Rise Of The Worm Sovereign

by Srtyi

Lin Wu was a university student that died after having one too many energy drinks and then reincarnated into the body of a worm. He awakens to find out that he now has a system, but even it doesn't have a clear idea of where they are. He comes out of the ground and discoverers that he’s no longer in his previous world but rather in a cultivation world. Witness Lin Wu’s journey as

6. 51

Read Rise Of The Worm Sovereign Chapter 51 - Return To The Crater? online for free - AllNovelFull

The two men Ye Dai and Bei Wen were astounded at Young Master Shirong's intelligence, to say the least. A glimmer of admiration appeared in their eyes as they felt proud of having the chance of serving a man such as him.

'It was truly our fortune that we met Young Master Shirong and that he chose us back then. If not for him, we would have never been able to reach our current cultivation bases.' Ye Dai thought.

'Young master's predictions have always been correct till now, there is no doubt this is what must have happened.' Bei Wen thought.

While Lin Wu could not read the mind of the two men, he was still able to guess what they were thinking from their expressions and the look in their eyes.

'These two are no better either, they are far too deep into being followers.' Lin Wu thought to himself.

Lin Wu could recognize the looks that that these two were giving Shirong. He had seen similar kinds of expression back in his previous life. He had seen plenty of people who were head over heels for other people; whether it be in terms of romantic interest or a more material one.

Shirong meanwhile was feeling a bit elated seeing the admiring looks of his two followers. He even felt proud of himself for selecting these two and recognizing their talent back in his clan.

"Young Master Shirong, what should we do next? While it won't be a problem, having these people killed, we still need a valid reason to present to their clans should they question us." Ye Dai questioned.

"Hmm, that is true. But fear not, we are in a forbidden zone where death is as common as air. We can simply tell them that they succumbed to the myriad of dangers that exist here, and they would not dare to doubt one bit. After all, even if they try to investigate, they would not have much luck.

Besides, I may be able to find a better excuse after investigating this area more. If we learn more about it, not only would we have a chance at fortune, but we will also be able to escape the suspicion of the clans much faster." Shirong answered.

Both Ye Dai and Bei Wen nodded in response, showing that they agreed with his words.

"Now then, let's go in further. I have a hunch that there is much more to this land than is visible." Shirong stated before he withdrew a spirit sword that was smaller than the one he had previously used to kill the people.

The spirit sword floated in front of him and he jumped on it. The spirit sword dipped for a moment due to the weight of the spear that was Lin Wu. Shirong had to adjust himself for a moment there before flying towards the depths of the area.

Ye Dai and Bei Wen also took out their respective spirit swords and followed behind Shirong. From time to time they would gaze at the spear in Young Master Shirong's hands and appreciate it silently. After they had learned of its power and value, they could not even dream of even owning something like that in their entire lives.

After all, even if they obtained it, there was no way they would be able to use it neither would they be able to keep it hidden from the strong powers of this world.

Shirong meanwhile kept on using his spirit sense to observe and analyze the green crystal spear in his hand. Although he had guessed that it was a pseudo immortal tool, he knew that he would not be able to use its full capabilities.

Another thing he was disappointed about was that no matter how much spirit sense he used, he still could not gain any information from the spear. Every spirit weapon had information contained within it that showed its abilities, but for some reason, he could not see it. It was as if an impenetrable barrier was stopping his spirit sense.

"Looks like I'll have to figure it out on the go as I use it. No matter what, a pseudo immortal weapon is still a great trump card." Shirong muttered to himself.

While the three men were flying over the area, Lin Wu was also looking down. While he had seen the area on the map and also directly with his own two eyes, this sky view was completely different. He could see the areas that he had visited and was able to identify them rather easily because of the many boulders and rocks that were present there… though it might have been more because of the map function.

Lin Wu was able to see more clearly how everything looked, and they had now reached the crater that was in the very center of the area. While traveling, Lin Wu had seen the zones that were in the form of concentric circles that extended outward from the central crater.

Each zone seemed to be slightly different, with the closest zone to the crater being made from solidified lava. This zone was black and there were jagged points and edges jutting out of its surface, showing that it had not calmed down fully even after two years.

"Young Master look! That crater, that must be where the meteorite crashed and also where the pillar of light originated from." Bei Wen exclaimed.

"We should be careful Young Master, our defensive talismans are deteriorating fast and although we have more of them, I still want to have some reserved in case of emergencies." Ye Dai warned.

"I know. Let's go check it out and be ready for any danger." Shirong spoke before he flew towards the central crater.

"I would have never thought that I would be returning to this place so quick after escaping it and definitely not at this speed. Damn, are the Core Condensation realm cultivators fast…" Lin Wu muttered in his mind before a chuckle escaped his mouth.

"Shame that you all are wasting your time here. Everything has already been taken by me, muahaha!"

Report chapter

While Lin Wu was having his internal villain monologue, the trio of men had started descending towards the crater. Half way through to reaching the ground though, they had to halt as a yellow glow suddenly appeared on their body.

"Young Master, the defensive talismans are about to run out, we have to get away and quickly replace them." Ye Dai urged.

Shirong did not respond and simply flew back up into the sky, away from the proximity of the Crater. Upon reaching there, all three of them took out a rectangular piece of paper from their respective spatial treasures. They then slapped them onto their clothes and the paper started burning.

