Read Rise Of The Worm Sovereign Chapter 11 - Explosion? online for free - AllNovelFull
~Ding~
COMMAND ACCEPTED: Upgrading Host's cultivation
Lin Wu's vision went black, and he awakened after some time. He was once again feeling heavy and felt as if something extra was placed on him. He had already experienced this before thus knew that it was just the system taking its time. He kept on lying on the ground and waited for the notification to arrive.
~Ding~
NOTIFICATION: Upgrade process complete, please check the relevant window.
'Finally.' Lin Wu inwardly spoke.
"Host Data." Lin Wu commanded.
~Ding~
——————————————————————————————————
HOST NAME: Lin Wu
AGE: 1 month, 3 days
LIFESPAN: 2 months
HOST SPECIES: Common Mud Worm (enhanced) [Adult]
HOST CULTIVATION: Fifth stage of the Body tempering Realm
-Vital energy required to upgrade = [000/600] units
QI STORAGE: Unavailable [Insufficient cultivation]
BLOODLINE: None
CULTIVATION TECHNIQUES: None
QI SKILLS: None
INVENTORY: Empty
BEAST CORE: Not formed
VITAL ENERGY STORAGE: 102 units
SYSTEM ENERGY STORAGE: 20 units
RAW BLOODLINE DATA COLLECTED:
1. Common Grass Mouse
2. Rock Trampler Boar
—————————————————————————————————
Lin Wu checked the entire window and saw that everything was as he expected it would be. He had successfully entered the Fifth stage of the Body tempering Realm.
"Only three more to go and I can become a cultivator." Lin WU said to himself.
'I don't have much time left anyway, there are only 27 days left before my lifespan would end.' Lin Wu reminded himself.
There was a big challenge in front of him now. Lin Wu now needed to eat the corpse of the man in front of him. While the corpse had started decaying and was releasing a foul stench, that smell was actually appetizing to Lin Wu. He hated that he likeed it so much, but knew that he couldn't do much.
"It's just this body's physiology. I gotta eat it or I may not survive." Lin Wu spoke to himself.
He crawled up to the dead man's arm and took a bite. He could straight away feel the difference in his strength. His bite force had increased again, and he could even move faster than before. Just one bite and he had already cut through the skin.
Lin Wu felt the savory taste of human flesh spreading in his mouth. It felt delicious to him on a physical level and revolting mentally. He didn't know of his psychological state and didn't want to know either. He just kept eating till he realized that he had eaten the entire arm of the dead man. Right now, only bones were left behind. All the muscles, veins, and tendons had been eaten clean off.
"That… was rather… Delicious!" Lin Wu exclaimed as he felt the energy stir within his body.
The flesh of the man seemed to have a different quality than that of the Rock Trampler Boar.
"Why is there such a large difference in the qualities? Is it because the other was a boar and had a lower cultivation?" Lin Wu wondered to himself.
He now wanted to see the difference between the energy obtained from the human's flesh and the boar's flesh. He had decided that if he got little energy from the flesh, he would just abandon it and only eat beasts in the future. While the human flesh tasted better to him, it still irked him on the moral level. Being a former human just interfered in his thought process and conflicted with his body's desires.
"Host Data." Lin Wu commanded.
~Ding~
——————————————————————————————————
HOST NAME: Lin Wu
AGE: 1 month, 3 days
LIFESPAN: 2 months
HOST SPECIES: Common Mud Worm (enhanced) [Adult]
HOST CULTIVATION: Fifth stage of the Body tempering Realm
-Vital energy required to upgrade = [000/600] units
QI STORAGE: Unavailable [Insufficient cultivation](expand)
BLOODLINE: None
CULTIVATION TECHNIQUES: None
QI SKILLS: None
INVENTORY: Empty
BEAST CORE: Not formed
VITAL ENERGY STORAGE: 178 units
SYSTEM ENERGY STORAGE: 20 units
RAW BLOODLINE DATA COLLECTED:
1. Common Grass Mouse
2. Rock Trampler Boar
—————————————————————————————————
'Huh? It's actually lower than the boar. Then why does it feel like I have more energy within me?' Lin Wu wondered.
"System, what's the difference that I feel right now? Why is the energy increase in Vital energy storage so less, yet I feel as if I have more energy?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
ANSWER: The extra energy the host is feeling is Spirit Qi and not Vital energy. The host cannot utilize it yet, thus it is hidden. If the host wants to check it, he can expand the Qi storage section.
——————————————————————————————--——
Lin Wu looked up and saw that he had actually missed something. There was an extra term added at the Qi storage section, it said expand.
"Expand." He commanded.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
QI STORAGE: Unavailable [Insufficient cultivation]
- Reserved Spirit Qi: 156 units [wisps]
—————————————————————————————————
"Wha-what? I have reserve spirit qi?" Lin Wu spoke out loud with surprise, even though no sound actually came out of his mouth.
"System, didn't you say that I can only use spirit qi after becoming a cultivator? Why is it here then? And also why is the unit different?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
ANSWER: Normally the host would not have been able to absorb the spirit qi, but because of the presence of the system it can still be stored. Though it cannot be utilized by the host or the system until the host reaches the Qi refining realm.
The specific type of unit used to denote the quantity for spirit qi here is wisp. There are other qualities of spirit qi thus they will have different subunits.
—————————————————————————————————
Lin Wu felt a little strange after reading the answer but then got over it as it was just advantageous to him, anyway.
'Wait, if the man was killed by the Rock Trampler Boar, shouldn't it have cultivation too? Perhaps I absorbed spirit qi from it too.' Lin Wu thought.
"System, how much spirit qi did I obtain from the Rock Trampler Boar and the human corpse?" Lin WU questioned.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
ANSWER: The host obtained 23 units [wisps] of spirit qi from the Rock Trampler Boar and 133 units [wisps] from the human corpse till now.
—————————————————————————————————
"That's a pretty large quantity. Eating the entire corpse should give me plenty of spirit qi, even though I can't use it right now." Lin Wu muttered.
He then returned to his task and started to eat the corpse. He kept on eating when only the bones were left. In a surprise to him, the most delicious part for him was the brain. He also felt the most amount of energy being absorbed when he ate the brain, thus discovered that it was the best part.
Lin Wu got over his revulsion of the human corpse pretty fast considering his previous condition. He did not even question it when he actually started to like it and just kept on eating. He was lost in the euphoria of the energy flowing in his body and only regained his focus when there was nothing but bones left to eat.
