Treasure-hunting: Into the Unknown

Kemp proceeded forward following Zachary's instruction, and the journey onwards went smoothly. Soon after, a flash of blinding white light up ahead made him squint. He immediately thought it was already the exit, a sudden stream of excitement getting the best of him. As he stepped forward toward the light, his smile dissolved gradually. The shimmering light turned out to be a glistening white crystal stone.

"How strange! I followed his instructions, and I'm certain this is the right way out!" Kemp mumbled under his breath, sounding flustered. He then retraced his steps back to his starting point, and after a while, he found himself standing right before the white crystal again. He scratched his forehead and groaned, "What kind of sorcery is going on here?"

Zachary suddenly came into view and stood in front of Kemp's very eyes. "The answer is pretty simple. This is the heart of the Mysterious Cave's illusionary array. Anyone can go in, but can never find a way out," he explained.

"You jerk! You deceived me!" It then dawned on Kemp that he got lied to and just went on a wild goose chase.

"That's right. I misled you into coming here on purpose," Zachary admitted point-blank.

"You bastard! Do you have a death wish? How dare you play a mean trick on me?" Kemp huffed, glaring at Zachary.

"Don't flatter yourself. You're not worth my time. I'm only giving you the damnation that you deserve," Zachary replied while remaining aloof and composed.

"What the hell do you want from me?" Kemp demanded through gritted teeth.

"I want to cripple you and leave you trapped here until you draw you last breath alone," Zachary replied matter-of-factly.

"Humph! Just because you killed a Sage Level warrior doesn't mean you're invincible. You just got lucky that time," Kemp fired back. Deep inside, he felt anxious, but he still put on a tough appearance.

"Why don't you try me? Then you'll find out." Zachary glared at Kemp with contempt.

Kemp's heart skipped a beat out of dread. Since he had witnessed firsthand what Zachary was capable of doing, he didn't dare to fight him head-on. Determined to avoid Zachary, he only turned around and sauntered away, aiming to find a way out so he could escape.

But he was out of luck and felt doomed. After circling, he chanced upon Zachary again, who hadn't moved at all.

"I already warned you. You'll never get away from this place." Zachary stood firm as he folde

him while leaving behind the beasts' corpses.

Four hours later, Zachary successfully arrived at the peak. It was already midnight, and the surroundings were pitch black. He spotted a tall stone tablet and as he went closer, he saw the words 'The Peak Of Imperial Level' inscribed on it.

There was a three feet amulet placed right on the ground in front of the tablet. It was the imperial amulet, a symbol that would represent the champion of the Imperial Level Warrior Contest.

Zachary walked up to the stone tablet and picked up the amulet. "So this is the imperial amulet?" he whispered as he examined it closely. A few seconds later, he stashed it in the system's warehouse.

At this point, many warriors who rested on their beasts' backs had made it to the top as well. They were taken by surprise to discover that Zachary had obtained the imperial amulet. It was beyond their wildest imagination that Zachary, who was the weakest among them, would get a hold of it first.

However, even though Zachary had taken the imperial amulet, he still needed to fight the other contestants. No one knew if he could keep the amulet to himself or not.

Ethan, the genius Imperial Level warrior from Dignity College, surfaced from the cave four hours after Zachary came out. Without wasting precious time, he climbed up the mountain. So far, except for the two, none of the other contestants had escaped the cave in success.

Four more hours later, Alisa from Crane College and Celestial College's Sara also broke out of the Mysterious Cave at the same time. The two of them continued to head toward the peak right away.