Parting Ways

"Rebirth Blood Pool?"

Clearly, apart from Luo Jun, everyone else was hearing about this for the first time.

"It's a large-scale treasure that's speculated to be of Mythic-grade," Old Yuan explained. "Its function is that anyone marked in the blood pool, if they die, regardless of where they died or whether they're in this world or not, will be resurrected in the blood pool."

"Ordinary resurrection artifacts can only guarantee resurrection on the spot. Some high-grade ones are specifically optimized for Chaos Mission, allowing you to teleport out if you die within the mission. However, in the Endless Maze, all teleportation methods are useless, but the Hell Creek Family's Rebirth Blood Pool is not subject to this rule!"

"So impressive, no wonder they're the Federation's number one Great Family," Ma Qiao exclaimed.

"That at least means there's still a way out." Luo Jun stroked his chin and secretly took out his Fate Peering Glasses.

"The incident has been determined; use the Gate of Myriad Realms to escape the Endless Maze!"

The Fate Peering Glasses quickly calculated the difficulty level: 101 points!

An impossible event? This means we can't leave through the Gate of Myriad Realms... It seems the spatial sealing function of the Endless Maze mentioned in the rules is quite powerful.

However, this was within Luo Jun's expectations; he had a backup plan.

He glanced at the twelve doors surrounding the hall, then used his Fate Peering Glasses to make his judgment.

"Get to the door that leads to the exit!"

The difficulty level given by the Fate Peering Glasses this time is... 1 point!

How is that possible?

Luo Jun's eyes widened. One point of difficulty meant certain success, which meant that no matter which door he chose, he could reach the exit!

But if it were that easy, how could this Endless Maze have trapped so many people, a mission supposedly unconquered by anyone?

No... that's precisely the difficulty of the Endless Maze. Unlike ordinary mazes with only one path to survival, the Endless Maze is a labyrinth of interconnected paths. The twelve doors appear to lead in twelve directions, but the countless branches all intersect, eventually leading to the exit. This means there are no true Dead Alley. You might have passed the exit without realizing it, continuing down the wrong path until the very end...

This is a true maze... In an ordinary maze, if you reach Dead Alley, you can always turn back and find the right path. But in Endless Maze, there is no single correct path. There may be thousands upon thousands of paths leading to the exit, but the branches are even more numerous and complex...

From this perspective, the plan to choose a path using dice is also not feasible... Moreover, there are only eight dice to roll. Even if they can point the way, if the final exit is not found after eight forks in the road, it will be of no use even if there are upgrades or refreshes.

"Staying here isn't a solution," Sun Xiaowei suggested. "Let's choose a path to take."

"But which route should we choose?" Zhuge Zi asked. "Also, should we travel together or split up?"

"Of course we should stay together!" Zheng Yu frowned. "In this situation, separating would be too dangerous."

"But traveling together would be very inefficient." Mao Xintong shook her head. "I have a communication artifact here, although it's a consumable. If we all want to split up, I can contribute it..."

"Even if we can make contact, it's pointless..." Ma Qiao shook his head and said, "This maze blocks teleportation abilities. If we encounter danger, even if others know the news, they can't help each other."

At this moment, Zhuge Zi's figure flickered and suddenly disappeared, reappearing by the wall in the next instant.

"Space Ability really can't penetrate the walls here." Zhuge Zi shook her head, then took out a small knife and stabbed the wall a few times, leaving only slight scratches.

"The walls are extremely hard, and there's a defensive force field on the surface, making them very difficult to break..." she said, putting away her knife. "It's almost certain that there are no shortcuts in this maze."

"But at least we can communicate with each other. If one person finds the exit, the others will be saved..." Mao Xintong looked at Ma Qiao: "Those who can reach the A level are all experts who can stand alone. If I can't defeat them in danger, it's because I'm not good enough. But if they are trapped and die like this, that would be too unfair."

"I think so too." Ling Jian, who had been silent until now, said calmly, "I prefer acting alone to stick together for warmth."

"What do you think, Old Yuan?" Li Ying leaned closer to Old Yuan. "You're the only one who knows anything about the Endless Maze. Should we split up or go together?"

