「December 29th.」

The Elemental Tower’s student final exams.

Everyone except the Purple Level Class students gathered in the Elemental Tower’s Golden Hall.

The Grand Elder began by explaining the rules of the final exams to the crowd.

The rules were actually quite simple.

Most of the students already knew them; the explanation was mainly for the newcomers.

The Grand Elder announced loudly, "This final exam will be held inside the Endless Maze.

The Endless Maze is composed of countless Maze Palace Halls, and each hall contains a unique test.

Some tests will challenge a student’s combat prowess, some will challenge their Magic Knowledge, and others will challenge their overall aptitude...

As for the specific situations you’ll encounter, you will find out once you enter the Endless Maze. I won’t elaborate further here.

This final exam, like those of previous years, will use a cumulative points system.

You will earn a varying number of Points for clearing different Maze Palace Halls, and you will be ranked from highest to lowest score.

There will be two rankings: an overall leaderboard for the Elemental Tower’s final exams and a year-level leaderboard.

After the exams, students will be reassigned to different Magic Classes based on their rankings.

If there’s anything you don’t understand, you may ask now."

Someone raised their hand and asked, "Grand Elder, can we use items like Magic Scrolls during the exam?"

The Grand Elder replied, "No. Inside the Endless Maze, the effects of all Magic Items are nullified. Only your personal abilities will work.

Whether it’s Magic Scrolls, Barrier Stones, Rune Stones, Magic Equipment, Magic Armor, or other Magic Items—even things like Magic Potions and Magic Secret Medicines—all are prohibited. They will have no effect even if you use them.

Therefore, I advise all of you to avoid relying on Magic Items and use your own true strength."

"Grand Elder, will we encounter danger during the exam?" a student asked.

The Grand Elder replied, "The exams include live combat sections and may involve a certain degree of danger. The Elemental Tower will do its utmost to ensure your safety. If you find your life in danger, you can voluntarily forfeit the exam and withdraw from the Endless Maze."

The Grand Elder answered the crowd’s questions one by one.

After about half an hour, the Grand Elder announced, "Alright, that’s all for questions.

Everyone, prepare to head to the Endless Maze."

Nervous expressions appeared on everyone’s faces.

Even the senior students, who had already been through several final exams at the Elemental Tower, couldn’t help but feel a little tense.

That was because every year, the Endless Maze presented new and different trials.

The Endless Maze tested not only a student’s Magic Knowledge and combat skills, but also their luck.

A lucky student might continuously encounter relatively simple tests.

They could then keep earning Points and end up with a good ranking through accumulation.

An unlucky student, on the other hand, might run into a difficult test right from the start, needlessly missing out on Points and wasting time.

The exam would last for three days.

Everyone’s goal was to clear as many rooms in the Endless Maze as possible within those three days and earn more Points.

Li Wei was teleported into the Endless Maze along with everyone else.

He was separated from the others upon entering the Endless Maze.

He found himself alone in a small, empty room.

It was surrounded by stone walls, but it had no ceiling.

Looking up, he could see a dense arrangement of countless other square, open-topped Maze Palace Halls.

Some of the Maze Palace Halls hung upside down, while others were oriented horizontally in midair.

Yet, everyone inside them was standing upright as normal.

Li Wei flew up, intending to go out and take a look.

But he found an unbreakable barrier sealing the open top of the Maze Palace Hall.

He could see the dense, chaotic cluster of Maze Palace Halls outside, but he couldn’t get any closer.

The only way out was through the doors on the four walls of the Maze Palace Hall.

The four doors would only open after he solved the problem within the hall.

’A spatial barrier? It seems the space in the Endless Maze is distorted.’

Not only that, but the maze above him was constantly shifting and changing.

It was like a gigantic Rubik’s Cube being constantly twisted.

Li Wei brought his gaze back down, landed, and looked at the test prompt on the floor.

"There is an invisible gecko in the room. Find it."

This was a test of Magic Knowledge.

It tested a student’s understanding of invisible geckos.

Li Wei knew how to find an invisible gecko.

However, he chose a simpler method.

He directly activated his Flame Domain.

The Flame Domain easily enveloped the entire room.

Suddenly, a ball of fire erupted in a corner. The invisible gecko, burned to a crisp, dropped from the wall.

Li Wei deactivated his Flame Domain, picked up the charred gecko, and placed it in the answer box.

RUMBLE!

The four surrounding doors opened.

Li Wei’s Magic Badge vibrated, and he earned one Point.

It was a relatively simple test, so the Points awarded were few.

Li Wei tried to use his Spiritual Power to sense the rooms behind the four doors.

His Spiritual Power couldn’t penetrate the doorways.

Another space lay beyond each door, and Li Wei couldn’t sense what was on the other side.

With no information to go on, he could only choose a direction at random.

Li Wei walked toward the door directly in front of him.

Passing through the door, Li Wei appeared in a new Maze Palace Hall.

This Maze Palace Hall was much larger.

Just as Li Wei got a clear look at his surroundings, a Lizardman Warrior wielding a Giant Axe appeared before him.

The theme of this trial was combat.

The Lizardman Warrior’s strength was at the Tier Three Middle Level.

This was a test designed specifically for Tier Three Mages.

The more trials you passed, the more difficult the tests became, and the stronger the enemies grew.

In the initial trials, a Tier Three Mage could encounter Basic, Middle, and High Level Tier Three Monsters.

The chances were sixty percent, thirty percent, and ten percent, respectively.

In the later stages, the probability of encountering powerful monsters would increase, and one might even run into a Tier Four Monster.

If one reached the deepest part of the Endless Maze, it wasn’t impossible to encounter Tier Five or Tier Six monsters.

Although the Elemental Tower used the Endless Maze as its examination grounds, it had not created it.

Even the Elemental Tower itself had never fully explored the depths of the Endless Maze.

Under normal circumstances, no student could reach the deepest part of the Endless Maze.

Three days was simply too short a time.

The Mages from the Elemental Tower who specialized in exploring the Endless Maze had only managed to reach the fringes of its deepest parts after centuries of exploration.

The Endless Maze was divided into four sections: the periphery, the inner ring, the core, and the deepest depths.

During the exams, all student activity was confined to the periphery of the Endless Maze.

WHOOSH!

The Lizardman Warrior swung its giant axe, closing in on Li Wei with a surprise attack.

It was a test of the student’s reflexes.

Li Wei didn’t dodge or evade, simply letting it attack him.

CLANG!

The axe struck Li Wei’s head but was blocked by his Invisible Armor.

The Lizardman Warrior was completely unable to damage the Invisible Armor.

Li Wei retaliated with a Blazing Flame Shock.

It incinerated the Lizardman Warrior, ending the battle.

In his hands, the Tier One Magic, Blazing Flame Shock, displayed power comparable to Tier Three Magic.

Such was the power of the Flame Lord Extraordinary Trait.