Death... and me
chapter-307

Roan didn't explain what that thing was. He simply grabbed it before saying.

"Let's go! The other two demon beasts are almost recovered. There is no point in defeating them again."

Rean and Rovan nodded. Soon after their group left the demon beasts behind.

*Roar!*

Sure enough, their group heard the roar of those two demon beasts that finished recovering from behind. However, their group had already left the beasts' line of sight, so they didn't pursue Rean's group.

"As I thought, they can't use Spiritual Sense either."

Rean nodded.

"Yes. However, I still feel like they knew where we were before. After all, even before seeing our faces, they were already running in our direction. I wonder why they aren't doing it now."

Roan pondered a bit before saying.

"Maybe because they can't feel our presence all the time. We might have triggered something that showed our location to the nearby demon beasts. It's just that we didn't notice it. Maybe it was a formation."

Rovan couldn't help but ask.

"Anyway, what was that thing you took out of the Demon Beast's body? Was it a core?"

Roan then took out the thing Rovan talked about.

"This is not a core, look."

Indeed. Rean and Roan noticed that it was far from having the spherical form of a Demon Beast core. It looked like a round stick, just six centimeters tall, perfectly linear on the sides.

"What is it? A token?"

Roan shook his head.

"I'm not sure, but it does look like some kind of token indeed. However, I could feel a different energy inside it after we killed the first demon beast. It was different from the Spiritual Energy that kept the Demon Beast's bodies whole. Since we have no clues yet, I thought I might as well take it, just in case."

Rean thought about something and contacted the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm.

'Sister Orb, can you find any formation present in this place at the moment?'

[Give me a moment.]

Rean and Roan waited for a few minutes until, finally, Sister Orb answered.

[There is indeed a gigantic formation acting in this place.]

'Can you control it like the others?'

[Yes, but it will be useless.]

Rean and Roan got puzzled.

'Why?'

[That's because the complexity of this thing is too big. I would need a few days just to analyze and find its uses. As for taking control over it, that would probably take a few months. The processing power of the Soul Gem System is too low at the moment.]

The twins understood.

'Fine. Still, go ahead and analyze it since we don't know how long we will stay here. It would be good if we could at least understand what this thing does other than creating and recover those demon beasts.'

[Alright.]

Rean and Roan were not the only ones experiencing the same problem. After a few hours, several groups entered the building, thinking they could find some treasure inside. Sure enough, they were all teleported to different points of the maze, just like with Rean and Roan.

*boom, boom, boom!*

*Roarrr!*

"Shit! Just how many beasts like these exist here? It has no end!"

"Stop complaining and run. There is no point in attacking them since they always recover."

Of course, there were stronger groups that had the power to kill those demon beasts.

"Phew.. another one down. See if it has anything worth using."

"Senior Min, I found something inside this one."

"Hum? What is it? A token?"

A similar situation happened here and there. The Umbral Sect Member, which ended up being separated during the teleport, also had the same issue. Of course, with their power, they could at least kill a few of those demon beasts if necessary.

"How many of these tokens did you find already?"

"Three. Not all demon beasts have these things inside."

Lian nodded as he put them inside his robe.

"Let's keep these things for now."

Somewhere else, Latalia was traveling alone inside the maze until all of a sudden, she saw a group approaching from a distance. However, instead of trying to join them, she immediately turned around and hid. After all, there was no guarantee that the other party had good intentions. The good thing was that Spiritual Senses were extremely restricted here, so it wasn't hard to hide from others.

"I'm starting to regret having entered this place. Everywhere is the same. Besides, we didn't find any treasure whatsoever."

"Don't complain. We entered this place because we saw everyone going inside as well. Focus on keeping your peak condition since we don't know when we will need to deal with those demon beasts again."

One of that group's members played with a token in his hand. With their combined power, they were able to kill one or other as well. One of those demon beasts just so happened to have a token inside as well.

Latalia, who was hidden in a corner, was taken aback when she saw the token.

'Laan City Token! Where did they find that?! Wait, could it be...'

She immediately thought about what might have happened.

'Other than the door leading into the Laan City, there are only the maze and the demon beasts. No wonder I haven't found anything so far. The demon beasts have the token.'

But she also faced an issue now. She could find demon beasts, but she wouldn't be able to get rid of them by herself. That's because those demon easts never move independently. Their groups always have at least three together. She had defeated some of them, but she didn't have the time to look for those tokens since they recovered too fast.

Latalia pondered a bit as she looked at the group moving in the distance. Finally, she shook her head and gave up the idea.

'They have two Core and Soul Fusion Realm cultivators with another three Core Formation ones. It would be hard to flee if they decide to turn against me. At the moment, I should be the only one with a grasp of the maze and its changes. I have to use it to my advantage.'

That being said, Latalia turned around and left in a different direction than the group she had just seen. She hid from a few groups while she had to also flee from others who spotted her first. Finally, she seemed to encounter a group that fit her needs.

"Hey, you three. Are you alone?"

Turns out that the group she found was Ervan's one.

Ervan and the two elders of his clan moved slowly, trying not to get anyone's attention. Unfortunately, they weren't lucky enough to avoid the demon beasts, so they had to flee several times. Fortunately, those Stage Four Demon Beasts didn't have any intelligence. Through some luck and wits, Ervan's group had survived until now.

Ervan, Sian, and Luo looked at Latalia and were taken aback.

"Ah! It's Latalia!"

Latalia was also taken aback for a second. She had never seen them, so why did they know about her. However, she wasn't an idiot. She only had to think for a moment to understand why.

"I guess that idiot nephew of mine sent you over, right?"

Ervan's group nodded while keeping their guards. After all, Ervan's father wasn't here. Besides, Latalia was at the Middle Stage Core and Soul Fusion Realm. Even though they were all in the late or Peak Core Formation Realm, they didn't think they could hold a candle against her.

"Mayor Juan Amakal is contracting several cultivators to enter the Core Region to look for you. He promised that he would give a Serene Blue Jade for anyone who found you or any clue that led to you."

Latalia snorted after hearing that.

"Hmph! That good for nothing still hasn't given up. Well, whatever. I have an offer for you three. I need to kill a few of those demon beasts in this maze, but I need someone to help me hold down the other members of their groups. As for the Serene Jade, I'll make Juan give it to you once we are out of this place."

Ervan couldn't help but say.

"But senior, we are all in the Late or Peak Core Formation Realm. I don't think we will be of much help to you."

Latalia shook her head in response.

"Don't worry. I'm not asking you to kill the demon beasts. I just need you to hold down one of them while I take care of the rest. As long as we find a group with only three Demon Beasts, that will be enough. In exchange, I can also help you flee when bigger groups appear."

"I'll be honest here. Considering your strength, it is already a miracle you are still alive. But if you join me, the chances of leaving this place alive will be a lot higher."

Latalia also didn't have a choice since any group stronger than that would be too hard to control. Unless, of course, she decides to trust one of them, which she obviously didn't want to.

Ervan, Sian, and Luo discussed through Spiritual Sense Message for a moment before they reached a decision.

"Very well, we would be glad to help."

It was true that they survived against the demon beasts so far because of sheer luck. Not to mention that they don't know what Latalia might decide to do with them if they refuse. That being said, they might as well join here and bet on their luck once again.

Latalia smiled as she nodded her head.

"I'm someone who always keeps her word. As long as you don't die straight away when holding the demon beast, I will keep my part of the deal."