Chapter: Journey to the Labyrinth
Magic training ground.
Joyce, with a serious expression on his face, held a magic staff and practiced fire magic.
"Xiao Qiao, I heard you're going to the labyrinth secret realm in the east tomorrow?" A clear voice came from the edge of the training ground.
Joyce stopped what he was doing and turned his head to look at the edge of the training ground, where Cheng Yu stood.
He didn't know why Cheng Yu was asking this.
"Yes. I'm going to explore the labyrinth," Joyce replied.
"Xiao Qiao, how about taking me with you?"
Cheng Yu couldn't find the location of the labyrinth secret realm. The best way was to go with Joyce.
To get closer, Cheng Yu affectionately called Joyce "Xiao Qiao."
"What are you going to do in the labyrinth secret realm?"
There were many monsters in the labyrinth secret realm. Ordinary people might be in life-threatening danger if they went in.
Cheng Yu said seriously, "To expand the barbecue business, a qualified chef must be good at doing business at any time and any place."
Joyce was in awe and couldn't help but admire Cheng Yu a little. Risking his life to go to a secret realm to expand the barbecue business. Too dedicated.
"Although you're very dedicated, I can't take you there. It's too dangerous for an ordinary person like you to go to such a place."
If Cheng Yu died in the labyrinth secret realm, Joyce would feel guilty.
And the general seemed to like Cheng Yu very much. He'd heard soldiers in the army say the general often took Cheng Yu to his private residence and stayed there for over an hour. He didn't know what the two did inside.
"I'm not an ordinary person."
Cheng Yu pulled out a black six-pointed star badge from his pocket and hung it on his chest.
That was the symbol of a first-tier mage.
"You passed the first-tier mage exam?" Joyce was surprised.
Though first-tier mage wasn't difficult, it wasn't simple either.
"Didn't I go to Snow City a few days ago? I took the first-tier mage test while I was there. I got 81 points. Passed."
Cheng Yu had a confident smile on his face.
Many people had to take the first-tier mage test several times before passing. He'd passed in one try—beating 99% of candidates nationwide.
"Alright then."
Joyce reluctantly agreed to take Cheng Yu to the labyrinth secret realm. Anyway, he'd just be selling barbecue outside the labyrinth.
"The general has arranged a second-tier flying monster to take me there. Come find me tomorrow morning."
"Okay."
Cheng Yu made an OK gesture to Joyce.
The next day, outside the Northern Fortress, Cheng Yu, Mina, Ivennie, and Joyce stood in a ten-square-meter iron hanging basket.
A blue bird monster with a body length of over twenty meters flew over, grabbed the hanging basket, flapped its wings, and flew into the air.
Cheng Yu's eyes fell on the monster's long legs.
The Azure Feather Eagle lives in the mountains in the northwest of the Black Sun Empire. It's good at long-distance flight. The meat of the thicker thigh is the most delicious.
"Why does this Azure Feather Eagle serve humans?"
"Someone in the magic corps has learned monster control magic," Joyce explained.
"There's such magic?"
Cheng Yu also wanted to learn monster control magic. Then he wouldn't have to take a carriage next time he went to Snow City.
The Azure Feather Eagle flew over the Snow-Capped Mountains, flying from west to east.
Looking down, they could see tall city walls built along the ridges of the Snow-Capped Mountains.
Rows of magic crossbows were arranged on the city walls—able to kill demon ground troops from long range and also kill flying demons.
Besides magic crossbows, the surface of the tall city walls was engraved with dense defensive magic arrays—able to be immune to most physical and magic attacks, solid as rock.
Under the city walls lay skeletons of humans and demons everywhere. One could imagine the cruelty of war.
Cold wind blew from the north. Mina lay beside the hanging basket, her light-red eyes quietly gazing at the Demon Realm. The sky was gray. There was no grass on the endless snowfield.
The Azure Feather Eagle flew very fast. After reaching the destination, Joyce pulled the bell. The Azure Feather Eagle landed on the ground.
The four left the hanging basket. The Azure Feather Eagle flew back with the empty basket.