"I don't think there's much difference," Old Yuan shook his head. "When I went to the Federation for exchanges before, I talked to Elder Caroline about the Endless Maze. According to her, the real threat in the maze is not the monsters or traps, but the psychological pressure caused by being unable to get out for a long time. In addition, some inexplicable phenomena often occur in the maze, which may not have direct killing power, but can accelerate people's mental breakdown."

"Many people who act alone die because they can't bear the loneliness and despair. Those who act in groups may fare better at first, but over time, the pressure can cause them to become mentally unstable, leading to infighting and potentially causing them to die even faster. In addition, supplies in the maze are very limited, and distribution is a problem for multiple people, all of which are potential sources of conflict."

"In other words, what killed us might not be monsters and traps, but ourselves?" Zhuge Zi frowned.

"That's why I say there's not much difference between acting alone and sticking together. Whether you survive in the end, and how long you survive, probably depends entirely on luck..." Old Yuan nodded. "And as Mao Xintong said, if you spread out, the chances of finding an exit are greater."

"Then I'll choose to act alone." With that, Mao Xintong took out four Talisman Paper: "These are Thousand Mile Sound Transmission Talisman. Once activated, they will slowly burn and can transmit information to other Talisman Paper. Receiving information will not consume any resources, but if you want to reply, you must also burn the Talisman Paper. It takes about twenty minutes for one Talisman Paper to burn completely. Use them sparingly, and they can guarantee communication for a long time. I've kept one for myself; you can distribute these four."

"Will it work?" Ma Qiao asked skeptically.

"Don't underestimate it; it's a genuine Legendary Treasure Item." Mao Xintong sneered, "This is the reward for my only Perfect Evaluation on Tier A Mission. Theoretically, it allows for cross-dimensional communication. I didn't even give it to the association when they asked to buy it!"

"Is it that powerful?" Li Ying glanced at it, somewhat hesitant. Ling Jian stepped forward first. "I'll take one."

Zhuge Zi also came up. "I want one too."

"Huh?" Sun Xiaowei asked in surprise, "You're just a freshman, right? How can you be so confident?"

"Confidence has nothing to do with age." Zhuge Zi glanced at her and said calmly. Although there was no particular tone in her voice, Sun Xiaowei felt that the other party was mocking her.

"There are two left." Sun Xiaowei looked at the two Talisman Paper, then turned to Luo Jun: "Junior, what do you choose?"

Although it was the first time they had met, Sun Xiaowei felt that this junior was quite kind and approachable.

"I dare not walk by myself..." Luo Jun took a step to Old Yuan's side. "You have to stay with Professor Yuan." Old Yuan is an honorary professor of the Ningdong Academy. Many students know him. It is normal to rely on him in this situation.

Old Yuan nodded and took out a Talisman Paper: "I'm with Little Luo. Anyone who wants to join us can come with us."

"I'll come with you too." Sun Xiaowei walked over and glanced at Luo Jun. "Old Yuan is so old. If we encounter any danger, he'll have to take care of you. I'd rather share some of the burden with Senior."

Luo Jun was worried about this unstable factor, and was about to find an excuse to refuse when his Master agreed, "Alright then, it'll be good to have someone to look after you. Is anyone else here?"

When Old Yuan asked the question, he glanced at Li Ying, clearly wanting his former student to come along as well.

But Li Ying hesitated for a moment, then turned to Zheng Yu: "Brother, there are still two talismans left. It's a waste to leave them all with Old Yuan. Shall we share them?"

Zheng Yu glanced at Li Ying and nodded. "Okay!" As he spoke, he also took a Talisman Paper.

Now only Ma Qiao was left. He was a Rogue Cultivator, and although he was quite confident in his strength, his resources were not as deep as those of the official Cultivators, especially the experts from the Great Family. After thinking about it, he also came to Old Yuan's side.

And so, the nine people were divided into five groups: Mao Xintong, Zhuge Zi, and Ling Jian were in one group; Li Ying and Zheng Yu were in another group; and the rest, Old Yuan, Luo Jun, Sun Xiaowei, and Ma Qiao, were in the same group.

Before dispersing, Old Yuan shared some experiences he had heard from Caroline. After all, he had only heard it from her and could only relay it once; many details were not clearly explained, but it was just to give everyone some preparation.

As for the twelve doors, no one had any clues, so they could only choose randomly.

