Chapter 1320: Exploration and Destruction of the Game Instance
“Be careful, don’t get ambushed,” Bunny Wei reminded.
Having entered the “Game Instance,” they attempted to explore a few floating islands. The first problem they encountered was the issue of perception.
Here, aside from what could be seen, sensing with mental power and magic power was particularly difficult.
It felt as if something was pressing against them; once their mental power and magic power extended outward, it would create massive barriers.
This sensation was as if every meter they explored with their mental power was filled with overwhelming feedback, making it exhausting for them to probe.
Yet, when they waved their hands and looked around, there was nothing near them.
Moreover, there were instances where monsters would suddenly appear from the floating islands, pouncing on them, and the injuries caused by these monsters would cling to the wounds, continually eroding their bodies and hindering their undying recovery.
Watching the somewhat disgusting pixelated blocks clinging to their bodies, it was challenging to clean them with ordinary means; using their hands felt like tearing off a scab, causing pain. They could only effectively clear them with dispelling spells or healing spells.
If not cleaned in time, these wounds could lead to states like “poisoning,” “dizziness,” or “blurred vision,” and so on.
As they chose some visible floating islands to explore, they could still suffer from these low-level injuries. They had to admit they had underestimated the potential dangers of this force.
Looking into the distant void, where an area shrouded in “fog” lay, using mental power to probe made the feeling of obstruction even more apparent.
“Everyone, spread out and see if there’s any way to dispel the fog. Otherwise, going in like this could be quite dangerous,” Bunny Wei said.
Her hands could pass through without obstruction, and her body could naturally enter, but with the obstruction of mental perception, entering would leave her no better than an ordinary person losing their vision. Not to mention the fog obscured visibility to a mere few meters. While Holy Realm powerhouses could react within such a short distance, what if something went wrong?
They were genuinely afraid of the little monsters that seemed to be leading them into a trap here.
So they thought to see if they could outsmart it. Since they had entered the game instance, they should try to think of it like a game, such as… solving puzzles.
If that failed, they could take the risk of going in.
Otherwise, lingering here wouldn’t help them gather any useful information.
After a while, the five witches finished exploring all the visible floating islands and gathered at the one closest to the fog.
“Did you find anything?” Bunny Wei asked first, then displayed what she held in front of everyone. “Let me go first. This is an interactive item I discovered. It seems to be just some materials. Interactive items are things you can take away from here; other things will dissipate when destroyed and restore to their original places.”
The witches looked at the mineral-like object in Bunny Wei’s hand, its angular pixel structure forming this bizarre crystal. Some witches who had knowledge of extraordinary materials could tell this was merely a common high-energy material, commonly used in alchemy.
“Is there really an interactive item here?” One of the witches, the only one empty-handed among the five, exclaimed in surprise.
“Yes, but you don’t need to waste your time on it. They’re just materials of little value, not much help in advancing this game instance. I’ll give this one to you.”
Another witch chimed in, tossing her own item to her.
Several witches explained the situations they encountered, which were mostly similar.
It seemed there was no way to help them dispel the fog here, which indicated… there were no puzzles to solve.
Could it be that their game strategy was incorrect? Since they couldn’t analyze any meaningful points, the witches decided to force their way through the fog.
Bunny Wei completed the vision-sharing using a contract-based method. Then the witches moved forward into the fog under the protection spell.
Once they entered, they felt an inexplicable force eroding their protective barrier, a sensation that made the witches feel their skin crawl, stemming from the dissolution and annihilation of the spell structure and magic energy.
But as they focused their gaze on the far distance within the fog, they suddenly noticed a flickering light way off. It pierced through the visual barriers of the fog, shining into every line of sight. After communicating to confirm it wasn’t an illusion, they decided to head towards it.
As they ventured deeper, even the dullest among them realized their predicament.
“This is a maze; we’ve entered deeper here.”
Initially, they thought it was just a winding corridor, but gradually they became aware of the issue.
