NOVEL NEXT Chapter 103: The Maze
Liu Feng blushed and retorted, “At least I’m not as thick-skinned as you.”
Qian Lei turned to Lan Xuanyu. “With our four additional points, saying that we are number one isn’t wrong, right Xuanyu?”
“Uhm?” Lan Xuanyu gave him a helpless glance.
Qian Lei pointed at Lan Xuanyu’s cheek full of food. “Can you stop for a moment, you’re eating way too much. How did your parents even raise you up!”
Lan Xuanyu did not reply, merely giving a snicker. It was not that he did not want to reply, but he was unable to open his mouth.
After swallowing all the food in his mouth with much difficulty, Lan Xuanyu heaved a sigh of relief and voiced out, “You have to let me have my fill first! If I’m not full, how are we going to fight them later?”
“Ok ok, go ahead and eat. Please eat more.”
Right at this time, Ye Lingtong walked into the cafeteria. Upon sighting Lan Xuanyu, she walked over.
“Lan Xuanyu.” Ye Lingtong knocked on the table.
Upon seeing his puffed-up cheeks and large eyes, Ye Lingtong broke out into laughter. “Why are you so foolish-looking?”
Lan Xuanyu immediately felt a rage bubble inside him as he looked at her in fury. He munched on the food a couple of times and swallowed down.
“Who are you calling foolish?”
Ye Lingtong replied straightforwardly: “Don’t be blind to my kind heart! I’m here to remind you. If you can’t fight your opponents in the afternoon, just concede. In any case, your team will not be eliminated this term. I overheard Jin Xiang and others discussing ways to humiliate you after winning.” With that, she turned and left.
“That’s called kindhearted? That’s a blatant condemnation that we will be humiliated. Jin Xiang is truly an abomination.” Qian Lei fumed.
Liu Feng snorted. “Then we’ll let them see who’s the strongest! The only thing is that we aren’t sure how the test will be like later.”
It was a fact, there was no public announcement regarding anything about the test before it started. No one knew how the test would be conducted.
There was no doubt that might was king amongst the Elite Junior Class. It could be said it was the most important, especially since the majority of the students had chosen the path of Duo Mecha Master.
Inside the simulation pods room.
30 Elite Junior Class students stood by similar-looking pods with Mu Zhongtian at the center. His calm gaze swept across the students. In the end, his eyes landed on Lan Xuanyu.
The incident with Lan Xuanyu inside the simulated world was a painful lesson for him. If not for Lan Xuanyu’s full recovery after that, it would have left a shadow within Mu Zhongtian that would exist for the rest of his life.
Therefore before the start of the test, he and the teachers conducted a thorough check on the test ground a number of times. After ensuring that there were no possible dangers, they went ahead with the plan.
“The following test will be a test on actual combat that all of you will go through. The test scenario will be the Maze. All of your pods are arranged according to serial numbers. Each team of three will be teleported to the same location. Within the maze, all of you will encounter all sorts of attacks within the maze. As for the specifics, you will have to experience them yourselves. The task on hand is simple, find the other teams and eliminate them. The teams that are eliminated earlier will obtain lower scores. And of course, we will be watching the entire time. Any outstanding acts in battle will obtain their corresponding points. But the ultimate winner will gain an additional 10 points and will not be eliminated in this term. Understood?”
The maze? What is that? The name was foreign to Lan Xuanyu. He initially thought that the 10 teams would simply draw lots and fight and never expected it to be a royal rumble like the initial selection for the Elite Junior Class members.
After being enrolled, his training was mostly fighting against soul beasts. There were too few exposures in fighting against other Soul Masters.
His thoughts turned and he immediately pondered on strategies. There was no doubt that everyone wanted to be the champion, but how easy would that be? Every single classmate of his was excellent Soul Masters amongst all of their peers!
“If everyone is prepared, be ready to enter.” With a wave of his hand, Mu Zhongtian activated all the pods.
Everyone climbed into their own pods. Upon lying within, gelatinous liquid poured in and submerged their entire bodies. The pod lids closed as the scene before their eyes darkened.
The stifling sensation lasted for a moment because suddenly, light began to pour in from all directions. Connected to the system, they had entered Douluo World!
With a flash, Lan Xuanyu discovered that he had arrived at an unfamiliar location. But he was not alone — Liu Feng and Qian Lei had appeared by his side.
The grouping of three in a team for the Elite Junior Class was after long and careful consideration. After all, they were still young and had no strong points in terms of coordination, therefore there was a difficulty in accomplishing proper coordination with too many people. Three was the perfect number. The more there were, the more complicated it became. But without forming groups, no attempts in coordination would be made. After going through many research and tests, the institute had decided on three a team.
“What do we do now?” Qian Lei asked.
Liu Feng’s eyes turned towards Lan Xuanyu as well.
Ever since Lan Xuanyu was able to display abilities that could strengthen them, their reliance on him could be said to be growing with each passing day.
Lan Xuanyu looked at them and replied, “I have no idea too. Have you guys tried this Maze before?”
The two shook their heads.
Lan Xuanyu thought for a moment. “Since all of us are in the maze. This means that we can encounter anyone. And most probably we will be fighting multiple times. If we want to be the champion, it is not possible to only rely on our strength, since everyone has a limit to their Soul Power and can only be used a couple of times. I feel that we should look for a place to hide and conceal ourselves. The lesser battles we fight, the higher the probability we have in winning, honing our strength for the big push.”
“Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang!” Right when Lan Xuanyu finished, low rumblings suddenly came out from the distance.
They were currently in a walled-in path roughly 5 meters in height. Their sides and roof were made out of stones with small wall lamps along the walls. The rumbling came from the darkness from one side of the pathway.
The three stared towards the source of the sound and saw a 2 meter stone aspect rolling towards them.
The stone aspect had eyes that emitted red light while wielding a gigantic battle ax. Inside the narrow 5 meters tall pathway, it had sealed their path.
“Woah, it looks rather strong! Xuanyu, do you want me to summon something?” Qian Lei asked.
Lan Xuanyu: “No, you’re our secret weapon. Don’t do any summons. If we are to hone our strength…, we have to remain hidden. I have an idea. Wait for the stone aspect to come closer. Liu Feng, the two of us will make our moves. Qian Lei, you will stay back and lean against the wall.”
Their current spot had no hiding spots with a dead-end behind them. There was no way out. But it was also because of this predicament that Lan Xuanyu had a brazen idea.
The stone aspect in front of them was not fast, but it moved steadily towards them. The mechanical sound produced from the stone aspect gave them an oppressive sensation.
Qian Lei retreated to the back with Lan Xuanyu and Liu Feng standing about five to six meters ahead.
Lan Xuanyu looked to Liu Feng: “Frenzie, test out its offensive capabilities. Don’t engage it, just let it display it’s fighting style. Since the maze is mainly testing us to coordinate, it should not be too strong, and more likely just to harass and slow us down.”
Liu Feng nodded and brandished the white dragon spear before rushing forward.
He was extremely fast; Going through bitter training daily, he had grown stronger. As expected of someone proficient in speed.