Chapter 2: Elemental Secret Treasures (80 Pieces)
After a brief exchange, Su Xiao learned that the three brothers of the National Football Team were indeed in a difficult situation. These three were all Eighth Rank contractors, but their strength was only average. They had been trapped in this alternate space for nearly half a month, and their Paradise coins and supplies were almost exhausted.
"Brother Bai Ye, you have to help us out," the eldest brother said with a bitter face. "We were originally going to complete a regional mission, but we accidentally triggered a hidden mechanism and were teleported here."
The second brother quickly added, "This place is called the 'Elemental Labyrinth,' said to be a relic left over from the Second Era: Alchemical Civilization. There are eighty Elemental Secret Treasures hidden inside, but the mechanisms are incredibly dangerous."
"Eighty pieces?" Su Xiao's eyes flickered slightly. This number was quite significant. If he could obtain them all, it would be a considerable gain.
"That's right, exactly eighty pieces," the third brother nodded repeatedly. "We've been here for so long and have only found three pieces, and we almost lost our lives in the process."
Su Xiao fell into thought. According to the information provided by the three brothers of the National Football Team, this Elemental Labyrinth was divided into eight layers, with ten Elemental Secret Treasures hidden on each layer. The deeper you went, the more dangerous the mechanisms became.
"What's the situation with the mechanisms on the first layer?" Su Xiao asked.
"The first layer is the simplest, mainly some basic elemental traps," the eldest brother replied. "Fire, ice, lightning, that kind of thing. As long as you're careful, Eighth Rank contractors can handle it."
"But the second layer is different," the second brother interjected. "There are alchemical lifeforms guarding it, and they're all at least Eighth Rank elite level."
Su Xiao nodded. With his strength, the first few layers shouldn't be a problem. The key was the deeper layers.
"Lead the way, take me to the entrance of the first layer," Su Xiao said.
The three brothers of the National Football Team looked at each other, a hint of hesitation flashing in their eyes. They were worried that Su Xiao would take all the Elemental Secret Treasures for himself.
"Don't worry, I'll give you a share," Su Xiao said calmly. "I only need sixty pieces, the remaining twenty are yours."
"Really?" The three brothers were overjoyed. Twenty pieces was already far more than they could have obtained on their own.
"Of course," Su Xiao nodded. "But you have to help me deal with the mechanisms."
"No problem, no problem!" The three brothers agreed without hesitation.
Thus, the group of four headed towards the first layer of the Elemental Labyrinth. Along the way, Su Xiao observed his surroundings. The walls of this alternate space were covered in ancient alchemical runes, exuding a faint elemental fluctuation.
"Brother Bai Ye, we're here," the eldest brother pointed to a stone door ahead.
The stone door was about three meters high, engraved with complex patterns, the center of which was a fist-sized crystal ball.
"This is the entrance to the first layer," the second brother explained. "You need to inject elemental power to open it."
Su Xiao stepped forward, pressed his hand on the crystal ball, and a surge of Cyan Steel Shadow Energy surged in. The stone door rumbled as it slowly opened, revealing a corridor filled with firelight.
"Let's go," Su Xiao said, taking the lead.
The corridor was about a hundred meters long, with fire-elemental traps on both sides. From time to time, fireballs would shoot out from the walls. Su Xiao moved swiftly, easily dodging the attacks. The three brothers of the National Football Team followed closely behind, looking a bit flustered.
After passing through the corridor, they arrived at a spacious hall. In the center of the hall was a stone platform, on which floated ten crystal balls emitting multicolored light.
"Elemental Secret Treasures!" the third brother exclaimed excitedly.
"Don't rush," Su Xiao raised his hand to stop him. "There's a mechanism."
As soon as he finished speaking, the ground suddenly shook, and ten stone golems rose from the edges of the hall. These golems were three meters tall, their bodies covered in elemental runes.
"Eighth Rank elite level, ten of them," Su Xiao quickly assessed the situation.
"Brother Bai Ye, what do we do?" the eldest brother asked nervously.
"You three deal with three, I'll handle the rest," Su Xiao said, drawing his Dragon-Slaying Flash.
"Alright!" The three brothers of the National Football Team gritted their teeth and rushed forward.
Su Xiao moved, his figure flickering as he appeared in front of a stone golem. The Dragon-Slaying Flash slashed out, carrying a streak of blade light.
Blade Path: Azure Demon!
The blade light struck the stone golem's chest, leaving a deep gash. But the stone golem showed no signs of pain, raising its giant fist and smashing down at Su Xiao.
