"Hmm... So that guy passed too," Xuan said, glancing at the man from the Sun Sect. He was dressed a bit better than before. Clearly, someone had chimed in and helped him.

But oh well.

This was the final round anyway.

The overseer stepped forward, and without saying a single word, she took a key out of thin air, then placed it into the sand. In the next instant, a single door manifested out of nowhere, yet the Qi it exuded reminded Xuan and Yuelan of a dungeon.

<Xiao Yuelan: Heh...>

<Xiao Xuan: Are you planning to run off again and clear the whole dungeon by yourself?>

She chuckled from the side.

<Xiao Yuelan: Nope. I’d love to, but I hate mazes. I’d much rather just let you clear it. I’ll act as a sentry, or something.>

Hm.

So it was just her way of saying she was lazy. Got it.

"Everyone!" the overseer yelled. "This is the final round of the tournament. When you go through this gate, you’ll all be randomly scattered throughout a large maze. The first sect to get to the very center and find the exit will emerge victorious. A reward will naturally follow."

Xuan’s ears perked up at the ’reward’ in question. What was it? Heh... He should ask Hanbi what it was later, but by the looks of things, they didn’t have much time, as the overseer went ahead and began pushing the cultivators through the gate one by one.

Soon, it was Xuan’s and Yuelan’s turn.

"Tsk... I thought I could laze around," Yuelan said.

Xuan rolled his eyes. "You still can, you know? Just stand still and let Sierra do everything. She’ll probably know the way."

She raised a brow. "Didn’t you hear? She said she’ll be reading since mazes are difficult to navigate. As for Hanbi, she’s the only one who’ll be trying."

Ah.

So in the end, it seemed like Xuan needed to move as well.

Finally, Yuelan entered, and right as Xuan was about to go through, he spotted something strange. The overseer had changed which hand she had placed on the gate. She hadn’t done that for the entire duration that everyone was going through.

So why him?

"Oh..."

Right.

He did make a few enemies.

"So before I go through, I have to ask. Where exactly is this going to take me?"

She tilted her head. "To the maze? Go through already. The longer you wait, the more ahead the others will be."

"Is that so? Well, in that case..."

Xuan took a step forward. Then, to the surprise and complete shock of the overseer, Xuan covered his fist completely in Poison Qi and struck her right in the face. A Spirit Grandmaster she may be...

POP!

SPLAT!

Her head exploded like a watermelon. The gate was also slowly starting to close, so in the nick of time, Xuan grabbed her dimensional ring, and without any further hesitation, he went ahead and ran straight through the unstable gate.

And for a brief moment, he felt his consciousness fade. Even though he had done it so many times, teleportation still sucked. He hated it. Though, it did give him a bit of time to realize one thing.

Usually, he used to get some Spiritual Qi and Void Qi when he killed someone. But for some reason, that stopped. Was it because the amount of Void Qi he had right now was just too much to the point that such a little amount wouldn’t even be counted?

Well, whatever it was, he didn’t get it anymore. It made killing someone not as satisfying.

But on the bright side, my Poison Qi works wonders. Her face rotted before exploding. If my armor can do the same, then I’m invincible, Xuan thought, and finally regained proper consciousness.

Appearing on top of the maze was definitely not on his bingo card. On the flip side though, Xuan managed to spot the location where he would’ve been teleported to. It was actually right below him.

It was a small box, filled to the brim with Qi, and surrounding it were a bunch of explosives. They seemed a bit uncanny given the cultivation era, but fair play. Xuan would’ve been very badly injured from that.

Ah, another cherry on top was the fact that Xuan could feel the presence of someone powerful in the very center. If he had to guess, that was where the big bad Thunder Sect cultivator was.

Xuan let a bit of his Qi flow, and immediately, he felt the same cultivator’s presence lock onto him, assuring Xuan that this was indeed him.

And so, Xuan decided to not beat around the bush. Since the confrontation was inevitable, he walked atop the walls of the maze until, finally, he reached the very center. It was a rather open plain, surrounded by stone and statues.

There was a little bit of sand too, coupled with corals placed just about anywhere. Oh, and a massive portal in the very center, clearly the exit.

But next to that portal was a young-looking man in completely blue robes. He didn’t wear an arrogant expression, nor did he seem like someone who’d strike him down like before.

Though...

"Are you Xuan?"

"Who’s asking?"

"Luo Lian," he answered. "I’m an Elder of the Thunder Sect, and I’d like it if we could chat for a moment."

Hmm.

"So do you only want to chat because striking me down with thunder and exploding me in a box didn’t work? Or was this your plan from the very start?" Xuan asked, mocking him slightly.

But Luo Lian, despite the Thunder Sect’s notoriety, wasn’t that easily mocked or angered.

Instead, he took out a single sword and pointed it at Xuan. But just then, he turned the handle and stabbed the sword clean into the ground, shattering the stones around it.

Leaning against his own sword, Luo Lian took off his bandana, revealing his long, flowing black hair, but also a vertical sword-like scar near his hairline.

For some reason... Xuan felt a bit of familiarity with this scar. But why?