Chapter 822: Spiral Maze

822. Spiral Maze

Piles of relics towering like mountains appeared not far from them, catching everyone's gaze.

Even Lin Ye couldn't spot any flaw in that heap of relics; every single one looked perfectly real.

Some of the relics emanated fluctuations tied to rules, as if merely holding one would grant mastery over that rule power.

This held a lethally enticing appeal, after all, rule power could be considered the most supreme form of power among all forces.

But Lin Ye didn't pay attention to that side. Instead, he stayed close behind the Female Student, just in case something went wrong along the way.

After all, this was an endlessly expanding space. If he didn't stick close, a few steps of distance could mean losing sight of her completely.

Before long, the voices of the other students behind Lin Ye had faded into silence. He was the only one still able to follow the Female Student.

It seemed that only a short radius around the Female Student was immune to spatial expansion. If he didn't keep close, Lin Ye would soon be lost amid the chaotic colors.

As he ventured deeper into this area, more and more colors accumulated on Lin Ye's body. Those colors had already merged into his flesh, altering his physical structure from within.

Normal architectural forms were nowhere to be seen anymore; only those writhing, churning chaotic colors remained.

Ordinary people couldn't survive here for even a moment. They would be devoured by the surrounding colors in no time.

Even Lin Ye could only keep moving by fixing his eyes on the Female Student ahead, who remained perfectly normal.

Time became vague and ambiguous in this place. No one knew how long had passed before the Female Student finally stopped. She stood still, lifting her head to gaze at the sky.

Lin Ye looked up as well. He had expected to see some monster sealed within the colors, but what hung above wasn't anything so simple.

A colossal, multicolored planet that constantly shifted its form floated directly over their heads.

Lin Ye could only see a small fraction of that colorful planet. Though it looked close, there was actually a considerable distance between them and that celestial body.

"So this is the starry sky you wanted to observe? What do we do now?"

Lin Ye had absolutely no idea how to deal with this planet. This wasn't an enemy on the same scale at all.

The Female Student didn't answer. She just kept staring upward, as if she truly were observing the starry sky.

Lin Ye had no options either. It wasn't like he could pull out his fountain pen and stab the planet to death from down here.

The colors around them stirred restlessly, and hidden within those colors were countless colorful creatures.

They were just about done waiting.

Right at that moment, Lin Ye suddenly lost control of his body. His hand pulled a fountain pen from his pocket and viciously stabbed it toward the Female Student's ear.

This wasn't his intention. The colors on his body had seized control of him.

The enemy couldn't deal with the Female Student, so it was using his body to do the job instead.

Lin Ye immediately activated his Special Ability, and an open door materialized beneath his feet.

Just before the pen could touch the Female Student's ear, Lin Ye plummeted into the Spiral Maze.

At first, he was falling downward, but then the entire world rotated ninety degrees, and Lin Ye landed on an uneven surface.

'So this is the Spiral Maze?'

Lin Ye picked himself up off the ground and found himself standing in a bizarre corridor.

This space was like someone had twisted a hallway into a pretzel, then stretched it back out just a little.

There were doors set into the corridor, all different lengths and positions, each one opening into the spiraling walls of the passage.

Lin Ye took a step forward along the corridor. He didn't walk onto a slope; instead, as he moved ahead, the entire corridor rotated around him.

It was like stepping onto a spiral treadmill. Only the spot beneath his feet counted as solid ground.

'...What would happen if there were two people here? Is it not the maze that's rotating, but my own senses?'

Lin Ye took a few more steps forward, but unfortunately, there was no spiritual energy here either. In his current state, he couldn't perceive the structure of this place at all.

'Forget it, let's just find the exit.'

Lin Ye opened one of the doors set into the spiraling wall. Inside, he found another spiral corridor, also filled with doors positioned at all sorts of odd angles.

'...I'm seriously screwed. What kind of insane maze is this? Could it be any harder?'

Lin Ye considered whether he should boil the conch when he got back.

Maybe he could have a conch feast for lunch.

Just as Lin Ye was pondering how to escape the Spiral Maze, a monster covered in dark green tendrils opened a door and entered the spiral corridor Lin Ye was in.

Lin Ye watched the tendril monster warily. Although the colors had stopped controlling his body after he left that colorful space, some parts of him had already lost sensation, and his only weapon was the fountain pen in his hand.

This tendril monster looked anything but easy to deal with.

"Would you like a ride?"

The tendril monster crawled up to Lin Ye, lowering its body and letting out a strange cry.

"...This is my first time here. What do you do?"

Looking at the tendril monster sprawled on the ground, Lin Ye suddenly thought of the sightseeing carts in a park.

"I can take you around this place quickly. I can even bring you to a spot where you can leave the maze, but you'll have to pay the fare."

The tendril monster pressed closer to Lin Ye, and a suspiciously comfortable-looking hollow appeared on its body.

"I don't have any money on me, and nothing valuable either."

Lin Ye wasn't about to cheat a tendril monster.

"You should have Trade points from the system, right? As long as you're in the system's stable zone, you can pay Trade points directly through the system. And with your level of system access, you can ride for free for a bit."

The tendril monster used its tendrils to tug at Lin Ye's arm, pulling him onto its body.

"How do I pay? How many Trade points will it cost?"

After leaving his hometown, Lin Ye once again experienced the convenience of modern living. He never expected system Trade points to work even in a place like this.

"You can pay with your mind. I'll take you a short distance for free first; only beyond the free distance will you need to pay Trade points. Getting to the nearest low-level exit will only cost you 10 Trade points."

The tendril monster secured Lin Ye's body with its tendrils and began gliding forward at high speed.

The spiral corridor started spinning faster, and yet they were sliding in a perfectly straight line.

The sensation was utterly bizarre, like the entire world was revolving around them.

"Can you take me somewhere else? I want to go to the real exit of the Spiral Maze."

Lin Ye remembered that the system notes mentioned passing through the Spiral Maze would grant the Conch's Treasure.

That "passing through" probably didn't mean the low-level exit.

"The real exit? Are you sure? Those places are all dangerous. They're not part of the sightseeing zone. I can only take you near the entrance."

The tendril monster let out a somewhat shrill sound.