Transmigration and Self-Saving Cultivation

After successfully crossing the canyon, Jun Luochuan, Su Yao, Ye Ying, and Ling Shuang continued their journey following the treasure clues. At this moment, the sky gradually darkened, thick, inky clouds churning as if foreshadowing an impending unknown crisis. The surrounding scenery grew increasingly desolate; the earth was cracked, crisscrossed by massive ravines, resembling the shattered wounds of the land.

"This place feels increasingly eerie. I wonder what else I'll encounter." Su Yao tightened her clothes, her eyes revealing a hint of nervousness, but even more so, determination.

Jun Luochuan frowned slightly, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings like an eagle's, trying to detect any potential dangers in this desolate place. "Everyone be careful. The dangers of mysterious places often lie in unexpected places. Stay vigilant."

Nightshade gently stroked the longsword in his hand, its blade reflecting a cool, clear light that mirrored his resolute gaze. "No matter what we encounter, we can handle it."

Ling Shuang's expression was aloof. She nodded slightly, the dagger in her hand gleaming with a ghostly blue light, as if it too were sensing the mysterious aura around them. "The spiritual energy here is fluctuating erratically; we must not be careless."

As they ventured deeper, a peculiar stone forest appeared before them. These stone formations varied in shape; some resembled sharp swords piercing the sky, while others looked like crouching giant beasts, their surfaces shimmering with an eerie light. The moment they stepped into the stone forest, a mysterious force enveloped them, and the surrounding scenery instantly changed.

The original stone forest has vanished, replaced by a massive labyrinth. The labyrinth's walls are made of towering black boulders, their surfaces covered with strange runes that shimmer with a faint light, as if speaking in an ancient and mysterious language.

"What... what's going on? How did we suddenly get trapped in a maze?" Su Yao said in surprise, her gaze wandering between the towering walls, trying to find clues to the exit.

Jun Luochuan frowned, carefully observing the surrounding runes and the layout of the maze. "It seems we've triggered some kind of hidden mechanism. This maze is no ordinary place; these runes seem to contain powerful spiritual energy, maintaining the maze's operation."

Nightshade gripped his longsword tightly, warily surveying his surroundings. "No matter what, we need to find an exit as soon as possible, or we don't know what other dangers we might encounter."

Ling Shuang closed her eyes and concentrated on sensing the surrounding spiritual energy fluctuations. After a moment, she opened her eyes and said, "The spiritual energy fluctuations in the maze are very complex and seem to be constantly changing, which makes finding the exit more difficult."

The four began to walk along the maze's passages, their footsteps echoing clearly in the silent corridors. Suddenly, phantoms appeared on the walls of the passages. These phantoms presented various terrifying scenes: hideous demons, brutal battlefields, and images of loved ones being separated by death, attempting to mentally break them.

"Don't be fooled by the illusions, they are all illusions!" Jun Luochuan shouted. He circulated his spiritual power to form a spiritual shield around everyone, resisting the mental impact brought by the illusions.

Su Yao took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "Yes, we can't be intimidated by these things." She used her light spiritual power, and a soft light emanated from her palm, illuminating the surrounding darkness. The phantoms became somewhat blurry under the light.

Night Shadow and Ling Shuang also channeled their spiritual energy to strengthen their mental defenses. Night Shadow unleashed the Starry Sky-Splitting Sword Technique, its sword light blazing brightly, attempting to dispel the illusions. Ling Shuang, on the other hand, used her spiritual illusion technique to create a phantom barrier around them, interfering with the illusions' attacks.

With everyone's combined efforts, the illusion gradually dissipated. However, before they could even breathe a sigh of relief, a deep roar suddenly echoed from the passage ahead. Immediately afterward, a gigantic stone beast slowly emerged from the end of the passage. The beast's entire body was composed of black rock, its markings resembling ancient runes, radiating a powerful aura of oppression. Its eyes flashed red, and its gaping maw revealed sharp fangs; with each step it took, the ground trembled.

"This stone beast looks tough to deal with, everyone be careful of its attacks," Jun Luochuan said. He quickly drew his sword, and the sword flashed, its energy hissing through the air.

Nightshade charged forward first, unleashing the Starry Sky-Splitting Sword Technique. Streams of sword energy shot towards the stone beast like meteors, striking its body and sending sparks flying. However, the stone beast's defenses were extremely strong, with only a few small cracks appearing on its surface.

Su Yao fused her light spiritual power with fire element, condensing it into balls of flame imbued with purifying power, which she then shot towards the stone beast. The flames burned on the stone beast's body, emitting a pungent odor, and the stone beast's movements seemed to be somewhat affected, its speed slightly reduced.

Ling Shuang used her illusionary magic to create numerous phantoms, attempting to confuse the stone beast's actions. The stone beast appeared somewhat bewildered within the phantoms, and its attack rhythm was disrupted.

Seizing the opportunity, Jun Luochuan flashed to the side of the stone beast, his sword piercing the gap in its joints. The stone beast, in pain, thrashed wildly, trying to shake off Jun Luochuan. Jun Luochuan gripped his sword tightly, simultaneously channeling his spiritual energy to amplify its power.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Su Yao and Ling Shuang unleashed powerful spells to attack the stone beast's weaknesses. Ye Ying then unleashed his strongest sword technique once again, sending a sword aura imbued with the power of stars towards the stone beast's head.

