Xia Liang's Predicament

As the assessment drew near to its end, and most teams were scrambling for the final bonus points, Xia Liang was lost in Soul Meditation.

It wasn't because she had nothing to do, or because she was cramming at the last minute, but because her magic had run out.

Yes, after using her Magic Armament to intercept the Spell Formula on the wall, she discovered that she could temporarily dismantle the wall's structure. This led to a very inappropriate idea: to simply crawl through the hole and run all the way to the end.

After all, it's an undeniable fact that their team is lagging behind. While the main force has already begun attempting to conquer nodes, they're still clueless about the second puzzle. If they continue to follow the established steps, they'll likely only manage a mediocre result.

Whether it's immoral or unfair to move directly through the wall to the outside of the maze is not something she should be considering at this moment. What she needs to consider is that she hasn't been penalized for such an action, so this loophole is exploitable, and perhaps only she can exploit it.

She was unwilling to leave the stage like this.

Then, there's no suspense left about what needs to be done.

Constantly using her Magic Armament abilities to intercept and redirect the Spell Formula on the maze walls not only drained her mental energy but also rapidly depleted her magical power. After she and her team members traversed dozens of walls, she finally couldn't hold on any longer.

"Ugh, finally I can rest for a bit. Just traveling like this has made me dizzy. This maze is just too big."

While Xia Liang closed her eyes to recover her magic, Mountain Lily and her sister Tiger Lily could only keep watch for her, chatting idly. "You know, since this maze has 'no exit,' does that mean the space is infinite? Does that mean no matter which way we go, we'll never reach the end?"

I don't think so.

Tiger Lily diligently continued to use her magic to probe her surroundings, while replying, "After all, the puzzles in the maze seem to be set by the examiners. Even if you create an endless maze, the number of puzzles is still finite. Using this logic, the size of the maze should also be limited."

"So it's just that we haven't reached the end yet?" A somewhat bored Mountain Lily blew on her forehead, the breath ruffling her bangs. "It's a pity Little Brocade has no magic, so we can't help her. We don't even know if we'll make it in time."

"I'm more worried about whether what we did constitutes a foul..."

Tiger Lily said with slight worry, "But since we've already come this far, and we haven't been deemed unqualified and teleported out yet, we have no choice but to go all the way."

"Haha, that's exactly the feeling of testing the limits of the Rule! It's even more exciting than skipping class."

Mountain Lily, on the other hand, seemed less worried. "I think we only need to worry about two things right now. The first is that we don't have enough time; we need to get out before all the key points are captured. The second is that we shouldn't be seen by others on the way, or that would be troublesome."

What she said was precisely the reason why the two of them were keeping watch here.

Whether their "method of passing through" was legal or not, it was definitely something that couldn't be revealed to anyone. If they were discovered by others on the road, they would be in big trouble. Because they couldn't, like those Butterfly Bush were just there to watch the ceremony, eliminate any examinees they encountered, nor could they accept taking more people with them. So, if their ability to "pass through walls" were exposed to others, it would definitely become a mess.

"Fortunately, I haven't felt it yet... Huh?"

Tiger Lily was about to continue her sister's story when she suddenly exclaimed in surprise, as if she had discovered something. "This magical fluctuation... it seems like another team is heading in our direction?"

"You're really coming?"

Mountain Lily's eyes widened. "Then what do we do?"

"So what should we do... it seems like we don't need to avoid this?"

While pondering the situation, Tiger Lily tried to analyze it. "After all, we're just resting by the roadside right now, so it doesn't matter if we're seen."

That's what they say, but it's still better to avoid contact with others.

Mountain Lily glanced at Xia Liang: "What do you think, Little Brocade?"

"... Let's move."

Opening his eyes, Xia Liang said wearily, "No one can guarantee that the team that appears at this time isn't like the Butterfly Bush, here to cause trouble. Even if the probability is small, we don't need to take the risk."

"It's possible, but are you able to move normally now?" Tiger Lily asked with some concern. "If it affects your condition, perhaps it would be better to rest a little longer..."

"Ah, it's nothing, I've recovered a lot."

Xia Liang smiled as if nothing was wrong, "Let's set off first. It'll be hard to say what will happen once they get closer."

"Alright then." Tiger Lily nodded with some doubt. Although she felt that Xia Liang was being stubborn, she couldn't force him to rest.

So the three of them quickly took action, dodging the approaching squad, and hid in another side path.

However, they did not expect that this seemingly "coincidentally passing by" team was actually just part of the interference they would face.

