Chapter 316: Chapter 316: To Make It Out Here, Strength Alone Isn’t Enough

After Li Wei discovered a technique—exploiting a bug—to farm Star Worms and rack up Points quickly.

His rank shot up, and he became number one.

Laurent, who had been holding first place, was dumbfounded.

He had just cleared a Maze level.

He opened his Magic Badge, wanting to see how many Points the person in second place was trailing him by.

’I can slow down a bit, no need to be so tense.’

But when he looked, he saw that first place had been taken by someone named Li Wei.

And his Point total was far ahead of his own.

Laurent was instantly baffled.

"Wait, who is this Li Wei? Why did he suddenly get so many Points?"

Laurent couldn’t figure it out.

’Could there be some kind of mistake?’

Then he saw Li Wei’s Points start to rise rapidly again.

Laurent couldn’t sit still any longer.

If this continued, his hopes for first place would be dashed.

This year, his family had gone to great lengths to pull strings for him.

As long as he got first place, he had a ninety percent chance of getting into the Purple Level Class.

He absolutely could not let someone else ruin this for him.

Laurent took out another Magic Badge to contact his support on the outside.

"Something’s not right. A Mage named Li Wei is gaining Points way too fast. Find a way to stop him."

Outside the venue, an Elder’s Magic Badge vibrated.

When he saw the message, he wasn’t surprised.

Staying outside, he had been keeping a close eye on the leaderboard.

He had seen Li Wei’s sudden rise, snatching the number one spot.

He was also trying to figure out a solution.

"Yes, I’ll figure out a way to take care of him."

Seeing the reply, Laurent breathed a small sigh of relief.

But he didn’t dare let his guard down.

Li Wei’s Points were still climbing rapidly, making his eyelid twitch.

If this kept up, even if Li Wei gave up and left the Infinite Maze now, he wouldn’t be able to catch up.

"Can you hurry up? At this rate, I’ll never catch him."

"I’ve already made the arrangements. Don’t worry."

Li Wei finished off another batch of Star Worms and walked toward the next Maze’s Teleportation Gate.

’Huh? This place has already been cleared by someone?’

Li Wei didn’t think much of it.

He casually picked an open Teleportation Gate and went inside.

Once inside, he found that the surrounding Teleportation Gates were also open.

This meant it was another Maze that had already been cleared.

Li Wei felt a strange feeling in his gut.

’Why are there suddenly so many people around?’

He continued onward.

After passing through several Maze Palace Halls in a row, he discovered they had all been cleared by others.

Li Wei realized something was wrong.

’What’s going on?’

Li Wei stopped moving. He stood still and looked around.

He had already realized he was probably being targeted.

Otherwise, a situation like this would be impossible.

Now, even if he kept going, the next one and the one after that would surely be empty Maze Palace Halls.

Someone had altered the positions of the Maze Palace Halls.

They had trapped him within a specific area.

If he couldn’t break the spatial loop, he would be stuck in this area indefinitely.

No matter how many Maze Palace Halls he passed through, he would just be walking in circles.

Li Wei had already passed through two Maze Palace Halls he’d been in before.

He was well aware he was going in circles.

He took out his Magic Badge and saw that the second-place score was now rising quickly.

Every few minutes, dozens of Points were added.

The score was rapidly catching up to him.

A flicker in Li Wei’s eyes suggested he had understood something.

’Can’t compete, so you play dirty?’

Li Wei rummaged through his Spatial Ring and found something.

It was the gland sac from a giant Star Worm, which contained a wondrous liquid that could corrode and cause Brittleness in spatial barriers.

Before, it had always been the Star Worms trying to destroy and invade the Maze.

Li Wei never thought he would be doing the same thing.

He squeezed the liquid from the gland sac and smeared it onto the spatial barrier above his head.

After a long while, the spatial barrier began to visibly warp and distort.

Li Wei took out his Death Wolf Fang and pierced the spatial barrier.

KRAK!

The spatial barrier shattered, creating a hole.

Standing at the edge of the hole, Li Wei felt a Power pulling him out.

He carefully climbed out of the hole.

’Since Star Worms can move around out here, I figure I can too.’

’Is this the outside of the Infinite Maze?’

Li Wei looked down at the Maze below.

He found that the Maze had become a two-dimensional plane.

The surrounding Mazes were all haphazardly plastered throughout the Void, like sheets of paper.

An ordinary person’s body could not survive for long in the Void.

There was nothing here to sustain the life of a normal person.

Li Wei transformed into the Flame Lord and flew forward.

’As expected, the surrounding Mazes have been tampered with.’

Li Wei saw that the Mazes below him had been pieced together into a single block.

As long as he was inside a Maze Palace Hall and followed the Rules of the Infinite Maze, he would never be able to leave this area.

This region had been cut off from the outside.

It was impossible to reach other Mazes.

Li Wei looked up and shot into the air.

He flew toward the nearest Maze.

HISSSSSS!

Swarms of Star Worms materialized in the Void and flew rapidly toward Li Wei.

The Star Worms in the Void were spindle-shaped.

Lacking limbs, they shot straight toward Li Wei like bullets.

They used the impact from their flight to burrow into their prey’s body, killing it from the inside.

But it was obvious that Li Wei was not their prey.

The Death Wolf Fangs shot out.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

The two Death Wolf Fangs zipped through the Star Worm swarm, leaving a trail of corpses.

BANG!

Li Wei landed atop a Maze.

The spatial barrier beneath his feet blocked his entry.

He looked down and saw a person inside the Maze.

The person inside the Maze looked up, their face a picture of astonishment.

’What is that?’

Seeing a Star Worm or a Maze Devourer wouldn’t be strange.

But seeing a man of fire outside the Maze was a first.

It was utterly surprising and shocking.

The key thing was, this fire-man seemed to be a Mage.

Li Wei took out the giant Star Worm’s sac and, repeating his earlier trick, opened a hole to enter the Maze.

After slipping into the Maze, Li Wei’s form returned to normal.

The person next to him was completely stunned.

He had only thought Li Wei looked like a Mage; he hadn’t expected him to actually be a person.

"Y-y-you, how did you get outside?"

He stared at Li Wei in utter shock.

Li Wei glanced at him and said casually, "That’s none of your business."

"Aren’t you leaving? The Star Worms are about to get in," Li Wei asked.

Startled by the reminder, the man snapped to his senses.

He glanced at the large hole Li Wei had made, then quickly turned and stepped through a Teleportation Gate.

He fled the Maze that was about to be overrun by Star Worms.

The corner of Li Wei’s mouth lifted into a smirk.

’Waiting for the Star Worms to come in and die.’

Laurent cleared a level and opened his Magic Badge to check how far he was behind Li Wei in Points.

One look, and he froze on the spot.

How had the gap not shrunk? It had actually grown larger!

Li Wei’s Points were charging toward the five-thousand mark.

Laurent furiously sent a message, questioning the Elder outside.

The Elder was also at his wit’s end.

He had already done everything he could to trap Li Wei.

He never expected Li Wei to still be able to gain Points.

At this point, there was only one last resort.

The Elder personally contacted Li Wei.

"Mage Li Wei, there is something I need to discuss with you."