Zhang Yong and Han Dong, of course, wouldn't refuse, going forward promptly to touch the Transfer Skill Stele.
As expected, besides not seeing any mystical light, they successfully obtained the second level technique of the Wandering Dragon Palm Method.
"Brother Xu is number three, Hu Hailong number four, Yu Liang number five."
Wei Cheng continues to assign spots, with his previous achievements in battle, no one dared to complain.
The three went forward in order, Bald Brother and Hu Hailong successfully obtained the second level technique of the Golden Bell Shield. However, the surprise came with Yu Liang, who astonishingly touched the first level mental method of the Golden Bell Shield. This also confirmed Wei Cheng's deduction that the higher the difficulty level of the gate, the higher the reward given out by the Transfer Skill Stele.
"Yay!"
Yue Liang, not daring to shout out loud, excitedly turned two somersaults on the spot.
"Brother Wei, should I abandon the Iron Cloth Shirt and concentrate on practicing the Golden Bell Shield?"
"What do you think?"
Wei Cheng countered, and Liang began to snicker. The recent battle was the most obvious example. His, Bald Brother's and Hu Hailong's Inner Strength were all at the same level. But when faced with the Yin Qi attack of the Bone Demon Soldiers, the Iron Cloth Shirt, which was lagging behind by ten percent in match value, was not in the same league in terms of bearing the force.
They were nearly disabled by the Yin Qi attack, but those with the Golden Bell Shield still managed to catch their breath.
And this was just the Iron Cloth Shirt- those unfortunate ones practicing the Iron Head Skill didn't dare to come forward from beginning to end. They were completely useless.
"Wang Wei, Cheng An, Zhao Shuxin, you three."
Wei Cheng spoke again, but after those three came forward, none of them touched the Golden Bell Shield technique. Wang Wei and Cheng An obtained the second level of the Iron Cloth Shirt, while Zhao Shuxin got the first level. Previously, Zhao Shuxin had been practicing the Iron Head Skill.
"Long Fengjun, Shang Zhi, you two go up. Liu Yan, you wait for the next round."
These three were the more unfortunate. All practiced Iron Head Skill, but Long Fengjun and Shang Zhi were hoping to obtain Iron Cloth Shirt. As expected, they got the second level of the Iron Head Skill.
Well, it's better than nothing.
"Let's go, and continue to clear the mine tunnels. Zhang Yong and Han Dong, seize the time to practice another cycle."
Wei Cheng didn't give them any time to ponder. He swept his eyes over the Bone Demon Hole, there was no rewards in this barren place, and led his team back to the Bat Demon Cave. There were still two unopened mining paths.
Ignoring the northern path, they chose directly the southern one.
Wei Cheng personally took action, everyone helping swiftly, and a few hours later, this tunnel was almost opened. However, at this moment, they heard the sound of a fight up ahead.
They were one step late.
"Brother Wei, shall we continue?"
Hu Hailong asked in a low voice.
Wei Cheng was a bit hesitant, but eventually shook his head, gesturing everyone to slowly step back.
Because he was hearing more details than the others.
In the mine tunnel on the other side, there were indeed their fellow earthlings. But the total number was as many as thirty-seven. Although he didn't know what kind of monsters they were facing, they could only be described as well-trained, disciplined, with practitioners of the Moving Mountain, Spirit Swallow, and Purple Mist mental methods.
If the two teams meet, besides feeling that they were not alone, what other benefits could there be?
The Transfer Skill Stele could only be touched by ten people, and the best reward would only be for one person. So how would they compete?
Would they fight amongst themselves?
As a matter of fact, not only Wei Cheng understood this, but Hu Hailong and Yue Liang also did.
Upon returning to the Bat Demon Cave, Yue Liang suggested, "Shall we open the mining path on the north side?"
But even before Wei Cheng could open his mouth, Wang Wei snorted in derision, "Are you a fool? We heard an explosion in that direction when we fought the Bat Monster. It probably means that the gate monster in that direction has already been defeated by someone. Moreover, the speed at which that team clears the gates is definitely faster than ours."
"That's right, if we look at it that way, the team to the south is clearing the stages faster than us!"
