CHAPTER 513: CHAPTER 513. OLD CLASSMATE

"Try your best to survive," Amon sent Wu Di a message.

Wu Di reported what had happened. He couldn’t flee now that two opponents were targeting him. Amon told him to focus on defense and buy time. Once he brought the metal cube to the water and bamboo contraption, they would all be teleported out of this trial space.

Amon had already rendezvous with Xin Wuming when Wu Di was scuffling with Hua Yang. He now rushed to where Huang San was. Xin Wuming followed closely behind him.

Amon moved using the Shadowless Sprint. He turned at intersections without any hesitation because he had already memorized the path. He followed this path to reach the destination as quickly as possible.

While running, he spoke to Huang San telepathically, "Your Highness, tell me what the contraption looks like in detail! I most likely don’t have the time to study it. We need to know what to do with this metal cube once I arrive!"

"Uh, okay. Let’s see... The water starts from a broken bamboo tree. It fell onto a bamboo with a lever mechanism. It then flowed into one of the two vertical bamboo poles, which transferred the water to a series of gears. These gears rotated thanks to the water movement. The water from the gears enters one of the two horizontal bamboo poles before falling on one of the two basins in the ground. The basin has a gorge that transfers the water to the base of the bamboo tree, where the water comes out from. My guess is the water is pumped upward inside this bamboo tree before exiting from its broken part. The water goes in a cycling process."

"Your Highness mentioned two vertical poles, two horizontal poles, and two basins. Does the water ever pass through those second ones?" Amon asked.

"Um, no," Huang San answered. "They are probably just for decorations."

"This trial space doesn’t do decorations," Amon said. "Your Highness said the basin the water fall into has a gorge that transfers the water back to the bamboo tree. What about the second basin? Does it have a gorge as well?"

"Nope. The second one is a closed basin," Huang San answered.

"Check the horizontal pole and the vertical pole. If the water goes through those poles, will they end up in the second basin?"

A moment of silence before Huang San replied, "Yes. In theory, if the water enters the second vertical pole instead of the first, it should end up in the second basin. The entry point is, however, blocked by the bamboo lever. Because the water keeps falling on the lever’s one side, the force keeps it from rotating. If it rotates, it should direct the water into the second vertical pole. Maybe I should use my hand to rotate the lever?"

"Don’t do that! If you do, there may be a retaliatory response," Amon said. "Is there something at the other end of the lever from where the water is falling onto? A handle, maybe?"

"As a matter of fact, there is. Wait, I fly up to check it. It’s pretty high up," Huang San informed. After a while, his voice returned, "The other end of the lever has some sort of a handle that ends up with a square-shaped bowl."

"How big is it?" Amon asked.

"About the size of my hand," Huang San answered.

Amon looked at the metal cube in his hand. He told Huang San, "Hang tight. I will be arriving shortly."

He was about two-thirds from Huang San’s location by then. Unlike the other trial stage, this stage wasn’t especially large. What made travel difficult was its maze setup. If one didn’t know the way, one could spend days without arriving at the destination, even when it was only a mile away. Thankfully, that was not the case for him.

While he was not troubled by knowing which path to take, a different trouble came his way.

Amon sensed the incoming trouble once it came out of a corner. This trouble was a man. Amon recognized the man to be one of Princess Huang Er’s entourage. From the data he learned before the trial, the man’s name was Xian Shi.

Xian Shi immediately attacked when he spotted Amon. A swing of his hand generated a flaming saber that flew forward. The flaming saber didn’t fly to where Amon was. It instead flew slightly ahead. Xian Shi intended to halt Amon’s advance.

Amon didn’t have the time to deal with this. He used the Invisible Sky Steps, which produced a temporary boost of speed. The speed boost let him rush past before the flaming saber arrived.

"Wuming, halt him!" Amon exclaimed without slowing down.

