Preparing to Clear the Game!

Luo Jun had never met Chen Jin before, but he recognized him by the Chen Family's signature red hair and his facial features, which were seven or eight parts similar to Chen Ran's Luo Jun.

Didn't Chen Jin die in the dungeon years ago? Could he have been resurrected by the power of the maze?

Even if I come back to life, I'm still not at my Peak level. This Jile Clown is underestimating me.

Luo Jun flexed his wrists, preparing to attack, when suddenly Chen Jin's body exploded into flames, and at the same time, a wave of heat came from behind Luo Jun!

flash?

Luo Jun dodged, only to see a thick pillar of fire shoot out just past the hem of his clothes, slamming heavily into the barrier in front of him. The transparent energy barrier rippled violently, seemingly about to be pierced through at any moment. As for the ground where the pillar of fire passed, scorched marks appeared!

It should be noted that the ground here, like the walls of the maze, has extremely strong resistance to elemental energy. The fact that this pillar of fire can scorch the ground is enough to show that the intensity of the flames far exceeds the level of ordinary Heart Refining Realm cultivators!

Peak?

No, even Master's protective energy couldn't break the wall. This guy's flame intensity is probably stronger than that of an average Peak!

Was it enhanced after death?

"Hahahaha..." The Jile Clown's laughter echoed from the direction of the castle, "It seems you recognize me, this warrior, but I'm sorry, he's probably completely different now than when you first met him!"

"He ate food from the Black Shop and then my food. The clash of these two opposing forces killed him instantly. What you see before you now is the ultimate weapon I created using his corpse. It not only retains his abilities from when he was alive, but those two powerful forces also unleashed his full potential. With my modifications, it has become the most powerful warrior under my command!"

"Challenger, you are indeed very capable, but true strength only comes with challenges worthy of your abilities. Therefore, I have spared no effort in using my most treasured collection to give you a taste of the highest level of service!"

With that, the Jile Clown spread his arms wide in a slightly manic manner. "Come on, fight! Scream! Go crazy! Let me see humanity struggling desperately for survival!"

Before he finished speaking, Chen Jin launched another attack. His whole body burst into flames, almost filling half of the arena. With a sharp cry, he transformed into a fire phoenix and charged towards Luo Jun!

Seeing this, the Jile Clown went even more mad. "Burn, my Phoenix!"

"Bang!"

A deafening explosion erupted from the field, accompanied by a visible shockwave that instantly shattered the raging Firebird into pieces!

At the same time, Chen Jin, who was at the core, was sent flying backward and crashed into the barrier at the edge of the arena, creating ripples. He finally landed on the ground, limp and motionless, with a pool of Black Blood slowly flowing out.

"How could my strongest warrior...?"

The Jile Clown looked at the arena in shock, only to see Luo Jun standing in the center, raising his fist with wisps of blue smoke rising from it.

"Looks like I've disappointed you." Luo Jun shook his head. "This strongest warrior is less of a threat to me than that piece of stinky tofu..."

As he spoke, Luo Jun walked to the edge of the arena. "The outcome is decided, aren't you going to let me out?"

"Oh..." The Jile Clown was so surprised that he froze on the spot, his exaggerated smile painted with oil paint distorted by his wide-open mouth. Only after Luo Jun reminded him did he remember, "Oh... I'll be right there..."

"Never mind..." Luo Jun waved his hand, and suddenly Unstoppable Gathering Origin Protective Qi rose from his fist, smashing down on the barrier!

"Boom!!"

With a deafening roar, the entire space trembled, the barrier shattered on the spot, huge cracks appeared in the ground, and rising smoke enveloped the entire arena.

"So, even the arena barrier couldn't hold him?" The Jile Clown stared down, his eyes twitching slightly. Just then, a hand landed on his shoulder, startling him into a scream. He turned around and saw Luo Jun's ambiguous, half-smiling face...

"Shouldn't you give me the prize now?"

"Okay... okay..." The Jile Clown nodded hastily.

"You passed all five trials?!" On the first floor of the rest area, everyone stared in shock at the "Locking Talisman" in Luo Jun's hand.

