Chapter 1009 - 765 Extreme Cold Labyrinth

The old man was clearly deprived of conversation for far too long, sparing not even Long Yi, a stranger who had suddenly appeared.

"You make a lot of sense, I also think that without these green crops, those people would have probably died long ago," Long Yi said.

In Long Yi’s eyes, these green crops were not merely food. All the oxygen inside the Ancient Mage Tower likely came from them, and this was definitely the most critical lifeline of the whole tower. That such a crucial place could be so easily infiltrated suggested that the Ancient Mage Tower was indeed very confident in their indoctrination education. Did they really not expect anyone to invade this place?

"Young man, at this time of night, why aren’t you sleeping? What brings you here all of a sudden?" the old man asked.

"Can’t sleep, just walking around," Long Yi said.

"You’re not from the Ancient Mage Tower?" the old man suddenly asked.

"I was brought here from the ground by a Balak mentor, who said it would be an honor for me to join the Ancient Mage Tower," Long Yi said.

"Balak? That great enthusiast of the Ancient Mage Tower? Haha, then you really bumped into the right person! This guy has believed since he was a child that the bloodline of the Ancient Mage Tower is incomparably noble, and that ground dwellers are inferior. I believe he instructs his pupils in the same way, but sadly, he has forgotten that the Ancient Mage Tower was originally just a Giant’s spaceship, and the people here all come from the ground. No one is any nobler than anyone else," the old man said with a sigh.

"What you’re saying is quite fresh to me compared to what I’ve heard recently," Long Yi said.

"Probably because I’m old, I tend to see things with an open mind, clearly. When I was young, I was no different from them."

Just then, the old man’s entire body started to shake violently.

"Hey, are you alright?" Long Yi was about to rush over when the old man shouted, "Don’t come closer!"

As he spoke, the old man took out a small crystal from his personal space, tore open his shirt at the chest, and revealed a small metal device. The device opened a small chamber door, and the old man struggled to stuff the crystal into it. The door immediately closed automatically. The metal device began to radiate a powerful life force, and the old man’s complexion immediately improved, his body no longer so hunched. Even the wrinkles on his skin seemed fewer.

"Whew... Sorry to have made you see such a scene. Actually, I was about to use a Life Crystal Block when you arrived," the old man said.

"Life Crystal Block?" Long Yi frowned slightly, as the thing looked an awful lot like a concentration of Crystal Poison.

"Yes, a Life Crystal Block. It should be counted as one of the greatest inventions in the Ancient Mage Tower in the recent decades. It can forcibly replenish the life force of an old man like me, who’s on the verge of death," the old man explained.

"May I take a look?" Long Yi asked, full of interest.

"Actually, showing it to you is no big deal, but you must absolutely not touch it. This thing might turn you into a Life Crystal too. We undergo special adaptation surgeries for this," the old man warned.

Long Yi nodded in agreement, and the old man immediately took out a crystal block from his personal space. However, as soon as Long Yi reached out and grabbed it, the old man was startled and it was already too late to snatch it back.

As expected, it was definitely Crystal Poison.

Long Yi handed the crystal block back. The Ancient Mage Tower’s reason for mining these dangerous crystals was probably partly due to utilities like this so-called Life Crystal.

The old man quickly took it back, then carefully observed Long Yi’s hand until he saw that there were no changes to Long Yi’s fingers and finally felt relieved.

"Young man! That was wrong of you! Didn’t you promise me that you absolutely wouldn’t touch it? Do you think I, a man over six hundred years old, would harm you?" the old man was clearly angry, and Long Yi quickly apologized profusely, mollifying the old man after much coaxing.

Afterward, Long Yi and the old man talked a lot. The old man shared his stories from the past; having worked here for over a hundred years, his stories were naturally a century old. Long Yi, in turn, talked about how he came from the ground and fought his way through various challenges. Perhaps because it had been too long since he had a friend to talk to, Long Yi and the old man struck up an age-defying friendship.

"It’s time for you to go!" After who knows how long, the old man suddenly spoke up.

"Why? You’ve only just told half of your story," Long Yi asked, puzzled.

"Because it’s almost time to get up. I don’t know where you’ve come from, but if you are one of Balak’s pupils, he would definitely not tolerate anyone being late—especially someone he despises from the Human Realm," the old man explained.

"He despises ground dwellers and yet he personally came to fetch me?" Long Yi snorted.

"His personal involvement in fetching you was certainly not by choice. After all, in our Ancient Mage Tower, the hierarchy is very strict. If one day you surpass him in rank, then you will naturally be able to command him at your will." As he spoke, the old man raised his hand, showing a number on the back of it, nineteen.

Long Yi looked at the ’one’ on the back of his hand, feeling that there wasn’t much difference.

However, when he met Balak and saw that there was only a ’six’ on Balak’s hand, he immediately realized that the old gardener seemed to be quite remarkable.

Ah! I forgot to ask his name!

Well, I’ll ask next time.

Long Yi, who hadn’t slept all night, felt a bit listless and, thinking about the matter of leveling up, he decisively spaced out again.

