Chapter 130: Overjoyed

Lin Hao asked, “Are all these things rewards meant for me? There won’t be any hidden costs, will there?”

In truth, Lin Hao had been wary of the system ever since it had tricked him before, so although these items were tempting, he restrained himself. What if the system demanded a greater price in exchange for these gifts?

Therefore, he thought it best to clarify things first.

After hearing Lin Hao’s question, the system hesitated for a moment before replying, “Yes, there are no additional tasks. These are the rewards for the host, and you may enjoy them freely.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Hao could hardly believe it. He rubbed his ears and said, “System, say that again!”

This time, the system was cooperative and repeated itself immediately.

Lin Hao clapped his hands with delight. “Wow, this is a once-in-a-century rarity! System, you do have your generous moments!”

His eyes gleamed like a wolf spotting its prey as he reached out to touch the brightest cabinet near him.

This time, having learned from experience, Lin Hao obediently closed his eyes, prepared for whatever cultivation technique might come forth.

But after a while, nothing arrived.

Puzzled, he opened his eyes to see that as soon as his hand rested on the cabinet, it emitted a shimmering golden light, circling around him once.

After a brief moment, the golden glow faded, and nothing else appeared.

The smile on Lin Hao’s lips froze.

To make sure he hadn’t missed anything, he placed his hand on the cabinet again.

But this time, the cabinet had dimmed, indicating the item had been taken.

After trying various methods he could think of to open it, the cabinet never lit up again. Still unwilling to give up, Lin Hao closed his eyes to sense any changes within his body, but no new cultivation technique was detected.

“Hmm!” Lin Hao let out a curious sound as he inspected his spirit sea.

Floating there among his five-colored spiritual roots was a small figure atop the golden soul root — as if he had shrunk down.

“What is this?” Lin Hao was deeply curious, certain he hadn’t had this before.

He was at a loss.

Could this little figure be the reward from that cabinet? But what use did it have?

Tentatively, Lin Hao summoned his Cloud Swallow Sword, infused it with the golden spiritual root to instantly turn it golden, then swung it once.

A streak of golden light pierced through the entire door before vanishing.

After a long moment of silence, surprise flashed in Lin Hao’s eyes. “Is that all?”

That couldn’t be right. Given his strength, this golden light should be more powerful than the ice flower technique from before.

Just as he was about to approach and examine further, he took a few steps closer — about a meter or two from the door — when suddenly, the entire door shattered into countless fragments, falling to the ground with a loud crash.

Startled, Lin Hao froze, not daring to advance further.

Once the door had completely disintegrated, a wave of spiritual energy rippled through the space again.

---

The door reformed, perfectly intact.

Yet Lin Hao could not shake the image of the previous scene.

“What’s going on?” he frowned, utterly perplexed.

“Is this... the golden spiritual root being evolved?” he guessed hesitantly.

“Yes,” the system suddenly appeared to explain, “Congratulations, host, you have obtained the Golden Spiritual Root Evolution Fluid. Your golden spiritual root has been purified and upgraded to a Golden Nascent Soul.”

“Really?” Lin Hao’s face lit with joy.

“So that’s what it was!” Lin Hao finally understood, almost thinking the system had been deceiving him all along, leaving him empty-handed.

With the system’s confirmation, Lin Hao focused intently on the small figure within his body.

This time, he observed carefully and saw that the figure seemed to emanate faint spiritual energy, nurturing his golden spiritual root.

Whether it was his imagination or not, Lin Hao felt that, in just a short while, the golden root, once the same size as his other four roots, had grown slightly larger and shone even more brilliantly.

Withdrawing his consciousness, Lin Hao exhaled deeply and adjusted his mood.

A smile involuntarily curled at the corners of his mouth.

Somewhat greedily, he murmured, “Ah, if only I had a cultivation manual for the golden element now!”

He laughed at himself for his greed, thinking how human nature was always like this.

Still, his eyes were filled with hope as they glanced toward the last illuminated cabinet.

“Could there really be another cultivation technique inside here?”