“Hah… I knew it.”
One witch sighed helplessly.
“Don’t be discouraged; it’s just a maze,” Bunny Wei replied, unleashing the structure modeling of the Great Knowledge Seed, which resembled their journey.
“You all have Great Knowledge Seeds, right? We can directly connect and collaboratively model the maze, allowing us to explore and share five paths simultaneously. As long as one of us exits the maze, we can mark the exit path,” Bunny Wei suggested.
“Isn’t that a bit risky? What if the maze shifts internally? That would undoubtedly scatter us,” one witch raised an objection.
“True…”
“What if… we try to destroy this place instead?”
The other witches looked at the one who proposed this brilliant idea and found themselves instinctively agreeing that it seemed like a good approach!
After all, they were explorers; violent exploration is still exploration! They had nearly forgotten they were Holy Realm Witches, almost misled by the previous tests from those strong beings who could not destroy the maze. Perhaps Holy Realm beings truly couldn’t annihilate this creation, but what about the things inside?
“Great suggestion; let’s give it a try.”
“Agreed!”
“Agreed!”
With all the witches in agreement, they wasted no time.
Boom——!
Boom——Boom——!
The continuous bombardment of spells covered the entire Field Order, shattering and obliterating everything in the maze!
Never underestimate a Holy Realm powerhouse; they possess enough strength to destroy worlds. Though destroying a world can be a thankless task, their combat strength was undeniably real.
As the spells exploded, even the visibility of the fog increased significantly, but the witches frowned.
Such terrifying destruction couldn’t even disperse the fog? After the spells entered the mist, their control weakened, and those spells exploded not far from them, sending horrific shockwaves they could feel.
Until a certain boundary.
It seemed they triggered something as a wave of palpitating sensation rose from above, causing the fog to turn into dense pixel cubes that continuously collided.
Their surroundings pulsed with high-density magic, interfering with the fog that had begun to reveal its pixel essence, causing it to continuously shake off.
They sensed correctly! This place had even replaced the material space with pixels. No wonder perception was so challenging; they were indeed in a “pixel space!”
Tearing apart these pixel space cracks, they could even feel a void from the emptiness.
But they did not plan to leave empty-handed.
However, this was good news. At least, if faced with an emergency, a forceful outburst could rupture the pixel space, allowing them to break free into the void.
“Watch out!”
One witch beside Bunny Wei cast a protection spell over the dazed Bunny Wei.
The next moment, a massive floating island came crashing down.
Bunny Wei responded swiftly, sustaining minimal damage during the labyrinth’s collapse.
However, the ominous feeling around her intensified, as background music began playing that they unconsciously hadn’t noticed at first.
It was a fast-paced, rhythmic pure music that synced with the catastrophic scene, creating an immersive experience.
Unbeknownst to them, the fog had transformed into a swirling vortex, connecting the ground of the maze and the empty sky.
Until a figure appeared.
“Whoa… Xiao Han?!”
Upon identifying that figure, one witch among them instinctively cursed.
After all, they truly did not expect to meet her in this way.
Just as Bunny Wei was about to take the initiative and see if they could communicate, that figure moved without hesitation.
“Watch out! Get away!”
As soon as those words left her mouth, a spell with extreme sharpness shot towards them.
This attack was quite unexpected.
However, Bunny Wei didn’t give up; it was a battle, and witches never feared such things.
“Contract Space.”
Bunny Wei extended her hand, a special parchment burned away in the wind, covering the material space and that figure with a unique space.
Bunny Wei then confidently stepped inside.
“No need to try; offensive actions can’t be taken inside Contract Space. Can we communicate? How should I address you, Xiao Han, or… All Worlds Terminal?”
“You shouldn’t break the game rules!”
What awaited Bunny Wei’s response was this statement. Meeting her gaze, Bunny Wei did not feel that experience of “looking into the eyes of life.”
She soon recalled the intelligence that mentioned that the External Incarnations were not true lives.
