I dominated the game from the start with cards.

A chilling coldness crept up his fingertips, and Li Xuan recoiled as if electrocuted. The surface of the light wall crackled with electricity, and a burnt smell filled the air, sending shivers down his spine. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. Ling Feng was nowhere to be found, Mu Yang was unconscious, and they were trapped in this bizarre space, forced to find a way out. "What kind of place is this?" Lin Yu kicked the smooth ground in frustration, but it felt like kicking cotton, offering no leverage. "This light wall seems strange; we need to be careful." Sister Wu, pale-faced, supported the unconscious Mu Yang, looking worriedly at Li Xuan: "Li Xuan, what should we do?" Li Xuan's gaze swept over everyone, finally settling on Old Zhou.

The old man's face was sallow, his lips were chapped, and his breathing became rapid.

"Old Zhou, how are you feeling?" Old Zhou clutched his chest and coughed violently a few times, each cough sounding as if squeezed out from the depths of his lungs, with a startling hoarseness.

"This...this runic power...is eroding my body..." he said intermittently, his voice so weak it was almost inaudible.

Li Xuan's heart sank.

Old Zhou was the one among them who understood the Infinite Flow Space best. If even he couldn't withstand this power, then what about them…? "We have to find the source of the rune power!" Li Xuan's tone was firm, his eyes flashing with determination. "Only by breaking it can we escape!" Lin Yu gripped his longsword tightly, his gaze resolute: "You're right! Rather than waiting to die, we should take a gamble!" Sister Wu nodded as well, her eyes filled with hope: "Let's search together, we'll definitely find a way out!" The four of them began to move slowly along the light wall, carefully observing everything around them. The space was vast, stretching as far as the eye could see. The smooth ground reflected a blinding white light, making them dizzy. The electricity on the light wall flickered erratically, like the eyes of a demon, staring intently at them. Time passed second by second, and the group still hadn't found any clues. The space seemed infinite; no matter how far they went, they couldn't see the end. The air grew increasingly heavy and oppressive, making it hard to breathe. "No, this won't work!" Lin Yu frantically brandished his longsword, leaving scratches on the wall of light, but he couldn't budge it an inch. "We must find a breakthrough!" Sister Wu, holding Mu Yang, trembled slightly. She suppressed her fear and reassured everyone, "Don't panic, we'll definitely find it..." Old Zhou's coughs grew more frequent, and his body grew weaker. He was like an oil lamp about to go out, ready to collapse at any moment. Li Xuan watched all this, filled with a sense of powerlessness. He clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his flesh, yet he felt no pain. He closed his eyes, trying to remain calm, attempting to use his spiritual perception to probe his surroundings, but found that this power was completely ineffective here. Suddenly, he sensed something unusual. The smooth ground beneath his feet seemed... to be trembling slightly... "Wait!" Li Xuan abruptly opened his eyes, "Did you guys feel... the ground shaking?" The others were startled, then also felt the slight tremor beneath their feet. At first, the tremors were so subtle they were almost imperceptible, but soon they grew stronger and stronger, as if some enormous creature was awakening deep underground. "What's going on?" Lin Yu's expression changed, gripping his longsword tightly, and he warily looked around. Sister Wu clung to Mu Yang even tighter in fear, her face paler than before, her lips trembling slightly. Old Zhou struggled to lift his head, a flicker of terror in his cloudy eyes: "No...this...this is..." He coughed violently, unable to finish a sentence. The spatial tremors grew more intense, the current on the light wall became more violent, flickering faster and faster, emitting a piercing crackling sound. Cracks began to appear in the ground, tiny fissures spreading like a spiderweb, making everyone fear that the ground would collapse completely at any moment. Fear spread through everyone's hearts. Lin Yu paced restlessly, cursing incessantly. Sister Wu held Mu Yang tightly, silently praying for a miracle. Old Zhou's breathing grew weaker and weaker, as if it might stop at any moment. Li Xuan gritted his teeth. He knew this wasn't the time to panic. He had to calm down and find a way to escape. