The yellow sand rose to the sky, accompanied by a tremor that caused a large portion of the sand layer beneath everyone's feet to suddenly sink. It was as if something of astonishing volume was trying to break through the ground and reveal itself!
The first ones to realize something was wrong were Clair and Vera. Li Wei and Eris had already withdrawn from the battle zone at the beginning, so they were affected the least. The rest of the group, however, failed to react in time and watched in horror as the sand beneath their feet turned into flowing water, instantly trapping their legs.
Meanwhile, a giant hand broke through the ground and appeared in front of everyone. The hand was entirely made of stone, covered in weathered and corroded marks that indicated the passage of countless years. In terms of appearance, it was not much different from the alchemical puppets they had encountered before, one could even say they were exactly the same. The only difference was the size, which was far beyond the average alchemical puppet, easily ten times bigger.
A keyword immediately popped into everyone's minds: "Elite Guardian". This big guy must be the elite guardian of this area. No wonder we couldn't see it on the ground – it's been hiding underground!
Some students in the crowd quickly regained their senses. Before they set off, the teacher had warned them that the combat power of the Elite Guardian far exceeded that of normal alchemical puppets, and the best approach was to avoid direct confrontation. In other words, they were told that they had no chance of winning a head-on fight!
Of course, nobody wanted to tangle with such a monster. However, the sand beneath their feet had completely turned into collapsing quicksand.
"Can this guy turn sand into quicksand? This level of terrain transformation magic is impressive..."
Clair immediately understood the situation. This monster was completely different from the alchemical puppets they had encountered before, which could only throw punches. It was clear that this one had mastered even more powerful skills. Just this large-scale transformation into quicksand was already a tremendously terrifying range control technique. The more you struggled in quicksand, the faster you sank. Most people encountering quicksand for the first time would naturally want to escape as quickly as possible, but the more they struggled, the faster they sank. It wasn't that struggling would lead to safety, it just slowed down the sinking process. Ultimately, if you got trapped, you would still be consumed.
In the blink of an eye, several people were already swallowed up to their knees by the quicksand. At this rate, it seemed like almost everyone would be dragged down.
Seeing the situation becoming critical, the tall boy suddenly shouted and threw a fierce punch, causing a huge explosion that shattered the sand layers around him. He forcibly escaped from the quicksand zone and swiftly ran towards his three teammates, pulling them out of the quicksand one after another.
In just two steps, his feet were once again trapped in the quicksand.
"What should we do now, Captain?" his three teammates anxiously asked for advice. Without looking back, the tall boy ran towards the teleportation tower and said, "Let's go to the next level..."
His three teammates immediately understood his intention. Originally, he had wanted to collect enough energy tokens on the first level so they wouldn't have to face more powerful monsters on the second and third levels. He had coerced the "allies" from two teams in order to ambush other teams more securely. However, he had never expected that things would backfire. The combat power of Clair's team far exceeded his expectations. Continuing to stay here, even if they managed to get rid of the Elite Guardian, Clair's team would surely kill them. In that case, they could only rush to the next area in advance.
"Let's go..."
Before reaching the teleportation tower, the tall boy's hand flew out ten coin-shaped energy tokens, immediately activating the teleportation tower. At the same time, the Elite Guardian underground had already broken through the ground and stood arrogantly in front of everyone, towering over thirty meters tall.
Over there, the tall boy and his teammates had already disappeared in the light of the teleportation array. His remaining few allies naturally understood that they had been abandoned, their leader had left them behind and escaped. After all, they were originally coerced allies and had no real relationship with each other, so it was only natural for him to abandon them.
On the other side, Clair and Vera had managed to free themselves from the entanglement early on. They had originally intended to pursue the tall boy's group, but since they had been teleported away directly, and Clair's team did not have enough energy tokens, they couldn't follow.In that case, they could only return to Li Wei and Elise.
As for the other eight unlucky students, it was already too late for them to escape. With half of their bodies swallowed by quicksand, they were powerless to escape...
Over there, the thirty-meter-tall alchemy puppet walked closer and reached out its hand to grab them.
These students had no ability to resist and were lifted up like little chicks. At the same time, the chest of the alchemy puppet opened, revealing a bright blue vortex.
"...So it's a teleportation array."
Seeing this structure, Li Wei understood what was about to happen.
The screaming students were thrown into the teleportation array by the alchemy puppet. There was no doubt that they were being sent out of the maze, losing their qualification to continue the exam.
However, the moment they disappeared... something shimmering with a bright blue light popped out of the teleportation array.
"That is..."
Although those students were sent out of the maze, their energy certificates were still on them and were not teleported away. Instead, they were thrown out of the teleportation array.
The alchemy puppet raised its hand, and all the scattered energy certificates flew towards its palm.
Seeing this, Clair's eyes lit up, and Li Wei immediately understood her thoughts.
"...You don't want to go and pick up the leftovers, do you? I suggest you give up. That big guy doesn't seem easy to provoke."
"Haha, I'll be careful~"
"..."
Li Wei wanted to continue persuading her, but Clair had already moved. Her purpose was obvious: she wanted to snatch the eight energy certificates from the hands of this elite alchemy puppet.
She turned into a gust of wind with her sword, fiercely crashing into the side of the alchemy puppet. The tremendous impact... actually pushed its thirty-meter-tall body to move a step sideways.
However, that was all. It didn't cause any further damage, and the hand holding the eight energy certificates remained tightly gripped.
Clair didn't back down and immediately swung her second sword, then her third sword...
Her speed was fast, and her continuous sword strikes attacked the alchemy puppet's hand. In the blink of an eye, seven or eight strokes had already hit.
Under this continuous attack, the alchemy puppet's fingers finally loosened, and the energy certificate shimmering with a bright blue light fell through its grasp.
"Got it!"
Clair rejoiced, about to make a move to snatch it. But at this moment, the alchemy puppet suddenly emitted a tan-colored light from its entire body, and a ring of light rapidly spread out!
At that moment, Clair suddenly felt her shoulder sink, and her entire body seemed to instantly increase in weight. She was pulled down and fell...
