Read Rise Of The Worm Sovereign Chapter 41 - Food Coma? online for free - AllNovelFull
Lin Wu ate his first bite of the pieces of husk and found them to be rather crunchy now. Although he was not able to directly bite off the pieces from the entire husk, now that it was broken into bite sized pieces, eating them was much easier.
His multiple spike like teeth worked like a grinder, crushing the pieces of the husk into even smaller pieces which were then swallowed with ease.
Just as he finished swallowing down the first morsel, the sound of a notification rang in Lin Wu's mind.
~Ding~
——
SKILL PROFICIENCY: Increased
SKILL: Radiation Manipulation increased to Novice from Basic.
——
"Alright! Finally, it increased. Let's see what's the difference in my radiation perception now." Lin Wu said before eating a few more pieces of the husk.
~Crunch~
~Crunch~
The crunching sounds continued as Lin Wu's teeth continued grinding the pieces of husk while he focused on the skill that had just increased in proficiency.
Lin Wu willed it and the innate skill of Radiation manipulation was activated, making his vision change. An array of colors appeared in his vision unlike the previous black, grey, and blue. This time there were other colors such as red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, violet, and blue visible.
Lin Wu looked down at the broken pieces of the husk and found them to be green in color, unlike the black from before.
'It looks as if I'm watching one of those thermal cameras from my past life.' Lin Wu thought to himself.
He turned his head around and took in the view of his surroundings. The sky above him was dark blue with the white sun being faintly visible behind clouds while they themselves were a shade of Violet. The ground beneath him was green in color and in the distance, some parts of the cooled lava were yellow in color.
Extremely far in the distance to the south, Lin Wu spotted a few red dots that seemed to be stationary and faintly flickered.
"Are those… flames? They're still burning?" Lin Wu spoke as he finished his fifth morsel.
Lin Wu had kept on looking around while eating and had not missed a single bite. He looked back to the pieces of the husk and saw that there were still far too many of them left. He had barely eaten one percent of all fragments till now, and it had taken him five minutes to do too.
~Phew~
"Better increase my pace," Lin Wu said to himself before deactivating the radiation perception.
~Crunch~
~Crunch~
~Crunch~
~Crunch~
~Crunch~
~Crunch~
~Crunch~
The crunching sounds continued as Lin Wu spent nearly eight hours to finish the entirety of the husk. After finishing all of the pieces, he felt bloated for the first time after an incredibly long time.
"Damn, that was a lot." Lin Wu stated as he stroked his bulging belly with his tail.
Lin Wu looked rather strange now with a bulging belly, making it seem as if he was a python that had swallowed an entire bull. Just as he was wondering how long it would take him to digest all of these pieces of husk, the system's notification appeared.
~Ding~
——
NOTIFICATION: Initiate hibernation for faster digestion and assimilation? Yes/No?
——
'Oh, it can do this too? Nice, this will save me time. I can't move much right now either…' Lin Wu thought before giving his reply.
"Yes, initiate hibernation system." Lin Wu answered the system.
~Ding~
——
HIBERNATION: Initiating in 3… 2… 1…
——
And with this Lin Wu's none existent eyelids became heavy, and he fell into a deep sleep. He had now begun to trust the system a bit more and did not worry that anything would happen to him. The entirety of the area was already a zone of death, thus there was nothing that could threaten him.
Although there were dangerous and toxic fumes in the air along with radiation, they caused no harm to Lin Wu, instead becoming a protective feature for him.
Time passed by quickly as Lin Wu's body underwent changes and increased in size. The increase in size this time was rather large, and it did not look like it would stop anytime soon.
An unknown amount of time passed, after which the system's notification sounded again, signaling the end of the process.
~Ding~
——
DIGESTION: Complete
ASSIMILATION: Complete
HIBERNATION: Terminating
——
Lin Wu opened his eyes and found himself at a rather tall height.
"Huh, what? Did I move to a higher area or something?" Lin Wu muttered in confusion before his muddle headed state ended.
He finally realized that he wasn't actually at a high place, but rather it was his eyes that had moved. Lin Wu was currently in a coiled posture, and even then the height of his eyes was at nearly four meters. He looked down and saw his body that was tightly coiled.
"Looks like I grew a lot this time…" He stated.
~Ding~
——
NOTIFICATION: The Host Data has been updated please check it in the relevant window.
——
Seeing the notification, Lin Wu immediately opened the Host Data Window.
~Ding~
——
HOST NAME: Lin Wu
AGE: 2 years, 3 months, 20 days
LIFESPAN: 150 years
HOST SPECIES: Crimson Eyed Emerald Worm
HOST CULTIVATION: Mid stage of the Qi Refining Realm
-Spirit Qi required to upgrade = [0000/3000] units
QI STORAGE: 9628 units [wisps]
BLOODLINE: 1. Crimson Eyed Emerald Worm (System Manufactured)
2. Unknown(2)
CULTIVATION TECHNIQUES: None
QI SKILLS: 1. Qi Amplification (Minor)
INNATE SKILLS: 1. Radiation Manipulation(minor)(Proficiency: Basic- Novice)
2. Cellular Manipulation (lesser) (Proficiency: Novice- Intermediate)
3. Cellular Crystallization (great) (Proficiency: Novice- Intermediate)
INVENTORY: Broken Spear, Broken metal plate, Beast carapace (fragment), Pink Women's underwear, Dagger
BEAST CORE: Not formed
VITAL ENERGY STORAGE: 7350 units
SYSTEM ENERGY STORAGE: 7564 units
RAW BLOODLINE DATA COLLECTED:
1. Common Grass Mouse
2. Rock Trampler Boar
3. Human
4. Unknown (2)
5. Ash Crowned Buck
——
Looking at the updated Host Data window, Lin Wu felt happy. Not only had his unknown bloodline progressed further, but two of his innate skills had also increased in proficiency directly, raising them to the next level that was the Intermediate level.
"Awesome! Looks like obtaining more of the bloodline samples is good for me. Hopefully, it keeps on enhancing my skills."
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Lin Wu was feeling happy after knowing that obtaining and absorbing these crystals or bloodline samples would let him progress his skills as well. He was now looking forward to finding more of them and was excited about it. And just as he was reveling in joy about this, a notification sounded in his head.
~Ding~
——
QUEST UPDATE: Objectives completed 7/8
——
"Alright, just one more to go." Lin Wu said as he then looked at the map window.
