Zhao Xing had just entered the Mechanical Maze when the two walls behind him closed, leaving no way back.
He pointed a finger toward the sky, and a golden light entered the sky. Beyond the four-meter-high walls, it vanished entirely.
"As expected, the clouds can’t sustain such a height," he said.
Zhao Xing then tried to jump, only to find that no matter how high he jumped, he could not surpass the height of the walls.
Of course, this didn’t mean that he couldn’t cast spells.
It was just that he could only do so within the maze, relying on the clouds in the sky to get an overall view was impossible.
"Let’s see if there’s anything I can utilize," he said.
Zhao Xing casually chose a fork in the path and followed it.
The Mechanical Maze tested strength, intelligence, will, and even social relationships; it was quite comprehensive.
The challenges set by Da Li to cultivate elites were about being well-rounded.
Therefore, merely having strength was not enough to get through the maze.
Unless one hadn’t come to challenge it until they were of the fourth rank, then one could overpower all the spells and break through the maze directly to claim the reward.
As Zhao Xing turned a corner, he faced a dead end.
Beneath the wall, a Mechanical Beast resembling a red-haired goat stared at him.
The goat’s eyes were also red. The moment their gazes met, Zhao Xing shivered, and then his whole body fell into a peculiar state.
"Baa~" The goat gently jumped and then vanished at the end of the path.
"Such bad luck to encounter the ’Inverted Sheep’ right away?" Zhao Xing couldn’t help but wryly smile.
The Inverted Sheep was a type of Illusion Mechanism Beast.
Once affected by its illusion, the whole body would enter a state of ’reverse action.’
Though one would intend to step forward, their mind would agree, but their limbs moved backward.
Intending to cast Wind Magic, what actually would be cast was lightning.
Attempting to attack to the right would result in a strike to the left.
"Bang!" Zhao Xing tried to turn back but accidentally changed direction and immediately crashed into a wall.
The impact was just enough to be bewildering without causing brain damage.
"Ouch," Zhao Xing intended to hold his forehead, but his hand went to his groin instead.
This feeling of reverse action was unbearably uncomfortable.
However, there was one reassuring aspect; the familiar feeling had returned! He felt as if he had rediscovered the sensation from his previous life when clearing instances.
"Good, an Inverted Sheep, I must obtain the sixth-rank treasure!" he declared.
Zhao Xing began to adjust his state and quickly familiarized himself with the conditions of the Illusion Technique, continuing on his way.
"Clack, clack, clack~"
Just after turning a few corners, suddenly a series of mechanical noises sounded, and Zhao Xing looked down to find himself stepping on a trap.
The stone slab under his foot had sunk in, and ahead on the wall, a blue gem-embedded thunder needle was primed and aimed directly at him.
"Hmph, mere child’s play," he scoffed.
Zhao Xing crouched down and tapped several nearby floor tiles, then pried a uniquely shaped component from a loose tile.
Afterward, he fitted it under his foot.
Lifting his foot, the thunder needle still did not react.
Zhao Xing walked leisurely past.
In the following 15 minutes, Zhao Xing encountered various mechanical traps, including ones that spewed fire, dropped stones, shot hidden arrows, and even Illusion Mechanism Beasts.
The maze was completely composed of mechanisms.
All the mechanisms followed one principle: to distract, obstruct, and mislead the challengers, delaying their progress.
"It’s rumored that the Mechanical Maze was crafted by the geniuses of the Da Li Tiangong Daoist School, constantly being improved and adding fresh ideas to its design," he said.
"Anyone whose idea is accepted by the academy gets a reward."
"This has prompted countless geniuses to rack their brains adding mechanisms, hating not being able to place a hundred earth mines in a single brick."
"How to trouble people any way possible... it’s truly sinful," he added.
Zhao Xing wiped his palms to find them sore and swollen, sighing involuntarily.
Although he could be considered ’experienced,’ he had still fallen for quite a few tricks along the way.
His field of vision blurred, and everything around him dimmed.
Just now, in order to avoid six consecutive mechanisms, his hand had accidentally supported himself on the wall.
But this damn thing had a seventh layer, trapping him with a layer of blinding powder.
"However, the more mechanisms there are, the closer I must be to the thing I want. Once I find the item on this level, things will get much easier."
Zhao Xing descended a staircase, and the surrounding walls also appeared to have lowered a bit.
Although he was blinded, it did not hinder his movement.
He cast the Wind Summoning Technique, using the feedback from the wind to make everything around him clear in his mind.
A slight smile appeared on Zhao Xing’s lips, then he stepped back two steps and hid in the corner of the stairs.
The Wind Summoning Technique targeted a table in front, blowing a yellow paper on top of it.
The table, as if it had come to life, shrieked continuously as if the ground were burning its feet, its four legs hopping chaotically everywhere.
"Don’t run, you table monster!" Zhao Xing shouted, and the table-like Mechanism Beast charged toward him.
As it charged, it even transformed, sprouting numerous spikes from its surface and legs.
The incredibly fast table Mechanism Beast hit the wall.
Because Zhao Xing hid in the angle between the stairs and the wall, the Mechanism Beast got stuck.
The spikes on top were just half a finger’s length from Zhao Xing.
"Hmph, a minor mechanism, laughable," he scoffed.
Zhao Xing reached out and tore off a yellow paper stuck on the table.