"Host Data"
~Ding~
——————————————————————————————————
HOST NAME: Lin Wu
AGE: 1 month, 3 days
LIFESPAN: 2 months
HOST SPECIES: Common Mud Worm (enhanced) [Adult]
HOST CULTIVATION: Fifth stage of the Body tempering Realm
-Vital energy required to upgrade = [000/600] units
QI STORAGE: Unavailable [Insufficient cultivation]
- Reserved Spirit Qi: 953 units [wisps]
BLOODLINE: None
CULTIVATION TECHNIQUES: None
QI SKILLS: None
INVENTORY: Empty
BEAST CORE: Not formed
VITAL ENERGY STORAGE: 591 units
SYSTEM ENERGY STORAGE: 20 units
RAW BLOODLINE DATA COLLECTED:
1. Common Grass Mouse
2. Rock Trampler Boar
3. Human
—————————————————————————————————
"Chickie Nuggies! That's a lot of spirit qi. If it's this easy getting it then cultivation is simple." Lin Wu exclaimed.
If any other cultivator were to see what Lin Wu had just accomplished, they would die with envy. The speed at which he had obtained the spirit qi was simply incomprehensible. It could only be termed as unnatural. The system's influence was much stronger than he had thought.
Lin Wu's attention was then pulled to the Vital energy and the single word that was added under the raw bloodline data. He had expected for a new entry to be added to the list after eating, but now that he saw the word 'Human' under it, he just felt strange. It was as if a strange sense of nostalgia had washed over him.
~Sigh~
Lin Wu sighed and pushed those thoughts aside. Now that he had become a worm, getting rid of his thoughts was becoming more and more necessary for him. He knew that if he didn't do that, he would probably get depressed soon. His mind soon returned to the data and his heart jumped in frustration.
"So close! Damn, I just needed 9 more units and I would have been able to upgrade to the next stage directly." Lin Wu said to himself with a little self-pity.
~Kaboom~
Suddenly Lin Wu heard the sound of a loud explosion.
"What the hell! Chickie nuggies, what was that?" He Exclaimed.
Then at that moment, he got a notification.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
WARNING: Detecting high energy explosions
ISSUING EMERGENCY QUEST: Escape the radius of the explosion
REWARD: Survival
FAILURE: Death
—————————————————————————————————
Lin Wu only had one thought in his mind right now.
"F*ck"
With not even a hint of hesitation, he started crawling as fast as he could. He turned to the direction that was opposite to the location of the explosion and started moving. Due to the fear and urgency of the moment, he was acting clumsily and was tumbling.
"Chickie nuggies! I'm a worm, why am I crawling on the ground when I can just dig deep." Lin Wu scolded himself.
He turned his direction of the ground and started digging. His increase in strength showed its effect now. He disappeared in a second and went inside the ground. It was as if the soil had become water, for Lin Wu kept on moving through it while singing a song to keep himself focus.
"Dig A Tunnel Dig Dig A Tunnel
Dig A Tunnel Dig Dig A Tunnel
Dig A Tunnel Dig Dig A Tunnel
Quick before the explosions comes"
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Lin Wu kept on digging and felt the vibrations traveling through the ground. They were getting stronger by the second and were now actually starting to hurt him. The ground would shake and the small stones and pebbles would rub against his skin, injuring him.
While this did feel painful to him, he paid it no attention and fully focused on digging. Five minutes later the vibrations had stopped and Lin Wu had dug pretty far deep into the ground. He stopped once he could not feel any vibrations.
"Am I far enough now?" Lin Wu questioned himself while breathing heavily.
Evidently digging vigorously like this had taken a little out of him, and he was now feeling fatigued. Still, the fatigue was only temporary as a strange warmth replaced it soon and he felt comfortable. Lin Wu could not tell what it was and only knew that it was good for him.
"System, what is this warm feeling that I'm having?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
———————————————————--————————————
ANSWER: The host's body is producing vital energy, and it is being assimilated by the host. This is how a normal beast cultivates. They consume sustenance and then do intense physical activity, this activates their body's natural ability and produces vital energy.
—————————————————————————————————
"Oh, so this is how I'm supposed to cultivate normally. But since I have the system, I don't need to worry and just kill some beasts." Lin Wu said to himself.
Since Lin Wu had reached a far enough distance from the explosion, he just waited and expanded the area around him. Making a small hole like structure. He was now just waiting for the quest completion notification to come in. Once it appeared, it would tell him that it was safe to go back up.
In a surprise to him, it took over two hours before the notification appeared.
~Ding~
————————————————————————————————
QUEST COMPLETED: Escape the radius of the explosion
REWARD OBTAINED: Survival
—————————————————————————————————
'Why did it take so long for the quest notification to come in? What happened up there?' Lin Wu wondered.
"System, what happened up there?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
ANSWER: The host needs to update the map. After the update, the newly changed terrain would be displayed.
—————————————————————————————————
"Newly changed terrain? What!" Lin Wu exclaimed.
"System, update the map, and display it for me." Lin Wu ordered.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
Notification: 5 system energy units will be used, does the host grant the permission?
—————————————————————————————————
"Yes, permission granted." Lin Wu replied.
Lin Wu was no longer as worried about the energy points as he now knew how to obtain them. He also had plenty of them for now, so it didn't matter to him as much.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
NOTIFICATION: The map has been updated, displaying now.
—————————————————————————————————
The first thing Lin Wu saw that the map had improved a lot than before. It only used to show two markers before the position of Lin Wu himself and whatever else he marked. But now it was actually showing the terrain itself. There were trees, ground, rocks, and other things shown.
Though the most shocking thing to him was that the trees were not where they should be and the ground was charred black. If he focused a bit, he could even see the contours on the ground making him realize that the ground had moved around due to some kind of force.
"What kind of explosion was that? The trees are all uprooted, and the ground is as black as coal." Lin Wu wondered out loud.
'I guess, I'll just need to go up to see it myself.' Lin Wu thought.
He was just about to turn back and return when he noticed something on his body. He saw the small wounds that had been formed on his body due to the vibrations and tremors. He didn't know if the wounds would get aggravated or not if he dug up again.
Just as he was thinking this, another notification popped up.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
NOTIFICATION: Asking for permission to activate host's regenerative ability.
—————————————————————————————————
"Regenerative ability? System, do I have a regenerative ability? Is it because of you?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
ANSWER: The host's species has a natural regenerative ability. This ability can even help the host regenerate his body up to a total of 40% of the host's body mass. The system can also utilize energy to accelerate this process.
—————————————————————————————————
"Oh yes! I'm a worm now. Many worms have the ability to regenerate their body." Lin Wu remembered the information from his textbooks of previous life.
"Yes, regenerate my wounds, system." Lin Wu replied.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
NOTIFICATION: Healing host's injuries. Please wait for a moment.
—————————————————————————--——————
Lin Wu could instantly feel the effects of the system. His wounds and injuries started itching as they then started to heal at a visible rate. A couple of seconds later, all the wounds that he had received due to the tremors had healed and his body was as good as new.
"This is rather amazing. I can even heal from wounds if I'm injured in a fight." Lin Wu spoke in amazement.
Done with this, Lin Wu started his journey back. Unlike before, it actually took him longer to reach the surface of the ground, as the tunnel he had dug was closed due to the vibrations in the ground. In fact, the soil had actually become a little more compact, which made it a little tougher to dig.
