"What?"
Veronia looked at Feng Yuan with some confusion. She didn’t quite understand what was happening. Hadn’t part of the wall already collapsed? Furthermore, through the collapsed section, they could see the passage blocked by the wall, meaning they could completely rely on destroying the maze’s walls to find a way forward.
"I told you the Qi Realm wouldn’t leave such a simple solution. Even if the difficulty of destruction isn’t great, it doesn’t match the state of the Qi Realm."
With a smile, Feng Yuan shook his head slightly, and amid Veronia’s puzzled gaze, he waved his hand to summon back the Ancient Black Book. He wiped his hand across the book’s cover, and a Bone Spear wrapped in Black Chains shot out from the ground, piercing fiercely into the surrounding walls. Golden Runes spun around Feng Yuan, a translucent light gray mist suddenly appeared and was blocked by those golden runes.
"What is this...?"
Veronia was taken aback. At this moment, she understood why Feng Yuan said that, or rather, she didn’t expect the Qi Realm Maze’s counterattack mechanism regarding wall destruction to be like this. Those gray mists should be the embodiment of spiritual pollution, and their appearance was definitely related to the destruction of the walls.
"Destroying the walls will subject you to equivalent Psychic Shock, but for beings strong enough, this isn’t much of an impact."
Compared to the spiritual pollution of the deep layers of the Qi Realm, these psychic shocks are much weaker, but Feng Yuan was sure that Qi Chen and the others, with their level of strength, absolutely could not ignore this stuff.
Of course, Feng Yuan also didn’t intend to continue with the destruction; since there are countermeasures in place and no weak retaliation, Feng Yuan believed this method surely couldn’t reach the true endpoint.
The Qi Realm wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen, because this isn’t a place of benevolence at all; trying to solve it through clever tactics is bound to incur losses.
Instead of passing through the broken wall, Feng Yuan continued along the passage forward. As for the psychic shock? Feng Yuan was fearless.
"Strange, this maze keeps changing. Although the path to the deeper part isn’t sealed off, normally you shouldn’t be able to get out, and if there were some monsters, that’d be one thing, but now this situation..."
Surveying his surroundings, Feng Yuan pondered aloud. He couldn’t figure out what the Qi Realm Maze was up to; all the way here, besides triggering sanctions through wall destruction, there were no other traps, or the entire maze, except the constantly changing passageways, showed nearly no external changes.
If Divine Sense weren’t unaffected, Feng Yuan likely wouldn’t even know which area of the maze they were currently in.
"Endless Labyrinth, a means to torment people. Although we can talk to each other, over time, the psychological pressure will continuously increase."
With a light hum, Veronia already recognized the intention—or rather, the major danger—of the Qi Realm Maze. After all, similar methods weren’t absent in the Mythical Era, and Feng Yuan had of course witnessed them. Just because Feng Yuan had seen so many things, he couldn’t quickly link the two together like Veronia.
"Endless Labyrinth? Ah, so it’s that. But if that’s the case, then there’s trouble, since the Endless Labyrinth has no end."
Scratching his head, Feng Yuan felt a headache. The Endless Labyrinth is a type of attack method from the Mythical Era. An infinitely expanding labyrinth that can drive those trapped inside into a mental breakdown. Of course, sometimes, various dangers are hidden inside the Endless Labyrinth; other times, there’s absolutely nothing, just endless space.
No matter which kind, they aren’t something regular people can deal with. Of course, Feng Yuan more firmly believed it should be the second type, or perhaps he’d already guessed what the test was.
"So that’s it. In this case, just keep moving forward."
Looking ahead, Feng Yuan muttered softly, patting Xiao Ji on the head to signal it to follow, then continued onward.
"Feng Yuan went to investigate that Qi Realm Maze?"
Since the main force was still patrolling near Kui Shan Town, Qi Chen had heard of this matter from others. After all, Tamur couldn’t stay at the entrance of the Qi Realm Maze.
However, returning to the original place, Tamur also didn’t want to do so, not to mention the spatial blockade; even Tamur couldn’t quickly move to other places. Hence, Tamur directly headed to the team’s camp to rest.
Precisely because of this, Qi Chen learned of Feng Yuan’s current situation from Tamur’s mouth, but he didn’t expect Feng Yuan would come to investigate the Qi Realm Maze.
Wasn’t that guy relaxing in Cha Mu Town? Why did he come over again?
