The Road Between Life and Death

Realizing he'd been tricked and mocked by the enemy, Bai Xiaowen didn't feel angry. After all, when he and Li Shuyi arrived at the round table in spirit form, their choices were actually quite limited. Even knowing the truth about the Awakened Game, there was nothing they could do; they still had to obey the will of the Mysterious Voice.

Now that Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi have returned to their physical bodies and regained their fighting abilities, and have even seen through the deception of the Mysterious Voice without being completely fooled, this is already the optimal option. Doing it all over again wouldn't be any different.

However, Li Shuyi was somewhat annoyed when she heard the Snakewoman Leona mocking Bai Xiaowen. She stopped pretending to pray, stood up, and stood shoulder to shoulder with Bai Xiaowen. Although she didn't speak, her eyes were filled with undisguised coldness when she looked at Leona.

Standing in the middle, the slender male Snakefolk Gerold said, "Alright, stop wasting time. Hand over the Great Dragon Relics, join the Lord's ranks, and become His apostles. Any resistance will only lead to death."

Ludwig, a seemingly polite male Snakefolk, advised, "You'd better obediently accept the modification. There are four of us, and each of us is stronger than you. If we damage your bodies, it will be quite troublesome to repair them."

Mylo, the most irritable of them all, his forked tongue flicking as he coldly said, "Stop wasting time talking to them. Let's get to the point. As long as we retrieve the Great Dragon Relics and our master's plan succeeds, when we reign supreme Sovereign Rule the land in our strongest form, we can have as many apostles as we want. Why bother with a few of them?"

Ahan drew his two-handed greatsword from behind and stood in front of Bai Xiaowen:

"You guys go first."

"Hmm?" Bai Xiaowen was a little surprised.

"Don't forget... I'm the guardian." Ahan joked casually, making a feinting slash with his heavy sword. "You all should hurry and escape the Shadow Labyrinth. Find the Boss Tier of the major powers and warn them about the Snakefolk's conspiracy. This is your the Prophet's Mission!"

Li Shuyi couldn't help but say, "Your Excellency, don't be intimidated by these Snakefolk. Although there are four of them, we have quite a few people on our side as well... Hey, you three ordinary believers, what are you still kneeling for? Get up and fight! You've all been fooled!"

However, the three remained silent and motionless.

The Mysterious Voice burst into laughter. "Useless! They've already joined my ranks, becoming part of my glorious evolution! It won't be long before they join the ranks of those who will hunt you down, hahahaha..."

After a pause, the Mysterious Voice continued, "Actually, there's no need for these three ordinary believers to intervene. This Round Table Hall is my territory... Here, you can't even unleash half your full power! Feel the power of illusion!"

The rainbow light in the Wishing Pool intensified.

Bai Xiaowen, Li Shuyi, and Ahan all saw a blur before their eyes as the figures of Gerold and the other three Snakefolk suddenly multiplied into eight, then sixteen, with each of them splitting into four overlapping images, each brandishing their weapons and rushing towards them.

Spirit Realm Rules Message:

"You are affected by an illusion of distorted light, which greatly reduces your attack accuracy and evasion rate, and there is a certain chance that you will accidentally injure your teammates."

"Unknown factors are interfering, Data Disorder..."

"Would you like to spend 1000 Psionic Points to remove the effects of the light distortion illusion?"

Li Shuyi's expression changed, clearly indicating that she had also received the first hint, but since she did not have the Eye of Evolution, she was unable to receive any further hints.

"Let's go."

Bai Xiaowen gently pinched the bridge of his nose, then suddenly opened his eyes! A dense Overawing Presence instantly spread throughout the area, and the four Snakefolk, still in their lunging positions, were completely frozen in place.

The two-star mutated skill, Intimidation, once again played a crucial role. Although Bai Xiaowen was affected by the illusion, this skill is an area control skill. As long as they were within the radius of the Intimidation skill's effect, everyone would be affected by Intimidation.

Bai Xiaowen pulled Li Shuyi and Ahan, his hand flashing with light as he opened a book with an ancient style. Instantly, a beam of light enveloped the three of them, greatly increasing their movement speed!

[Marching Stratagems: S-Tier Item. After use, the movement speed of all friendly units within a one-kilometer radius is increased by 40%, and stamina consumption is halved for 60 minutes.]