Still, Lin Wu just used his innate worm instincts of digging and eventually reached the surface of the ground. Once he appeared on the ground, he took a quick look around. All he could see was devastation.
There had been an upheaval, and everything seemed to be destroyed. Uprooted trees were lying around, having had most of their leaves burned out if not their trunks as well. In fact, some of the trees were still aflame and were on the verge of collapse.
The large rocks around the area were charred black along with the ground, and cracks had even appeared in them. Making one wonder how strong the explosion was.
"Chickie nuggies! That… was some strong explosion. If I had not dug in the ground, I would have been reduced to ashes by now." Lin Wu thought out loud.
While thinking of this, Lin Wu suddenly realized something, his main quest.
"Wait, if the explosion was this strong then…" He spoke.
"System, Scan the area for beasts." Lin Wu ordered.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
NOTIFICATION: Scanning the radius of 10 kilometers for beast activity.
SCAN COMPLETE: No beasts found. Life signs negative.
———————————————————————————————--—
"F*ck"
Lin Wu had never expected that his quest would just get even more difficult. The explosion had apparently wiped out all the beasts in the surroundings. Even if he could go further than that, it would just take him a long time to reach and would just reduce his lifespan.
He now had less than a month left to complete his quest or he would end up dying.
"What do I do now? With my size, I doubt I can travel much farther in a short amount of time." Lin Wu said with frustration.
But just as he said this, the sound of notification ringed again.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
NOTIFICATION: Extremely high energy resource found, marking on map.
QUEST ISSUED: Obtain the Extremely high energy resource.
WARNING: Area surrounding the resource is volatile, please proceed with caution.
—————————————————————————————————
"Huh? That was… rather, at the opportune moment. Just when I was about to give up too." Lin Wu spoke to himself.
'Let's see its location.' He thought.
"Open map." Lin Wu commanded.
~Ding~
The map window appeared in front of Lin Wu and he started observing it. He was locating the position of the extremely high energy resource that was marked by the system. He wanted to see how far it was and if he could reach there in time.
But when he actually saw it, he was stunned.
"Chickie nuggies! It's right where the explosion happened. Wait, it's not the reason for the explosion, is it?" Lin Wu exclaimed.
'If the system tells that it is dangerous and I have to be careful, then I definitely have to be. It's not like I can ignore the quest either, I have no other choice. All the other beasts will be too far from my location.' Lin Wu concluded.
"AH! Forget it, I'll just do it. If I die, I die." Lin Wu spoke in a helpless tone.
The location of the energy resource was not that far from Lin Wu's position. While it would still take him a day to reach there, it was still better than having to travel outside the radius of the explosion, which would take him weeks if not more.
This way he could at least get a chance at acquiring the energy resource and not dying. Having made up his mind, Lin Wu started his journey towards the quest location.
Unlike before, instead of crawling on the ground, Lin Wu crawled through the ground. His speed was actually faster while traveling underground than crawling on the ground. He would occasionally pop his head out of the ground to look around on the surface.
Though wherever he looked, all he could see was devastation. The explosion had evidently destroyed a good part of the area and it was only looking worse the more he got close to the location of the energy resource. At first, only the top surface of the ground looked blackened and charred. But as he got further, he found that even the lower levels of the ground were charred.
A few hours later he had reached a point where it was getting harder to dig because of the ground hardening due to the heat of the explosion. He actually had to go deeper so that he could keep on digging. The top six inches of soil had become rather hard. While it was not impossible for him to dig through it, it was still faster if he went just a few more inches deeper than that.
Though the biggest problem occurred when he was only a hundred meters from the location of the resource. He found that the soil above him had become extremely hard and he couldn't dig upwards. He thus went back a little bit until he could find a place where he could dig up from.
But then, when he actually found a location such as that, another problem appeared. The surrounding temperature was too hot for him to progress.
"What the hell is going on up there? Why is it still so hot?" Lin Wu wondered.
'Guess I just have to go a little more to the back.' Lin Wu thought.
Thus he went back a hundred more meters and finally resurfaced. But when he saw the sight in front of him, his jaw was left hanging.
"This… This… Not what the hell, this is literally hell!" Lin Wu cursed upon seeing the environment.
The area in front of him was on fire, with there being some lava pools. Evidently, the ground had been heated to a hot enough temperature that the soil, dirt, and rocks had directly melted to form these lava pools.
'What kind of explosion can even do something like this? I've only heard of nuclear explosions doing something similar before.' Lin Wu thought.
"I'll just have to find some other way." Lin Wu spoke to himself in a helpless tone.
'Wait, can the system help me with this? I should try it.' Lin Wu wondered.
"System, can you find me a safe path to the quest target?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
ANSWER: Yes, the system can plot a course for the host to reach the quest location. This process will require system energy.
—————————————————————————————————
"That's fine. System, convert the vital energy into system energy and use it to calculate the route." Lin Wu ordered.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
CONVERTING: Vital energy converted to system energy
PROCESSING: Analyzing parameters to find a suitable route
ERROR: Energy insufficient
CONVERTING: More vital energy converted to system energy
CALCULATING: Please wait patiently.
—————————————————————————————————
"Huh, I guess I gotta wait a little more while. How much energy did it use though?" Lin Wu thought out loud.
"Host Data." Lin Wu commanded.
~Ding~
——————————————————————————————————
HOST NAME: Lin Wu
AGE: 1 month, 4 days
LIFESPAN: 2 months
HOST SPECIES: Common Mud Worm (enhanced) [Adult]
HOST CULTIVATION: Fifth stage of the Body tempering Realm
-Vital energy required to upgrade = [000/600] units
QI STORAGE: Unavailable [Insufficient cultivation]
- Reserved Spirit Qi: 953 units [wisps]
BLOODLINE: None
CULTIVATION TECHNIQUES: None
QI SKILLS: None
INVENTORY: Empty
BEAST CORE: Not formed
VITAL ENERGY STORAGE: 258 units
SYSTEM ENERGY STORAGE: 38 units
RAW BLOODLINE DATA COLLECTED:
1. Common Grass Mouse
2. Rock Trampler Boar
3. Human
—————————————————————————————————
"Chickie nuggies! How did it use up more than 300 units of energy?" Lin Wu exclaimed.
Just as Lin Wu was shocked by this, another notification appeared.
~Ding~
——————————————————————————————————
NOTIFICATION: Optimum course charted, marking on map.
—--————————————————————————————————
After Lin Wu saw the notification, he let out a sigh.
~Sigh~
"At least it was fast this time." Lin Wu muttered to himself.
"Open Map." He commanded.
~Ding~
A new map now appeared in front of Lin Wu. The perspective on the map had now changed, and it was functioning as an overlay display. Lin Wu felt as if he was playing a video game and the map was guiding him to the path he was supposed to go.
The map was now of two types. A smaller map that had an overhead perspective appeared on the top right corner of his vision, and the rest of the map had now instead changed to a navigational perspective. The map showed an arrow pointer on the path he was supposed to take. Similarly, on the mini-map on the top right corner, a long and winging line showed the route that he was supposed to go.
