Chapter 21: Questioning Life

Then, pretending to be troubled, he said, “Alright, out of these five magical artifacts, I’ll pick just one. I’ll give you the Cloud-Swallowing Sword.”

Lin Hao waved his hand and tossed the Cloud-Swallowing Sword to the elder. A gleam of joy flashed in the elder’s eyes as he reached out to catch it.

But in that very moment, a sharp tearing sound echoed through the air.

It turned out that as Lin Hao threw the sword, he accidentally scratched his hand, and his blood dripped onto the blade.

Suddenly, the entire Cloud-Swallowing Sword darkened, and a shimmering light enveloped both Lin Hao and the sword.

In an instant, the elder’s face turned pale as fear flickered in his eyes. He wanted to intervene, but it was already too late.

The light faded in a heartbeat, and Lin Hao opened his eyes, aware that he had just forged a bond with the Cloud-Swallowing Sword. He could sense its presence within his spiritual sea.

At this moment, only one thought echoed in the elder’s mind: It’s over!

But Lin Hao’s mind was immediately met with a voice.

“Congratulations, host, for completing the trigger task and successfully acquiring a fragment of the Chaos Artifact. However, there is no reward. The Hope System encourages you to keep striving and collect the remaining fragments.”

Damn!

Hearing this, Lin Hao’s mood was chaotic, and he had a thousand complaints for the system.

“System, aren’t you being a bit unreasonable?” Lin Hao grumbled.

“All tasks assigned by this system are entirely reasonable,” the system’s cold voice rang in his mind.

Lin Hao was left speechless.

He glanced at the elder, whose face was ashen, his expression full of surprise. The outcome was entirely unexpected—he could never have imagined this.

The elder stood stunned for a moment, then weakly said, “Lin Hao, this…”

His words snapped Lin Hao back to reality. He shot the elder an angry look. “Elder, why didn’t you catch it quickly just now? What do we do now, hmm?”

“Lin Hao, you can’t blame me. You threw it yourself, and now you’ve bonded with it as your life artifact. There’s nothing I can do,” the elder replied helplessly.

“So what now? Am I stuck with this useless thing?” Lin Hao asked with a grim expression.

“Actually, the Cloud-Swallowing Sword isn’t bad. It’s a sacred artifact, after all. Why don’t you try it out first?” the elder cautiously suggested.

Lin Hao studied the elder with a look that seemed to ask: Are you joking with me?

Seeing this, the elder steeled himself and said, “How about this, Lin Hao? Since things have turned out this way, as compensation, I’ll give you twenty more mid-grade spirit stones. How’s that?”

“Well…” Lin Hao hesitated.

He then resigned himself. “Alright, fine. Let’s leave it at that. I suppose I’ll just count myself unlucky.”

“Very well, then. That settles it for now. But about Qingyun and the Sect Master…” The elder, relieved at Lin Hao’s agreement, hinted at Lin Hao’s identity.

“Don’t worry. If I’ve agreed, I won’t go tattling. But I hope you won’t look down on people in the future. You know why you made things difficult for me today—I won’t hold it against you now,” Lin Hao replied, accepting the twenty mid-grade spirit stones.

Though Lin Hao appeared cold and reluctant on the surface, inside, he was elated.

He took the spirit stones without the slightest hesitation. The elder’s initial attitude toward him had been poor, and Lin Hao wanted to teach him a lesson. Seventy spirit stones seemed too little for such a lesson in his eyes.

Fortunately, the elder had the sense to back off in the end. If he’d continued to trouble Lin Hao, Lin Hao would have made him regret it even more.

---

Finally, the elder escorted Lin Hao out of the Artifact Pavilion with reverence, as if sending off an immortal.

Before leaving, Lin Hao glanced back at the elder, noting his eager desire for Lin Hao to depart. He laughed inwardly, a flash of mischievous light in his eyes, yet he kept his cold demeanor. He addressed the elder, “Elder, I hope we meet again. I’ll need your guidance in the future. If I come to choose more artifacts, I hope you’ll make things easier for me.”

The elder, relieved that Lin Hao was about to leave, tensed again when Lin Hao suddenly paused and spoke.

“Absolutely, absolutely. If you ever need anything, just come to me. I’ll do my best to help,” the elder replied hastily.

But inwardly, he thought: Please don’t ever come to me again. I never want to see you.

