Mysterious Murals

(Second update complete, begging for votes!)

??...

Li Wei had a good memory, so he memorized all the murals and stone carvings he encountered along the way, and discovered something quite interesting.

Who exactly is buried in this Mage's Tomb?

A great mage?

Judging from the murals, the tomb's occupant was quite powerful; he was depicted as a man in a wide robe, subduing ferocious monsters everywhere.

This maze-like passageway records the life experiences of the tomb's occupant. Li Wei walked around it several times, exploring almost every fork in the road, but his purpose was not to find a way out, but to examine the murals in the passageway.

Finally, Li Wei found a place to sit down, took out the Black Paper, and began to record his findings and analysis.

First of all, the Mage's Tomb does indeed bury a powerful mage. Li Wei didn't find the mage's name on the murals, but he knew that the mage was extremely powerful. This mage was proficient in six types of magic, which, in Li Wei's understanding, meant that the mage had reached the grandmaster level in each of the six magic types.

Next, however, they arrived at the place that Li Wei was most interested in.

The mural begins with a scene of the mage's childhood. Like everyone else, he had an ordinary childhood, but upon reaching adulthood, he received a piece of 'paper'. The mural then shifts, showing the mage learning magic and battling monsters. Initially, the mage casts low-level, single-element magic, but later he can use multi-element magic—all of which is vividly depicted in the mural.

Patterns representing fire, patterns representing frost, patterns representing lightning... The mage grew stronger and stronger, and the monsters he fought became increasingly ferocious. The master artist who created this mural vividly recorded all of this on the mural, leaving Li Wei with a series of lifelike still films, allowing him to browse through the life of this Archmage in a very short time.

Finally, the mage encountered his ultimate enemy: a door. Inside the door was a figure. To the left of the door were hideous demons, and to the right were holy angels. The figure inside was just a shadow; the mural did not depict the person's facial features.

Then, the mural suddenly changed scene; the mage died, his body was divided into six parts, and buried in different tombs according to the distribution of the six magic elements. The mage's story ended there.

Li Wei tapped the Black Paper with his pen, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

He saw many questions in the mural, but most of them were unanswerable, much like the 'paper' the monk had received in his youth.

The image of this 'paper' appears on the mural almost every few minutes, as if the monk carried it with him at all times.

So, what is this 'paper'?

In an instant, Li Wei thought of the Yellow Paper in the hands of the reincarnator.

This is the first question.

Next, the scene is depicted. From the mural, it can be seen that the mage lives in a world similar to a medieval civilization, with thatched huts, cattle and sheep, and simple villagers. However, each time the mage takes out the 'paper,' the scene changes into a space filled with monsters.

Sometimes, the murals also depict alleyways and mysterious towns. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but no matter how Li Wei looked at them, he felt that they were clearly Shadow Street.

Finally, it was the mage's last battle.

What, then, is that gleaming door, the mysterious figures, the demons, and the angels?

Li Wei remembered seeing these demons and angels on the packaging when he received the package wrapped in Yellow Paper.

That was all the information the wallpaper provided. Li Wei looked at it twice more before putting the Black Paper away. At least, he had gained some information about the tomb's occupant.

However, this information will not help Li Wei escape this maze.

Of course, Li Wei could have chosen to return to Shadow Street, but after discovering some secrets of the tomb's occupant, Li Wei curiosity led him to continue exploring.

So Li Wei continued to wander through the maze, this time examining the walls on both sides more carefully, hoping to discover some hidden mechanisms.

Sure enough, Li Wei discovered a clue around a corner.

This is a wall with a mural of a huge monster carved on it. It is three meters high and two meters wide. Although the color is no different from the surrounding walls, the mural is very strange.

The monster carved on it was actually laughing.

All the murals in the labyrinth depict two main characters: the Archmage buried here and the various monsters that oppose him. Without exception, all the monsters are grotesque and terrifying, except for this one, which is Archmage.

It's hard to describe how a monster with long horns on its head, a tail on its back, and sharp claws and teeth could have such a comical side.

That's why Li Wei noticed this wall.

Then, Li Wei walked over and touched it with his hand.

It felt rough to the touch and was slightly damp. When Li Wei heard a dull thud.

The inside of the wall is hollow.

