Chapter 168: Restriction Mountain

Wang Lin summoned with his right hand, and the Flying Sword immediately flew toward his grasp. Wang Lin carefully controlled it and cautiously stored it inside his Storage Pouch. Only then did he let out a sigh of relief. He didn't want the Flying Sword he refined to pierce his skin and cause him to die from poison.

After putting away the Flying Sword, Wang Lin stood up, looked at the black stone bridge before him, and stepped forward without hesitation. The group of hurricanes behind him let out a mournful howl and followed closely.

Wang Lin walked forward cautiously and carefully. This Road of No Return seemed extremely long, but after stepping onto it, the scenery immediately changed. The length of the black stone bridge under his feet instantly shrank, becoming only about a hundred zhang long.

On the other side of the bridge, a massive Vortex slowly appeared.

Wang Lin's eyes flickered. After a brief silence, he suddenly extended his right hand. A small beast immediately flew over and landed in his palm. He waved forward, and the small beast instantly shot out like a flash of lightning, aiming for the Vortex at the end of the stone bridge.

But just as the small beast flew less than ten zhang away, a purple lightning bolt as thick as an arm suddenly descended from the sky, landing precisely on the small beast. In an instant, the small beast turned to ash.

Wang Lin's expression remained normal. If this place did not have a Restriction, he could have flown across it in a few breaths by accelerating fully. Since that wasn't the case, he could only walk forward slowly, step by step, and absolutely must not accelerate suddenly. He looked at the distance of less than a hundred zhang, took a deep breath, and walked forward.

Wang Lin was focused on every step. After he walked ten zhang, the surrounding gray mist suddenly grew dense, and the group of hurricanes behind him vanished abruptly.

Including the Second Devil Head, they all disappeared. Even the Divine Sense connection between Wang Lin and it seemed to be blocked by an invisible force, making it completely undetectable.

Subconsciously, Wang Lin was about to turn his head to look, but he forcibly stopped himself right before he did. Wang Lin's expression was gloomy. After a brief silence, a cold smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he continued walking forward.

After walking this distance, it was another ten zhang.

Suddenly, an earth-shattering roar came from behind him. Even the bridge surface trembled. Wang Lin immediately stabilized himself. This roar was extremely familiar to him; it was clearly the sound of the Red Flood Dragon, the Desolate Beast in the passage.

A hot, fishy scent blew from behind him. Wang Lin closed his eyes and did not use his Divine Sense to check. Since this place was called the Road of No Return, the implication was that once you stepped onto it, you could not turn back.

If that were the only Restriction, it would be fine, but Wang Lin analyzed that this place was definitely not that simple. It was highly likely that not only could he not go back, but he also couldn't turn his head, and perhaps even his Divine Sense could not look back. In short, everything had to be carried out according to the phrase "No Return." If there was a single mistake during this process, he would end up buried on this bridge, just like the small beast before.

Although he couldn't turn his head or use his Divine Sense to check, Wang Lin could imagine that feeling the hot, fishy scent at such close range meant only one possibility: the Red Flood Dragon had opened its massive, menacing mouth right behind him.

Although Wang Lin was startled, he was not flustered. It was impossible for that Red Flood Dragon to appear here; this must be some kind of Illusion Technique.

Just then, a red light flashed past on his right side. Wang Lin's pupils suddenly contracted. That red light was clearly a tongue. A drop of cold sweat trickled down his forehead. He glanced sideways and saw a trace of stickiness on his right shoulder, emitting a strange odor.

Wang Lin took a deep breath, and his eyes gradually calmed. His steps remained composed, and he walked forward steadily. All around his body, the red tongue flickered in and out more and more frequently. The roar behind him, and even the breath exhaled, whipped his clothes, making a rustling sound. A bloodthirsty killing intent suddenly radiated from behind him.

Wang Lin looked at his rustling clothes and showed a cold smile at the corner of his mouth. If he had been slightly uncertain just now, especially after seeing the mucus on his right shoulder, he was even more unsure if this was truly an illusion. But now, seeing his clothes being blown, he had no doubt left in his heart. He could be completely certain that this was an Illusion Technique.

The reason lay in his clothes. The thing behind him was a dignified Desolate Beast. If it were truly that close to him, just a puff of air would surely send his body flying far away. Yet, as it seemed now, it could only make his clothes flutter.

Wang Lin's will was firm. He continued walking forward without hesitation. Regardless of any sound behind him, his body did not pause at all. At this moment, the Red Flood Dragon behind him let out a fierce roar and swallowed toward him in one bite. Wang Lin clearly saw this scene out of the corner of his eye. He didn't even blink, maintaining a steady pace without any fluctuation, and walked away calmly.

The moment the Flood Dragon swallowed, its body turned into a mass of gray mist and vanished completely. Wang Lin's figure slowly walked out from the mist.

He walked all the way to ninety zhang. He was just ten zhang away from crossing the bridge, but just then, a faint cough suddenly came from behind him.

The cough was very soft, but when it reached Wang Lin's ears, it was like a bolt from the blue, echoing thunderously in his mind. His steps involuntarily stopped, his body trembled slightly, and two lines of tears streamed down from the corners of his eyes.

