Chapter 160: End of Seclusion

In his line of sight, a tornado a hundred meters thick had formed at some point. Roaring like a moving pillar of heaven, it slowly approached the Mountain of White Bones, its terrifying body twisting ceaselessly. Endless white mist poured into the colossal wind column. Its diameter grew larger and larger, slowly engulfing the entire Mountain of White Bones.

An immense, irresistible suction force emanated from the towering vortex of the wind column.

Gigantic chunks of ice were continuously thrown up from the three immense cold abysses. The chill was so intense it felt like a physical substance. Sun Fei had retreated to the center of the mysterious space, yet he could feel the cold piercing his face like steel needles. This level of coldness surpassed Sun Fei’s understanding. If he hadn’t been channeling the fire Magic of the Sorceress at full force, he feared he would have frozen stiff like a Zombie. Simultaneously, vast amounts of hot steam surged out from the densely packed, spiderweb-like cracks on the ground. The Heart of the Earth Flame flickered intermittently, emitting terrifying heat that seemed to soften and melt even the stone ground.

These two completely opposite forces of extreme cold and fierce heat engaged in a life-or-death collision within the mysterious space.

Their clash birthed a series of meteorological wonders.

Sun Fei should have immediately opened a Portal to escape this violently dangerous place. Yet, deep within his heart, a faint voice seemed to call to him from an unknown source: Stay. Stay, and you will obtain something beyond imagination…

It was an extremely peculiar feeling, subtle yet distinct, like the call of a blood relative.

Sun Fei was not recklessly greedy; he was often very cautious. But at this moment, for some inexplicable reason, he resolved to remain. He retrieved a rope from his Belt Space and securely tied himself to the thickest, sturdiest stone pillar near the Mountain of White Bones. Gripping the pillar tightly, he anchored himself against the ever-growing, terrifying suction from the nearby wind column. Simultaneously, he frantically channeled his Magical power to resist the alternating assaults of the abyss’s freezing cold and the fiery steam from the ground cracks.

It was an excruciating ordeal.

Despite wearing the level-seven green [Arcana’s Trickery Set Items], the abyss chill and ground heat weren’t mere simple energies. They easily penetrated the set items, invading Sun Fei’s body. The torment was unbearable, akin to the excruciating body tempering when the [Hulk Potion] took effect. One moment his body froze stiff, the next it felt half-roasted. Yet, Sun Fei could distinctly feel that under the alternating destruction and reformation by the opposing cold and hot energies, his physical strength was slowly increasing. This was different from leveling up by killing monsters in the World of Diablo. Every cell in his body experienced instant destruction and rebirth, with impurities constantly being purged by the extreme temperatures…

Miraculously, Sun Fei maintained clear consciousness throughout this agony. His gaze remained fixed on the Mountain of White Bones, now entirely shrouded by the tornado, because that strange calling emanated from within it.

The dark abyss grew even wilder, spewing more ice and cold air, while the ground cracks defiantly belched hot steam. The collision of these opposing energies continuously generated dense white fog and violent air currents. Inside the cavern, lightning flashed and thunder roared, meteorology wonders appearing constantly, forming a microcosm of terrible weather.

The wind column’s diameter expanded relentlessly, eventually swallowing the entire Mountain of White Bones. As the tornado’s tearing power intensified, the Mountain of White Bones emitted sharp, snapping sounds. Enormous bones were ripped out by the wind, whirling violently within the column.

More and more skeletal fragments were torn loose, spinning wildly in the air.

Sun Fei noticed a strange phenomenon. Since its formation, no matter how much the tornado changed, it always rotated directly over the very center of the cavern – precisely over the Mountain of White Bones – never deviating. As the winds grew stronger, the entire bone mountain was finally wrenched upward. White bones flew like chaff in the gale, firmly sucked towards the central vortex high above.

This was the source of the terrifying suction he had felt at the entrance beyond the iron gate nearly twenty days prior.

Sun Fei had pondered the origin of that force endlessly during those days. Now the truth was clear: it was the meteorological marvel created by the collision of extreme cold and heat. This tornado clearly surpassed any wind force Sun Fei had known in his previous life, so its immense suction wasn’t surprising at all.

As the entire Mountain of White Bones was dismantled and sucked up into the sky, Sun Fei saw what lay beneath.

It seemed to be a pile of bone powder ground incredibly fine. Exposed after the intact bones resting above them were swept away, the powdery dust, being extremely light, was whipped up into the vortex almost instantly.

