307: Chapter 307 The Sandstorm Covers the Temple, the Sky Conceals a Mystery!

Zhou Jun lowered his binoculars, then raised them again to double-check.

Then, he swallowed hard: "This isn't right. It's not an ordinary sandstorm. Look at its direction of movement—it's not spreading toward us; it's spinning at high speed in place!"

Lin Xiao also took out his binoculars.

Through the lenses, that black shadow was magnified into a clear image.

Countless grains of yellow sand were swept up in a high-speed air current, spinning wildly in a clockwise direction around an extremely vast area ahead.

The height of the sandstorm was estimated to be at least a thousand meters. Its top was lost in the gray-yellow dust haze, making it impossible to see clearly, while its base resembled a circular wall of sand, completely sealing everything inside from view.

As the flying shuttle drew closer, a terrifying whistling sound could already be faintly heard.

A low, rumbling sound, like countless invisible giant beasts growling in unison.

The rotation of the sandstorm produced violent fluctuations in air pressure. In such turbulent currents, the flying shuttle's wind-whirl struggled to maintain stable lift, and the hull began to tremble uncontrollably.

"The Desert Temple is right ahead!"

Lin Xiao lowered his binoculars and gripped the helm, his expression looking somewhat grave.

Fan Sinian plopped back down into the cabin, gripping the back of his seat; the heroic, cloud-soaring spirit he had just displayed had completely vanished.

"Brother Lin, how are we supposed to get in? Are we just going to charge straight through?"

"No! The flying shuttle is much more fragile than you imagine!"

Hearing their exchange, Ruan Li immediately spoke up to stop them.

She turned her head from the seat beside them, her tone carrying undisguised nervousness,

"The flying shuttle's hull structure was designed with the floating island sea of clouds in mind. The air currents in the sea of clouds are laminar, not like the turbulent flow we see before us.

This rotating airflow, laden with sand particles, causes extreme wear and tear on the hull. A large amount of sand will also interfere with the wind-whirl crystal, causing it to overload or even shatter.

Furthermore, we only have four wind-whirl crystals at the bottom of the ship right now. Our speed isn't high, and our maneuverability is insufficient. Getting close to a sandstorm of that magnitude would cause us to lose balance in an instant. The ship being destroyed and us dying is no joke!"

Ruan Li's tone was urgent.

She was genuinely afraid that these few would do something reckless.

After all, she was still on the ship.

"Don't panic yet; let me think." Lin Xiao handed the control crystal ball to Ruan Li and leaned against the ship's railing, rapidly searching for available solutions.

The sandstorm was a circular wall of air, spinning at high speed, continuous and unending.

Charging in blindly was truly an irrational act.

The flying shuttle couldn't withstand it, and the people on board could withstand it even less.

The impact of sand particles at that speed was no less than bullets.

Zhou Jun's vines couldn't block it, and Fan Sinian's shield couldn't hold up against it.

Ruan Li's healing skills consumed her own vitality; she couldn't provide a continuous and powerful healing method.

The result of charging in would, in all likelihood, be Lin Xiao rushing to the temple entrance alone, only to look back and find his teammates all gone.

Therefore, he needed some means to make the flying shuttle gain a near-invincible state, or some ability that could carve out a safe passage through the sandstorm.

Thinking of this, Lin Xiao's gaze swept across his skill panel, and suddenly, one skill caught his attention.

[Skill: Wave Breaker]

[Type: Active Skill]

[Level: 5 (Growth-capable)]

[Effect: Connects with the [Covenant Ship] in mind and spirit, controlling it to charge. Travel speed gradually increases to 300%, and during this period, it maintains continuous Super Armor until it hits an impassable obstacle.]

[Cost: 240 Mental Power per minute]

[Trailblaze ahead! Even the world must yield before you!]

Wave Breaker.

A rune skill obtained during the second phase; he hadn't used it even once since acquiring it.

The Covenant Ship in the skill description, as it seemed at the time, would be the AE1001 doomsday train.

But the skill description didn't say it could only be used on a train.

As long as it was a vehicle, it would gain extraordinary maneuverability and Super Armor.

So, what if he could use this skill on the flying shuttle...

Lin Xiao looked at the skill cost, shook his head, and temporarily pushed the thought aside.

240 Mental Power per minute, and his current Mental Power limit was only a little over 20 points; he couldn't even activate the skill.

It looked like he had to return to the Astral Express first.

After crafting and injecting the [fantasy potion - quest for knowledge], he would learn more Level 4 or Level 5 skill books, find a set of equipment to boost his Mental attributes, and then come back to try it out.

"This place cannot be rushed."

Lin Xiao put the binoculars back into his backpack, his tone calm.

He didn't hide his regret, but there was no sense of defeat either.

"We can only retreat for now. Once we return to the Astral Express and make sufficient preparations, we'll come back to conquer it!"

"It's fine, Brother Lin!" Fan Sinian immediately leaned in, his body, which had just been slumped in the cabin, suddenly springing up,

"The temple is right here; it's not going to run away on its own. When we get back, everyone can think of a way together—brainstorming, you know...

Old Liu's brain is sharp, Ping'an isn't just good at hacking people, and the sisters-in-law might have some ideas too.

