Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Four: Escape to Safety

What is this?! Before Chen Bo could even utter a word, his consciousness grew heavy and dim. Darkness washed over his vision, and finally, unable to hold on any longer, he collapsed into unconsciousness.

His body slid from the top of the giant python’s head like a discarded rag doll. The heavily wounded python, seeing that Chen Bo had finally fallen, let out a few excited roars. It lowered its massive head, intending to swallow the ant that had caused it such grievous injury.

Just as its massive fangs were about to pierce through Chen Bo’s body, a white light erupted from him. The python, terrified that this was some hidden trap, scrambled backward; it had developed a genuine fear of Chen Bo.

What followed was a scene the python would never forget for the rest of its life. The white light radiating from Chen Bo grew increasingly intense, eventually illuminating the entire cavern in a blinding, ghostly glow. Even a creature like a snake, with its notoriously poor eyesight, could not help but turn its head away, shielding its eyes from the stinging brilliance.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining System Fragment 1. The system is currently merging the fragment; this is expected to take three days. Please wait patiently for three days."

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the main quest: Find the System Fragment."

"Ding! The host’s completion rate for this main quest is 100%, with a system rating of 60 points. Host, you are truly pathetic; it took you so long to find the fragment, and you nearly died several times."

"Ding! As the host has completed the main quest, the rewards have been issued! The system will undergo a comprehensive upgrade! A 'Monster-Slaying Leveling' function has been added! One mysterious treasure chest granted!"

"Ding! The system’s merging of the fragment constitutes the upgrade. After the upgrade, the Monster-Slaying Leveling function will be enabled. The mysterious treasure chest has been placed into the system storage. During the system upgrade, the host may use the system storage, but all other functions are inaccessible."

"Ding! Upgrade initiated."

In a single second—a mere second—the cavern returned to its original state, and Chen Bo, who had been lying unconscious on the ground, had vanished without a trace. The giant python was dumbfounded. He had been right there a moment ago; how had he disappeared in the blink of an eye?!

Its eyes, wide as large apples, stared fixedly at the spot where Chen Bo had vanished. It crawled over and nudged the ground with its head, but nothing happened, as if Chen Bo had never existed at all. Of course, that would have been true if one ignored the various items Chen Bo had obtained through lucky draws scattered across the cave.

Had the prize it held in its grasp really just vanished so inexplicably? Had the cooked duck really flown away?! The python, bearing the tattered flesh from the sword wounds, wore an expression of tearless misery. If you can’t beat them, you just vanish? That’s just not how you play the game!

Could this be considered losing more than one bargained for? Not only did it fail to eat its prey, but it had also suffered such severe wounds itself.

And those minions! They had just stood there watching the show instead of coming to help their leader. What the hell! They really didn't respect their boss at all!

With nowhere to vent its rage and grievances, the giant python turned its gaze toward the thousands of snakes nearby. Dozens of attractive-looking female snakes crawled out, and soon, strange sounds began to echo through the chamber.

For instance, a rhythmic slapping sound?

Come to think of it, do snakes actually make slapping sounds when doing that sort of thing? It must be an illusion!

If Chen Bo were still on the scene, he would undoubtedly have been terrified out of his wits by this sight: one snake taking on dozens? That was utterly insane! Talk about nerves of steel and a body made of iron!

However, Chen Bo would likely have looked at the python with disdain. This creature was even more shameful than the men of that certain island nation! No, that’s an insult to snakes!

When Chen Bo finally woke up, he discovered he was lying on a very simple wooden bed, yet the room was spotlessly clean, almost to the point of being sterile.

But the question remained: how did he get here? Hadn't he passed out in the cavern? Had he been eaten by the python and ended up in the underworld?

So, this is what the underworld looks like? It’s no different from the mortal realm! Where was the gloomy, eerie atmosphere he had been promised? Wait, no—why is there sunlight in the underworld? Looking at the sun outside the window, Chen Bo finally realized the truth.

Was he not in the underworld, nor in the instance dungeon? Then where was he?

Chen Bo racked his brain, recalling that he had grabbed something hard from the python’s flesh before passing out from his injuries. Could that have been the system fragment?

The system had mentioned that finding the fragment would allow him to leave the dungeon. Had the system pulled him out?

Chen Bo tried to contact the system, but found that it ignored him completely.

At that moment, Chen Bo noticed a progress bar for a system upgrade. Was the system currently upgrading because it had received the fragment? If the system was upgrading, he would just have to wait.

He felt a bit hungry.

Instinctively, Chen Bo reached into his system storage and pulled out a pack of biscuits.

Oh? The system storage was still accessible? It seemed the system was quite considerate after all; not bad, not bad. Chen Bo tried to tear open the packaging, only to find that he was bound by something.

He looked down. What the hell? When did he become a mummy? Chen Bo stared at the layers of bandages wrapped around his body, speechless.

He had a hunch that if he unwrapped the bandages to eat, countless wounds would surely reopen, leading to a secondary injury and another glorious fainting spell.

That was not what Chen Bo wanted, so he put the biscuits away. After all, his life was slightly more important than eating.

Right, the system had previously issued a main quest, and completing it came with rewards. Where were they?

Chen Bo rummaged through his system storage. Fortunately, since he had used many of his items as shields during the battle with the python, the storage was mostly empty, and he quickly spotted something strange.

It was a pitch-black, gold-gilded chest that looked just like the pirate treasure chests from the movies. Could it be full of gold and jewels?

Chen Bo couldn't wait and used his thoughts to open the "mysterious treasure chest." Suddenly, a stream of light appeared, and the chest dissolved into points of light, vanishing almost instantly.

A stack of paper talismans lay quietly in the system storage, and information flooded into Chen Bo’s mind.

"Fireball Talisman x5: Each can launch a single fireball."

"Hydrotherapy Talisman x5: Each can heal one severe injury."

"Wood Puppet Talisman x5: Each can summon a wooden puppet to block one attack, provided it is not an attack from a Xiantian-level expert."

"Vajra Talisman x5: Each can make the user invulnerable to blades and spears, but it is vulnerable to fire."

"Earth Spike Talisman x5: Each can launch an earth spike; very underhanded, killing invisibly."