Hearing that, the smile on Oulian’s face was completely frozen. A moment later, he was finally relaxed. “So, Cashya may be the strongest competitor?”
Kai laughed. “Who knows? It’s all up to the contestants.”
This was a spacious, boundless place. Also, there were thick clouds in the sky. Parts of the territory down below could be seen through the clouds, but it was impossible to gain a full view of the place. It was covered mysteriously.
“What is this place?” asked someone. At this moment, dozens of people including Yun Feng were hovering in the sky. A member of the royal family of the Cashya Empire and the young man that Yun Feng saw earlier were flying in the lead, followed by the Cashya Empire’s contestants. Then, there were the contestants from the other three empires.
When the teams from the other empires saw the place that was enshrouded in heavy clouds, the core members of the teams all frowned solemnly. Yun Feng was no exception. For some reason, she felt that there would be many surprising things in this territory that had been covered so tightly.
The hippogryphs that were leading the way suddenly dived into the heavy clouds. The contestants of the Cashya Empire followed them. Seeing that, the other contestants did the same, although they were slightly nervous. All the hippogryphs jumped into the clouds that seemed thick. Yun Feng looked at the clouds around her. They reminded her of the overwhelming fog when she passed the Great Crack, except that the fog in the Great Crack was hot and the clouds here were so frigid that she felt as if she was passing through ice.
The clouds in front of her eyes were no more. Yun Feng finally saw what lay underneath. There were a lot of mountains whose heights were different. There were also many dilapidated buildings in this place too. Yun Feng glanced at them, and then was stunned.
“This is…” Yun Feng stared at the place in front of her. She saw a lot of walls that were made of stones, and the remains of roads. Some of the roads crossed, and some were parallel. They all seemed to be leading to the horizon. Yun Feng blinked her eyes. The other contestants saw the view too. Though they couldn’t see everything, it was enough for them to infer that there was an enormous maze in this place!
All the hippogryphs landed. The moment Yun Feng jumped off, she saw two people who seemed to have been waiting here. Yun Feng blinked her eyes with a smile. Not bad. She knew one of them.
The royal noble of the Cashya Empire greeted the two people. Seeing that everybody had gathered, he announced, “Cashya is honored to host the international contest, which has always been an occasion of friendly communication. That being said, it’s a contest anyway, and we must ensure fairness in the contest. Therefore, Cashya has invited two referees. One of them is Mr. Zheng Ran, deputy president of the Mercenary Union’s branch in Karan.”
Zheng Ran nodded at everybody as a greeting, and stared at Yun Feng for a few more seconds with a smile. Yun Feng smiled back at him. “The other referee is Mr. Bi Xing, deputy president of the Magic Union’s branch in Karan. It wasn’t easy for us to invite him here.”
A stout man nodded at everybody as a greeting. He was wearing a big loose robe, and he seemed quite serious too. Yun Feng blinked her eyes. The Magic Union? There was a Magic Union on the East Continent too?
“Are you surprised, kid?” The ancestor’s voice echoed in her head, and Yun Feng communicated with him telepathically. “Indeed I am. After all, the general expertise of mages on the East Continent has never been high. Isn’t the Magic Union in an awkward position?”
The ancestor smiled. “It’s indeed awkward. However, the Magic Union had a good reason to exist. For example, there was the meeting of mages from the East Continent and the West Continent.”
“The meeting of mages?” Yun Feng was stunned. She never knew of such a meeting. Wouldn’t the East Continent be humiliated in such meetings? “Haha. I’ll tell you more later. I’m no stranger to this place.” What the ancestor said made Yun Feng’s eyes glitter. “Ancestor, what is this place?”
The ancestor opened his mouth. But he spoke in a low voice with worries on his face, “When I was alive, I heard of a forbidden land in the Cashya Empire while I traveled there. It seemed to be the remains of something from the past, and was covered by clouds all year long. The Cashya Empire forbade everyone from coming here. Nobody knew what it was, or what was hidden here.”
Hearing that, Yun Feng couldn’t help but grow solemn. “So, this place is completely unknown.”
“That’s right. But I did find out something. After all, I had my own methods.” The ancestor smiled in delight. Yun Feng was quite amused. Why did this old man not have the manners of a senior at all?
“This place is called the Forsaken Maze. It’s said that the land here has been completely abandoned. There’s no telling who the master of the maze was, or when it was built. The Cashya Empire has treated it as a forbidden land ever since it was discovered. None of the explorers who entered the place ever came out.”
Hearing that, Yun Feng became gloomy. “Why has the Cashya Empire picked this place? It’s a dangerous area. Why are they holding the international contest in this place? What are they up to?”
“Kid, you must be very careful and stay vigilant all the time. The Cashya Empire probably has other schemes. In case anything goes wrong, you must stay vigilant.”