"Anyone with spare resources, lend me some! I only need 15 more years of Inner Strength to reach the Third Hook Level!"
Upon opening his eyes, Wei Cheng heard Hu Hailong quietly asking for resources. He had exhausted all the clear water and vegetable cakes he was allocated earlier.
"Cut it out. I only need 13 more years. Among us, only Cheng An has opened his third Innate Meridian. The rest of us are in the same boat," Yu Liang sighed softly.
"Those of you who practice the Method of the Moving Mountain have it better. Han Dong and I are truly screwed. With all those resources, we only cultivated for twenty years of Inner Strength. We are a whole forty years short!" Zhang Yong complained. Who would have anticipated that after breaking through the two-decade Inner Strength mark, a significant drop in the Inner Strength accrued from a single circle of practice would suddenly occur? This feeling, akin to having prematurely turned sixty with failing strength and wet shoes in the wind, was truly infuriating.
"Brother Wei, you're awake."
Everyone quickly looked his way. Everyone was somewhat panicked, primarily due to their uneasiness. In their current state, how could they challenge the fifth gate? But if they didn't challenge the fifth gate, they would be trapped in this mine forever.
"We seem to have hit a growth bottleneck, which is likely the limit of each of our potential growth. Nevertheless, we don't have a choice. We must try the fifth gate," Wei Cheng simply explained the situation.
"Brother Wei, why don't we try the subsidiary gates first? The other two teams might not have gotten to those yet," Yu Liang suggested. The others also appeared eager to give it a shot.
Wei Cheng frowned slightly, looking around before saying, "The monsters in the remaining two subsidiary gates will certainly be similar to the highly agile Monster Stone. Have you all considered the consequences of being attacked by a dozen Monster Stones simultaneously? This isn't a game; people can die."
Upon hearing Wei Cheng's statement, everyone looked at each other. Although no one spoke, it was still clear that they were holding onto a glimmer of hope.
Even 'Baldy', who was usually considered honest and sincere, bore a hint of hope in his eyes.
"Little Wei, it's not that we aren't aware of the risks, but rather that we have hit a growth bottleneck. The only solution is to use more resources to break through this barrier," one of them explained.
"Indeed, Old Xu is correct. Brother Wei, we are doing this to prepare for the fifth gate. If we can't even beat the fourth-level subsidiary gate, how can we assume we will overcome the fifth gate?" At this, Hu Hailong seriously stated his opinion.
"Brother Wei, I think we can try. So far, six of us have obtained the Golden Bell Shield method, and three have obtained the Iron Cloth Shirt. Furthermore, each of us possesses Inner Strength of at least the Second Hook Level. Even if we encounter a highly agile monster like the Monster Stone, we still stand a chance," Zhang Yong added. His courage, reminiscent of a man dancing in the graveyard, had seemingly returned.
Upon hearing their arguments and noticing the hopeful looks in the eyes of Wang Wei, Cheng An, and the others, Wei Cheng knew that their decision was irreversible. After all, even though he was the leader, he needed the others just as much as they needed him. He was not confident he could clear the stages alone. What if there were a sixth or a seventh gate?
"Alright then, let's choose one subsidiary gate," Wei Cheng consented.
"Brother Wei, can I be the first to touch the stele if I give the best performance this time around?" Han Dong suddenly asked. Everyone's ears perked up upon hearing his words. They knew that being the first to touch the stele offered huge advantages, but no one dared to voice this aloud. Considering their experiences with the previous stages, they had been primarily relying on Wei Cheng's consistent efforts in all the skirmishes. It was safe to say that their survival up until that point had largely been due to Wei Cheng.
No one could deny this.
Even if someone was shameless enough to do so, they would need to present strength that was comparable to Wei Cheng's!
After all, the one who performed the best would undoubtedly be Wei Cheng.
The atmosphere suddenly seemed to freeze.
But Wei Cheng did not get angry. He turned to look at Han Dong and after a long while, smiled and said, "Sure, I will touch the mainline gate's Power Transfer Stele. As for the subsidiary gates, the most suitable person will be chosen based on their performance. In short, our team is severely underdeveloped. We must consider our overall strength and weaknesses."