"Amazing! This is just like a video game. Huh, it seems like the stupid system is improving." Lin Wu exclaimed.
Having understood the route, Lin Wu then began his journey. The path was long and winding, with multiple dangers along the way. There were parts where the area was lit up with blazing flames while others that were filled with molten rock and dirt.
There were cracks that had been formed in the ground along with random pieces of rocks and debris scattered on the way. There were some sharp pieces of the rocks scattered along the way as well, which Lin Wu had to dodge. He noticed another thing, the path that he was taking would actively change and adapt according to any changes in the environment.
For example, a piece of rock had broken off and fell into his path. The overlay thus changed and showed him a different route that was safe for him to take. Lin Wu was impressed by the adaptability and was now starting to like it.
'Seems like the energy was not wasted at least. If it's this adaptable, then it should be worth it.' Lin Wu thought.
Lin Wu eventually reached a point where he had to climb an elevated rock. The rock was extended over a large pool of lava, and there did not seem to be any other way than that. The rock was tilted in such a way that, if one reached the very edge of it, the distance was short enough for them to just jump over the lava pool.
While this would be dangerous, it was the only way that the map was showing. Every other time, the map had shown him an alternate route when he was stuck, but this time there didn't seem to be any other choice.
"System, is there really no other way?" Lin Wu questioned with a hopeful tone.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
ANSWER: The lava pool surrounds the quest target completely, thus the host can only take this route.
—————————————————————————————————
~Sigh~
"If you say so." Lin Wu muttered before starting his ascent.
The rock was about ten meters tall and was irregularly shaped, with there being several sharp edges that jutted out of its sides. Lin Wu had to wind around the rock to find a suitable path upwards. Although he was only ten inches long now, it was still difficult for him to climb up such a steep rock.
A couple of hours later, Lin Wu finally reached the top of the rock. Once he reached it, he straightened his body and looked around. Due to the elevation, he finally got a clear sight of his surroundings. He could see the devastation and destruction that had happened.
Lin Wu could also see the far edges of the forest that were still burning and the earth that had gone into a complete upheaval. Since he had traveled underground most of the way and because he couldn't see far because of his height, he didn't actually know the scope of destruction.
Even when he had seen it on the map, it didn't look as harsh as this. The current view was greatly shocking to him.
"Chickie nuggies! What kind of explosion was this, really?" Lin Wu exclaimed as his jaw was left open in shock.
Lin Wu then turned to the location of the energy source and saw that there was nothing there except for an extremely deep crater which led to god knows where. There was also a faint green glow that was arising from the crater, which looked eerie.
Lin Wu then began his descent from the large rock. The top of the rock was tilted at a 45-degree angle, thus it was a little tricky for him to proceed. He had to be careful enough to ensure that he didn't just tumble off the rock and fall into the lava below.
Fortunately, the surface of the rock was rough and uneven, such that he could get a good grip on it and didn't fall. Eventually, he reached the lower part of the slope and was at the very edge. Now Lin Wu had to figure out how to safely cross this part.
There was still a short distance between the edge of the rock and the other side of the lava pool. If Lin Wu were to make any mistake, he would end up becoming ashes.
'Whoa! I gotta be dead careful in crossing this or I'll really become dead.' Lin Wu thought to himself.
Lin Wu carefully looked over the edge of the rock and estimated the distance. He guessed that it was about a foot away from him. His body was just a couple of centimeters short of that, and this meant that he would have to jump over it.
"How does a worm jump?" Lin Wu wondered and tried to imagine it.
Figuring out a method, Lin Wu coiled up at the edge of the rock and aimed towards the other end of the lava pool. Then he gathered strength in his body like a spring and pushed the lower end of his body hard. This caused him to spring forth and shoot in the air.
Lin Wu was sent soaring in the air and was flying over the lava pool. He landed face first on the other end of the pool and made a low thunking sound. But unfortunately, not all of his body was successful in crossing over.
"AHHHHHHHH!" Lin Wu shouted in pain as the lower end of his body touched the lava.
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"BUUUUURRNS! IT BURRRRNNNS!!!" Lin Wu shouted as he writhed in pain on the ground.
The lower end of his body was aflame as it had touched the surface of the lava. While it had not completely been dipped into it, just the surface heat was enough for his body to ignite spontaneously.
"AHHHHHHH!!" He shouted as he rolled around.
A few seconds later he was able to stop the flames from burning him, but the part that was affected was already charred and had turned into black coke. Lin Wu was finally able to stop shouting and crying in pain, as the pain receptors in his body that were in the lower end were completely burned.
Due to this, he was no longer able to feel pain and only felt a numb sensation down there.
"HAA… HAA… HAA…" Lin Wu made imaginary heavy breathing sounds, even though he did not have the same physiology as before.
Evidently, his human habits and instincts were still rather firm in his mind and would come out whenever it was the right moment. After a few minutes, Lin Wu was finally able to calm down and was then able to think about his situation.
"Chickie nuggies! I… I… I was incinerated! What will I do know? I'll die in this injured state." Lin Wu spoke to himself in a strange state of confusion.
While he had physically calmed down, his mind was still not in the right place, thus he was not able to think straight.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
WARNING!: The host's mental status is altered due to physical injury.
NOTIFICATION: Initiating the tranquilizing process
—————————————————————————————————
Lin Wu was not in the right sense of mind, thus did not notice the notification window that had appeared in front of him. This was the first time that he had ever experienced pain of this level in this life. In his past life, the greatest pain that he had experienced was being kicked in the crotch.
While compared to that pain this was nothing, but for his newly acquired worm body, it was still the greatest pain it had felt. The pain had overwhelmed his senses, which had resulted in his current condition. The system had thus taken a precautionary action and had initiated the tranquilizing process.
A few seconds later, Lin Wu became still, and no longer writhed in pain. He laid there unconscious for an unknown amount of time as the clouds over his head passed by and the sun and moon moved. Eventually, his body twitched again as he opened his eyes.
"Huh? Where… where am I?" Lin Wu muttered to himself as he struggled to move.
"Why can't I move? What's happening to me?" Lin Wu spoke in confusion.
He tried to move his head around and was able to do so with great difficulty. With what he could turn to see, he observed that he was on the ground just beside the lava pool. There was no pain in his body anymore, but he still couldn't move it and it was as if it had been paralyzed.
A few minutes later the groggy feeling that Lin Wu was feeling finally passed away and the fog in his mind was cleared. His memories came reusing by and the faint feeling of pain and horror returned too. This only made him twitch again but ineffectively since his body was still paralyzed.
~AAAAH~
Lin Wu groaned and wallowed in his previous misfortune.
'Why did I not think of a better alternative to just jumping over the edge? What was I thinking? Did the stupid system infect me and make me stupid too?' Lin Wu wondered.