Su Xiao sidestepped, dodging the attack, and at the same time, backhanded his blade, severing the stone golem's arm.
"Not bad defense," Su Xiao muttered, his figure flashing again as he appeared behind the stone golem, his blade piercing straight into the back of its head.
Crack!
The stone golem's head shattered, and its body collapsed.
In less than a minute, Su Xiao had taken down seven stone golems. The three brothers of the National Football Team were still struggling with the remaining three.
"Need help?" Su Xiao asked.
"No, no, we can handle it!" the eldest brother shouted, gritting his teeth.
Su Xiao nodded and walked towards the stone platform. He reached out and picked up a crystal ball. A prompt appeared in his mind.
[You have obtained an Elemental Secret Treasure (Fire Element).]
[Elemental Secret Treasure (Fire Element): Can be used to enhance fire-element skills or exchanged for 500 Paradise coins.]
"Not bad," Su Xiao put the crystal ball into his storage space and continued collecting the others.
When he had collected all ten, the three brothers of the National Football Team had just finished dealing with the last stone golem.
"Brother Bai Ye, you're amazing!" the second brother gasped.
"Let's go, on to the second layer," Su Xiao said.
The second layer was indeed more dangerous than the first. As soon as they entered, they were attacked by a group of alchemical lifeforms. These lifeforms took various forms, some like wolves, some like eagles, and some like giant snakes.
"Be careful, these things are poisonous!" the eldest brother shouted.
Su Xiao remained calm, his blade dancing as he easily dealt with the alchemical lifeforms. The three brothers of the National Football Team also fought with all their might, barely holding their ground.
After about ten minutes, they finally cleared the second layer and obtained another ten Elemental Secret Treasures.
"Rest for a while, then head to the third layer," Su Xiao said.
The three brothers of the National Football Team sat on the ground, panting heavily. They had consumed a lot of stamina and needed to recover.
Su Xiao, on the other hand, took out a recovery potion and drank it, quickly restoring his strength.
"Brother Bai Ye, the mechanisms on the third layer are said to be spatial traps," the eldest brother reminded. "You have to be careful."
"Spatial traps?" Su Xiao's eyes flickered. This was a bit tricky.
"That's right, I heard that if you're not careful, you'll be teleported to an unknown place," the second brother added.
Su Xiao nodded, indicating he understood. He had some experience dealing with spatial traps and wasn't too worried.
After resting for half an hour, the group of four continued deeper into the labyrinth.
The third layer was indeed filled with spatial traps. The walls occasionally shimmered with ripples, which were spatial fluctuations. Su Xiao walked at the front, his perception fully extended, carefully sensing the changes around him.
"Stop!" Su Xiao suddenly raised his hand.
The three brothers of the National Football Team immediately stopped, looking at him in confusion.
"There's a spatial trap ahead, three meters in front," Su Xiao said.
The three brothers looked carefully but saw nothing unusual.
"Are you sure?" the eldest brother asked doubtfully.
Su Xiao didn't answer, instead picking up a stone from the ground and throwing it forward. The stone flew about three meters when the space suddenly twisted, and the stone vanished without a trace.
The three brothers gasped, their faces turning pale.
"Follow me closely and step exactly where I step," Su Xiao instructed.
Thus, Su Xiao led the way, carefully bypassing the spatial traps. The three brothers of the National Football Team followed closely, not daring to be careless.
After about an hour, they finally passed through the third layer and obtained another ten Elemental Secret Treasures.
"How many more layers?" Su Xiao asked.
"Five more layers," the eldest brother replied. "But the mechanisms on the fourth layer are said to be illusion-type, very troublesome."
"Illusions?" Su Xiao frowned. This was indeed a bit tricky.
"That's right, I heard that if you get trapped in an illusion, it's hard to get out," the second brother added.
Su Xiao fell into thought. He had some resistance to illusions, but he wasn't completely immune.
"Forget it, let's take it one step at a time," Su Xiao said.
The group continued deeper into the labyrinth.
The fourth layer was filled with a thick fog, and visibility was extremely low. Su Xiao activated his Apostle's Eye, barely able to see the situation ahead.
"Be careful, there might be illusion traps in the fog," Su Xiao reminded.
As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding fog suddenly surged, forming various strange shapes. Some looked like ferocious beasts, some like beautiful women, and some like mountains of swords and seas of fire.
"Don't look at them, they're all illusions!" Su Xiao shouted.
The three brothers of the National Football Team quickly closed their eyes, but the eldest brother was still a step too slow and was pulled into the illusion.
