Adam's face instantly paled, but the platform below him started to glow even more brilliantly as a spirit crystal suddenly disappeared, followed by another. The pile of spirit crystals was turned into pure energy and absorbed by the platform, and Adam's pale face regained some color as he continued to focus on the task at hand.
His expectant face soured slightly as he did not spot the source of the rock that had been thrown, but he sighed a breath of relief as at least it wasn't anything dangerous.
Like this, he sat in strained silence for hours as the pile of spirit crystals below him vanished. He quickly took out a new pile and continued his work. He occasionally spotted other disciples within, who appeared to be third and fourth years, but ignored them as he went about his work.
"Hmm? What the fuck? Is there a hole in the ground?" Adam mused out loud as his vision, which was linked to the orbs, suddenly noticed a hole.
He immediately sent an orb down the hole, but after only going half-way down, the orb suddenly shattered.
"Hmm?" What happened?" Adam mused out loud again and sent another orb down the hole.
The same as last time, the orb shattered before making it to the bottom, frustrating Adam greatly.
"Forget it, whatever is down there is more powerful than my orbs can handle. I'll find another way out."
The remaining hundreds of small orbs continued to race around the foggy world, looking for an exit. After another half-day of trying, Adam's eyes suddenly lit up in absolute delight as his orb spotted a small set of stairs. It was nearly hidden in the ground, and was covered by sticks and fallen logs.
The stairwell was less than four feet wide, making it incredibly easy to miss.
"Aha, I finally found it. Hahahaha, I truly am a genius! Although it cost me a damn fortune to find the exit," Adam boomed out proudly as he quickly stood up and put his formation items away. "I didn't find John or Chase though. I wonder where they are? Too bad, this would have been another great opportunity to show them how amazing I truly am. Ah, I'm sure they're both fine."
He quickly consumed a Qi recovery pill before his body shot forward towards where he had found the stairs, ready to tackle the next part of the Labyrinth.
…
A foggy world entered Iris's vision as she was transported to the fog trial.
"Hmm? What is this place?" Iris mused as she spread out her divine sense, but found it restricted. A confident smile appeared on her face despite this, as her eyes suddenly shifted slightly in color.
The foggy world before her slowly began to disappear, as Iris took in the world before her with much greater clarity. Her eyebrows raised slightly as she looked in all directions. The world before her was dead and barren, with fallen trees stripped of vegetation lying everywhere, and swampy marshes scattered about. There were no animals or beasts within, making the world look even more barren.
The world before her was not a world, but instead a room. The ceiling several hundred yards above covered the entire room, while the room itself was several dozen miles wide. It was circular, and the walls of the room were smooth and devoid of exits.
"What is this place? What is the trial? Is it just to find the exit?" Iris mused as she started walking forward. As she walked forward, several people suddenly came into view in different parts of the massive room.
Most were older disciples that Iris had never before seen, clearly the disciples who had passed the combat trial before them. However, of them were of importance to her, and so she continued to move throughout the realm looking for her group.
A familiar face suddenly entered her vision, and Iris rolled her eyes in slight exasperation at having found him first. A sense of conflict filled her, as she debated on whether to help him. However, after some debate, she decided to do so as John considered him a friend, and so she decided to respect that.
Upon resolving her internal debate, Iris started walking towards Adam who suddenly kicked a rock in front of him in exasperation.
"Where the hell is John anyways? Shouldn't he have already found us alrea-…ah forget it. He must be even more lost than me within this fog," Adam grumbled out loud, loud enough for Iris to clearly hear. "Oh well, I need to find John and Chase somehow. That bitch Iris can get lost for all time for all I care."
Iris's face instantly turned red with anger upon hearing Adam's words. Her blood began to boil and an urge to dash forward and beat Adam up washed through her, but she quickly calmed herself down as much as possible.
She dashed forward and caught the rock Adam had kicked, and hurled it back at him with great force.
"Gah!"
A satisfied smile appeared on her face as she watched Adam be struck by the rock, before she turned without looking back.
"If you weren't John's friend, I would have half-crippled you for those words. Instead, I'll just leave you to find your own damn way out of this place," Iris grumbled, still slightly angered by Adam's words.
She sped off in the opposite direction, and continued her search for John. Her search continued for quite some time, but despite her best efforts, she was unable to find any trace of him. A frown appeared on her face as she continued her search in vain. She had even spotted Chase wandering aimlessly about, but focused on finding John first.
However, even after searching the entire room, she had been unable to spot him.
"Maybe he found the exit almost immediately, and is in the next trial already. It's the only thing I can think of, so I might as well head there as well," Iris mused.
She sped off towards Chase and met up with him, to the relief of Chase. He was completely lost within this world, and had no idea of how to navigate it. With the help of Iris's unique vision, the two of them found the exit quickly.
"Wait," Chase called out as Iris began to descend the staircase, who stopped and turned around to look at him. "I know you said you couldn't find Joh, but shouldn't we find and help Adam?"
"Hmph," Iris harrumphed without answering Chase and proceeded down the stairs, leaving a stunned Chase behind.. After a small internal debate, he descended the stairs as well, as he knew he would be unable to find Adam within the thick fog.