After accelerating, Bai Xiaowen and his two companions moved like mad rabbits. By the time the strongest Snakefolk, Gerold, had just recovered from his Fear Status, they had already reached the entrance of the Round Table Hall and were sprinting into the depths of the Shadow Labyrinth.

"Chase!"

The four Snakefolk slithered away, giving chase.

With a muffled groan, Fatty's enormous, obese body plummeted from the sky, followed by two Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier. The two Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier then lightly slashed at Fatty's rear, triggering two stacks of the Corrupting Blood effect, before he immediately and pathetically fled for his life.

"All show and no substance, get out of my way!"

Mylo snorted and thrust his heavy spear forward, piercing straight into Fatty's chest! The powerful thrust even caused Fatty to stagger backward, teetering on the verge of falling.

However, Fatty didn't fall after taking the hit. After regaining his footing, he took two more steps forward, his purplish-black blood, carrying a pungent, foul odor, blocking the doorway! A slowing field formed around him, reducing the speed of all enemies that passed by by 15%.

"That damned Corpse Monster!" The other three Snakefolk Boss Tier also joined the attack. The combined destructive power of the four Boss Tier was terrifying. Fatty's 1,000 Life Value only lasted for a few seconds before he collapsed to the ground.

However, when the four of them crossed the slowing field of the Corrupting Blood and chased out of the hall entrance, they could only see the deep passageway; Bai Xiaowen and the others had already disappeared.

"You four are useless!"

The mysterious will residing within the Amotava's Remains roared, "Chase them! The relics on their bodies are extremely important to me. If I forcibly resurrect without those two relics, my strength will be significantly weakened. We must capture them alive!"

The four Snakefolk Boss Tier all showed expressions of shame.

Gerold said, "Those three humans must have used something to greatly enhance their speed. Chasing after them is pointless; we'll only fall further behind. We request permission to enter the Wishing Pool and teleport to several key points along the Shadow Labyrinth to intercept them beforehand."

After a brief silence, the mysterious will spoke again, "You're right, Gerold. Do as you say... Also, gather all the Elite Tier warriors from the Glimmering Abyss and send them into the Shadow Labyrinth for a thorough search! We must capture them! And, that Ahan can be killed, but the other two must be captured alive!"

Inside the tunnel, Bai Xiaowen and his two companions fled at breakneck speed. Thanks to the Marching Stratagems, their stamina decreased very slowly, and they even had the energy to catch their breath and talk while running.

"Where are we running to?" Li Shuyi asked. "Isn't the other party the owner of the Shadow Labyrinth? This labyrinth is like his home; we'll probably have a hard time escaping through normal means."

"I never said I was going to run away..." Bai Xiaowen said with a smile. "On the contrary, I'm going to go to the deepest part of the Shadow Labyrinth, find the inner chamber, and get something crucial."

"What is it?" Ahan asked, turning his head to the side.

Li Shuyi also looked confused.

Bai Xiaowen first showed Li Shuyi the main quest he had accepted: The Secret of the Shadow Labyrinth, and then said, "That crucial item is called the Prophecy Tablet."

Ahan suddenly realized and said, "I've heard the legend of the Prophecy Tablet. It's a treasure containing magical power, related to the fate of the entire world. 'The chosen one of the Prophecy Tablet will seize fate by the throat,' that's a line from the Sacred Scorebook."

Bai Xiaowen muttered to herself, "The phrase 'seize fate by the throat' sounds strangely familiar."

Ahan quickly agreed to Bai Xiaowen's idea and offered to help Bai Xiaowen obtain the Prophecy Tablet.

Li Shuyi was stunned when she saw the task Bai Xiaowen displayed. She then asked in a low voice through the Team Channel, "Why don't I have this task?"

"You probably missed the time to accept this quest and automatically accepted another main quest, ' The Awakened Game,'" Bai Xiaowen said. "Actually, I have a feeling that the two main quests we encountered on the Naglfar ship were suspicious. The real main quest is this one I accepted, ' The Secret of the Shadow Labyrinth.'"

After a pause, Bai Xiaowen continued, "However, the Spirit Realm Rules have been interfered with, causing the true main quest to display a ' Data Disorder, unable to be determined' message. Undoubtedly, the interferer is that mysterious will in the Round Table Hall. Then, that mysterious will issued us a fake main quest."

Li Shuyi found it hard to believe. "It? Is it really that powerful?"

