I Have an All-Knowing Mirror

Chapter 113: Speedrun

Just as Su Yuan began his attempt at the tenth layer of the labyrinth.

Su Yuan's alias, Ming, quietly vanished from the tenth stone stele.

The tenth stele corresponded to the tenth layer of the labyrinth. If the owner of a name began challenging the next layer, their name would temporarily disappear.

Should they fail the challenge, their name would reappear on the original stele.

And if they succeeded? Their name would appear on the next stele.

Whoosh!

The names carved into the tenth stele were as vast as a sea of smoke. After all, the Ten Thousand Layer Labyrinth was open to every Imperial Citizen of the Universe.

The first ten layers of the Ten Thousand Layer Labyrinth were primarily a test designed for strategists.

However, if a Starry Sky Lifeform tried dozens or even hundreds of times, they still had a chance of passing.

Even a small number of Planetary Lifeforms, if they were lucky enough to encounter a relatively simple trial, had a chance to break through.Yet, among the sea of names on the tenth stele, the name Ming had attracted the attention of quite a few individuals and factions.

Clearing the tenth layer was not considered difficult, but this particular challenger, Ming, had spent an incredibly short amount of time advancing from the first layer to the tenth.

It was important to note that there were no guides or walkthroughs for the trials within the Ten Thousand Layer Labyrinth.

Even for the exact same layer, different challengers would face entirely different scenarios and specific tests.

"Ming is about to challenge the labyrinth," someone noted.

"He timed his attempt right at the labyrinth's reset period. Ming's strength should be far beyond the level of the tenth layer."

"Logically speaking, with Ming's capabilities, he should have come into contact with the Ten Thousand Layer Labyrinth a long time ago. Why did he delay his challenge until now?"

"How could anyone know that? Maybe he deliberately held back? Or perhaps he was delayed by something else?"

Within the community hub of the Ten Thousand Layer Labyrinth, the eyes of several Imperial Citizens were fixed on the first stele.

Given the speed at which Su Yuan had cleared the first ten layers, passing the eleventh would not be a difficult task. It was merely a question of how much time it would take.

"How many layers do you guys think Ming can clear during this reset period? Will he hit the upper limit of the twentieth layer?"

"I think it is highly likely."

"That will be tough. Starting from the eleventh layer, the difficulty of the Ten Thousand Layer Labyrinth spikes drastically. This is especially true for the eighteenth and nineteenth layers. Many strategists have no confidence in clearing them quickly."

"That is indeed the case."

The numerous Imperial Citizens discussed the matter fervently.

They were either representatives of various factions, full-fledged strategists, or strategists-in-training. They were all highly intrigued by this Imperial Citizen named Ming who had suddenly risen to prominence.

The eleventh layer of the labyrinth.

Su Yuan opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings.

Beacon fires filled the air with thick smoke, and corpses littered the ground.

At the same time, information regarding the trial of this layer flooded into Su Yuan's mind.

"You are an ever-victorious general capable of fighting a hundred men alone on the battlefield. Unfortunately, you are trapped at the peak of Mount Lu. With enemies closing in from all sides, you had no choice but to lead your remnant forces in a retreat to the summit to mount a desperate defense."

"Clearance Objective: Break out of the encirclement and lead your troops through the enemy forces!"

"Clearance Restriction: You may not use combat power that exceeds the limits of this labyrinth layer!"

Su Yuan looked up. Wails of despair echoed endlessly around him. Whether it was the ordinary soldiers or the lieutenants, everyone's morale was at rock bottom.

Now that they were trapped on the summit, they could barely hold off the enemy's attacks by relying on the advantageous terrain. However, they had lost their supply lines. With only the rations they carried, they could last for a week at most.

After a week, even if the enemy did not charge up the mountain, they would starve to death.

'My current forces total thirty thousand men, while the enemy has three hundred thousand. It is three hundred thousand against thirty thousand, and we are trapped on a summit, isolated and without reinforcements. On top of that, there is the issue of supplies...'

Su Yuan's heart sank.

No matter how he looked at it, this was a dead end.

Break out of the enemy's encirclement? He merely needed to wait a few days, and his army would inevitably fall into utter chaos.

'I cannot use any methods or strength from outside the labyrinth...'

Su Yuan realized the difficulty of this layer's trial. This meant that the only thing he could rely on was the current strength of the general he was possessing, a man who could match a hundred soldiers.

But fighting a hundred men alone?

In the face of an encirclement by an army of three hundred thousand, fighting a hundred men alone held very little meaning.

Even if the three hundred thousand troops offered no resistance and just stretched out their necks for him to chop, it would still take him days to finish the job.

'How do I break this stalemate?'

Su Yuan walked to the highest point and gazed down the mountain.

The three hundred thousand-strong army was in no rush to attack. Instead, they were pitching their tents and setting up camp halfway up the mountain.

It was obvious that the enemy commander had no intention of launching a frontal assault. They planned to trap Su Yuan and starve him out.

