Chapter 677: Deep Passage
Behind the door was a deep passage, with strange lights flickering on the walls. Everyone moved forward cautiously, and suddenly rows of sharp arrows shot out from both sides of the passage.
Lin Ze reacted quickly, wielding his sword to block the sharp arrows one after another. But the sharp arrows were getting more and more, and they could only fight and retreat.
At this moment, the old man suddenly noticed something unusual at the top of the passage. He looked closely and found that there was an ingenious mechanism hidden there. The old man was delighted and quickly formed a seal again, trying to unlock the mechanism.
However, things did not go as smoothly as he imagined. Not only was the mechanism not successfully cracked, but a new trap was triggered. There was a series of "cracking" sounds, and the ground began to shake violently, as if the entire passage was about to collapse. At the same time, sharp thorns emerged from the ground, like rows of fangs, rushing towards everyone with bared teeth and claws.
"Everyone be careful!" Lin Ze shouted hurriedly when he saw this, and at the same time reached out to grab a soldier next to him and quickly dodged to the side. Others also reacted and looked for places to hide.
However, these spikes came too suddenly, and there were so many of them that they had nowhere to escape. Seeing the spikes getting closer and closer, everyone was in a desperate situation.
At this critical moment, Lin Ze suddenly found some strange patterns on the wall. These patterns looked very familiar, and seemed to be related to the five elements puzzle they had encountered before. Lin Ze didn't have time to think about it, and immediately touched those patterns in the order of the five elements.
A miracle happened! As Lin Ze touched it, the shaking of the passage gradually stopped, and the spikes that had been popping out crazily seemed to have lost their power and slowly retracted into the ground.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw this. Lin Ze wiped the sweat from his forehead, secretly glad for his discovery.
After a short rest, everyone continued to move forward. At the end of the passage was a huge hall. In the center of the hall, a gem emitting mysterious light was suspended. This gem was like the brightest star in the night sky, attracting everyone's attention.
However, when they approached the orb, they found that a powerful energy barrier had appeared around it. This barrier was like a solid wall, tightly enveloping the orb.
The old man stared at the energy barrier, pondered for a moment and said, "This is an energy seal from ancient times. To break it, we must use the power of the five elements."
After hearing this, everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to do for a moment.
Lin Ze thought about how he had just solved the five elements puzzle on the wall of the passage, and an idea came to his mind.
He asked everyone to stand in their positions according to the five elements, and he stood in the center to coordinate.
But when they tried to condense the power of the five elements to impact the barrier, the barrier only trembled slightly and was not broken.
Just as everyone was looking at each other in bewilderment, at a loss of what to do, suddenly, a sharp-eyed soldier shouted loudly: "Look! There seem to be words on the orb!" This shout was like an epiphany, waking everyone up from a dream. They gathered together, stared with eyes wide open, and looked intently.
Sure enough, a line of ancient characters appeared on the surface of the orb, which was originally as smooth as a mirror. These characters were ancient and mysterious, as if they came from another time and space, making them difficult to decipher.
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. At this moment, the knowledgeable old man stepped forward, squinting his eyes and examining the orb for a long time. Then his face suddenly changed and he cried out, "Oh no! This is an additional condition to open the seal. We need to sacrifice a drop of our own blood!"
When this was said, everyone was shocked. The heart blood is one of the most important blood in the human body. If you are not careful, it may endanger your life. For a moment, the scene fell into a deathly silence. No one was willing to take the risk easily.
However, just when everyone was hesitating, Lin Ze gritted his teeth without hesitation, hardened his heart, raised his hand, and lightly cut his finger with the dagger. Suddenly, a drop of bright red blood dripped from the wound and fell directly onto the energy barrier.
Everyone was shocked when they saw this. Lin Ze's action undoubtedly gave them great courage and determination. So, others followed suit, cutting their fingers and dripping their heart's blood on the barrier.
As everyone's heart blood continued to flow into the barrier, the originally indestructible energy seal began to gradually become transparent, as if it was slowly eroded by an invisible force. Finally, after the last drop of heart blood was integrated, the energy seal completely dissipated, revealing the gem inside.
At this moment, the orb was completely exposed to everyone, emitting a more dazzling light, as if telling them its mystery and preciousness. It lay there quietly, waiting for someone to take it away...
Lin Ze was just about to reach out to take the orb, when suddenly, the orb shone brightly and a strong light shot out from it, enveloping everyone.
When the light faded, they found themselves in a strange space, surrounded by endless darkness, with only the orb suspended in the center, and the light became dim.
At this moment, a voice that seemed to come from nowhere suddenly sounded: "Although you have successfully broken the seal, this orb is the key to protecting the balance of the world. If you take it away rashly, it will inevitably cause a disaster that will shake the world. Therefore, you must undergo three severe tests here. If you can pass them successfully, you can take the orb away and benefit the people of the world; but if you fail, you will be trapped here forever and cannot escape."
Hearing this, everyone's faces became solemn, and they knew in their hearts that this was undoubtedly an extremely difficult challenge. However, things have come to this point, there is no way back, and the only way to survive is to move forward bravely.
Soon, the first test came like a storm. A terrifying roar came from the depths of darkness, and then a group of ferocious phantom monsters rushed out of the darkness like hungry tigers, pouncing on everyone with bared fangs and claws.
Faced with this sudden danger, Lin Ze remained calm. He shouted loudly: "Don't panic! Fight side by side and we will definitely defeat these monsters!" Upon hearing this, everyone woke up as if from a dream. They came to their senses and used all their skills to start a thrilling and desperate fight with the phantom monster...
Lin Ze brandished his sword, and with sword energy running wild, he slashed at the phantom monster that was rushing towards him.
The old man muttered something and cast spells to attack the monster.