"I've more or less understood how to get past the mist to get to the mountain peak…" Zheng Kai nodded his head. He scratched his nose in embarrassment at the look of joy and excitement everyone was giving him. "But. What I can't guarantee is finding the 'path' out of the mist…"
"Come the f*ck on! You say you can, and then you can't? Can you be any more confusing? Say the important parts!" Bai Yunfei complained.
Zheng Kai held his hands out in a defensive shrug, "What I meant is that I know what has to be done in order to get across the mist. But I don't know if we can do it."
"Then why don't you tell us how we're supposed to get to the top?" Jing Mingfeng asked.
"After our second time, I realized that there are about a hundred and thirty-six spatial barriers in the mountain barrier…"
"That many?!" Yue Feng couldn't help but exclaim.
"That many." Zheng Kai nodded. "The number of barriers we 'went through' and 'came across' totaled to be that many. After going through so many of the barriers, I realized a hint…the spatial barriers are placed in a special way."
He dipped a finger into his teacup. Slowly, he traced his finger on the surface of the table and began to draw several intersecting lines and such on the table while everyone else looked on in amazement.
Bai Yunfei was the first to realize what it was. "You're telling me…the layout of the spatial barriers is in the form of a maze?!"
What Zheng Kai drew on the table was a complicated layout of a maze!
"Exactly. It's a maze." Zheng Kai nodded. "I found out in our second time in the maze. We came across about fifty-two spatial barriers in that maze, and since we were basically transported to somewhere we didn't know, I wasn't able to figure out which place was connected where in the maze."
He pointed his finger at a set of roads that were intersected with one another. "We were walking here and then came to the middle of here. There's also this place and this place…both roads had spatial barriers every direction but backward, so it was a dead end. This other road was the longest path that went straight, but because I wasn't able to sense the barrier there, we were transported away. Instead of going straight, we should've made a left, too bad we can't confirm that now…"
His talking points swapped from one to another with a quickness that lost several people, Jing Mingfeng included. "Damn, it's that complicated? So what you're saying is that in order to make it across, we can't touch any spatial barriers and find the longest continuous path through the maze until the end to reach the top?"
Zheng Kai nodded. "That's basically it. The layout of the spatial barriers makes this place a definite maze. So finding the path out should be the only logical conclusion, isn't it?"
"I…" Yu Li spoke up, a little perplexed by Zheng Kai's explanation, "If what lord Zheng says is true, then we have only explored a small portion of the maze. The mist covers a very large expanse of the mountain, so there should be a countless amount of barriers blocking this way and that. I'm afraid that…"
Though her words trailed off, Yue Feng spoke up to supplement her, "You're afraid that it'll take us a very long time to succeed? Would we have to stay in this area for a long time then?"
"That's just one way of doing things," Zheng Kai shrugged, "but now that I've adapted to this maze situation, we can try a few more times and I'm sure we'll get the hang of things. We just have to avoid any spatial barriers we come across until the very end, and if we can get to the right path, we'll be out of the mist in no time."
Feeling as though his words were a bit too optimistic, he added on, "Though honestly, this maze is very complex with all the spatial barriers. Each one has a different frequency, and my soulsense isn't that strong that I'm able to sense them straight away. There'll be times I miss one because of that. If I concentrate as much as I can, I think I should be able to sense them all though…"
It was with a downcast expression that everyone looked at each other. The method being offered to them by Zheng Kai wasn't a very reliable one, but it seemed like that was their only option. Would they really have to stay here for that long of a time and go through the maze again and again?
An extended period of wait time wasn't all too bad if it was for the Extreme King Pills. But with other people here, it was a risk. Just how long would it take before something terrible would happen?
Bai Yunfei's eyes shined powerfully, the gears in his mind were shifting quickly as a plan formulated inside of it. "Ah'Kai, you're saying if your soulsense was strong enough, you'd be able to sense all of the spatial barriers, correct? If your strong enough to not even miss a single one, and with a bit of luck, we should be able to find our way out of the maze?"
Zheng Kai nodded. "Yes. As long as I don't miss a single barrier, I'm confident we'll have success in no time at all."
"Then…let's try one more time!" Bai Yunfei stood up to address the group, "We've been relying on Ah'Kai to lead the group all this time while the rest of us followed him. This time, let's all lend him our aid!"
Jing Mingfeng looked startled. "Ol'Bai, what are you saying? We're not space-type soul cultivators. Even if we try, it won't do anything!"
Bai Yunfei smiled. "Come with me and you'll find out."
It was with confusion that the group followed Bai Yunfei up into the mountain. As soon as they entered the mist, Bai Yunfei activated the Charm Bracelet on his arm with a moment's thought.
"Alright, let's combine our soulsense together and help Ah'Kai sense the surrounding spatial barriers."
The moment Bai Yunfei's voice was heard in their minds, Jing Mingfeng and the others started and whipped their heads towards Bai Yunfei.
"Are you talking to us, Ol'Bai?!" Jing Mingfeng gaped at the motionless Bai Yunfei in surprise.
"I am. But I'm speaking directly to you all through a mental connection."
Bai Yunfei's voice spoke out once again through everyone's mind. His explanation shocked everyone into momentary silence.
"This…this is Soul Communication!!" Yue Feng gaped in awe. "Brother Bai, you can do that?! You can't possibly be a Soul King, can you?!"
"Haha," Bai Yunfei chuckled, "how could I be if this pocket doesn't allow for Soul Kings to enter?"
That only made Yue Feng even more confused. "Then how are you…"
Bai Yunfei shook his left hand, "Have you forgotten who I am? I've all sorts of special soul armaments on me. This one in particular allows me to connect to the minds of others and speak to them through thoughts. Aside from that, everyone can also layer their soulsenses on top of one another for a boost. With this, we should be able to help Ah'Kai search the surrounding area. If the six of us work together, I'm sure we'd be able to gain the perception of an Early-stage Soul King or so. That should be enough to find all the barriers."
"A soul armament like that exists?!"
Everyone was shocked, and Zheng Kai was all the more surprised about it. Surprised, but happy. "If it's the soulsensing capabilities of an Early-stage Soul King, then that should be more than enough to find each spatial barrier!" He exclaimed with shining eyes.
It took a moment for everyone to recompose themselves. The fact that they could talk to one another with their minds was a fresh and new concept to them, so they needed a bit of time to get used to it.
After a while of practicing, the group decided they were good and headed into the mist again.
Through their powers combined, Zheng Kai's perception was far stronger than before. Not only could he sense things within a three hundred meter radius, but he could also sense them all in perfect clarity! He was able to sense even the faintest of spatial barriers without an issue, and the group was able to as well! Through this 'collaborative effort', the group was able to see the 'walls' that they weren't able to see before. Now that they could see it, the group was able to discuss to one another about what they were seeing, and that opened up new avenues of discussion. Furthermore, since they could see what the barriers, they could go through the maze even faster and without worry of a misstep.
Just like that, the group continued onwards without confusion or skepticism. The mist was getting thicker and thicker around them, meaning that they were getting closer and closer to the top…
Would they be able to make their way out from the maze without an issue this time?