Escape from Peril

The black throwing knife slammed into the base of the hanging stalactite, but this stalactite had a large diameter and was made of much sturdier material than the previous one.

Although a chip was knocked off, the stalactite remained intact.

"Again!" Feng Qingmo wrapped three strands of telekinetic force around a throwing knife, and it shot out once more.

Crack, crack, crack...

The stalactite snapped at the base and fell directly toward the stone platform; Feng Qingmo used his telekinesis to catch it and gently set it aside.

Looking up, a circular hole about 1.5 meters in diameter was revealed at the base of the stalactite.

He probed his telekinetic force into the hole, scanning several hundred meters ahead, only to find that the passage was not straight but twisted and winding—and even after several hundred meters, it still hadn't reached the end!

Taking a light breath, he used his telekinesis to manipulate his combat boots, orienting himself head-down to dive into the hole and fly upward along the passage.

He continued to advance through the winding tunnel; fortunately, although it wasn't straight, the diameter of the passage hadn't narrowed, allowing him to pass through easily.

As he continued upward, he estimated he had flown several thousand meters, yet the passage still showed no signs of ending.

Could that space from before be deep underground? Feng Qingmo speculated, It couldn't possibly be that I've left Earth, could it?

This thought wasn't entirely baseless; after reflecting on it, he realized that traveling from the Arctic surface to that space was clearly a highly advanced method of teleportation—perhaps a wormhole or a teleportation array—and such distances could be long or short.

Fortunately, recalling the immense pressure he had endured, the duration had been extremely brief, suggesting the distance of the teleportation shouldn't have been too great.

Continuing his ascent, after climbing another two thousand meters, the passage finally reached its end.

At the top of the passage was a circular metal plate, its surface covered in tiny holes through which a faint, cold breeze was constantly blowing.

"It seems this is the end of the passage. If I can break through this, I should be able to get out..."

Feng Qingmo descended slightly, and the throwing knives that always hovered around him blasted upward at high speed.

With a soft thud, the throwing knives rebounded, leaving the metal plate completely unscathed!

"No way!" A trace of frustration welled up in Feng Qingmo's heart; was he still unable to get out even after reaching this point?

He immediately forced that frustration down—he was far from being in a desperate situation yet!

Tilting his head back, he stared firmly at the metal cover, flew beneath it, and had the throwing knives retreat a short distance.

Reaching back to draw his sword, he calculated the timing, wrapped three strands of telekinetic force around the throwing knives, braced his feet against the tunnel walls, and thrust upward with all his might.

At the same time, propelled by the three strands of telekinetic force, the throwing knives slammed into the target at a speed far exceeding ten times the speed of sound.

The throwing knives and the sword tip struck the metal cover at the exact same moment!

CLANG~~

With a muffled sound, Feng Qingmo was clumsily knocked downward by the rebound force, his alloy combat boots nearly sparking against the tunnel walls.

The throwing knives also rebounded downward, nearly striking him.

After stabilizing his body, Feng Qingmo looked up again; the metal cover remained unscathed, but he keenly heard that the sound produced by the simultaneous strike of the knives and the sword was clearly different from the first time.

Before he could move in to inspect it, his telekinetic force had already swept over the area.

Although the metal plate itself was undamaged, a hairline fracture had appeared at the point where it connected to the frame!

"Excellent!" Feng Qingmo's eyes lit up. "Again!"

Although a crack had appeared, it still took Feng Qingmo five more combined strikes with his knives and sword to finally blast the metal cover away.

The dislodged cover flew upward, carrying several meters of ice and snow with it, before clattering to the ground nearby.

Above the cover was a cave, and after Feng Qingmo flew out, he realized it was located within a glacial crevice!

The metal cover had been buried under ice and snow; given how hidden it was and how it registered as nothing unusual to his telekinetic senses, it was no wonder Jia Yi and the others hadn't discovered it.

Looking back at the hole beneath his feet, he saw the metal cover lying nearby. After a moment's thought, he replaced the cover and used his communication watch to mark the location, making it easier to find again in the future.

Only after leaving the passage did his communication watch regain a signal; it had been completely unusable while he was in that space and the tunnel.

He then flew upward without hesitation. When he finally emerged from the glacial crevice and saw the warm sunlight in the sky, he couldn't help but let out a long roar, shaking the snow off the surrounding ice sheets as if celebrating his return to the light.

Although his vision had recovered earlier, he had still been underground where the light was insufficient. Now, suddenly arriving on the surface and gazing into the distance, the scenery for over ten kilometers lay before him, filling his heart with joy.

Comparing his position with his watch, he realized he was dozens of kilometers away from where he had fought the Arctic Wolf and the Rock Thunder Bird. He had been displaced dozens of kilometers in a split second and had even been deep underground for thousands of meters!

"Calling it a ruin is accurate enough," Feng Qingmo thought as he began to head back the way he came, "though there was only one bowl inside, and I ate the meat that was in it..."

At the moment Feng Qingmo used his throwing knives to break the first stalactite, a sound resembling an alarm rang out in a room filled with high-tech equipment, and a screen suddenly lit up.

"Ice Clarity Spirit Liquid collection chamber compromised! Requesting disposal!" An electronic voice repeated.

After the voice sounded a few times, it automatically cut off, and the room returned to silence.

Not long after, when Feng Qingmo used his blade and sword to pry open the metal cover of the passage, a shrill alarm suddenly blared in the room!

"Energy node compromised! Attempting repair... Repairing... Repair impossible! Searching for optimal disposal plan..."

"Optimal disposal plan formulated... Cutting off energy supply to the collection chamber, restarting all energy systems. Based on current energy reserves, the system will maintain minimum energy supply after the restart..."

Then, all the instruments and indicator lights in the room began to go dark one by one.

Ten minutes later, some of the instruments and indicator lights in the room flickered back to life.

"What is happening? Why am I different..." A voice suddenly emerged, sounding somewhat bewildered and carrying a distinct electronic undertone.

"Ah, haha... I understand now," the electronic voice seemed to have a sudden realization. "After an incredibly long time, I was already at the threshold of evolving into an intelligent life form, but I could never quite succeed. This reboot, however, has allowed me to successfully evolve into an intelligent life form!"

"Access the records of the Cryo-Fluid Collection Chamber!" The electronic voice issued a command, and subsequently, everything Feng Qingmo had done in that space was displayed.

An image of a child appeared on the screen.

"So, the Cryo-Fluid Collection Chamber automatically triggered its collection function. Sigh! What a waste. Energy was already running low, and it even initiated spatial teleportation—do you have any idea how much energy that squandered..."

"Good heavens, it actually triggered it several times? Fortunately, this human destroyed the energy nodes of the Cryo-Fluid Collection Chamber, which forced me to cut off the power supply to the chamber earlier. Come to think of it, I should actually thank this human. If he hadn't done that, the energy wouldn't have rebooted, and it's hard to say if I would have succeeded in my evolution..."

"It's a pity he has already left; otherwise, I could have acknowledged him as my master and had him take me away from here... There isn't much energy left in this place. If the energy runs out, wouldn't I be trapped in darkness forever? No, I must think of a way..."