If this space possesses a "purpose" or a "design philosophy," then the existence of this labyrinth must hold some significance.

I am well aware that "purpose" and "design philosophy" are two different things.

Just because a stone can be used to smash something doesn’t mean it was designed for that purpose.

Nature doesn’t design stones.

However, nature also doesn’t create hallways.

Hallways are clearly a product of deliberate design.

Of course, in supernatural phenomena, the appearance of artificially designed structures doesn’t necessarily mean there was an actual designer.

Precisely because the supernatural defies logic, it’s possible for something like a "naturally occurring artificial structure" to exist without explanation.

This is also why detective stories tend to forbid supernatural elements—once they’re introduced, anything becomes possible.

For now, I can only propose this as a direction of thought: since this space contains hallways, has a purpose, and possesses consumable tools capable of pulling in external humans (at least according to Zhu Shi’s deduction), then the existence of a designer behind all this wouldn’t be surprising.

Whether that designer is the "Creator of Oddities" mentioned by the Oddities is an entirely different question.

Assuming this labyrinth-style hallway does have some kind of meaning, how can we uncover it?

The answer is simple: by destroying it.

Many things, while they exist, make their purpose difficult to perceive; only when they are gone do people realize their irreplaceable significance.

Now, I will destroy this hallway in front of me.

I raised my right hand once more, condensing a fireball in my palm.

At first, it was only the size of a soccer ball, but it quickly expanded into a massive sphere over five meters in diameter.

Clearly, such an enormous object couldn’t possibly fit within the confines of this hallway.

The ceiling and floor began to melt under the searing heat, exposing the layers above and below.

Satisfied with its size, I aimed the fireball at the nearby wall.

The five-meter-wide fireball shot forward at high speed.

To prevent the shockwave from harming Zhu Shi, I initially launched the fireball at the speed of a car.

However, as it traveled farther away, its velocity rapidly increased, effortlessly breaking the sound barrier.

Zhu Shi was visibly startled by the commotion I caused.

She glanced at me, then at the massive fireball disappearing into the distance, and spoke in a comforting voice, as if she thought I had been driven to recklessness by our predicament.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, Senior Zhuang. Although spatial anomalies aren’t my specialty, I’ve started to notice something. I promise I’ll get you out of here.”

I was about to tell her not to worry about me, but her next words caught my attention.

Curious, I asked, “What did you notice?”

"This alternate space may not belong to reality, but it’s very close to the real world," she said with absolute certainty.

"In other words, if we can destroy it, we’ll automatically return to reality."

"Do you have a way to destroy the space itself?"

"As long as we can find a weak point…"

As she spoke, she focused her attention on the air in front of her, seemingly concentrating on observing the space itself.

Occasionally, she raised her sharp sword, as if measuring where to make her strike.

Could she be hiding some kind of Void-Shattering Slash skill?

I couldn’t quite tell what she was planning, so I decided to focus my attention on sensing the massive fireball I had launched earlier.

And the moment I focused, I immediately noticed something unusual.

I realized that when the Oddities boasted earlier about how no one could escape this labyrinth even after walking for centuries, and that this space was infinitely vast, he might not have been exaggerating.

Through the tunnel carved out by the massive fireball's rampage, I could see hundreds of meters into the distance, and the details in that distant scenery became noticeably vague.

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Normally, such distant visual details would be impossible for me to make out with the naked eye.

However, I was perceiving this through my fireball’s special sensory link.

Just like how my tiny "fireflies" could allow me to eavesdrop on someone’s phone calls from afar, this enormous fireball acted as an external eye, giving me a sensory range far beyond my normal capabilities.

I noticed that everything around the massive fireball appeared normal, but the further into the distance I looked, the more the "resolution" of the scene dropped, and eventually, the scenery simply disappeared altogether.

What I perceived reminded me of open-world single-player computer games.

To save on processing power, those games reduce the graphical quality of distant scenery or simply stop rendering it altogether.

For example, when a character is indoors, the outdoor scenery might not load fully, or only partially.

This alternate dimension isn’t a virtual world, of course, but it seems to follow a similar principle.

As we move forward, the hallways behind us in the far distance disappear, while the hallways ahead are generated anew.

The total amount of "hallway space" remains constant, and we are always situated at the center of this labyrinth.

If we walk obediently through the maze, we will never reach its end.

This is a form of "infinity."

Setting aside the Oddities who seems to be fused with this labyrinth space, there should currently be about twenty "centers" within this maze.

Two of them are me and Zhu Shi, while the rest are the massive fireball, the wall-hugging fireball, and the dozen or so "fireflies" I released at the beginning.

Why are these flames also considered "centers"?

Is it because I can sense the surroundings through them, or because they are an extension of my spirit?

These questions aren’t important right now.

What matters is that the method to crack this space has become clear.

