"Shouyi." Hearing such a familiar voice startled Bai Shouyi, and her expression softened when she saw the old man’s figure in front of her; even her eyes filled with longing. "Grandpa!" Bai Shouyi immediately stood up and ran towards the old man, but her body passed right through him. The old man immediately turned to her. "This is just a small part of my soul that I intentionally planted in your soul to prevent unexpected things like what happened just now, so you can’t hug me. Even though this place is only an illusion, it will undoubtedly affect you for the rest of your life, which is why my soul immediately moves to protect you." "Thank you, grandpa." Bai Shouyi then asked. "Does this mean you’re still alive?" "Haha." The old man laughed and nodded to him. "I still live healthily in the upper realms now, but I haven’t been able to return to our realms, especially since I and the others became disciples in one of the sects there." Bai Shouyi was dumbfounded in response to that. "How can you all become disciples again at your age, Grandpa?" "We are indeed old in our realm, but we are still very young in the upper realms, and many people there are much older than us by several thousand years." Bai Shouyi nodded in understanding before informing the old man about the state of their family and kingdom, a fact that caused him to frown. "Huangfu Shou can’t possibly control your parents with his current strength, so I’m sure someone stronger than him is helping him control them. You, Chongxi, and Renfu should leave our kingdom to investigate." "How can we investigate that matter, Grandpa? Our parents are helpless, and the three of us are far weaker than them, so there’s no way we can investigate that matter." The old man shook his head at her. "You three can’t investigate that matter, but there are several other kingdoms besides our kingdom. Xian Feng and Yun Shang might have noticed the problem with Huangfu Shou, so you guys can go to one of them to ask for help, and you can tell them about my guess." "Grandpa, you’ve been away for a long time, so you’re unaware that our father has continuously assisted Huangfu Shou in attacking them." Bai Shouyi sighed softly before continuing. "I’m uncertain if they, especially Uncle Yun, will be willing to assist us. Moreover, I almost killed Yun Xinyue with my poison during the previous battle challenge, and I’m sure his envoy has reported it to him." "At least try to meet them first, and you will know the answer after meeting them." Bai Shouyi nodded to the old man. "This soul of mine will disappear soon, and I won’t be able to protect you anymore, so you should take better care of yourself." "Yes, Grandpa." "All right, I’ll use this soul’s last power to help you escape this illusion so you can continue the maze challenge." Bai Shouyi disappeared immediately after the old man waved his hand. . . . Zhang Fei was trying to calm the Yun Princess, who was experiencing a mental breakdown inside the illusion, when she heard Bai Shouyi’s soft moan. "Oh? She can break free from the illusion faster than Xian Xianqin and Yun Xinyue, huh?" Bai Shouyi slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room, but her expression turned to fear when she saw Zhang Fei hugging Yun Xinyue. She quickly stood up and moved away from them, making him smile in amusement. ’Wasn’t I kidnapped by that strange tongue before? How can I be here with them now?’ "Why are you that scared?" Zhang Fei asked with a shake of his head. "If I wanted to do something bad to you, I could have done it since I found you passed out naked." "Huh?" Bai Shouyi was stunned for a moment before stuttering. "You... you saw me naked before?" "Hey! Even though I saw you naked, I’m not interested in you." Zhang Fei’s reply made Bai Shouyi’s face turn red with shame and anger at the same time, but she couldn’t deny that her figure was inferior when compared to Xian Xianqin or Yun Xinyue. "How did you get in that room in such a situation?" Bai Shouyi immediately suppressed her anger, sat down at a distance, and explained her previous situation to Zhang Fei. Her explanation convinced him that his previous guess was correct. ’I still don’t understand why they sent this woman to me.’ Xian Xianqin suddenly groaned and opened her eyes, and she immediately let out a sigh of relief after seeing the interior of the room. However, she was shocked to hear Yun Xinyue scream in terror; she immediately sat up and turned to face them. "What happened to her? Why did she become like this?" "Xinyue encountered a terrible illusion, and her weak mental state collapsed because of it." Zhang Fei then told the two women about it based on the words that came out of the Yun Princess’s mouth. "I don’t have a solution to help her, so we can only wait for her to break free from the illusion. However, I’m not sure if she will be able to continue this challenge with her mental state like this, but we might fail if she gives up because she is part of our group." "Yeah, you’re right." On the one hand, Xian Xianqin was deeply concerned about Yun Xinyue’s condition, but on the other hand, she was determined not to fail