Novel23 Chapter 312: The Deepest Part of the Endless Maze
Chapter 312: The Deepest Part of the Endless Maze
Li Wei looked up and saw the Maze Devourer appearing right behind him.
For an instant, he was scared out of his wits.
He almost didn’t react in time.
WHOOSH!
A Tier Three High Level Brutal War Boar charged at him ferociously.
Li Wei was still in his Flame Lord form.
Once he snapped out of it, he threw a punch at the charging Brutal War Boar.
Fire Element condensed into a pillar of flame on his fist, piercing through the Brutal War Boar’s body.
An instant kill!
The battle ended, and the surrounding Teleportation Gates opened.
The Teleportation Gates to the left, right, and behind him had already been swallowed by the Maze Devourer.
Li Wei had no choice but to dash into the Teleportation Gate in front of him.
WHOOSH!
Li Wei appeared inside a small Maze Palace Hall.
Looking back, he saw the Maze Devourer was about five or six Maze Palace Halls away.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
He looked to his left and right; the Teleportation Gates were already open.
This was a Maze Palace Hall that someone had already cleared.
Li Wei had encountered this a few times before.
He wasn’t surprised.
He hurried toward the Teleportation Gate that led away from the Maze Devourer.
WHOOSH!
As soon as Li Wei landed, he saw a pale white mountain range moving to his side.
After a moment, he realized what it was.
It was the Maze Devourer.
He was now at the side of the Maze Devourer.
This could be considered good news, barely. As long as he wasn’t directly in its path, he was fine.
GURGLE GURGLE!
Li Wei heard a strange sound.
Turning his head toward the source of the sound, he saw Star Worms emerging one by one from the Maze Devourer’s body.
The Star Worms gnawed at the Maze’s spatial barriers, attempting to invade the Endless Maze.
When they first started gnawing, the Star Worms’ efforts were completely useless.
But soon, the Star Worms evolved mouthparts capable of chewing through the spatial walls.
Li Wei glanced at them before quickly searching for an exit to escape this Maze Palace Hall.
Traces of Star Worms were left behind everywhere the Maze Devourer passed.
Some Star Worms gnawed holes in the Endless Maze and burrowed inside.
Other Star Worms inexplicably vanished outside the Endless Maze.
They were assimilated, becoming part of the Endless Maze itself.
They became one of the stages of the Endless Maze.
The Maze Devourer rampaged through the Endless Maze, and many unlucky students were eliminated by it.
Their scores were frozen in place, unable to increase any further.
Li Wei spent the entire night running.
Finally, he found a place far from the Maze Devourer to stop and rest.
The night passed in the blink of an eye. When Li Wei opened his eyes, the Maze Devourer was gone.
Above him, the countless Maze Palace Halls of the Endless Maze were still densely packed.
What happened last night felt like a hallucination.
However, Li Wei knew clearly that it wasn’t.
The Endless Maze didn’t look any different, but looking up, he could clearly see that the number of people inside had decreased.
Those people had all been eliminated by the Maze Devourer last night.
Li Wei considered himself lucky.
Although he had nearly been eaten by the Maze Devourer, he had managed to escape and get far away from it.
At the very least, he had managed to rest for half the night.
After a night of rest, Li Wei was full of energy and began clearing stages again.
A day passed in the blink of an eye.
Li Wei’s rank had risen to twenty-third on the overall leaderboard.
His total Points had reached eight hundred and seventy-two.
The person in first place already had nearly two thousand Points.
’Is someone cheating?’
’I’ve fought tooth and nail for just over eight hundred Points, not even a thousand.’
’Everyone in the top ten has over fifteen hundred Points.’
’Where did they get so many Points?’
As Li Wei was resting, a figure suddenly appeared inside the Maze.
He looked closer and a surprised expression crossed his face.
"Hobbes, what are you doing here?" Li Wei asked in surprise.
Hearing this, Hobbes turned to look at Li Wei.
He, too, was pleasantly surprised to run into Li Wei here.
The probability of meeting an acquaintance in the Endless Maze was incredibly low.
Hobbes said, "I’m a third-year student in the Blue Level Class, so I have to take part in the final exam too."
"Why are you still here?" Hobbes asked, a little puzzled.
Li Wei looked confused. "If I’m not here, where should I be?"
Hobbes said, "Haven’t you gotten a Maze Key?"
"If you want to get first place in the final exam, you have to go to the deeper parts of the Maze."
Li Wei was shocked. "There’s something like that? No one ever told me."
Hobbes slapped his forehead and said, "Sorry, my bad. I forgot you wouldn’t know about this."
"It’s sort of an unwritten Rule of the final exam.
The stages in the outer Maze are worth twenty Points at most, the stages in the inner Maze are worth up to fifty Points, and the stages in the core of the Maze can grant up to one hundred Points.
But to get to the inner Maze and the core, you need a Maze Teleportation Gate Key.
Usually, a Maze Teleportation Gate Key will appear in a high-difficulty Maze Palace Hall. It’s a hidden reward that you can only get through deep exploration."
"If you don’t have a Maze Key, I happen to have one. You can have it."
Hobbes took out a Silver Key.
"This is a key to the core area of the Maze. I was originally planning to save it for an encounter with the Maze Devourer.
But since the Maze Devourer showed up unexpectedly last night and eliminated so many people, my current Points are probably good enough."
Li Wei shook his head. "No need. I have a Maze Key."
Hobbes asked in surprise, "Then why haven’t you used it?"
Li Wei took out a Golden Key and said, "Because this Maze Key leads to the very deepest part. I was afraid it would be dangerous."
Hobbes was completely taken aback.
"You actually got the key to the deepest part of the Endless Maze? You’re so lucky.
In nearly a hundred years of exploring the Endless Maze, the Mages of the Elemental Tower have only ever found a dozen or so keys that lead to the deepest area.
I’m not too sure what’s in the deepest part of the Endless Maze either.
But I’ve heard that everyone who comes back says there is great terror and great opportunity inside.
Are you going to give it a try?"
Li Wei thought for a moment and realized he didn’t seem to have a choice.
If he didn’t go to the deepest part of the Endless Maze, with only one day left, there was no way he could catch up to first place by staying in the outer Maze.
"’Great terror and great opportunity, huh?’" Li Wei muttered to himself.
RUMBLE!
Night fell, and the form of the Maze Devourer appeared once again.
The colossal Maze Devourer was like a bottomless, pitch-black tunnel. The Maze Palace Halls were like train cars, hurtling one-way into its great maw, vanishing without a trace.
Li Wei stood on the second-to-last "train car."
The Maze Devourer drew closer, bit by bit.
Seeing this, Hobbes quickly said, "Li Wei, I’m leaving first. See you around if we get the chance."
After speaking, he took out a Silver Maze Key and twisted it in the air.
A silvery doorway appeared out of thin air.
The key in his hand vanished.
Hobbes pushed the door open, stepped through, and disappeared.
After he left, the doorway quickly dissipated as well.
One key could only be used by one person.
Li Wei used his Golden Key, opening a gateway to the deepest part of the Endless Maze.
A large, golden gate materialized.
The Maze Devourer’s advance came to a halt.
Li Wei stepped through the golden gate. Only after the gate vanished did the Maze Devourer resume devouring the Maze.