"All right, let's do the same as we did before. Clear all the doors for extra rewards and distribute the rewards fairly."
Tobias instructed the team as Bryce, the formation master, carelessly entered one of the rooms. They knew what to expect; the first room they cleared on that floor was the same as the rooms on the floors above. The few blood monsters as they called them, were all equal to cultivators in the high Core Formation Stage.
*BOOM!*
"AH!"
An explosion echoed in the room, and Bryce was sent outside flying with wounds and burns all over. The other 5 in the group took a fighting stance and prepared to fight whatever caused it, but nothing came out of the room.
"Bryce? What happened there?"
"There was a trap. As soon as I entered, I stepped on a fourth-grade Explosion Talisman, and it got triggered from the touch."
"Haha, you jinxed it! You had it coming!"
Daisy laughed at the wounded man on the ground, uncaring of the insensitivity.
Ken scrutinized the man carefully and saw that Bryce managed to block most of the damage. He was one substage higher than the power this floor was attuned to. However, the man was still wounded, and his legs had severe burns and some fractures.
"It's fine, as long as you didn't lose the leg, it can be healed easily."
Tobias calmed everyone down while Bryce took a fifth-grade healing pill and mended his injuries. As top disciples of a rich sect, they had the means to treat serious injuries.
"Looks like there are traps on this floor in addition to the normal blood monsters. It seems that the labyrinth becomes less forgiving as we move on."
Ken remarked to the team. Until that moment they were exploring the place in easy mode, but now the difficulty was rising. He repressed a smile when he thought about what was going to happen soon and took out his mask.
"I hope you guys don't mind; I think I'm going to put my mask on."
"Sure, go ahead."
The team didn't think much of it and Ken wore his mask. He occasionally switched between the menacing silver mask that accompanied him from his time in the branch sect of Phoenix Feather Sect and the red demon mask he wore in the Outer Zone.
"Let's take turns on who enters the rooms first."
Tobias suggested and the rest found it reasonable. It was a dangerous job to enter first, and it was unfair if the same person did it all the time.
"I don't know if it's a good idea, some of us are better at defense than others."
Tiara soon raised a good idea of why they shouldn't do it. The truth was that she enjoyed their protection and preferred not to risk herself for the team.
"You're right. I'm good with defense so I will do your turn as well, Junior Sister."
Tobias hurriedly fawned at the pretty lady, eliciting a disapproving headshake from everyone on the team. They didn't like to see their leader act like a horny dog trying to curry favor with Tiara.
Tobias was the first one to barge into the next room, but there was nothing other than some monsters and two Twilight Apples.
"Hey Little Brother Ken, how about you eat those two apples now?"
Tobias approached Ken again after the latter took the apples as always and stored them in his ring. Although his ring didn't have an infinite capacity, it was quite large. It had a storage space of 50 cubic meters, and although at some points Qi Stones took half of this space, the rest of Ken's things didn't take that much room.
"I don't want to make the rest of the group wait for me; I can do it at night like I've always done until now."
"No, no. We want to take good care of you, we will be relying on your strength next floor. Don't worry about it, we will wait."
"Sure, I will take you up on your offer then. I will absorb them now."
Ken spoke with a grateful tone while the mask hid his cold smile. He knew well why Tobias was so nice to him, and he waited for the matter to blow up.
20 minutes later, Ken's core reached the size of 3 times the original, and the group continued its journey. They placed Ken one before last in line to lead a raid on a room, only prior to Bryce who was wounded from the first trap.
"Little Brother, you've gotten many Twilight Apples; you shouldn't spend so much BP on them next boss room. You should get something else."
"Don't worry, Big Brother. I have enough; I earned a lot for opening this secret realm."
Tobias spoke with Ken as the group explored the labyrinth.
There was a trap when Daisy went in first, but this time it was poisonous gas instead of an explosion.
Thanks to her high alertness and her abilities, she managed to sense the effects of the transparent gas on her body and stepped outside, closing the door behind her. After one healing pill and a few minutes of rest, she was completely healed.
"All right Little Brother, it's your turn. If you feel unsure about it let us know and we can skip your turn."
Adrian said with a large smile, and Tobias placed his hand on Ken's shoulder to show support.
"No problem, I will do it. I wouldn't want to be a burden on the team."
Adrian and Tobias almost stopped their breaths as Ken opened the door. Their hands were ready on their weapons, and Tobias sent one hand behind his back.
"There's nothing here, only some blood monsters."
Ken said as he dashed forward to fight with the monsters.
"Huhhh."
Adrian let out a long sigh as he quickly strengthened up. Tobias soon pulled his hand from behind his back and they both rushed inside to help Ken before the others took a single step forward.
Like always, Tiara didn't participate in the fight, and let the others handle it. She never participated in a fight after filling her quota for the BP by killing 10 blood monsters.
"Little Brother Ken, it's your turn now."
Yet again, no trap. It was the fifth time.
"Little Brother Ken, it's your turn now."
This time a slight irritation sneaked into Tobias' voice.
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