain Inner Strength even seemed like a Divine Dragon.
The second layer of the Golden Bell Shield technique was automatically released, and with a hum, the phantom image of the Golden Bell merged with the towering mountains, almost becoming tangible.
"Ding!"
A grand bell sound echoed, shattering the Golden Bell into nothingness, but the one who struck the bell also passed out on the spot: It was the Monster Stone.
It had always been mysterious, appearing and disappearing abruptly. Unexpectedly, it was knocked out in this moment.
Wei Cheng couldn't hold back any longer, and without waiting to grab his pickaxe, he lunged directly at it. With one hand holding it down and the other hand clenched into a fist as big as a sandbag, the Moving Mountain Inner Strength automatically gathered within his fist, manifesting an image of a faint mountain range.
With one punch, the mountain rocks collapsed.
With two punches, blood flowed profusely.
With three punches, feces and urine were scattered everywhere.