The Third Chamber: The Labyrinth of Time!
"Finally... out!"
Chen Yong and Wang Fei staggered out, red-faced and panting like beaten dogs. Their shame burned—neither had managed to defeat their shadows, needing rescuing like helpless fish in a net. They cursed their luck, muttering how things would've been easier if Su Xiaobai hadn't run off.
But safety was short-lived.
Tremble...
The floor trembled, and a vortex descended above them, castin bright green light across their suprised faces.
WHOOSH!
"Look out!" Xiao Yu shouted, his voice cracking.
Too late—the vortex spun faster, and with a deep whump, sucked them in, tossing them like leaves in a storm.
CRASH!
They landed in a sprawling, dark labyrinth.
Tunnels stretched out, curling into shadowed paths that stank of rot.
Each step squelched in cold mud that gripped their feet like claws.
Elder Bai, normally ice-cool, narrowed her eyes at the passages, a flicker of worry breaking her calm mask.
The disciples shifted uneasily.
Then—
Tap… tap… tap.
A familiar figure strolled out from one of the darkened paths, wearing a surprised smile.
Su Xiaobai leaned against the wall, a lazy smirk tugging at his lips. "Took you all long enough."
If he could've avoided this meeting, he would've. But, of course, the heavens seemed to have other ideas.
Lan Meiyu bristled, crossing her arms. "Long enough? We were minutes behind you!" she shot back, her tone like a whip. She recognized him as the lazy bastard she'd caught napping outside the cave—and now here he was, smug as if he'd conquered the heavens.
What stung most was that Su Xiaobai was only at the qi condensation realm, while she had reached late earthly rebirth, three realms above. Even Xiao Yu and Fatty Zhou, the weakest, were at core formation, while the inner disciples were all Nascent Soul and beyond.
Were Elder Bai not here, they'd have given him a lesson in respect.
Su Xiaobai, smirk widened, knew Elder Bai's presence was his shield and milked it for all it was worth.
But Lan Meiyu's irritation finally got a reaction.
His brow twitched. "Ten minutes?" he asked, brows raising. "I've been wandering here for days…"
"Huh?"
"Days!?"
The disciples exchanged uneasy looks, realizing how twisted the labyrinth's time was.
Liu Zhenhai , turned to Elder Bai. "Elder… what is this place?"
Elder Bai flicked a raven-black strand over her shoulder, her jade-like face catching the cold torchlight. "This," she said, voice like iron, "is a Temporal Formation. It twists time, warping hours into moments and days into seconds. This labyrinth exists beyond mortal time..."
Lan Meiyu's eyes widened. "So, while we were fighting shadows, he has been here for days?"
"Possibly," Elder Bai replied, though doubt glimmered in her gaze. "The longer we stay, the deeper we're drawn into its web."
Chen Yong, his voice wavering, glanced at her. "How do we escape, Elder?"
Elder Bai took a breath, her jade-like calm barely holding. "The heart of the maze holds the source of the disturbance. We must find it to escape."
Su Xiaobai rolled his eyes, muttering, "More acting tough…"
Though he smiled, a trace of doubt lingered. Elder Bai was powerful, but he doubted she had all the answers.
Stronger cultivators loved putting on airs as if they held heaven's secrets. He could see it in her eyes—she was as lost as they were, though she'd die before admitting it.
Lan Meiyu's sharp gaze landed on him. "And how did you survive here for days without getting lost?" she asked, voice honeyed with sarcasm.
Su Xiaobai shrugged, his expression infuriatingly casual. "Guess I'm just lucky," he said with a grin that only stoked her irritation. "Or maybe I'm just better at navigating than all of you."
If he was "better at navigating," it was pure accident. Days of stumbling in the dark had left him more annoyed than proud.
He cursed his inability to identify the formation sooner, especially as he usually prided himself on spotting such things.
If he'd only formed his core, he'd have seen through it in a heartbeat. But stuck with True Qi, he was like a man holding a candle in a storm.
Without Profound Qi, the formation's pulse was invisible, its clues hidden from his senses.
The air here filled with power he couldn't yet touch, taunting him with the potential just out of reach.
"Let's move cautiously," Elder Bai commanded, voice brooking no argument. "Stay close, and if you notice anything strange, speak up immediately."
Su Xiaobai rolled his eyes. He didn't need to cling to the group. With a casual wave, he turned down one of the dark tunnels, his footsteps echoing—tap… tap… tap.
