Lost in the Maze (First Update)

Cradling her ancient zither, Ruan Yushu walked lightly but steadily, cautious as she kept to the center of the group.

As she walked, her delicate nose wrinkled and her brows furrowed slightly. She felt as though she had lost the scent of her companions.

Her spirit spread outward. The four figures before and behind her, to her left and right, shattered like ripples on water. Heaven and earth shifted, and the great trees became heaps of enormous boulders, dividing the land into countless paths.

A maze formation... As the legitimate daughter of an Aristocratic Clan, she lacked no knowledge of formations. Closing her eyes, she stepped forward with calm composure, relying only on her spiritual awareness to sense the changes in the world's Aura. Then Perching Phoenix floated into the air, and she stroked the strings with both hands, playing broken, intermittent notes—now high and clear, now soft and low—to stir the world's Aura into responding to nature's might. Amid the ceaseless changes, she sought to discern the formation's pivot.

Flames surged, hidden currents churned, and the cold moon made no sound. Images of the workings of the principles of the world surfaced in Ruan Yushu's heart. At the same time, she divided her attention to recall how things normally worked, comparing the two.

The images shifted, and every movement left a trace. Following those traces, Ruan Yushu discerned the paths and advanced slowly.

Suddenly, ripples stirred in her heart. Something felt out of place, like an uninvited guest barging into the beautiful world her music had created.

She abruptly opened her eyes and spread her spirit toward the discordant presence. It was a monster clad in silver fish-scale armor, its tongue flicking as it followed the sound. Like most snakes, it had chosen to creep closer in silence despite