Chapter 271
Upon hearing this, the paper figure was taken aback and said, “In my sensing, the distance to the key has been decreasing at a slow pace; it hasn’t suddenly increased.”
“Ah!” Ottofis echoed, seemingly in agreement with the paper figure.
“No increase in distance?” Ye Bai looked at the sculpture in front of her, still connected to that half piece of azure roof. She was sure she hadn’t made a mistake.
When she first entered this place, she had confirmed that it had transformed into a maze.
However, she hadn’t expected to get lost even with the guidance of the paper figure. From this situation, it seemed that the mechanism of this maze didn’t involve changing spatial distances.
“Let’s keep moving and see what happens.”
After a moment of thought, Ye Bai set off again.
Along the way, she encountered various familiar amalgamated buildings. The central area guided by the paper figure was obscured by mist and architecture, and even flying high above didn’t provide a clear view. Only the outer wall she had seen when she first entered flickered in and out of sight among the disordered structures.
After a while, Ye Bai stopped once more.
Before her stood that familiar sculpture again.
“The spatial distance hasn’t changed at all?”
The paper figure on the leaf of the Tree of Life shook its head. “No.”
“A maze that doesn’t change spatial dimensions… then we should consider other types…” Ye Bai pondered, and after a moment, a thought struck her. “Could it be a knowledge maze?”
“A knowledge maze… a maze that creates obstacles through knowledge?” The paper figure speculated based on Ye Bai’s words. As a well-read entity, it seemed to lack knowledge in this area.
“A knowledge maze is formed by altering perception, not by changing space. It changes the consciousness of those within the maze; it’s a legendary magic of the Void Spirits.” Ye Bai explained, though her tone was somewhat uncertain.
The reason she thought of this was through the process of elimination. So far in this main quest, Ye Bai had encountered four top races in the divine realm: the Ancient Dragons, the Deep Sea Clan, the Infernal Beings, and the High Elves.
As the champion of the Divine Realm Championship, the God King naturally had connections and influence among each of these top races.
Currently, the only races she hadn’t encountered in relation to her quest were the Human race and the Void Spirits. The beings with the power of light tracking her might come from the current Human duchies, while the Void Spirits, representing knowledge and concealment, had left no trace except for the remnants of their teleportation glyphs.
Now, facing this maze devoid of spatial dimensions, Ye Bai recalled the lore about the Void Spirits, who excelled in control-type spells and the pursuit of knowledge. One of their signature legendary magics was indeed the “Knowledge Maze.”
However, the fact that this knowledge maze seemed to cover the entire royal city was something Ye Bai hadn’t anticipated, much like how she hadn’t initially realized that the Elven Queen could hide the entire Emerald Forest within a dream.
“Influencing consciousness… that might actually be possible, because even in my current state, I could be affected by ‘consciousness’.” At this point, the paper figure marveled, “Lord Bai Ye is truly knowledgeable; I’ve never seen any related records in books.”
No records in books? Ye Bai’s expression shifted at this revelation. This was one of the racial settings she was aware of. If the paper figure hadn’t seen anything in books, it was likely that information about the Void Spirits had been deliberately concealed.
The Elven Queen had previously mentioned that the anomalies of the Void Spirits had led to the civil war between the two major Human duchies. Up until now, Ye Bai knew very little about the Void Spirits.
However, the most important thing at the moment was to find a way out of the maze. Steeling herself, Ye Bai turned her head—
“If we are indeed in a knowledge maze, we first need to find the place where it ‘asks questions’.”
As she spoke, her gaze fell on the outer city wall, which remained constant despite the chaotic changes in the surrounding buildings.
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Chapter 186
The knowledge maze is the most unique among all legendary magics. The principle of its maze structure is similar to an information cocoon; the scenes and environments seen are essentially distractions. It’s impossible to find the correct exit based on the terrain.
