Chapter 116: Dungeon Opens

Chapter 116: The Dungeon Opens

He grabbed Ling Qingjue's hand again. "Are you just going in like this?"

The aura emanating from this vortex eye was too dark. Meng Shu, being a member of the Knight Order whose main attributes were light and fire, blessed by the sun, instinctively feared this aura that was completely opposite to his own.

He gently rested his forehead on Ling Qingjue's back, wrapped his arms around the other's waist, and his voice trembled slightly. "Kitty, how about we wait a little longer..."

Ling Qingjue stopped, turned around, and his face showed impatience. "You don't believe me?"

He bent down, pinched Meng Shu's chin, "Do you have that little confidence in me?"

His tone was already edging into anger. Meng Shu swallowed his unease and shook his head softly. "I believe you."

That's right, given Ling Qingjue's strength, it was impossible for a more powerful being to exist.

Ling Qingjue saw the hidden restlessness in his brows and eyes. He swallowed the words he wanted to say. He raised his hand and stroked Meng Shu's hair. "Alright, don't overthink it. Just follow me."

Meng Shu no longer said anything to dampen the mood. His eyes crinkled in a smile. "Okay."

He took Ling Qingjue's hand, sneaking a look around. "I'll stick close to you."

Ling Qingjue refused to let him hold his hand, still in a huff. "You just pulled my tail, why are you holding my hand now?"

"Don't be mad, I won't pull your tail next time."

Ling Qingjue wouldn't even look at him. "Last time you pulled my ears."

"I won't pull your ears either." Meng Shu's apology was so sincere there was nothing to criticize. "Don't be mad, okay? If you don't hold my hand, we might get separated. If something happens to me, you'll worry."

"I wouldn't get worried about you!" Ling Qingjue was still holding a grudge. "You pulled my tail and yelled at me. Why should I worry about you!"

Meng Shu rubbed his nose awkwardly. He shouldn't have pulled his tail. This cat really holds a grudge. "Really not worried?"

He tentatively let go of his hand, pretending to be sad. "Then I'll just get lost alone and die in some corner, and you won't even find me."

Before the words faded, Ling Qingjue grabbed his hand even harder, his profile looking cold and gloomy. "So troublesome."

He dragged Meng Shu by the hand and strode into the vortex eye. "If you dare let go, I'll skin you alive when we get back."

As Meng Shu stepped in, an unprecedented chill climbed up his spine. He shivered, his vision blurring.

When his mind cleared, they were in a completely unfamiliar place.

Fortunately, Ling Qingjue was still by his side.

It was a maze, surrounded by damp and cold stone walls. Torches emitted a faint light. There were countless forks, and the corridor stretched endlessly.

Ling Qingjue frowned. "The way back has been closed."

Meng Shu turned around. Indeed, the vortex eye that had been there moments ago had disappeared. Behind them, too, stretched an endless corridor.

There was no exit.

A red system notification flashed in front of them.

"Welcome to the Hell-Level Dungeon: Coronation Palace."

"In this dungeon, all mental attacks, magical attacks, domain skills, and spatial abilities are disabled."

"Holy-element attacks deal 100% bonus damage."

Meng Shu's heart sank. The Hell-Level dungeon—this was a dungeon that only a group of ninth-tier adventurers would dare to challenge.

He had never come across a dungeon this high-level before.

Ling Qingjue looked around. "It seems we have to defeat the final boss to get out."

"So we have to solve the maze?"

"I don't have that kind of patience." Ling Qingjue closed his eyes, and a terrifying aura radiated around him. Magical energy quickly spread through the maze.

After a moment, he opened his eyes. "Found it."

Meng Shu was baffled. "Found what?"

"The center of the maze. There's a person," Ling Qingjue said. "I can already sense his presence."

Meng Shu was itching to try. "I see. So now we need to walk through the maze, fight some monsters, solve some puzzles, and when we reach the center, we can challenge the boss!"

"Why would I solve puzzles? Total waste of time." Ling Qingjue's face was naturally arrogant, and even more so when he said this. "Why do you humans always have to follow the rules?"

He clenched his fists, and a terrifying pressure almost drove Meng Shu to his knees.

He punched the stone wall, and with a crash, it crumbled.

Ling Qingjue's face was expressionless as he flexed his wrist. "Just go straight and smash our way through."

Meng Shu was dumbfounded. So what did his honest attempts at solving puzzles and clearing dungeons count for? Just his patience?

"Follow me, what are you spacing out for?" Ling Qingjue glanced at him, his voice harsh. "If you get lost, I'll have to save you. You're so troublesome."

Meng Shu quickly scurried after him. "Coming, coming."

The maze was enormous. Ling Qingjue smashed through more than ten walls, then suddenly stopped, looking annoyed. "My hand hurts."

Meng Shu knew it was his turn to perform. He immediately seized his hand, having already caught on to flipping the blame. "It's all the wall's fault! Why can't it just break itself? How dare it make our kitty do the heavy lifting!"

Ling Qingjue gave an awkward nod.

"Smashing walls is too slow, but it seems spatial skills are restricted here. I can't teleport directly."

Ling Qingjue slowly tightened his fingers. "I'm a mage. I can't use magic here, so I have to rely on brute strength."

Meng Shu asked, "I've got some attack skills. Want me to try?"

"You can't break this wall. It's special material. Without 10,000 attack power, you can't break it."

"This brute-force approach really isn't for me."

Meng Shu laughed. "If I had ten thousand attack power, I'd be the final boss. People would challenge me, not the other way."

After smashing through several walls in a row, Ling Qingjue's movements suddenly slowed down. He studied the next wall thoughtfully.

He could feel his power draining away.

At first, he could easily smash a wall. Now he needed eighty percent of his strength to break a single wall.

The closer they got to the center, the more his power was suppressed.

He glanced sideways at Meng Shu, who was naively following behind him with stars in his eyes, constantly praising him, "Kitty is so amazing, Kitty is so handsome!"

The magic power at the center of the maze was dense and cold, and the closer he got, the stronger the restriction inside him became.

At this rate, he wouldn't be able to smash his way to the center of the maze.

Unless he stopped relying purely on his fists and used skills instead.

But Meng Shu was still here; using skills might hurt him.

Ling Qingjue's heart sank—this maze was more complicated than he had imagined, and this power clearly wasn't from ordinary humans or magical beasts, but came from a higher being.

He hadn't moved in a while, and Meng Shu looked up at him and asked, "What's wrong, Kitty?"

"Meng Shu, don't follow me anymore."

Ling Qingjue hesitated, not wanting to let him take any more risks, and said, "Go back to your own world. I can only use my skills after you leave. I can't break these walls with just my fists anymore."

Meng Shu asked, "Are you planning to level this whole place?"

"Mm." Ling Qingjue nodded. "So you go first. I'll destroy this place and then go."

"I..."

Ling Qingjue reached out and gave his forehead a flick. "Alright, don't overthink it. I've been through way more dangerous dungeons; this one's nothing."

His tone was light, and Meng Shu hesitated, then chose to trust him. "Okay. I'll go back first."

He reached out and wrapped an arm around Ling Qingjue's waist, his eyes clear. "Be careful."

Ling Qingjue let out a stiff "Mm."

"Kitty, see you tomorrow."

As the words left his mouth, Meng Shu stayed put.

The man and the cat stared at each other in confusion.

A system notification popped up.

"Space Magic failed. The teleportation channel has been closed." "Teleportation is prohibited within this dungeon!"