Rationally, Feng Yuan coming over was a good thing, since even if the Qi Realm Maze hasn’t shown any threat right now, the Qi Realm is ultimately a dangerous existence, and resolving it could be a good thing.
Emotionally, Qi Chen hoped for the opposite, because these messy events almost never turn out simple, and he didn’t think the Qi Realm could relax people, even if Tamur used the Mythical Era to protect them, the oppressive and eerie environment of the Qi Realm still gave him a bad feeling.
Not to mention the Qi Realm Maze suddenly appearing in the sky and disappearing, with such a large-scale anomaly, he absolutely didn’t believe there wasn’t a problem.
In such high-risk places, Qi Chen couldn’t believe they’d allow people to relax, even if it’s Feng Yuan; he was afraid Feng Yuan would find it troublesome.
"Suspected need to possess the Qi Realm stance to enter? I feel like..."
Dou Yanlan, however, realized the hidden meaning in Tamur’s words. She slowly lifted her head, looking at Qi Chen with a mysterious expression and said
"Would that place be related to other stances of the Qi Realm stance?"
She couldn’t help but think this way; everyone’s initial contact with the Qi Realm stance was the Attack Stance, which was somewhat special. Now suddenly arose a Qi Realm Maze that only those possessing the Qi Realm stance could enter; it’s hard not to think in this direction.
"You’ve guessed correctly, but you cannot go."
After circling once around Qi Chen and Dou Yanlan, Tamur spoke plainly, causing Qi Chen’s eyes to light up but he was choked by Tamur’s words. Dou Yanlan, however, thought of something and said
"He surely realized this as well, but he didn’t come to us, proving he doesn’t wish for us to continue touching the Qi Realm’s powers."
"If possible, I’d hope for that as well, the Qi Realm’s power is ultimately not a good thing."
Looking up at the sky, Dou Yanlan’s face showed helplessness. It could be said they depended heavily on Feng Yuan. After all, relying on Feng Yuan enabled them to accomplish things they couldn’t do on regular days.
In peaceful times, Dou Yanlan might not have cared much, but now it’s wartime, and she hadn’t forgotten why their team had been reassigned to patrol here.
It wasn’t just because they could borrow weapons from the Mythological Remnants here; at least during conflict, they wouldn’t end up as mere spectators.
"The craving for power eventually brings misfortune."
Tamur glanced at Dou Yanlan and warned, sighing deeply, Dou Yanlan said
"If we could be as strong as ourselves from other timelines, maybe we wouldn’t have so many troubles."
"Um, Yanlan, actually the me from the War timeline might be worse."
After hesitating for a while, Qi Chen spoke. Hearing this, Dou Yanlan chuckled; it’s undeniable that the War Qi Chen is much stronger than Qi Chen, yet regarding troubles, he definitely has far more than Qi Chen.
"The power of the Qi Realm indeed isn’t suitable for us. Feng Yuan is right. Yanlan, recently... you’ve been acting differently."
Hesitatingly, Qi Chen slowly said, although acquiring the Qi Realm power was his initiative, he realized this power didn’t suit him.
Ah Mu and Hao Chun Bird represent nature’s forces; their strength also granted Qi Chen a bit of peace and a go-with-the-flow mental state.
Maybe before gaining the Qi Realm stance, he still had doubts about Feng Yuan’s concerns, but now, he noticed Dou Yanlan’s excessive craving for power, which wasn’t a good sign.
The Qi Realm’s energy, even just a small portion, still had a lasting impact on Dou Yanlan.
Listening to Qi Chen’s words, Dou Yanlan remained silent for a long time, slowly lifting her head, she looked at Qi Chen and said
"Perhaps, you’re right."
If no one brought it up, she might not have discovered the problem, but now being told by Qi Chen, looking back at her previous thoughts, she found the issue, and even this change might have started before gaining the Qi Realm powers.
"Maybe... I was already affected in the Qi Realm Timeline; otherwise... the subtle influence, the Qi Realm is indeed a scary place."
Even without Qi Chen’s unique mental state, Dou Yanlan wasn’t someone to be trifled with, and she quickly perceived that since returning from the Qi Realm Timeline, her thoughts had begun to deviate.
However, at that time in the Qi Realm Timeline, she was sure she hadn’t done anything that would expose her to Qi Realm pollution, yet she was still influenced.
If she enters the Qi Realm Maze again, she’d probably really encounter misfortune...

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