Chapter 580 - 577: Center of the Maze

Chapter 580: Chapter 577: Center of the Maze

"Can you guys smell that? The scent of medicine is so thick."

"Yeah, and the wind is so strong. This place is surrounded by high walls. How can there be wind?"

As everyone entered a new passage, they suddenly felt that something was amiss.

The rabbit Li Luo held by a leash began to frantically dash toward a crack at the end of the passage. Seeing this, Li Luo immediately quickened her pace and passed through the fissure, and the healers behind her quickly followed suit.

When they saw the scene beyond the fissure, they all froze in place.

"What is that?"

Beyond the fissure lay a vast plaza, encircled by high walls. The ground was a mass of constantly writhing black mud. In the center of the plaza, a massive, spherical orb of light levitated in midair. Countless black particles swirled around it, and a closer look revealed them to be those same eerie, small black orbs.

The black orbs formed a series of "rings," like those of a planet, orbiting the sphere of light. They would sometimes merge into the orb, only to surge out from within it moments later. The black orbs and the sphere of light seemed to exist in some kind of strange equilibrium.

From the healers’ perspective, there were also countless medicinal concoctions floating beyond the rings. These concoctions radiated a terrifying power, like bombs formed from pure energy. Yet, these unstable bombs were all held in a state just shy of their breaking point, drifting throughout the plaza.

"Look! In the black mud!" a healer cried out.

Everyone quickly looked over. Within the writhing black mud on the plaza floor, headless torsos would occasionally surface. They bobbed up and down on the waves of sludge like driftwood.

"It’s the Elders! Those are the Elders’ bodies."

The healers recognized the bodies of the Elders and immediately tried to rush forward, but Xi stopped them.

"Those are just their physical bodies. The Elders... are up there," Xi said, pointing to the massive orb of light. "They’ve pooled their powers together."

Xi recognized it. The massive orb of light was an avatar formed from the combined power of the Elders. ’But why would the Elders do this? Is it to fight off those black orbs?’

At that moment, the black orbs circled as if to constrain the orb of light’s power. Yet, the black orbs launched no attack, and the unstable concoctions remained stuck at their critical point, floating silently in the air as if waiting for something.

"Xiaozhi, let it go," Li Luo commanded the rope in her hand.

Xiaozhi immediately released the black rabbit. Once free, the rabbit frantically kicked its legs and dove straight into the black mud at the center of the plaza, completely merging with it.

’So this was its destination all along?’

’Is this the center of the maze?’

Li Luo raised her head and looked at the high walls surrounding them.

’Even if it’s not the center, it has to be an important hub.’

Watching the rabbit run into the black mud, Xi didn’t hesitate. She immediately said to her companions, "We have to retrieve the Elders’ bodies. We also need to go inside that orb of light and see what’s going on."

Hearing Xi’s suggestion, Poke immediately spoke up. "I’ll take a group of our companions to rescue the bodies. Xi, you lead a team into the orb of light."

"Wait. When we enter the orb, our bodies will be left behind. We’ll need someone to watch over them."

"I’ll do it," Li Luo said calmly. "I’ll also have Xiaozhi help you retrieve the Elders’ bodies."

As she spoke, Li Luo issued a command to Xiaozhi, who obediently flew over to Poke’s side.

This time, Xiaozhi surprisingly didn’t attack Block.

A flicker of doubt crossed Li Luo’s mind. ’Has Xiaozhi gotten smarter?’

Still, it was a good thing. It saved her the trouble of worrying about it.

It didn’t take long for everyone to divide up the tasks. The healers on Xi’s team quickly fell into a stupor as their consciousnesses entered the orb of light.

...

"Is everyone all right?"

"I’m fine. Where is this?"

"It must be a space formed by the merging of the Elders’ Healing Spaces..."

The healers stood upon a land of pure black. The ground was perfectly flat, stretching out endlessly.

And when they looked up at the sky, it was a sheet of pure white.

They were at the junction of black and white.

"It’s all black orbs... What’s going on? Where are the Elders?" a healer asked in confusion, staring at the ground.

This endless plane was composed entirely of those black orbs. The moment they realized this, all the healers began to panic.

They all had a deep-seated trauma related to the black orbs, and the sight of them carpeting the ground immediately stoked their fear.

"They’re illusions! Don’t be afraid!" Xi shouted immediately.

"But they feel so real! I can sense it. These things don’t belong in a Healing Space..."

"How can they enter a Healing Space? What are these things? Can they find us no matter where we hide?"

"Even if they are real, they aren’t moving," Xi said, trying to reassure them.

"But... I think I feel a tremor. Are they changing? Will they turn into giants?"

The healer had barely finished speaking when the black orbs beneath him suddenly surged upward, transforming into a burly Headless Giant that thrust him into the air.

"Run!" Xi shouted without a moment’s hesitation.

The healers instantly reacted, scattering and fleeing into the distance.

The healer who had been lifted by the giant quickly jumped off of it. The giant’s arm slammed down viciously on its own back, and the healer narrowly avoided the massive limb, escaping back to the group.

"It really did turn into a giant! Don’t just say things like that!"

The healers fled frantically into the distance. Once the giant’s body had fully formed, it shook itself and began to chase after them.

"Is there any way to deal with it?" the healers asked anxiously.

At the giant’s speed, it would catch up to them soon.

"We can’t! We don’t know what those black orbs are made of, so we can’t use our healing. There’s nothing here besides them!"

This open plain was nothing but an endless sea of black orbs. The healers had no target for their healing and nowhere to hide. On this black landscape, their spiritual forms glowed like candles in the dark, making it impossible to escape the giant’s pursuit.

"Good thing there’s only one! Let’s scatter. These giants pause when their targets disperse," a healer called out as a reminder.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive! My companions and I tested it before. I was captured before we could put it to use."

"Then we’ll do as you say."

Just as the giant was about to grab the healers, they suddenly scattered. Seeing this, the giant froze in place, as if it had completely lost its ability to make a decision.

"It worked!"

"Quick, push it over!" the same healer shouted.

Hearing this, a few of the bolder healers didn’t hesitate. They circled around behind the giant and shoved its legs. The giant’s body tilted and it fell straight to the ground.

"That’s it. Once it’s down, it can’t get back up."

The giant snapped out of its stupor after a moment. However, just as the healer had said, it didn’t seem to have a "get up" routine programmed into it. It just struggled ceaselessly on the ground, its massive body thrashing the surrounding area into disarray, but it was unable to stand.

"Why is that? It knows how to run, doesn’t it? How can it not know how to get back up?" some of the healers who didn’t understand the situation asked.

"That’s not part of its programming. They aren’t living creatures, but a type of weapon that requires programmed parameters. They have parameters for running, grabbing, struggling, destroying, and so on, but they just don’t have one for getting up," the healer who had warned them explained. "So, as soon as they fall over, they completely lose all mobility."