Let them stumble along together all they want.
Behind him, the disciples sneered. "Let him wander off. The labyrinth will swallow him whole," Wang Fei muttered.
Chen Yong snorted. "Arrogant fool."
But Su Xiaobai barely registered them, his mind already turning over Elder Bai's words. 'A Temporal Formation,' he thought with a frown. If he'd known sooner, he wouldn't have spent days wandering like a lost dog.
The problem was that identifying formations wasn't as simple as seeing or sensing; it required 'Profound Qi' to sense, activate, or dismantle, the most potent form of the world's Spiritual Qi.
But formations were more than clever tricks; they required Profound Qi
Spiritual Qi—the vital energy that filled the universe—came in many forms, but cultivators sought three main types on their path: Earth Qi, Heaven Qi, and Profound Qi. Earth Qi, drawn from the ground, strengthened the body in the early stages. Heaven Qi was purer and more potent, used by advanced cultivators for higher realms. But the most abundant was Profound Qi, the raw form of Spiritual Qi that saturates the world like an endless, untamed ocean of energy.
Profound Qi was revered for its power, but it was also treacherous. Cultivators at Su Xiaobai's stage couldn't use it directly—it would poison them. Instead, they had to purify it first, refining it down into True Qi, a weaker but safer version. Only upon reaching Core Formation would they forge the core that allowed them to safely absorb and use Profound Qi in its raw form.
For now, Su Xiaobai was limited to True Qi. Without Profound Qi, he couldn't sense the subtle pulse of a formation, leaving him to stumble blind through the labyrinth.
______
Splash! Splash! ... Splash!
Su Xiaobai muttered, his voice echoing down the damp tunnel. "Maybe I can't break this formation... but I can find its flaws." His footsteps splashed in shallow puddles, breaking the silence. "There's got to be a way out without shattering it…"
He wandered deeper, his words swallowed by the darkness as he muttered to himself.
Then, something clicked. 'I don't have Profound Qi to feel the formation directly,' he thought, brows furrowing. 'But I can still sense distortions.'
If the time shifts weren't random, then there must be a pattern—a way time twisted around certain points.
He couldn't see the Profound Qi itself, but he could track the ripples. Taking a deep breath, he stilled himself, letting his senses stretch. Slowly, faint threads seemed to flicker into awareness, like shadows tugging at the edges of his mind.
"There you are…" he murmured, smirking.
The threads wove through the maze, some pulsing, others tangled or erratic.
One in particular wavered, its flow unstable—a flaw. 'Got you.'
He followed the path eagerly, feeling it pull him closer.
Behind him, he could almost hear the others fumbling through the maze. 'They can stumble around all they want while I'm off with the treasure.'
_______
A While Later…
"♪♪♫~ … ♪♫♪♫~~"
Su Xiaobai strolled along, humming cheerfully, looking every bit the clueless wanderer. But inside, he was enjoying every step, each turn leaving the others further behind.
Just then, a faint groan echoed through the corridors. Cocking his head, he followed the sound, turning a corner—and came face-to-face with what used to be Fatty Zhou.
The once plump disciple looked haggard, face lined with wrinkles and hair gray, as if he'd aged decades in moments.
"Ah, Brother! What happened to you?" Su Xiaobai asked, voice dripping with concern while he smirked inwardly. 'A few years here, a few there… what a shame.'
Fatty Zhou's eyes widened with panic. "I—I don't know! I walked in here, and now look at me!" He tugged at his robes, his voice cracking. "Can you fix this?"
Su Xiaobai frowned sympathetically. "Oh, no... Maybe… if you retrace your steps, it'll reverse?" His tone was kind, but he knew the poor fool would waste what little time he had left.
With a desperate nod, Fatty Zhou hobbled back down the tunnel. Su Xiaobai watched him disappear, lips twitching with satisfaction. 'Poor fool. He'll waste what little time he has running in circles.'
Further down, Su Xiaobai spotted Xiao Yu—or what was left of him. The once proud disciple was caught in a slow-time zone, sword half-drawn, his face frozen in frustration.
Su Xiaobai leaned against the wall, barely hiding his laughter. "Senior Brother! You're, uh… taking your time, I see."
Xiao Yu's eyes moved slowly to meet him, voice stretching painfully. "H…e…l…p… m…e…"