Upon reaching the bottom of the lake, Wang Xiaole found no hidden paths around, but there was a shimmering golden treasure chest.

Even though he knew it could be a trap, Wang Xiaole had a thought:

With no other way around, the only hope of escaping the maze might be related to this treasure chest.

Wang Xiaole thought it was worth a gamble and threw away all hesitations.

Moreover, if one were to see a treasure chest in the maze and not open it, it would feel something was amiss.

With this in mind, Wang Xiaole couldn't control his hands and legs and impulsively walked forward to open the chest.

Inside the chest, there were no rare treasures or martial arts manuals, only a thin piece of paper.

Wang Xiaole cautiously picked up the paper, opened it, and saw a few words written on it.

The content was certainly not "Congratulations, you've won" or "Another box to come." It said, "Return to the starting point..."

The paper only had these four words, with punctuation marks at the end.

Shortly after, a beam of light descended from above, enveloping Wang Xiaole within it, and the surrounding space gradually distorted, a proof of being transported.

After a few seconds, Wang Xiaole was surprised to find:

The surroundings looked just like the initial ones, he had truly returned to the starting point!

"Are they playing games with me? After going so far, I'm back just like that?"

If Wang Xiaole hadn't known that magical mazes always had an exit, he might have thought he was inside a sealed chamber.

After circling around for the second time, he made a new discovery.

He saw that what was previously a dead-end wall now had a new door appearing out of nowhere.

Thinking back to opening the treasure chest before being transported, he somewhat understood:

Upon returning here for the second time, the maze had indeed changed inside, meaning he was one step closer to finding a way out.

The reason he hadn't found the exit yet was probably due to not enough changes in the maze so far; to truly leave this place, he might have to find a new treasure chest, just like before.

With this in mind, Wang Xiaole opened the new door and walked straight through it.

After walking a distance, he felt vibrations coming from afar, as though thousands of troops and horses were charging, creating a spectacular momentum.

As the sound grew nearer, a swiftly moving shadow gradually appeared in his view.

A bronze chariot suddenly materialized, rapidly approaching from a distance under the galloping of warhorses, causing the ground to tremble continuously, and the neighing echoing for hundreds of meters around.

Immediately, a large number of undead emerged from underground, and as the bronze chariot sped past, all undead fell to their knees; drums beat, seeming to assist in the battle, and a mournful song echoed through the land, spreading a sorrowful tune far and wide.

With a sense of alertness, Wang Xiaole saw the bronze chariot stop in front of him, and on the chariot was a commanding undead knight, seemingly the leader of the other undead.

The undead knight was the strongest warrior within the maze, having slain countless who were trapped by Le Song.

Being a powerful entity even after death, it used a voice akin to a wail to ask Wang Xiaole, "Young man, do you desire to prove yourself?"

In the past, those questioned by the undead knight would answer "desire" and then the battle would immediately commence, with the undead knight ultimately slaying them.

But this time was different. Faced with the prepared undead knight ready to attack, Wang Xiaole simply replied nonchalantly, "I do not desire to prove myself. I only want to meet a girl; battles and glory hold no meaning to me."

"Ha hah ha, you are lying. I cannot believe there is such a person in this world, unless you will openly admit my strength."

"What's so hard about that?"

Wang Xiaole immediately complimented, "I admit it; you are the strongest in the world! Is that enough? I'm running out of time!"

Saying this, Wang Xiaole passed by the undead knight.

Initially intending to draw his sword, the undead knight had a change of heart and sighed, "Boring, I never expected to encounter someone as uninteresting as you."

Having lost the drive for battle, the undead knight gave up the pursuit, and a confrontation was thus avoided...

Continuing forward for a while, Wang Xiaole looked up and saw a bronze door ahead, radiating a rust-red light.

On the door were two giant coiling dragons, their eyes lifelike, possibly worth a good price if sold outside.

"It seems that I'm on the right track..."

He rubbed his chin, considering the correct way to enter after confirming his path.

Having read tomb-robbing novels before and derived some experience from them, Wang Xiaole knew there were usually traps or puzzles to solve in such places.

There were two types of mechanisms: traps to prevent intruders, and puzzle-type mechanisms that needed to be solved to proceed.

