CHAPTER 268: CHAPTER268-ENDLESS CONTRAPTION

Owen also felt something was amiss.

Yashum sighed deeply.

"We’ve entered the Endless Contraption, a place where survival rates are incredibly low. Our fate could go two ways: either navigate through all its mechanisms to gain the fortune of the Ancient Ruins or meet a gruesome end under one of its traps."

Upon hearing this, everyone’s faces turned pale, with Owen and Anderson feeling a deep sense of dread.

They hadn’t even begun to investigate the cause of the elder’s demise, and now they were facing the possibility of dying to these contraptions?

"How many traps are there?" Norma asked, a hint of terror in her eyes.

She couldn’t bear the thought of dying in such a suffocating manner, encountering the unheard-of Endless Contraption upon her arrival at the Ancient Ruins.

How could she stand for it?

Yashum glanced at Norma, his tone indifferent, "More than a hundred."

"What!"

Not only did Norma’s face change dramatically, but Owen and the others were also visibly shocked.

They had struggled to solve even one trap, and now there were over a hundred more of these mechanisms?

"That’s why I said our only outcomes are either obtaining the fortune of the Ancient Ruins or dying tragically to one of its traps," Yashum explained, seeing the looks on their faces and sighing slightly.

This time, they might truly be in trouble.

"Isn’t there any other way?" Norma asked, unwilling to accept their fate.

No one answered her.

If there had been another way, Yashum would have mentioned it sooner rather than waiting for her to ask.

"Don’t despair too much. This trap is somewhat special; most of the others rely on strength. As long as we work together well, there’s still a chance to survive and obtain an incredible fortune!" Yashum offered some consolation to the group.

Though meant to comfort, his words also carried truth.

Most of the Ancient Ruins’ traps tested strength and were adjusted according to the challengers’ capabilities.

Therefore, with good teamwork, there indeed was a sliver of hope to overcome them.

Norma, facing the bleak prospects of survival, decided to hold nothing back and voiced her thoughts.

"Heh, so we’re banking on strength when we’ve got someone at nirvana-tier grade 1?"

This was a cultivation level Owen had only recently become aware of.

Such strength would be considered elite within the Northern Mountain Empire, but in the context of forces at the level of the Sanctuary, it hardly mattered.

This comment instantly rekindled the anger within the group.

Perini glared at Norma, "Aside from your looks, what else are you capable of?"

Norma snorted coldly, choosing not to engage in a verbal spat with Perini.

With Yashum being the most powerful among them, and Perini his sister, Norma wouldn’t dare offend Yashum without a solid backing.

Owen, eyes flickering, decided not to dwell on this matter.

Instead, he suggested, "Let’s head to that entrance and see."

"Agreed," Yashum nodded, his approval leading the way.

With his consent, the rest followed without objection, promptly making their way to the entrance.

Upon arrival, Owen was greeted by pitch darkness, suggesting another new scene lay beyond the door.

"I’ll go in first," Yashum offered, stepping forward as he assumed Owen’s hesitation stemmed from fear.

"Yashum, wait," Owen interjected, pulling him back.

Then, Owen began to deploy countless array flags at the entrance.

With each movement more skilled than the last, it was clear his mastery of array formations had far surpassed that of the national preceptor Blois.

As the array took shape, a faint soul power mark emerged at the entrance.

"Is that... a soul power mark?" Yashum’s eyes widened in surprise.

A sudden realization shook him as he grasped the purpose of this soul power mark.

"This must have been left by someone who fell into the Endless Contraption before," Owen said, his expression turning solemn.

He now harbored suspicions that they might have unknowingly been marked by a soul power mark on their way here.

Once tagged, the owner of this soul mark could pinpoint their location at any time.

In an environment fraught with danger, this was a terrifying prospect.

"What’s with this soul power mark?"

Perini, evidently not as knowledgeable as Yashum, immediately voiced her confusion.

To Owen’s surprise, Norma also recognized the issue and offered an explanation.

"If the person who left this soul power mark behind after entering the Endless Contraption survived, with so many years gone by, their strength must have at least reached the rule-tier, capable of wielding the power of rules. If we make it through the Endless Contraption, do you think they might come looking for us?"

"Let’s go."

With a wave of his hand, Owen destroyed the soul power mark and proceeded towards the dark entrance, with Anderson and the others quickly following suit.

"Indeed..."