Upon hearing Wei Cheng's words, the tense atmosphere relaxed. Everyone held an expression of anticipation, their enthusiasm for hard work rising substantially.
Some even worried that the branch checkpoints on both sides had already been conquered by the neighboring teams.
However, with the opening of a closed mine tunnel, Wei Cheng who was in the lead instantly felt that something was off. It was a sense of being targeted, from which there was no escape!
The opposing team, despite its strength, had failed to conquer this place?
In a moment of thought, Wei Cheng suddenly set into motion the Inner Strength of the Moving Mountain. A Fourth Hook Level of Inner Strength, like the roar of a raging sea, swirled in sync with the Moving Mountain Visualization Diagram. In an instant, an unnamed current was shaped into the melody of dragons soaring and tigers roaring amidst the landscape changes, then funneled into his lungs, to be channeled through his mouth.
"Confer!"
With a thunderous roar, ripples like water waves spread out around Wei Cheng, the golden light of the fourth layer of the Golden Bell Shield glittered as if a physical entity.
Behind him, one could vaguely see numerous mountains, an illusion formed by the Moving Mountain Visualization Diagram.
This was his strongest state!
Almost at the same time, dozens of arm-thick ice cones were hurtling towards him. Their speed was so fast and aggressive that even if Wei Cheng could sense them in advance, he couldn't dodge them in time, as these ice cones were only slightly slower than the ambush of the Monster Stone.
Fortunately, Wei Cheng didn't need to dodge them at all.
The numerous ice cones crashed onto the Golden Bell Shield with a thunderous crash, causing Wei Cheng's blood to surge momentarily and the Inner Strength of Moving Mountain to shake intensely. As for the Golden Bell Shield, dozens of cracks appeared, and it seemed like it could shatter at any moment.
At this moment, it turned out that Wei Cheng's Inner Strength of Moving Mountain was too robust. The Fourth Hook Level combined with thirty years of Inner Strength provided him with ample support, and the diagram of the Moving Mountain gave him even more depth and leverage.
So even though his blood was surging, his Inner Strength was rippling, and the situation was dire, he was able to recover quickly. Vast amounts of Moving Mountain Inner Strength rushed to his aid, causing the Golden Bell Shield to release a bright golden light, renewing its defenses, right before it was on the verge of breaking.
Almost in the next second, several more ice cones swiftly flew at him, crashing into the Golden Bell Shield with resounding booms. However, this time they only caused minor ripples on the shield, not even a crack appeared!
The reason was simple: the number of ice cones had decreased, hence the damage they could inflict also plummeted sharply.
However, if Wei Cheng hadn't been able to recover his breath quickly before, and couldn't promptly maintain the Golden Bell Shield, these seemingly low-damage ice cones would have claimed his life!
The enemy was really sneaky!
Most importantly, they were very powerful. Who could have withstood those dozens of fierce ice cones just now?
Wei Cheng had practiced the Golden Bell Shield technique to the fourth level, had the Fourth Hook Level and thirty years of Inner Strength, had opened up to the fourth of his Innate Meridians, and had the backing of the Moving Mountain Visualization Diagram.
What about the others?
If it were his team, being either the bald brother or Hu Hailong, if confronted with the same situation, they would have been killed instantly!
In the instant when these thoughts flashed across Wei Cheng's mind, he simultaneously took a big step forward, entering the mine tunnel of this checkpoint. The layout here hasn't changed at all. In the middle, there is still a stele for passing on power. There are fifty creatures, not on the ground but quickly climbing. They resemble monkeys, are all white, only their eyes are blood-red, which makes them look incredibly evil.
At this moment, these Snow Apes were shouting loudly, bouncing around quickly and skillfully on the rock wall which was tens of meters high. With such agility, not just those practicing the Moving Mountain mental method like Wei Cheng, but also Zhang Yong and Han Dong practicing the Purple Cloud Method, even with the help of the Wandering Dragon Palm Method, couldn't even touch the Snow Apes' tails.
Perhaps the only way to counter them would be someone who has practiced the Method of the Agile Swallow, reaching at least to the Third Hook Level.
How should he fight this battle?