Apotheosis

The other creatures from the Other Shore entered the No-break Maze without hesitation and Zen, Egan and Kirk followed in behind them.

The maze itself was not complicated. Its purpose was not to trap and confuse creatures but to usher them through the tests the maze provided.

If one was strong enough, he or she would be able to pass through and make their way to the third page to choose his or her bloodline.

The weak, however, would be eliminated or die.

The process of becoming a powerful warrior had always been this cruel.

"Such a form does not allow us to exercise our true strength," Zen complained to the Primeval Lord of Heaven.

He could not even move freely now that he was in the form of a picture, and so naturally his fighting ability was reduced.

Zen was not the first to complain.

Other methods could have been employed for the purpose of selecting Other Shore creatures to obtain the bloodline abilities. A competition in an area of the Grand Plain Stage could be held, or a trial could be set up in a place similar to the Soul City or the Land of Bone Tribulation.

This would have been better as in their form in the Eternal Scroll Painting, it was impossible to show their strength.

"Don't worry, you will not be in this form forever," said the Primeval Lord of Heaven with a smile. "Remember the hexagram arrays?"

"Sir, do you mean to say there are also hexagram arrays in the maze?" Zen asked, his eyes lighting up.

Just a moment ago he had returned to his original form and he felt like a drowning man that had just climbed ashore. It was obvious he wished to fight in his standard form.

"Yes, that is correct," the Primeval Lord of Heaven answered, nodding his head.

The reason the Eternal Scroll Painting was designed this way was because of how difficult it was to build a passage from the chaos to the Other Shore.

In the context of the vortex, even for that mysterious civilization, it was quite difficult to transport creatures one at a time. Perhaps it was the stubbornness of the Instant Civilization that had the trial still set in the passage to this day.

It was because of this that, even though they were unhappy with it, every Other Shore creature that entered the passage would be compressed into a picture.

It was true that when the

in shock, "Egan, there's something wrong with the eggs ahead of us!"

Egan saw the eggs and his face lost all its color too.

The eggs on both sides of the path were slightly black on the surface.

The white eggs contained ordinary Poisonous Leeches, while the slightly black eggs contained Chill Poisonous Leeches. These were far stronger than the ordinary Poisonous Leeches.

There had always been Chill Poisonous Leeches on this path, but before, there had only been one or two at the end of it.

They were difficult to deal with but not that big a problem if one could run fast enough.

But now, they had only traveled a little part of the journey and had already encountered quite a few Chill Poisonous Leeches. This was beyond Egan's expectations.

"All we can do now is to continue pushing forward!" said Egan, gritting his teeth.

They were almost completely blocked off by the leeches behind them, making retreat impossible.

They were left no choice but to rush out with all the strength they could muster.

A rush of cold spread from the black eggs when they cracked open.

Zen, Egan and Kirk immediately felt the drop in temperature. Black Chill Poisonous Leeches burst from the eggs and surrounded them.

At the front, Egan and Kirk stretched their bodies out to avoid the group of Chill Poisonous Leeches.

But behind them, Zen had been stopped by the leeches.

He was unable to pass through and one concern grew within him: would his physical strength still be the same now that his form had changed?