The moment Lin Mo's right foot stepped into that deep darkness, the stone door behind him, disguised as a goddess statue, slammed shut with a grating 'gala-la' sound!
"Boom!"
The dull echo of the massive stone falling, like the death knell rung by the Grim Reaper, completely cut off all light and sound from the outside world, mercilessly severing Lin Mo's last retreat.
Absolute darkness, like icy seawater, surged in from all directions, bringing a bone-chilling cold and a strong smell of blood, attempting to swallow him whole.
Here, there was not a trace of light; it was so silent he could hear the 'thump-thump' of his own heart.
The air was filled with a peculiar, unsettling scent, a mixture of Deadly Poison, dust, and some unknown metal, which, when inhaled, even caused a faint sense of numbness in his lungs.
[System Prompt: You have entered the special area 'Shadow Sanctuary'. Affected by the 'Shadow Veil' effect, your vision range is suppressed by 99%, and all conventional lighting tools (torches, Light spells, etc.) have their effectiveness reduced by 90%.]
Vision suppressed by 99%!
Lin Mo's heart tightened.
He tried to open his eyes wide, but all he could see was an impenetrable, thick darkness.
Only at the very edge of his extreme visual range could he barely discern an extremely blurry, distorted outline.
Is this the first display of power that the Thorn of Shadow gives to its inheritors?
To strip away your most relied-upon sense, vision, turning you into a blind man in this unknown darkness.
Fear will be the first weapon to break the challenger.
However, there was no trace of panic on Lin Mo's face.
He slowly closed his eyes.
When vision is deprived, other senses become more acute than ever before.
He could hear, in the depths of the far-off darkness, a rhythmic 'drip-drop' sound, as if some liquid was falling, like an hourglass counting down.
He could smell that the Deadly Poison in the air was not static, but rather flowing through the space at an extremely slow pace, like an invisible venomous snake patrolling its territory.
He could even feel the cold, hard stone slabs beneath his feet, engraved with ancient, uneven patterns, seemingly narrating a forgotten history.
He was like a sculpture blended into the darkness, standing silently in place, motionless, greedily collecting every fragment of information in this space with his superhuman perception, slowly constructing a three-dimensional environmental map of sounds, smells, and sensations in his mind.
He didn't know how much time had passed, perhaps a minute, or perhaps ten minutes.
A hoarse, cold, and emotionless thought, like a ghost, suddenly echoed deep within his mind without warning.
"Inheritor... welcome to the Shadow Sanctuary."
"This is the cradle of the Thorn of Shadow, and also the grave of the mediocre."
"Here, you will undergo three trials.
Succeed, and you will gain the right to embrace the shadows; fail, and your soul will become nourishment for the Sanctuary, utterly erased."
"Now, begin your first trial —"
"[Silent Corridor]."
The voice paused, as if savoring the fear Lin Mo might experience.
"Before you lies a 'Silent Corridor' three hundred meters long.
Within the corridor reside three 'Shadow Sentinels'.
They have no sight, but possess god-like hearing; any sound exceeding 10 decibels will awaken them from their slumber."
"Your task is to traverse this corridor and reach the silent gate at the end."
"Remember, you have one chance to be discovered.
The first time you are discovered, you will be teleported back to the starting point.
The second time... death!"
"Trial, begin."
As the last syllable fell, the cold thought receded like a tide.
In the darkness ahead of Lin Mo, there was an extremely faint 'click' sound, as if some mechanism had been activated.
He knew the trial had begun.
Silent Corridor? Shadow Sentinels? God-like hearing?
A cold arc formed at the corner of Lin Mo's mouth.
This was indeed not a simple combat trial, but an extreme test of Stealth, patience, and wisdom.
He did not rush to act, but instead fell into absolute silence once more, sharpening his hearing to its limit.
"Shh... shh..."
An extremely faint rustling sound, like a snake slithering on sand, came from about fifty meters ahead.
The sound was intermittent and irregular, yet it continuously lingered within a fixed area.
Is this... a Shadow Sentinel?
Lin Mo's mind raced.
Not being able to make a sound over 10 decibels meant that almost all combat actions were forbidden.
The whoosh of skills, the clash of weapons, or even hurried footsteps could instantly trigger an alarm.
This was almost a dead end.
However, since the Thorn of Shadow had set up such a trial, it could not possibly be an unsolvable predicament.
There must be some way to deal with these troublesome sentinels 'silently', or... bypass them!
Lin Mo's body finally moved.
He chose not to walk, but lowered his entire body's center of gravity, going on all fours, like the most agile leopard, slowly moving forward into the depths of the darkness in a 'crawling' posture that made absolutely no sound.
His movements were incredibly gentle; every exertion of muscle was controlled to perfection, landing silently, his breathing long and steady.
