A little while later…

The two had already traveled tens of millions of miles. If not for being cautious within the Profound Dragon Ruins, they could have progressed even further.

"A fork." The two stopped.

They encountered the first fork in the path. The passages to the left and right were pitch-black and impenetrable, even the Mechanical Ancient Eye could not discern anything.

"Should we split up? Or continue together?" Wang Xu asked.

"My reports mentioned that to enter the Profound Dragon Ruins, one must traverse a vast labyrinth. I suppose we are in this labyrinth now," Chi Lu Saint Venerable said. "Let's stick together. If something unexpected happens, we can watch each other's backs."

Wang Xu and Chi Lu Saint Venerable had already sworn a Law Oath of no harm when they decided to journey together.

Both absolutely trusted each other.

This was beyond doubt.

The Profound Dragon Ruins was a relic of the Great Emperor, fraught with unimaginable dangers. It's better for two to venture in than for one to wander recklessly.

"Then I choose the left." Wang Xu gazed at the pitch-black passage on the left.

"Let's pick it, go!"

Chi Lu Saint Venerable, with a solemn expression, stepped into the left passage first.

Wang Xu closely followed.

...

"Another passage." Upon entering, the surroundings remained unchanged, all were narrow rocky pathways.

"This is a maze. We must note the position of each passage and find the final exit." Chi Lu Saint Venerable said.

The two kept moving, fumbling through the narrow passages…

Three whole months later.

"Hmm?" Wang Xu finally sensed something was off, "Why does this place feel so familiar, it seems we've been here… that's right, we've definitely been here!"

Wang Xu's left foot was unique, even with the lightest force, it left a small indentation on the ground.

He saw the familiar indentation on the ground, confirming without a doubt that he had been here before!

"We are trapped in the maze." Chi Lu Saint Venerable's face darkened slightly.

Wang Xu's expression wasn't good either.

"The maze is just a minor test to enter the Profound Dragon Ruins. If we're stuck in this small maze, won't the tests ahead be even harder?" Wang Xu thought to himself.

After three months of progress, they still hadn't found an exit.

Moreover, they even lost the location of the initial entrance.

In other words, they were completely lost, entirely trapped in this narrow maze.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, Wang Xu's eyes sharpened, and turbulent Primordial Qi gathered in his hands, unleashing the terrifying might of the Duality Saint Venerable Realm.

But the pitfall for both Wang Xu's was even greater; a strike landed on the rock barrier, opening a pit about a meter deep, but before Wang Xu could examine it closely, the rocks inside began to wriggle, rapidly repairing at a speed visible to the naked eye, restoring to its original state.

"The stone wall here is reinforced with an Array… it's the Great Emperor's Array!"

Chi Lu Saint Venerable's face turned pale.

An Array of the Great Emperor, they couldn't possibly unravel it, and breaking it by force was even less likely.

Unless they could successfully find the right path, they would be imprisoned here for life, unable to leave!

"Damn it!" Wang Xu was furious.

"Brother Tai Xu, we need to calm down and think carefully. Over the past three months, we have traversed almost the entire maze and outlined the entire map, so why can't we find a way out? Is there an error in our method, or are we… missing something?" Chi Lu Saint Venerable said.

For three whole months, they had wandered back and forth in the maze, traversing countless passages and documenting numerous paths.

Yet not a single one could guide them out of this ghost place correctly.

Method error? Apart from this most primitive method, they had no other higher means.

As for missing something… what were they missing?

Ah, the Profound Dragon Talisman!

Wang Xu's eyes suddenly brightened.

"Brother Tai Xu, do you have a plan?" Chi Lu Saint Venerable was always observing Wang Xu and immediately asked when his expression changed.

"Yes, but I'm not sure if it will really be useful."

Wang Xu nodded, and without avoiding Chi Lu Saint Venerable, he took out the plain-looking Bronze Token from the Sumeru Storage Ring.

It was the Profound Dragon Talisman.

"What is this…" Chi Lu Saint Venerable's eyes lit up.

"The Profound Dragon Talisman, something I acquired by chance, and it's precisely because of it that I decided to take this expedition into the Profound Dragon Ruins." Wang Xu said.

Chi Lu Saint Venerable was enlightened.

"Although I don't know if it can be used here, even if there's a slight chance, we have to try."

Infusing the Profound Dragon Talisman with Primordial Qi, it floated up suddenly, projecting a map in the void, clearly the Guiding Map valued at fifteen million Chaos Stones.

"Isn't this the Guiding Map you sold me, Brother Tai Xu? So the Guiding Map was obtained from this Profound Dragon Talisman!" Chi Lu Saint Venerable's eyes shone.

The starlight on the guiding map outlined the location of the Profound Dragon Ruins.

But soon, the guiding map changed, and the mountains and rivers within the image faded and disappeared, leaving only the route formed by the starlight brightly shimmering.

"It's working!" Joy appeared in Wang Xu's eyes.