The error-free version can be read at 69 Book Bar! 6=9+shuba is the first site to publish this novel.

Luo Jun and his group of four chose a Stairwell split into two directions, up and down. They went up, and after crossing a landing, they saw the door to the next floor.

Behind the door was another room, not as spacious as the initial room, with only four doorways around it.

The group randomly picked a door and slipped out; behind the door was a long and winding corridor.

"Nothing special about it, just like an ordinary building..." Sun Xiaowei touched the wall of the corridor. "I thought there would be some traps or monsters."

"The area around the entrance has already been explored several times by many players," Ma Qiao said. "Any monsters would have been cleared out long ago."

"That makes sense..." Sun Xiaowei nodded, feeling much relieved. "It seems we don't have to worry about encountering danger for now."

"Not necessarily..." Old Yuan shook his head and said, "You forgot what I just said. Caroline encountered a monster not far after entering the maze."

Hearing this, Sun Xiaowei's heart, which had been at ease, became anxious again. "Could it be that the monsters in the maze will respawn?"

"I think the teleportation point might not be the same each time the maze quest opens," Luo Jun analyzed. "Although we can't be sure based on Caroline's experience alone, according to the Mission Description, if it's the same entrance every time, and the monsters and traps respawn, then we'll hardly encounter any previous players' corpses."

"What do you mean?" Ma Qiao asked, frowning.

" For Tier A Mission, the people who enter are usually quite strong. If the entrance is always the same, then on average, everyone will explore as far as possible each time, and they'll inevitably die somewhere very far away," Luo Jun analyzed. "For example, if a Senior walked a hundred kilometers through the maze before collapsing, then even if the Senior chooses the exact same path, they'd still have to walk a hundred kilometers to find their body. If someone is weaker than their Senior, they might not even be able to walk a hundred kilometers, let alone find the body."

"But what if we end up with a relatively weak Senior?" Sun Xiaowei said.

"Probably not..." Luo Jun continued his analysis, "Suppose there was a very weak Senior who collapsed after walking five kilometers, then the later generations would quickly discover his body, and would definitely take the Hundred Treasure Box and consume it in a more distant place. Over time, there would be almost no trace of the predecessors near the entrance."

The others nodded in agreement. Luo Jun continued, "Of course, it's also possible that corpses that died in the maze will respawn, but that would bring us back to the first scenario: unless there's an exceptionally weak individual who died very close by, you simply won't find any corpses near the maze entrance."

"Even if you find it from afar, it's only possible if you choose the exact same path." Following Luo Jun's line of thought, Old Yuan Lao analyzed. "The maze is intricate and has many branching paths. Choosing the exact same path is less likely than winning the lottery. If the entrance is always the same, finding the relics of our predecessors is indeed almost impossible."

Luo Jun nodded and said, "Therefore, I tend to think that the entrance should be different each time a mission starts, so that the bodies of those who came before can be found throughout the maze."

As they spoke, the group arrived at the end of the corridor, where a T-junction lay before them.

"Left or right?" Ma Qiao asked.

"Watch this." With that, Luo Jun took out a pistol from his Hundred Treasure Box.

"Is this some kind of navigational treasure?" Ma Qiao and Sun Xiaowei's eyes lit up, only to see Luo Jun walk to the intersection, throw his pistol into the air, and the pistol spun dozens of times in mid-air before falling to the ground with a thud, its muzzle pointing to the right.

"Let's go to the right."

"Is that all it does?" Sun Xiaowei complained. "What's the difference between this and throwing a shoe?"

"Of course there's a difference." Luo Jun picked up the pistol and said with a grin, "I have athlete's foot, and I'm afraid taking off my shoes will offend my Senior's smell."

"Don't give me that!" Sun Xiaowei was furious.

" In this Endless Maze, we have no one to rely on but luck," Old Yuan said, looking at Luo Jun with a smile. "This kid has always been lucky. If we follow him, we might really be able to get out."

The group turned right and walked several hundred meters along the winding corridor before suddenly seeing a small fork in the road.

The fork in the road was quite short, only a few dozen meters deep, and clearly a Dead Alley. But against the innermost wall leaned a skeleton, and on the skeleton's wrist, a Jade Bracelet gleamed brightly...

(End of this chapter)