The rise in energy cost made sense to Cain. He was mixing in several different sources of Law energy principles.
These mutated forces surpass the rules and laws of the standard Great Dao. Exhibiting forces that can truly be considered heaven-defying.
Since this will be a continuous battle gauntlet with highly powerful Divine Decree Lords, Cain took more of a notice with his energy management.
Some Divine Decree Lord could have a skill that'll make him waste more energy than he should. And while Cain can roll over Late Stage Divine Rulers, any accident can still occur.
There was even the possibility of Cain making a grave mistake and needing to teleport himself out of the Starry Earth Realm!
Still, even knowing this risk, he wasn't going to stop this path.
Lord Fire represents the highest tier of Divine Rulers under Lord Chao and Lord Chen. Geniuses like Lord Fire will become instantly suppressed by Cain in one attack!
No matter a genius odd cultivation art or unique Dao Origin, it wouldn't be able to match his overwhelming raw power. He'll make sure the possibility for an accident to occur will never happen.
Returning to his statue-like state, Cain patiently waited for the next potential victim.
...
Deep within the starry maze.
One of the competitors slowly walked through the endless maze. Filled with danger on each and every side, with one move wrong being a step closer to death, none of this could terrify this competitor.
The competitor in question was an ordinary-looking young woman. A face that couldn't stand out from the crowd at all. But, a mysterious Divine Aura naturally exuded from her.
Complexity rippled from her every move. No ordinary Early Stage Divine Ruler would be able to scan this young woman with their Divine Sense. She was an enigma far beyond their perception.
Of course, such a woman with a mysterious aura was Amber. Her clothes were a bit ripped up and there was a stain of dry blood on her chin.
She has been through some tough situations in the starry maze. But, through her high perception abilities, along with Cain's black lightning enhancing her Spiritual Sea, she was able to see her way out of the traps.
Amber's progress was far slower than Cain's. A week has passed with no end in sight.
But her Spiritual Sea could still faintly detect the highest Great Dao sensation. It was enough to at least guide her down a somewhat linear path.
Though there was the occasional moment when she accidentally triggered a trap. Thankfully for her, no traps triggered were lethal to a point where it was impossible to resist.
Stuck in an endless maze filled with danger would be able to erode even Divine Decree Lords' state of mind.
However, Amber's Divine Will was impenetrable. Calmness never left her for a second. She held absolute confidence in reaching the end because Cain will obviously hold a spot for her.
Traveling like this, Amber was starting to feel like could sense a highly concentrated point of the Great Dao sensations. As if there was a spot specifically more special than any other spot.
Amber carefully guided herself along this path. However, dozens of meters on this path, she suddenly halted.
Her Divine Sense detected something she honestly wanted to avoid, another life aura!
Every competitor entering the starry maze would be transported to the same dimension. This maze dimension was expansively wide and can possibly extend up to an entire world.
But, the way space work here was completely different. One turn can make a person end up in a completely random spot.
The person in question wouldn't even be able to detect the sensation of space sneakily twisting around them.
Thus, while it's a bit rare to meet another challenger, the possibility is still very real.
Amber furrowed her brows, numerous thoughts flashing through her mind.
Taking a different route could lead her onto a deathly trap and or teleported to some random spot. And Amber had zero intention of regressing in her progress.
Her deep black eyes stared unblinkingly forward with an indifferent gaze. 'Thankfully, the one coming is just some Middle Stage Divine Ruler. But still, it's a Divine Decree Lord Middle Stage. Far stronger than a golem creature or Ice spirit.'
Amber calmed her nerves. This Divine Decree Lord was at the peak of the Middle Stage with peak upper-tier prowess!
Only another Divine Decree Lord would be able to face him at the same stage.
Still, Amber didn't lose her bearing. Soon enough, an extremely young man had entered her vision.
This man's appearance subtly radiated sparkling lightning. Flashes of electric purple arcs spread across his body. Every move he made produced a faint rumbling from the heavens!
His presence alone could bring ordinary Early Stage Divine Rulers to their knees.
"Hm?"
This Divine Decree Lord curiously curled his brows when Amber enter his range of sight. He stopped a few dozen meters between him and Amber.