Just as Lin Wu thought this, the sound of a notification sounded again.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
NOTIFICATION: Regeneration process complete
NOTIFICATION: Lifting tranquilizing effects
—————————————————————————————————
Lin Wu read the notification and got an idea of what had happened. A few seconds later, he was able to move his body once again. This time he took a close look over his body as he remembered what had happened before. The first thing he checked was the lower end of his body that had been burned.
The last time Lin Wu had seen it, it was completely charred and had been reduced to a mass of black coke. But now that he was looking at it, there was no such thing to be seen. Instead, it looked the same as it was before he had been burned.
There were no scars, and neither were there any marks that would denote the site of injury. Lin Wu marveled at this sight and wondered about the regeneration ability that his body had.
"System, what happened before?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
ANSWER: The host had been severely injured and had third-degree burns on his lower four segments of his body. Over ninety percent of the tissues had been incinerated and no viable tissue was left. In addition to this, the host underwent major mental trauma due to the pain of the injury.
In order to prevent mental damage to the host and to heal the injury, the system took the liberty to put the host in a tranquilized state. During this state, the system used the stored energy to heal and regenerate the host's injury.
—————————————————————————————————
Lin Wu read the system's answer and then understood the entire sequence of events that had happened.
'Wait, four of my segments were incinerated and over 90% of tissue was inviable. Then this means…" Lin Wu muttered to himself and looked around.
A short distance from his body he found a charred black mass of coke lying. It was broken into multiple pieces and looked no different from a piece of charcoal.
"Whoa! So the system really did regenerate an entire part of my body." Lin Wu exclaimed to himself.
'How much energy did it use, though?' Lin Wu wondered to himself.
"System, how much energy was used up in this period?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
ANSWER: Please check the host data window for relevant information.
—————————————————————————————————
"Oh of course, I forgot. Host Data." Lin Wu spoke.
~Ding~
——————————————————————————————————
HOST NAME: Lin Wu
AGE: 1 month, 12 days
LIFESPAN: 2 months
HOST SPECIES: Common Mud Worm (enhanced) [Adult]
HOST CULTIVATION: Fifth stage of the Body tempering Realm
-Vital energy required to upgrade = [000/600] units
QI STORAGE: Unavailable [Insufficient cultivation]
- Reserved Spirit Qi: 953 units [wisps]
BLOODLINE: None
CULTIVATION TECHNIQUES: None
QI SKILLS: None
INVENTORY: Empty
BEAST CORE: Not formed
VITAL ENERGY STORAGE: 12 units
SYSTEM ENERGY STORAGE: 0 units
RAW BLOODLINE DATA COLLECTED:
1. Common Grass Mouse
2. Rock Trampler Boar
3. Human
—————————————————————————————————
Lin Wu was absolutely stunned after seeing the consumption rate.
"My… my… my energy. It's gone… all gone." Lin Wu muttered in shock.
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Lin Wu was feeling appalled at seeing the data window. Not only was most of his stored vital energy was depleted, but when he saw his age he was shocked again.
"Chickie nuggies! Seven days passed by while I was unconscious. Goddammit! This energy source better be worth it or I'll die before I can finish my quest." Lin Wu complained to himself.
~Haah~
'I better get going and not waste any more time. This is already pretty late.' Lin Wu thought.
Having made up his mind, Lin Wu started crawling towards the location of the energy source. The path now was rather straightforward, if not for the upturned ground. Lin Wu had already seen the path from high up, so knew how to proceed. Not to mention, even the system was showing him a straight path when he turned the navigation back on.
"Let's get to it." Lin Wu muttered to himself.
He began his journey back again and reached the edge of the crater after thirty hours.
"Now what do I do?" Lin Wu spoke after seeing the deep and dark crater.
The diameter of the crater was around a hundred meters and its bottom could not be seen as it was hidden in darkness. Though occasionally green glowing light would come from the bottom of it. Even still, it was still difficult for Lin Wu to perceive the depth of the crater.
"How far deep is the quest objective at, system?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
ANSWER: The quest objective is located at approximately 667.93 meters of depth.
—————————————————————————————————
Lin Wu was confused upon seeing the system's answer. He took another look at the crater's size and the back at the system's answer.
"There's no way the crater is that deep. If it was, then the diameter of it would have been at least thirty times as big as this." Lin Wu spoke after thinking for a bit.
"System, why is the crater so deep?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
ANSWER: The crater itself is about 80 meters deep. It's the quest objective that's located deeper.
—————————————————————————————————
"What? Do you mean the quest objective is buried even deeper than that?" Lin Wu asked.
Lin Wu had automatically assumed that the quest objective that was the extremely high quality energy source was located at the base of the crater. Never would he have expected that it was actually even deeper and that he had just made a misinformed assumption.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
ANSWER: The quest objective was indeed supposed to be at the bottom of the Crater, but the impact seems to have broken through some underground caves and has collapsed it further in. This led to the quest objective falling even farther in.
—————————————————————————————————
After hearing the explanation of the system, Lin Wu finally understood the situation.
'There's nothing I can do, anyway. I just gotta keep on going.' Lin Wu thought to himself as he kept on crawling.
He had tried seeing if he could dig in the ground as he would be faster that way, but found out that the ground here was much harder and had even been crystallized in some places due to the intense heat. There was no chance that he would be able to dig through here.
Having no other choice, Lin Wu continued following the system's navigation. While the route down the crater was very straight, Lin Wu still had to be careful to not just stumble and fall in directly. He had already seen the depth of the hole thus knew that if he fell that far in, he would not survive.
But still, since the path was at an incline, Lin Wu reached the bottom of the crater in an hour. Now came the turn for the next challenge. At the very bottom of the crater was a hole that led to the underground caves. The energy source which landed here punched through the ground and went even far inside.
Lin Wu checked the edges of the hole and discovered that they were actually made out of a flat and hard rock. He tapped on it with his body and determined that it was no different than any common rock. He checked the navigation and saw that it was pointing him towards the other end of the hole.
The hole itself was only two meters wide and didn't take much long for him to cross. He reached the other end of the hole and saw that there was a crack that went all the way down from there. The crack was just wide enough that his body could actually fit through comfortably.
'Am I supposed to go through here? I don't like the feel of this. It's too claustrophobic.' Lin Wu thought to himself.
Nevertheless, he steeled his courage and entered the crack. Lin Wu then started descending through the crack to the bottom part of the hole. An entire day passed and he still had not reached the bottom of the hole. He was still traveling through the crack and could see the eerie green glow illuminating the hole.
While the light was very faint and hard to spot when he was outside the crater, Lin Wu was now able to see clearly due to its illumination. Another day passed, and he had finally reached the bottom of the hole.
But another problem presented to him once he was at this point. There was no way for him to proceed any further as the crack ended in a dead drop. The quest objective was still far according to the map, and even the navigation was pointing him straight down.
"Chickie nuggies! Am I supposed to jump down from here? Won't I be splatted into a paste if I fall this far down?" Lin Wu spoke out loud.