"Big brother!" the second and third brothers shouted anxiously.
"Don't panic, I'll save him," Su Xiao said, his figure flickering as he appeared beside the eldest brother.
At this moment, the eldest brother's eyes were vacant, as if he was seeing something terrifying, his whole body trembling.
Su Xiao reached out and pressed on the eldest brother's shoulder, channeling a surge of soul energy into his body.
"Wake up!" Su Xiao shouted.
The eldest brother shuddered, his eyes gradually clearing.
"I... what happened?" the eldest brother asked in confusion.
"You were trapped in an illusion," Su Xiao said. "Follow me closely and don't look around."
The eldest brother nodded repeatedly, a look of fear still lingering in his eyes.
Thus, Su Xiao led the way, using his soul energy to dispel the illusions, leading the three brothers through the fourth layer.
After passing through the fourth layer, they obtained another ten Elemental Secret Treasures.
"How many more layers?" Su Xiao asked.
"Four more layers," the eldest brother replied. "But the mechanisms on the fifth layer are said to be time-type, very strange."
"Time-type?" Su Xiao's expression turned serious. This was the most troublesome type.
"That's right, I heard that if you're not careful, you'll be trapped in a time loop," the second brother added.
Su Xiao fell silent. Time-type mechanisms were extremely rare, and he had little experience dealing with them.
"Forget it, let's take it one step at a time," Su Xiao said.
The group continued deeper into the labyrinth.
The fifth layer was a huge clock tower, with gears of all sizes turning inside, making a rumbling sound.
"These gears are the mechanisms," Su Xiao observed. "They control the flow of time."
"Then how do we get through?" the eldest brother asked.
"Find the core of the gears and destroy it," Su Xiao said.
Thus, the group began searching for the core of the gears. The clock tower was very large, with countless gears, making the search extremely difficult.
After about two hours, they finally found the core of the gears in the center of the clock tower.
"Found it!" the second brother exclaimed excitedly.
Su Xiao stepped forward, raised his Dragon-Slaying Flash, and slashed at the gear core.
Clang!
Sparks flew, but the gear core only left a shallow mark.
"So hard?" Su Xiao frowned.
"This thing is made of special alchemical material, very tough," the eldest brother said.
Su Xiao fell into thought, then a flash of inspiration struck.
"Use elemental power to counter it," Su Xiao said, channeling a surge of Cyan Steel Shadow Energy into the blade.
The Dragon-Slaying Flash emitted a faint blue light, and Su Xiao swung his blade again.
Crack!
This time, the gear core was directly cut in two.
Rumble—
The gears in the clock tower stopped turning, and the time-type mechanism was broken.
"Let's go," Su Xiao said.
They passed through the fifth layer and obtained another ten Elemental Secret Treasures.
"How many more layers?" Su Xiao asked.
"Three more layers," the eldest brother replied. "But the mechanisms on the sixth layer are said to be soul-type, very dangerous."
"Soul-type?" Su Xiao's eyes flickered. He had some resistance to soul attacks and wasn't too worried.
"Let's go," Su Xiao said.
The group continued deeper into the labyrinth.
The sixth layer was a dark space, filled with a chilling aura. As soon as they entered, they felt a biting cold.
"Be careful, there are soul-type traps here," Su Xiao reminded.
As soon as he finished speaking, several translucent figures suddenly appeared in the darkness, emitting sharp screams.
"Ahhh!"
The three brothers of the National Football Team covered their ears in pain, their faces pale.
"Soul attacks?" Su Xiao frowned, channeling his soul energy to form a protective barrier.
The translucent figures crashed into the barrier, making a sizzling sound, like ice meeting fire.
"Die!" Su Xiao shouted, his blade slashing out, carrying a surge of soul energy.
The blade light passed through the translucent figures, and they let out miserable screams before dissipating.
"Follow me," Su Xiao said.
Thus, Su Xiao led the way, using his soul energy to counter the soul-type traps, leading the three brothers through the sixth layer.
After passing through the sixth layer, they obtained another ten Elemental Secret Treasures.
"How many more layers?" Su Xiao asked.
"Two more layers," the eldest brother replied. "But the mechanisms on the seventh layer are said to be space-time type, the most dangerous."
"Space-time type?" Su Xiao's expression turned serious. This was the most troublesome type.
"That's right, I heard that if you're not careful, you'll be torn apart by space-time rifts," the second brother added.
Su Xiao fell silent. Space-time-type mechanisms were extremely rare, and he had little experience dealing with them.
