Lu Na took out a sheet of yellow paper. She hated how not only was she about to test out her theory, she hated that she had to do this with her finger and not with a spirit wand.

  The theory was simple. If Uncle Chen’s specific technique could turn random spirit energy into pure water spirit energy, couldn’t she do the same thing but with fire spirit energy? The only thing was, she’d need to find the make up of pure fire spirit energy.

  Lucky for Lu Na, there was a fountain of pure fire spirit energy standing next to her. There was a little math involved, but it wasn’t too hard. The idea was to change the output of the technique from harmless water spirit energy into its opposite, blazing fire spirit energy.

  As Lu Na stared at it, she realized something. For the first time since she started making her devices, she saw a fundamental law of spirit energy that she’d never seen before. Maybe it was because Hen Li’s spirit energy came from a mythical creature close to creation itself or maybe after so long of studying spirit energy something finally clicked in her mind. It was beautiful.

  “Lu Na, get a move on!” Sun Ren screamed. “The feral spirits are attacking harder than before. They’ve already overwhelmed most of Yang Deli’s men.”

  Lu Na looked up to see a horde of feral spirits breaking through the spikes. The earth wall she erected had been destroyed. The tired men under the rebel leader were falling.

  This was no time to daydream. If they survived, she would take time to study Hen Li’s spirit energy later. Right now, she made the necessary adjustments to the ward in her hand. It was so simple that she couldn’t believe she didn’t think of it earlier.

  The pure fire spirit energy was easier than the other types she’s dealt with before. Even her brother’s earth spirit energy mixed in a little bit of water to make it more fluid and flexible. With fire spirit energy though, it was just one idea just like the written word: 火.

  “I’m sorry, this is going to burn.” Lu Na said.

  “Do whatever you need Lu Na. I’m already burning,” Hen Li gasped.

  Lu Na tapped the null metal bracelet on Hen Li’s wrist three times. She focused on the bracelet’s functions to take on new instructions. She put the new ward onto it. In seconds, the yellow paper turned brown and burned up.

  The null metal bracelet glowed a dull red before turning a bright orange.

  Hen Li screamed, but he didn’t stop.

  Lu Na had to focus on the bracelet herself as Nugua wasn’t around nor was Hen Li’s spirit able to do so. She converted all the spirit energy from the surrounding areas into pure fire spirit energy and fed it into Hen Li. With the null metal bracelet, the new ward worked harder than before.

  Hen Li’s spirit energy doubled. Then doubled again. He bent over in pain, but kept his hands focused on the keys, pushing all his spirit energy into it.

  It was too much, even for the keys. They began to melt.

  “You have to release some of that spirit energy, Hen Li. Otherwise you’ll break the keys,” Lu Na said.

  Hen Li scowled at Lu Na before turning his head toward the fight behind them. He clenched his left fist and released it.

  A large orange wave pulsed out from Hen Li’s body washing over the soldiers. When it hit the feral spirits, it incinerated them in quick succession. The wave pushed out only until the spikes, giving the soldiers a chance to reform their lines. They pulled back into a tighter formation before the feral spirits could rush back.

  Hen Li refocused his efforts back onto the key.

  The door changed colors again, this time turning a bright white. It was opening.

  “Ah, finally,” Zi Xu put down his cup of tea and his table disappeared. He walked over with his hands held behind him. “Now all you have to do is touch the door, Young Miss Lu.”

  “It’s not an actual door? It’s one of those teleportation devices, isn’t it?” Lu Na used her spirit vision to see the different techniques activating.

  “Of course. The Xia never did anything so simply.”

  “Sun Ren. The door is open!” Lu Na shouted.

  “Oh, no no, you shouldn’t let anyone else touch it. Only one person can enter.”

  “But that would mean everyone else would be stuck here, fighting the spirits. I can’t abandon them.”

  Zi Xu came very close to Lu Na. His face looked more haggard than Lu Na ever saw before.

