The genius who counterattacked the mainland

Everyone gathered around the box, carefully examining the runes and patterns on it. Lin closed her eyes and concentrated on sensing the flow of energy within the runes. She discovered that the energy within these runes was like streams, seemingly flowing independently, yet actually intertwined, forming a complex network. Furthermore, several of these energy lines seemed to converge towards the bottom of the box.

Ah Gang gently touched the stone platform surrounding the box, sensing any unusual energy fluctuations. He found the stone platform to be incredibly solid, but near the box, there was a faint chill, as if some force was suppressing the surrounding temperature.

The Ice Princess waved her wand, allowing a trace of icy magic to slowly approach the box. As the icy magic touched the air around the box, it trembled slightly, as if being pulled by something. She discovered that the runes reacted to the icy magic in a pattern, as if suggesting a specific order for opening the box.

The mysterious figure and the man in white approached the box from different perspectives. The mysterious figure formed hand seals, sensing the energy fluctuations of the runes, attempting to discern the underlying patterns. He discovered that these energy fluctuations varied in frequency, like a melody with a distinct rhythm. The man in white played his flute, aligning the rhythm of the flute with the runes' energy fluctuations, hoping to find clues to unlocking the box from this interaction.

After some effort, they discovered that the runes and patterns on the box seemed to be conveying a message: the runes needed to be touched in a specific order of star arrangement, and energy related to ice magic had to be injected while touching them.

"It seems that we have to determine the order of the stars first, and then use the magic of ice to open this box." Xu Tiancai said.

Everyone looked up at the sky. The maze's high walls partially obscured the sky, but a few stars still twinkled. Lin, leveraging her keen sense of wind, released the elements, allowing them to capture the positions of the stars. The information they brought back formed a star map in Lin's mind, which she began to compare with the runes on the box.

"I found some similarities. The runes here seem to be related to the arrangement of the stars in that part." Lin said, pointing to several runes on the box.

Following Lin's instructions, everyone began preparing to activate the runes. Xu Tiancai stood at the front. He gathered the power of the stars into his fingertips and gently touched the first rune according to the order of the stars. The moment his finger touched the rune, it flickered, and a faint starlight shot out from it.

Next came the Ice Princess. She pointed her wand at the rune and chanted a spell. A trace of ice magic flowed from the tip of the wand and poured into the rune. After the rune absorbed the ice magic, its light became brighter, and some ice crystal-like patterns appeared in the light.

Afterwards, Agang, the mysterious figure, and the man in white followed suit, using their respective powers to activate the runes. With each rune activated, the light on the box grew brighter, and the connections between the runes grew tighter, like locks being unlocked one by one.

When the last rune was activated and infused with the corresponding power, the box emitted a dazzling light, and a gentle humming sound echoed through the light, as if the box were cheering its own awakening. The lid of the box slowly opened, and a powerful energy surged out from the box. This energy possessed the vastness of stellar power, and carried a hint of mysterious unknown aura.

Curiously, everyone peered into the box, discovering a crystal fragment radiating a rainbow of colors. Though seemingly small, the fragment held a terrifying power. Each facet of the crystal shard refracted a different light, interweaving in the air to create dreamlike images. These images seemed to depict ancient civilizations displaying their splendor, powerful warriors battling creatures of darkness, and mysterious magicians unleashing devastating magic.

"This crystal fragment must have an extraordinary origin. It may be related to our mission to eliminate the dark forces." Xu Tiancai said.

Just as everyone was about to remove the crystal fragments, a violent tremor suddenly erupted from the maze. The ground began to shake, and the runes on the walls flashed even more frantically, as if sounding an alarm.

"Oh no, we triggered some kind of mechanism, everyone be careful!" A Gang shouted.

From the various passages of the maze, a large number of dark creatures emerged. These dark creatures were more ferocious than those encountered before. Their bodies were covered with a hard black shell that shone with an eerie red light. Their eyes were like burning flames, and they roared as they rushed towards the crowd.

Xu Tiancai quickly picked up the Star Demon-Breaking Sword and stabbed it at the dark creature charging in front. Star power shone from the sword, colliding with the dark creature's shell, sending up a shower of sparks. But this time, his attack only left a shallow mark on the shell.

Agang swung his battle axe, slashing at the dark creature. There was a loud thud as the axe collided with the carapace, and Agang felt his arm go numb from the shock. He gritted his teeth and slashed again, trying to break the dark creature's defenses.

Lin cast wind magic, creating massive wind blades. Like sharp blades, they flew towards the dark creatures, striking their shells with crackling sounds, but failing to cause significant damage.

The Ice Princess waved her wand, summoning a massive ice cone and ice shield. The ice cone shot toward the dark creature, attempting to find a crack in its shell. The ice shield stood in front of everyone, resisting the dark creature's attack.

The mysterious figure quickly formed hand seals, and the forces of darkness and light merged in his hands, forming massive energy chains and energy spheres. He wrapped the energy chains around the dark creatures, attempting to restrict their movement. He then hurled the energy spheres at them, exploding among the swarm, sending some flying.

The man in white played a flute, and the sound transformed into a swarm of radiant light beasts. They charged at the dark creatures, engaging them in combat. Some used their claws to tear at their shells, while others rammed their bodies, attempting to disrupt their attack.

