"Damn it. What kind of cursed tunnel is this?"

Marcus’s voice echoed sharply through the narrow passage as frustration finally spilled over. The deeper he pushed forward, the more violent the black wind storms became. They howled like living things, slamming into him again and again. At first, each strike only shaved off around two hundred health, manageable enough. But the damage kept climbing, steadily, mercilessly, as if the tunnel itself were testing how long he could endure.

Ten seconds passed.

Then thirty.

Then a full minute.

Under the constant effect of the Super Health Potions, Marcus, Goldie, Lyanna, and Camillo managed to hold steady without losing visible health. The potions pulsed with restorative energy, fighting back against the storm’s relentless erosion. Pebble and the two Sea Demon Souls were not so fortunate. As summoned beings, they could not benefit from potion recovery, and their health bars drained at an alarming rate.

A faint poof sounded beside him.

Pebble’s health finally hit zero after barely more than a minute. The summoned creature vanished instantly, dissolved into particles of light. The two Sea Demon Souls were not far behind, already reduced to half health as the black wind continued to grind them down.

Marcus squinted into the darkness ahead. The tunnel stretched forward endlessly, swallowed by pitch black shadows with no hint of an exit. Judging by the damage increase, they were nowhere near the end. He checked the combat logs again. His remaining pets were now losing three hundred health per second.

Thank goodness for the Super Health Potions Alana had crafted. If he had relied on standard shop supplies, even the best Large Health Potions restoring two hundred health per second would have already failed. They would have been wiped out long ago.

Reaching the Earth-Wind Spirit Cave clearly was never meant to be easy. Anyone attempting this without top-tier preparation would probably be screaming in panic before lasting two minutes.

Two minutes passed, then three.

Not long after, the Sea Demon Souls finally collapsed under the pressure. One after another, they dispersed into mist, unable to withstand the increasingly violent storm. The wind intensified again, shrieking louder as if pleased with its victories.

Now Marcus and his remaining companions were losing over six hundred health per second. Even the Super Health Potions struggled to keep pace. For the first time since entering the tunnel, his health bar began to drop visibly.

’Still no exit.’

Marcus clenched his teeth. This was absurd.

Even fully prepared, even armed with rare potions, he felt the urge to shout in frustration.

"Earth-Wind Spirit Cave..." he muttered under his breath.

It was supposedly a hidden location within the third level of the Mystic Turtle’s Tomb, already difficult enough to uncover. Yet discovering the concealed tunnel clearly did not guarantee survival. Simply reaching the cave was its own trial.

Liam Windrunner had not been exaggerating. This trial was brutal.

Marcus exhaled slowly, forcing himself to think instead of panic.

"Looks like... I’ll need to get creative."

"There’s no way I brute-force this."

"Return."

At his command, Goldie, Lyanna, and Camillo vanished into streams of light and returned to his pet space. Marcus chose to continue alone. Fewer targets meant less overall strain, and more importantly, he already had a plan forming.

He trusted it.

Another two minutes crawled by. The storm grew harsher still, draining more than eight hundred health per second. Marcus’s health fell rapidly until only a little over a thousand remained.

He could not push any farther like this.

"Wanderlust!"

A flash of spatial energy surged around him. Marcus immediately reset the teleport anchor he had originally placed at the fourth-level entrance, shifting it to his current position inside the tunnel.

"Run for Your Life!"

He broke free from the storm’s binding pressure for a brief moment, then activated Wanderlust again.

Space folded.

In an instant, Marcus reappeared at the entrance of the second level of the Mystic Turtle’s Tomb, the teleport point he had set long ago when first climbing up from the first floor. Upon reaching Level 40, he had gained an additional teleport slot and never bothered removing this one.

That small decision now saved his life.

Even though Wanderlust could not bypass the Golden Dragon Divine Sky Formation sealing the First Emperor’s Tomb itself, movement within the formation remained unrestricted. The skill functioned perfectly here.

Marcus let out a satisfied chuckle.

"Let that stupid black wind rage all it wants. It can’t chase me."

Back in safety, he allowed the Super Health Potions to restore him completely. His health bar climbed back to full, the lingering pressure finally gone.

"Wanderlust." Another flash appeared as he returned to the tunnel and resumed advancing.

With full health restored, the damage stabilized again around three hundred health loss per second at this section. With over eight thousand total health, he estimated he could safely push forward for at least twenty seconds each attempt.

He deliberately avoided activating his two strongest abilities, Dragon Soul Aegis and Wandering Corpse Souls. Those were emergency tools meant for combat beyond the tunnel. He needed reserves. No one knew what monsters waited inside the Earth-Wind Spirit Cave.

So far, he had not encountered a single Earth-Wind Spirit or Earth-Wind Twin Sting Ghost on the third level. That absence alone made him uneasy. Creatures tied to the cave were probably concentrated inside it.

Saving strength now was the smarter decision.

Fortunately, the storm’s damage eventually plateaued. Even deeper inside, the loss capped at roughly eight hundred health per second instead of continuing to escalate endlessly. With 8230 total health, the tunnel became survivable through careful timing.

"Wanderlust!"

When his health dropped near critical again, Marcus repeated the process flawlessly. He updated the teleport point behind him, disengaged using Run for Your Life, then warped back to the second level to recover before returning once more.

He grinned to himself during the cycle.

Call it cheap if anyone wanted. He preferred to call it efficient use of available skills.

Honestly, he had no alternative. Without Super Health Potions and Wanderlust working together, Marcus doubted any player below Level 80 could ever cross this passage alive.

"Level 80..." he muttered.

Was Liam Windrunner trying to test him or bury him?

"When I get out of this, I’m definitely having words with that guy."

The irritation was real now. A quest this dangerous had better deliver rewards worthy of the risk. Otherwise Marcus would not forget it anytime soon.

And if the tunnel alone was this lethal, what horrors waited inside the Earth-Wind Spirit Cave? What kind of enemies demanded such a brutal entrance requirement?

The thought left him uneasy despite himself.

"Wanderlust."

Fully restored again, he returned to the tunnel for another push forward.

On his fourth attempt, the perfectly straight passage suddenly curved. Marcus slowed instinctively as he rounded the bend. Then, without warning, the violent black wind vanished.

The pressure disappeared completely. His health stopped draining. His movement speed returned instantly, and the suffocating darkness ahead gave way to open space filled with soft, natural light.

The tunnel opened into a vast cavern.

Marcus stopped where he stood, momentarily stunned by the sudden transformation.

Before him stretched an expansive underground world, bright and magnificent after the oppressive darkness he had endured.

"...Earth-Wind Spirit Cave."

He spoke the words quietly, almost reverently.

There was no doubt, he had finally arrived.