Here he noticed that the topography of the map had slightly changed. It was as f he was looking at it from slightly above.
"Huh, why is it a bit different now?" Lin Wu thought out loud and then realized.
"Wait, is it because of my size? How much did I increase in size now?" Lin Wu wondered as he started moving.
Lin Wu had been in a coiled posture all this while and even then his eyes were at the height of about four meters, which was rather tall. He uncoiled himself and found that he had become ten meters long now. His thickness had also increased from before, and now he was about six inches thick.
"Oh boy, I am big now. But this may perhaps be too big. I wonder if I can shrink my size now that my skills have increased in proficiency." Lin Wu stated in an astounded tone.
"System, show me the changes that are there now that my innate skills have increased in proficiency." Lin Wu ordered.
~Ding~
——
Innate skill: Radiation Manipulation
Skill grade: Minor
Proficiency: Novice
Description: The skill Radiation manipulation allows the host to control and manipulate small amounts of radiation. The host can control radioactive particles to influence other objects and items. The host can use it to heat up objects, corrode, and make them decay.
The host can also sense the ambient radiation in the environment and perceive it.
Note: At the host's current Skill grade and proficiency, the host can sufficiently heat some items and has thermal perception. Please upgrade the skill to gain better effects.
Innate Skill: Cellular Manipulation
Skill Grade: Lesser
Proficiency: Intermediate
Description: The host has control over its cells and can make them obey its commands. The host can change them into different parts and organs, allowing him to make them proliferate and replicate them at will. The host can regenerate injuries and heal from wounds.
Note: At the host's current skill grade and proficiency, the host can freely control the size of his body by up to a five fold limit; that is, he can shrink his body by five times and similarly elongate it by five times. While the host can still regenerate his wounds using the system's help, the regeneration done by this skill has no cost, except for the host's own vital energy.
Upon reaching the next stage of the proficiency, the regeneration ability will be unlocked.
Innate skill: Cellular crystallization
Skill grade: Great
Proficiency: Intermediate
Description: The skill cellular crystallization allows the host to change the structure of the host's cells into an inorganic crystalline form. The host can also revert his cells back into the organic form if he chooses to do so. The host's body functions normally in the crystalline form and has increased defense. The host is resistant to external elements such as heat and cold in this form. The host's crystal form is also naturally radioactive and will turn the environment that he lives in radioactive. Reverting to the organic form will return the host's previous capabilities of reproduction. The host's ability to channel spirit qi into the crystalline form is enhanced and will have a stronger effect than his organic form.
Note: At the host's current proficiency, it can do everything that is mentioned in the description. Upgrading the skills grade will result in new abilities being added, and the skill description will be enhanced.
——
Lin Wu was even more happy seeing the changes in the skill descriptions and carefully contemplated on their uses. A few ideas were already popping up in his mind after reading the changes.
"Hmm, I can think about this more after I complete the quest, I'm close to its end, anyway." Lin Wu reckoned.
Having said this, he decided to continue onward.
The eighth and final quest objective was to the very south. It was located far beyond the crater which Lin Wu had emerged from and seemed to be at the farthest distance from his location. It was also the place where he had seen those flicking lights in his thermal vision.
Lin Wu followed the navigation and saw that the path it was showing was rather long and winded instead of the straightforward one that he could take in front of him.
"System, why is the path like this? There doesn't seem to be anything obstructing the way from what I can see." Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
——
ANSWER: There are hidden pools of lava below the surface of the ground. These pools have been hidden because of the cooled layer of the lava on the surface. They are unsafe to traverse on, thus the system decided on this route.
——
After reading the system's reply, Lin Wu did not feel satisfied.
'Doesn't my new physique and higher proficiency in the Cellular Crystallization innate skill make me resistant to heat and cold? I should already be able to cross them with no problems. If I do get find myself in some trouble, I'll simply change the path that I'm taking.' Lin Wu thought.
Having determined that he was not gonna follow the given route, he decided to start moving towards it.
It took Lin Wu nearly an hour before he reached the point where the supposed danger zone started in. It was this location from where the route of the system diverged and took him to a different path circumventing this location.
Just as Lin Wu was about to take the next step, a warning sounded in his head.
~Ding~
——
WARNING!: The host is advised to change his route and not proceed. Doing so may result in bodily injury and possible death.
——
"Oh piped down! My physique should be able to resist it, shouldn't it?" Lin Wu replied but never expected that he would get a response directly.
~Ding~
——
WARNING!: While the host can resist the temperature of lava, this is only if the host is on the surface. If the host were to sink in it, he will be unable to rise back up due to the density of the lava. The host will be able to survive temporarily in the bottom of the lava pool, but after a while, his body will start to break.
SUGGESTION: Change the route and follow the system's navigation.
——
Lin Wu's jaw was left open after reading the system's warning, and he was scared, to say the least.
"Holy! I was potentially close to dying. Good, that I asked the system out loud like this or I may have been sleeping with the lava fishes... if they exist." Lin Wu said with a relieved tone.
He then wisely decided to follow the route given by the system and walked on it. If he would have chosen to cross the dangerous area directly, it would have barely taken him ten minutes to cross it entirely. But now that he was taking the long and winding route suggested by the system, it took Lin Wu two hours instead.
The route given to him by the system had him crossing a large part of the empty terrain. Although it was long, it was still safe and there was nothing that he encountered that could have put him in mortal danger like before.
Two hours later, Lin Wu had arrived at the final quest objective, which was none other than another rock.
"Hmm, is there another one of those crystals in this too?" Lin Wu wondered before getting closer to the rock.
This rock was merely a meter tall and sixty centimeters wide. It seemed like it had been scorched and had some parts that were chipped off.
'Hmm, it does seem like it fell from the sky along with the other meteors, though I wonder how many in total are there.' Lin Wu thought to himself.
Lin Wu looked at the rock for a moment and then at his newly enlarged body.
"Let's see the difference…" Lin Wu muttered.
Lin Wu extended his tail and wrapped it around the rock a couple of times. He then started to squeeze as hard as he could.
~Crack~
No less than two seconds later, a cracking sound was heard as the rock broke. Lin Wu released his hold on the rock and saw it split into a few pieces, revealing the small crystal hidden within. This crystal was the smallest one he had seen till now and was about the size of a palm.
