Chapter 72: Submit to Me

Qu Yi followed the Instrument God’s advice and activated the Star Luo Ding, intending to charge recklessly through this underground labyrinth, destroying all the array cores before rushing to the exit.
With that first attack, he killed a Yuan Yao Rock Scaled Snake.
Qu Yi jumped out of the Star Luo Ding, a look of joy on his face—the shadow of the Instrument God piercing his spiritual core earlier had vanished completely.
“Haha, Instrument God, you’re truly too powerful! How could your spiritual awareness penetrate the labyrinth walls and pinpoint the location of this Rock Scaled Snake so accurately?” Qu Yi said, laughing as he stepped on the snake’s body.
After entering the underground labyrinth, Qu Yi saw that the turning point ahead was not far away, but his spiritual awareness could not sense it. He realized that the labyrinth’s array likely included layered spatial arrays. Thus, he was greatly curious as to how the Instrument God’s spiritual awareness could penetrate these layers and treat the labyrinth walls as if they didn’t exist.
“Don’t ask. Don’t think. You wouldn’t understand even if I told you,” the Instrument God replied indifferently.
Qu Yi’s breath hitched. Faced with this powerful Instrument God, he could only vent his frustration on the Rock Scaled Snake, kicking it violently several times. Then, he picked up the Frosty Space Ring and stored the lower-grade immortal artifact inside it.
At that moment, Qu Yi suddenly noticed a strange energy presence about seven inches from the dead snake’s body.
He immediately drew out the Shang Jin Sword and thrust it swiftly, extracting the hidden object—turns out to be a rhombus-shaped red crystal, identical to those on the labyrinth’s walls.
“Qu Yi, attach this Rhombus Red Crystal to the wall of the passage, and it will fix the location of the surrounding labyrinth, shielding it from the array’s influence,” the Instrument God spoke up again at just the right time.
So that’s how it is. Only then did Qu Yi realize that what the Instrument God meant by “killing immortal beasts to gain rewards” referred to these Rhombus Red Crystals.
The entire underground labyrinth could freely change its shape due to the control of the array. For example, a certain area of the labyrinth could be divided into three sections: Space One, Space Two, and Space Three. If someone entered Space Two and then flew to Space Three, the array would manipulate these three spaces—moving Space Three to where Space Two used to be, Space Two to where Space One used to be, and Space One to some other location in the labyrinth. In this way, no matter how the person moved, they would actually remain in the same spot.

With the Rhodochrosite placed on the walls of the corridors in Space Two, it could stabilize Space Two and the surrounding spaces. In this way, people could easily fly out of these spaces, and any attempts by formations to manipulate other spaces to deceive them would be greatly hindered by this stabilized space.

However, with Qi Yi having the Guide Spirit as his guide, the presence of the Rhodochrosite wasn’t necessary. As long as he reached the central point of the formation, he could keep flying straight toward the exit of the maze.

Qi Yi placed the Rhodochrosite directly on the wall and then took off, leaving that junction behind. The Guide Spirit continued to guide Qi Yi, helping him rush through the underground maze, breaking through the maze walls one after another.

……

Jin Xiong, the leader of the Jin Yang Sect, and Cang Huang, the leader of the Cang Yang Valley, had become separated from Feng Han and were now walking carefully together along the maze corridors. Once again, they reached a junction, where there was also a Yuan Monster-level beast—the Desert Rat.

The Desert Rat had golden-yellow fur all over its body, was ten meters wide, and filled the entire corridor. Its two dark, ink-like eyes stared ferociously at Jin Xiong and Cang Huang.

“Cang Huang, we’ve already killed four Yuan Monster-level beasts, and the four red crystals we obtained have stabilized part of the maze. Now there’s another one here. Its aura indicates it’s an Earth-type Yuan Monster. This time, you take care of defense while I look for an opportunity to attack,” Jin Xiong transmitted his message mentally, his expression cold.

Since Cang Huang practiced Earth-type cultivation techniques, he was more familiar with Earth-type spells, making it easier for him to defend against the Desert Rat’s attacks using such spells.

“Okay!” Cang Huang agreed immediately.

At that moment, the Desert Rat launched an attack first. Its body quickly shrank to the size of a palm, then it bent its limbs and launched itself forward like a shadow, heading straight for Cang Huang.

Along with its body came swirling yellow sand, resembling a sand snake, which swirled toward Cang Huang.

“You wretched beast! Don’t get too arrogant!” Cang Huang shouted fiercely. He already pulled out a lower-grade immortal sword from his hand and channeled his vital energy into it. The lower-grade immortal sword then emitted a yellow sphere of Earth-type primordial energy, directly resisting the swirling sand snake.

In the entire corridor, after a loud explosion, yellow sand shot out, creating a powerful gust of wind. Yet this sand, formed from Earth-type primordial energy, disappeared quickly, retransforming into various Earth-type energies that merged back into the natural energy of the world.

Cang Huang had blocked the Desert Rat’s attack.