"Wait, it flew away. How can we go back?"
"Walk back. It's only two or three hundred miles."
"???"
Two or three hundred miles? Walk back?
Cheng Yu and Mina had no problem, but Ivennie would probably have to lie in bed for several days if she walked back.
This place was full of mountains and steep cliffs. The Secret Realm of the God of Order's Labyrinth was located under a cliff.
A magnificent stone gate—a hundred meters high—was embedded in the cliff wall.
The stone gate's surface was engraved with many incomprehensible ancient characters and symbols. The two stone doors opened outward from the middle, leaving a gap two to three meters wide.
On both sides of the stone gate stood two-hundred-meter-high stone statues with bird heads and human bodies, holding scepters—majestic and mysterious.
Because of their age, the stone statues had weathered and peeled.
Many adventurers gathered in front of the stone gate and set up tents—apparently preparing to explore the labyrinth here for a long time.
Cheng Yu and his three companions walked to the bottom of the cliff, looking up at the stone gate a hundred meters high before them—almost as tall as a skyscraper.
"Holy crap, what a big door!"
Cheng Yu was surprised. He'd never seen such a massive stone gate.
Shame there are no phones in this other world. Otherwise I'd take a photo and post it on WeChat Moments.
Mina and Ivennie were also surprised. This stone gate was too big.
Mina murmured to herself, "Why did the God of Order build such a big stone gate?"
Ivennie guessed, "Maybe the God of Order is a hundred meters tall. The door would be too small otherwise."
Mina nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense."
Cheng Yu walked under the huge stone gate and took out the barbecue grill, charcoal, seasonings, frozen bird skewers, and other items from the system warehouse.
He put on the black magic cloak issued by the Magic Association, hung a first-tier mage badge on his chest, and erected a one-meter-long wooden sign in front of the barbecue grill. The five large characters on the sign read: "Mage Barbecue."
First establish the character, then sell barbecue. More gimmicks, more selling points.
Just like someone cosplaying as Zhu Bajie or Sun Wukong selling barbecue at a night market.
The nearby adventurers all looked interested when they saw Cheng Yu setting up a barbecue stall.
"Everyone wants to come here to explore, but someone's actually selling barbecue here. He's really a business genius."
"Will barbecue sold by a mage taste better than ordinary barbecue? I'll buy two skewers to try later."
"The two ladies next to him are so beautiful. I'll go over and chat with them when I have time."
The charcoal hadn't been lit yet. He'd have to wait a while.
Cheng Yu looked around.
At that moment, a line of people came from the distance.
A dozen people lined up in order of height from short to tall—the first person shortest, the last person tallest.
They wore uniform blue-patterned clothes, had uniform short hair, and walked at a uniform pace. Everyone's walking posture was neat and tidy—just like marching in unison during military training.
From a distance, it gave a sense of order.
"Xiao Qiao, are these people from the army?"
"They're people from the Order God Cult, who believe in the God of Order. They hate disorder and chaos and are keen to make chaotic things orderly."
"I've learned something new," Cheng Yu said.
Most people in the Black Sun Empire believed in the Goddess of Light, but a small number believed in other gods.
The owner of this labyrinth secret realm was the God of Order, so the Order God Cult people naturally wanted to explore it.
The short old man at the front of the line was the priest of the Order God Cult.
The tents built by the adventurers—some big, some small, scattered all over—instantly triggered the old man's obsessive-compulsive disorder.
"What kind of tents are these adventurers building? Messy and disorderly. Simply heresy!" The priest cursed, a bit angry.
A magic staff appeared in his hand. He chanted a magic incantation. Powerful magic power condensed into a massive magic array on the ground.
Over a hundred tents began shifting positions on their own under the influence of magic.
In less than two minutes, the messy tents were arranged in order from small to large, forming ten neat rows—the spacing between each tent exactly the same.
"Much more comfortable to look at this way."
The priest smiled and nodded with satisfaction.
But the other adventurers suffered.
"Everything in my tent fell out!"
"My tent! Where is my tent?"
"Is this the power of order? Too absurd!"