"Oi system, are you trying to kill me by making me jump from here?" Lin Wu asked feeling angry.
~Ding~
———————————————————--—————————————
ANSWER: The space below the host is filled with water, thus the host will have no injuries when falling down. The host's mass is also not significantly large that it will get damaged by the surface tension of the water.
—————————————————————————————————
Lin Wu read the answer and knew that he didn't have much of a choice again.
"Here goes nothing." Lin Wu muttered before jumping down.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
~Ahhhhhhh~
Lin Wu kept on shouting as he fell, even though no sound was actually coming out of his mouth. He fell for about a minute and then finally reached the bottom.
~Plop~
A rather disappointing plopping sound was heard as he fell into the water. As soon as he entered the water, he realized that it was cold. Ever since coming to this world and being reborn as a worm, this was the first time Lin Wu had actually felt cold. All he had felt before this was either normal temperatures or extremely hot temperatures.
"Chickie nuggies! If I still had my previous body, my jewels would have fallen off from this cold." Lin Wu complained.
'Now then what do I do?' Lin Wu thought as he looked at the map.
The navigation was pointing him to the depths of the water. He wiggled his body and turned his head towards the bottom. He could see the familiar green glow coming from the depths. The water was clean and clear, thus it was much brighter this time.
Lin Wu could see a vague outline at the very bottom from which the eerie green light was emitting. Just as he was looking at it, he suddenly realized something.
"HOW DO I BREATHE!? Dammit, I'm going to drown." Lin Wu shouted, feeling afraid.
He wiggled in fear and tried to swim. But to his misfortune, his worm body was unable to efficiently swim, or it could also be because of his disturbed state of mind that he was not able to think clearly.
"Dammit, you stupid system, you are clearly trying to kill me." Lin Wu yelled.
Lin Wu kept on struggling to swim and kept on wiggling until eventually, he went still.
'Huh, am I finally dead?' Lin Wu thought.
He opened his eyes and saw that he was still under the water.
"What the hell! How am I breathing?" He said in a shocked tone.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
ANSWER: The host does not have lungs, thus cannot drown in the usual way. The Host's physiology allows him to breathe through his skin, thus as long as the water has a sufficient concentration of oxygen, the host will be able to breathe in it.
—————————————————————————————————
Reading the system's answer made Lin Wu feel dumb. He realized that he had completely forgotten about his physiology and that he was no longer a human. He still was not able to adjust to his new body.
~Phew~
"That takes a huge burden off my mind." Lin Wu muttered and took a 'Breath' of relief.
Lin Wu did a double-take and realized that he felt nearly the same way as he was breathing back in the air. The only difference he perhaps felt was that the efficiency was slightly less. It was as if he had put a thin sheet over his head and was breathing through it. While it was slightly uncomfortable, it was still doable and would not bother him as much.
Putting this situation behind him, Lin Wu's attention was drawn back to his quest objective. He looked at the glowing figure and wondered how he would get to it. His wiggling was a rather inefficient way of swimming and he did little more than just flail around in the same place.
"Chickie nuggies! Is there no way for me to proceed now?" Lin Wu spoke in frustration.
Just as he was doing this, suddenly a thought came to his mind.
"Wait, can I do that…" Lin Wu muttered.
An idea had appeared in Lin Wu's mind, and he didn't know if it would work or not. Still wanting to try it out, he initiated it.
Lin Wu gulped the water from his surroundings into his mouth. He kept on doing this until his body was completely filled and could not handle any more volume of water. If one were to look at Lin Wu now, all they would see is a large bloated worm.
After filling himself up with the water, Lin Wu wiggled with difficulty and oriented his head towards the quest objective and his lower end towards the surface of the water. Once he was in the right position, he forcefully contracted his body.
~Pwesh~
The water that was consumed by him was now shot out of his lower end, and his body was thus propelled forward as a result. Lin Wu traveled about a half a meter distance by this method.
"Whoa! I did not expect it to work. Guess I'll just use this method to travel underwater." Lin Wu spoke to himself.
Having found a method, Lin Wu kept on gulping copious amounts of water and then expelling it. Still, the deeper he went, the harder it was getting for him to travel. The exhaustion from constantly drinking and expelling was tiring him out.
Lin Wu then realized that he had not eaten for more than a week now.
"Dammit, no wonder I'm getting tired. I need to eat something, but it doesn't seem like there's anything here either." Lin Wu said.
'Wait, I think it's better that there's now creature like fishes here, or the most likely thing to happen would be that I would get eaten. After all, fishes eat worms, right? And even if I'm a big worm, this is still a cultivation world; I probably wouldn't survive an encounter of that kind.' Lin Wu thought to himself after a while.
Not being able to think of anything else, Lin Wu decided to ask the system.
"System, is there anything I can eat here to restore my stamina?" He questioned.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
ANSWER: The lake does not have anything that the host can consume at his current level right away. But if the host only wants to restore his stamina, he can do so by using the stored vital energy.
—————————————————————————————————
'Oh, I can do that too? Then let's do it. I'll die anyway if I don't act now.' Lin Wu thought to himself.
"Okay system, use the stored vital energy to restore my stamina." Lin Wu ordered.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
NOTIFICATION: Utilizing 2 units of stored vital energy to restore the host's stamina.
—————————————————————————————————
"Alrighty! I can tolerate that much loss, no problem. Now then onward to the objective." Lin Wu pumped himself up, both figuratively and literally.
~Pwesh~
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
WARNING: Host's stored vital energy at critical levels.
—————————————————————————————————
"Huh? Already." Lin Wu muttered.
He had been swimming non-stop for a long time now and had been using the stored vital energy to replenish his stamina whenever he became tired. Lin Wu then took a look at the map and estimated the distance.
'I'm so close, I should be there soon.' Lin Wu thought.
"Host Data." He ordered.
~Ding~
——————————————————————————————————
HOST NAME: Lin Wu
AGE: 1 month, 18 days
LIFESPAN: 2 months
HOST SPECIES: Common Mud Worm (enhanced) [Adult]
HOST CULTIVATION: Fifth stage of the Body tempering Realm
-Vital energy required to upgrade = [000/600] units
QI STORAGE: Unavailable [Insufficient cultivation]
- Reserved Spirit Qi: 953 units [wisps]
BLOODLINE: None
CULTIVATION TECHNIQUES: None
QI SKILLS: None
INVENTORY: Empty
BEAST CORE: Not formed
VITAL ENERGY STORAGE: 2 units
SYSTEM ENERGY STORAGE: 0 units
RAW BLOODLINE DATA COLLECTED:
1. Common Grass Mouse
2. Rock Trampler Boar
3. Human
—————————————————————————————————
"Oh damn! I gotta make sure the last two units count." Lin Wu spoke to himself.
~Pwesh~
He kept on propelling himself and traveled to the bottom. A few more hours passed by and he was tired again.
"Now I'm really at the edge. Just a little more distance." Lin Wu muttered to himself as he looked at the quest objective.
