Hu Hailong and Bald Brother's consecutive deaths finally sent a chill down everyone's spine.
Cheng An hastily fled back to the mine, but Wei Cheng remained outside, raising a middle finger at the Snow Apes!
"Come on! You worthless creatures, your grandfather is here, if you've got the guts, come and kill your grandfather!"
Wei Cheng's defiance wasn't a result of him losing his cool in a fit of rage. He had, by this point, thought of a desperate tactic.
That was a battle of attrition.
He noticed that the Snow Apes' ability to unleash ice spears seemed more like a sort of magic, meaning they couldn't possibly maintain this attack endlessly.
Indeed, after three rounds of high-intensity assaults without any effect, the ape's yelps were becoming anxious. Following another ineffective round of ice spears, all the Snow Apes suddenly ceased their attack.
An ominous feeling fell over everyone
The next moment, a larger Snow Ape smashed the head of a smaller one next to it with one swipe of its paw, opened its massive mouth, and in one breath turned the smaller ape into a dried corpse while remaining physically unchanged itself, yet radiating a thick layer of frost.
The temperature in the mine dropped by several degrees instantly.
If only one Snow Ape did this, it would be bearable, but the problem was, all other larger Snow Apes were doing the same and the smaller apes did not even resist.
What's worse was that, except for those practicing the Method of the Agile Swallow, there was no hope in disrupting the magic rituals of the larger apes; they were too fast and there were other apes ready to intercept with ice spears.
Other than those who practiced the Method of the Agile Swallow, who could dodge numerous ice spears and ascend a rock wall 10 meters high to disrupt the Snow Apes' sacrifice?
Wei Cheng quickly took out a Flame Stone and threw it out, but it only killed one leader Snow Ape.
The next moment, the temperature in the mine had plummeted to minus thirty degrees. The condensation from their breath was freezing!
"Roar!"
A leader Snow Ape suddenly emitted a different roar. The next moment, the eyes of all the Snow Apes became even redder, their fierce looks expressing a message unmistakably clear: it was extreme hatred.
It seems that they were blaming Wei Cheng's group for this.
"Retreat quickly!"
Wei Cheng screamed and turned to run into the mine.
But it was a step too late, or rather, they lost control in the face of the Snow Apes' second form of attack.
"Whizz, whizz, whizz!"
Fifteen ice spears were dropped at the entrance to the mine. Instead of exploding, they quickly released a huge chill, instantly freezing an area of about ten meters, sealing off the entrance and trapping everyone inside. It also blocked Wei Cheng's retreat.
At the same time, it directly froze Wei Cheng's Golden Bell Shield, making it look like a shimmering ice lantern, which was quite spectacular.
However, the deployment of these horrifying icy spears was massively draining. Visibly, the fourteen Snow Apes looked deflated and wouldn't be able to release ice spears again in a short time.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak!"
The remaining Snow Apes began to shriek and quickly leapt down the rock wall, speeding towards Wei Cheng who they felt was an easy catch.
Indeed, there was something strange about this cold. Even though Wei Cheng maintained the strongest state of his Golden Bell Shield, he could still feel a strange chill creeping into his body, making him feel as if his Moving Mountain Inner Strength was freezing, becoming unresponsive.
Of course, it would take more than a dozen hours for Wei Cheng's total inner power to be entirely depleted.
However, the problem was that those fifteen elite Snow Apes could have recovered by then, and if they decided to launch another assault, he wouldn't be able to withstand it.
So, without hesitation, Wei Cheng took out a Flame Stone and crushed it in his hand!
If this had been before, his action would have been seen as suicidal, but now, he wasn't worried at all.
Even though his Golden Bell shield extends a foot from his body, it doesn't mean that the part close to his body is hollow. On the contrary, the closer to his body, the stronger the defense!
So, enduring the explosion of the Flame Stone was not stressful at all.
In other words, his body was like a hard rock, the force of the Flame Stone's explosion was unable to make an impact on him. Therefore, it would necessarily seek out other directions to exert its force.
Unfortunately, the layer of frost outside appeared as soft as a ripe persimmon!