The starlight deviated from its original trajectory, starting to scatter, each point seemingly conscious, flying into the depths of the passage.

"This starlight is guiding us forward, let's go!"

Wang Xu took the lead, following the starlight's path, moving swiftly. Chi Lu Saint Venerable dared not delay, as this was their last hope; whether they could leave this ghostly place depended on the starlight.

Trailing after the starlight, Wang Xu and Chi Lu Saint Venerable raced through the passage. The once-doubtful forked paths now required no consideration; wherever the starlight went, they followed.

They had been constantly moving forward for about seven days.

After traversing countless chaotic passage forks, Wang Xu couldn't find the way back.

At that moment—

The starlight suddenly slowed its pace and then simply stopped.

"That's..." Wang Xu's face was glowing with excitement, "The white entrance, this is the correct entrance to the Profound Dragon Ruins!"

Unlike all the previous dark entrances, this one emitted a dazzling white light, distinguished and extraordinary at a glance.

This was indeed the true entrance!

"Tai Xu, wait, I seem to sense a powerful presence gradually approaching." Suddenly, Chi Lu Saint Venerable's face changed and raised his hand to stop Wang Xu from advancing further.

Wang Xu was startled, and his vigilance heightened immediately.

Sending out his Spiritual Consciousness, but restricted by the Maze Array, he could only detect within a couple of kilometers; any further and nothing could be sensed.

"Chi Lu, why can't I sense any powerful presence approaching?" After probing, Wang Xu did not discover the strong presence mentioned by Chi Lu Saint Venerable.

"Heh heh... That's because, you are about to die!"

Suddenly, a bloodthirsty and hoarse voice sounded behind Wang Xu.

What?!

"Damn it!"

A silent cry of anger surged from the depth of Wang Xu, followed by—

Boom!

Wang Xu only felt an unparalleled force penetrate his body from the back, making every bone and drop of blood within his body tremble almost to the point of collapse!

"Pfft!"

A mouthful of fresh blood sprayed from Wang Xu's mouth as his entire body uncontrollably flew backward, crashing directly into the rock wall, carving out a pit several meters deep.

In an instant, Wang Xu's life force plummeted, suffering severe injuries!

Wang Xu's face contorted in pain, clearly feeling a trace of the Supreme Law with a reverse intention relentlessly destroying his physical body, making it difficult for his Sacred Body to recover.

Though everything happened in a flash, he still managed to see the person who ambushed him...

"Chi Lu Saint Venerable! It's you!!"

Wang Xu's eyes were filled with fury!

He couldn't believe that the originally harmless, seemingly good-natured Chi Lu Saint Venerable had now turned into a blood-robed Demon God, exuding a strong smell of blood, with a blood-red mist swirling around his body.

Like a snake's tongue licking his lips, his forehead had turned into a blood-colored tentacle, morphing into a red unicorn, paired with his beast-like menacing face, filled him with a sinister aura.

The current Chi Lu Saint Venerable was a completely different person from the one Wang Xu had just seen!

"Huh? There are other beings within your body?" A hint of surprise flashed in Chi Lu Saint Venerable's blood-red eyes.

His previous strike, even against a Duality Saint Venerable, would have meant instant death.

But suddenly a figure in a red robe emerged from within Wang Xu, counteracting most of his force. Less than a tenth of the power was transmitted to Wang Xu.

Yet despite this, Wang Xu was still critically injured, coughing up blood.

"You Ji!" Wang Xu and You Ji were united as one. You Ji had protected him from a strike, but now fell into a severely injured, unrecoverable state.

The dim red and white intertwined flames flickered within Wang Xu, with You Ji being struck so hard she couldn't even maintain a human form.

If they were in Fengye, You Ji might recover quickly, as she was born from Chaos Nurturing, akin to the child of Chaos, and could quickly rejuvenate with the vast Primordial Qi of Fengye Chaos Cosmos.

But this was Kedan, Kedan didn't recognize You Ji!

"Damn it..."

You Ji did not respond, clearly fallen into a deep, injured sleep, while Wang Xu's eyes turned blood red, ablaze with hatred and anger.

His bloodshot eyes stared fiercely at Chi Lu Saint Venerable.

Meanwhile, there was something Wang Xu still couldn't comprehend.

Chi Lu Saint Venerable had clearly made a Law Oath with him, descending with the Power of Laws, without any chance of error. Otherwise, Wang Xu would never have traveled with Chi Lu Saint Venerable, let alone revealed the Profound Dragon Talisman to him.

But why did Chi Lu Saint Venerable attack him now, without any reaction from the Power of Laws?

Just as Wang Xu was puzzled, a golden scroll suddenly floated up from Chi Lu Saint Venerable and began burning independently.

"So that's how it is. He actually has an artifact to resist the erosion of the Law once!" Wang Xu finally understood, his eyes becoming increasingly fierce.

From Vast Blood Mountain City to now, Chi Lu Saint Venerable had been deceiving him all along! (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to support it by voting for recommendation and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)