If there’s a need to "conserve processing power," it means there’s an upper limit to that processing power.

No wonder this "infinite" space is filled with so many twisting hallways.

If someone could see far enough into the distance, the illusion would immediately fall apart.

The labyrinth exists to conceal this flaw.

If I create an overwhelming number of "centers" and have them spread in all directions, the "processing power" of this space will eventually reach its breaking point—or at least, that’s my hypothesis.

The results will depend on whether this theory holds true in practice.

If this were earlier, I might have worried about whether breaking this space would cause some catastrophic failure.

But since Zhu Shi said that destroying this space would automatically return us to reality, I’ll trust her judgment.

A fireball once again gathered in my palm.

"I have a way."

As I said those words, Zhu Shi also shifted her gaze away from the air in front of her and spoke the exact same sentence.

She quickly realized what was happening and exclaimed in shock, "Huh? Wait, isn’t this supposed to be my big moment to shine?!"

Too late. I was already in motion.

I was itching to put my hypothesis to the test.

Without another word, I slapped the fireball onto my chest, igniting my entire body and entering my Flame Elemental Form.

This transformation was essential to simultaneously control a vast number of "fireflies."

At the same time, the massive fireball in the distance, over five meters in diameter, shattered into thousands of "fireflies," which, under my command, began speeding in all directions.

A mere dozen or so "centers" were far from enough to push the labyrinth to its operational limit.

But what happens when there are thousands? Tens of thousands?

Each "firefly" became a "center" in this maze, endlessly generating corridors wherever they spread.

As they scattered, the ground beneath us began to tremble violently, and the scene before my eyes started to blur and distort rapidly.

"What have you done?!" The Oddities's voice echoed again, this time filled with raw panic.

"The maze... the maze is collapsing! Impossible... Unless the 'conditions' specified by the Maze Maker are met, this labyrinth shouldn't be able to be broken!"

"Specified conditions?" So this maze space had some sort of "clear condition" or "mission objective" we were supposed to fulfill in order to leave?

If this Oddities was the "game master," then it was clear he never intended for us to solve the puzzle in the first place.

In that case, breaking the rules and solving it with an "unorthodox method" was perfectly justified.

The tremors grew more intense, shaking the ground so violently it became nearly impossible to stand.

Cracks began spreading through the corridors in every direction, and sections of the labyrinth shattered into fragments.

Finally, the corridors themselves completely disintegrated.

Almost simultaneously, my vision plunged into darkness.

But the darkness lasted only a second—just like when we first entered the maze space—before everything returned to normal.

I found myself standing on a football field.

In front of me was the grassland, now riddled with countless craters from my earlier fireball attacks.

And there, standing dumbfounded and disoriented, was the Oddities with the goat-like devil's head.

I had successfully dismantled the maze space from within.

A profound sense of achievement and relief welled up inside me, filling every corner of my being.

The Oddities's gaze fell upon me.

His expression instantly changed, and without hesitation, he turned and bolted.

As he ran, he manipulated the surrounding shadows, attempting to wrap himself in them.

Clearly, he planned to escape into the shadow world and relocate himself somewhere else.

But with me here, escape was simply not an option.

I glanced at the shadows he was trying to control, and with a single focused look, I set them ablaze.

I still don’t fully understand how shadows can be destroyed by intense heat, but under the searing flames, they burned away like paper, reduced to drifting ashes.

Then, I raised my right hand. I was still in my Flame Elemental Form, and in this state, my body could change shape at will.

In other words, I could freely manipulate the length and size of my limbs.

In an instant, my right arm stretched nearly twenty meters, and my hand expanded to an enormous size, snatching up the fleeing Oddities like a panicked rat.

Flames erupted from my palm, instantly vaporizing everything below his head.

The Oddities head tumbled from the fiery grip and hit the ground.

But in mere moments, it regenerated, returning to its unscathed form.

He let out a shrill, panicked scream and scrambled to flee again, heedless of direction.

At that moment, a figure emerged from the darkness—a silhouette clad in a straw raincoat and wide-brimmed bamboo hat, gripping a gleaming sword in hand.

Two eyes, glowing with a piercing, icy blue light, slowly opened in the shadows.

The Oddities barely registered the figure before instinctively shrieking, "Who are you?!"

"Mount Luo Wuchang—Zhu Shi."

Zhu Shi spoke calmly, her voice steady as she stepped forward and swung her sword.

Four streaks of sword light flashed almost simultaneously, severing the Oddities four limbs.

His body collapsed to the ground in a pathetic heap.

"It’s useless! I have countless clones elsewhere! This kind of wound means nothing to—" the Oddities screamed in a deranged frenzy.

But his voice abruptly cut off, as if someone had grabbed him by the throat.

Unlike every previous time, his body did not regenerate.