Even now Lin Wu couldn't clearly see the quest objective due to its green glow. When it didn't glow, it was hidden due to the darkness, and when it did glow it was a blinding glow that obscured its form.
'I guess I'll just use them. I'll fail the quest anyway if I don't and die.' Lin Wu thought to himself.
"System, use the remaining amount of vital energy to replenish my stamina." Lin Wu ordered.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
NOTIFICATION: Utilizing 2 units of stored vital energy to restore the host's stamina.
WARNING!: Vital energy storage depleted.
—————————————————————————————————
"Now it's all or nothing." Lin Wu muttered to himself with determination.
~Pwesh~
Lin Wu kept on propelling and was getting closer to the quest objective. Now he was starting to feel a difference as he got closer. The water was getting warmer. If the water was close to ice-cold before, now it was close to room temperature.
The more Lin Wu got closer, the warmer it got. It eventually reached a point where it was as if he was standing under a summer sun.
"Chickie nuggies! How hot is it going to get?" Lin Wu questioned.
Lin Wu rechecked the map and saw that he was only a few meters away from the quest objective. Building up his will and courage, he pushed ahead, but at this time even his stamina was close to depleted. He pushed ahead a few more times and could no longer propel himself.
Nearly all of Lin Wu's stamina was now depleted.
"Dammit! It's only a meter away." Lin Wu cursed.
He wondered if there was any other method he could use, but realized that all he could do was just wiggle.
"I'll reach it even if it's the last thing I do." Lin Wu said in an undying passion.
It was as if there were imaginary flames burning in his eyes. With this passion, he wiggled.
~Wiggle~
~Wiggle~
~Wiggle~
~Wiggle~
~Wiggle~
~Wiggle~
Lin Mu's wiggling was not as controlled, so there were times when he would move in the wrong direction. But still, he didn't lose hope and kept on reorienting himself.
~Wiggle~
~Wiggle~
~Wiggle~
"Just… Just… right… there…" Lin Wu let out between breaths.
His energy was completely depleted and he could no longer move.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
WARNING!: Host vitals critical. Body temperature exceeding normal levels.
—————————————————————————————————
"I… I… can't…" Lin Wu soundlessly muttered as his eyes closed and he lost consciousness.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
ACTIVATING EMERGENCY PROTOCOLS: The host will be put in a hibernation state.
—————————————————————————————————
Silence filled the area as Lin Wu then laid there floating in the water for an unknown amount of time. His life or death unknown.
Suddenly there was a strange tremor that occurred deep beneath the ground. The tremor spread all around and was even spread in the water. These tremors created waves that moved the water around. Due to these waves and a stroke of luck, Lin Wu's still body swayed.
Another wave hit and he was sent shooting towards the source of the eerie green light. If Lin Wu was awake now and was looking, he would see that the quest objective was a large crystal. It was about two meters tall and half a meter wide.
It had an irregular shape and there seemed to be something trapped within it. It was this thing that was glowing with the eerie green light.
Lin Wu's body kept on getting closer to the crystal and eventually touched it. An invisible wave emanated at that moment and spread around in the underground cave.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
NOTIFICATION: Extremely high energy source detected.
QUEST COMPLETED: Obtain the Extremely high energy resource.
NOTIFICATION: Absorbing energy source.
ERROR: Incompatible energy source.
RECALIBRATING PARAMETERS: Analyzing.
—————————————————————————————————
A dead silence was present in the cave as Lin Wu's body was stuck to the crystal. More time passed and then finally another notification sound was heard, but this time it actually sounded in the real world.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
RECALIBRATION COMPLETE: New parameters obtained.
ACTIVATING COMPUTATIONAL A.I.: Initiating.
ERROR!: Host permission required.
WARNING: Host vitals unstable.
OVERRIDING HOST PERMISSION: Activating computational A.I.
RECONFIGURING HOST: Modifying host cells.
—————————————————————————————————
If someone was to see the phenomenon that was happening right now, they would be shocked. Lin Wu's body was slowly undergoing a strange change. It seemed to be getting flatter and flatter. Finally, it reached the point where it had turned into a liquid form.
Lin Wu now looked more like a black blob and no longer looked like a worm. This black blob slowly spread over the crystal and formed a thin membrane over it. It was spread so thin that it could no longer be seen and it seemed as if the crystal was transparent.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
NOTIFICATION: Host modification complete.
NOTIFICATION: Energy source now compatible.
INITIATING ABSORPTION: Please wait patiently.
—————————————————————————————————
The eerie green glow that was emanating from the crystal had now stopped.
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The crystal was now faintly vibrating. It was almost impossible to see, but if one touched it they would feel it vibrating. Because of these vibrations, the water that was surrounding it was also affected. Waves traveled in the water and spread around in the underground lake.
Ripples appeared on the surface of the lake and evenly spread around. These ripples were uniform and were completely symmetrical. The lake which had been still for an unknown amount of time was now rippling. This process went on for days and days, which soon turned to months.
With each passing day, the crystal would get ever so slightly smaller. Its size would decrease and its uneven shape was also getting changed. An unknown amount of time passed and now the crystal was nothing like before. Its size which was previously over two meters tall had now shrunk to about fifty centimeters.
Its shape now looked more like a long cylinder instead of an uneven crystal. Its sides had also reduced to less than two inches. If one looked at it now, they would think that it was a long crystal rod. This long crystal rod had segmented patterns on its length that went around its circumference.
The substance that was once contained inside the crystal was now no longer there. It had completely vanished, and in its place, a small black pearl was left behind. This black pearl was located at the very center of the rod and had faint green swirls on it.
The green glow that was emitted from the crystal had disappeared for a while. Now that it didn't emit any light, the underground cave and lake were shrouded in darkness, save for what little light came from the top of the roof from the opening that Lin Wu had once entered from.
More time passed, and now the cylindrical crystal rod had changed shape again. It was much more smooth now and had multiple segments appear on it. If one counted the segments, they would find that they numbered fifty. The black pearl with green swirls on it was now glowing.
It would glow after every few intervals, and a strange wave of energy would spread from it. This wave would extend from it and spread out, penetrating through the walls of the cave and arriving on the surface. It would then retreat and increase in its intensity.
Once it reached the crystal rod again it would be absorbed, making the black pearl glow again. This cycle would repeat again and again. Finally, it reached a point where the green glow had become blinding. This glow lit up the entirety of the underground cave and the lake.
The light exited from the opening at the top of the cave and pierced the sky. It was night time right now and the large beam of light exiting from the ground was extremely eye-catching. It looked like a massive green pillar that could be seen for hundreds of kilometers.
A hundred kilometers from the site of the crater there existed a city. It sprawled over the area of five kilometers and was surrounded by walls on all sides. Lights could be seen glowing in the city, coming from the numerous that were lit up. This city was called as the Deer Wood City.
In the middle of the city, the glow of the lights was the brightest. This was the area where the three aristocratic clans of the city were located. There were three huge courtyards which had more courtyards within them.