This was also the best strategy currently available to them. A frontal assault? That would only provoke the desperate remnants to fight to the death. Even if the enemy won, it would be a pyrrhic victory costing them tens of thousands of soldiers.

By merely keeping them besieged, it would take a few days at most for Su Yuan's side to collapse on its own.

The lack of food and fodder, the despair of being trapped on the peak—these factors were constantly eroding the army's morale.

'What should I do now?'

Su Yuan swept his gaze over the summit, deep in thought.

'Forget it, I might as well just ask directly.'

After a moment's consideration, Su Yuan queried the gray mirror deep within his sea of consciousness.

'Give me the specific execution methods to clear this layer of the labyrinth.'

The surface of the gray mirror churned hazily before presenting several methods one by one.

[Method One: Among your remnant forces, there is a soldier named Wang San who is infected with a plague. Order Wang San to take your general's seal down the mountain to negotiate peace with the enemy. During the negotiations, Wang San's plague will be transmitted to the enemy commanders. Three days later, the enemy commanders will fall unconscious from the illness. You can then lead your army to break through with full force to pass the trial.]

[Method Two: In two days, the enemy general will quietly approach the summit for an inspection. Set an ambush in advance and assassinate the enemy general. The enemy's morale will plummet into chaos, at which point you can lead your remnant forces in a charge to pass the trial.]

[Method Three: Immediately order your troops to smash their cooking pots, burn the remaining rations, and destroy their tents and shelters. You will then take the lead and charge at the enemy to pass the trial.]

The gray mirror continuously provided various solutions, including specific steps. As long as Su Yuan followed the steps, he would be able to smoothly clear this stage.

Every layer's trial in the Ten Thousand Layer Labyrinth had multiple methods of clearing it, and the first ten layers had been no different.

'Method Three...'

Su Yuan's gaze locked onto the third method.

For no other reason than this method being the fastest.

And also the simplest.

As for the other methods?

They required waiting half a day or even several days.

Or they were far too complex to execute.

Therefore, Su Yuan decided to clear the trial using Method Three.

'Smash the pots? Burn the rations? Destroy the tents?'

Su Yuan quickly grasped the crux of this strategy.

It was to sever any possible route of retreat for his own side.

Either break out of the encirclement, or die.

Without pots and rations, even if they retreated back to the summit, only death awaited them.

Thus, in such a state, every single soldier in the remnant army would have no choice but to do everything in their power to break through the encirclement if they wanted to survive.

'Furthermore...'

Su Yuan looked toward the mountainside.

At this moment, the enemy forces were busy pitching camp. They would never expect Su Yuan to launch a counterattack right after retreating to the summit.

Charging down the mountain now was the optimal time.

Having made his decision, Su Yuan waved his hand.

"General."

A lieutenant hurried over.

"Pass down my orders. Smash the cooking pots, burn the rations, and destroy all the tents and shelters," Su Yuan instructed in a calm tone.

"What? General, this is...?" The lieutenant's face paled in shock.

"Then, follow me and charge down the mountain." Su Yuan shot a glance at the lieutenant.

"Understood." The lieutenant took a deep breath and immediately relayed Su Yuan's orders.

As the pots were shattered and the remaining rations went up in flames, a distinct atmosphere of despair began to permeate through Su Yuan's remnant forces.

"Brothers," Su Yuan stepped forward, looking down at the tens of thousands of battered troops. "Next, I will be the first to charge at the enemy. If I die, do not stop. Keep charging! As long as you can break through, you will survive!" Following his rousing words, the prevailing sense of despair rapidly transformed.

"Charge with me!"

Su Yuan was the first to sprint toward the mountainside.

"Congratulations on clearing the eleventh layer of the labyrinth..."

Su Yuan opened his eyes, returning to the outside world.

'The first labyrinth trial...' Su Yuan shook his head slightly.

Method Three, which he had selected, tested a strategist's ability to make decisive choices.

As a strategist, the greatest taboo was indecisiveness, especially on the battlefield where opportunities were fleeting.

Take the siege just now, for instance. Once the enemy recovered and successfully formed their encirclement midway up the mountain, Method Three would no longer have worked.

The most crucial element of Method Three provided by the gray mirror was the word 'immediately'.

'Seize the critical opportunity, and then burn your bridges...'

Su Yuan's mind raced.

'Start the twelfth layer of the labyrinth.'

Su Yuan immediately commenced his trial for the twelfth layer.

In the community hub of the Ten Thousand Layer Labyrinth, the crowd that had been conversing suddenly noticed that Ming, who had just disappeared moments ago, had now appeared on the eleventh stele.

And this meant that Ming had cleared the eleventh layer.

"What?"

"He already cleared it?"

"That fast?"

"Back in the day, to clear the eleventh layer, I waited inside for six whole days before finally grasping the opportunity to pass. How long has this Ming been in the eleventh layer? Half an hour?"

The crowd instantly exploded into an uproar. Many people were not surprised that Ming had passed the eleventh layer.

After all, the speed at which he had cleared the first ten layers was there for all to see.

But clearing the eleventh layer this quickly?

"Luck. It's definitely just luck."