Just as they stopped to rest again, another squad passed by. Then came a second, a third... Soon, in this area, Xia Liang and her team encountered at least five squads.

Moreover, these examinees all seemed to harbor some kind of purpose, and they were all avoiding each other. On one occasion, when Xia Liang and her group were about to encounter another team, it was the other team that ran away first. This strange phenomenon left Xia Liang and the two sisters looking at each other, unsure of what to do next.

"There must be something around here, right?" When it came to speculating about the teams' objectives, Mountain Lily stated his opinion decisively.

"Could it be a node?" Tiger Lily thought a little more deeply, "If it were just a puzzle, it shouldn't be enough for so many teams to know about it at the same time and gather here, right?"

"A node?"

After a moment's thought, Mountain Lily felt that Tiger Lily's words made sense. "Shouldn't we go with them and take a look?"

"No, if it's a node, we should hide even more until they've all left."

Xia Liang shook her head in rejection. "Our current state doesn't support participating in the node strategy, especially with so many people around. In this situation, each person would only get a small share of the nodes. It's not worth abandoning our original plan and wasting so much time."

"So what do you think we should do now?" Mountain Lily spread his hands.

"If it's really just because there are nodes around here, then avoid them and find a way to leave this area."

Xia Liang wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. "What worries me is that so many people are gathered here, there's a good chance there's another reason."

"For example?" Mountain Lily asked, puzzled.

"Please wait a moment while I confirm."

As Xia Liang said this, she suddenly pulled out a very small mirror from her sleeve. Judging from the magical fluctuations emanating from it, it was also part of her Magic Armament.

Because her magic power had not yet recovered, Xia Liang could only maintain the Magic Armament's operation at a minimum, resulting in a very small mirror. Somehow, something resembling threads was bound to the surface of this tiny mirror. Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that these threads, made of magic power, extended into the mirror surface, seemingly connected to something else.

Xia Liang brought the mirror close to her ear, looked at Mountain Lily, and then suddenly said, "Have you ever heard of a megaphone?"

"I've heard of it..." Mountain Lily still didn't understand what Xia Liang was up to. "But what does that have to do with us now?"

"This is just a mouthpiece."

Xia Liang shook the mirror in her hand, a smug look on her face. "I left another mirror on the way here, connected the two ends with magic threads, and made a sound transmission device by imitating the structure of a megaphone."

This idea was actually borrowed from Larkspur, and she hadn't even shown it to the Fangting City Squad before using it in the assessment.

"Ah, I see! Are you really a genius?"

Mountain Lily, having understood Xia Liang's explanation, clapped her hands excitedly. "So, if other teams pass by, we can eavesdrop on their conversations here?"

"Shh." Xia Liang put a finger to her lips. "This device works in both directions. If we make too much noise, the other side might hear us too, so keep your voice down."

Mountain Lily covered her mouth and nodded, but after a while, she couldn't resist her curiosity and asked in a low voice, "What were they saying?"

"Don't worry, there's nothing happening right now, let's rest where we are."

Xia Liang brought the mirror to her ear again, held her breath, and listened carefully to the sound on the other end.

At first, probably because no one had passed by yet, Xia Liang didn't hear any noise. However, she wasn't in a hurry. She secretly relaxed her mind and waited for her magic power to slowly recover, while silently hoping that someone would pass by the "trap" she had set.

Soon, accompanied by the sound of footsteps approaching, Xia Liang indeed heard the conversation of the other teams.

The squad moved quickly, so Xia Liang could only catch snippets of their conversation; the fragmented dialogue offered no useful information. Fortunately, another squad passed by not long after.

Just like what Xia Liang and the others had encountered before, new Magical Girl Squad kept passing through this area. And it was precisely because these squads always talked about something that Xia Liang was able to piece together the common truth in their words.

However, upon learning the truth, she couldn't help but gasp.

"What's wrong?" Noticing Xia Liang's change in mood, Tiger Lily asked proactively.

"Hmm? There's a result?" Mountain Lily's attention immediately shifted.

"Yes, but it's not a good result."

Xia Liang sighed, "To be more precise, for us alone, this is the worst-case scenario."

"The worst-case scenario?" "What would that be?" The two sisters asked, one after the other.

"Another team, using some unknown method, determined the possible location of the maze's exit in advance."

Xia Liang put down the mirror in her hand, her expression solemn:

"And what's worse, they sold this information."

I've been experiencing severe writer's block lately, which has resulted in very infrequent updates, and I apologize for that again. However, the first phase of the assessment will end soon, and things should improve significantly in the next phase.