Chapter 129: Restored as Before

After the elder’s words fell, Lin Hao was startled. Although to the outside world he appeared to be in a state of false death, it was still just feigned. His spiritual awareness had already entered the system, allowing him to perceive the voices and happenings outside through it.

At that moment, hearing the black elder’s remarks, Lin Hao was genuinely shocked. He was already dead, yet they wouldn’t even spare his corpse. Thinking of the poisonous insects the black elder mentioned, a chill ran through Lin Hao’s entire body.

Fortunately, the system was powerful; this feigned death convenience truly looked like death. Otherwise, Lin Hao would have shuddered uncontrollably from the outside, and his ruse would have been immediately exposed.

With this realization, Lin Hao’s heart silently howled in despair.

As soon as the elder finished speaking, the leader’s expression hardened, and he said to the black elder, “Understood.”

Then he gestured to those behind him, having Lin Hao and Cao Yi bound and taken away.

While on the road, Lin Hao kept pondering how to escape, but the iron chains binding him were no ordinary ones. Now restrained by others, he found it difficult to devise a plan.

Moreover, with Cao Yi still unconscious beside him, the situation grew even more complicated.

After much thought, he still couldn’t figure out how to get out of there.

After a while, Lin Hao heard two thuds, feeling as if his body was thrown down.

He then heard the leader say, “Enough. Throw them in there and let’s leave quickly.”

With a loud “slam!” the door shut behind them, and they were left inside alone.

At that moment, Lin Hao sensed no one else was outside anymore. He then deactivated the feigned death convenience of the system and moved his fingers.

He opened one eye cautiously and glanced around.

Seeing there truly was no one else, he opened both eyes and sat up.

Scanning the surroundings, he suddenly heard a rustling sound, as if something was crawling.

He leapt to his feet instantly, standing and looking all around.

His hair stood on end, his pores dilated, and a cold sweat broke out over his body.

A sharp intake of breath escaped him.

All around were thick clusters of various black insects. Their crawling noises sent chills down Lin Hao’s spine.

Suddenly sensing something amiss, he looked down and jumped back with a start.

A poisonous insect had already crawled onto his foot.

Lin Hao immediately shook it off, jumped up, and stomped it flat.

Then, with a sweep of his hand, a wall of fire ignited with a loud roar, forming a barrier around him.

The insects were thus separated from him.

Seeing the insects trapped outside the ring of fire without further action, Lin Hao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He then looked over at the still unconscious Cao Yi.

Frowning deeply, Lin Hao felt troubled. If he woke Cao Yi, would he attack him again like before?

But in this situation, carrying an unconscious man was inconvenient.

For a moment, Lin Hao was truly at a loss, massaging his temples in frustration.

Staring at the surrounding poisonous insects, he rubbed his arms, trying to make the goosebumps recede.

How to get out now was another problem.

Suddenly, something caught Lin Hao’s eye and his pupils dilated instantly.

He swiftly drew his Swallowing Cloud Sword and slashed several times.

The insects had begun climbing over the fire wall. Although some were burned to ashes, waves upon waves of them charged toward the fire.

They seemed utterly reckless of their own lives.

Lin Hao hastily cut them down with his sword.

One after another, the insects fell beneath his blade. But he was only one man, with only two hands.

The insects came from all directions; Lin Hao could guard one side but not the other.

Just as he killed the insects before him, another crawled up his leg from behind.

Lin Hao instantly turned and killed it.

Realizing this was futile, he pondered his predicament.

At that moment, a buzzing sound arose.

Like something flying, Lin Hao looked up and saw not only the crawling insects but also a swarm of green ones flying densely through the sky.

The sight made him itch all over.

Then he noticed his fire wall was useless against these flying insects, which easily breached it.

They had already reached Cao Yi’s body.

Lin Hao acted quickly, encasing Cao Yi in multiple layers of ice.

Seeing the insects biting at the ice but unable to break it, Lin Hao breathed easier.

He then drew his Trunok, swiftly slashing at the airborne insects.

