Flying Swords of Dragon Gate

A powerful wave of dizziness struck him, as if his soul had been forcibly ripped out and violently stuffed back in.

When Zu Hao opened his eyes again,

he found himself facing a vast, boundless desert, dead silent and withered yellow.

Blazing sunlight poured down without obstruction, scorching every inch of land. The air shimmered and warped in the heat, carrying the dry, searing smell of sand and stone baked by the sun.

As far as the eye could see were jagged rocks and rolling dunes. The wind howled past, whipping up fine grains of sand that struck his face with stinging, itchy pain.

[Host's current world: Flying Swords of Dragon Gate.]

[Current location: Dragon Gate.]

[Identity: Wandering martial artist.]

[Fist strength: 5 tons.]

[Speed: 50 meters per second.]

[Telekinesis: Object control limit, 10 tons.]

The cold system prompts echoed directly in his mind, clearly informing him of his current situation.

Zu Hao recalled the plot of this film.

The protagonist, Zhao Huai'an, had once been a court official. Dissatisfied with the eunuchs' monopoly on power and the corruption of the imperial court, he had resolutely abandoned office and wandered the martial world, becoming a hero who specialized in killing corrupt eunuchs and rescuing loyal officials.

After he assassinated Wan Yulou, the head of the East Depot, Yu Huatian, the head of the West Depot, issued a kill-on-sight order across the realm.

On the surface, Zhao Huai'an represented justice, but the "loyal officials" he rescued were mostly civil officials.

Zu Hao came from an age of information overload and understood the complexity of history all too well.

The Ming Dynasty's civil officials might have had a reputation for integrity, but there was no shortage among them of people who talked lofty nonsense to the ruin of the nation and formed factions to attack their rivals.

As the situation in the late Ming Dynasty spiraled into collapse, most of these so-called "upright officials" were civil officials. Were they really completely innocent?

The allusion of "the water was too cold," along with the fact that so many leading figures of Donglin eventually surrendered to the Qing, made it difficult to wholeheartedly approve of their integrity.

In contrast, although the West Depot under Yu Huatian employed brutal methods, it seemed more practical than those scholars busy with factional struggles, at least when it came to ensuring provisions and pay for the border troops.

At the very least, the West Depot did not withhold wages. The military pay issued by the court to the border army could be delivered in full and on time.

Once the civil official faction grew powerful, however, the border troops went unpaid year after year.

Who was righteous and who was evil was obvious at a glance!

With that thought, Zu Hao felt that the so-called protagonist was nothing special. He was not as genuine as the Factory Flower. Still, none of that had much to do with Zu Hao.

What interested him more were this world's martial arts and the treasure of the Taibai Upper Kingdom.

Taking a deep breath of hot, sand-laden air, Zu Hao began carefully surveying his surroundings.

Yellow sand filled the sky. The place was barren and deathly still, with scarcely any sign of life.

Then, a harsh, oppressive chorus of cawing rose from far away, breaking the silence as it drew closer.

Looking up, he saw a massive "dark cloud" rapidly moving across the horizon.

It was made up of tens of thousands of crows. They flocked together and flew west in a black mass, their cries shrill and mournful, as though they were scrambling to flee something—or singing an ominous dirge for this land.

Honestly, with the desert and the crows, if not for the system prompt, Zu Hao would have thought he had transmigrated into Resident Evil 3.

Thinking of Resident Evil reminded Zu Hao that he had yet to test his telekinesis.

With a thought, he focused his mind and tried to activate that power.

It felt clumsy at first, but soon an invisible, intangible force spread from the depths of his consciousness, real and fully under his control.

Zu Hao cautiously shaped his telekinesis into the form of a hand and tried to pick up a handful of sand from the ground.

The grains trembled slightly, then slowly rose into the air, trickling through invisible fingers.

The control was somewhat awkward, but it had worked.

Slightly excited, Zu Hao condensed his telekinesis into a fist and struck at a weathered brown rock beside him, about half a man's height tall.

"Bang!"

With a dull thud, the rock instantly shattered.

The power is there, but the precision and intensity of control still need practice.

Zu Hao assessed it calmly.

He focused again, concentrating his mind to the limit. He compressed the scattered telekinetic force, then compressed it further, until his brow began to throb faintly. Then he abruptly released it forward!

An invisible shockwave shot out.

"Boom!"

The sand was instantly torn open, sending sand and stones flying as a small sandstorm rose.

The power of the telekinetic blast is fairly decent.

Zu Hao nodded.

Next, he tried spreading his telekinesis out like a woven transparent cocoon, wrapping it around his entire body.

A barely perceptible energy field formed around him. Though thin, it gave him a strange sense of security.

A playful impulse suddenly seized him. Imitating a certain anime character, he shouted, "Almighty Push!"

At the same time, he threw both hands outward!

A stronger wave of telekinesis violently expanded from him in all directions, instantly blasting away the surrounding sand and soil and creating a pit several meters wide and roughly three feet deep!

It isn't as powerful as a directional shockwave, but it can defend against attacks from every angle.

Zu Hao panted, his temples throbbing slightly.

But caught up in his excitement, he paid it no mind.

His gaze swept over the endless sand and scattered rocks around him, and a bolder idea surfaced.

He pushed his telekinesis to its limit, casting it out like a net over a broad expanse of sand.

Thought followed intent!

The yellow sand beneath his feet seemed to come alive, churning violently, gathering, and taking shape!

In the blink of an eye, a massive sand dragon more than ten meters long appeared out of nowhere. Its body was thick and rough, its details somewhat vague, yet it looked incomparably ferocious. It coiled before Zu Hao, sand constantly slipping from its body only to be replenished and maintained by invisible force.

"Go!"

Zu Hao pointed with his mind, veins faintly bulging at his temples.

The sand dragon roared forward. The air churned violently, producing a howl like a dragon's roar as it slammed into a rock more than twice the height of a man not far away.

"BOOM!!!"

The massive rock was struck head-on like it had been hit by a battering ram. It instantly split apart and disintegrated, countless fragments scattering in every direction as dust shot into the sky and blanketed a wide area.

"Not bad!"

Zu Hao was stunned by the destructive power of his telekinesis.

This was only its initial grasp and crude application. If it could be developed further, its potential would be immeasurable.

"No wonder it's such an almost universally useful ability!"

He let out a satisfied breath.

However, a wave of dizziness immediately followed. Heat surged through his nose, and when he reached up to touch it, his fingertips came away bright red.

I got a nosebleed... Looks like telekinesis puts quite a burden on both mental strength and the body. It's also a form of self-harm, so it isn't covered by the system's reversal. I can't abuse it without restraint.

Zu Hao wiped away the blood and muttered inwardly.

Then he took two pieces of candy from his personal space and stuffed them into his mouth to replenish his energy. He also took out a bottle of mineral water and gulped down several large mouthfuls, easing the discomfort slightly.

Though his personal space was limited, the various survival supplies stored within were enough to last him several months.

According to the system rules, as long as he survived in this world for twenty-four hours, he could safely return to the transmigration transit station. For the time being, he did not need to worry about supplies.