  “If you succeed, then they will stop. We’ll all be free. Even if they don’t, at least their ghosts can pass on unless you want them to be like me forever?”

  Lu Na feared that herself. She remembered the nightmare she had earlier.

  “We don’t have time, Young Miss Lu. Your friend is fading.” Zi Xu pointed at Hen Li.

  The monk was flagging.

  “Fine.” Lu Na touched the white door and the entire world turned white for a brief second.

  A loud booming voice echoed in Lu Na’s head, “Welcome, challenger. You have arrived on the first level. Are you ready?”

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  Lu Na clutched her head from the headache.

  “Can you lower that down? That hurt.”

  “Apologies.” The booming voice became more tolerable.

  “Where am I?” Lu Na stood in a small empty room with no windows. There was only one small light ward on the ceiling.

  “You are in the center of the labyrinth where we seek someone who is worthy of our legacy.”

  “Where are you? Why can’t I see you? I know you’re a ghost.” It was the first thing Lu Na noticed when she appeared there. The room was unbelievable cold despite being soaked in Hen Li’s flames earlier. She still felt the warmth from the pulse. It invigorated her.

  A man appeared in front of her. He wore a tall hat that covered his hair and an elegant jade green robe that reached the floor. His sleeves were so long that they almost touched the ground as well. All over his body he had jade adorned in every part and had jade accessories in his ears, around his neck, and wrists.

  “I am the game master here. Welcome to the greatest game in the world!”

  Lu Na spat on the floor toward the man’s feet.

  “This is no game. People have died out there.”

  “Oh, it is a game for me. Watching people try and try to get here has been so entertaining. I thought about selling the experience to the common people so they could watch people struggle through the labyrinth.”

  “That is sick.”

  The game master smiled. It was a crooked smile that showed off missing teeth.

  “My emperor thought the same thing. That’s why he had me buried alive in here. He wanted me to play the game for all eternity.”

  “So what now?”

  “Now we play a game. I think this is the first time in two thousand years that I get to play this game so closely. It was only a few years ago that someone else opened the door.”

  “That was my mother.”

  “Oh? Then that’s fortunate. Maybe you’ll have more luck than she did.”

  “What happened to her?”

  The game master grinned, showing less teeth.

  “She lost. She was eaten by the labyrinth. Well, almost. Your mother is still fighting up in the nexus, trying so hard to break free. She won’t unless you win.”

  Lu Na had a feeling that the phoenix was her mother, but now she had confirmation.

  “Fine, what do I have to do?”

  “The game is simple. You have to survive an obstacle course while answering a few questions. And you’re allowed one person from outside to help you. Of course, the person you choose has to be alive. No ghosts.”

  Zi Xu appeared beside the game master with his smug smile on his face.

  “I wouldn’t dare dream of helping her.”

  “Don’t lie to me. I’ve been watching you help this girl since she before she entered the labyrinth.” The game master grabbed Zi Xu by the ear and yanked him to the ground.

  “Can you blame me? We’ve been stuck here for so long that I’m forgetting why we built this in the first place.”

  “It’s to protect the balance in this world.”

  Zi Xu laughed.

  “Balance means little to ghosts. I just want to be free.”

  “I’ll deal with you later.” The game master turned to Lu Na. “As for you, let’s get this failure over with. The sooner we do this, the sooner I get to rest again.”

  “How many people have tried?”

  “Including you? Four. Two of those were back when people had more respect for spirits and better understanding of the world.”

  That meant that Lu Na’s mother was the first to try for a long time. If she failed though, what chance was there for Lu Na to succeed?

  “Let’s move to the obstacle course.” The game master closed his eyes, his robe fluttered around him as ghostly winds ruffled them.

  The room turned bright white for a moment before disappearing entirely. They appeared in an enormous room. Sounds of trickling water were in the distance. A loud thump was to the right. The cold in the air doubled, making Lu Na shiver.