"Oh, it's much smaller than I expected." Lin Wu muttered to himself as he then pushed the crystal into his mouth.
But upon eating it, he was surprised. Unlike before when he had absorbed the crystals using his body, he had tried eating it and when the crystal touched the insides of his mouth, it immediately turned into liquid and was absorbed by his body.
"This is sweet… why is it sweet though? I don't have taste buds in this form?" Lin Wu muttered in confusion.
But soon he forgot about this as his body started assimilating the bloodline from the crystal that he had just eaten. Lin Wu was bracing for something to happen like when he absorbed the crystals before, but nothing happened.
"Huh? That's it?" Lin Wu said in a surprised tone as he checked his body for any changes.
~Ding~
——
QUEST COMPLETED: Scan and obtain the eight marked objects.
REWARD OBTAINED: Updating Data Banks.
——
Lin Wu checked his host data window for anything new but was surprised to see that there were no changes.
'What? Should there be at least some changes?' Lin Wu thought.
"System, why is there no change after absorbing the crystal?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
——
ANSWER: The Bloodline traces in the crystal were not sufficient for the host to have any changes, as the bloodline sample that the host previously obtained was a rather large one. Such a small sample would not be able to help host much and can only be accumulated.
Suggestion: The system suggests that the host can try to find the original beast that the husk came from. According to the updated data banks, the system can assure the host that he will have massive benefits if he kills the beast and consumes it.
——
"What! How am I supposed to hunt the beast when I don't even know where it is? Not to mention that it's much stronger than I am. It will take me a while before I can even be qualified to think of that." Lin Wu said, feeling a bit overwhelmed.
~Ding~
——
QUEST ISSUED: Hunt and consume the original bloodline beast.
QUEST DURATION: Undetermined.
QUEST REWARDS: Bloodline progressing, Skill progression, Cultivation progression.
——
'I guess this is better. I can do it later or whenever I have to chance to complete the quest, at least there is no compulsion.' Lin Wu thought to himself.
His attention went back to the host data window, more accurately towards the stored spirit qi that he had.
"Hmm, I guess it is time to upgrade to the next level." Lin Wu uttered with excitement.
'But I need to find a safer place first. This is at the edge of the devastated zone and perhaps others may come here. I was safe in the central area, but this may be risky.' Lin Wu thought with concern.
He thought for a bit about what would be a safe place, before realizing.
"Oh stupid me, I can just dig down into the ground." Lin Wu muttered in a self-deprecating tone.
He then lowered his head and started digging down into the ground. With his stronger and bigger body, it was much more easy for him to dig as the once hard ground crumbled under his strength. Lin Wu kept on digging for about ten minutes and only stopped after he thought that the current depth was safe enough.
'Now, let's make this place a bit comfy.'
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Right now, the tunnel that Lin Wu had dug was barely the size of his body. This led to him only being able to move either up or down with little place to move sideways.
"Let's try pausing around, I dunno how packed the soil is here. If there are some empty or less dense pockets, it should be easy to make enough room without me needed to push out the soil back out." Lin Wu muttered to himself.
He thus started to push the soil around with his body and was able to expand it to about three times his body's thickness. But after that, he could not do anything even if he tried. The soil had become just too packed to be able to move.
"Guess this is all I can do. Now then, I should try to shrink so that I have even more area…" Lin Wu said before triggering the innate skill of Cellular Manipulation.
As soon as he did it though, he felt a feeling that was kind of similar to suffocation. It was as if he was being squeezed into a tight shirt or something like that.
"Dammit, I didn't expect it to be like this." Lin Wu cursed but did not stop and continued doing it.
Lin Wu reduced his size to about fifty percent less than his original size and stopped, as the suffocating feeling was getting beyond what he could handle.
~Huu~
~Huu~
~Huu~
~Huu~
~Huu~
Lin Wu took labored breaths as he took a bit of rest. He moved around a bit and found it to be much more easier than before.
'This should be enough for now.' Lin Wu thought to himself before pulling out the Host Data Window.
~Ding~
——
HOST NAME: Lin Wu
AGE: 2 years, 3 months, 20 days
LIFESPAN: 150 years
HOST SPECIES: Crimson Eyed Emerald Worm
HOST CULTIVATION: Mid stage of the Qi Refining Realm
-Spirit Qi required to upgrade = [0000/3000] units
QI STORAGE: 9628 units [wisps]
BLOODLINE: 1. Crimson Eyed Emerald Worm (System Manufactured)
2. Unknown(2)
CULTIVATION TECHNIQUES: None
QI SKILLS: 1. Qi Amplification (Minor)
INNATE SKILLS: 1. Radiation Manipulation(minor)(Proficiency: Novice)
2. Cellular Manipulation (lesser) (Proficiency: Intermediate)
3. Cellular Crystallization (great) (Proficiency: Intermediate)
INVENTORY: Broken Spear, Broken metal plate, Beast carapace (fragment), Pink Women's underwear, Dagger
BEAST CORE: Not formed
VITAL ENERGY STORAGE: 7250 units
SYSTEM ENERGY STORAGE: 7542 units
RAW BLOODLINE DATA COLLECTED:
1. Common Grass Mouse
2. Rock Trampler Boar
3. Human
4. Unknown (2)
5. Ash Crowned Buck
——
Lin Wu looked at the Qi storage and saw that he had more than enough spirit qi for the next upgrade, thus he decided to initiate it right away.
"System, upgrade my cultivation to the next stage." Lin Wu ordered.
~Ding~
——
UPGRADE: Consuming 3000 units of spirit qi (wisps) to upgrade the host's cultivation to the late stage of the qi refining realm. Please wait patiently.
——
As soon as the notification sounded, Lin Wu could feel the change in his body happening. He could feel spirit qi appearing out of nowhere and entering his meridians. It kept on being absorbed into them and started saturating them.
Lin Wu started feeling a bit bloated as the process got faster and faster, until when it became a bit painful.
Lin Wu gritted his teeth and held on, waiting for the process to complete. His wait lasted for another ten minutes as the pain only kept on intensifying. At the end, the pain had become as if someone was trying to break his body apart. But this level of pain lasted only a moment before the notification appeared.
~Ding~
——
UPGRADE COMPLETE: Host's cultivation raised to the late stage of the qi refining realm successfully.