"I see. Fatty and the others probably didn't enter this maze last time they came. Otherwise, given his personality, he would have told me long ago. So, this is also one of the manifestations of the 'mutation' of the dungeon world..." Li Wei used the Behemoth's Power and threw a punch.

?? Bang

The wall crumbled, revealing a pitch-black passage.

"There's a way out," Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief and walked in.

The passage was dark, but for a powerhouse like Li Wei, eyesight wasn't the only way he could perceive his surroundings; his hearing, touch, and powerful mental strength could all replace his eyes.

Inside the passage was a very primitive and rudimentary cave, with many stalactites hanging from overhead, dripping water droplets. The further you went in, the more difficult the path became, but fortunately, a faint light appeared ahead.

The presence of light indicates the presence of an exit.

Li Wei's curiosity was piqued. He had initially thought it would be a simple 'gear-farming' trip, but he hadn't expected to gain anything extra.

The light ahead grew closer, and Li Wei could vaguely see a larger cave appearing.

He could hear the rushing sound of water, and finally Li Wei reached the large cave, where he saw a wide lake. In the center of the lake was a small island with only a beautifully crafted jar on it.

When Li Wei saw the jar, his heart skipped a beat.

He had seen similar jars in the murals. The murals depicted a powerful mage whose body was divided into six pieces after his death, each representing a different magical element.

The earth elemental fragment was buried in a huge stone coffin, guarded by a group of terrifying-looking female monsters. The Fire Elemental fragment was thrown into a burning lava field, the light elemental fragment was in a holy chalice, the lightning elemental fragment was inside a flying Thunderbird, the ice elemental fragment was sealed in a piece of ice, and the last Water Element fragment was placed in an exquisite jar.

The jar before them was exactly the same as the Li Wei had seen in the mural.

"No way, we found it so easily?" Although Li Wei knew from the murals that each magical elemental tomb contained the remains of an Archmage, he didn't expect to find it so easily.

Soon, Li Wei thought of something else, "The information Fatty provided about the 'Mage's Tomb' didn't include any details about the tomb's owner. Basically, the reincarnators who enter here only need to enter different tombs and defeat the monsters inside to get the corresponding rewards, but no one has mentioned any information about the tomb owner's stone... In other words, the mutated Mage's Tomb I entered is actually the real one, while the previous reincarnators were likely just entering a fake scene..."

Upon realizing this, Li Wei immediately thought of another problem.

Who is it? And what is their purpose in doing this?

Did they create a fake 'Mage's Tomb' just to hide the real tomb?

The first thing Li Wei thought of was the Main God.

However, Li Wei quickly dismissed this speculation. The Main God wouldn't do that. On the contrary, the person who designed the fake 'Mage's Tomb' might very well be the one deceiving the Main God.

For a moment, Li Wei's mind went blank.

Now was clearly not the time to think about these things, so Li Wei temporarily put those speculations out of his mind and focused his attention on the lake in front of him.

The lake was very large, circular, with a diameter of at least 500 meters, while the small island in the middle was only a dozen meters wide. The surface of the water was calm, with a thin layer of mist floating on it. In the four directions of the cave, there were four man-made water channels, and four streams of water were currently flowing into the lake. The sound of flowing water that Li Wei had heard earlier came from here.

"There's something in the water."

Li Wei knew it the moment he saw the lake. In the blink of an eye, a dark shadow suddenly burst out of the lake, splashing up a lot of water.

What appeared before Li Wei was a three-headed water snake. This snake had a lizard-like body, and its three heads hissed simultaneously as it lunged at Li Wei.

"Three-Headed Water Snake, a magical creature, a servant of the Archmage, with a combat strength of A1. As Guardian, it will tear apart any intruder who dares to violate its master's tomb."

A message appeared on the Eye of Perception, and Li Wei leaped backward, dodging the water snake's attack.

After landing, Li Wei smiled and formed a special hand seal with his hands.

"Blood Slaughter Method, Slay!"

Suddenly, a flash of blood appeared, and one of the Three-Headed Water Snake's heads burst out of the blood, as if it had been cleaved off its neck by an invisible blade.

Li Wei was using his ultimate skill, the "Blood Control Method." This Blood Control Method can instantly kill any living creature with a combat power lower than the user's. However, although this move is very powerful, it also has many drawbacks.