The coughing continued. Although Wang Lin knew that all of this was an illusion, all false, he still felt the impulse to turn back and look.

"Tiezhu… turn around and let Dad take a look…"

The familiar voice slowly drifted over. Wang Lin clenched his fists, closed his eyes, and when he opened them, a hint of determination flashed in his gaze. He took a deep breath and continued to step forward.

"Tiezhu… Mom wants to see her child. How can you be so heartless, not even turning your head…"

Wang Lin closed his eyes again, his steps trembling slightly, but he still walked forward resolutely without the slightest hesitation. He abruptly reached the end of the bridge. During these final ten zhang, the voices of his parents echoed in his ears incessantly.

The moment he stepped onto the end, the voices of his parents vanished. The howling of the group of hurricanes once again reached his ears, and his connection with the Second Devil Head was re-established.

Wang Lin never turned around. After remaining silent in front of the Vortex for a long time, he sighed softly, took out the Jade Slip that Li Muwan had given him, activated it, and wrapped the group of hurricanes behind him before entering the Vortex together.

Pulled by the Purple Lightning, Wang Lin disappeared inside the Vortex.

When he emerged from the Vortex, what appeared before him was a mountain peak soaring into the clouds. The peak was shrouded in mist, and its end was completely invisible. Standing at its base, Wang Lin's figure seemed incredibly tiny.

The moment he saw the mountain peak, Wang Lin was stunned, but he quickly analyzed that the Road of No Return just now was definitely not the Second Trial. Otherwise, based on the previous conversations between Gu Di, Duanmu Ji, and others, the statement that the Third Trial required Wang Lin's Death Curse Technique to pass would be clearly different.

He truly couldn't see any sign that this place required Divine Sense to pass. Wang Lin looked at the towering mountain peak before him, already guessing that perhaps this was the Second Trial.

He swept his Divine Sense, and immediately his pupils contracted. His eyes fixed on the foot of the mountain, where there was clearly a damaged Restriction, with threads of red light constantly flickering within it.

Wang Lin pondered for a moment and walked toward the mountain peak. Before long, he arrived at the location of the Restriction he had seen earlier. This place had clearly been damaged by someone, revealing a path wide enough for one person.

Red light flickered on both sides of the path. Wang Lin observed carefully for a moment. When he looked up toward the summit, his gaze had become extremely cautious. He could confirm that someone had entered the mountain peak before him.

In this Second Trial, there was nothing else around. Clearly, this mountain was the key to passing the trial, and there was only one path: climbing to the very top.

For a Mortal, climbing a mountain, especially one whose height cannot be seen, would be an extremely difficult task. But for a Cultivator, it presented no difficulty at all.

However, based on Wang Lin's experience here, this mountain definitely also had Restrictions limiting flight. One could only climb on foot and not travel by stepping on a sword.

After a brief silence, Wang Lin glanced at the hurricane fist behind him. With a wave of his right hand, the forty-plus hurricanes immediately began to undergo Fusion, gradually turning into a single massive hurricane. Wang Lin leaped and rushed toward the hurricane. The moment he touched the edge of the hurricane, it split open a passage, as if welcoming Wang Lin inside.

Standing inside the hurricane, Wang Lin moved his mind, and the hurricane immediately moved forward.

Just after they passed the Restriction, Wang Lin clearly perceived with his Divine Sense that the Restriction was slowly restoring itself, quickly returning to normal.

Wang Lin's heart sank. If this Restriction could automatically restore itself, then he wouldn't be able to use the method from the First Trial—having others clear the path for him—in this trial.

Thinking of this, the Divine Sense of the tens of thousands of small beasts inside the hurricane suddenly condensed together. Guided by Wang Lin's Divine Sense and using the Second Devil Head as a relay, it swept outward.

He carefully controlled this massive Divine Sense, probing from bottom to top. Gradually, Wang Lin's expression grew heavier and heavier. This place could be described as having Restrictions at every step; almost every location was covered in Restrictions.

If this mountain were called the Mountain of Restrictions, it would not be an exaggeration. Under these Restrictions, let alone climbing upward, a single careless touch of a Restriction could lead to complete annihilation.

During Wang Lin's Divine Sense probe, one Restriction was rapidly recovering, returning to normal almost instantly.

Wang Lin withdrew his Divine Sense. After pondering for a moment, he walked out of the hurricane. He took out a Storage Pouch, and with a summons from his right hand, the hurricane behind him, along with the Second Devil Head, instantly drilled into it. This Storage Pouch was obtained by Wang Lin from an Insect Cultivator. The pouch could not store Magic Treasures, but it had a unique effectiveness for living things, allowing them to survive freely inside.

After Wang Lin acquired it, he experimented with small beasts over the previous few days. Once he confirmed its effectiveness, he used it specifically for storing the small beasts.

After the small beasts inside the hurricane entered the pouch, Wang Lin tied the bag to his waist, took a deep breath, and walked forward cautiously. He spread out all his Divine Sense, closely observing his surroundings.

During the Divine Sense sweep condensed by the small beasts just now, he noticed tiny passages existing between the Restrictions. These passages were too small for the hurricane to pass through, and the surrounding Restrictions were intact; touching them would definitely trigger them.

That was why he abandoned the idea of using the hurricane to rush up the summit.