NOTIFICATION: Liquid spirit qi has been unlocked.
NOTIFICATION: Host Data has been updated.
——
Lin Wu could feel the spirit qi course through him, and he felt more powerful than ever. He could also feel something different circulating within his meridians. It was like a wisp of spirit qi but more dense.
"Is that the… liquid spirit qi that system talked about?" Lin Wu muttered.
Lin Wu focused within him and could sense the liquid drop of spirit qi respond to his call. But just as he was about to control it, a warning sounded.
~Ding~
——
WARNING!: Host should not deplete the final drop of liquid spirit qi or the host will regress to the previous cultivation stage.
SUGGESTION: The host should refine the spirit qi wisps into the liquefied spirit qi as soon as possible. Doing so will reduce the risk of the host's cultivation regressing.
——
"Dang, that was close! Almost made a big mistake," Lin Wu cursed in relief.
~Phew~
'I better do as the system suggested. Though I should get to know more about the liquid spirit qi first.' Lin Wu thought.
"System, what is liquid spirit qi and how is it different from the wisps?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
——
ANSWER: The liquid spirit qi is a higher refined form of the spirit qi wisps and is about ten times more potent. Liquid spirit qi is the hallmark of a late stage qi refining realm cultivator as it is necessary for a cultivator to refine at least a single drop of it in order to truly enter that stage.
From the late stage of the qi refining realm, the cultivator can only upgrade his cultivation with liquid spirit qi, but the spirit qi wisps can still be utilized for regular use.
The conversion ratio of spirit qi for the host is 1:10, i.e. ten wisps of spirit qi can be converted and refined to one drop of liquid spirit qi. The reverse can be done as well.
——
After reading the system's explanation, Lin Wu was a bit astounded. Before he was thinking that he had a lot of spirit qi, but now that the refinement factor had come in, that very spirit qi became much less than before.
~Sigh~
"Well, seems like I just gotta grit my teeth and bear the costs." Lin Wu said in a helpless tone.
"Alright system, refine and convert all my spirit qi wisps into liquid." Lin Wu ordered with determination.
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After ordering the system to start the process, Lin Wu felt a strange emptiness filling him. It was hard for him to comprehend but it was as if there was a part of him that had disappeared. If he could compare it to anything, he could tell that it was similar to having your head hair shaved off.
But this feeling soon started to fade away. In replacement of it, there was now a feeling of satisfaction similar to how one felt after a good meal. The feeling lasted a few minutes after which it finally ended and Lin Wu could sense the dense spirit qi in his meridians.
No longer were there any wisps in it, but rather only liquid drops of spirit qi in them. Their quantity was much less than before, but the power they exuded was much stronger. Not only did it feel like a quantitative change, but also a qualitative one.
"This feels, good…" Lin Wu muttered as he stretched his body.
He took a look at his body but found it to be the same as before. At least no physical changes could be perceived directly. His body size was the same as before too, but Lin Wu couldn't tell if it was because of him being in a shrunken form.
'Let's take a look at the requirements of the next stage.' Lin Wu thought.
"System, show me the host data." Lin Wu ordered.
~Ding~
——
HOST NAME: Lin Wu
AGE: 2 years, 3 months, 21 days
LIFESPAN: 150 years
HOST SPECIES: Crimson Eyed Emerald Worm
HOST CULTIVATION: Late stage of the Qi Refining Realm
-Spirit Qi required to upgrade = [0000/1500] units (liquid spirit qi)
QI STORAGE: 6628 units [wisps]
BLOODLINE: 1. Crimson Eyed Emerald Worm (System Manufactured)
2. Unknown (2)
CULTIVATION TECHNIQUES: None
QI SKILLS: 1. Qi Amplification (Minor)
INNATE SKILLS: 1. Radiation Manipulation (minor) (Proficiency: Novice)
2. Cellular Manipulation (lesser) (Proficiency: Intermediate)
3. Cellular Crystallization (great) (Proficiency: Intermediate)
INVENTORY: Broken Spear, Broken metal plate, Beast carapace (fragment), Pink Women's underwear, Dagger
BEAST CORE: Not formed
VITAL ENERGY STORAGE: 7250 units
SYSTEM ENERGY STORAGE: 7542 units
RAW BLOODLINE DATA COLLECTED:
1. Common Grass Mouse
2. Rock Trampler Boar
3. Human
4. Unknown (2)
5. Ash Crowned Buck
——
Lin Wu looked at the stored spirit qi and was a bit confused.
"System, was the spirit qi storage not converted to liquid form?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
——
ANSWER: The system converted the host's own spirit qi that was in the form of wisps into the liquid form. The spirit qi stored in the system's storage can be freely converted, thus there was no specific need to do it. If the hosts wants, the system can switch the default unit to liquid spirit qi.
——
"Yeah, that would be good. Make liquid spirit qi the default since I'll be needing that now, anyway." Lin Wu ordered.
~Ding~
——
The default unit for spirit qi has been changed.
Current spirit qi storage: 662.8 units [Liquid Spirit Qi]
——
Lin Wu nodded his head in acknowledgment and took another glance at the requirements for the next stage.
'Hmm, I need a bit more than double the amount I have right now. It'll take a while to get it and the next stage will probably take even longer.' Lin Wu thought.
~Sigh~
"Looks like I have to go back to hunting beasts again. I don't have anything I can do in this region, anyway. It's not like there is anything alive here to hunt." Lin Wu muttered to himself.
Lin Wu started to enlarge himself back to his normal size so that he could leave the underground safe house that he had just made. Unlike the last time, there was no suffocating feeling that Lin Wu had to go through and it felt more like he was removing some tight fighting clothes, like that one pair of skinny jeans he owned in his past life.
~Phew~
"This is so much more comfortable." Lin Wu uttered in pleasure.
He then turned his head up to the tunnel that led him here and started to climb back up. It didn't take him much longer to leave it, as he didn't have to move any dirt. Upon coming out of the hole, Lin Wu took a look around and wondered where he should go next.
'Hmm, the quest tells me to obtain the bloodline samples, but I don't know where more of them could be. As for the second quest, that is even more difficult. Hunting a beast that strong is no joke and will probably require a lot of preparation on my end. And that's IF I find it.' Lin Wu thought to himself.
Just as he was thinking of his next line of action, an alarm sounded.
~ALARM!~
——
WARNING!: Highly dangerous targets approaching the host. The host is suggested to hide.
