Volume 10: The Call from the Sea Chapter 16: Breaking Through the Blockade Line

Returning to their previous campsite, Li Bin found that Shuiyue Tianlian and Foot-monster were already waiting for him there.

Upon seeing Li Bin, Foot-monster asked loudly, "How was it? What is the situation with the enemy?"

"I fought four waves, with the last wave consisting of thirteen cohorts," Li Bin said casually. However, the expressions on Shuiyue Tianlian and Foot-monster's faces weren't looking too good.

Shuiyue Tianlian still asked, "Did any more enemies appear in that area?"

"No. When I left, I even purposely toppled a building, and no more enemies have appeared since," Li Bin replied with certainty.

"Then did you notice anything unusual?" Shuiyue Tianlian asked again.

Hearing this, Li Bin shook his head and said, "Unusual things? I didn't notice any. I'm not sure what you are referring to."

In fact, Li Bin had already connected the unusual thing Shuiyue Tianlian mentioned with the "strange stone statue" he had just acquired. However, seeing how much importance Shuiyue Tianlian attached to this item, Li Bin naturally wouldn't blurt it out casually.

Shuiyue Tianlian thought about it with puzzlement for a moment, but ultimately didn't ask any further questions, and led Li Bin and the others toward their next destination.

Having experienced battles of that intensity earlier, neither Li Bin nor Foot-monster dared to move around recklessly anymore. They simply followed honestly behind Shuiyue Tianlian, stepping carefully toward the direction of the Evil Temple.

Along the way, they even encountered the troops that a certain previous visitor had accidentally provoked, learning that the second-wave forces were tier-5 and below Evil Temple Piranhas. Just looking at the sharp teeth inside the mouths of these monsters—which had huge heads and tiny bodies—gave Li Bin and the others a chilling sensation.

After cautiously passing through this area, Li Bin and his companions finally ran into trouble at the third-wave troops. The Evil Temple Mermaids garrisoned here immediately charged toward Li Bin's group the moment they spotted them.

Fortunately, everyone had been extremely careful all the way, and in the face of such a sudden situation, they reacted swiftly. Foot-monster directly charged forward leading a kind of shark equipped with four arms. These shark-men wielded four long sabers, resembling Nagas, and slaughtered a number of Evil Temple Mermaids within just a few moments.

Meanwhile, Li Bin asked with a puzzled expression, "Shuiyue Tianlian, what is going on here? Why did they suddenly attack us?"

"I'm not entirely sure either. The last time I came, I wasn't actively attacked until I reached the fourth-wave forces," Shuiyue Tianlian said with an innocent look.

Hearing this, Li Bin gazed at Shuiyue Tianlian suspiciously, as if he wouldn't let him off without a proper explanation. At that moment, Foot-monster suddenly shouted loudly, "What are you idiots still standing there for? Why aren't you moving yet?"

Li Bin looked over and saw that the path to charge out had already been smashed open by Foot-monster. He said fiercely to Shuiyue Tianlian, "Once we get out of here, you'd better give me a reasonable explanation."

However, Li Bin ultimately never received an explanation from Shuiyue Tianlian. The moment they broke out of the Evil Temple Mermaids' encirclement, they immediately ran straight into the final batch of troops outside the Evil Temple—the tier-9 Evil Temple Crossbow Turtles.

Shuiyue Tianlian, who had visited before, had prepared well in advance. The instant the Evil Temple Crossbow Turtles appeared, he used coral to tightly wrap the entire floating island and shouted loudly, "Charge forward, everyone! Once we rush past the entrance of the Evil Temple, they will stop attacking!"

Before Li Bin and Foot-monster fully understood what was happening, a single volley from those Evil Temple Crossbow Turtles directly stripped away a layer of coral from Shuiyue Tianlian's floating island, making the hair on Li Bin and Foot-monster's bodies stand on end.

Without needing to think, Li Bin was certain what the consequences would be if an attack like that landed on his own floating island. Glancing back at the pursuing Evil Temple Mermaids, Li Bin felt as though he had fallen into a desperate plight.

"Kid, what are you still doing? Hurry up and follow along!" Foot-monster yelled anxiously upon seeing that Li Bin's floating island hadn't made a move.

Only then did Li Bin snap out of his daze. He glared fiercely at the Evil Temple Mermaids behind him and then followed Foot-monster's floating island to charge toward the defensive line of the Evil Temple Crossbow Turtles.

With Shuiyue Tianlian leading the way and clearing the path, the three of them and their troops managed to charge into the territory of the Evil Temple without any serious mishap.

Parking his floating island, Shuiyue Tianlian went straight up to Li Bin and demanded, "What was wrong with you just now? Do you have any idea that if you had been even a second slower, we would have been dragged down to our deaths by those Evil Temple Crossbow Turtles?"

"I'm not quite sure what happened either. I just felt a wave of absolute despair," Li Bin said, recalling the situation at that moment.

"You were struck by the Spiritual Song of the Evil Temple Mermaids," Shuiyue Tianlian understood immediately why Li Bin had acted that way. "Next time something happens, give a heads-up so you don't worry us."

"I know," Li Bin replied flatly, though no one could tell what he was thinking in his heart.

After breaking through the fourth line of defense, the three of them encountered no further enemies. Shuiyue Tianlian led Li Bin and the others on a tour around this sole safe expanse of ocean, finally parking their floating islands in a place piled high with seashells.

Jumping down from his floating island, Shuiyue Tianlian said loudly, "Come over here, everyone. This is the only resource field in this sea area. Take as much as you can get."

Li Bin walked up to a giant scallop taller than himself and asked perplexedly, "Just take these things?"

"That's right. Weapons and armor made from seashells inside the Evil Temple are far more effective than those made from steel," Shuiyue Tianlian nodded and said. "If you can find night-shining pearls or anything similar, it will be even safer inside the Evil Temple."

Hearing this, Foot-monster also shouted loudly, "Stop wasting time with all that nonsense. These shells are much better than the armored clams under my command. I'm taking some of these away."

Watching Foot-monster dispatch the octopus laborers from his floating island to endlessly haul shells aboard, Li Bin found it somewhat amusing. Nonetheless, he followed Shuiyue Tianlian's advice and transported a quantity of shells back.

However, once they were brought back to his floating island, Li Bin never touched those seashells again. Right up until he received the notice from Shuiyue Tianlian to set off, Li Bin hadn't cast another glance at those shells.

Under the guidance of Shuiyue Tianlian, Li Bin and the others finally caught sight of the so-called Evil Temple. This gray stone architecture, which constantly exuded a bone-chilling aura, occupied the vast majority of the seabed's area. Over a hundred thick pillars, each soaring four hundred meters high, were carved all over with patterns of sea beasts.

A pathway composed of three thousand steps led straight from the grand entrance down to the seafloor, with faint traces of patrolling troops discernible every hundred steps.

Pointing toward the gate, which stood over sixty meters tall, Shuiyue Tianlian said, "That right there is our objective. Whether we can successfully emerge from it depends entirely on everyone's efforts."