130: Eye of the Storm! The Call of the Soul-Guiding Beacon!
The Lost Temple was within reach.
However, lying between the Shadowless Hall's fleet and the temple was an almost insurmountable chasm
—a gigantic, ceaseless storm encircling the entire island.
Lightning tore through the sky like the furious whip of a god, illuminating the dark sea in a ghastly white light. Gigantic waves, overturning like mountains, furiously battered the outermost escort ships, creating a deafening roar. In the face of this terrifying natural power, the sturdy hulls cried out under the strain, like fragile toys.
[System Notification: Your fleet has entered the fringe of the "Eternal Storm" area. Ship durability is slowly decreasing!]
[System Notification: Crew members are affected by "Thunder Intimidation," reducing all attributes by 5%!]
"Guild Master, it's impossible! We can't break through!" The fleet's chief navigator reported, his face pale. "The currents on the storm's periphery are already completely out of control. If we get any closer, our ships will be torn apart!"
Just as he said, several escort ships that attempted to approach the storm only grazed the edge, and their hull durability plummeted at a visible rate, terrifying the pilots into quickly retreating.
Solemnity was etched onto everyone's faces.
They had defeated powerful enemies and crossed thousands of miles of ocean; were they truly going to be stopped by this natural disaster in the end?
Lin Mo's expression, however, was unusually calm. He stood silently at the bow, letting the fierce wind whip his robes, his gaze sharp as a knife, fixed intently on the faintly visible island at the center of the storm and the solitary lighthouse beside it.
The oracle compass and the Storm Lodestone in his hand were vibrating violently, emitting light so intense it almost made his palm transparent.
Strangely, although the pointers of both items pointed forward, the target was not the main temple island at the very center of the storm, but was slightly offset, precisely aimed at the ancient lighthouse floating atop a massive rock.
"That is the entrance," Lin Mo murmured to himself.
He understood instantly. This Eternal Storm was itself the first trial of the temple, a screening mechanism. Only those who truly understood the Oracle and found the correct path were worthy of setting foot on that land.
"All ships, heed my command!" Lin Mo's voice, transmitted clearly through the command channel, instantly overwhelmed the sound of the raging wind and thunder. "Adjust course! Target: 30 degrees northeast, that lighthouse!"
"The lighthouse?"
Although they were internally puzzled, the entire fleet, due to their absolute trust in Lin Mo, did not hesitate, immediately beginning to adjust formation and sail arduously toward the flickering lighthouse in the storm.
A miraculous thing happened.
When the fleet's course aligned with the lighthouse, the turbulent currents ahead seemed to reveal a relatively calm "passage." Although the wind and waves were still immense, they were no longer completely irresistible as before.
"There really is a path!" the navigator shouted in surprise.
Everyone's spirits lifted. They cautiously maneuvered the ships along this invisible route, inching toward the Eye of the Storm.
However, the trial was not over yet.
When the fleet had penetrated nearly a nautical mile into the storm area, sharp, piercing shrieks suddenly came from the thunderclouds above!
"Aerial attack!!" The sentry in the crow's nest issued a frantic warning.
Everyone looked up sharply, only to see hundreds of hideous, giant monstrous birds with wingspans exceeding five meters, wreathed in electric light, diving down from the thick clouds! Their beaks were like sharp blades, gleaming with metallic coldness, aimed directly at the fleet's decks!
[Thunder Storm Bird (Elite Elemental Creature)]
Level: 58
Life: 80,000 / 80,000
Skills: [Chain Lightning], [Diving Blade]
Description: Elemental creatures born in the Eternal Storm, they are the absolute masters of this airspace.
"They finally showed up?" Lin Mo had expected this long ago.
"All units, execute Battle Plan Number Two!" he calmly ordered. "Shield Warriors activate 'Sanctuary Array' to protect the rear! Mage Corps, focus fire on the air, prioritize killing diving units! Ranger Corps, free fire, use 'Slowing Arrow' to restrict their speed!"
"Yes!"
Amidst the earth-shaking affirmative shouts, the Shadowless Hall, this precise war machine, instantly sprang into action.
Iron Wall roared, leading hundreds of Shield Warriors to quickly form circular shield arrays on the deck. Their massive tower shields were held diagonally upward, creating an impenetrable steel dome that firmly protected the squishy classes in the rear.
"Mage Corps! Fire!"