"Forget it, let's take it one step at a time," Su Xiao said.
The group continued deeper into the labyrinth.
The seventh layer was a chaotic space, with space-time rifts everywhere, emitting a terrifying aura.
"Be careful, don't touch those rifts," Su Xiao reminded.
Thus, Su Xiao led the way, using his space-time power to sense the fluctuations of the rifts, carefully bypassing them. The three brothers of the National Football Team followed closely, not daring to be careless.
After about three hours, they finally passed through the seventh layer and obtained another ten Elemental Secret Treasures.
"One more layer," the eldest brother said, his tone heavy. "But the mechanisms on the eighth layer are said to be the core of the entire labyrinth, very dangerous."
"I know," Su Xiao nodded. "Let's go."
The group entered the eighth layer.
The eighth layer was a huge hall, in the center of which floated a crystal ball emitting dazzling light. Around the crystal ball, there were eight stone pillars, each engraved with complex runes.
"This is the core of the Elemental Labyrinth," Su Xiao observed. "As long as we destroy these stone pillars, we can obtain all the Elemental Secret Treasures."
"Then what are we waiting for?" the third brother said impatiently.
"Wait," Su Xiao raised his hand to stop him. "There's a mechanism."
As soon as he finished speaking, the eight stone pillars suddenly emitted a blinding light, and eight elemental lifeforms appeared. These lifeforms were made of pure elemental power, each at least Eighth Rank elite level.
"Eight of them?" the eldest brother's face turned pale.
"You three deal with two, I'll handle the rest," Su Xiao said, drawing his Dragon-Slaying Flash.
"Alright!" The three brothers of the National Football Team gritted their teeth and rushed forward.
Su Xiao moved, his figure flickering as he appeared in front of an elemental lifeform. The Dragon-Slaying Flash slashed out, carrying a streak of blade light.
Blade Path: Azure Demon!
The blade light struck the elemental lifeform's body, directly cutting it in two. But the elemental lifeform quickly reformed.
"Can regenerate?" Su Xiao frowned.
"These things are made of pure elemental power, ordinary attacks can't kill them!" the eldest brother shouted.
Su Xiao fell into thought, then a flash of inspiration struck.
"Use the opposite element to counter it," Su Xiao said, channeling a surge of ice-element power into the blade.
The Dragon-Slaying Flash emitted a cold aura, and Su Xiao swung his blade again.
Crack!
This time, the elemental lifeform was frozen into an ice block, then shattered.
"Effective!" Su Xiao's eyes lit up.
Thus, Su Xiao used the opposite element to counter the elemental lifeforms, taking them down one by one. The three brothers of the National Football Team also fought with all their might, barely holding their ground.
After about ten minutes, they finally cleared all eight elemental lifeforms.
"Destroy the stone pillars!" Su Xiao shouted.
The four of them attacked the stone pillars together. After a few minutes, all eight stone pillars were destroyed.
Rumble—
The entire hall shook, and the crystal ball in the center slowly descended, landing on the ground.
[You have obtained the Core of the Elemental Labyrinth.]
[Core of the Elemental Labyrinth: Can be used to enhance elemental skills or exchanged for 5000 Paradise coins.]
"Not bad," Su Xiao put the crystal ball into his storage space.
"Brother Bai Ye, the Elemental Secret Treasures..." the eldest brother said cautiously.
"Don't worry, I'll keep my word," Su Xiao said, taking out twenty Elemental Secret Treasures and handing them to the three brothers.
"Thank you, Brother Bai Ye!" The three brothers were overjoyed.
"No need to thank me," Su Xiao said. "Let's go, time to leave this place."
Thus, the group of four left the Elemental Labyrinth and returned to the alternate space.
"Brother Bai Ye, we'll take our leave now," the eldest brother cupped his hands.
"Mm, take care," Su Xiao nodded.
After the three brothers of the National Football Team left, Su Xiao checked his gains. This time, he had obtained a total of sixty Elemental Secret Treasures and one Core of the Elemental Labyrinth, which was a considerable harvest.
"Not bad," Su Xiao muttered, putting the items away and preparing to leave the alternate space.
Just then, a prompt appeared in his mind.
[Warning: Detected spatial anomaly, teleportation function temporarily unavailable.]
"What?" Su Xiao frowned.
At that moment, the space around him suddenly twisted, and a huge spatial rift appeared, sucking him in.
"Not good!" Su Xiao's expression changed, and he tried to resist, but it was too late.
His vision went black, and he lost consciousness.