Chapter 916: Leaving the Maze
Jian Chen slowly made his way to the center of the hall as he stared at the formation fixedly.
The circular formation on the ground had a diameter of twenty meters and was in the shape of a pentagram. Countless tiny red lines connected with one another on it, linking up in an extremely complicated and profound manner.
Jian Chen stared at the formation as a sliver of thought appeared on his face. He could remember clearly that when he had first come to the hall, the complicated formation was not present.
“Is this hall perhaps not the one we had originally arrived in but a different one that seems completely the same?” Jian Chen involuntarily guessed inside but he dismissed this thought very quickly. He was certain that this was the same hall he had initially arrived in.
“Hm? There’s a formation here,” another Saint Ruler said in surprise as he too discovered the formation.
All the other Saint Rulers in the hall were drawn over and gathered in the center. They all stared fixedly at the formation as they stood in thought.
“The formation is covered by many of those red lines. Is this perhaps the map to the maze?” said a person as he hypothesized.
“That’s impossible. These red lines form a completely different image to the maze so it can’t be a map.” Someone else dismissed this immediately.
“The formation wasn’t present before. It has only appeared suddenly right now. Perhaps it has something to do with the way out of the maze?” Another person expressed his thoughts.
Everyone became silent. Many of them had thought up to there but they did not have any way to test it.
At this very moment, a loud beast roar reverberated from a tunnel. A vicious beast had just been slaughtered by some Saint Ruler, howling out miserably one last time before its death.
Jian Chen’s eyes lit up. His presence had engulfed the entirety of the formation, so he would be able to sense any changes the formation underwent. Just as the beast had died, he discovered that an additional red line had appeared.
“Does the appearance of this formation have something to do with those beasts?” An idea flashed through Jian Chen’s head.
“When we first entered the divine hall, there wasn’t a formation on the ground. Afterward, we encountered the attacks from a large horde of beasts. After we killed off all of them, their corpses littered the ground and this prevented us from seeing the ground properly. Now that we’vee returned, the corpses have disappeared and there’s now a formation on the floor. Has this formation appeared because of those beasts?” Jian Chen’s eyes shone as he quickly analyzed the facts.
Suddenly, Jian Chen’s expression changed and he said gruffly, “I know now. This formation should be crucial to how we leave the maze but it’s just been hidden for some reason. We need to use the blood of the beasts to make it appear. For every death, a part of the formation will appear. Once enough beasts have been killed, its entirety will appear. We’ll be able to leave the maze then.”
All the people present became stunned when they heard this, before all staring fixedly at the formation on the ground. They all pondered as they stared at it.
“What evidence do you have to prove what you just said?” A burly, middle-aged man asked Jian Chen.
“Pay close attention to the formation. If I am right, additional red lines will appear when beasts die. These red lines should be a component of the formation and only when they all appear will the formation be complete,” said Jian Chen.
Afterward, no one spoke. They all focused their gazes onto the formation, staring at it fixedly for any changes.
More Saint Ruler entered the hall as they focused on the formation, leading to an increase in the number of people. They immediately noticed the ring of people around the formation as soon as they arrived and they also joined in out of curiosity, all staring at the formation with doubt.
At this moment, another miserable beast howl rang out. Another vicious beast had been killed in the maze.
Just as the beast died, an old man called out from the crowd of people, “Look, another red line has actually appeared.”
“I saw it too. It’s just as he said. Those beasts really are crucial for us to leave here. We need to add to the formation through their blood.”
“Then what’re we waiting for? Let’s go kill those beasts and complete the formation as soon as possible.”
…
All the people called out in surprise and some of them immediately charged into the tunnels impatiently in search of beasts to kill.
Jian Chen’s group did not hesitate either. They casually chose a tunnel and left through it, taking part in the hunt for the beasts. Jian Chen needed the monster cores within the beasts’ bodies very much and any one of them would be a priceless treasure on the Tian Yuan Continent. He needed to collect as much as he could in this rare opportunity.
The beasts in the divine hall were all reared up by the Octoterra Emperor years ago. After so many years of breeding, no one knew exactly how many there were nor did anyone know how powerful the strongest one was.
Jian Chen’s group rampaged in the tunnels, purposefully searching for beasts to hunt. Along the way, they would come across other Saint Rulers from time to time. However, when they noticed that it was Jian Chen, ruler of the Turtle clan, they would reveal deep fear. They would greet Jian Chen enthusiastically before taking a path and leaving. No one dared to offend Jian Chen.