"Yes, but I was lucky," Luo Jun said with a grin. "The first few levels were quite difficult, so that Jile Clown underestimated me. My final opponent wasn't that strong, and I managed to win by using a little trick. But he said that the final opponent is different each time, and he has many stronger warriors under his command, possibly even stronger than the Peak warriors. So I advise you to be careful when you challenge them."

"My advice right now is to just get through the first three levels. The food in the Fourth Checkpoint is problematic; eating it will definitely cause problems. Unless you have some way to avoid it, never try it... As for the Fifth Checkpoint, it's not even worth the challenge."

As he spoke, Luo Jun shook the Locking Talisman: "There's only one of these Locking Talisman that lasts for 24 hours. After me, even if you complete the fifth challenge, you'll only get a weakened version that lasts for one hour at most. It's not worth the risk..."

As he spoke, Luo Jun took out three thousand yuan. "Who's next? I've already completed the challenge, and the second floor is no longer open to me."

"Huh? But according to you, didn't my grandfather and the others challenge the second floor together before?" Zhuge Zi asked, puzzled.

"They all went up together, each with 12,000 yuan. We, on the other hand, went up one by one, in a relay of 3,000 yuan each. Only after the previous person finished could the next person go up." Luo Jun sighed, "After I came down, I tried to take the elevator again, but there wasn't a button for going up at all."

"What if we're together?" Sun Xiaowei asked, "What if you're in the elevator with the person who paid?"

"We could try, but I don't think there'll be such a loophole," Luo Jun shrugged.

After discussion, to be on the safe side, everyone decided to let Old Yuan go up second. In an attempt to fool the elevator, Luo Jun deliberately followed him invisibly, but it still didn't work.

Left with no other choice, he had to leave and let Old Yuan go upstairs alone. But before leaving, he repeatedly told him that they only needed to get through the first three checkpoints, and that he had a way to lead everyone to the exit!

Old Yuan was also very fast. About an hour later, he took the elevator down and, like Luo Jun, passed all five levels!

Everyone else cheered, but Luo Jun looked worried and asked his Master how he had survived the Gourmet Challenge.

"Don't worry." Old Yuan smiled and spat out a small conch shell, about the size of Thumb, from his mouth. "This is called Nacre Conch. It's a common-quality treasure, its function is simply storage, but the space is very small and can't hold anything big. I usually use it as a pocket to hold small items like keys and wallets. This time, I just happened to put it in my mouth, so what looks like I'm putting into my mouth is actually inside."

"If you don't believe me, I'll pour them out and you'll see..." Old Yuan was about to pour them out when Luo Jun stopped him. "No, Master. Everything else is fine, but if the stinky tofu spills out, this whole rest area will be unbearable..."

As for Old Yuan's final opponent, since Chen Jin was crippled by Luo Jun, he was naturally replaced. Although not as good as Chen Jin, he was close to the Peak strength. However, even a true Peak opponent would have little chance against Old Yuan, so he easily defeated him.

However, taking this opportunity, Old Yuan also emphasized to the group that the final opponent was very strong, and they should not attempt it lightly.

After Old Yuan, the next person to go up was Ma Qiao. As Martial Combat Faction, he passed the first three rounds with ease and obediently did not attempt the Fourth Checkpoint. After that, Mao Xintong went up instead.

Mao Xintong, being Insight Faction, wasn't particularly strong in terms of strength or endurance, but she managed to survive the three trials thanks to her Noble Phantasm. After that, Sun Xiaowei took her place.

Sun Xiaowei had the weakest foundation among them, but she didn't have much trouble passing the first three levels. According to her, she easily passed the First Checkpoint by riding a small electric scooter, and the Second Checkpoint level was also easy to win by building a mechanical skeleton. In the Third Checkpoint, she simply used her Creation Art to surround herself with a circle of bulletproof steel plates, and remained unmoved even when machine guns were firing at her.

Even more surprisingly, Sun Xiaowei actually passed the Fourth Checkpoint!

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

The method was actually quite simple. She used her Creation Art to create a thin film in her mouth, extending from her oral cavity all the way into her stomach. It looked like she had eaten something, but in reality, it was all contained in a "plastic bag." After completing the challenge, she vomited it out, tied it up, and flushed it down the toilet.

As for the Last One, Zhuge Zi, this girl also took a long time to come down, having also passed four trials!