Besides, those bastards from the Silver-White Train were beaten to a pulp by us; no one will be competing with us for it in the short term!"

Lin Xiao nodded.

Although Fan Sinian was usually careless, he was still very clear-headed and rational when it came to critical moments.

Just as Lin Xiao was about to maneuver the flying shuttle to change direction, he inadvertently looked down at his left wrist.

Then, his movements stopped.

The recording pointer was vibrating violently.

The amplitude was even greater than when it was activated by the stone platform at the No. 05 Qitian Temple previously.

And even stranger, the dark golden needle floating in the crystal ball was not pointing in any of the cardinal directions at this moment.

It tilted high up, its tip pointing straight at the clear, cloudless sky.

Lin Xiao frowned.

He pulled up the item description for the recording pointer, his gaze lingering on the panel for a long time.

[Curiosity · recording pointer]

[Effect: Records magnetic field parameters between various regions, guides routes to special areas, and can even reveal unknown, hidden locations]

Hidden locations?

Could it not be the Desert Temple?

Come to think of it, the location of the Desert Temple was already marked on the treasure map; it didn't need the pointer to reveal it.

Furthermore, what the pointer was pointing to right now wasn't the direction of the sandstorm ahead, but straight up.

If the hidden location in the description wasn't the Desert Temple marked on the treasure map.

Then, what could it be?

"Ruan Li." Lin Xiao raised his head and asked, "Does the flying shuttle have a height limit?"

Ruan Li didn't understand why, but she still thought about it carefully before answering:

"Theoretically, there is no absolute height limit. The source of the flying shuttle's lift is the wind-whirl crystal.

The wind-whirl crystal doesn't rely on air density. It's a spatial compression effect that forcibly encapsulates wind elements inside the crystal and then releases them.

Therefore, theoretically, the flying shuttle can keep flying upwards, even flying out of the atmosphere."

She paused, her tone becoming cautious, "But, flying too high will encounter three problems.

First is the lack of oxygen. None of us brought equipment like oxygen masks, and the flying shuttle doesn't have a pressurized cabin.

Second is temperature. The higher you go, the colder it gets. Although the ground temperature is very high right now, the air temperature will plummet once we reach high altitudes of several thousand meters or more.

The third point is that we aren't sure if there will be new threats in the sky, or if it will pose unpredictable dangers to us."

"Understood."

Lin Xiao manipulated the helm.

"Then let's go up and take a look. Everyone, sit tight!"

Up there?

Fan Sinian, Zhou Jun, and Ruan Li looked up at the sky almost simultaneously.

The desert sky at noon was crystal clear, without even a single cloud, and the sun was blindingly white.

There was nothing up there. What were they going up to see?

Lin Xiao didn't explain.

Following the direction pointed by the pointer, he maneuvered the flying shuttle to gain altitude directly.

The humming sound of the wind-whirl shifted from low frequency to high frequency, and the hull climbed upwards at a nearly vertical angle, not fast but stable.

The circular wall of the sandstorm grew more and more distant on the left side of the flying shuttle, turning from a giant wall spanning heaven and earth into a dark ring set upon the earth.

Right in the center of the storm's eye, one could vaguely see a golden spire piercing out from the sea of sand, reflecting a brilliant luster under the scorching noon sun that belonged to no natural creation.

That was the Desert Temple.

But Lin Xiao only glanced at it once before withdrawing his gaze, because the pointer was still pointing straight up.

The flying shuttle continued to climb.

The changes brought by the altitude began to manifest.

The air became increasingly thin; every breath required twice the effort compared to usual.

The temperature plummeted from the scorching heat of the ground to slightly cool, and then from slightly cool to cold; a layer of fine white frost began to condense on the surface of the metal components on the ship's railing.

Fan Sinian curled up while hugging his shield, Zhou Jun's lips were slightly purple, and Ruan Li's breathing became rapid and shallow.

Just when everyone began to feel obviously uncomfortable, Lin Xiao suddenly felt a strange sensation.

It was a resonance with water elements.

It was the poseidons trident giving a prompt.

He took the trident out of his backpack.

The shaft of the trident was vibrating slightly, and the runes on the handle were lighting up one by one, emitting a soft blue light.

One of the characteristics of the trident was the Sea God's Authority.

Establishing a subtle resonance with everything containing water elements.

But the entire desert was extremely dry, the wind blowing in their faces was hot, and there wasn't even a cloud in the sky.

Where did these water elements come from?

The flying shuttle continued to climb upward.

Just as Lin Xiao was looking at the trident, puzzled, the hull suddenly lurched violently.

Huge inertia threw everyone forward at the same time.

Fortunately, they had Zhou Jun's vines for protection, wrapping around everyone's waists like seat belts.

Otherwise, everyone would have been thrown out.

Lin Xiao steadied himself and quickly looked up to observe.

He discovered that strange ripples were undulating in the air in front of the flying shuttle.

This wasn't a visual distortion caused by temperature changes, but rather more like some kind of substantial existence.

Even with the naked eye, one could observe translucent ripples spreading outward in circles from the void directly in front of the bow.

Lin Xiao reached out to feel it, and his fingertips touched a layer of moist and completely transparent film.

It felt cool and soft to the touch, as if an invisible surface of water was floating in the air out of nowhere.

And his palm was visibly disappearing into the film!