It was at this moment Sun Fei opened his eyes wide, pure astonishment flashing within them.

He saw a fully intact Magic Array beneath the bone powder. It was still operating, releasing multicolored lights that pierced the void, coalescing into a deep blue Portal. This Portal bore a striking resemblance to the portals of the Diablo World – an oval-shaped blue radiance over two meters tall. Faint, flowing dark blue highlights shimmered within, like solidified amber.

And in that instant, the blood-relative-like call grew overwhelmingly powerful.

Sun Fei was now utterly certain: this familiar summons emanated from that deep blue Portal.

What could be behind that door, summoning me?

Almost instantly, an irresistible impulse seized Sun Fei – the urge to tear free from the ropes and plunge into the Portal to see what lay beyond. But in the critical moment, a shred of reason held him back. There was no doubt: struggling free now would mean being instantly sucked into the terrifying vortex. Then, the razor-sharp Demon Bones spinning at high speed, colliding and sparking, sharp enough to rival divine weapons, would mince him into pulp before he could even dream of reaching the relatively calm eye of the storm, let alone approach that miraculous Portal.

He needed another plan.

Sun Fei forced himself to calm down.

Two to three hours later, the rate of ice and freezing air erupting from the cold abysses began to slow. Similarly, the heat energy pouring from the ground cracks started to diminish. The direct result of this weakening was a decrease in the violent air convection. The torrential rain overhead lessened, and the lightning and thunder began to fade. The wind strength of the tornado before Sun Fei started to wane.

Then, all the changes occurred precisely as Sun Fei had predicted.

As the tornado weakened, the massive bones whirling chaotically in the air began raining down. The largest, heaviest bones descended first, crashing onto the underlying Magic Array and Portal below with no visible damage. As the winds faded further, more and more bones tumbled down, piling up rapidly. A new Mountain of White Bones was reforming right before his eyes. The dying winds acted like a pair of colossal, dexterous hands, placing each bone fragment into the most structurally sound position. The pile narrowed towards the top, eventually reforming the peak of the mountainous bone pile.

Then, the whirling bone dust settled like fine snow upon this newly formed mountain.

Though weakened, the residual winds continued to shake and compress this nascent bone pile. In this shaking, the bone powder filtered through tiny crevices and thin gaps, gradually settling deep into the Mountain of White Bones’ lowest depths, disappearing from view… Finally, the tornado vanished entirely. All the bones were pressed tightly together, forming solid, interlocked connections, solidifying the new Mountain of White Bones into its completed shape.

Sun Fei watched, speechless with awe.

An absolute marvel of nature!

So this was how this pagoda-shaped white bone mountain came to be! It seemed that every twenty days, the cold abyss and fiery crevices erupted, creating the meteorological marvel within the secret cavern, simultaneously reshaping the Mountain of White Bones. This explained why Sun Fei found it completely spotless when he first discovered it, almost as if it had just been built. It had led him to suspect some hidden entity labored to assemble such a grim, imposing structure.

Remembering the wondrous Magic Array and Portal buried under the bone mountain, Sun Fei tried to dig a tunnel through the bones to reach them. But it proved highly difficult, almost impossible. The Demon Bones were densely interlocked; he could barely pull out a few surface pieces. They were incredibly hard; even a sharp sword couldn’t carve a path through.

“Seems I’ll have to find another way later!” he sighed after trying for a while. Perhaps only when he grew much stronger might he withstand the tornado’s force or breach the Mountain of White Bones directly. Now, it was clearly beyond reach.

Sun Fei had gained significant benefits from the meteorological event. His physical body had been tempered by the opposing energies of the abyss’s freezing cold and the crevices’ scorching heat, increasing its strength at least twofold. His constitution was already exceptional; even the [Hulk Potion] had no obvious effect. Yet under such conditions, he had managed further enhancement.

For Sun Fei, increased physical strength held immense advantages.

It meant the Might possessed by the seven classes of the World of Diablo could achieve even more complete expression.

Sun Fei returned to the Diablo World to recuperate in peace.

In the blink of an eye, another ten days passed. Sun Fei repeated his previous activities: killing monsters to level up; using the Assassin’s Qi Channels to create technique manuals; helping Charsi design and forge equipment; studying various Magical knowledge under the tutelage of Nun Acarra and the… worldly Grandpa Kane…

The one-month deadline had arrived. It was time to end his seclusion and return to Shampoo City!