The group exchanged glances, and Hu Hailong quickly sketched a rough drawing on the ground.
"Brother Wei, if this is the case, wouldn't it mean that every team is in the same situation? The mine shaft in the middle leads to the next level's monster cave, and the caves on both sides are on the same level as us."
"Clearing the middle monster cave would only be passable, while clearing the side ones would amount to a perfect score."
Yu Liang suddenly commented, "It's not calculated that way. It's like playing chess, the middle monster cave is the 'breath' we must preserve. If our clearing speed is slow, we might get flanked from the front, leaving us with no stages to clear and probably getting eliminated."
"I think the teams on both sides only began clearing the side caves after clearing the main path. Regardless, we must speed up our pace."
"Wait, why must we compete? Can't we cooperate?" Zhang Yong, who had just completed a cycle of cultivation, joined the discussion, only to be met with looks as though he were an idiot.
"Hehe, cooperate? Next time Zhang Yong, if you have the guts, don't touch the stele and give your quota to me?" Liu Yan, who had been on the bench for a long time, retorted.
There were only eleven of them and they're already competing so fiercely.
"It doesn't look good. The opposing team has more people, so they can clear more monster caves. Naturally, they would get more rewards and grow stronger like a snowball. If this was a real-time strategy game, we would have already lost from the start."
The usually silent Han Dong voiced his thoughts.
"Right, and have you noticed? Both the Spider Demon Cave and the Bat Monster Cave have food, and we can also scrape up some fresh water and vegetable biscuits. But from the Bone Monster Cave onwards, there's nothing. So even if we want to cultivate to the Third Hook Level of Inner Strength, it's simply impossible." Hu Hailong frowned.
"At least you all have managed to gather Inner Strength at the Second Hook Level. Han Dong and I are still stuck at the First Hook Level." Zhang Yong complained. If he had the Inner Strength at the Second Hook Level, his Wandering Dragon Palm Method would be more powerful.
"Little Wei, should we wait for them?"
The ordinarily simple and honest bald brother spoke up rather unexpectedly; it was a rarity as he never spouted nonsense whenever he did speak.
The bald brother is quite interesting.
Wei Cheng glanced at him. After some thought, he nodded. "Alright, sharpening the knife won't delay the work of chopping wood. I think that no matter how fast the other two teams are, they won't be able to get ahead of us in a few days. You guys take this time to cultivate. The rest of you focus on understanding your respective martial arts skills, so nobody lags behind in the next stage."
The group responded softly. Although they lacked energy, each of them clearly recognized at this moment that they must cooperate tightly with each other. There's no longer any room for willfulness.
"Brother Wei, there are still two unopened tunnels in the Spider Demon Cave. What do you think—" Yu Liang suddenly said.
"What do you think? Would the two opposing teams leave such a benefit for you?"
Wei Cheng shook his head; there was no other way. He heard clearly just now, that team was not weak. This meant there were strong individuals in that team who had perfectly managed the situation from the start of the first stage, making everyone obedient. In contrast, the original powerhouse of their team should have been Shen Qianshan. Unfortunately, he was unlucky and could not fully see the situation at hand.
This gap is impossible to bridge, unless a new path is found.
For example, solo-clearing the Monster Stone to obtain Flame Stones.
This type of powerful weapon is always good to have.
Just as Wei Cheng made his decision, the fight at the end of the mine tunnel to the south had ended. Under the command of a steady middle-aged man, the team members orderly touched the stele.
However, the layout of this monster cave was a bit different. It only had two tunnels: one leading to Wei Cheng's side, and the other leading opposite.
"Captain Tang, I just heard some noise in this tunnel. Maybe they're our fellow villagers. Shall we say hello?"
A muscular man laughed. There was still a trace of the Golden Bell Shield on him, indicating he had already reached the third layer.
"No need. While we're not enemies, our competition has been established since the start of the trials. Even if we meet each other, aside from comforting them by saying, 'Don't cry, children, uncle has candy for you,' what else does it mean? Two teams can't unite."
"Retreat! Everyone, take the time to rest. The main team strive to unlock all three Innate Meridians, and the secondary team strive to unlock the second Innate Meridians. Get ready for the fourth main level."