“I’m sorry; I wasn’t aware of this…” Bunny Wei quickly switched her approach, hoping to gather more information by following the other party’s line of thinking. It was clear the other side couldn’t negotiate from emotional topics.
Even so, she felt a hint of shock inside.
Contract Space was never a combat method; rather, it was a means of enforcing contract signing to prevent unexpected actions or attempts to modify contract terms during signing.
Yet, despite this, facing this “Xiao Han Incarnation,” the Contract Space began to shatter!
Where did the other party gain such power?
She understood that Xiao Han’s incarnation couldn’t possibly be extraordinary; that was a level beyond the extraordinary. Was it possible they could possess means to disrupt the power of the Holy Realm?
Perhaps… it was indeed possible! After all, the other party was Xiao Han.
“We entered the game without any hints; isn’t this a failure on the game’s part?”
“It’s common sense not to break the game; you have no opportunity to argue!”
This figure provided Bunny Wei with not a shred of hope. The next moment, the Contract Space shattered under the weight of those pixels.
Next came the terrifying force sweeping towards them.
“So you can communicate?”
As the space broke apart, Bunny Wei looked at the figure suspended in mid-air. “You can communicate,” was the largest piece of information she obtained at that moment.
“You shouldn’t possess such a level of power.”
“That is your ignorance and arrogance as outsiders! You will pay for it with blood and lives!”
With that, the figure’s offensive became even stronger, as if the entire instance had transformed into her territory, completely trapping them here.
The other four witches were quick to respond, coming to assist, but their offensive and the habits learned from being witches were skillfully countered by the other party. Their combat experience was certainly not to be underestimated.
After several encounters, it had escalated into a contest of domains.
“What’s going on… Is Xiao Han really this powerful?”
“Is this the kind of enhancement that multiplies strength by ten? This is just Xiao Han’s incarnation!”
The witches began to exchange remarks during their brief intermissions.
The other party gave them the impression that they weren’t very strong, but it was hard to kill her; she felt like a solid firewall, preventing them from advancing even a step.
“We can’t go on like this, and we can’t shake her off. We need to leave here; this exploration counts as a premature end!” Bunny Wei declared.
“Wait? Are we just leaving like this?” Several witches voiced their disbelief, feeling embarrassed to leave so ignominiously…
“The appearance of this Xiao Han incarnation is a result of us forcefully breaking the game process. Now that communication has broken down, it’s quite difficult for us to gather further information.”
“I really feel so unwilling…”
“Let’s see if this incarnation shows up once we get out. The instance is her home ground, but once we’re in the void, we won’t have to suffer this anymore,” Bunny Wei said while considering the pixel erosion spreading across her body.
Although the other party wasn’t a Holy Realm powerhouse, the fight felt like facing an experienced Holy Realm powerhouse.
Moreover, this domain was an extremely terrifying composite domain containing suppressive negative effects, debilitating negative states, impeding recovery, reducing perception, suppressing active magic, and limiting casting range, among other things.
If this continued, they had no idea what they might face.
More importantly, the game instance was a derivative of the All Worlds Terminal’s power, possessing the rank of the “Great Spellbook,” with effects that endured permanently and repaired automatically. The cost they would incur to wear down its effects far exceeded that of the other party.
If this continued, they would eventually be worn down.
Bunny Wei steeled her resolve, unleashing a terrifying contract binding force, prying open a crack that reached directly into the void.
“Everyone, come! This instance is too sturdy; my power isn’t suited for prying it open! We need to retreat to the void… After we’re prepared, we can come back and try again!”
The other witches, amidst withstanding the assault, saw the crack Bunny Wei had pried open and swiftly gathered around it. Ultimately, the crack expanded to the size of a hand, and the five, understanding the need to shrink their forms, crossed through it to leave.
Devastation enveloped the area.
The figure froze in mid-air, and the next moment, everything in the instance transformed into basic pixel examples and began reconstructing.
Following the reconstruction, the instance was now drastically different from before.
