Chapter 6: The Desert Ancient Castle
The metallic lifeform exploded, and the demons that had been inside it were instantly engulfed by endless yellow sand. Every single grain of sand in that boundless desert seemed to weigh a million jin. Linley was completely wrapped in the yellow sand, unable to escape.
"Delia!" Linley instinctively tried to grab Delia's hand.
"Linley!" Delia also tried to grasp Linley's hand.
"Whoosh!" Swept along by the endless yellow sand, Linley couldn't control his body at all.
"What is this?!" Linley struggled against the oppressive, binding force of the massive amount of sand. But that peculiar restraining power was something Linley couldn't resist. In an instant—"Thud!"—Linley fell to the ground.
Linley immediately stood up and looked around. "This... what the hell is going on?" His heart was filled with confusion and shock.
This was an ancient, massive structure formed from yellow sand. Looking up, Linley could only see a huge ceiling made of sand; he couldn't see the sky at all. It was a colossal building entirely made of sand, and Linley was trapped inside it.
What horrified Linley the most was—
"No one. There's no one around. Where did everyone go?" Linley looked around in every direction.
But inside this desert building, there wasn't a single shadow of a person.
Linley released his divine sense and was greatly startled: "How is this possible? My divine sense, even in the Infernal Realm, can cover nearly a hundred meters. But in this damned place, it can only extend ten meters around me?" Linley couldn't help but be shocked.
"Affecting my divine sense?"
Linley had a vague understanding. "Could it be that this desert building counts as a separate space?"
Although Linley found no one around, he could still sense the presence of one person—Bebe! Bebe and Linley were connected by soul; no matter where they were separated, they could sense each other's existence.
"Boss, how are you doing? I'm in some weird building made of sand, and I can't see a single person. It seems like everyone's disappeared." Bebe's voice rang out in Linley's mind.
The two were soul-linked, so they could communicate through their souls without needing divine sense transmission.
Hearing Bebe's words, Linley understood somewhat. "Bebe, I'm in the same situation as you. I'm also in a strange building made entirely of sand, and I can't see anyone. Bebe, be careful... I feel like we're in some special space right now."
"Mm, got it." Bebe replied. "Boss, I'm heading in your direction now."
"Good." Linley could also sense Bebe's presence.
They both knew the general direction of each other's location, so they could naturally move closer—even though they couldn't see each other.
"This desert building?" Linley flipped his hand, and the Violet Blood Soft Sword appeared.
"Whoosh!" Linley leaped into the air, pushing the Violet Blood Soft Sword to its limit. A flash of purple light streaked across, and a "rustling" sound came from the ceiling above. A small pile of yellow sand was sliced off and fell down.
But the sand on the ceiling writhed for a moment and then smoothed out again.
Linley's expression changed. His Speed Profound Mystery had reached a bottleneck, and his strongest material attack, the 'Dimensional Blade,' was now several times more powerful than when he was on the Yulan Continent. Yet he couldn't even scratch this desert castle.
"What a strange power." Linley frowned. "A peculiar force is completely infused within the sand."
"This damned place." Linley didn't waste any more time and immediately began moving toward Bebe's location.
"Boss, this ghostly place is too weird. I can't get through now. There's a wall ahead, and there's no path. This wall is too strange; I can't break through it. Even if I chip a bit away, the sand just flows back." Bebe said anxiously.
Linley was startled.
"Bebe, wait a moment." Linley kept moving closer to Bebe's direction.
This massive sand building had many forks and corridors, like a giant maze. After walking for a while, Linley found that the road ahead was blocked. It was a wall made of sand. Linley could clearly sense Bebe's location, but he couldn't get there.
"Bebe, my path is also blocked by a wall." Linley frowned and looked around.
"So many corridors and forks?" Linley recalled a game he had seen on the Yulan Continent—a maze.
A maze has countless forks and paths. But only one path is truly correct; take one wrong step, and you can never escape.
"Could this strange sand building be a maze?" Linley speculated.
"No other choice. Let's assume it's a maze for now." Linley immediately began walking along other forks. As he walked, he diligently memorized the positions of each fork. With Linley's deductive abilities, as long as he knew the positions of enough forks, he could deduce the correct path.
"Bebe, this strange place is probably a maze." Linley communicated with Bebe through their souls.
"A maze?" Bebe was shocked.
"Yes, you can try to take detours to get closer to me." Linley kept memorizing every fork, turning back whenever he took a wrong path.
"It's a maze... alright, I'm sure I can find the right path." Bebe was also anxious. Both he and Linley were worried about their loved ones. Linley was worried about Delia, and Bebe was worried about Nisse.
More than twenty people were gathered in one place, led by Inigo and his teacher.
"Teacher, there probably aren't many in the entire Infernal Realm who have mastered the Elemental Laws of Wind to your level." Inigo said with a flattering smile.
The green-robed elder smiled faintly. "Don't flatter me. This is my strongest move. If we're talking about pure offense, that demon is actually stronger than me. Hmph... he's really strong; one sword strike and he split the wall of my 'Wind Castle'."