"This Ming must have gotten lucky and encountered a trial that could be cleared in a short amount of time. That's why he was so fast."

Someone immediately could not help but remark.

In the Ten Thousand Layer Labyrinth, the test for every layer was different. Some required enduring for months or even years, while others only took half a day or a few hours.

"Right, I think so too. Ming's luck is simply too good."

"You can't just call it luck. Ming still has the strength to back it up. Without strength, he wouldn't have been able to pass the eleventh layer at all."

Initially, only a small number of people had been paying attention to Su Yuan's labyrinth run. But as the discussions brewed, more and more people began to watch, bringing forth a variety of opinions.

The majority opinion was that Su Yuan had encountered a trial with a short timeframe, allowing him to speed through it.

However—

Before the crowd could even finish their discussions.

The name Ming vanished from the eleventh stele and materialized on the twelfth stele.

For a moment, the entire area fell into a dead silence.

Only after a brief pause did a voice ring out.

"Ming's luck is truly incredible, two consecutive layers of the labyrinth..."

But before he could finish speaking.

The name Ming appeared on the thirteenth stele.

Soon followed by the fourteenth stele, the fifteenth stele, the sixteenth stele...

Within the successive layers of the labyrinth.

Su Yuan had begun his "speedrun" process.

For the first few layers, Su Yuan still took a moment to observe his surroundings, study the contents of the trial, and ponder how he should break the stalemate to pass.

But in order to save time, for the subsequent layers, Su Yuan simply gave up on the thinking process entirely.

He directly asked the gray mirror for the clearance methods.

As for whether this counted as relying on external forces...

The gray mirror had already been thoroughly refined by Su Yuan anyway. The two were inextricably bound; the mirror's Wisdom was his Wisdom.

Using his own Wisdom to clear the labyrinth layers was completely normal.

"Congratulations on passing..."

"Congratulations on passing..."

Before long.

Su Yuan arrived at the twentieth layer of the labyrinth.

"You are the last Empire Ruler of the dynasty, having ascended the throne at the age of twelve. You wish to save the empire from collapse... However, the dynasty is currently plagued by internal strife and foreign threats. Alien races are invading, the court is in a state of turmoil, and the inner harem is meddling in state affairs. Your head is splitting from the stress."

"Clearance Objective: Maintain your status as the Empire Ruler."

"Clearance Restriction: You are not permitted to use any strength or methods exceeding those of the Empire Ruler himself."

Atop the Nine Dragon Throne, Su Yuan sat upright, looking down at the civil and military officials filling the court.

'The trial of the twentieth layer... My identity is an Empire Ruler of a dynasty?'

Su Yuan thought to himself.

At the same time, he glanced at a spot not far below him.

There stood the current prime minister. At this moment, he was carrying a sharp sword into the royal court, standing before the Empire Ruler without kneeling.

'And the clearance objective is to maintain my status as the Empire Ruler?' Su Yuan pondered.

"Your Majesty." At this moment, a minister knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly. "The world is in chaos today! The people beg Your Majesty to abdicate, and for Prime Minister Qin to ascend the throne!"

"We beseech Your Majesty to abdicate!"

"We beseech Your Majesty to abdicate!"

One minister after another fell to their knees.

'No wonder it said I had to maintain my status as the Empire Ruler...' Su Yuan sighed.

At present, everyone in the court, from top to bottom, belonged to Prime Minister Qin's faction. Even the royal guards were eyeing Su Yuan like tigers stalking their prey.

Under the restriction of only being able to use the Empire Ruler's inherent power, Su Yuan possessed no ability to resist whatsoever.

'This stage's trial tests a strategist's forbearance...'

Su Yuan immediately consulted the gray mirror, learning the method to clear the stage.

"Since that is the case, Prime Minister Qin, why don't you yield to the will of the people and ascend this throne?"

Su Yuan stepped down from the imperial throne and spoke earnestly to Prime Minister Qin.

"It is that simple?"

Prime Minister Qin was quite surprised. He had expected the young Empire Ruler to put up some sort of resistance.

After his abdication, Su Yuan was locked away in a remote palace hall within the royal grounds.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty." A young eunuch servant scurried in and whispered, "We are all still loyal to Your Majesty. The chief eunuch remains loyal to Your Majesty as well."

"Are you still able to contact the outside?"

Su Yuan asked.

"We can."

The young eunuch nodded.

"Smuggle this secret edict out and deliver it to..."

A couple of hours later, with the eunuchs acting as inside agents, the royal palace was breached.

Prime Minister Qin was executed, and all of his followers were slaughtered.

Su Yuan ascended the throne once more, successfully maintaining his status as the Empire Ruler.

The difficulty of the twentieth layer's trial lay in whether Su Yuan could make the most correct decision—even if that decision was immensely humiliating, requiring him to surrender the empire left behind by his ancestors.

"Congratulations on clearing the twentieth layer of the labyrinth."

"The reward for the twentieth layer is..."

Su Yuan's spirits lifted. The clearance reward for the twentieth layer was one of the resources he needed most at this moment.