"Three branching paths... which one should we take?"
The Elders exchanged glances, equally stumped by the dilemma.
Then, the gray-robed Elder who had previously collected the Beast Pills spoke up. "Why choose? Let’s try all three. Ninth Elder, Eighth Elder, you two take the path on the left. Fourth Elder, Third Elder, take the one on the right. As for the middle, I will take it myself."
The others nodded in agreement.
"First Elder, are you going down the middle alone?"
"I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me."
"Alright, we’ll follow your lead."
With that settled, the five divided into three groups and entered their respective paths.
Meanwhile, on the right path.
Ye Xuan hadn’t encountered any danger since entering. As he walked, the path gradually widened, revealing a boundless, expansive avenue before him. At the end of the avenue stood a massive city.
An entire city underground. It was simply inconceivable.
"Maze City..." Ye Xuan read the name above the gates, his brow furrowing deeply.
Just the name alone didn’t bode well. The city gates were shut tight, and he had no idea what dangers might lurk inside. After a moment of hesitation, he pushed the gates open. They weren’t heavy and gave way easily.
The moment he stepped inside, the gates shut automatically with a loud CLANG. He spun around, his pupils shrinking. The gates were gone, replaced by a thick, hazy fog. Before him lay a white labyrinth. Maze City was, in fact, a literal maze.
"So it’s a maze." Realizing this, Ye Xuan chuckled. A labyrinth might trap an ordinary Cultivator, but a Demon like him wouldn’t be held captive so easily.
He broke into a run. With every new location he visited, he memorized his exact position, using his own body as a brush to draw a map of the entire maze in his mind. It was a truly formidable talent. Unfortunately, he had underestimated this place.
He lost track of how long he ran. The mental map he had constructed was already the size of an entire town, yet it continued to expand as if it were completely boundless.
He wondered, "What’s going on? Is this maze as big as a real city? Is that why it’s called Maze City? I’ll keep going!"
While Ye Xuan searched for the exit, the Zhang family’s Fourth Elder and Third Elder arrived at the same location.
"Someone’s there!"
"Yes, it’s that brat! Could he be the one who discovered these ruins?"
The two Elders spotted Ye Xuan about fifty meters ahead of them.
"Something isn’t right. He’s spinning around in circles. What is he doing?"
"Let’s take a closer look." They exchanged a glance and decided to approach him.
However, the moment they took a step, a broad avenue appeared in their line of sight. At the end of the road loomed a city. The words "Maze City" radiated a strange, magical brilliance.
"Hmm? Something is wrong! Let’s retreat!" Having lived for many years, the two Elders instantly sensed that the situation was off. They turned around and tried to fall back.
But after taking just a few steps, they froze abruptly. The boundless avenue still stretched out before them, ending at the massive city. They glanced over their shoulders, only to see an endless expanse of thick fog behind them.
"If I’m not mistaken, we’ve fallen into some kind of Array."
"Forget it. Since we’re already trapped in it, let’s head into the city and have a look. It’d be best if we can just walk out, but if not, we’ll have to use brute force to break the Array."
Ye Xuan had no idea how far he had run in the labyrinth. Surprisingly, he was beginning to feel exhausted, and his Spiritual Qi was nearing depletion. Yet, the map in his mind was still expanding, with no exit in sight.
"Something is wrong. This is... an Array!"
Ye Xuan slammed to a halt, abandoning his blind exploration. He was now certain that this was no simple maze. It was an Illusion Array!
A maze was fixed; there was always a way out. But an Illusion Array was endless and entirely illusory. It might seem like he had run a great distance, but in reality, he was likely just running in place.
"To think someone here knows how to lay an Illusion Array!"
Illusion Arrays were the most difficult to set up, and they were universally considered the most nauseating Arrays for Cultivators to deal with, bar none.
During his time in the Profound Cloud Sect, Ye Xuan had read the sect’s logs. According to the records, the 444th Sect Leader of the Profound Cloud Sect possessed monstrous cultivation, but he accidentally offended a powerful Array Master. The Array Master trapped him in a world-shocking Illusion Array for a full century.
A hundred years might sound short to some, but it was an ordinary mortal’s entire lifetime. What did a hundred years of solitude truly mean? Ye Xuan couldn’t fathom it. He only knew that after leaving behind his legacy, the 444th Sect Leader had committed suicide.
A hundred years of absolute despair had driven an almighty powerhouse to end his own life. That was the true terror an Illusion Array inflicted upon its victims. Surrounded by identical scenery, with a hundred years passing like a single, colorless day, anyone would break. Illusion Arrays didn’t kill the body; they shattered the mind.
"This is troublesome. If it’s an Illusion Array... how do I break it? The ancestor didn’t pass down any knowledge of Arrays to me."
The Ye family ancestor, Ye Chen, was immensely powerful and even knew Alchemy, but he wasn’t omnipotent.
He thought, "Do I have to use brute force?"
Without knowing the proper method to break the Array, brute force was the only option. As long as he could damage the foundation, the Array would naturally shatter.
Ye Xuan unleashed his Spiritual Qi with full force, intending to destroy everything around him. After a brief attempt, however, he gave up. This Illusion Array was simply too exquisite. Anything he destroyed immediately reconstructed itself. Since everything here was non-existent to begin with, the concept of destruction was meaningless.
He wondered, "Am I going to be trapped here until I die? Was the path I chose a dead end?"
"No, I need to calm down. If this truly is a place of legacy, it can’t just be a dead end."
Ye Xuan stopped his frantic running. Instead, he sat cross-legged on the ground, quietly sensing everything around him.
Meanwhile, on the middle path.
Zhang Wuying and the others had also fallen into an Array. However, theirs was not an Illusion Array, but a Killing Array.
Four hideous, terrifying statues resembling demonic entities had appeared around them. The slightest movement from the group would trigger a radiant glow from the Array beneath their feet, provoking the previously dormant statues into attacking them.
They were already covered in injuries. One of their companions was lying stiffly on the ground, nothing more than a lifeless corpse.
"This is too terrifying! I don’t want to die! I’m going back!" One of the youths couldn’t take it anymore. He looked toward the way they had come and bolted back like a madman.
"What are you doing? Don’t move!" Zhang Wuying shouted in horror.
The statues would attack as long as they moved. That idiot was going to get them all killed! He tried to stop the boy, but it was too late. Beside him, a statue with three heads and six arms lunged.
Zhang Wuying didn’t dare to run; he just stood firmly in place. He knew that if he ran, the statues’ assaults would only become fiercer and more frenzied. He was forced to passively dodge the statue’s attacks. But at such close range, how could he?
Caught off guard, Zhang Wuying was sent flying. The youth who had tried to flee met a far worse fate—his head was blown off on the spot.
As Zhang Wuying hit the ground, he subconsciously braced himself with his hands. That simple motion spurred the statues into action once more. The very statue that had struck him charged at him again, closing the distance so fast it was impossible to evade.
"Save me..." Zhang Wuying immediately cried out for help to the other three who were standing nearby.