Immediately, a flash of fire shot forth from Brother Wei's hands, dispersing the frost with a spectacle of fireworks. The Snow Apes, a few nimble ones, were bombarded by the impact until their orifices bled, dying horrifying deaths. They were merely brittle shells!
However, that was the farthest they could go. Although Brother Wei wished to seize this opportunity for a heroic charge or rapid onslaught, even if it meant killing a Snow Ape with his bare hands, it was unrealistic.
Immediately after, the remaining Snow Apes quickly jumped back onto the cliffs, shrieking as their ranks descended into chaos without their elites to lead.
Brother Wei activated his Golden Bell Shield and took out a piece of Flaming Stone to blast open the icy entrance to the mine, rescuing those caught within. Luckily, the ordeal didn't last long, and the superb Inner Strength within everyone left them with little injury.
"Let's seize this chance and touch the Stele. Cheng An, you go first this time, then me, followed by Zhang Yong. The rest keep the old order," Brother Wei calmly commanded. His extraordinary spiritual power initially caught them off guard, and they almost lost their formation, especially after Hu Hailong was instantly killed. But, he quickly regained his composure. The details of the battlefield were now clear to him.
Allowing Cheng An to touch the Stele first had some relation to his potential for growth, but primarily it was because he managed to rescue Wang Wei in the nick of time.
Poor Baldy was the unfortunate one.
Originally, he was the one Wei had been planning to train intensively.
"Thank you Brother Wei! I won't let you down. From now on, you're my boss. I'll do anything you say!" Cheng An shouted passionately. The crowd had mixed expressions–some were envious, but mostly they were filled with the fear of death.
"Let's go!"
Wei took big strides out of the mine, immediately facing the sparse ice shards but deciding to ignore them.
His judgment was correct; under a non-mainline 4th level, the difficulty wouldn't be too high. This meant that the remaining Snow Apes were too drained to continuously release shards of ice.
"Chee Chee Chee!"
The Snow Apes could only scramble aimlessly on the cliffs, powerless and livid, as if challenging them.
The team warily emerged from the mine, careful not to let their guard down. They only felt somewhat reassured when they saw Brother Wei's figure.
In a moment like this, their initial aspirations of clearing the game were gone, as they realized that without Brother Wei, they were well below par.
This battle was a hard-earned one from Brother Wei. But his integrity was intact when he honored his promise to renounce his position, touching the Stele first. No longer just a kind-hearted man, he portrayed the figure of a noble and commendable leader.
Right now, under the expectant gaze of everyone, an aura of light enveloped Cheng An as he was the first to touch the Stele. His intoxicated expression indicated how precious the reward had been.
It was unfortunate, however, as the glow only lasted for three seconds before it disappeared.
Main and side quests were undoubtedly different.
"Sir, I received the second level of the Golden Bell Shield technique," Cheng An respectfully reported as he left the Stele.
Brother Wei nodded; besides the divine light the rest of the reward was the same.
Soon, it was his turn to touch the Stele, and unsurprisingly, he successfully acquired the Fifth Level of the Golden Bell Shield.
Then came Zhang Yong, darting forwards like a monkey. Having missed out on the main quest, he used this opportunity to get back on track by receiving the third level of the Wandering Dragon Palm Method.
Even though Zhang Yong was full of flaws, for the sake of the team's growth, Brother Wei decided to give him his full support.
Next was Han Dong who, unfortunately, received the first level of the Wandering Dragon Sword Method with an affinity of only 70%.
Everyone wondered if it was a cause for celebration or disappointment; evidently, the side quest rewards were pitifully small.
Then came Yu Liang, Wang Wei, and others. With two of their comrades dead, there were many opportunities at the Stele.
However, all anyone else acquired was either Iron Cloth Shirt or Iron Head Skill, none of which was even categorised as consolation prizes.
The sole good news might be the eight Snow Ape carcasses annihilated by the Flame Stone, as well as the corpse of the Ape Leader they had brought back, not leaving behind even a sliver of meat. It weighed nearly a thousand pounds and it was all a cultivation resource.
Incredibly, Yu Liang was hastily gulping down melted ice and blood off the ground. By the time Brother Wei found out, he had finished the entire pit!