Floor 42 opened under a white-hot sky.

Sand stretched endlessly in every direction, but it did not look normal. Each dune reflected light like polished glass. The horizon shimmered with images of lakes, ruins, towers, and roads that appeared and vanished as soon as Qin Yuheng focused on them.

The mission panel appeared.

[Floor 42: Mirror Sand Expanse]

[Main Mission]

Cross the Mirror Sand Expanse and reach the Black Glass Oasis within 20 hours.

[Sub-Missions]

1. Identify 5 false routes.

2. Defeat 25 Mirror Sand Beasts.

3. Keep heat mirage corruption below 35%.

4. Avoid route collapse.

5. Discover the true oasis marker.

[Warning]

The fastest path may be the reflection of the slowest trap.]

Qin Mo covered his face with a sun veil.

"I already regret being outside."

Qin Lian looked across the dunes.

"Too many reflections."

Qin Yuchen said, "Use anchors?"

Qin Yuheng nodded.

They began with strict rules.

No chasing visible water.

No following distant towers.

No changing direction without three-point confirmation: True Soul Guiding Lantern, Shifting Path Memory Crystal, and sun-shadow alignment.

The first false route appeared within ten minutes.

A clear stone road emerged between dunes, leading straight toward a visible oasis.

Too convenient.

The True Soul Guiding Lantern pointed slightly away from it.

Qin Mo tossed a marker stone onto the road. It passed through and vanished.

False route.

[False Route identified: 1 / 5]

The second false route used sound. They heard Qin Feng’s voice shouting from behind a dune, claiming he had found water.

Qin Lian’s expression did not change.

"False."

They confirmed with Team Trust Anchor.

False route.

[False Route identified: 2 / 5]

Mirror Sand Beasts emerged near midday.

They looked like wolves made of glass sand, bodies constantly reflecting the team’s movements. When Qin Yuchen struck one, it copied his sword angle and countered half a breath later.

[Mirror Sand Beast]

[Level: 39]

[Ability:

Delayed movement reflection]

The solution was irregular rhythm.

Qin Yuheng intentionally broke patterns. Qin Lian attacked from blind shadow angles. Qin Mo used sand-binding formations that did not rely on movement. Qin Yuchen shifted between fast and slow cuts.

They defeated the first pack.

Heat mirage corruption rose.

[Heat Mirage Corruption Average: 8%]

By hour six, they identified four false routes and defeated fourteen beasts.

The fifth false route was the most dangerous.

It was not obviously false.

The True Soul Guiding Lantern pointed toward it.

The Shifting Path Memory Crystal confirmed it.

Even the sun-shadow alignment seemed correct.

Qin Yuheng stopped anyway.

Something felt too perfect.

He activated Law-Thread Severing Eye.

No corruption thread.

Then he used the False Future Severing Mirror.

The mirror showed them reaching the oasis quickly—then walking in circles inside it for days.

Qin Mo’s face paled.

"A true route to a false destination."

Qin Yuheng nodded.

The route was real.

The endpoint was trap.

They marked it as false.

[False Route identified: 5 / 5]

[Hidden Route Type discovered:

True path leading to false oasis.]

The desert reacted.

The dunes shifted.

A black glass marker rose from the sand in the distance.

True oasis marker.

But between them and the marker, the sand collapsed into a mirror pit.

Inside the pit moved a massive serpent made of reflective glass and black sand.

[Mirror Sand Route Devourer]

[Level: 42]

[Floor Boss]

[Status:

Guarding true oasis marker]

The boss did not emerge fully. It attacked from beneath sand, creating reflected copies of its body. Every time they attacked the wrong copy, route collapse expanded.

Qin Mo shouted, "Do not hit reflections!"

Qin Lian used shadow movement to identify which serpent displaced real sand. Qin Yuchen guarded against sudden strikes. Qin Mo stabilized edges with Storm-Root Anchor Spikes adapted for sand. Qin Yuheng used the True Soul Guiding Lantern and Mirror-Breaking Thunder Step to strike only the real body.

The boss adapted by reflecting Qin Yuheng himself.

A false Qin Yuheng appeared on a dune, holding a thunder-gray banner.

It planted a false Chosen Road Banner Field.

The field called to the team.

Weak.

But dangerous.

Unbroken Trust Resonance Crystal flared.

Qin Mo pointed at it.

"Fake ethical flag!"

Qin Yuheng almost laughed.

He used the True Reflection Severing Stone.

The false banner shattered. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

The real serpent screamed and surfaced.

Qin Yuchen cut its lower jaw.

Qin Lian pierced the eye core.

Qin Mo locked its body with sand anchors.

Qin Yuheng struck the central mirror spine with thunder.

The Route Devourer shattered.

The black glass marker opened a path.

They reached the Black Glass Oasis at sunset.

The oasis was not water.

It was a pool of dark glass reflecting the real sky.

A panel appeared.

[True Oasis Marker discovered.]

[Route collapse avoided.]

[Floor Boss defeated.]

[Final Evaluation greatly increased.]

Qin Mo sat under a dead palm tree.

"I miss floors with normal water."

Qin Yuheng looked into the black glass pool.

It reflected no false sun.

Only the sky.

That, too, was useful.