  She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. There were devices everywhere in front of her. There were slides, turning wheels, a pond in the middle with a wooden bridge above it, and many other contraptions that she had no idea what they were for.

  Lu Na turned on her spirit vision. Nothing.

  “How is everything moving?”

  The game master laughed.

  “Oh you people always think that the only power in the world is spirit energy. What do you think people harnessed before spirits invaded our world?”

  Lu Na shrugged.

  “Ghosts, my dear. We might not be as powerful as spirits, but there are so many more of us.” The game master clapped his hands and people appeared at every device, moving them and pushing the obstacles.

  “The Xia were really brilliant. They made inventions that harnessed the power of ghosts?” Lu Na could only guess how it was done from observing Jie’s village. There was something in this labyrinth that not only forced them to stay in here, but to also make them physical.

  “I guess it doesn’t hurt to tell you a little more before explaining the rules. You’re going to be joining us soon anyway.” The game master took out a small wooden box from within his robe’s inner pockets. He opened it to show a small smooth white jade inside. “You see, our ancestors found out that jade has magical properties. They not only heal our bodies naturally, they also affect our souls. It took them many years of experimenting but eventually an old Shang official found a way to manipulate ghosts and use them as a power source.”

  “It’s not stable, is it?” Lu Na asked.

  “You really are clever. Yes, power from ghosts and our ancestors require their approval. There are ways to bind them, but it’s never as effective. Which is why with approval they’re willing to provide their descendants or those desperate enough to practice ghost hunting to be able to use their power.”

  “And without it?”

  The game master smiled before it turned into a gaping maw the size of Lu Na’s head. Sharp teeth lined within his mouth. A foul rotten stench escaped his throat.

  Lu Na blinked and the game master’s face looked normal again. Cold sweat broke out all over her body.

  “I’m sure you’ve experienced what happens when the ghosts don’t like you,” the game master said. “Now imagine one that you tried to use for your own gains.”

  Lu Na wiped her forehead. She understood why spirits were easier now. Not only that, they’ve saturated the air with so much spirit energy that her own inventions didn’t require permission from any entity. Yet there was so much potential with ghosts. That was something she would have to do research on if she survived.

  “Back to the game. You have however long you want to cross this obstacle course. You start there on the bridge above the pond.” The game master pointed. “The only thing you need to do is to answer some trivia questions. Answer them incorrectly and the ghosts become angrier. All you need to do is go around the course and then press the jade button on the far side over there. Any questions?”

  Lu Na squinted. She couldn’t see the jade at all. The enormous room could easily fit five or six of her Lu compounds in here.

  “What’s stopping me from walking over there and pressing the jade?”

  “The moment you step past me the entire floor turns into lava. You fall off, you die.”

  “Why don’t you or any of the other ghosts press the jade button?”

  “Have you not been listening, girl? Jade repels ghosts as well.”

  “You didn’t tell me that.”

  “I didn’t? Well, now you know. Anything else?”

  “You said I can take as long as I want?”

  The game master’s crooked smile came back. This time, his teeth looked pointed like a shark’s.

  “Oh yes, stay for as long as your weak body can handle it. Death by the lava, by one of the obstacles, or starving. Doesn’t matter to me.”

  Lu Na didn’t like those options. The worst part was that she didn’t have any of her tools or Nugua. She might as well get this over with.

  The moment Lu Na stepped onto the wooden bridge, the game master disappeared. Lava bubbled up from the ground, heating up the room immensely. All the obstacles activated, despite the ghosts disappearing.

  “Oh, I forgot to mention. Your friends are dying outside. Every moment you waste here, is another moment they don’t have.” The game master’s voice echoed in Lu Na’s head. He laughed.

  Lu Na balled up her fists. Not only was she going to beat this stupid obstacle course and answer all those trivia questions, she was going to find some way to torture that game master’s ghost. She swore it on her ancestors.