The entire maze began to tremble violently, and an indescribable sense of oppression was closing in on the two of them.
Shen Qishuang, who was pulling Lin An along as they ran, glanced back.
That one look made her eyes widen.
The smooth, mirror-like walls were sliding rapidly—left, right, forward, backward—as if a giant hand was moving pieces on a chessboard.
No, the maze was moving faster than they could run, and she didn’t know which paths were open and which were dead ends.
“Lin An!”
She shouted over the rumbling vibrations.
“Huh?”
Lin An shouted back just as loudly.
“You can fly, right? Pick me up and fly!”
“You can fly too—why don’t you fly yourself?”
“There’s a prohibition in the Mystic Realm. I don’t have Spiritual Power Armor…”
Lin An took a quick step forward and grabbed Shen Qishuang around the waist.
Their skin suddenly pressed together.
Even through the barrier of their clothes, she could feel Lin An’s body heat and the sensation of his touch.
This made Shen Qishuang’s cheeks flush.
But she immediately noticed they weren’t really flying—they were only about half a foot off the ground.
“Fly! Why aren’t you flying? This isn’t even higher than I can jump!”
Lin An was panting as he maintained the flight of his Spiritual Power Armor.
“I am flying. Hey, have you gained weight? I can’t lift you!”
“!”
As it turned out, there are two secrets you never ask a woman: her age and her weight.
Those words sent Shen Qishuang over the edge.
Her cheeks puffed out, and her face flushed red from anger.
“You… who are you calling heavy? I’m clearly very light! Are you no good or what? If you can’t do it, just say so!”
Shen Qishuang’s thoughtless words not only made Lin An red in the face but also infected him with her reckless speech.
“Me, no good? You say I’m no good? How do you know I’m no good if you haven’t tried?”
After saying that, Lin An immediately calmed down and felt a bit of regret, because he knew very well that this girl never backed down from a challenge.
Her pretty face was bright red, the tips of her ears looked like they were about to bleed, and she gritted her teeth as she said fiercely:
“Fine, let’s try! We’ll try when we get out!”
Lin An’s mouth twitched.
Instinctively, he loosened his grip, which immediately made Shen Qishuang shriek.
“Ah! Hold on tighter!”
“…”
Neither of them spoke again.
Instead, Shen Qishuang decided not to fly anymore, dropped down, and pulled Lin An along as they ran again.
They ran for an unknown amount of time.
Suddenly, a wall came crashing toward them without warning.
Lin An pushed Shen Qishuang.
She reacted quickly and drew her longsword.
A gale-like burst of energy exploded from her center, freezing the walls on either side for an instant.
Taking advantage of that gap, she slipped out of the squeezing range, but Lin An was also blown away.
bang! The walls closed, completely separating them.
“Lin An! Are you okay!”
Shen Qishuang slashed out a sharp Sword Qi, but it only left a shallow gash an inch deep on the wall.
She rushed forward in panic and called upward, but unfortunately, there was no response.
…
…
The vibrations gradually stopped, as if this round of changes had ended.
Lin An slowly opened his eyes to the smooth maze walls.
He sat up, holding his head.
“This girl… that was strong…”
The blast of energy had not only blown him away but also knocked him unconscious.
Lin An shook his head with a bitter smile.
In the end, he was too weak, and he had overestimated himself.
Rushing in recklessly relying on external gear—that was rash.
Still, he didn’t regret it.
At least he knew that girl was safe.
He stood up and observed the identical walls around him.
‘Are these the same paths?’ he couldn’t help wondering.
Probably not.
Otherwise, how would you navigate this maze—by doing acrobatics?
That would be ridiculous.
Lin An caught his breath for a moment, then slowly floated up.
This prohibition was really strange—it only restricted people, not equipment.
Didn’t that count as cheating?
He flew over the wall and looked down from a high vantage point, but he didn’t find Shen Qishuang’s figure.
‘Stupid girl, why didn’t she just wait in place?’
After searching from above for a while, the energy in his Spiritual Power Armor began to run low.
That mad dash earlier, trying to keep up with Shen Qishuang’s speed, had consumed a lot of spiritual power.
He might need to land somewhere and let the armor recover and recharge.
Just as he was about to descend, he spotted someone.
Dark red combat clothes, hair tied high in a ponytail.
It was Qu Hongling.
She was running—fast, urgent steps, as if dodging something.
The decorative veil on her face had even fallen off.
But the problem was, there was no pursuer behind her.
Yet her expression was more tense than if there were one.
Lin An lowered his altitude and landed in the corridor ahead of her.
Seeing him, Qu Hongling stopped in her tracks while simultaneously placing her hand on the short sword at her waist.
Her eyes scanned Lin An from head to toe before finally meeting his face.
“Holy Son?”
Her voice carried obvious wariness.
Lin An touched his face and realized he had forgotten to wear his Mask.
Then another question occurred to him: was this woman real?
He had encountered Mu Qinghan’s illusion in the Flower Sea and had been very careful not to interact too much.
Later, he met Shen Qishuang, and luckily, she wasn’t an illusion.
So… what about this Qu Hongling now?
He wasn’t sure.
Qu Hongling was also hesitating.
Because just moments ago, she had already killed three “Holy Sons.”
Her reasoning was simple and very in line with a Demon Cultivator’s mindset.
The Holy Son’s cultivation was far above hers; he had only suppressed his strength to hide his identity.
If she acted insubordinate, the Holy Son would definitely get angry, fight back, and punish her severely.
Then she would act a little seductive—the Holy Son was a normal man, after all, so he wouldn’t be able to resist.
And then everything would fall into place perfectly!
While the two of them stood still, Lin An also thought of a way to determine if this woman was real.
Observe Like and Dislike.
Lin An focused his mind and looked at Qu Hongling.
In his view, Qu Hongling was shrouded in dense blue mist, with very little white mist remaining.
The Mystic Realm could mimic a person’s face and voice, but could it also mimic this ability?
He didn’t believe it.
So this Qu Hongling was real.
“Holy Son, forgive my insolence.”
“?”
Before Lin An could react to what she meant, Qu Hongling had already drawn the two short swords from her waist and charged at him.
And she was smiling—a smile of such unnatural excitement that it sent a chill down Lin An’s spine.
“You…”
Are you crazy!
Before Lin An could finish, Qu Hongling was already upon him.
She propelled herself forward like an arrow leaving the bowstring.
Her dark red figure left a blur in the gray-white corridor, moving so fast Lin An’s eyes couldn’t track her.
The two short swords traced two silver-white arcs in the air.
“Hehehe…”
Qu Hongling’s suppressed laughter echoed through the corridor, a sound that reminded Lin An of horror movies he had seen—the kind of laugh a female ghost would make.
He didn’t run.
Not because he wasn’t afraid, but because he couldn’t get away.
Qu Hongling was at the eleventh level of the Mortal Martial Realm; he hadn’t even reached the first level.
Against her first strike, he had almost no chance to resist.
“Holy Son, let your subordinate see if you’re real!”
Qu Hongling’s voice drew closer, the cold gleam of the short swords growing larger.
Tch… Am I going to fall here?
He had no time to think about anything else, because the short sword was already at his throat.