Following the chief mage's command, hundreds of fireballs, ice arrows, and wind blades converged into a brilliant elemental torrent that surged upward, precisely covering the first batch of diving Thunder Storm Birds.
-15487!
-20155! (Critical Hit)
-16874!
Dense damage numbers erupted among the flock. The dozen Storm Birds rushing at the front were instantly cleared of their health bars and dissipated into balls of electric light without even having time to shriek.
Simultaneously, the rangers' arrows followed like shadows. Arrows imbued with frost or arcane energy cut tricky arcs through the air, accurately hitting the Storm Birds attempting to flank them, applying layers of slowing negative statuses to them.
The battle entered a white-hot phase right from the start!
These Thunder Storm Birds not only had astonishing attack power but were also as fast as lightning. The [Chain Lightning] they spat out continuously jumped between the shield arrays, putting immense pressure on the Shield Warriors' health.
"Priest Corps! Stabilize the health lines! Don't stop the 'Prayer of Healing'!" Summer Rain held her staff, standing at the center of the shield array, calmly commanding the Healer team.
Streams of gentle holy light, like sweet dew, continuously rained down upon the front-line Shield Warriors, pulling their precarious health lines back from the brink of death time and time again.
The entire battlefield, though intense, was orderly.
Every person was like a precise screw, fulfilling their maximum function in their position. This was the elite team Lin Mo had painstakingly built!
Lin Mo himself stood at the bow, not making a move easily. His gaze penetrated the Chaos of the battlefield, locking onto the depths of the thunderclouds. He could sense that a much stronger aura was still hidden there.
Sure enough, after the loss of nearly a hundred Storm Birds, a distinct cry, full of anger and majesty, rang out from the highest point of the thunderclouds.
A "Bird King," whose body was a full circle larger than a regular Storm Bird, whose feathers were a dazzling gold, and who bore a spiral horn on its head, finally revealed its true appearance.
[Thunder Bird King · Garuda (Lord-tier BOSS)]
Level: 60
Life: 50,000,000 / 50,000,000
"The BOSS is out!"
"Everyone be careful!"
Seeing the Bird King appear, everyone's hearts leaped into their throats.
However, just as the Thunder Bird King was preparing to unleash some world-destroying skill, Lin Mo moved.
"Your opponent is me."
A whisper seemed to resonate directly in the Bird King's soul.
The next second, Lin Mo's figure instantly vanished from his spot. When he reappeared, he was already wraith-like behind the Bird King.
[Ghost Shadow Step]!
"Scree—!?"
The Thunder Bird King let out a cry of terror; it hadn't fully processed how this tiny human had managed to bypass the spatial restrictions and appear behind it.
What greeted it was a dagger drenched in Deadly Poison.
[Poison Blade]! [Backstab]!
-58744! (Weak Point Attack)
-89541! (Critical Hit)
Two massive damage numbers appeared above the Bird King's head. More importantly, a purplish-black poisoned status was firmly inflicted upon it.
-10000, -10000, -10000... Lin Mo's attack, like maggots gnawing on bone, began frantically consuming its Life!
The outcome of the battle was no longer in doubt.
Under Lin Mo's personal restraint, the arrogant Thunder Bird King couldn't even unleash a few decent skills before Lin Mo, utilizing skillful positioning and layers of stacked Deadly Poison, slowly "scraped" it to death.
As the Bird King let out a mournful, unwilling cry and plummeted from the sky, the remaining Storm Birds scattered and fled, as if having lost their backbone.
The aerial threat was completely neutralized.
The fleet paid the price of several severely damaged escort ships but successfully traversed the storm's periphery, arriving beneath the massive rock floating with the lighthouse.
Here, it was as if they were in the center of the storm; the waters were calm and the winds gentle, completely different from the raging Chaos outside.
Everyone looked up. The ancient lighthouse, constructed from unknown megaliths, was covered in moss and cracks from the passage of time. At the top, a bright beacon emitted a soft, warm light, as if it had been burning for millennia.
"Prepare to land!" Lin Mo ordered.
Just as the advance team was preparing to lower ropes and climb the floating rock, the stone door of the lighthouse, which had been sealed for centuries, suddenly let out a heavy, groaning "creak."
To everyone's astonished gaze, the stone door slowly opened by itself.
An old, weary voice, yet carrying a hint of relief, drifted out from the profound darkness behind the door.
"I have waited centuries... You have finally come..."