Chapter 2451: Chapter 2451
The assassin sensed that to pinpoint the exact location, he needed to advance further.
But now, the warning signals of danger were blaring in his mind—so vividly that he could almost taste death. In the past, by this point, he would have already locked onto his target’s position and struck without hesitation.
Yet Ye Liuyun’s dual presence—both the real one and the doppelgänger—threw off his instincts, making it impossible to determine which was which.
He walked down the center of the passage, now only eight or nine paces away from Ye Liuyun and his double. Dangerously close.
*"I didn’t expect him to be this strong!"* A flicker of surprise crossed his mind. Ye Liuyun’s abilities had surpassed his expectations.
Still, after a tense pause, he forced himself to take another step forward.
The sense of impending doom sharpened for both sides.
Ye Liuyun and his doppelgänger had already narrowed down the assassin’s general location—but not precisely enough to strike without risk.
The tension was palpable. Both sides remained coiled, every nerve taut, waiting for the perfect moment to attack.
*"Why can’t I get a clear fix on him?"* The assassin gritted his teeth in frustration.
*"One more step. That should do it. Even if it kills me."*
With grim resolve, he took that final step.
*"Swish!"*
The doppelgänger instantly pinpointed the direction of the threat. Without hesitation, a flash of cold steel shot toward the assassin’s chest. At the same moment, Ye Liuyun’s blade struck—silent and deadly.
"Two of them!" The assassin reacted instantly.
With lightning reflexes, he twisted his body mid-motion, his dagger darting straight for the clone’s heart. The moment the blade clanged against the armor, he knew he was in trouble. Without hesitation, he flicked his wrist, slashing toward Ye Liuyun’s throat.
A series of soft *shick, shick, shick* sounds followed.
All three figures materialized at once.
The clone stood unharmed—the assassin’s dagger had struck true, but the armor had blocked the fatal blow. In contrast, the clone’s counterattack had merely grazed the assassin’s chest, leaving a shallow gash. Already, the blood oozing from the wound was darkening, tainted by poison.
Ye Liuyun’s neck had been nicked as well, but thanks to Tong Xin’s modifications to his armor, the strike wasn’t fatal. He winced, feeling only a sharp sting where the blade had touched his skin.
Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun’s own dagger had found its mark—buried deep in the assassin’s heart. But he didn’t twist the blade or pull it free. He held perfectly still.
The assassin froze too, knowing any sudden movement would hasten his death. Even as his body trembled, he channeled his inner energy, desperately resisting the poison’s spread.
Ye Liuyun and the clone exchanged a glance, sensing the assassin’s spiritual energy wasn’t particularly formidable. Without hesitation, their consciousnesses surged into his mind, branding him with a slave seal.
While the clone rifled through the assassin’s memories of navigating the labyrinth, Ye Liuyun retrieved a vial of life-giving spring water, forcing it down the man’s throat before carefully withdrawing the dagger and neutralizing the poison.
This assassin was leagues above the others in both skill and experience. Blind to their presence, he had nearly executed a flawless double kill—purely by instinct.
Had his dagger been sharper, Ye Liuyun and the clone might not have survived.
That was why Ye Liuyun hesitated to kill him outright. Controlling him would be far more useful.
Through the mind search, the clone uncovered the assassin’s identity—one of the most infamous killers in the Black Killers guild, known as Silent Death. Rumors had spread among the guild that he’d perished on a mission long ago.
The clone also extracted Silent Death’s memories of assassination techniques—invaluable knowledge that would sharpen both their skills in killing and countering killers. Ye Liuyun could now absorb these insights, turning them into his own experience.
However, when the clone discovered why Mosha was trapped here, he began to worry as well.
It turned out Mosha had been stuck in this place for nearly two years. Though he had managed to gather resources by killing martial artists who accidentally wandered in—along with the rats infesting the area—he still hadn’t found a way out.
Ye Liuyun pulled Mosha into his spatial world, instructing him to recover from his injuries first. The clone was also withdrawn, leaving Ye Liuyun alone to trace Mosha’s memories in search of a possible exit.
Without the assassins hindering him, Ye Liuyun moved much faster, darting forward with relentless speed.
Yet no matter how far he traveled, the maze refused to let him go. Fortunately, his powerful divine sense allowed him to grasp the full scope of the labyrinth.
"Don’t rush! Once you get close to the center, stop and wait for the maze’s cue. There’s bound to be some subtle change!" The Book Demon, seeing his frantic pacing, tried to reassure him.
Exhausted from running, Ye Liuyun finally halted when he was teleported near the maze’s core.
He waited for a long while, but nothing happened. Resigned, he settled down and began attuning himself to the assassin’s sensory experiences.
After some time, he suddenly realized his perception had sharpened significantly. His soul force was already formidable, and with this heightened awareness, he could now detect the faintest shifts in the environment.
He sensed countless spatial fluctuations rippling through the maze.
"That’s it! Pick a path that avoids those spatial disturbances, and you’ll find your way out," the Book Demon advised.
"Right! Those fluctuations must be spatial overlaps created by the maze!" Ye Liuyun’s eyes lit up with understanding.
He chose a passage and cautiously moved forward, pausing whenever he detected a spatial warp ahead.
Only when the distortion faded would he continue.
Using this method, he soon found himself nearing the exit.
That was when he finally understood why Mosha couldn’t escape.
Mosha’s spiritual power simply wasn’t strong enough. No matter how sharp his senses were, he couldn’t detect the subtle shifts caused by the overlapping spatial distortions.
Just as Ye Liuyun was filled with joy, believing he was about to break free from the maze, a flood of rats surged in from the direction of the exit. Without hesitation, Ye Liuyun threw on his invisibility cloak, activated his Xenocide Concealment technique, and gripped Silent Edge as he pressed forward.
With his heightened perception, his stealth abilities had improved significantly. Rats scurried past him, completely unaware of his presence, only to be silently dispatched one after another with swift, precise strikes.
The rats themselves were chaotic, darting in all directions, some even teleported to different parts of the maze due to the spatial overlaps. As a result, Ye Liuyun encountered far fewer than he expected.
Though the scent of blood from the slain rats could travel far, many were unable to reach him, trapped by the maze’s shifting spaces. Moving steadily while eliminating the rodents, Ye Liuyun soon reached the maze’s outer edge.
But there, he discovered an entire layer of spatial barriers—a final, impenetrable wall of overlapping dimensions.
"Now it’s a test of whose spatial power is stronger!" The Book Demon had no solution to offer; this was something Ye Liuyun would have to face alone.
Gritting his teeth, Ye Liuyun channeled his own spatial distortion energy and lunged forward—only to be instantly teleported back into the maze.
It was clear. His mastery over spatial forces still fell short against the maze’s overwhelming power.