In the minds of Li Shuyi and many other awakened beings, the Spirit Realm Rules are a very high and sacred existence, inviolable. However, in Bai Xiaowen's eyes, they are not so high-end. At least, the Eye of Evolution has caused the Spirit Realm Rules to experience "interference from unknown factors and Data Disorder" on multiple occasions.

"Besides this, I can't find any other explanation. When all the impossibilities are ruled out, even the most impossible thing becomes a fact."

After a pause, Bai Xiaowen continued, "Actually, it's not a big deal that you didn't receive the mission. I'm the team leader and also a ticket user. Your stay in the Spirit Realm is equivalent to my stay... You'll just lose the experience reward from one main quest, it's nothing serious."

Li Shuyi nodded in agreement, then whispered, "I didn't expect Ahan to be such a shrewd guy. With him joining us, we have another powerful henchman. We're quite lucky."

Bai Xiaowen smiled and said, "This isn't luck."

Li Shuyi: "???"

Bai Xiaowen explained, "Remember the prefix on our Spirit Realm Ticket? ' Speculation,' reducing the difficulty of the main quest by 50% while keeping the rewards unchanged... This ' Secret of the Shadow Labyrinth ' quest happens to be a main quest! Therefore, Ahan's choice to trust us is not accidental, but rather a reduction in difficulty within the Spirit Realm Rules, which are within reasonable limits."

Li Shuyi suddenly realized.

Bai Xiaowen said with a hint of emotion, "However, the second main quest triggered by this Abyss Party Invitation is indeed much more difficult, completely disproportionate to our level. According to my recent Insight, Gerold, who is playing the role of the Archdemon, is actually a level 9 Boss Tier! The other three Snakefolk Boss Tier are no weaker Ahan.

"If this mission had a difficulty rating, it would definitely surpass an S-Tier main quest, because the Shadow Labyrinth itself has terrain challenges. So even with Ahan's help, we still have a chance of failing. Better safe than sorry."

"There's a fork in the road ahead, which one should we take?" Ahan, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped.

Bai Xiaowen looked closely. When he saw the fork in the road, he suddenly felt that an item in his Storage Space was slightly warm.

This is a sign that a correlation has been triggered.

Bai Xiaowen took out the item, which was a fist-sized, emerald green vertical pupil, the "Eye of Amotava"—or rather, the "Dragon's Eye" among the so-called Great Dragon Relics.

The Eye of Amotava emitted a faint light, illuminating the two intersections before it. Then, the emerald light converged into a thin line, shining on the dome of the passageway, causing chunks of mud to fall down.

"Look! There are words above our heads!" Li Shuyi exclaimed.

Ahan exclaimed, "I think it's really true that in the Awakened Game, calling you a prophet is quite accurate. The Dragon's Eye in your hand is truly a guiding light for us... Hmm? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Bai Xiaowen's gaze fell on Ahan's head... a patch of emerald green light. He shook his head with a somewhat complicated expression. "It's nothing, Ahan. When you get back, keep an eye out for anyone with the surname Wang next door... Hey!"

Li Shuyi stepped on Bai Xiaowen's foot. "What kind of time is this to be joking around!"

Bai Xiaowen realized that the color on his head was also off, and the smile on his face quickly vanished. He coughed and said, "Hmm, let me see what's written on it..."

Above the dome, several sentences were written in Latin script:

[The path to life is always accompanied by a path to death, just as truth is always accompanied by lies. You need eyes that can see through appearances to gather the fragments of the Key of Truth and safely reach the other shore.]

Above the two forks in the road, beneath the peeling Mud Shell, there are also inscriptions on each one.

Above the left fork in the road is written: [One is the truth, the other is a lie.]

Above the right-hand fork in the road is a sign that reads: [This is a dead end!]

"Ahem, let me translate this..." Bai Xiaowen tapped his head lightly with his fingers. "The words on the dome are the hints. Actually, the most important one is the first sentence... 'A path to life is always accompanied by a path to death,' which means there are two forks in the road ahead. One is a passage, and the other is a dead end, possibly with some insidious traps or poison gas. The text at the two forks is the question, asking us to determine which path leads to life... Hmm, let's go to the right."

Bai Xiaowen took the lead and walked towards the right fork in the road, Li Shuyi followed without hesitation.

Ahan: "Hey? Why are we going to the right?"