Xin Wuming was already heading toward Xian Shi when he saw Xian Shi produce the flaming saber. Xian Shi was a Peak Mystic Stage. From the art just now, Xian Shi’s affinity was most likely fire, which was his weakness. Even despite the disadvantages in both cultivation and affinity, he didn’t back down. For Amon, he didn’t mind risking his life.

As he charged, his body elongated and thinned. He turned into a massive sword that thrust forward.

This was the same transformation art used by the Wei Suangsou, the deceased clan head of the Wei Clan. The art’s name was One With The Blade. It was a powerful art with a grade of low-tier profound. Wei Suangsou couldn’t utilize the art properly because he never truly mastered the art. His mastery of the art was only at the Skilled level when he fought Amon.

After the massacre of the Wei Clan, Amon found the book containing this art inside Wei Suangsou’s space ring. He gave it to Xin Wuming afterward.

Due to the difficulty, Xin Wuming also had trouble learning the art. He only learned it recently, and his mastery was still at the beginning level.

Even though it was only the beginning level, the sharpness of the blade he transformed into could not be underestimated. If Wei Suangsou hadn’t been poisoned during the fight with Amon and the Demon Gang, he could have used this art more frequently, and the art would also have been more destructive.

Xian Shi could sense the art’s power. Even when he could use arcane arts with an elemental advantage over the incoming giant sword, he chose not to clash directly. He jumped to the side to avoid being skewered.

The giant sword crashed into the bamboo fence. Despite the tremendous piercing power, the bamboo fence remained standing. The giant sword turned back into Xin Wuming.

"Tch," Xin Wuming uttered. He was very fast when he transformed into a sword, but with his current mastery, he couldn’t change direction as Wei Suangsou did.

"Not bad, worm, but your effort is pointless," Xian Shi mocked. "My friends are nearby. How about you give up Prince Huang San’s location, and we will let you live. The thirteenth prince’s chance of winning this trial is slim at best."

"Screw you! How many trial stages have your team completed?" Xin Wuming asked. He had expended a considerable amount of energy using the One With The Blade. He needed some time before executing it again, so he used his weapon. Holding a longsword in his right hand and using the Iron Finger art with his left hand, he created a net of crisscrossing sword lights that trapped Xian Shi.

"Like throwing an egg against a rock!" Xian Shi put his palms together and made a slashing motion. Intense flames burst from his palms and formed a giant blade. The giant flaming blade shattered all the sword lights. The collision threw Xin Wuming back.

Xian Shi laughed at the outcome. "So that you can die without regrets, I will answer your question. Our teams have completed four trials!"

"Hehe, stupid," Xin Wuming chuckled. "We are about to complete our sixth!"

Xian Shi’s laughing face froze. He might have won the clash but lost the squabble. He quickly recovered and exclaimed, "Like I will believe that bullshit!" He charged forward with arms holding two flaming sabers.

*

Xian Shi wasn’t boasting when he said his friends were nearby. He had sent a telepathic message to the nearest one, who happened to be in the direction Amon was heading. He also informed this friend when Amon turned to the next corner.

That’s why when Amon made the turn, he was immediately greeted by a salvo of water darts.

Amon’s Mystic Sense might have been late in detecting the water darts due to it being blocked by the bamboo fence, but his danger sense was not. He used the Invisible Sky Steps once he turned the corner. He shot upward before making several sharp turns, bypassing the water darts.

Though the water darts failed to surprise him, the user of the water darts did. Standing before him was Sima Fang, his old classmate at the Royal Academy.

"I was sure my timing was perfect. Your reflex is indeed inhuman," Sima Fang praised.

"Out of my way," Amon uttered. The Xian Cloth unfurled from his right arm. The yellow cloth slashed the ceremonial dagger tied to it in Sima Fang’s direction.

Sima Fang lightly dodged the slash. The ceremonial dagger returned at high speed for a second slash but failed to hit its target again. Every time the slash came, Sima Fang swayed away. She appeared so light that her body was as if a leaf. She flew away with each slash. The faster Amon slashed, the quicker her flying speed was.