In each of these large courtyards, there existed a large mansion surrounded by smaller houses and rooms. These were none other than the residences of the three aristocratic clans. Currently, in one of these courtyards a few people were sitting and discussing something.
They were sitting in a large hall and were having tea while they talked. There were about twenty people currently present in the hall. These twenty people could be considered to be the strongest and the most influential people of the Deer wood city. Among these twenty people were the three clan heads of each of the aristocratic clans.
They were taking jovially, yet one could tell that their eyes said something different. It was evident that while they appeared amicable on the surface, inside they were all scheming over each other. They would flatter each other openly while cursing them in their hearts. They seemed to having a certain kind of meeting and were also discussing the matters of the city.
Suddenly the door of the hall opened with a loud sound, and everyone turned to look at it. Some of the people had irritated expression on their faces, evidently because of being interrupted midway while they were speaking. It was clear that these people were not used to being interrupted.
From the doors of the hall appeared an old man that was dressed in the attire of a steward. He walked and came to stand in front of the people. He then cupped his hands in salute and bowed his head.
"Speak! Why have you interrupted us?" The man that was sitting at the very head of the hall spoke.
"Forgive this lowly servant's insolence my lords, but I have very important information to deliver to the clan head Lu." The steward spoke in a respectful tone.
The person who was sitting at the back was apparently the clan head of the Lu clan.
"Speak what you have brought." Lu clan's head spoke.
The steward lifted his head and looked at the people in front of him with deference in his eyes. He took a deep breath before speaking.
"An unusual phenomenon is occurring right now as I speak my lords. A sky-piercing pillar of green light can be witnessed to the north of the city. It seems to be coming from the same place where the explosion had happened last year." The steward informed.
"What? Why are we waiting here then, let us proceed to the courtyard. I'll see this phenomenon myself and see what to make of it." Lu clan head spoke with an authoritative tone.
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The entourage of the twenty people thus walked out to the open courtyard, and there it was for them to see. As eye-catching as it could be, a giant green pillar of light was piercing into the sky. It was located in the north and from what they could estimate, it was about a hundred kilometers from their location.
"There is no doubt, it's coming from the site of the explosion." One of the men from the group spoke.
The steward looked at the Lu clan head, who was staring at the pillar with a serious expression. Similar expressions could be seen on the faces of the rest of the people as well. Some looked to be intrigued, while some looked to be a little confused.
"We've already sent some people to scout it out, clan head. But I need further orders, about what you want to do." The steward spoke.
One of the men that was wearing dark Grey robes turned to the steward and showed a surprised expression.
"What?! You sent people to the forbidden area? What is this Lu clan head, are your people now defying royal orders?" The gray robed man spoke in an accusing manner.
The steward who heard the accusing words felt sweat appear on his back and felt scared.
"My-My lords, it's not as you think. We would never defy a royal order, we only sent them to the border of the forest, so that they could observe better." The steward explained himself.
A pissed expression appeared on Lu clan head's face after he heard the interaction.
"Are you done with your inflaming words, Xiong clan head? Don't try to pull your usual schemes here, this is a serious matter." The Lu clan head spoke in a chiding tone.
"The Lu clan head is right, if anything we need to be united right now. Who knows what's happening in the forbidden area now? After last year's tragedy, we need to be very careful." A man who looked to be younger than all of the people here spoke.
The man who had spoken seemed to be in his late twenties and had a shaved face with well primmed hair that was bound in a nobleman's bun. He was wearing yellow robes that had a crane motif embroidered on its back and was holding a polished wooden fan in one of his hands.
He exuded a calm and reserved aura, which made one think that the man in question was an intellectual gentleman.
Clan head Lu's expression eased upon hearing the young man's words and spoke.
"Young master Shirong is right. If a change has happened in the forbidden area, then we need to do a preliminary investigation and inform the royal family of this right away."
"I am in agreement with clan Head Lu's words. We do not want a repeat of what happened last year, we've lost far too many people in a blind chase." An old man that had a head full of white and wrinkled face spoke.
The man who was called as Young master Shirong had an interested expression on his face as he heard the old man's words. He stroked the fan in his hand's couple of times and thought something.
"Forgive me, my lords, but I'm interested in what happened last year. I came here not too long ago and do not know the details, so I request you to explain what happened." Young master Shirong spoke in a respectful tone.
"Ah, young master Shirong need not be so formal with us. You are our honored guest, you have all rights to ask questions." Xiong clan head spoke in a flattering tone.
"Yes, it is fine. I'll shall explain it then for young master Shirong and any others that have questions about it." Lu clan head spoke.
Some of the other people in the group of twenty nodded. Evidently, not everyone knew what had happened before.
"At the start of last year, as some of you know or would have witnessed, a meteorite had struck the Millennium forest. The impact of the meteorite caused a huge explosion, the force of which caused tremors to spread around for hundreds of kilometers.
At that time, there were some people out in the forest hunting for beasts and some others just doing their tasks or traveling. All of them were instantly killed due to the explosion. Tens of thousands of people witnessed the event and were shocked by it.
Later on, we sent teams of people to investigate it. Some of us were sure that the meteorite would contain magical treasures or resources from the outer worlds. Thus we wanted to obtain it at all costs. But we didn't know that this would become our undoing.
Not only had that meteorite damaged a huge area of the forest, but that very area had also become a zone of death. Flaming ground, molten lava pits and toxic fumes, one problem after the other appeared. While the people who were sent to investigate were able to avoid the flaming grounds and lava pits, they did not know of the toxic fumes as they were invisible and had no smell.
Of the hundred people that went over fifty died just from the toxic fumes. All of them then retreated, and we waited for the fumes to clear. We had thought that it was because of the meteorite and would clear after a few days, but we were wrong, very wrong.
Even though the outer edge of the area had become clear of the toxic fumes, the inner areas were still same. We then formulated a new strategy and gave antidote pills to the people that were investigating. But even then their nightmares only increased as they went deeper.
We had known that there are underground caves under the Millennium forest, but we didn't know the extent of it. Because of the impact, the ground had become too fragile in some places. One could not tell the solid ground from the fragile, thus many people fell to their deaths.
Still, we did have some gains. There were shards of the meteorite scattered all over the area, which some of our people brought back. These shards contained the highly prized meteorite bronze, thus we informed the royal place.
While we could have sent cultivators of the core condensation realm to fly over there, we were now apprehensive and we had a bad feeling. This turned out to be true, as when the royal place sent their cultivators to investigate only half of them returned.
They had sent ten cultivators, of which nine were core condensation realm cultivators and one was a nascent soul realm cultivator. Even the nascent soul realm cultivator died there for some reason, and the others did not tell us why.
The very next day the royal decree was sent, and the area was designated as a forbidden area."
The people's expressions were now complex. But all of them understood the seriousness of the situation.
"Hmm, interesting," Shirong muttered under his breath as his eyes lit up with a strange light and a faint smile appeared on his lips that he hid with his fan.
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