Siheyuan: The Temptation of the Mountains

Lin Ze continued to move forward, and an ancient castle appeared in front of him. There was a gloomy atmosphere around the castle.

As soon as he approached the castle gate, it opened automatically.

It was dimly lit inside, with strange lights flickering on the walls. Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and a group of skeleton soldiers emerged from the ground, rushing towards him with weapons in hand.

Lin Ze's figure flashed and he quickly assumed a fighting stance like a ghost. The sword in his hand seemed to be ignited, and a raging flame instantly ignited.

He rushed into the group of skeleton soldiers without fear, and the sword in his hand drew dazzling arcs in the air. Every swing brought up sparks, like a meteor across the night sky.

The skeleton soldiers were unable to fight back under his fierce attack and were chopped to pieces, with bone fragments flying everywhere.

However, these skeleton soldiers seemed endless, continuously pouring in from all directions. Although Lin Ze's attack was fierce, he gradually felt a little tired facing so many enemies.

Just when he was beginning to feel overwhelmed, he suddenly discovered a weakness of these skeleton soldiers - their joints.

A hint of surprise flashed in Lin Ze's eyes, and he immediately changed his attack strategy. He no longer slashed blindly, but focused his target on the joints of the skeleton soldiers.

Sure enough, when his sword hit the skeleton soldiers' joints, these originally hard bones seemed to have their support taken away. They fell apart and lost their ability to move.

After a hard battle, Lin Ze finally wiped out all the skeleton soldiers.

He panted, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and after a short rest, continued to walk deeper into the castle.

In the center of the castle's hall, Lin Ze saw a huge sarcophagus, which was surrounded by a layer of mysterious light. This light made people feel an inexplicable sense of oppression, as if a huge secret was hidden in it.

Lin Ze's heartbeat quickened involuntarily. He knew that this sarcophagus might be closely related to the orb he was looking for.

He approached the sarcophagus cautiously, his sword tightly gripped in his hand, fully concentrating on preparing for any danger that might arise.

Just as Lin Ze was about to approach the sarcophagus, it suddenly shook violently, and then the coffin lid slowly flew up, and a black shadow shot up into the sky from it.

After the black shadow landed on the ground, it turned into a skeleton wizard with a faint light all over its body. There were green flames burning in its eye sockets, and it stared at Lin Ze coldly.

"You shouldn't be here." Along with this hoarse voice that seemed to come from hell, the Skeleton Mage slowly raised his pale hand and pointed at Lin Ze.

Lin Ze's heart tightened, he felt a strong magic power gathering. Before he could react, the Skeleton Mage swung his hands violently, and countless black magic flames rushed towards him like a rain of arrows.

Lin Ze's body reacted instinctively, he quickly dodged sideways, and at the same time, the long sword in his hand drew a silver arc in the air, shattering the approaching flames one by one. However, the flames continued to pour in, and Lin Ze did not dare to slack off. His movements were as natural and smooth as flowing water. Every time he swung his sword, he accurately hit the flames and dissipated them into nothingness.

Seeing this, the Skeleton Mage did not stop attacking, but chanted an ancient and obscure spell. As the spell sounded, the ground began to shake violently, and huge stone spikes suddenly rose from the ground, like small mountains, piercing the sky.

Lin Ze frowned slightly, and his figure was like a ghost, jumping and dodging flexibly between the stone spikes. He kept his eyes fixed on the Skeleton Mage, looking for an opportunity to counterattack.

Finally, Lin Ze discovered a flaw in the Skeleton Mage. There was a momentary pause between its spells. Lin Ze seized this opportunity without hesitation. He rushed towards the Skeleton Mage like a cannonball, the long sword in his hand flashing with cold light, piercing its chest.

The Skeleton Mage reacted extremely quickly. He instantly noticed Lin Ze's attack, raised his hand and condensed a black shield to block Lin Ze's sword.

The two sides were in a stalemate for a moment, and Lin Ze's power was continuously transferred to the long sword, trying to break through the shield of the Skeleton Mage. The Skeleton Mage continued to strengthen the defense of the shield, and for a while, a delicate balance was formed between the two.

Just as Lin Ze was thinking about how to break through the Skeleton Mage's defense, he suddenly remembered a weakness he discovered when fighting with the skeleton soldiers before - their joints were relatively fragile.

Lin Ze's eyes fell on the cervical vertebrae of the Skeleton Mage, where the joints were. The corners of his mouth rose slightly, and a new plan came to his mind.

Lin Ze suddenly exerted force, his body rushed forward, then quickly turned sideways, skillfully bypassing the Skeleton Mage's shield. Then, the long sword in his hand was like lightning, slashing at the Skeleton Mage's cervical vertebrae at lightning speed.

With a crisp "crack" sound, the Skeleton Mage's cervical vertebrae broke. Its body instantly lost balance and fell to the ground like a knocked-over sculpture, turning into a pile of bones.

Lin Ze let out a long sigh, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and slowly walked towards the sarcophagus.

Lin Ze came to the sarcophagus and looked inside, but found no trace of the pearl, only a piece of parchment emitting a faint glow.

He picked up the parchment, and the runes on it flickered, as if hiding some mysterious power.

At this moment, the bottom of the sarcophagus suddenly cracked, and a powerful suction force drew Lin Ze in.

Lin Ze felt that the world in front of him suddenly began to spin wildly, as if the entire universe was rapidly rolling around him. His head seemed to be hit hard by a heavy hammer, and the pain was so unbearable that he could hardly stand.

Finally, he used all his strength to stabilize his body. When he was finally able to see the surrounding environment clearly, he was surprised to find that he was in a completely unfamiliar and strange space.

In this space, the walls were inlaid with countless kinds of exotic gems that he had never seen before. They emitted colorful light and intertwined with each other, forming a magnificent picture. And right in front of him, a translucent elf was quietly floating in the air, its body emitting soft blue light, like a bright star in the night sky.

"You can come here, which proves that you have a certain strength." The elf's voice was like the sound of nature, ethereal and crisp. "But the orb is not here. If you want to get it, you must pass my test."

Lin Ze tightly grasped the sword in his hand, his eyes firm and resolute, and responded without hesitation: "Please speak, I accept your test."

Before he finished speaking, the elf gently waved its slender arm, and suddenly all kinds of powerful phantom monsters emerged in the space. These monsters were of different shapes, some had hideous faces, and some were huge. They pounced towards Lin Ze with their fangs and claws bared, and their momentum was menacing and chilling.

Lin Ze took a deep breath, quickly adjusted his state, and assumed a fighting posture again, ready to face this life-and-death test.