He stepped forward and raised his hand, but hesitated to touch the glowing cabinet, afraid that if it wasn’t what he hoped for, he wouldn’t know how to face it.

After a moment’s pause at the cabinet’s edge, he closed his eyes, then opened them with firm resolve and quickly touched the cabinet, closing his eyes once more.

Suddenly, the previous sensation returned, and a torrent of information flooded into Lin Hao’s mind.

Though his expression was strained, a smile remained on his lips as he sat down, pressing his hands to his head to steady himself.

After more than half an hour, he opened his eyes and immediately slapped the ground with a “clap!”

He pushed off the ground and sprang up.

“Awesome!” Lin Hao shouted excitedly, eagerly drawing his Cloud Swallow Sword and performing the set of the Qingcheng Sword Technique he had created.

The sword movements flowed swiftly and unpredictably. Though the form of the technique hadn’t changed, when Lin Hao stopped, his entire body was transformed.

Golden light shimmered all over him, enveloping him from head to toe in a suit of golden armor—helmet to boots, completely radiant in gold.

With a sharp “whoosh!” Lin Hao sheathed his sword.

Then, the golden armor shattered into fragments, falling from his body.

These fragments floated before him and slowly reassembled.

Before him stood a golden shield, enveloping him from behind.

Raising the shield, Lin Hao swung his hand again, and the shield instantly shattered into shards that drifted toward the opposite cabinet.

With a series of clinks, the shards struck the cabinet, causing it to explode violently.

Joy sparkled in Lin Hao’s eyes.

He felt no sorrow watching the cabinets explode, knowing they would restore themselves afterward.

Lin Hao’s entire being radiated happiness.

Indeed, his initial words had been somewhat greedy and presumptuous.

But unexpectedly, the last glowing cabinet truly contained a golden-element cultivation manual.

This filled Lin Hao with boundless joy.

As he absorbed the technique, he studied its basic principles carefully and began to practice immediately.

Seeing the results, he nodded with satisfaction.

Still immersed in his delight, Lin Hao was suddenly ejected from the system space with a “thud!”

He found himself standing in the bug-infested room, still dazed.

Hearing the rustling sounds of the insects crawling again, Lin Hao stood there dumbfounded, still holding his sword.

Before he could react, the system’s cold, displeased voice echoed in his mind: “Due to the host’s disregard for the space and continuous destruction, the system has decided to expel the host from the space for two hours to cool off before re-entry is allowed. Should this happen again, the system will determine the host no longer requires the space and will reclaim it.”

Hearing this, Lin Hao finally came to his senses, rubbing his nose in embarrassment.

So that was why. Reflecting, he realized he had indeed been reckless and overconfident.

“Looks like it’s best not to offend the system lightly!”

Lin Hao had no desire to lose the space.

Suddenly, he heard the rustling and buzzing of insects around him. He looked up and saw countless bugs swarming, surrounding Cao Yi completely.

If Lin Hao hadn’t known Cao Yi was still inside this room, he would never have guessed he was there.

He also noticed that the layer of ice he had formed over Cao Yi was now thin and transparent.

Upon closer inspection, a patch beneath Cao Yi’s feet was ice-free, and insects were burrowing desperately toward his feet.

Seeing this, Lin Hao immediately unleashed an ice-flower feather arrow, eliminating them.

After clearing the bugs from Cao Yi’s body, Lin Hao formed claws with his hands and swung another ice flower attack at the remaining insects on the ground.

In an instant, “boom, boom, boom!” The insects touched the ice flowers and exploded.

Having finished dealing with the bugs around Cao Yi, Lin Hao helped him to his feet.

Looking at the remaining insects, Lin Hao no longer felt fear but a fierce fighting spirit, watching them with keen interest.

Seeing some flying bugs heading his way, Lin Hao swiftly raised a golden shield with a wave of his arm, blocking them with a clang.

Then, a burst of flames erupted from the shield, incinerating the insects instantly.

This had been a sudden inspiration: combining the golden spiritual root with the exotic fire lotus could grant the shield both defensive and offensive powers.