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and tried to block out the surrounding noise and vibrations, focusing all his attention on his mental perception. At first, his mind was a mess, various chaotic energy fluctuations intertwined, making it difficult for him to distinguish them. But he didn't give up. He kept adjusting his perception, trying to filter out irrelevant information, searching for that anomaly. Time passed second by second, the vibrations in the space grew more and more intense, and everyone's emotions were teetering on the brink of collapse. Just then, Li Xuan suddenly sensed an unusual energy fluctuation. This fluctuation was very weak, but exceptionally clear, like a beacon in the darkness, guiding him forward. He suddenly opened his eyes, his eyes flashing with excitement: "I feel it! Over there!" He pointed in a direction, his tone firm and powerful. "What?" Lin Yu was stunned, then looked in the direction Li Xuan was pointing, but saw nothing. "What's there?" Sister Wu asked in confusion. Li Xuan offered no explanation. He strode quickly in that direction, knowing time was not of the essence. Seeing this, the others, though puzzled, could only trust Li Xuan. They followed him, heading towards the unknown. As they progressed, the spatial vibrations gradually weakened, and the current on the light walls subsided. The acrid smell in the air dissipated, replaced by a faint, pleasant fragrance. After walking several hundred meters, they arrived at a smooth wall. Unlike the surrounding light walls, this wall was devoid of any current or cracks, smooth as a mirror, reflecting their images. Li Xuan touched the wall; a warm energy flowed into his body through his fingertips, bringing him a sense of comfort. "This is it!" Li Xuan declared confidently. Lin Yu and Sister Wu exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with doubt. Just then, the wall suddenly began to slowly melt, revealing a pitch-black hole… "Be careful!" Li Xuan whispered. The black hole was deep and dark, like the gaping maw of a giant beast. Li Xuan stepped in first, followed closely by the others. The cave wasn't as dark as expected; instead, it was filled with a ghostly blue light, the source of which was unknown, yet it illuminated the path ahead. They hadn't gone far when twisted energy began to gather within the blue light, gradually forming bizarre monsters. Some resembled giant spiders with sharp pincers; others looked like floating jellyfish, their tentacles crackling with electricity; still others resembled twisted tree roots, crawling and slithering across the ground. "Watch out!" Li Xuan shouted, his mental perception fully activated, capturing every movement of the monsters. Lin Yu and Mu Yang reacted swiftly, rushing to the front. Lin Yu wielded his longsword, the blade flashing like snow, aiming straight for the head of a spider monster. The spider monster let out a sharp screech, its pincers clamping down on Lin Yu. Mu Yang arrived just in time, his spear piercing the spider monster's lower body, forcing it to abandon its attack on Lin Yu and turn its attention to Mu Yang. The two cooperated seamlessly, Lin Yu leading the attack, Mu Yang providing support, and for a time, they were evenly matched with the monsters. Sister Wu and Old Zhou hid behind them. Although Old Zhou was weak, he still tried his best to use his cane to repel the approaching monsters, while Sister Wu was ready to treat her injured companion at any time. However, the monsters seemed endless; for every one killed, two more would soon appear.

From the eerie blue light, more and more monsters emerged, surrounding them completely. Lin Yu and Mu Yang gradually felt overwhelmed, and wounds began to appear on their bodies.

