Chapter 56

In a dark, oppressive space, nine sky-reaching bronze pillars stood upright.

Each bronze pillar emitted a kind of power: fire, lightning, ice, time, space.

At this moment——

Whoosh!

Zhou Yu's true self suddenly appeared in this space.

These bronze pillars really do have a secret.

Zhou Yu looked around; the nine bronze pillars, each containing a different power, made him feel extremely shocked. Their power was not strong, but their level was extremely high, feeling even more astonishing than the World Prison.

However, before Zhou Yu could think any further, a faint, lingering voice suddenly appeared in his mind.

"Wind and thunder lock space-time, ice and fire sever divine abilities, Chaos is unseen, the cage forms by itself, one hundred and eight thousand Chaos Eras, who can solve the maze?"

"."

"Hm?"

Zhou Yu felt a stir in his heart, scanned his surroundings and found no one, and at the same time realized that the words he just heard must be related to this place.

"Is this a cage? What is the maze?"

Zhou Yu quickly probed his surroundings while also sensing the outside world.

Soon Zhou Yu discovered that, with his current strength, he could not tear apart the space here at all; he was completely trapped.

Even more striking, this space resembled the Moon Under Pool beyond the Three Realms, effectively isolating his memories from those of his other true‑self clones.

However, the many clones Zhou Yu obtained through the "Heavenly Simulation" could communicate with each other unaffected by this space, so he could still maintain memory exchange with the outside world.

"Indeed it is a cage; I'm completely trapped here! Fortunately I'm only a clone, so the impact on me isn't great," Zhou Yu thought.

His true self had cultivated the Tao Wu Eighteen Demons and Gods, possessing eighteen clones; with this clone trapped, he could simply dispatch another clone to roam the Three Realms.

"Although I'm trapped, this might be a great opportunity," Zhou Yu thought.

Such a place clearly appears to have been deliberately forged by a cultivator, and that cultivator's strength must not be weak; merely isolating his clone's memories rivals the methods of the Northern Rest World Gods.

"I can only first figure out what exactly the 'maze' refers to," Zhou Yu thought, and he began to closely examine the nine towering bronze pillars that reach the heavens.

In this vast space, aside from the nine bronze pillars, there was nothing else; Zhou Yu guessed that the mystery must lie within those pillars.

However, as Zhou Yu inspected each bronze pillar one by one, he initially gained little; the pillars' composition was unknown, seemingly indestructible, emitting power of extremely high tier, yet their potency was deliberately limited and not particularly strong, and Zhou Yu found he could draw upon that power from the pillars at any time.

Beyond that, there was no other gain.

But when Zhou Yu reached the seventh bronze pillar, his eyes suddenly brightened.

"There are actually characters here."

Zhou Yu looked at the base of the bronze pillar; these were very unfamiliar characters he did not recognize, yet each bore the strong Dao and will of its author, and after viewing them, Zhou Yu quickly grasped their meaning.

"I, Fei Yu, was unexpectedly trapped here, toiling for endless years, and finally realized that this maze must be a set of hammer techniques; by combining the hammer method with nine kinds of power one can break the maze. Unfortunately the nine powers are too lofty, and within the allotted time I could not complete it. My hammer method is inscribed here; if anyone else becomes trapped in this space, they may refer to it,"

Beneath the characters were a series of illustrations; after a few glances, Zhou Yu felt they indeed contained a profound and unfathomable hammer technique.

"Fei Yu, you are probably at least a being that has mastered five levels of primal power."

Zhou Yu had a vague judgment.

However, there were more characters below, so Zhou Yu continued to read further.

"Old ghost Fei Yu, you are truly a menace. I, Hao Hai, fell into this place, first believing what you said and painstakingly studying the hammer technique, yet achieved nothing. Later, through my own research, I found it was clearly a palm method; by combining the palm method with nine kinds of power one can break the 'maze'. I have also left my palm method here for later seekers to comprehend."

Further down were more illustrations, and Zhou Yu discerned that they indeed depicted a series of palm methods.

The palm methods were exquisitely perfect, surpassing the earlier hammer technique.

However, there were still other characters below.

"I have considered what the previous two said, and have also spent over ten thousand years researching this place alone. From it I derived a sword method; in my view, the key to unlocking this place does not lie in wielding a particular weapon, but in the combination of the nine great powers. Unfortunately, in the end I could only barely achieve the combination of five powers, which is truly regrettable."

"The third commenter is clearly rather extraordinary," Zhou Yu mused.

The previous two took a long time to discern anything from this maze, but he derived a sword method in merely ten thousand years and ultimately managed to combine five powers.

Unfortunately it still ended in failure.

Zhou Yu kept reading further and found that five more commenters later appeared; they all agreed with the third commenter, but their achievements were not as great.

"To solve this maze requires about 108,000 hundred million years, which is a Chaos Era. I am the ninth to arrive here; if one cannot succeed within the allotted time, where did the previous ones go?" Zhou Yu pondered.

However, these questions are now destined to have no answer.

Since we're here, we must make do.

With the methods left by the previous eight, he might as well try to comprehend this place's "maze".

At this moment, in the outside world.

Whoosh!

Another true self of Zhou Yu left the World Prison and arrived at the spot where his previous clone had been drawn into the mysterious space.

Zhou Yu waved his hand to retract the nine‑zhang‑tall bronze pillar, feeling a pang of melancholy.

He dispatched his second primordial spirit clone out of the Three Realms, hoping to use the "Child of Fortune" ability to seek opportunities, but did not expect that the opportunity would ultimately be encountered within the Three Realms.

This mishap truly counted as an opportunity for Zhou Yu; although he was trapped, he was merely a clone.

If he can eventually break the maze, it could greatly aid Zhou Yu—what else could this be but an opportunity?

"However, the second primordial spirit can continue searching within the Chaos."

Zhou Yu wasn't in a hurry to recall the second primordial spirit, continuing the search; perhaps he might encounter other opportunities.

After cataloguing the numerous treasures, Zhou Yu shook his head; indeed the earlier bronze pillar was just a coincidence. He examined the remaining treasures carefully, confirming they were ordinary, finding nothing special.

Indeed, such opportunities aren't easily stumbled upon. Even with the Child of Fortune talent, it cannot create something from nothing!

"Fine, let's start the simulation," Zhou Yu thought.

The simulation energy had already been amassed during the previous war; he simply hadn't been eager to begin, but now he could run the simulation again.

(End of chapter)