Chapter 110: Disc Fragment

William raised his arms to cover his face while dashing backward, shielding his eyes from pieces of stone brick that had become shrapnel from the explosion.

This guy is more insane than I am!

-No he isn't.

I didn't need your input!

He jumped back from a secondary explosion that triggered at the 200-meter mark, forcing him back again. He activated his Forcefield to defend against the shrapnel this time, then stood in place until the explosions subsided.

The hallway became silent again, so William used the Wind Element to clear the smoke. The walls and floor that were previously destroyed in one section had fully repaired themselves, and William guessed the traps had also returned. This trial obviously wasn't going to be as easy as the others.

He stepped forward and inspected the area at the 250-meter mark, but still couldn't find any evidence of a trap even though there were almost certainly some present. William used his extraordinary Mind Talent to think back to when the explosion first took place.

Over there! He looked at a certain spot just left of the center of the hallway. The explosion had originated from that point, so William just needed to figure out how it worked.

After nearly an hour of close inspection and three more explosive encounters, William still couldn't figure it out. The explosive device was probably hidden with an extremely powerful Array, and it wasn't actually part of the trial.

Don't tell me you actually expect people to just ignore this and tank the explosion?

It seemed to be the case, but William didn't like it. He activated his Forcefield and ran through the explosive trap, which turned out to be a minefield at the 300-meter mark. William was agile and had impressive reflexes, but none of his Talents could detect or avoid the invisible mines.

The moment a punch was thrown at the Array, it responded by focusing all of its defense to a single point where the punch would land, multiplying its defensive power by at least a dozen times. William's full-power punch landed, causing a few slight cracks, but they were quickly healed by a row of twenty Mana Stones behind the Barrier.

The Array was fully healed by the time William retracted his fist, meaning he would have to punch it until the Mana Stones were exhausted.

But why would the loot goblin pass up on twenty Mana Stones?

William sat down cross-legged and inspected the Array. It seemed this is what the trial creator meant when he said his physical strength wouldn't help him.

With just a glance, William understood how to crack the Array. He weaved an Advanced Rune of Compression, then an Intermediate Rune of Reversal. With the two paired together, William weaved the Runes into the Array, combining it with an Advanced Rune of Stability to ensure the two Runes stayed in place.

William threw a light punch that wouldn't even hurt a Qi Refinement Cultivator. The Array reacted by focusing its defense to a single point like last time, but the Compression Rune also activated, followed by the Rune of Reversal. The Array was forced to undo its last action, then it tried to compress its energy while it was still reversing the process, causing it to malfunction.

The Array began to heat up, then melted before William's eyes. He walked past the disabled Array and stored the twenty Mana Stones that were fueling it into his Space Ring.

It seems you do have some knowledge of Arrays after all...I suppose I will grant you the reward I held back last time. The voice resounded directly in William's mind.

William's hands stretched outward on their own, a black box appearing out of nowhere. This was very similar to the first trial William completed, where he received a black box after only clearing the fourth level of the trial.

Is the creator...still alive? William wondered. He couldn't say it was impossible, considering it was clearly reacting to what William did in the trial area. After all, powerful Cultivators had very long lives.

He opened the box. Inside was a sliver of what looked like plastic shaped like a slice of pizza. It emitted a slight Mana Signature, but William couldn't tell what it was used for.

-Acquired Unknown Disc Fragment: +50 PP