Under the combined attack of the four, the stone beast finally gave way and collapsed to the ground, turning into a pile of black rubble.

"Phew, finally solved." Nightshade wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Is everyone alright?" Jun Luochuan asked with concern.

Everyone assured them they were unharmed. However, they knew this was just a minor crisis within the maze; a greater challenge lay ahead.

The four continued exploring the maze, discovering that its passages seemed to change on their own; paths they had just traversed would vanish in the blink of an eye, as if they had never existed. Moreover, new traps and monsters would appear at regular intervals.

“This can’t go on. We need to find the pattern in the maze to find the exit,” Jun Luochuan said.

So they began to observe the layout of the maze and the changes in the runes more carefully. After some time of exploration, Jun Luochuan discovered that the runes on the walls would flash in a certain order, seemingly guiding the way.

“Look, the flashing of these runes seems to follow a pattern; perhaps this is a clue to the maze,” Jun Luochuan said, pointing to the runes on the wall.

The crowd gathered around, carefully observing the flashing sequence of the runes. After numerous attempts and verifications, they finally determined the relationship between the flashing runes and the direction of the passage.

Guided by the runes, they successfully navigated several dangerous areas. However, just when they thought they were about to find the exit, a powerful suction force suddenly appeared in the maze. The suction came from the end of the passage, involuntarily pulling their bodies in that direction.

"Oh no, the suction is too strong! Everyone, hold on!" Jun Luochuan shouted.

The four immediately channeled their spiritual energy, attempting to resist the suction force. However, the suction grew stronger and stronger, and their bodies began to slide uncontrollably toward the source of the suction.

"If this continues, we'll be sucked in! We have to find a way to break this!" Su Yao said anxiously.

Ling Shuang observed her surroundings and discovered that the source of the suction was a huge black vortex. The vortex emanated a powerful dark energy, seemingly connecting to another dimension.

“This vortex might be the core of the maze; we must destroy it to break the suction,” Ling Shuang said.

Jun Luochuan pondered for a moment and said, "Yeying, use the Starry Sky Rift Sword Technique to attack the center of the vortex; Su Yao, use a spell that combines light spiritual power with lightning element to enhance the power of your attack; Ling Shuang, use the Illusion Technique to disrupt the vortex's operation, and I will provide you with spiritual power support."

Everyone swiftly acted according to Jun Luochuan's plan. Ye Ying took a deep breath and unleashed the strongest sword move of the Starry Sky Rift Sword Technique, a sword aura imbued with the power of stars shooting towards the center of the vortex. Su Yao rapidly formed hand seals, casting a spell that fused light spiritual power with lightning elements, a thick bolt of lightning accompanying the sword aura as it shot towards the vortex. Ling Shuang, meanwhile, exerted all her strength in using the Illusionary Spirit Technique, strands of spiritual energy flowing like threads into the vortex, attempting to disrupt its rotation.

Jun Luochuan stood to the side, circulating his full spiritual power and continuously channeling it to Ye Ying, Su Yao, and Ling Shuang. With the combined efforts of the four, the vortex began to vibrate violently, emitting a piercing roar.

However, the power of the vortex was beyond imagination. Despite their all-out attack, the vortex only slightly weakened its suction force and was not destroyed.

"It seems this vortex is even more powerful than we imagined. We need to increase our attack intensity," Jun Luochuan said.

Just then, Su Yao suddenly remembered the mysterious bead they had obtained in the palace. "Jun Luochuan, let's try using the power of that bead; it might enhance our attack."

Jun Luochuan's eyes lit up. "You're right!" He quickly took out the bead that emitted a soft light from his storage ring. As soon as the bead appeared, the surrounding space brightened, and a powerful and mysterious force emanated from it.

Jun Luochuan fused the power of the bead with his own spiritual energy, then transmitted this powerful force to Ye Ying, Su Yao, and Ling Shuang. Instantly, the power of Ye Ying's sword energy, Su Yao's lightning, and Ling Shuang's illusionary arts increased dramatically.

They launched another attack, this time imbued with the power of the mysterious bead, the strike piercing the center of the vortex like a sharp blade. The vortex emitted a deafening roar, its light flickering before gradually dissipating.

The suction disappeared, and the passage returned to calm. The four continued in the direction indicated by the runes, and finally, they saw a bright light ahead.

"That's the exit!" Su Yao exclaimed excitedly.

The four quickened their pace and ran towards the light. The moment they emerged from the maze, the sight before them once again astonished them.

An ancient and magnificent castle stood before them, its walls adorned with exquisite patterns and runes, exuding an aura of mystery. The castle gates were tightly shut, as if awaiting their opening.

“This castle looks like the place we’re looking for. I wonder what secrets it holds,” Jun Luochuan said, his eyes filled with anticipation and wariness.

“Anyway, we’ve come this far, let’s go in and take a look,” Nightshade said.

The four walked toward the castle gate. They knew that the castle might hold the key to unlocking the secret of the treasure, or it might hide an even greater danger. But they had no way out. In order to stop the conspiracy of the mysterious forces, they resolutely stepped toward the castle.

End of this chapter