Soon, he had silently advanced thirty meters.
Using the faint, blurry outline visible at extreme distance, he finally 'saw' the appearance of the first 'Shadow Sentinel'.
It was an extremely bizarre creature.
Its form was like a humanoid figure condensed from pure, flowing shadow, without facial features or a solid body, only a pair of large and deformed, bat-like ears, gently flapping on either side of its head.
Beneath its feet, an expanding and contracting shadow was connected, seemingly its range of perception.
[Shadow Sentinel (Special)]
[Level: ??]
[Life: ???]
[Skills: Sonar Perception, Shadow Imprisonment, Soul Scream]
[Description: Loyal guardian of the Shadow Sanctuary, extremely sensitive to sound, immune to all physical and magical damage.]
Immune to all physical and magical damage!
The moment he saw this attribute, Lin Mo's pupils contracted sharply.
Indeed!
Combat was not an option from the very beginning!
The only way to pass here was Stealth!
Lin Mo once again lay low, observing calmly.
He found that this Shadow Sentinel's movement trajectory was not fixed.
It would wander back and forth within an area of about ten square meters, and every thirty seconds, its large ears would suddenly flap, and an invisible sound wave would spread out from it as the center.
Sonar Perception!
Lin Mo immediately determined that this was its detection method!
Once swept by this sound wave, his position would be instantly exposed!
And that thirty-second interval was his only 'safe time' to move!
A three-hundred-meter corridor, three sentinels.
This meant he needed to complete one extreme traverse after another, brushing past death, within an extremely limited time.
This not only tested his operational skill but also the challenger's psychological fortitude!
Lin Mo took a deep breath, his gaze becoming sharp as a knife.
He didn't act immediately, but instead cast his gaze to the sides of the corridor.
He noticed that the walls here were not smooth surfaces, but were covered with various pipes and stone beams, forming many shadowy corners where one could hide.
The opportunity was here!
Calculating the Shadow Sentinel's sound wave interval, Lin Mo's figure moved!
Just a second after the sentinel's sound wave swept past his hiding spot, he shot out like an arrow from a bowstring, silently!
His footsteps followed a peculiar rhythm; each landing point was precisely placed on the predicted, utterly silent seams of the stone slabs.
Ten meters!
Twenty meters!
Thirty meters!
His speed was extreme, yet he was as light as a falling feather!
Just as he was about to exit the first sentinel's perception range, and the outline of the second sentinel had already appeared at the edge of his vision, a sudden change occurred!
"Drip..."
A drop of liquid, from who knows where, fell from the rock wall above his head without warning, hitting the stone slab in front of him, making an extremely faint sound that, in this deathly silent environment, seemed exceptionally piercing!
Not good!
Lin Mo's heart instantly sank to the bottom!
Almost at the same moment the sound rang out, the two Shadow Sentinels, which had been wandering irregularly, suddenly trembled their large ears and, in unison, turned towards the direction of the sound source!
Two invisible sound waves, like a crossed net of death, instantly locked onto the area where Lin Mo was!
It's over!
However, at this critical juncture, Lin Mo's mind erupted with an unprecedented calm!
His gaze swept around like lightning, finally fixing on a rusty metal pipe running horizontally across the left wall!
No time to hesitate!
He gritted his teeth, and instead of retreating, he deliberately took a step towards the direction of the dripping water!
"Clap."
A soft sound.
Immediately after, using the recoil from that step, his entire body, like a gecko, suddenly sprang onto the left wall, his hands gripping the cold metal pipe tightly, and his entire body, like a pendulum, swung silently to the other side of the pipe!
And just as he completed this extreme maneuver, two deadly sound waves narrowly grazed the spot where he had just stood, crossing each other!
"Buzz —"
The sound waves swept past, finding nothing.
The two Shadow Sentinels' large ears twitched slightly, seemingly puzzled, and after pausing for a few seconds, they slowly resumed their previous irregular wandering state.
Alarm, disarmed!
Lin Mo, hanging from the pipe, felt his back completely drenched in cold sweat.
In that brief second just now, he had practically walked back and forth at the gates of hell!
But he had gambled correctly!
He bet that these sentinels' AI would only lock onto the 'coordinates' of the first sound made, and would not track!
He used the subsequent, even fainter footsteps to successfully create a few tenths of a second of displacement time for himself, enough to change Life and death!
This was a game of psychology and wisdom!
Lin Mo adjusted his breathing, without the slightest relaxation.
He knew that in this three-hundred-meter corridor, every step was a trap, every step a test.
He looked at the silent gate, faintly visible in the distance, and the solemnity in his eyes was slowly replaced by a hint of wild fervor.
Deadly Poison has yet to make its appearance.
Shadow has only just begun.
This trial is getting more and more interesting!
!