Since this wasn't a game world and he couldn't access the full map, Wang Xiaole had to search the vicinity.

He found torches on both sides of the wall, took out a tinderbox from his pack, and tried to bring the flame closer to the torches.

In the mainland, crystal stones were mainly used for lighting, making old-fashioned items like tinderboxes quite rare.

If Wang Xiaole had to buy one himself, he most likely wouldn't be able to find it.

The reason he could take things out of his pack now was because the person who prepared the contents was none other than the shaking Holy Maiden.

"Her consideration is really thoughtful, even in such an environment, she has prepared what is needed..."

After expressing gratitude in his heart, Wang Xiaole brought the tinderbox closer to the torch, eventually succeeding in lighting it.

Suddenly, the area became much brighter, allowing him to see the traps around.

There were holes on both walls, likely arrow slits to shoot arrows at intruders; the tips of the arrows might even be poisoned.

To prove that his years of reading tomb-robbing novels weren't in vain, Wang Xiaole purposely tossed the tinderbox between the two walls;

Sure enough, arrows shot out from both sides, piercing through the tinderbox.

"Let's try throwing something else."

Using simple shaping magic, Wang Xiaole created dozens of small stones out of thin air and used them as experimental materials for throwing.

Seems pretty effective!

Just as the thought crossed his mind, the final stone was thrown, but no new arrows came out.

Wang Xiaole used the simplest and most effective method to eliminate the threat from hidden arrows.

Having solved this problem, he continued with his search task that he had left unfinished.

After a while, his eyes brightened, and he exclaimed joyfully, "I've found a way! The mechanism here should be like this... corresponding to this spot, starting from this brick..."

He gestured on the wall, following a pattern to search bit by bit, and finally found a brick that he believed was crucial.

He decided to dig out the brick, using his black longsword as a makeshift digging tool since he didn't have a dagger.

Being quite difficult to dig, he exerted great effort, barely moving the brick at all.

For an average person, spending such a long time with little result would lead to giving up, but Wang Xiaole was different. He was extremely stubborn when necessary, the kind of person who wouldn't turn back even after hitting a wall.

Wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, Wang Xiaole looked at the brick in front of him, smiled slightly, and continued his excavation.

After some time, the brick was finally dug out.

Holding the brick in his hand, Wang Xiaole sensed that something was off about it and said, "Indeed, this brick is so heavy, unlike regular bricks; although it's hard to distinguish, upon closer inspection, it is simply the same color and shape as ordinary bricks."

Placing the brick on the ground, Wang Xiaole approached the wall, feeling around in the dim light, and discovered a small mechanism behind the "iron brick."

Twisting it, the rust-red copper door creaked open.

Wang Xiaole secured the mechanism and walked straight in.

Due to the trigger mechanism, the crystal stones inside were now fully lit, ensuring his vision remained unaffected.

Upon venturing deeper, Wang Xiaole discovered the interior was extremely spacious, estimating it to be as large as a garden.

Descending the steps, he advanced and arrived at what seemed like a memorial hall, seeing a row of densely packed spirit tablets.

The temperature in the surroundings seemed to have cooled, prompting Wang Xiaole to jest, "Turned into a horror movie atmosphere?"

Approaching the tablets, he determined these were the memorial tablets of the ancestors of the Inran dynasty, not genuine, but temporary replicas created on the spot.

Based on the experience gathered from reading novels, Wang Xiaole tried to light some incense from the scene for offering, igniting the incense and placing it on the censer.

"Say something random... Inran's ancestors, some interesting characters among you have offended me, based on this alone, I'll give you a bow!"

After three bows, Wang Xiaole witnessed a burst of golden light in the room, followed by a chest descending slowly from above, landing in front of him.

Upon opening the chest, a series of questions followed:

"What kind of food do you enjoy eating?"

Additional note: If lying, start over from the beginning.

"What are your hobbies?"

"Which type of person of the opposite sex do you feel a fondness for?"

"Hmm, things seem to have gotten a bit strange starting from the second question..."

Not surprising that Wang Xiaole felt this way; after all, the maze was created using Le Song's magic, so the randomly generated questions inside reflected the psychological state of the individual to some extent.