Chapter 1717: Chapter 1717: Deadly Traps at Every Step

In the Mechanical Path.

Li Feng agilely navigated the corridor before him, but the imagined traps did not appear. He quickly reached the end of the corridor, where a sharp turn awaited.

Li Feng did not relax a bit; instead, he became even more alert. Without pausing at the bend, he performed a wall-walk, aerially turning, tapping the wall several times with his feet, and landing several meters away.

However, as soon as his toes touched the ground, Li Feng sensed something amiss; the ground bricks began to sink.

Li Feng quickly attempted to leap up, but it was too late. The mechanisms here were exceedingly sensitive, almost instantly reacting, as the wall at the end of the corridor shot out three Soul-piercing Nails, arrayed in a triangular formation.

Li Feng flipped mid-air like a bird, weaving through the triangular formation of Soul-piercing Nails, which immediately embedded into the wall behind him.

Li Feng somersaulted in mid-air, glimpsing the length of the corridor. This part was shorter than previous sections, only about ten yards long; undoubtedly, this was the first trap.

The mechanism was apparently triggered by stepping on the ground tiles. Li Feng smiled faintly with a cold amusement, then descended, pressing his hand on the ground, which sank, triggering another piercing sound.

This time, the Soul-piercing Nails shot out not in a triangular formation but in a square mouth shape. Li Feng twisted his wrist, leaning sideways, avoiding the nails once more.

The next second, Li Feng supported himself with one hand, somersaulting without concern for the ground tiles beneath him.

Despite the considerable power behind the Soul-piercing Nails, in this brief ten-yard corridor, they appeared instantly, yet Li Feng, being prepared, managed to evade them effortlessly.

However, as the distance shortened, the traps undoubtedly grew more powerful, reducing his reaction time further.

Swoosh swoosh.

The piercing sound echoed again; as Li Feng dodged, he managed to catch one of the Soul-piercing Nails in his hand, effortlessly grasping it with his formidable physical strength, feeling the cold steel in his palm.

The next second, Li Feng gazed down the ten yards of corridor, suddenly stepping forward, triggering the mechanism by stepping on the ground tiles.

More Soul-piercing Nails shot out once more, this time numbering five, in a field pattern.

Li Feng threw the nail he held, colliding with the central nail amongst the group, swiftly moving two yards, catching the rotating Soul-piercing Nail in mid-air, and hurled it forward. At this moment, a piercing sound reverberated once more.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye; the collision echoed twice in the air, disrupting the formation of the attacking Soul-piercing Nails, allowing Li Feng to pass through the corridor with ease, like skimming water.

Li Feng used his toe to touch the Soul Nails embedded in the wall, leveraging them to traverse the remaining three or four yards effortlessly.

Though the entire process appeared simple, it was perilous; after all, dodging at ten yards was manageable, but as the distance decreased, the nails gained power, reducing the reaction time notably.

Especially in the final three or four yards, relying solely on physical reflexes might result in injury.

Li Feng cleverly navigated this corridor segment, rounding another bend onto the second part. According to the information shared by Bai Xiaosheng before entering, this Mechanical Path has nine twists and eighteen turns, and Li Feng has merely passed the first turn.

Li Feng immediately heightened his vigilance; since there were mechanisms on the ground, he decided to fly over them. Of course, this was not Sword Flight — Nine Layers Mountain had specified that only physical prowess was allowed here.

Using other methods would be detected.

Just like before, he would first grab two or three Soul-piercing Nails and use them to traverse the corridor.

Li Feng stepped on the ground tile once more.

He was already poised to act, but the anticipated piercing sound did not occur, which puzzled him. Instead, he heard grinding sounds from the wall behind him.

Li Feng turned around to inspect.

He cursed as he sprang forward like a wild dog, finding that a wall that had previously fired Soul-piercing Nails had unexpectedly rotated, launching a surprise from behind.

This truly caught Li Feng off guard; thankfully, the wall’s rotation wasted a fraction of time, providing him a second to escape two or three yards away; otherwise, at such a close range, his scalp tingled.

Indeed, this Mechanical Path was full of surprises.

Despite the messy situation, the sneak attack from behind pushed Li Feng to sprint further away, reaching the third bend. Without a pause, the mechanism activated; the wall beside him descended slowly, revealing another passage behind.

This corridor wasn’t a hidden Mario level; Li Feng twitched his ears, hearing a rolling stone’s friction.

The next second, Li Feng saw the corridor and a rolling stone perfectly fitting this passage descending behind him. The passage clearly had a slope.

As soon as Li Feng saw the rolling stone, he instantly turned and sprinted like skimming water, while the stone commenced its slow roll.

It began slowly, but as this entire passage sloped downwards, simultaneously, this corridor had mechanisms aplenty; though no Soul-piercing Nails emerged from front or rear, they transformed into long spears thrusting from sides or abruptly from above and below.

Moreover, these traps didn’t even require Li Feng’s activation; the rolling stone behind triggered them all, making it the key to activating every trap along the corridor.

Li Feng couldn’t time the activation like before, preparing adequately for a response.

Li Feng could only run, racing against the rolling stone, trying to outrun the stone before it triggered the traps, running as swiftly as possible.

This Mechanical Path seemed determined to corner people to the brink, compelling them to unleash their full potential, for slow reactions could be lethal.

"That senior, won’t this be a bit excessive? Activating all the traps may result in fatalities."

The entrance of the Mechanical Path is the gate of the training ground, but it’s entirely underground; normally, entry doesn’t require passing through the Mechanical Path — the Shadow Wall is actually a gate, connecting upwards to the gate tower.

Within this tower lies the master mechanism controlling the path, along with another Shadow Wall Stone, allowing one to observe the Mechanical Path below.

At this moment, Yan Zhao, who previously greeted Li Feng, was present. Despite being a robust figure seven feet tall, he was humbly looking at the woman beside him like a quail.

They say that Nine Layers Mountain is full of brutes, with few female disciples, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any. For instance, the woman before them is not only one of the few female disciples but also the leader of Nine Layers Mountain.

Even men must submit to her presence.

"Why, do you disagree with my method?" The woman glanced at Yan Zhao, causing him to retreat warily.

"No, no objections; senior’s actions serve to better test his abilities."