Chapter 2135 - 2135. Winds
The seventh floor had to use the entirety of its energy to make the dimensional portal stable, so Noah and the others couldn't seize any of that fuel. The event also revealed that the insects had been a challenge, but they couldn't be sure if they had arrived during the Labyrinth's creation or afterward.
The flying insects might have affected the floor like the turtles did with the sea. They might have changed the area's nature, forcing the Cursed Labyrinth to adapt the challenge to its new shape.
Noah couldn't find answers to those questions since the dimensional passage absorbed every clue that the seventh floor might have. Only a maimed version of the space-time array remained after the door to the next area stabilized, so he suppressed his curiosity to advance the exploration.
The portal had absorbed the few maimed corpses that were still floating on the floor, so the turtles couldn't find anything capable of appeasing their hunger. Noah felt forced to give the energy stored previously and let everyone recover for a while before approaching the passage.
The force that triggered the teleportation fell on the dark world around the group, and a new environment quickly unfolded in their senses. An immense plain expanded in every direction, and four massive tornados raged in seemingly random areas.
The sky was grey, and violent winds ran through it. Those currents followed precise paths as they left and reentered the four tornados, and their nature changed every time they fused with those giant structures.
The tornados didn't hurt the plain. Their vast bases appeared glued to the crystal-like azure ground, but their energy didn't seep inside it. That odd terrain seemed immune to the violent force falling on its surface, but there was clearly more to the matter.
The eighth floor was larger than the previous by a lot. That vaster space allowed the many currents to create a system that could run endlessly. Of course, that could only happen if the energy inside the winds didn't change, so Noah promptly gave the order to leave everything untouched.
The plain wasn't flat, but it didn't feature any significant structure. A few shallow gorges and a series of short hills stood on its surface, but they didn't seem to have any deep purpose.
Everyone immediately believed that the tornados and the winds were the keys behind the exit, but Noah felt that something was off. The different space-time array of the separate reality bent and converged at the base of those vast structures, and a closer inspection revealed the presence of dimensional tunnels.
Each tornado had a dimensional passage at its base, and Noah couldn't understand where they led. Pellio also felt lost in front of those doors. His dreams found no hindrances in the entire eighth floor, but they couldn't go past those teleports.
"They can be anything at this point," June commented when Noah tried to find answers in her expertise in the formations' field. "This plain is strange, but it has no signs of inscriptions. The entire area might just be a unique environment with no special purpose."
"Except for the winds," Noah added.
"This layout allows the winds to blow in their set course," June stated. "However, these tornados have no source. Unless they appeared due to someone's influence, it's very likely that the creators have placed them here after creating an environment that could contain them so perfectly."
"The same goes to the dimensional passages then," Noah continued. "The portals can remain stable because they have these winds around them. They don't draw power from the gales, but they are definitely symbiotic."
"Can you find anything about the plain?" June asked.
"I can dig into it," Noah explained, "But I don't want to ruin this harmony. Besides, the plain looks normal from here. My consciousness can seep inside it just fine, and it can't find anything unusual."
The crystal-like ground didn't have any unique ability. It was simply immune to the winds, which explained how it had survived the gales falling on its surface for a long time. The winds didn't even smoothen out its sharp spots. Every corner, hole, or hill appeared necessary for the correct functioning of that endless cycle.
"We have to explore the passages then," June voiced what everyone had already understood but didn't want to say.
That decision created new problems. The tornados were oddly identical. The amount of energy they contained was the exact same as the other structures, and their winds even blew at the same speed. Noah would have believed that the passages at their bases led to the same place if the space-time array didn't show a different truth.
Noah could sense and calculate that the dimensional passages would lead to entirely different dimensions. Those areas weren't even as close as those usually hidden under the floors. He actually checked that in an area that didn't affect the winds, but he only found an empty grey sky.
"So, there are four keys or a single right path," Noah concluded after reviewing everything found during the inspection.
"If we are lucky," June chuckled.
"I'm getting really curious about these creators," Noah exclaimed. "I hope building separate realities and complicated environments aren't their only abilities."
"What if they are useless in battle?" June asked.
"We make them build multiple Labyrinths inside the sky and start stealing assets from Heaven and Earth," Noah announced.
Old Tyrant and Gabrielle laughed, but Fiery Mountain's expression froze, and her reaction told the two experts that Noah wasn't joking. The sky was an untouchable realm in their minds, but Noah was planning to invade it. They had no idea that he had already accomplished that feat a few times.
"Fine, gather up," Noah ordered before looking toward the pack of turtles. "Maybe it's better if you hide inside me again."
"We don't hide!" The upper tier turtle hissed.
"Do we have to go through this every time?" Noah growled.
Noah expected the leader to complain a bit longer, but it accepted the order rather quickly at that time. His pride even deepened, and he shook his head after connecting the event to what had happened on the sixth floor.
Noah enveloped June and the other cultivator with his dark matter after all the turtles entered his figure. Crossing the tornados' raging winds wasn't a problem, and their passage didn't affect their flow. The environment remained untouched as the group approached the dimensional path and dived right through it.
The choice of the tornado had been entirely random. They didn't have anything special, and the plain didn't help, so Noah had just flown to the closest to his position.
Still, the dimensional passage there triggered a teleport that took a few seconds to activate. The event differed from what the group had grown used to after crossing multiple floors, but no one complained. Everyone simply tried to remain alert as the environment around them changed.
No amount of preparation would have been enough to prevent surprise from filling the experts' minds. Even Noah didn't know what to think when the teleport ended and made his group appear before an immense city.
The sky there had a darker shade of grey, but Noah and the others barely managed to keep their attention on the environment. Their senses inevitably focused on the city's insides when countless presences entered the range of their mental waves.. All of them belonged to cultivators.