While everyone else was busy gathering Points, Li Wei made sure to stop and cultivate his Mana.

Night fell on the first day.

Although there was no distinction between day and night within the Endless Maze, Li Wei felt that about a full day had passed.

The growth of Points on the leaderboard had also slowed down significantly.

After a full day of struggle, most of the participants were growing weary.

This was partly due to Mana consumption and partly because the trials grew more difficult the further they progressed.

The participants had no choice but to slow their pace.

As Li Wei was cultivating, he suddenly felt the Maze Palace Hall begin to tremble.

He instinctively opened his eyes.

In the distance, he saw a gigantic maw devouring the Maze. Everything in its path vanished completely.

A shiver ran down his spine. He scrambled to his feet and sprinted toward the next section of the Maze.

This was the Maze Devourer.

A behemoth of unknown power.

Getting caught by the Maze Devourer meant elimination from the final exam.

This, too, was part of the final exam.

Normally, the Maze Devourer wouldn’t show up until the final day of the exam.

Li Wei couldn’t believe his luck was so bad that he’d run into it on the very first day.

The Elemental Tower had been using the Endless Maze for its final exam for nearly a century.

In that century, the number of times someone had encountered the Maze Devourer on the first day could be counted on one hand.

Li Wei searched for an escape route as he ran.

He had to get away from the Maze Devourer. If he chose the wrong Teleportation Gate, the next Maze Palace Hall might very well be his last.

Li Wei dashed through a Teleportation Gate and looked up, only to find the Maze Devourer looming overhead.

Only then did he get a clear look at the Maze Devourer.

It was a colossal, pale-white worm.

Before it, even the largest Maze Palace Hall seemed like a small apple that could be swallowed in a single gulp.

At this scale, the Maze Devourer was even larger than the Firebird Garuda.

Perhaps it could even rival the Mountain Giant Beast Mephit in size.

CREAK! CREAK! CREAK!

A sound echoed from within the Maze Palace Hall.

The surrounding walls were closing in, threatening to crush Li Wei into a paste.

He frantically searched for an exit or a puzzle.

But he couldn’t find any puzzle.

A thought struck Li Wei. ’This maze must have a hidden puzzle.’

This was a typical trap maze.

If he couldn’t find and solve the puzzle before the walls crushed him to a pulp, his only option would be to quit the Endless Maze.

And his chance to enter the Purple Level Class would be gone.

Li Wei released his Spiritual Power, rapidly scanning the room for the puzzle.

Suddenly, he sensed something unusual about the patterns on the floor.

His mind raced.

CREAK! CREAK! CREAK!

The surrounding walls drew ever closer.

The Maze was governed by spatial Rules, and Li Wei was powerless to resist the compression of space itself.

If he couldn’t solve the puzzle and find an exit before time ran out, his only choice would be to withdraw from the Endless Maze.

A flash of insight struck him.

Li Wei figured it out.

’The markings on the floor are Magic Array Patterns!’

He had studied the Radiant Magic Cannon not long ago, so he was reasonably familiar with Magic Array Patterns.

That’s why he was able to recognize the Magic Patterns on the floor now.

’Since these are Magic Array Patterns, does that mean I have to activate the Magic Array to solve the puzzle?’

Li Wei quickly traced the lines of the Magic Array within the complex design.

The walls were closing in.

As the floor space shrank, so did the patterns, making it increasingly difficult to form the Magic Array.

The walls were now only a meter away from him.

Li Wei poured Mana into the ground beneath his feet.

Blue Mana flowed from his feet, tracing the Magic Array Patterns on the floor.

Under his precise control, the Mana split and spread out in four directions at once.

The Mana flowed from the floor up onto the walls, activating several Magic Array Patterns there.

Finally, the Magic Array Patterns on all five surfaces—the floor and four walls—combined to form a complete Magic Array.

CLICK!

The instant the Magic Array activated, the contracting walls ground to a halt.

By then, the walls to his left and right were less than ten centimeters from his shoulders.

He had nearly been crushed into a paste.

If he had been even a fraction of a second slower in activating the Magic Array, he would have been trapped.

Once the Magic Array was active, the Maze walls slowly receded, returning the room to its original dimensions.

And all around him, Teleportation Arrays materialized.

Seeing this, Li Wei let out a sigh of relief.

"I cleared it."

That was the most dangerous trial he had faced so far.

He was so close to having to withdraw from the Endless Maze.

Thankfully, he had made it through.

Li Wei also came to a realization: the true dangers and challenges didn’t always come from powerful enemies.

But from the very Rules of the Endless Maze itself.

Li Wei scanned his surroundings, then walked toward a gate leading away from the Maze Devourer.

He emerged into a new section of the Maze—this time, a long Maze Corridor.

A Teleportation Gate was visible at the far end of the corridor.

It was the only one.

He had no choice but to press forward.

As Li Wei moved forward, swarms of strange, four-clawed alien bugs of various sizes poured out from the walls.

’Star Worms?’

The thought struck Li Wei as he recognized the species of the four-clawed creatures.

Star Worms were wondrous creatures that lived in the Star Realm.

A Star Realm Mage was the first to encounter them, bringing information about the Star Worms back to the Main World.

Powerful Star Worms could devour Legendary Creatures.

Even the weakest Star Worms possessed incredible adaptability.

It was this superior adaptability that allowed them to survive in the treacherous Star Realm.

Li Wei quickened his pace and charged toward the Teleportation Gate, having no intention of fighting the Star Worms.

He immediately cast Fire Escape.

Only to discover that Flying was forbidden in the Maze corridor.

HISSSSSSS!

A dense swarm of Star Worms lunged at Li Wei.

Left with no other choice, Li Wei cast a spell, creating a Fire Serpent that rampaged forward to clear a path.

The weaker Star Worms were instantly incinerated by the Fire Serpent.

But soon, the Fire Serpent was no longer a threat to them.

The Star Worms began to adapt to the Fire Serpent’s attacks, their pale-white bodies gradually turning red.

The red coloration spread through the swarm like a tide.

Star Worms could pass evolutionary traits to one another.

This collective adaptation allowed the species to survive the extreme environments of the Star Realm.

HISSSSSSS!

The Star Worms swarmed through the Fire Serpent, scuttling rapidly toward Li Wei.

The Fire Serpent’s heat was no longer enough to kill them.

An idea sparked in Li Wei’s mind.

’Detonate!’

BOOM! RUMBLE!

A massive explosion ripped through the corridor, blasting the Star Worms to pieces.

Li Wei transformed into a Flame Lord and dashed through the blast zone.

Many of the Star Worms had been blown to bits.

Some, though heavily injured in the blast, were not yet dead.

They immediately began devouring the corpses of their fallen comrades to regain nutrients and energy.

Their injuries healed rapidly as they evolved new, blast-resistant carapaces.

Newly spawned Star Worms also quickly evolved Fire Resistance and blast-proof carapaces.

Li Wei was secretly horrified.

’How can such freakishly resilient monsters exist in this world?’

Thankfully, the Star Worms lived in the Star Realm, kept out of the Main World by the Boundary Wall.

Otherwise, if the Star Worms ever entered the Main World, they would be virtually invincible.

By the time the Star Worms had undergone two evolutions, Li Wei had reached the Teleportation Gate.

He plunged through the Teleportation Gate without a backward glance.

The Star Worms watched helplessly as he escaped.

Having made it through the Star Worm Maze Corridor, Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over him.

He looked up. The giant maw of the Maze Devourer was right above him.