——
For a second there Lin Wu did not respond as he was frozen in shock. He then started to run while shouting at the system.
"System, how many are there, what are their cultivation levels, and how quickly will they reach here?" Lin Wu hurriedly questioned.
~Ding~
——
ANSWER: There are fifteen human targets coming towards the host's location, their cultivations are varied but the lowest one among them is at the early stage of the core condensation, eighth at the mid stage of the core condensation realm, five at the late stage of the core condensation realm, while the highest is at the peak stage of the core condensation realm.
As for their time of arrival, they will be reaching the host in 60… 59… 57…
——
A window showing a timer was now floating in front of Lin Wu along with the answer that the system had just told him.
"Oh, I'm done… Dammit, not so fast! I gotta think of something, quick. They will definitely capture me or kill me if they see me, I cannot die so fast. I've barely lived in this life for a few months, at least the time that I was actually awake." Lin Wu said with frustration.
Just as Lin Wu was wallowing in fear and desperation, an idea struck his mind. And he gritted his teeth.
"I got no choice, this will either work or I'll just die." Lin Wu said with determination.
And with this idea in his mind, Lin Wu triggered the innate skill of cellular manipulation and started to shrink himself.
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Lin Wu had originally thought of digging down and hiding that way. But after learning from the system before that the Core condensation realm cultivators can use spirit sense to observe things with ease, even things that are hidden inside ground or rocks, he knew that it would be a bad idea.
They would definitely see the hole that would be left behind upon digging and he would also take some time to get to a certain depth. Considering his current size, even if he were to shrink before digging down, it would take up time, which he did not have.
Their speed also seemed to be rather great, and he knew that he had to act quick. There were few reasons why someone like core condensation realm cultivators would be coming to a dangerous area like this, and Lin Wu already knew one of them from the memories of the Half skeleton that he had eaten.
Lin Wu started to shrink at a rapid pace and started to use as much spirit qi as he could at once to speed up the process. It had taken him a while to shrink to half of his full size before, and he didn't have that time right now. The suffocating feeling was still there, and it was even worse than before because of the speed Lin Wu was shrinking at.
"Dammit! Just a bit more, quick, quick!" Lin Wu gritted his teeth in pain.
Finally, he had reached the smallest size that was possible for him right now and that too in less than thirty seconds. But Lin Wu was also at the edge of passing out because of pain and was barely hanging on. He looked at the counter and snapped out of the fainting spell.
25… 24… 23…
The count was going down quick and Lin Wu could even faintly hear the sound of wind tearing from the distance. It was evident that the fifteen core condensation realm cultivators were flying towards him.
'Let's just hope this works or I'm dead…' Lin Wu thought to himself.
He then triggered the innate skill of cellular crystallization along with cellular manipulation and started to change the shape of his body. Right now, Lin Wu was about two meters long and slightly less than two inches thick in diameter.
Lin Wu inserted the end of his tail into the ground and was now changing the segments of his body to change to become slightly elongated form from the previous circular one. The segments were created that way so that Lin Wu was able to move around flexibly, but now he was doing something that would result in an opposite action.
Small protrusions arose from the joints of his segments, and they interlocked with each other. This led to his body becoming stiff like a rod. His body became erect, as if it were a flagpole that was planted into the ground.
The timer window was now flashing red, and the numbers had reached the final two digits.
10… 9… 8…
"Just a bit more…" Lin Wu thought with pain.
Lin Wu had done some extensive modifications to his body, which would have been impossible if it were not for the upgrades to the proficiency levels of the innate skills brought about by the consumption of the bloodline samples.
Lin Wu now focused on the final part of his body that was the head. He started to elongate it while narrowing its width. He then extended two sharp spikes from the base of his head that were exactly at the opposite sides.
His head kept on becoming narrower until it started to look like a spear blade. And just the second that Lin Wu did this, the timer came to an end.
3… 2… 1… 0
WARNING!: Dangerous targets in sight.
The final warning resounded in Lin Wu's mind as he reeled from the pain. Although he had completed the process he had started, the danger was not over yet. His survival now depended on whether his disguise was good enough or not.
~Phew~
The sound of a sharp wind blowing came from behind Lin Wu as he looked in that direction. He could see the fifteen silhouettes that had appeared on the horizon. They were all dressed in robes that looked luxurious and pristine.
'They don't seem to be from the Royal court of the Ling Kingdom, their clothes are different from those in the memory. Who are they then? Some other organization or perhaps just a group of locals?' Lin Wu wondered.
Lin Wu saw one of the cultivators pointing towards him and speaking to the man that was in the front. The man seemed to have agreed to whatever he had said and approached him. Finally, the entourage of the fifteen cultivators came to land in front of Lin Wu in his modified form.
"Young master Shirong look!" The man who had pointed at Lin Wu before spoke.
"Oh? Bei Wen you were right, seems like a treasure alright." The man who was addressed as Shirong replied.
The man was about to walk forward when another one of the men suddenly shouted.
"Young master Shirong wait! It is not safe. We do not know if it is dangerous or not." The man warned.
Upon listening to the man's warning, the person called Shirong stopped in his tracks.
"Hmm, you are right. This is a forbidden area, we should be a bit more cautious who knows what dangers are hiding where." Young master Shirong said, "Ye Dai, you go and check that spear." He ordered.
"As you command, young master!" The man named Ye Dai said while tapping his chest with his fist.
He then went forward and scanned Lin Wu with his spirit sense.
~Ding~
——
WARNING!: The host is being probed by a hostile spirit sense... masking spirit qi fluctuation as defensive measures. The host will not be able to utilize spirit qi in this state.
——
'What? There's a feature like this too?' Lin Wu said internally.
"Whoa, cold!" Lin Wu yelped in his mind as he felt the cold fingers of the man suddenly being wrapped around his body.
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Ye Dai was confused upon trying to check the strange spear that they had just found. His spirit sense could not penetrate it and it was as if there was an impenetrable wall of steel in front of him. He had never encountered anything like this before, but knew that there were certain things that could do this.
But the things that could do this were way beyond his capabilities. They were treasures and materials that were intended for higher level cultivators. Ye Dai even had the fortune of observing a peak tier spirit weapon once before. But he was able to scan even that with his spirit sense, which only made this a bigger enigma for him.