And Balak decisively noticed once more that Long Yi was lost in thought.

"Mr. Long Yi! You..."

Before Balak could finish, Long Yi had already stood up, "Instructor Balak, I’m feeling a bit sleepy and I apply to go to the Extreme Cold Labyrinth to refresh myself."

As soon as Long Yi said this, everyone present, including Balak, was stunned.

"Long Yi, what did you say?" Balak thought he had heard wrong.

"I said, Instructor Balak, I’m feeling a bit sleepy, and I’d like to go to the Extreme Cold Labyrinth to refresh myself." Long Yi said.

At this, Ado beside him looked anxious, because of the events of last night, Ado had clearly come to regard Long Yi as one of their own. But was something wrong with Long Yi’s brain? He actually said he wanted to go to the Extreme Cold Labyrinth to refresh himself?

Balak’s face immediately turned sour; just a few days earlier, he had still been using the Extreme Cold Labyrinth to intimidate Long Yi, and today, without waiting for him to speak, Long Yi had actually applied to go to the Extreme Cold Labyrinth himself? Was his brain broken?

"Fine! Since you want to go! I shall let you go! But don’t think you can just leave right away, you must sit down properly here and take notes on all the lessons for me! Otherwise..."

Balak suddenly didn’t know what to threaten with since Long Yi had already decided to go to the Extreme Cold Labyrinth, and his authority only allowed him to send students to the labyrinth. Seeing Long Yi’s smile, Balak could only snort coldly and said no more.

The curriculum was extensive and complicated, but for Long Yi, it was still very outdated material. Long Yi finally endured until the time was up, and came before Balak, eager to try.

Balak’s face was gloomy; this was the first time he had encountered such a situation where someone not only didn’t fear the Extreme Cold Labyrinth but even requested to enter it!

"Mr. Long Yi, you should already know what the Extreme Cold Labyrinth is, right?" Balak asked as he walked ahead.

"Yes, I’ve heard. It is a maze specially designed to punish disobedient students. Inside, there is an extremely strong coldness, but there are no enemies, so as long as you can find your way out, that’s all that matters, right? I’ve heard it’s pretty easy." Long Yi said.

"Easy?" Balak scoffed coldly, "The maze is constantly changing, and depending on the different mistakes made, the difficulty of the maze also varies. And as for you, Mr. Long Yi, due to your disdain for the classroom, I regret to inform you that your difficulty will be increased!"

"That’s great! If I were to walk out too easily, wouldn’t it be too boring?" Long Yi said with a smile.

Balak was at a loss for words for a moment but managed a cold laugh and said no more. When Long Yi came out of the Extreme Cold Labyrinth, Balak didn’t believe Long Yi would still have such an expression.

The Ancient Mage Tower was essentially filled with one-way passages. As Balak and Long Yi arrived at the teleportation array for the Extreme Cold Labyrinth, they saw another person there.

It appeared to be another instructor with a student who was being punished.

The student was crestfallen, with tears streaming down their face, but it seemed to be in vain.

Balak walked over, spoke in a low voice with the other instructor for a few words, and then both nodded simultaneously. Balak pointed to the array in front of him, "Go ahead, Mr. Long Yi, follow behind him!"

Without any hesitation, Long Yi followed, and the person in front of Long Yi cried even harder. However, his instructor simply kicked him into the array, and Long Yi followed right behind into the array.

Immediately after, a bone-chilling coldness surged into Long Yi’s body.

All around was metal, but no people could be seen. The breath he exhaled instantly turned into a mist of ice, and whether it was the walls, the floor, or the ceiling, everything was extremely cold.

Is this the Extreme Cold Labyrinth?

Long Yi immediately began to walk, but he was not walking blindly; each step he took was nearly identical, allowing him to gradually construct a map of his location in his mind. However, Long Yi quickly discovered that he was actually moving in circles in a not-too-large area. Despite being certain he was moving forward, there were many times he had passed the same location, which had clearly changed.

Indeed, this place was constantly changing, just as Balak had said, and the actual space wasn’t large. In other words, whether this place was complex or not was merely up to the controller of the maze. As long as that person did not say it was over, no one would be able to leave.

Realizing this, Long Yi suddenly started walking backward. But after just two steps, he found that the path he remembered was gone. And when he moved forward again, the roads that had appeared in front of him had also disappeared. It seemed that this was entirely a place to wear down one’s patience.

You would say it’s cold here? It was indeed very cold, but the level of coldness was still slightly less than the winters in the Human Realm, as there were no strong winds here. However, those cold Mana were constantly seeping into his body. Long Yi used the Ice Rock Power, and immediately, the surrounding coldness was absorbed by the Ice Rock Power within his body, becoming part of his Ice Rock Power.

After ensuring there were no surveillance around, Long Yi took out the Giant’s Tablet. Analyzing the structure of the place, it seemed to be a specialized climate control center. The maze structure was added later, and the one who added this maze was not a human but a Giant. Should there be any issues here, the entire climate control mechanism of the Ancient Mage Tower would fail.

Well, another lifeline of the Ancient Mage Tower has been found. (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly passes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)