"This won't do, there are too many monsters!" Lin Yu gasped for breath, forcing back a jellyfish monster with a single strike, sweat beading on his forehead. Mu Yang's expression was also grim; his spear was covered in monster slime, making his movements sluggish. Just as everyone was about to give up, Ling Feng, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke: "These monsters... are transformed from rune power!" His voice was deep and powerful, carrying a hint of barely perceptible anxiety. "Rune power?" Li Xuan's heart skipped a beat, immediately understanding Ling Feng's meaning. "In other words, as long as we destroy the runes, these monsters will disappear!" Ling Feng nodded: "That's right, but we don't know where the runes are." "I have a way!" Sister Wu suddenly said, taking out a small metal device from her backpack. "This is a reward I got in a previous level; it can track energy sources!" Sister Wu activated the device, and the metal device emitted a faint light, pointing in one direction. The group followed the direction the light indicated; the eerie blue light gradually faded, and the number of monsters began to decrease. Finally, they arrived at a spacious cave. In the center of the cave, a complex runic pattern flickered with a ghostly blue light. It was this runic pattern that continuously generated energy monsters. "Found it!" A glint of light flashed in Li Xuan's eyes, but his expression quickly darkened. Around the runic pattern, a transparent shield shimmered, firmly protecting it. "This shield..." Old Zhou's voice held a hint of despair, "How can we break it?" Ling Feng stepped forward and touched the shield, a powerful force repelling him. He shook his head, his expression grave: "This shield is extremely powerful. With our current strength, I'm afraid..." Li Xuan's gaze fell on the shield, his eyes flashing with determination. "There must be a way..." he murmured, his tone resolute. "Li Xuan..." Mu Yang looked at him worriedly, "We..." The ghostly blue light flickered in the cave, dancing like will-o'-the-wisps, reflecting the despair on everyone's faces. Old Zhou slumped to the ground, his cane hanging limply. He sighed softly, "Are we really going to be trapped here to die?" An atmosphere of despair spread like a plague. Lin Yu's blade poked at the ground, supporting his weary body, while Mu Yang gripped his spear tightly, his eyes filled with resentment. Just then, Sister Wu suddenly remembered something. A glint of light flashed in her eyes: "Wait! I have a little gadget that can track energy sources!" She quickly pulled a palm-sized metal device from her backpack, inlaid with a faintly glowing crystal. This device was a reward she had obtained in a previous level, never used before, but now it became their last hope. "This... will it work?" Old Zhou asked weakly, a hint of doubt in his voice. Sister Wu didn't answer. She took a deep breath and channeled a wisp of spiritual energy into the device. The crystal's light intensified suddenly and began to rotate. A pale blue beam shot out from the device, pointing towards a hidden corner deep within the cave. "Found it!" Sister Wu's excited voice broke the silence of the cave, and everyone's spirits lifted, as if they had seen a glimmer of light in the darkness. They cautiously advanced, following the direction of the beam of light. A ghostly blue light gathered in a corner, forming a vortex, with runic patterns hidden at its center, radiating a chilling energy fluctuation. The runes were complex and ancient, shimmering with a ghostly blue light, like a lurking beast, exuding a suffocating sense of oppression. "That's it!" Lin Yu gripped his longsword tightly, eager to try. However, a transparent shield shimmered around the runes, like an unbreakable barrier, firmly protecting them. The earlier probing attack from Ling Feng had made everyone aware of the shield's power. Despair enveloped them once more. They had finally found the runes, only to be blocked by this shield. "This shield… we can't break it at all!" Lin Yu slumped his shoulders in despair, his voice filled with helplessness. Time ticked by, the eerie blue light within the cave seemed to grow stronger, and the group's anxiety intensified. Trapped here, they didn't know how much longer they could hold out. Food and water had been exhausted in the previous battles, and their strength was waning. More importantly, they didn't know what terrible consequences the power of this rune would bring. "There must be a way..." Li Xuan muttered to himself, his gaze fixed on the shield, his brow furrowed. He refused to give up; he had to find a way to break the shield and escape this hellish place with his companions. Mu Yang walked to Li Xuan's side, patted him on the shoulder, and whispered, "Li Xuan, let's think of another way." The group gathered around the rune and its shield, carefully observing the shield's structure and energy flow. The shield's surface was smooth as a mirror, without any gaps, seemingly a single, seamless piece. The eerie blue light flowed across the shield, rising and falling like breath, mysterious and unsettling. Li Xuan unleashed his full mental perception, attempting to find the shield's weakness.

Suddenly, he noticed faint nodes on the shield, their light flickering dimmer than the rest, almost imperceptible. He extended a finger and slowly pointed to one of the nodes…