Still, he did not want to say anything to the young master before he knew for sure what it was. Thus he decided to continue onward and touch the unique looking spear. He extended his hand and wrapped his fingers around the shaft of the spear.
As soon as he touched it, an image appeared in his mind for a moment. The image was blurry and was as if it was hidden behind a fog. He couldn't tell what kind of creature it was, but knew that it was huge. So huge that he himself seemed to be the size of an ant.
Crimson red eyes that had a purplish outline gazed from behind that fog and looked at Ye Dai. For a moment there, absolute terror filled his being and cold sweat appeared on his back. But in the very next instant, everything disappeared, and it was as if he had imagined everything, but Ye Dai knew it was not so.
'What was that? That… creature… it scared my bloodline?' Ye Dai thought.
Ye Dai was not ordered to check the spear just randomly by Young Master Shirong, rather it was because of his unique investigational skills that he had. These skills were only complemented by the bloodline that he had assimilated.
Ye Dai had assimilated the bloodline of a spirit beast called as the truth sniffer shrew. While this beast did not have a strong offensive ability, its bloodline ability was rather useful. The bloodline ability that the truth sniffer shrew had was able to sense and detect threats along with being able to appraise items.
This was the reason why Young Master Shirong had chosen him. Though this did not mean Ye Dai was weak. No, rather he was one of the stronger cultivators in this group being at the late stage of the Core condensation realm just below Young Master Shirong himself.
'This is certainly no common spear. I cannot tell the origin of its craftsmanship… it's as if it was made from a single piece of emerald gem. This crystalline green body, it is completely in a single piece there are no additional parts or components.' Ye Dai analyzed.
Ye Dai's change in expression was noticed by the others and some of them got a little tense. They wondered what he had found out and were expectant. In their gazes, what was in front of him was obviously a treasure, but they did not know if there was danger hiding in it.
"What's the problem Ye Dai?" Young Master Shirong asked.
Ye Dai had a complex expression on his face as he heard Young Master Shoring's words.
"I do not know yet, please wait a little bit." Ye Dai replied in a serious tone.
Young Master Shirong saw the look on Ye Dai's face and his tone of voice, which made him apprehensive. Shirong knew of Ye Dai's abilities, and this was the very reason he had included him in the party. It had taken him a long time to get an approval for an expedition like this, and he wanted to be sure that he had the right kind of people with him.
Shirong did not want to have any unfortunate incidents, thus ensured that the team had people who could handle most if not all situations. He chose his companions such that his team was balanced in all aspects such as offense, defense, and reconnaissance.
For expeditions, one of the most important aspects was to have investigational and intelligence abilities. For this very reason, he had chosen Ye Dai and trusted in him.
Having grasped the shaft of the green crystal spear, Ye Dai tried lifting it only to find it stuck in the ground. He put his other hand on it and pulled it up, but upon doing so there was no result.
"What?! Is it attached to something in the ground?" Ye Dai wondered as he then scanned the ground with his spirit sense, only to find out that the spear was not attached to anything and was simply stuck there.
Ye Dai poured spirit qi into his arms and amplified his strength. Then with a grunt, he pulled out the spear.
"Whoa, this… is… Heavy!" Ye Dai said with shock.
While Ye Dai said this, Lin Wu was thinking about something else in his mind.
"No shit sherlock, I compressed my size to this smaller form. Did you really think I would be light?" Lin Wu said in his mind, but did not dare to utter it out loud.
Lin Wu himself actually did not know how much he weighed, as there was nothing that mentioned it in the host data.
"Hmm system, how much do I actually weigh in my full size?" Lin Wu questioned in his mind.
~Ding~
——
ANSWER: The host weighs approximately 2568.21 kilograms.
——
"…"
"Say what?" Lin Wu stuttered.
"The host weighs approximately 2568.21 kilograms." The system repeated.
"…"
"What the hell! I'm nearly as heavy as an elephant!" Lin Wu said with shock.
Lin Wu knew that he was heavy seeing his size, but did not expect for himself to be so heavy. He had thought that he was a few hundred kilograms heavy but had no way to estimate it. Besides, his size had changed multiple times over the past few days and thus his perception was a bit skewed.
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Ye Dai lifted the spear and looked at its design closely, trying to link it with any of the Spirit weapon refiners or refinement techniques. He saw the interlocking protrusions that were evenly placed, the two spikes that were below the spear blade, and the spear blade itself.
Though the feature that caught his eye the most was the two glowing red lights that were present at the base of the spear blade. They were crimson red in color, and he could even see them flicker from time to time.
Ye Dai was quite intrigued by this, as he had never seen something like this before. Yet, he had indeed heard of certain weapon refiners that could do something like this, although he did not know what function these two lights performed.
"An exquisite example of a weapon," Ye Dai praised as he then turned around to face Young Master Shirong.
He went towards him and came to a stop just a short distance from him.
"Is everything fine now?" Shirong questioned.
"Yes, Young Master Shirong. Although I cannot appraise this spear nor can I tell its origin, I can tell this for sure that it is a strong weapon. My spirit sense cannot penetrate it either. The weight of the weapon is very heavy, so much so that I have to use spirit qi to amplify my strength.
I believe that this spear was perhaps made for someone that walked the path of body refinement. Otherwise, the use of such a heavy weapon would deplete and waste a lot of spirit qi of a normal cultivator. Although it's not like a normal cultivator cannot use it, just that they would have to be careful with their reserves." Ye Dai answered as he extended the spear in his hand.
'The start of the expedition is going great. Just a few kilometers in and we've already found a treasure. I was right, those cultivators from the royal court were definitely hiding something and probably obtained a lot of benefits from here.
If this spear was left behind just like a piece of junk, then what kind of treasure were they able to obtain.' Shirong thought deeply.
Shirong was intently looking at the crystal spear and extended his hands to receive it. Although he had already been warned that the spear was heavy, when he actually held it in his hand he found out how exactly heavy it was.
Unlike Ye Dai though, he was able to hold the spear using only one hand.
"Young Master Shirong's strength is impressive!" One of the men spoke in a flattering tone and a few others joined in.
But Shirong paid no attention to it, rather his focus was on the spear itself.
Lin Wu meanwhile was sweating bullets in his mind. He didn't know how long his disguise would work for or whether it was even working. For all he could know, perhaps these people were merely pretending to believe his disguise and were waiting for him to reveal some secrets.