Lin Hao didn’t care, turning and leaving after his words.

During the discussion between Lin Hao and the elder, those who had been sent away had already spread news of the event and Lin Hao’s identity throughout the Clear Wind Sect.

Even Qingyun heard of it. Upon learning the news, Qingyun showed no clear reaction—neither denying nor confirming—only a faint smile on his lips.

As Lin Hao walked out of the Artifact Pavilion, he noticed other disciples pointing and whispering about him.

Even those who hadn’t known him before now recognized him.

His reputation grew rapidly.

Noticing all this, Lin Hao decided it was necessary to meet Qingyun.

When he arrived at Qingyun’s residence, a servant immediately blocked his path. “Stop! Who are you?”

Lin Hao replied, “I’m here to see Senior Brother Qingyun. Please let him know Lin Hao wishes to speak with him.”

“Lin Hao? Who’s that? Never heard of you. Go back where you came from. You think you can just meet Senior Brother Qingyun? I see plenty of nobodies like you every day. Get lost!” The servant’s tone was mocking and arrogant, as if he didn’t recognize Lin Hao at all.

This attitude infuriated Lin Hao, who was already in a bad mood. He raised his fist and punched the servant, causing blood to spill from the servant’s mouth.

“Ah!” The servant cried out in disbelief, staring at Lin Hao. “You dare hit me!”

“I hit people like you precisely because you talk nonsense. If you can’t speak properly, I’ll sew your mouth shut,” Lin Hao retorted mercilessly.

The servant, enraged, drew his sword and lunged at Lin Hao.

Lin Hao’s eyes flashed with disdain. With a flick of his wrist, a stream of strange fire shot toward the servant, reducing his sword to ashes.

“My sword! You destroyed it! Lin Hao, was it? I won’t forgive you. I’ll use your blood to avenge my sword!” The servant was nearly hysterical.

That sword was a low-grade spiritual weapon—one he treasured.

He never expected Lin Hao to destroy it.

Lin Hao sneered, “You?”

He released the pressure of a third-layer Foundation Establishment cultivator and advanced toward the servant.

A suffocating aura pressed in, and only then did fear flicker in the servant’s eyes. “What… what are you doing? You’re too bold! Senior Brother Qingyun won’t let you get away with this!”

---

“Won’t let me get away with it? Hmph, I’d like to see what he’ll do. Go ahead, call him out,” Lin Hao said with mocking contempt.

To Lin Hao, servants like this were nothing—arrogant when things went well, but spineless when faced with trouble.

Just as he finished speaking, he sensed a chill rushing toward him.

Instinctively, Lin Hao raised his arm, summoning a lotus of strange fire.

A scream rang out.

Lin Hao snorted, looking at the scorched figure before him. “You call that a trick? Trying to sneak up on me?”

“Spare… spare me!” Now, the servant finally knew fear.

Lin Hao’s strange fire had brought him face to face with death, filling him with despair.

Now, his eyes pleaded and trembled as he looked at Lin Hao.

Seeing this, Lin Hao refrained from further action. But since Qingyun hadn’t appeared, Lin Hao wondered if Qingyun was cutting ties and abandoning their cooperation.

With this thought, Lin Hao glanced at the door and turned to leave.

But as he turned, the servant’s face twisted into a sly smile.

Seizing the opportunity, the servant hurled a black object at Lin Hao. “Die!” he screamed, face contorted with malice.

Lin Hao sensed danger and turned swiftly.

He saw the object flying toward him, its fuse igniting.

Immediately, Lin Hao raised his arm, unleashed another burst of fire, wrapping the object in a protective blaze.

A loud bang followed as the black object exploded.

Fortunately, the fire contained the blast, causing only a minor disturbance—Lin Hao was unharmed.

After the explosion, the servant’s face, once excited, turned sullen at the sight of Lin Hao unharmed.

That weapon was a Thunderbolt Bomb—a formidable tool he wielded. A single Thunderbolt Bomb could easily kill a newly established Foundation cultivator.

Yet Lin Hao’s strength was so great that it did no harm at all.

The servant’s eyes shifted from disbelief to terror. He spun to flee.

Lin Hao kicked him, sending him flying and smashing open the door.

He didn’t waste any words on the servant.

At that moment, Qingyun heard the commotion and opened his eyes.

In fact, Qingyun had been cultivating inside, which was why he’d left a servant outside.