Apotheosis

Behind the door, two straight lines extended upward, forming another long and narrow path.

Walden of the Violet Cloud race no longer seemed to be in the mood to make trouble for Zen. He passed through the door and rushed to the forefront of the group.

The other Other Shore creatures all trailed behind Walden, following close behind him.

On this occasion, the Three Eyes race had sent three members into the Eternal Scroll Painting. One of the three had died, which they considered quite a good result.

The creatures from the Other Shore entered the door one after another. Once most of them had passed through, Zen moved forward in a strange sideways manner, waving his hands and feet.

Egan and Kirk were the last to enter the door. They had intentionally waited for Zen to advance before them. However, when the two members of the Three Eyes race saw the way Zen moved, they immediately burst into laughter.

Egan said, grinning, "Zen, we have a better way of moving in this current form."

He had found that Zen had been moving strangely since he entered the round platform.

"What do you mean?" Zen asked.

The members of the Three Eyes race were very similar in form and build to human beings. Zen thought that if Egan and his clansman knew a better style of movement, he would be able to imitate it.

Egan stretched out his hands and raised his arms. In a single motion, he slashed his arms downwards, and the motion propelled his body into the air.

"It looks almost like you're swimming,"

Zen observed, his brows furrowed.

"Yes, this way is like swimming, and it should be the fastest way," said Egan. "Your way, on the other hand..."

Zen stood with his arms outstretched, imitating Egan's earlier pose. He slashed his hands downward, and his entire body was propelled a good distance forward. He smiled.

Egan was right. It was much faster and easier to move forward using these motions.

"Primeval Lord of Heaven," Zen muttered.

Zen was slightly put out that the Primeval Lord of Heaven hadn't told him about this way. He believed that the Primeval Lord of Heaven had to have known about it.

"Well, I thought you were enjoying walking like a crab, so I didn't mention it," replied the Primeval Lord of Heaven with a chuckle.

Zen rolled his eyes.

He continued to slash with his arms, moving his body forward along the path formed by the two thin lines.

After he had covered a lengthy distance along the path, Zen stopped to take a look around him. The round platform at the bottom was no longer visible. He gazed at the top, but nothing could be seen.

A question suddenly arose in his mind. 'The path is enclosed by the two lines. I wonder what will happen if anyone steps outside the boundary of the lines?' he thought.

He decided to ask Egan. In fact, Egan had been waiting for Zen to ask such a question since th

said.

But he was beginning to have second thoughts. He realized that he had been in the Eternal Scroll Painting for some time now, and it was not unlikely that some illusion had manifested in his vision when he first regained his original form.

He glanced around, peering into the depths of the abyss, but this time he saw nothing but darkness. He sighed. With a shrug, he stepped out of the hexagram array.

As soon as he left the array, he found himself prone on the ground again.

The transformation between the two forms was not a painful process, but it was slightly uncomfortable. He felt awkward in this form.

"So, did you see the abyss and the bridge?" Egan asked with a smile.

"Yes, and it definitely seems like a bad idea to stray from the path," Zen replied.

He decided not to mention the crying face to Egan and Kirk.

The three of them lifted their arms and slashed downwards, resuming their forward motion. The hexagram arrays had been the midpoint of the journey, and they had made it through half of the remainder of the path when they came to a halt. To Zen's astonishment, the two distinct lines of the road had branched out to form an enormous, complex pattern.

It was the famous No-Break Maze of the Grand Plain Stage.

Zen said nothing as he stared at the maze. He absorbed its vastness and complexity.

In general, there was a real risk of getting lost in a maze, as anyone wandering through high-walled paths could easily lose their sense of direction and position.

But that was not the case in this situation. The vantage point of Zen and the others was such that they looked down at the maze from the top of the Eternal Scroll Painting, so although they could only see a portion of the maze, they could clearly see all the paths and passages within. From their point of view, the maze was only a series of lines. What was the purpose of setting up such a maze here?