But then suddenly, Lin Wu felt a surge of spirit qi.
"What! What's happening?" Lin Wu exclaimed in his mind.
~Ding~
——
NOTIFICATION: Spirit qi channel detected, Absorb?
——
"Huh? What do you mean system?" Lin Wu questioned in a confused tone.
Although he could also feel the spirit qi, he didn't know where it was coming from. With his control of spirit qi restricted by the system, he couldn't really perceive it properly. Even with his eyes, he could only see the person called Young Master Shirong holding onto him and staring at him intently.
~Ding~
——
ANSWER: The system has detected a spirit qi channel which seems to have been opened by the person currently holding the host. According to the systems analysis, the man called Shirong is trying to brand his mark onto the host as he thinks of the host as a spirit weapon.
——
"…So… my disguise worked? But what do I do now, I'm not a real weapon. Will he find out if he is not able to brand me?" Lin Wu felt perplexed and trouble.
~Ding~
——
SUGGESTION: The system, can establish a two way channel and simulate something that would be similar to a spirit weapon brand.
——
"What are you waiting for then? Do it!" Lin Wu urged.
~Ding~
——
ACTIVATING COMPUTATIONAL A.I.: Analyzing Scenario.
SPIRIT QI CHANNEL: Establishing Link
INTIMATING ABSORPTION: Spirit Qi stores increasing.
——
Upon seeing the notifications, Lin Wu was shocked at first and then excited.
'Wait, I can obtain spirit qi from this guy? Awesome!' Lin Wu rejoiced.
Lin Wu brought up the host data window and watched the changes. His spirit qi stores were going up at a decent pace.
662.8 units
663.5 units
664.9 units
665.7 units
.
.
.
802.1 units
Lin Wu was left staring at the increasing number. The thing that shocked him the most was that this was not even spirit qi wisps that were increasing, but rather liquefied spirit qi, which was ten times as much potent.
Within these few minutes, Lin Wu had absorbed nearly one hundred and fifty units of liquid spirit qi, before the process slowed down and a notification appeared.
~Ding~
——
SPIRIT QI CHANNEL: Link established.
NEW PROGRAM CREATED: Spirit weapon brand simulation.
COMPUTATIONAL A.I.: Shutting down.
——
As soon as the notification appeared, Lin Wu could feel something new in his mind. Even since the system had suppressed his spirit qi, he could use it and his perception was also reduced by a lot. But now, after the brand was simulated, Lin Wu felt as if a unique link was formed between him and the person called Shirong.
Lin Wu realized that he was now able to perceive things using Shirong's spirit sense.
"This is rather… unexpected." Lin Wu stated and in a surprise to him. Shirong said the same thing.
Lin Wu immediately went silent and was scared, thinking he had been found out.
"What's unexpected, Young Master Shirong?" The man named Ye Dai asked.
"This spear… it took nearly a Peak Grade spirit stone's worth of spirit qi in order to be branded." Shirong replied.
All the people in the group suddenly exploded, "WHAT?!"
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The people surrounding Shirong had never heard of any spirit weapon taking such a large amount of spirit qi just in order to get branded. Branding a spirit weapon was the first step in being able to use it and established the authority of the owner on the tool or the weapon.
Without a brand, a spirit tool or weapon could not be used... well it could, but that would be a very crude method and would not bring out the true potential of the weapon or the tool. Depending on the grade of a spirit tool or weapon, it needed different amounts of spirit qi to be branded.
The stronger the weapon, the more amount of spirit qi was needed as the complexity was higher. Most low tier spirit tools and weapons needed about ten wisps of spirit qi to be branded, mid tier took about fifty wisps of spirit qi, high tier took ten drops of liquid spirit qi, and peak tier took about fifty drops of liquid spirit qi.
The requirement for liquid spirit qi alone divided whether a cultivator would be able to use a spirit tool at the high grade or higher as the ones below the late stage of the qi reefing realm would not have any spirit qi that was refined into liquid form.
Even then refinement of spirit qi whips into liquid drops was a difficult process and took a long time. Fifty drops was already a large amount of liquid spirit qi which would take an average cultivator a few days to replenish. Most cultivators only utilized spirit qi wisps and did not use the drops unless it was absolutely necessary.
But this demographic changed greatly once a cultivator stepped into the core condensation realm where they could freely refine liquid spirit qi.
Though the rarity of spirit weapons and tools did not stop here as the intended cultivation realms for them were different. Even if a cultivator was able to brand a spirit weapon did not mean that they would be able to bring about the full potential of it.
Just the spirit qi needed to operate and use a spirit tool or weapon would deplete the stores of a cultivator if they did not keep a close eye on it. Thus, even if a peak stage qi refining realm cultivator was able to get his hands on a peak grade weapon, he would barely be able to use it once before depleting all his or her stores of spirit qi.
The classification of spirit tools and weapons was roughly this:
-Low grade were for qi refining realm and core condensation realm cultivators.
-Mid grade were for core condensation realm and Nascent soul realm cultivators.
-High grade were for Nascent soul realm and Dao Shell realm cultivators.
-Peak grade were for Dao Shell realm and Dao Treading realm cultivators.
This division was not absolute, but was rather a gauge of how efficiently a cultivator would be able to use the spirit tool or weapon. This meant that if a low grade spirit weapon was used by a qi refining realm cultivator, he would be able to use it normally without much strain on his spirit qi stores and dantian. The other grades followed the same pattern.
This meant that the spirit weapons or tools that were in possession of cultivators which were much higher than their capabilities became a Trump card instead, which they could only use in case of emergencies as they would end up depleting a majority of their spirit qi after that.
A peak grade spirit stone could provide a cultivator with about two hundred drops of liquid spirit qi, which was four times the amount needed for a peak grade weapon. Thus it was no wonder that the people here were absolutely shocked by this revelation.
"Young Master Shirong… then that means…" The man named Bei Wen stuttered.
Everyone was looking at him with bated breaths and were waiting for his reply.
"Yes, it may be a… pseudo immortal weapon," Shirong revealed.
~Gulp~
"Ssssss…"
The entire entourage of people gulped in unison as they reeled from the shock. They had never expected to find something so precious here. A pseudo immortal weapon was something that was only owned by the top powers in this world, and their numbers could be counted on two hands. Even the cultivation sects only had six of them in their hands.