'So calm? Even under my presence?' Intrigue continued to rise through the Divine Decree Lord.
Looking at Amber from top to bottom, he instantly identified her as the one in that Divine Mortal's group.
Her cultivation was merely at the absolute extreme stage of the Great Divine Sea realm. And yet, the Divine Decree Lord had difficulty discerning the foundation of her Inner World or the power of her Divine Laws. As if she had a slight fog covering her entire body.
The Divine Decree Lord's interest was piqued. 'With a Divine Mortal and a Supreme Elder, her valuables should be equal or maybe even greater than mine! Plus, such a sweet little thing out here all out alone...this will be fun. I only have one, but this will be completely worth it.'
Numerous thoughts aroused from his soul. Some overtly insidious. But Lord Que's face showed no thoughts as he calmly called out to Amber.
,m "Cloudsea group, right? So despite being a Divine Mortal, not even he could change getting separated. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Lord Que."
In that moment, Amber could tell several different things. One of which is that this Lord Que deemed himself at a superior level to herself. Two is that he had some sort of intention by striking up a conversation.
And finally, Amber could detect the subtle ripples of his lightning energy principles specifically permeating through the atmosphere, as if they were looking for something.
'With the traps here, I can die with my soul being completely wiped out without anyone being able to know. But still, he should know that everyone who comes here has an escaping talisman...unless...?' A cold thought streaked through Amber's mind.
This genius could very well have the means to disable the escaping talisman!
Even if it's only for a moment, it could decide the life-or-death of high-levels masters!
Amber kept her expression indifferent as she evenly said, "You can call me Xue. Might I ask why Lord Que decided to come over to me?"
"Ah, straight to the point, eh?" Lord Que peacefully chuckled. "I simply wanted to see if Miss Xun is interested in teaming up with me. After all, this maze heavily tests our comprehension abilities. From knowledge, I remember you now. Miss Xun must have a quasi-grandmaster attainment level, right? If we combine together, I'm sure our progress will increase by several times."
"Is that so? And if I insist on simply staying on separate paths?" Amber spoke without reserves.
To this, Lord Que's smile became a bit strange. As if he was smiling like a child does when playing with his toy. "Then I would insist for Miss Xun to seriously reconsider. We all want to achieve the starry platform, right? Better to want as two heads than stubbornly persist as one."
Amber always trusts her gut instinct. She paused, seemingly considering Lord Que's suggestion. But a moment later, she opened her mouth, saying,
"Well, if you put it-"
'Bang!'
A sudden eruption interrupted Amber's own words. The power of her bloodline, Inner World, and soul form all released into her Inner Spirit Space at 100% full force!
Dark golden rays, shinier than that of the sun and also darker than the night of the abyss streaked from Amber's body. Her pupils violently posted, nearly turning into stilts but not yet fully turning.
Overwhelming Spirit energy Law principles minced apart the atmosphere, heavily distorting space!
Her heaven-shattering momentum smashed down on Lord Que. Such power could easily split apart mountains, countries, and endless nations within seconds!
"So you really want to struggle?" Lord Que's smile grew even wider.
Against the world-splitting Spirit energy principles, a heaven-shattering roar of thunder mightily blasted from Lord Que's body!
Blinding gleams of purple lightning rays wildly flew out. Standing with his arms imposingly crossed, chaotic purple lightning whirling around him.
Lord Que's new presence was no different from a celestial emperor of lightning. Anything wanting to resist would be instantly cut down to ashes!
Supreme Lightning Divine Law energy principles minced away at Amber's overwhelming Spirit energy principles!
'Chiii~!'
Loud tearing and cracks reverberated. With somewhat ease, Lord Que suppressed Amber's Spirit energy principles.
In doing so, Lord Que had to internally regard Amber. 'I really have to use 50% of my power just to suppress her? Don't tell me she as well can also face Early Divine Rulers?'
Lord Que was arrogant, but stayed on guard. He didn't make any rash moves out of consideration of traps.
But, with his energy principles shrouding the atmosphere, the suppressive pressure should make it very difficult for Amber to even move, much less escape!