the challenge. She then turned to Bai Shouyi. "How is your condition? Is your body okay?" "I’m fine." Bai Shouyi then asked them. "Can you take me with you guys after we’re done with our challenges?" "Why is that?" Bai Shouyi immediately informed Xian Xianqin about her conversation with her grandfather during the illusion, a revelation that surprised both the Xian Princess and Zhang Fei. "What do you think about that, Fei?" Zhang Fei immediately considered and weighed all the options. "I think it’s okay if we bring her with us, but we can’t do it outside, especially since Huangfu Shou’s people are also in this tower. Unfortunately, I cannot do anything at the moment, but if the survival challenge rules and formations remain unchanged, I may be able to do something." "How are you going to do it?" "How can you take me away?" "I can’t explain it now, and we’ll find out the results during the survival challenge." Suddenly, a path opened up on the north wall after Yun Xinyue stopped screaming, indicating that she was free from the illusion. However, she immediately fell unconscious because her experience inside was too much for her, but Zhang Fei right away carried her on his back. "Let’s move now, especially since we’ve wasted so much time here." Both women immediately followed the path behind him, and a quarter of an hour later, they arrived at a room filled with dozens of heaven-rank beasts. However, the situation did not pose a significant challenge for them, as Zhang Fei used his heavenly fox aura to suppress the beasts, and he also used his essence absorption technique to absorb their essences, a move that horrified the Xian and Bai Princesses. [You gained 500,000 Beast Essences.] Zhang Fei actually didn’t want to use that technique, but he needed more power to protect himself and those around him. He still needed about five million beast essences to evolve his beast form to six-tails. "I know you two are scared, but I have no other choice, and I will continue to use that technique every time we encounter beasts." Xian Xianqin and Bai Shouyi remained silent, following Zhang Fei until they reached a two-way intersection. They took the left path first but ended up in a collapsed room, so they turned around again and took the right path. When they reached the next room, Xian Xianqin and Bai Shouyi immediately drew their weapons due to the presence of several demons from the Dark Demon Kingdom. Zhang Fei also took out his sword, but he also used his exorcismus ability because the light element was the main weakness of demons, and the effect of the ability was stronger thanks to his understanding of light element law. After they had cleared out the demons, they hurriedly continued their journey to the next area. However, the path ahead was filled with trap weapons, and since there was no other way out of the area, Zhang Fei tied his tail to Xian Xianqin and Bai Shouyi’s waists before teleporting them several times. Unlike Bai Shouyi, who was relieved that she didn’t have to do anything, Xian Xianqin was extremely frustrated because Zhang Fei had done everything for them. A while later, they arrived at an empty room with only a staircase leading up. They hurriedly climbed up and unexpectedly encountered two people. "I didn’t expect to meet the two of you here, Second Prince Long and Senior Xianzi." "Hehehe." Xi Xianzi laughed before floating toward Zhang Fei and touching Yun Xinyue’s forehead. "It appears that this girl has endured a traumatic experience before, but she is fortunate to have met me now, so I will assist her in healing her mental state." "Thank you." "No problem." Xi Xianzi immediately withdrew her hand. "She’ll wake up soon, so you guys don’t need to worry about her anymore." "Have you all met the others before?" Long Tian inquired. Zhang Fei pointed to Bai Shouyi. "We found her unconscious in one of the rooms, so we took her with us. Where are First Prince Long and the others? Did you get separated from them?" "My big brother is currently with Princess Jinglan and Jin Dabao, but I am uncertain about their current situation due to these powerful restrictions." They nodded in understanding, and Long Tian continued. "At first, Xianzi and I entered here together with Zheng Ru, but he made a mistake and fell into a trap, and we still haven’t managed to find him." "Did you guys meet a lot of beasts and demons before?" Xi Xianzi asked. "We only met beasts three times and demons once, but we encountered a lot of tests, so we wasted a lot of time." Zhang Fei then asked them. "Have you succeeded in finding the key hidden in this outer area?" "That’s for sure!" Xi Xianzi immediately showed them the golden key. "Since we’ve got our key, it would be best if we started looking for a way into the inner area, especially since I’m getting bored with the situation inside this maze." Zhang Fei and the others agreed with that, and they rushed to find a route to the inner area of the maze. Unfortunately, it was not easy with the vast area, and they had to face many obstacles, such as beasts, traps, and dead ends. . . . In another area, Zhou Meiling was annoyed that Bai Renfu was so useless, so she had to spend a lot of qi to clear the obstacles that blocked their way, especially when they encountered beasts and demons. ’Tch! This useless bastard! I should have killed him from the moment we met!’ Bai Renfu was actually afraid of Zhou Meiling, especially since she repeatedly absorbed the life and soul forces of beasts and demons. That’s why he deliberately kept his distance from her and saved his qi, as he was afraid that she would suddenly attack him and kill him. ’Tch! This woman looks beautiful on the outside, but her inside is really rotten! I think she got that ability from the demons of both demon kingdoms, especially since her father had a close relationship with them.’ *Drap... Drap...* Suddenly, they heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming from behind, so they immediately looked back and saw Zheng Ru running quickly toward them. Zhou Meiling smiled faintly as she looked at the giant. "Hey! How-" Zheng Ru disregarded the two of them and proceeded straight ahead, causing Zhou Meiling to frown and want to chase after him. However, Bai Renfu stopped her immediately. "You must not find trouble with that guy, or we will face serious trouble if the other natural races find out about your actions, and Xian Jinglan will definitely kill us." Zhou Meiling scowled at Bai Renfu, aware that the people from the natural races, particularly Xian Jinglan, were far stronger than them, so they could not defeat them. "Let’s go! We’ve found the key, so we have to find a way to the inner area as soon as possible." . . . "Have you ever seen such a beast, Prince Long?" Bai Tian’er posed the question, pointing to the strange beast in the room in front of them. Xian Jinglan answered him first. "According to Lang, the beast was not born naturally, but it was a combination of several beasts, and it seemed to be the result of human creation." "Human creation?" Bai Tian’er and Ye Zhiqiu were shocked when they heard that. "How could humans create such a beast?" "I don’t care how they managed to do that, but I can’t let this beast suffer." Long Chen immediately walked into the room and stood in front of the beast before touching its head. "I am a beast like you, so I understand your feelings, and I will relieve you of your suffering." The beast nodded slightly, and Long Chen immediately fired his dragon qi into its brain, causing it to fall and die instantly. "Rest in peace." Long Chen immediately took the golden key from the beast’s neck before walking out of the room. "That’s why we never liked humans, especially since too many of them were lower than beasts. If my parents hadn’t stopped me, I would have led the beasts to slaughter the humans on that island." Your next read is at freewebnovel Long Chen immediately walked in the other direction ahead of them; his attitude made Bai Tian’er and Ye Zhiqiu sigh heavily in their hearts, especially since they were both humans. "He is a beast, so it is natural for him to be angry when he sees other beasts being treated like that, so you two don’t need to take his attitude to heart." Xian Jinglian spoke to the two women as she followed Long Chen. Bai Tian’er and Ye Zhiqiu exchanged glances for a moment and followed them directly. . . . *Clang... Clang...* After they tried to solve the puzzle for several hours, Jin Dabao and the Huangfu sisters finally managed to solve it, and the door to their prison opened by itself. Jin Dabao ignored the two women and hurriedly left the room, causing Huangfu Xiaoying and Huanggu Xiaomei to become even more furious with his attitude. However, their vast difference in cultivation rendered them powerless to fight him, and they immediately left the room, heading in the opposite direction to the male dwarf. Huangfu Xiaoying immediately spoke to her sister. "What should we do now? We can’t possibly pass through those obstacles with just the two of us, and we might die if we encounter beasts or demons." "Do we have any other choice?" Huangfu Xiaomei inquired with a heavy sigh. "If we give up now, then we will fail, and we will not be able to proceed to the next challenge. If that happens, our father will punish us severely once we return to our kingdom, and he might even give us to that mysterious person." Huangfu Xiaoying shuddered as soon as her sister mentioned that mysterious person. "I would rather die than fall into that person’s hands." "We’ve wasted time in this prison, so we should move quickly to find the golden key, and we’ll find a way to the inner area after that." Both women immediately rushed to the next area, but their fears came true as they encountered a group of demons there. Without thinking twice, Huangfu Xiaoying and Huangfu Xiaomei immediately activated their protective artifacts and fled the place, but the demons rushed after them. Fortunately, the goddess of luck was still on their side as a large rock suddenly descended from above, blocking the demons’ path. Huangfu Xiaoying and Huangfu Xiaomei immediately ran at full speed toward the end of the path, arriving at a room with a portal in the middle, which they immediately entered. - To Be Continued -