Just as the two masses of Earthly Origin energy collided, Jin Xiong, who was standing behind Cang Huang, suddenly leaped forward, wielding a golden long sword—a lower-grade immortal weapon—that he thrust at the Desert Rat floating in the corridor.
“Sword Slash to Split the Body!”
Jin Xiong shouted fiercely, his eyes gleaming. As the sword was swung, the Desert Rat even paused for a moment.
During that brief hesitation, its body was struck by the golden sword light, and the Golden Origin energy rushed into its body, destroying all its vitality.
The Desert Rat was killed with just one strike.
Soon, Jin Xiong found a Rhombus Red Crystal inside the Desert Rat’s body and immediately attached it to the wall of the nearby corridor, stabilizing that section of the labyrinthine space.
“Haha, Jin Xiong! Now we’ve stabilized five spaces. I think if we stabilize a few more, we’ll be able to find the exit to the labyrinth soon,” Cang Huang exclaimed happily.
Ever since the two discovered the Rhombus Red Crystal, they had figured out the secret of this underground labyrinth and had been searching for the monsters within it.
“It’s not that simple. This underground labyrinth must be huge. We still need to hunt many more monsters before we can find a clue to getting out,” Jin Xiong said worriedly.
After that, the two fell silent and continued moving forward.
Suddenly, as they walked through the corridor, there was a loud bang from the wall ahead, and a large cauldron floated out.
The Star Luo Cauldron broke through the wall!
Of course, Qu Yi immediately flew out of the cauldron, looking at Jin Xiong and Cang Huang with joy.
“Qu Yi? It’s you! How…?”
The two leaders, Jin Xiong and Cang Huang, were utterly shocked. They couldn’t believe they could encounter Qu Yi in this infinitely large underground labyrinth, let alone that he could destroy such a solid corridor wall.
“It’s great to meet you both. I want to tell you to submit to me,” Qu Yi said cheerfully.
Undoubtedly, upon hearing Qu Yi’s words, Jin Xiong and Cang Huang’s faces turned furious, their breathing became rapid, and they clenched their lower-grade immortal weapons tightly.
“Qu Yi, this is an insult to us! I’d rather die with you than submit to you!” Jin Xiong shouted.
“Qu Yi, don’t think that just because you have a middle-grade immortal weapon, you can look down on us. We may not be able to kill you, but we can still injure you seriously,” Cang Huang shouted, his voice trembling slightly.
Undoubtedly, as leaders, the dignity of these two made it impossible for them to accept Qu Yi’s proposal.

Qu Yi laughed heartily at the two’s stubbornness and attempts to threaten him. “You two fools, thinking you still have ways to harm me? How ridiculous. Do you think the Star Luo Ding is something weak? I have the Shang Jin Sword for offense and the Star Luo Ding for defense—what chance do you have?” Qu Yi said casually. Hearing this, Jin Xiong and Cang Huang’s expressions changed drastically as they realized the danger they faced. Escape! Undoubtedly, these two leaders had witnessed Qu Yi slay Shan Zhen with a single sword strike and knew they couldn’t withstand his attacks. Now, their only hope was to rely on the labyrinth’s complex layout to evade him. In an instant, they chose two different directions and flew away quickly. Qu Yi wasn’t in any hurry to chase after them. With a faint smile, he said happily, “These idiots—none of them realized how I precisely located them? If they had stayed together and suddenly self-destructed, they might have hurt me. But now, scared, they scattered, which gives me an advantage.” Then, Qu Yi entered the Star Luo Ding again. Undoubtedly, guided by the Artifact God, he activated the Star Luo Ding and charged through the labyrinth recklessly, not following the paths but breaking through walls to move in a straight line. Cang Huang flew for a long time, keeping his spiritual sense wide open, believing he had reached a safe place where Qu Yi wouldn’t find him, so he stopped. Suddenly, a loud noise came from the wall where Cang Huang stood, and the Star Luo Ding crashed into him, who wasn’t quick enough to react. Cang Huang was flung into the air and fell unconscious. Qu Yi showed no restraint, directly sending his spiritual sense into Cang Huang’s soul, and the Artifact God planted a soul shackle within it. Before Cang Huang could regain consciousness, Qu Yi re-entered the Star Luo Ding, broke through the labyrinth’s walls again, and flew straight to attack the fleeing Jin Xiong. Jin Xiong kept flying for a day before stopping, feeling relieved that Qu Yi surely couldn’t reach him. He let out a deep sigh and sat down in a passage. But as soon as his buttocks touched the ground, a loud noise came from the wall beside him, and the Star Luo Ding appeared. Qu Yi flew out of it, holding the Shang Jin Sword, and swung it immediately. Jin Xiong was still sitting on the ground, but the space around him was sealed off by the sword energy of the Shang Jin Sword, and his body continued to suffer from the attack of the golden essence energy.

The space was sealed, and Jin Xiong knew he couldn’t escape for now. He could only use the inferior immortal artifact in his hand to generate a golden energy shield to defend against the sword energy attacks from within the space, struggling valiantly. Soon, Jin Xiong’s vital energy was exhausted. Qu Yi stopped swinging his Shangjin Sword and flew over to Jin Xiong, the sword tip pointing at his throat. “I surrender!” Jin Xiong said bitterly, closing his eyes in reluctance. Qu Yi smiled and retracted his sword.