After all, they had all witnessed Jian Chen’s strength when he killed the Fifth Heavenly Layer Class 8 vicious beast earlier.
In the blink of an eye, three days had passed. In these three days, Jian Chen constantly shuttled back and forth within the maze, hunting down beasts. In these days of slaughter, countless beasts had been felled by Jian Chen’s hands. He collected a great pile of monster cores as a result.
Rumble!
Just as Jian Chen killed off the beast he was dealing with, the entire maze suddenly began to shake violently. In the hall, the complete formation had finally appeared, shining with a dazzling red light that filled the entire hall. In that very moment, the hall had been filled with an extremely powerful energy.
In the next moment, the surrounding walls of the maze slowly began to sink, quickly disappearing into the ground completely. As they disappeared, it revealed the many experts in the maze.
“The maze has disappeared. That formation really was the way out of the maze,” the experts all cried out happily as they watched the surroundings.
Jian Chen removed the monster core from the beast’s head and then looked around. He discovered that he was now actually in a large square. It was extremely large with an area of several hundred square kilometers. The maze was constructed in this square.
“The divine hall sure is different on the inside compared with the outside. The inside is actually so big; just the square completely exceeds the size of the hall we saw outside.” Nubis sighed emotionally after looking around.
“The hall where we originally appeared in should be the main entrance of the divine hall, while this square should be the first portion of the divine hall. Let’s continue onward,” said Jian Chen, before heading toward the depths.
At the same time, all the other Saint Rulers set out as well. They maintained a certain distance between one another as they slowly made their way into the depths, each filled with caution. In there, not only did they need to stay vigilant of the people around them, they also needed to watch out for dangers from the divine hall itself.
At this very moment, Jian Chen’s eyes froze. He suddenly turned to one side and saw that a hundred meters away, the space had begun to tremble violently. It had enveloped five Saint Rulers that traveled together, sucking them away.
“Everyone be careful, there are formations here,” people immediately cried out from the surroundings. Everyone’s vigilance rose once again.
Everyone continued their way toward the interior of the divine hall cautiously without paying any more attention to whether the trapped people had survived or not.
It was extremely difficult to detect the hidden formations. For the next period of time, the formations are hidden everywhere all appeared, trapping the Saint Rulers that had triggered them. Even Jian Chen’s group ended up triggering three powerful killing formations but they managed to break through it successfully with the seven of them. They passed through the initial area of the divine hall, reaching the central region.
Many grand halls and pavilions stood in the central region of the hall and there were many perfectly-preserved gardens and ponds.
Flowers bloomed in the garden, giving off a heavy fragrance. Many unknown insects moved among the plants, while quite a few fishes swam about in the ponds. The fragrance of the water lingered in the entire region.
Under the influence of the divine hall, all the organisms, regardless of the various insects or the fishes, had evolved beyond what they seemed. They all possessed extremely powerful offensive abilities. They had existed for countless years and some of them even radiated with auras akin to Saint Rulers. The energy they used was extremely odd, similar to the energy of the divine hall, which was extremely powerful.
Everyone knew the strength of these organisms, so they maintained a wide distance from them. No one dared to provoke them as they continued forward.
The central region of the hall was like a city crisscrossed with paths. Everyone gradually scattered after arriving here, spreading out in all directions.
Boom! Suddenly, a violent sound rumbled in the distance. A Saint Ruler had attempted to enter a hall. Just as he opened the door, he was knocked into the air by a violent ripple of energy that had surged out from within. Blood sprayed from his mouth without restraint.
However, the door did not close up and remained open.
“Let’s go in and have a look.” A voice rang out and three Saint Rulers immediately entered the hall cautiously. At the same time, blue armor materialized on them, completely condensed from energy.
Noticing the armor on them, an undetectable gleam of light flashed across Jian Chen’s eyes. He had fought Saint Kings many times, which was why he could identify that the three suits of armor all radiated with a vast presence unique to Saint Kings.
“That’s not their power. There’s a Saint King’s power within them and they used that to condense the armor to protect themselves.” Jian Chen reached an understanding very quickly.
The Saint King’s power clearly would only be used when they faced true danger. Right now, they were entering an unknown hall; the dangers would definitely be much greater than that of the vicious beasts, which was why they had used the power without any hesitation.
Many people outside paid attention to the movements of the three people. Their eyes all flickered with a certain light, hesitating about whether to venture into a hall and see what was inside.
Boom!
At this moment, a violent rumble resounded from within the hall. A powerful energy immediately rippled from the hall, causing the surrounding space to tremble.