Just this single spear was enough to spark another war between the kingdoms and the cultivation sects. The last time a new pseudo immortal weapon appeared in the world was about two hundred years ago, and since then no new pseudo immortal weapon had been created.
Ye Dai's gaze turned serious, and he sent a look to Bei Wen and Young Master Shirong. All three of them nodded in unison before suddenly moving.
"KILL! Don't let them leave!" Shirong shouted as he took out a large sword from his spatial storage treasure.
Bei Wen and Ye Dai did the same, and they took out their respective weapons. In their shock, the rest of the people had not reacted fast enough and four of them had been instantly killed. Among the group, Ye Dai and Bei Wen were among the five late stage core condensation realm cultivators, and they were the strongest after Young Master Shirong himself.
Thus it was easy for them to kill four mid stage core condensation realm cultivators on their own. Shirong meanwhile clashed with the other three late stage Core condensation realm cultivators as he was the only one here who would be able to handle them.
The battle that ensued after that was mostly one sided and could be called as a massacre. Under the strength of Young master Shirong, the three late stage core condensation realm cultivators were quickly killed.
Ye Dai and Bei Wen were also able to kill three more mid stage core condensation realm cultivators, which only left the early stage core condensation realm cultivator and a single late stage core condensation realm cultivator remaining.
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The two remaining men retreated and took a few steps back.
"Young Master Shirong… bu-but why…?" The late stage core condensation realm uttered.
"Young Master Shirong spare me, I will forever be in your debt and will serve you. This information will never be revealed to the others…" The early stage core condensation realm cultivator pleaded.
~Shing~
~Thud~Thud~
A flash of light appeared for a moment before swiftly disappearing, and upon its disappearance, two heads rolled on the ground.
The man called Young Master Shirong walked towards the two decapitate heads and looked at them.
"Humph! As if I don't know what you all were really here for. There's no way the clans would happily send their people on an expedition to a forbidden zone." Shirong uttered with spite as he stepped on the head.
~Crack~
~Splat~
The head that was under his foot that belonged to the late Stage core condensation realm cultivator was exploded like a watermelon. Shirong looked at Ye Dai and Bei Wen, and both of them moved at a rapid speed.
~Step~Step~
~Thud~
"Young Master was correct. They were indeed here to take advantage of use." Ye Dai said as he kneeled on one knee and cupped his hands.
"Young master is wise. He already knew they had bad intentions ever since they agreed to follow us." Bei Wen flattered in the same posture.
Shirong did not speak and simply took a look around, but the two men felt shivers going through their bodies for a second.
'Such strong spirit sense… this is… almost on the level of a nascent soul realm cultivator.' Ye Dai thought in his mind with shock.
'Is he already close to breaking through, perhaps?' Bei Wen thought.
"Hmm, seems like there is no one else here. Looks like the clans were confident in the people they sent and did not bother to send additional people in secret. They would have attacked us by now if they were truly here." Shirong said in a calm tone.
There was not one bit of anxiousness or guilt on his face, as if all the people that he had just killed were mere bugs meant to be squished.
"It is good that Young Master decided to hide our identities and directed us to separate before coming to the Deer Wood city, otherwise our disguise would not have worked." Ye Dai praised.
"Hmm," Shirong hummed in agreement and then spoke, "clean up the place, you know how to make it look."
"As you command, Young Master." Both Ye Dai and Bei Wen replied before getting to work.
They started taking the belongings of all the people that had been killed till now and collected their corpses together. They then took out a small gourd from their spatial treasure and opened its cap, pouring out its contents onto the corpses.
As soon as the liquid touched the corpses, it started to sizzle and pop. Soon the corpses started melting and reducing. About ten minutes later, all the corpses were reduced to a puddle of reddish black slag.
Meanwhile, Lin Wu was freaking out internally.
"F*CK F*CK F*CK F*CK F*CK F*CK F*CK" He uttered incessantly.
Lin Wu was feeling both fear and awe of the massacre that had just happened. This was the first time he was seeing the might of a cultivator with his own two eyes and he was impressed to say the least. But on the other hand, he was reminded of how dangerous this world really was and how ruthless its people could be.
"Dammit, did I make a mistake disguising as a spear, perhaps? What if they find out? They will definitely kill me…" Lin Wu said to himself.
Lin Wu's two crimson red eyes were still open and thus had witnessed everything that had occurred. Because of the way he had made the disguise, he could only keep his eyes open and make them blink occasionally. Otherwise, if he closed his eyes because of fear, his disguise could potentially be discovered.
'What kind of a scheme did I get involved in? Hearing this man's words, it seems like he has been plotting something.' Lin Wu thought.
He then saw how the two men Ye Dai and Bei Wen changed their character and became submissive to Shirong. It was apparent that they had been working for him all along and seemed to have been part of the same scheme. He also saw the dreadful liquid which had melted the pile of corpses into unrecognizable slag.
"Wait, a minute… Am I now the property of a villain from a cultivation novel?" Lin Wu said to himself with shock.
Just as he was reeling from the shock, he felt a shadow appear over his head… or rather the spear blade.
"What?" Lin Wu said dumbly.
Lin Wu saw that the man named Shirong was now staring at him intently and was touching his body all around. From his head to all the way to the end of his tail. Lin Wu inadvertently felt shivers going through his body, but fortunately, it was in the inorganic crystal form or he would have been discovered.
"Impeccable craftsmanship… this is definitely not from this world," Shirong said with assurance.
"Truly Young master? But no traveler that is at the Immortal ascension stage and above has come to the world in recent years. Otherwise, there would have been a great upheaval." Bei Wen asked.
"It is certainly not manufactured here. All the peak tier weapon smiths and spirit tool refiners are accounted for. If they were going to be manufacturing any pseudo immortal tool or weapon, there would certainly be news.
If not for the ones that belong to the sects or other powers, at least the independent ones would have advertised it. I'm sure all the powers would have spared no expense in getting their hands on it." Ye Dai said.
"You two are missing the biggest point… this spear was abandoned here. Those cultivators from the Ling Kingdom's Royal Court definitely passed by here and may have even left it behind after finding it in the center of the area.
We know that they were scared and injured so it is likely that something had chased them down, which led to them abandoning it here." Shirong stated.
"This guy really likes to cook up theories…" Lin Wu muttered awkwardly.
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