The first three challenges were straightforward; with a bit of skill, they weren't a problem. For the Fourth Checkpoint, Zhuge Zi used a method similar to Luo Jun's. She possessed a treasure that could create clones in a short time, and used these clones to eat ten dishes at the speed of light, thus completing the challenge.

This method also provided Zhuge Zi with a very useful piece of information.

Her clone came to life after entering the elevator, seemingly gaining self-awareness, and even attempted to attack after noticing Zhuge Zi!

Fortunately, Zhuge Zi held the power of life and death over the clone, and directly revoked it!

Upon hearing this news, they all broke out in a cold sweat.

"From which number do you start to see changes?" Luo Jun pressed. "Is it the chicken wings?"

"I didn't notice that..." Zhuge Zi shook her head. "I controlled my clone to eat all the food as quickly as possible, so I couldn't tell which one was problematic."

"Furthermore, my manipulation of the clone is similar to manipulating a puppet or Game character; I can only control its behavior, but I can't detect its changes. I noticed something was wrong with it in the elevator, but its changes must have started before that..."

"Eating food activates the self-awareness of the clone? What does that mean?" Ma Qiao looked bewildered. "We already have self-awareness."

"If the unconscious becomes conscious, what about the conscious?" Old Yuan looked at the others. "They would probably develop an additional consciousness."

"Two consciousnesses in one body?" Sun Xiaowei exclaimed in horror, "Dissociative identity disorder? Twin souls?"

"It can't be that simple!" Luo Jun waved his hand. "I guess it might be a replacement!"

"What?!" Everyone was shocked. Luo Jun explained, "Eating those foods will cause you to be replaced by Chaos Creature! So, Zhuge Zi's clone didn't awaken self-awareness, but rather became Chaos Creature, intending to kill the original, or rather, harm the original, and replace Zhuge Zi!"

After listening to Luo Jun's analysis, everyone agreed that it made sense, but they also felt a chill run down their spines.

"So, that food was actually Chaos Substance?" Sun Xiaowei shook her head and said, "Is this rest area the Base Camp of Chaos Creature? Then what about all the food we ate, and all these people...?"

She looked around in horror. The exquisite food now seemed to have a sinister, dark aura, and the polite and friendly waiters now appeared to harbor ill intentions...

"No..." Luo Jun shook his head. "If that were the case, we would have been replaced long ago. Even Senior Zhuge Gan, everything was normal on their first day in the rest area."

"If I'm not mistaken, the first and second floors of the rest area should be two separate zones. The first floor is the original area within the maze, indeed for our recuperation. The second floor, however, is a new area that mutated due to the invasion of Chaos Creature!"

"Think about those worlds with Rules Horror. Because of the existence of the Chaos Mission Rules, even if Chaos Creature invade, they still have to act within the constraints of the rules. At most, they can hide information or lure us into breaking the rules... So they can't directly replace the normal food we eat. Instead, they have to use important items as bait to entice us to voluntarily eat food mixed with Chaos Substance! And because of the rules, once we complete the challenge, they must actually give us the items mentioned in the rules!"

"Looking at it this way... the clues from the relics really saved our lives." Sun Xiaowei patted her chest, still shaken. She had passed the Fourth Checkpoint test, and now, thinking about it, what if the "plastic bag" inside her stomach had ruptured, releasing Chaos Substance that her body could have absorbed? The consequences would have been unimaginable—it was too risky!

"So what do we do now?" Ma Qiao was somewhat at a loss.

"We've got what we wanted." Luo Jun patted his Smart Equipment Pack. "There's no point in staying here any longer. Let's leave and prepare to clear the level!"

"We've cleared the level?!" Everyone was shocked. Mao Xintong asked in confusion, "But we only have two Locking Talisman and four Directional Teleporter. Each teleporter can only transport one person. There are six of us. How can we clear the level together?"

"If we include Ling Jian, that makes seven people," Old Yuan added, glancing at Luo Jun as well.

"Don't worry, I already have a plan." Luo Jun laughed, "Brother Ma, go and retrieve the frozen Ling Jian. You all should change out of your bathrobes and put your own clothes back on. We'll leave here, and all seven of us will clear the level together. Not one of us can be missing!"

(End of this chapter)