"So what if he split it? Teacher, you can change it anytime you want." Inigo knew his teacher's technique well.
The seven Elemental Laws and four Edicts.
Among them, the Elemental Laws of Wind were related to space. In particular, by fusing certain profound mysteries, one's achievements in space would grow stronger and stronger.
"They think this is a maze?" The green-robed elder was fully aware of everything happening inside the 'Wind Castle' and noticed that many demons were trying to find a way out by treating it like a maze. "Yes, it's a maze. But... it's a maze that changes at any moment!"
The green-robed elder smiled faintly. "Inigo, take your men and start the operation. I'll coordinate with you."
"Yes, teacher." Inigo immediately led his men out.
Inigo and his group of over twenty Highgods advanced effortlessly. Even when a wall stood before them, it would naturally split open to create a path as they approached. Unlike Linley and the others, Inigo's group faced no obstacles inside the castle.
Moreover, the green-robed elder was coordinating and guiding them.
Linley walked rapidly, and the map of the maze in his mind was becoming clearer and clearer. A smile even appeared on Linley's face. "It seems I'll be out of this maze soon." Linley felt very confident.
But suddenly, Linley's rapid pace came to an abrupt halt.
"How is this possible?"
Linley stared at the wall in front of him, his expression changing drastically. "No, there shouldn't be a wall here. I just walked through here. This was supposed to be a passage. And there was a pillar right next to it!" Linley turned to look—there was indeed a pillar there.
"The pillar is still here, but where's the passage? Am I mistaken? Impossible!"
Linley closed his eyes, and a clear map appeared in his mind, showing all the places he had walked.
"Impossible. I couldn't have made a mistake." Linley immediately turned back and headed in another direction. "Ahead, there should be a fork. I just walked past that fork." Linley muttered to himself. But when he reached the spot where the fork should have been, Linley froze.
Before him—
Was a wide-open road with no fork at all.
"What's going on? I... I couldn't have misremembered." Linley clutched his head, replaying in his mind all the places he had walked before. "I can't be wrong, but these places are completely..."
Linley's face turned pale!
"This... this damned maze, it... it's changing?" Linley felt a wave of helplessness surge from the depths of his heart. A maze could be escaped, but what could you do when the maze kept changing?
"Boss, I've reached your previous location." Bebe's voice rang in Linley's mind. "I don't know what happened. I was walking and hit a dead end, but suddenly the wall disappeared and a passage opened up. Boss, hurry over. I don't know how to go from here either."
Linley looked at the passage where the fork had disappeared and said bitterly, "Bebe, I... I can't get back to where I was."
"Delia." Linley's heart was filled with anxiety, but there was nothing he could do.
While Linley and a large group of demons were frantically searching for a way out, Inigo's men were quietly reaping their lives!
"This damned place, how do I get out!" Savit was a Four-Star Demon assigned to this escort mission, a Highgod-level expert. When he saw the Six-Star Demon 'Rielmons' and the three Edwards brothers, his heart was overjoyed.
He thought he would be safe.
But now, he had no one to rely on but himself.
"It's not a maze. It should be a super-strong expert who cultivates the Elemental Laws of Wind." Savit's heart turned cold. "To have mastered the Elemental Laws of Wind to this extent, he must have fused most of the nine profound mysteries."
Savit knew that such an expert was far beyond his ability to contend with.
Suddenly—
The sand wall beside Savit split open, and two figures lunged at him abruptly. A wave of heat rushed toward him, while an icy chill invaded his body.
"Not good!" Savit's expression changed drastically.
At the same time—
A figure emerged from the sand floor beside Savit, a thin sword stabbing directly at him.
Three Highgods joined forces to kill Savit! With such a sudden attack, Savit could only barely react to block the first two enemies. The third enemy easily drove his sword into Savit's body. In the blink of an eye—
"Prepare to attack the next one. Oh, be careful. There are two ahead. One is a Highgod, and the other is a Demigod. They've run into each other. Head toward the passage ahead..." The green-robed elder's voice sounded as if it were right next to the three men's ears.
Although the Wind Castle was peculiar, many demons had been trapped inside, and occasionally two or three would run into each other.
The three Highgods looked at each other and smiled.
With the Wind Castle's cooperation, killing people was effortless—especially when outnumbering the enemy and launching surprise attacks.
The green-robed elder himself strolled forward. "The Boe family's wealth? It seems it's about to fall into my hands." The green-robed elder knew exactly where the two employers were at that moment. He took a step forward and merged into the sand.
The black-horned elder was floating cautiously in midair.
"To think there's such a powerful expert." The black-horned elder knew what this castle was, so he naturally avoided getting close to the ground or the walls. Otherwise, if an enemy suddenly emerged from underground, he wouldn't even have time to react. "It seems this is going to be dangerous."
"Hm?"
The black-horned elder suddenly turned his head and looked down a distant fork. He saw Linley, dressed in a long earth-yellow robe, advancing cautiously.
"It's him. I think his name is Linley." The black-horned elder was somewhat surprised.