Perhaps for ordinary people, this would already be a desperate situation.
However, with the system by his side, the system's angel-like voice would always come to his rescue in critical moments.
But he was mistaken. The system's angelic voice never arrived, and the heavy spiked board above was getting closer and closer. The passage had completely sunk into the sulfuric acid layer. By then, the spiked board above would compress the space bit by bit, eventually reducing him to a pile of dry bones in the sulfuric acid.
"Damn it, am I, Ren Yuanhao, with my lifelong reputation, going to turn into dry bones in this black water prison? Oh no, perhaps not even bone dust will be left!"
Just then, Ren Yuanhao suddenly had an epiphany. He thought, since this black water prison had mechanisms for activation, it must also have mechanisms for restoration. As long as he found that thing, he would be able to escape danger!
He ran with all his might, scanning his surroundings. The straight passage seemed to have no end. The sides were entirely made of grey stone walls, with no rooms or turns. It was so long it felt like it connected to hell.
His gaze gradually fell upon the spiked board above. The spiked board was connected to a giant rock formation. It was impossible to break free using his own strength. However, as he observed the spiked board, he noticed some strange holes!
"Damn it, I've got it! Once this mechanism sinks to the very bottom, the sulfuric acid will seep into the holes on the stone slab. As long as the holes sense the sulfuric acid, they will trigger the restoration mechanism, and the entire passage will return to its original state, not because of another mechanism!"
With this thought, Ren Yuanhao's water attribute true qi instantly erupted. His long saber vibrated, and streams of sulfuric acid droplets were guided by the saber directly into the holes!
Ren Yuanhao was already forced to within ten centimeters of the sulfuric acid. If this guess was wrong, he would be doomed to eternal damnation.
However, as Ren Yuanhao thought, it happened. Although these sulfuric acid droplets entered the holes, they did not trigger the 'mechanism' he had imagined!
"It's over. I'm really going to die here, with no remains to be mourned!"
The pungent smell of sulfuric acid surged into his nostrils, making his eyes water and blurring his vision.
"Damn it, should I die a little more manly at this moment?"
Ren Yuanhao clenched his long saber, ready to collide head-on with the giant stone!
"Heh, at least I struggled until my last breath!"
Ren Yuanhao activated the fierce true qi within his body. When his first saber strike hit the giant stone slab, his hand felt numb. The Wuji Blade was supposed to be a very sharp weapon, yet this saber only managed to carve slight cracks into the rock. Furthermore, Ren Yuanhao had infused it with his true qi!
"Heh, it's over. I've imagined countless ways to die, but I never expected to end my life in this manner."
As he was thinking to himself, his heel lightly touched the sulfuric acid. The sole of his shoe immediately corroded into a gelatinous substance emitting black bubbles. If he hadn't reacted a moment sooner, perhaps his heel would have been the first to be corroded by the sulfuric acid.
He thought this, and his back was already drenched in sweat. Death was like a vulture circling overhead, or a dark cloud hanging above. At that moment, he truly smelled the scent of death, a scent that could corrode his brain marrow, his heart, causing them to completely lose function, and finally, seizing his breath, death would arrive.
But, it was said that after death, in the moment of closing one's eyes, one could still feel the changes in their body. Pain would torment the body until the very last second, never relenting. And at that time, the person's mind would flash like a slideshow through everything they had experienced in their life, everything that had moved them, everything that had saddened them, all the moments of struggle, disappointment, and confusion.
Those who could be recorded in such a life scroll's slideshow were actually the most important beings in your life. How could people who merely brushed past in fleeting glimpses be etched into your painting?
"Wait!"
Ren Yuanhao suddenly snapped back to reality, as if miraculously revived!
"Damn it, System Sister said I have seven years of lifespan, meaning I won't die inexplicably in these places. This interpretation is perfectly fine, right!"
Perhaps it was the System Sister's prophecy that spurred him on, or perhaps he saw those irreplaceable figures from the scroll of his life, those precious moments that pulled him back from the brink of death.
At this moment, the spiked board was almost upon him. He suddenly realized a problem – why would such a smooth stone slab have so many holes? If they were just for triggering, wouldn't one or two be enough? As long as they could come into contact with sulfuric acid droplets, that would suffice.
"Could it be that a certain number of holes need to be contacted to stop the spiked board from descending?"
Ren Yuanhao no longer had time to ponder. He immediately swung his long saber wildly, and sulfuric acid surged into the holes like a tide. Ren Yuanhao infused his true qi into the soles of his feet, attaching himself to the wall like an octopus to avoid being impaled by the spiked board and to avoid contact with the highly corrosive sulfuric acid.
After completing this series of actions, he felt like a condemned criminal awaiting judgment, his mind completely blank.
And at this very moment, as if heaven finally decided not to play tricks on him anymore, the spiked board finally stopped after a violent tremor, and then slowly rose!
Listening to the loud rumbling of the stone slab in the chute, Ren Yuanhao felt as if he were hearing celestial music. It was at this moment that he vaguely saw a white light shooting from the end, and an aged voice called out from outside:
"Hey, kid, you're not going to die just like that, are you?"
Ren Yuanhao let out a long sigh of relief, then grinned and replied, "I won't die. I'm as resilient as a cockroach!"
"Hahahaha, those who survive great calamities will have future blessings. Kid, you were right after all. I've brought Dongfang Xu over too."
This person was Fang Moyu, who had left earlier.
Ren Yuanhao had struggled for so long and finally heard some good news. Because he had escaped death, his heart was greatly elated, and he immediately shouted loudly.
"You brat, it's not time to be happy yet. The Sect Master seems to be holding a cremation ceremony. Yasheng, oh no, Liu Furong, and your friends will likely be executed tonight!"
Upon hearing this, Ren Yuanhao immediately ran with all his might. After a minute or two, he finally reached the end and met up with Fang Moyu.
"This is bad. If what the old senior said is true, then it means the plan formulated earlier has failed, and we'll have to face that old fox head-on after all!"