Siheyuan: The Temptation of the Mountains

After Lin Ze left the misty forest, he walked along an ancient path. As he walked, the sky suddenly darkened, and a strong wind whistled past, with the wailing of countless evil spirits in the wind.

A dilapidated old house appeared in front of him, exuding a chill. Lin Ze approached the old house, and the door opened automatically. There was a foul smell inside, and a few white bones could be vaguely seen.

Lin Ze clenched his sword tightly. Suddenly, a sinister laugh came from behind. They turned around and saw nothing.

But the laughter was getting closer.

At this moment, Lin Ze's eyes were attracted by a mysterious and strange painting that suddenly appeared on the wall. The eyes of the characters depicted in the painting seemed to have life, staring straight at him. This strange scene made Lin Ze shudder, but it also aroused his strong curiosity.

After a careful observation, Lin Ze was surprised to find that there was a tiny hole on this bizarre painting. The hole looked like some kind of ingeniously designed mechanism. With a little trepidation and expectation, Lin Ze slowly reached out and gently touched the small hole.

However, something unexpected happened! Just as his fingertips touched the small hole, a dazzling light suddenly burst out and quickly gathered to form a huge light gate. Faced with such a sudden change, Lin Ze stepped into the mysterious light gate without hesitation.

When he passed through the light gate, the scene before him was completely beyond his imagination. He found himself in a completely unfamiliar and fantastic space, with crystals shining everywhere. These crystals were like stars inlaid in the dark background, emitting a dazzling and beautiful brilliance.

Just as Lin Ze was full of doubts, the crystals that had been standing quietly suddenly began to vibrate violently. Then, several dazzling rays of light shot out from the inside of the crystals, interweaving and merging in the air, and finally condensed into a human-shaped light and shadow emitting a hazy glow.

The human-shaped light and shadow introduced himself in an ethereal yet majestic voice: "I am the guardian of this mysterious land, and I have been waiting here for a long time. If you can successfully pass the next test, you can obtain the precious treasure hidden here." Hearing this, Lin Ze was excited, he knew that this would be a rare opportunity.

The so-called test is to solve a series of complex and exquisite array puzzles within a limited time. Although the task is arduous, Lin Ze did not back down. With the rich experience accumulated in the past and the high degree of tacit understanding cultivated with his companions, he concentrated and devoted himself to the challenge of solving the puzzles.

As time passed, the difficulty of solving the puzzle became greater and greater. But Lin Ze remained calm and collected, not missing any clues or details. As the time limit was approaching, a tense atmosphere filled the entire space.

At the critical moment, Lin Ze had a flash of inspiration and finally found the key to breaking through the last puzzle. With a crisp and pleasant sound, the last puzzle was successfully solved.

Seeing this, the silent guardian smiled with satisfaction. He waved his hand gently, and two crystal clear spiritual beads containing powerful spiritual power flew in front of Lin Ze. These two spiritual beads were undoubtedly the legendary treasures, which could greatly improve the spiritual power level of practitioners.

Lin Ze took the spirit pearl with great joy and carefully put it in his arms. Then, carrying this hard-earned precious harvest, he once again embarked on a new journey full of unknowns and adventures.

Lin Ze continued walking forward and soon arrived at a small town. The people in the town looked worried because the river outside the town had dried up, the crops had failed, and many people had fallen ill for unknown reasons.

Lin Ze thought that since he had obtained the spirit bead, he might as well give it a try. He came to the river, took out a spirit bead, and injected spiritual power into the river.

Suddenly, the spirit bead burst out with dazzling light, like a bright sun, illuminating the originally dim environment.

At the same time, the calm river water began to surge violently, as if being pulled by a mysterious force, and gradually gushed out from the river channel.

Seeing such a strange sight, the villagers gathered by the river couldn't help but cheer excitedly, their eyes wide open, their faces full of surprise and awe.

However, just as everyone was immersed in joy, a burst of hurried and heavy footsteps suddenly sounded.

Immediately afterwards, a group of figures in black night clothes appeared quickly like ghosts.

The black-clad man at the head had a stern face and a sneer of contempt on his lips. He shouted to Lin Ze in an icy voice: "You little bastard, if you know what's best for you, hand over the spirit pearl! Otherwise, don't blame us for being ruthless!"

Facing the threat from these uninvited guests, Lin Ze tightly grasped the sword in his hand, without any fear, and responded righteously: "I got this spirit pearl after going through untold hardships. It originally belongs to me. Why should I give it to you villains!"

Before he finished speaking, the two sides started an extremely fierce life-and-death battle.

Although Lin Ze possessed the powerful strength of the spirit pearl, he was helpless against the large number of men in black, each of them highly skilled and well-trained.

As time went by, Lin Ze gradually felt overwhelmed and found it increasingly difficult to cope.

At this critical moment, Lin Ze had a flash of inspiration in his mind, and he suddenly recalled a peerless sword technique that he had accidentally learned in the misty forest.

He took a deep breath, forced himself to be alert, concentrated all his energy in his body, and then performed that incredibly powerful stunt without hesitation.

In an instant, the unparalleled sharp sword energy swept out, raging like a violent storm.

The men in black were caught off guard and immediately lost their composure, being badly beaten by this sudden and fierce attack.

Taking advantage of the enemy's confusion, Lin Ze decisively seized the opportunity to break out, and rushed towards the valley behind the town like lightning.

Naturally, the men in black refused to give up after seeing this, and they all used their lightness skills to chase after him.

After running all the way, Lin Ze finally came to the edge of a steep and dangerous cliff.

Looking at the bottomless abyss in front of him, he groaned inwardly, realizing that he had no way to escape.

However, after a brief panic, Lin Ze quickly calmed down and quickly came up with a plan.

He pretended to be exhausted and unable to support himself, his steps were unsteady, and he deliberately exposed his back to the man in black who was chasing him relentlessly.

The group of men in black really fell into the trap and thought they had an opportunity, so they rushed forward one after another and tried to capture Lin Ze in one fell swoop.

It happened in a flash. Just when the man in black was about to touch Lin Ze's body, Lin Ze dodged sideways with lightning speed and cleverly avoided the opponent's attack.

Due to inertia, the men in black could not stop and fell straight down the cliff. Only screams could be heard echoing in the valley, which was creepy.

After successfully getting rid of the entanglement of the man in black, Lin Ze breathed a long sigh of relief.

He knew very well that he could not stay here for long, so after a short rest he hurriedly packed his bags, and continued on his uncertain journey with the only remaining spirit bead in his pocket, moving forward firmly towards the next place full of unknowns and challenges.