The power and intrigue of this legendary magic lie in its ability to distort even the system map guidance, meaning the target direction the paper figure has sensed could also be a distorted result.
At the same time, it is the easiest yet most difficult legendary magic to break.
It’s easy because the only way to solve a knowledge maze is by answering questions. If you answer correctly, you’ll receive guidance to find the maze’s exit; this is a rule that the caster must also follow. It’s difficult for the same reason: if you answer incorrectly, you’ll remain trapped in the maze and suffer a percentage of damage until death.
Moreover, trying to buy time to answer slowly won’t work either, as the targets in the maze exist in a conscious space, and health and mana will no longer regenerate over time.
Even using other recovery methods, there will eventually come a day when you run out of resources.
Another way to escape is to use a force strong enough to overturn the maze, but given the vastness of this knowledge maze, which might even encompass the entire outer area of the royal city, only core powers like the Infernal Core or the Tree of Life could achieve that.
Thus, Ye Bai’s only solution to the knowledge maze was to answer the maze’s questions correctly.
In the knowledge maze, finding the correct location to answer questions could be considered the first question. Compared to the chaotic and disordered ruins around, the outer wall was relatively intact, representing ‘order’ amidst the chaos.
“I sense that the distance to the target is increasing, and this speed is faster than before. It seems we are indeed being misled by the maze.” As Ye Bai approached the city wall, the paper figure on the leaf mused.
When they had been lost in the maze, they had felt themselves gradually getting closer to their destination. After changing direction, the increase in distance should have been the same; this discrepancy highlighted the problem.
“That means we’re on the right track.” After navigating through the disordered buildings and spending some time, Ye Bai finally reached the edge of the city wall.
At that moment, she suddenly remembered that since she entered this place, she had directly confronted those chaotic structures. The city wall had actually been at a distance from her all along; she had been so focused on exploring deeper that she hadn’t paid attention to that detail.
The city wall appeared to be constructed from rare materials, specifically azure stone, and bore some signs of erosion from time, but unlike the other buildings inside, it hadn’t been ‘stitched’ together.
Ye Bai reached out to touch the wall.
In the next moment, the seemingly rough surface of the wall suddenly rippled like the reflection on water.
The wall transformed into a screen, displaying a question with four answer options—
【What does ‘Loralin’ mean?】
【Thief】, 【Krogon】, 【Nilo】, 【Dofei】
Looking at this scene, which was strikingly similar to a knowledge quiz show, Ye Bai felt a strange mix of emotions.
She had had such an idea during her design process, but seeing it in this fantastical world still left her with an indescribable sense of absurdity.
The questions that appeared in the knowledge maze were not custom-defined by the caster; otherwise, the magic would be unsolvable. Instead, they were drawn from the game’s background, in other words, a vast encyclopedia of knowledge from all realms.
At this moment, the four answers displayed on the screen: the first was in common Human text, while the latter three were identified by Ye Bai as Elvish, Infernal, and Void languages. “Loralin” meant “thief” in Deep Sea language, and “Nilo” had the same meaning in Infernal.
Since Ye Bai hadn’t fully mastered Elvish and Void languages, she couldn’t automatically translate the content of those two terms, leaving her uncertain.
However, Ye Bai wasn’t alone in this battle; she had a paper figure proficient in multiple extraordinary languages as her ally.
“Although the text above is in extraordinary languages, I can’t enter it.” The paper figure also sensed the wall and then acted as a translator for Ye Bai: “Krogon means ‘thief’ in Elvish, while Dofei refers to ‘robber’ in Void language.”
This meant it was a multiple-choice question, and she should select the other three answers besides Dofei.
As the one answering the question, Ye Bai placed her hand on the first option.
The answer wobbled slightly, and then a feedback sensation entered Ye Bai’s consciousness.
【Incorrect】
‘-5278’
At the same time, a penalty from the knowledge maze struck—Ye Bai’s health was instantly reduced by a quarter.
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