After a strenuous effort using the wall-breaking method, Jiang Ke’er and the rest of the Taiming Sect members finally regrouped inside the Mist Room.
“I just took one down.”
“Me too.”
The group exchanged information and realized they had already eliminated four cultivators from the Blood Staunching Pill Sect’s team.
Now only one remained—and he was captured.
“Our Senior Brother went to the Alliance Team; otherwise, he could have easily killed all of you!” The captive’s face twisted with rage, stubbornly refusing to yield.
“If you’ve got the guts, kill me! Dying inside the tower isn’t real death—just temporary elimination. I’m not afraid!”
Strange. Hadn’t they already gotten the exit information? Why was this guy suddenly so defiant?
“To be honest, the exit we got earlier was fake,” Xiao Ming said, scowling.
“I checked it out. This guy wanted to trick us into an endless loop to waste our time and buy the elite main team from the Dan Sect Alliance some breathing room… Luckily, you guys broke through the dead-end by digging the wall.”
They could try severe interrogation next, hoping to extract real information, but what if even this guy didn’t know the exit and was just bluffing? Then questioning would be a complete waste of time.
Troublesome—it seemed the only way to pass this stage was to break through the wall by force.
Jiang Ke’er’s ears suddenly perked up. “Does anyone here know Formation Arts?”
“No,” everyone shook their heads.
“Alright, I’ll give it a shot,” Jiang Ke’er sighed softly, transforming into her fox form and began examining the surroundings.
The others didn’t know the composition of the mist and couldn’t think of this possibility.
But Jiang Ke’er understood that the scales powder couldn’t move naturally without wind.
There had to be some Formation Arts maintaining the maze and controlling the order of the scales powder.
Time flew by as Jiang Ke’er furrowed her brow, searching, but every second was torture for the Taiming Sect team.
They had no idea how far other teams had progressed, even suspecting that the lucky ones might already be near the top.
Extremely unlucky—this was a disastrous start for the Taiming Sect members.
Not only did they fail to acquire any useful buff treasures, but they also kept encountering troublesome rooms that wasted a lot of time.
“Give up. I think you might as well just settle down here,” the Blood Staunching Pill Sect disciple sneered,
“You’ve already delayed too long, there’s no way you can…”
Bang—
His brain splattered.
Xuan Yang gave him a swift end.
Jiang Ke’er admired Senior Brother Xuan Yang—calm and casual on the surface, but when he struck, it was always a headshot.
The blood splatter was visually striking.
She wondered what the fangirls in Lingyin Valley would think if they saw Xuan Yang’s battle style now—they all believed Senior Brother Xuan Yang was a delicate little milk dog.
“Found it!”
After turning around and around, Jiang Ke’er finally discovered a compass-like device on the ground.
As she dug it out, the surrounding white mist dissipated with a puff.
Even the scales powder she had gathered earlier was drawn into a newly appearing bag out of thin air.
The bag wobbled and then, on its own, crawled into Jiang Ke’er’s Qiankun Bag.
…So this means she could take it away? Out of the tower?
Jiang Ke’er was ecstatic.
She had been short on bizarre alchemical materials for research, and she had sensed that the “transformation” attribute of this scales powder was closely related to the Transformation Origin Pill she was refining.
She had even intentionally collected some… Now, after clearing the maze, it was delivered straight to her!
Worth it! The rewards from this secret realm were already worth it!
But the maze clearance reward didn’t end there! The compass device’s appearance began to change, slowly displaying the names of the Twenty-Four Mountains.
The Twenty-Four Mountains were the twenty-four directions used in Feng Shui, formed by positions such as Jia, Mao, Yi, Chen, Xun, Si, etc. Each position was fifteen degrees apart, totaling a full 360 degrees circle.
At this moment, the compass showed the You position, representing due west.
At the same time, a number lit up in the compass’s center: 9/15.
The scene shifted. Just as Jiang Ke’er studied the compass, they were pulled back into the Grotesque Room.
Now, Jiang Ke’er noticed the compass’s number had changed to 5/15, and the position shifted to Jia.
She paused and gasped sharply.
She understood!
The compass indicated the actual location of the current room!
Showing 5/15 at Jia meant she was in the fifth level, slightly north of east.
9/15 at You meant she had just been in the ninth level, directly west room.
And 15 must be the total number of floors in the Trial Tower.
But how to use this compass? What was its real purpose? After obtaining such a giant tower map, what kind of advantage could it bring?
Jiang Ke’er couldn’t figure it out yet.
She raised her head and realized the Grotesque Room was now empty—other teams had cleared and left, leaving only the Taiming Sect team lagging behind here.
They still had to face another Grotesque Incident before they could leave, and it would most likely be a negative one.
“You’re lucky,” the Grotesque Gnome Elder said with a faint, enigmatic smile, “We’ll let you off this time. Since you’re already the pitiful last place, I’ll give you a little gift.”
Last place…
“That’s really disheartening news,” Xiao Ming and Xiao Ri grumbled miserably.
The elder waved his hand, and a White Light swirled around the group.
“I’ll randomly upgrade one of your treasures. It will unlock a new function.”
As he spoke, the White Light flew to Jiang Ke’er, since she was the custodian of the team’s treasures.
Jiang Ke’er frantically chanted in her mind: Please don’t upgrade the Strong One’s Egg or the Regret Button! Upgrade the compass or the Demon Contract!
She hoped that if the compass could upgrade, it might reveal future room contents, allowing targeted route choices—an incredible benefit!
Alternatively, upgrading the Demon Contract to remove the attribute increasing the chance of traps and battles in Grotesque Rooms would also be great! It would improve the team’s gains in those rooms!
Then, with a despairing glance, Jiang Ke’er saw the White Light pass over the Demon Contract, then the compass, pause briefly at the Strong One’s Egg… and finally resolutely enter the Regret Button!
Jiang Ke’er almost cried.
【Regret Button (Upgraded): No longer limits the number of uses but still only allows positioning once.】