CHAPTER 126: FINAL CHANCE

Chapter 126: Final Chance

.

All of this happened in barely a minute, yet none of those present seemed affected by it.

As soon as the glass walls of the cocoon, which had split, fully retracted, Yun Hao, completely without any clothing, not caring about covering himself, took a step to leave the platform he was standing on, and once he stepped down, he also gave a bow to the figure of the man in front of him.

Although he was Yun She’s firstborn,

Yun Hao did not show any sign of disrespect, behaving exactly as the subordinates would in front of the patriarch.

Seeing the bow, he simply nodded, then spoke with a calm expression, still devoid of any emotion, and a tone that was cold.

"I presume you already know why I am here," he said calmly, yet despite this, his voice seemed to frighten everyone present, even stiffening Yun Hao slightly, who, keeping his head lowered, said:

"Yes, I failed in the task you assigned me, and provoked the awakening of the seed that had been placed there," he said, not attempting to defend himself at all.

It wasn’t the case that he had woken it up intentionally, but the very fact that it had happened was due to his own negligence. If he had paid more attention to what was happening, he could have handled the situation better, avoiding disturbing the being under the mine.

Of course, he had done everything carefully and was certain that none of his men had gone to the place where the seed was placed. After all, he had warned everyone to stay away, and he knew perfectly well that none of them would dare disobey his orders.

Yet the creature had awakened.

It was clear that someone or something had interfered, and thinking of this, a vague image of a young man appeared in his mind.

He had no idea who it was, nor did he remember much of his appearance, since he had only glimpsed him briefly and had no time to confirm who it was as events unfolded, but something told him that this person was connected to all the chaos that had happened there.

He was clearly furious, determined to find this person, but had nothing at hand, so he had no choice but to wait and recover.

The patriarch, hearing his words, did not nod nor disagree as he spoke.

"Due to your negligence, part of our plans have been ruined, and even those people were alerted.

Were it not for the fact that you are of my blood, I would have personally torn you apart and left you to die in agony," he said with an expressionless face, though this time there was a strange glint in his eyes

Hearing these words, everyone felt an invisible pressure fall upon them, suffocating slightly, yet no one dared move even a little, remaining there in silence.

Even Yun Hao felt the pressure, able only to stay there with his head tilted downwards.

The pressure lasted a few seconds, but in the minds of all present, it seemed longer.

Finally, it eased slightly, allowing the three servants to breathe again.

"Since you recognize your mistakes, I will give you the chance to redeem yourself," he said.

At the sound of these words, a glint of joy appeared in Yun Hao’s eyes, and he slightly lifted his head as he said, voice full of expectation:

"Please tell me what I must do, and I-"

But his voice was cut off as a sharp pain struck him suddenly from nowhere.

His body trembled, as he slightly lowered his head, only to see a strange black tentacle piercing through his chest.

He spat blood as he felt the tentacle pulse.

"Although your failure has brought about several problems, it has also had some positive consequences," said the man, still in the same position, except that from his shadow a strange tentacle had emerged, piercing Yun Hao at that very moment.

"It seems that the battle with the seed has revealed a hidden realm within one of the mountains in that area, and from what we could observe of its fluctuations, we have detected the presence of that thing," said the patriarch this time with a serious expression.

As he spoke, Yun Hao, who had been pierced, felt a strange energy invade his entire body, starting from his heart, then flowing furiously through the rest of his body.

As the energy began to spread, a strange change started happening to him.

Various black veins began to appear from the point where the black tentacle had pierced him, then spread throughout his body, covering his hands and feet, reaching even his head.

Yun Hao’s eyes began to take on a dark red hue, while his cultivation base, which was already increasing at a constant pace, suddenly exploded and began to grow at a shocking speed.

He instantly reached the peak of the third stage, but did not stop there; his cultivation base continued to grow uninterrupted, reaching the fourth stage, continuing to rise even further.

Early phase of the fourth stage.

Middle phase of the fourth stage.

Peak of the fourth stage.

In less than ten seconds, he had passed from the third stage to the peak of the fourth stage. Yet even so, the chaotic energy within him was not yet stable, directly pressing toward the fifth stage.

And as this happened, his entire body continued to tremble violently, his chest emitting strong thuds.

He felt a piercing pain throughout his body, while his heart beat so hard and intensely he felt it could explode at any moment.

He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out, leaving him to endure everything in silence.

Early phase of the fifth stage.

Middle phase of the fifth stage.

Peak of the fifth stage.

His strength continued to rise until reaching the peak of the fifth stage, and finally, after almost a minute, it seemed to stabilize, and with it the black tentacle that had pierced him withdrew, returning to the shadow of Yun She, who observed all this without blinking or showing any expression.

Yun Hao’s body, finally freed from the excruciating pain, stopped trembling, and as soon as this happened, he collapsed backward onto the floor with a solid thud. Yet this did not seem to concern the patriarch of the family, who turned and began walking calmly toward the exit.

"Consider this your last chance. Secure that thing at all costs, and this time no mistakes are allowed," his commanding voice echoed through the cave, though his figure had already disappeared from sight.