Upon entering the dark portal, the scene before Owen immediately changed.

He found himself in a vast and enclosed martial arts chamber, with several humanoid puppets positioned to one side.

Anderson and the rest entered one after another, starting to survey the space.

However, aside from its surprisingly large size, the martial arts chamber seemed to have nothing special about it.

"Those puppets over there are probably the mechanism," Anderson shifted his gaze towards the puppets placed in the corner.

"Who will trigger them?" Norma, realizing this challenge likely involved the puppets, immediately asked.

When no one answered, she was about to suggest Owen take the lead, but then she turned around to find everyone’s gaze fixed on her.

Norma frowned, turning towards Owen, about to speak.

"Norma, please trigger the puppets," Yashum said slowly, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

Norma’s chest heaved with frustration.

She couldn’t understand why Owen, the weakest among them, wasn’t chosen for this task.

His cultivation level was clearly the lowest, so any fatal mechanism triggered would minimize their loss.

"I won’t go," Norma responded coldly, unwilling to take on a highly dangerous task with no apparent reward.

Before Yashum could reply, the puppets stationed in the corner started moving on their own.

"Prepare for battle!"

Yashum, no longer concerned with Norma’s refusal, urgently shouted to everyone.

Including Norma, Owen, and the others instantly heightened their vigilance.

Clack, clack!

A sound of reassembling echoed from the puppets, and moments later, eighteen three-meter-tall golden puppets appeared before them.

"I’ll take the nine on the left with Owen; you three handle the right side."

Yashum quickly determined their strategy and charged forward without waiting for a response.

Owen, seizing the moment Yashum dashed ahead, followed suit.

"Let’s go," Norma, seemingly a different person when faced with combat, commanded with a less disdainful tone.

Owen collided with a golden puppet, immediately realizing their offensive power wasn’t strong, but their defense was formidable.

The others soon identified the same issue.

Yashum promptly advised, "Fall back. Let’s attack one puppet together."

No sooner had the words been passed than Yashum retreated, with Owen and the others not hesitating to fall back in unison.

Once regrouped, Yashum pointed towards the central puppet, "Let’s join forces to take down that puppet first, then immediately fall back."

Nods of agreement followed, as everyone began to concentrate their arcanergy into their weapons or palms, stirring up winds charged with arcanergic energy.

"Charge!"

At Yashum’s command, leading the charge towards the middle puppet, Owen and the rest followed suit, thrusting their weapons at the target.

They transformed into five streaks of light, converging into a thicker, more robust beam as they neared the puppet, ultimately blasting through it!

The puppet let out a roar, charging to meet their attack.

A loud collision echoed, and moments later, the puppet was pierced through by their combined assault, clattering to the ground in pieces.

"Retreat!"

Following the downfall of a puppet, Yashum immediately shouted for withdrawal, his body swiftly moving back, with Owen and the others quickly following suit.

"This time, we take down the first one on the left," Yashum pointed out their next target.

Once everyone nodded in agreement, they began to mobilize their arcanergy again.

"Charge!"

The designated puppet couldn’t withstand their collective onslaught, similarly blown apart just like the previous one.

The battle then simplified.

Under Yashum’s leadership, Owen and the others advanced and retreated in turns, taking two quarters of an hour to dismantle all the puppets.

An entrance appeared from a corner seemingly out of nowhere.

"Let’s quickly recover our arcanergy; then we move on to the next challenge," Yashum said, sitting down first to restore his arcanergy.

"Owen, do you have any plan?"

While Anderson and Owen also sat cross-legged to adjust, they had hardly expended any arcanergy.

The power they had displayed was merely that of a normal nirvana-tier grade 2 and grade 1 practitioner.

In reality, they were much stronger.

Hearing Anderson’s voice, Owen remained silent for a moment before responding.

"For now, we can only follow Yashum. I’m waiting for the right moment to use the ability of mind shackles to get a glimpse into this relic."

In fact, the moment they had entered the Endless Contraption, Owen had considered using mind shackles to understand this world more clearly.

However, he was concerned that Yashum and the others might discover his secret, unsure of the consequences that might follow.

What made him most uneasy was Norma.

He felt that if his secret were exposed, he would either have to eliminate the threat or constantly watch his back for fear of betrayal.

After listening, Anderson too remained silent for a moment before saying, "If that’s the case, we’ll continue to follow him and avoid revealing our strength prematurely."