However, the number of dark creatures was too large. They kept coming like a tide and soon surrounded everyone.

"This is not a solution. We have to find a way to break through their encirclement and find a safe place." Xu Tiancai shouted.

During the battle, he observed the actions of the dark creatures and discovered that although they seemed to be attacking frantically, they seemed to be following some hidden command. Their attacks had a certain pattern, always trying to force everyone into a corner of the square.

"Don't let them force you into a corner. Let's rush in the opposite direction!" Xu Tiancai shouted.

Everyone understood his intention and began to break out in the opposite direction of the dark creatures. Xu Tiancai led the way, unleashing his most powerful move, the Star Sword Technique. The star power of the Star Devil-Breaking Sword shone brilliantly, forming a massive sword shadow. Wherever the sword shadow moved, the dark creatures were driven back.

Ah Gang followed closely behind Xu Tiancai, shielding his flank with his battle axe. Every swing of his battle axe repelled the approaching dark creatures, and golden fighting spirit burned around him, like a god of war descending.

Lin cast a forbidden spell of wind magic, gathering all the surrounding air and compressing it into a massive air bomb. She directed the bomb toward the densest concentration of dark creatures. It exploded amidst the swarm of dark creatures, its powerful impact sending them flying and clearing a path for everyone to follow.

The Ice Princess waved her wand, summoning a massive Ice Giant. The Ice Giant advanced toward the dark creature, its every step creating a thick layer of ice on the ground. The Ice Giant smashed down the dark creature with its massive fist, crushing it flat.

The mysterious figure and the man in white provided cover from the rear. The mysterious figure fused the forces of darkness and light into a massive energy shield, protecting the group from behind. The man in white played a flute, and the sound of the flute transformed into a new group of light beasts. These beasts scurried around the group, repelling any dark creatures that attempted to attack from the side.

After a fierce battle, everyone finally broke through the encirclement of the dark creatures and ran towards the other side of the maze. But the dark creatures did not give up the pursuit and they were chasing them relentlessly.

Everyone ran wildly in the maze, trying to avoid the pursuit of dark creatures while paying attention to the traps in the maze. Suddenly, a narrow passage appeared in front of them, and the walls on both sides of the passage were covered with sharp thorns.

"We have to go through this passage. Everyone, be careful not to hit the wall!" Xu Tiancai shouted.

Everyone entered the passage cautiously, moving sideways to avoid bumping into the walls. Gang walked at the rear, using his battle axe to fend off the pursuing dark creatures, preventing them from attacking the companions ahead.

Just as everyone was about to exit the passage, a huge stone slab suddenly descended from the top of the passage, pressing down on everyone at an extremely fast speed.

"Get out of the way!" Lin shouted.

Everyone quickly sped up, rushing towards the exit. Xu Tiancai used his star power to teleport everyone a short distance, successfully avoiding the downward pressure of the stone slab. The stone slab slammed heavily onto the ground, sending up a cloud of dust.

Some of the dark creatures were blocked by the stone slabs, but some of them still went around the stone slabs and continued to chase the crowd.

"We can't let them keep chasing us. We have to find a place to get rid of them," said the Ice Princess.

The group continued running through the maze until they came to a place with many stone pillars. The pillars were scattered at different heights, and some of them had runes engraved on them.

"We can use these stone pillars to get rid of the dark creatures." said the mysterious figure.

Everyone dispersed, each hiding behind a stone pillar. When the dark creatures caught up, they attacked from behind. Xu Tiancai leaped out from behind a stone pillar, swung his sword at the dark creatures, and then quickly hid back behind the stone pillars. A Gang attacked the dark creatures with his battle axe and also hid. Lin cast wind magic, creating wind blades that shot through the cracks in the stone pillars at the dark creatures. The Ice Princess summoned ice spikes and shot them at the dark creatures. The mysterious figure and the man in white also shuttled between the stone pillars, attacking the dark creatures with energy attacks and light beasts.

The dark creatures became somewhat confused among the stone pillars. They could not find the exact location of the crowd, and their attacks became disorganized.

"Now is the time, let's eliminate them one by one!" Xu Tiancai shouted.

The crowd rushed out from behind the stone pillars and attacked the dark creatures. They used the stone pillars as cover to cleverly dodge the dark creatures' attacks while inflicting heavy blows. Under the combined attack of the crowd, the number of dark creatures gradually decreased.

Finally, the last dark creature was eliminated. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but they knew that there were more dangers hidden in the maze.

"We have to keep moving forward and find the exit of the maze," said Xu Tiancai.

They rested for a while between the stone pillars to recover some of their physical strength and magic power. Then, they began to observe the surrounding environment, looking for clues to leave.

On top of the stone pillars, they discovered some new runes. These runes were different from the runes they had seen on the walls of the maze before. Their light was softer, and there seemed to be a special connection between the runes.

"These runes may be clues to leaving here. We need to study them." Lin said.

Everyone gathered at the foot of the stone pillar and began to study the runes on its summit. Lin cast wind magic, allowing the element to carry her to the top of the pillar for a closer examination of the runes. She discovered that the energy flowing from the runes formed a circular pattern, like a continuously circulating stream. Furthermore, the light from the runes flowed at varying speeds within the circle, seemingly hinting at a certain direction.