With swift strokes, he cut them down around him.

Cao Yi was thus protected.

However, this drew all the insects’ attention to Lin Hao himself.

Flying and crawling, they surrounded him from all sides.

At the critical moment when Lin Hao was ready to fight to the death, he suddenly vanished with a swift motion.

The insects froze for a moment in confusion, then buzzed collectively around the spot where Lin Hao had disappeared, lingering without dispersing.

Meanwhile, Lin Hao heard a crisp “ding!” as the system’s voice echoed in his mind.

He felt the place around him change. Before he could react, he opened his eyes to find himself in a place brimming with spiritual energy.

Suddenly transported to this unfamiliar place, Lin Hao remained vigilant, clutching his Swallowing Cloud Sword tightly, unwilling to act rashly.

“Congratulations, host, on successfully opening the system space. Due to the special circumstances you encountered, the system has preemptively deemed your mission successful. You may enter the system space,” the system’s distinctive voice announced.

Startled, Lin Hao relaxed only after hearing this.

It turned out he had been pulled into the system space in an emergency.

Raising an eyebrow, Lin Hao looked around curiously and murmured, “So this is the system space!”

The system’s voice echoed hollowly around the space, reverberating.

“Once again, congratulations on opening the system space. This space is accessible only to you, the host. Within it are cultivation techniques suited to your needs as rewards. Please explore at your leisure.”

After this, the system fell silent.

Suddenly, a large room appeared before Lin Hao.

The room looked grand and imposing, though it bore no nameplate.

Curious, Lin Hao pushed open the door and stepped inside, finding what resembled a study.

From the outside, the room seemed modest, but inside, Lin Hao felt incredibly small.

The entire room was lined with bookshelves, layer upon layer, densely packed.

Judging by the sight, there must have been hundreds, if not thousands, of small compartments.

However, only a few glowed faintly; the rest were pitch black and empty.

A spark of excitement flashed in Lin Hao’s eyes as he stepped closer to the glowing shelves.

The moment he touched one of the illuminated cabinets, a flood of knowledge surged into his mind.

He had no choice but to close his eyes and clasp his hands over his head.

After some time passed, Lin Hao opened his eyes, not with pain but radiating joy.

As if to verify the knowledge, he stared intently at his palm.

Gradually, a stream of water formed in his hand, then froze into ice, and finally blossomed into a delicate ice flower.

When the flower fully formed, Lin Hao grasped its stem, holding it before his eyes.

With a flick of his wrist, the flower shot forward, striking the nearby door.

With a cracking sound, the flower transformed into countless slender ice needles, adhering to the door and leaving an imprint of the ice flower.

Suddenly, with a loud bang, the ice flower exploded, blowing a small hole in the door.

Yet, since this was system space, any slight disturbance of spiritual energy instantly restored the door to its original state.

Still, this was enough to delight Lin Hao immensely.

Witnessing the power of the ice flower, Lin Hao clapped his hands and clenched his fist. “Ha! Success! Looks like the Ice Flower Feather Arrow is quite powerful!”

Indeed, the glowing cabinet he touched had flooded his mind with vast knowledge.

Initially, Lin Hao had closed his eyes and covered his head, but gradually his mind filled with text.

Upon careful reading, he realized it was a water-element cultivation technique called Ice Flower Rain Sword.

It allowed him to condense an ice flower that, when released, transformed into feather arrows.

The flower’s power was tremendous; even this early trial display showed great strength.

Lin Hao felt as if he had found a priceless treasure, his face beaming with joy.

After studying the Ice Flower Rain Sword, his eyes shone brightly as he gazed at the other glowing compartments.

He had initially thought merely being able to hide alive in the system space was enough.

Now, clearly, his expectations had been too low. The system space offered him enormous surprises.

Not only could he hide safely, but there were also abundant rewards.

Such a lavish gift from the system left Lin Hao in disbelief.

Thinking of something, he called out cautiously, “System, are you still there?”

He listened intently for a response.

The system’s calm voice replied, “How may I assist you, host?”