After the paper was gone, a string of runes appeared in the air and then sank into their bodies, before a yellow barrier appeared close to the surface of their skin.

~Phew~

"That was close, but why did the rate of deterioration of the talismans suddenly increase by so much? The talisman still had almost forty percent of their energy left before we reached the Crater?" Bei Wen wondered.

"There's no doubt, it is the strange energy that is present in the area. The closer we get, the stronger it gets. Looks like we won't be able to stay there for much longer if we don't use additional talismans." Shirong guessed.

"It's better to be safe than taking the risk. Let's do it!" Ye Dai said before taking out another talisman and applying it onto his clothes.

The other two did the same before starting to descend on to the ground again. While the three could have gone inside the Crater directly with the help of their spirit swords, it was still better to be cautious. They landed on the ground and Shirong did a quick sweep of the area.

In a shock to him, he discovered that his spirit sense was suppressed to half of his usual strength. He could not extend it beyond a certain length and if he tried to do so he could sense it starting to breakdown.

"Dammit, this strange energy in this area is even affecting my spirit sense!" Shirong cursed.

The two men looked at Shirong upon hearing his words and verified the claim themselves.

"Young master, I can only exert a quarter of my spirit sense," Ye Dai said with a helpless tone.

"It is the same for me too," Bei Wen added, feeling a bit fearful.

"Looks like the cultivators from the Ling Kingdom's Royal court were scared for more than one reason," Shirong stated.

He thought for a bit before gritting his teeth and taking out a triangular piece of a Stone from his spatial storage ring. He then poured his spirit qi into the stone and a barrier started forming around him. This barrier was different than the one from the defensive talisman and seemed to be much stronger.

The Barrier reached a radius of about three meters before stopping.

"Come here, you two stay within the barrier. We should be protected for a while." Shirong said unwillingly.

"Thank you, Young Master," Ye Dai and Bei Wen said in unison.

The three then walked closer to the hole of the Crater and peered down into the darkness. Bei Wen gestured with his hand and a small ball of fire appeared, which he then dropped into the crater. The falling ball of fire illuminated the pitch black crater and allowed the three to gaze into it.

They could see the water below that glimmer under the light of the fire. The water was still and there were no ripples on it.

"Huh, is that an underground lake?" Bei Wen questioned.

"We'll know when we go there. Looks like the meteor crashed and broke through the underground caves. There are a lot of them under the millennium forest." Shirong said.

The three then started descending into the Crater as Bei Wen created a few more balls of fire to illuminate their path. The three of them had their spirit senses extended but realized that the more they got closer to the water, the stronger the suppression was getting.

By the time they reached the surface of the water, Shirong's spirit sense had been reduced to a mere four meters, while the other two's was at a tiny one meter.

"We won't be able to react fast enough if something attacks us with the suppression of the spirit sense." Bei Wen spoke.

"That's why I added the secondary barrier, I had a guess that something like this may occur," Shirong spoke.

The three of them were now at the very surface of the water, and the barrier was just a few centimeters away from touching the water. They still could not see the depths of the water clearly and thus did not know if there was something hidden there.

"Looks like we have no choice but to continue further," Shirong said before controlling the barrier surrounding them to lower into the water.

He did not want the water to soak them, hence he solidified the barrier so that it would keep the water out while the three of them stayed dry. Besides, Shirong was also doubtful about the water. His gut was telling him to get away from there, but his desire for the fortune was preventing him from acting on it.

~Sizzle~

As soon as the barrier touched the water, though, it started sizzling.

"WHAT! What is happing?!" Bei Wen yelped.

"The barrier is shrinking!" Ye Dai cautioned.

"This is much worse than I thought. This water is extremely corrosive, it can even harm the barrier made by a mid grade spirit tool." Shirong said with a little fear.

Ye Dai looked at Young master Shirong as he thought about their situation. If he was fully honest with himself, he did not want to continue downward.

"Young Master, should we go back?" Bei Wen questioned while slightly trembling.

"No!" Shirong shouted, "I won't go without seeing what's hiding below with my own two eyes."

"Does this guy think he is a protagonist of a cultivation novel or something?" Lin Wu said as he enjoyed the show, completely unworried about the water he had been 'Reborn' in.

Report chapter

Lin Wu was watching how far the man would go to fulfill his obsession for something that did not even exist there. As for the water itself, Lin Wu could guess what must have happened. He had evolved in the water, and that was perhaps the reason for it.

Lin Wu's body was inherently radioactive and would turn any place that he lived radioactive. Although he was not fully awake in the two years he had stayed unconscious here, he could guess that he had probably caused a change in the crystal after merging with it. Perhaps the radioactivity was sealed in it all that time, and when Lin Wu merged with it, it started leaking out.

Lin Wu remembered that the first time he dripped into the water, it was just normal water. There was nothing in it, not even any other creatures. At that time he was a common mud worm, so if the water was radioactive, he would have definitely died.

Even outside when he was moving towards the crater according to the quest, he had only survived because he was deep underground and had not come out. This stopped the toxins and heat from killing him… well, almost killing him. It was also likely that the other crystal in the area had possibly added to the radiation.

Then there was that mysterious beast as well, which had killed that nascent soul realm cultivator from the royal court of the Ling Kingdom. Lin Wu was able to obtain a bloodline sample from it as well, which meant that it was a possible culprit too.

Shirong, Ye Dai and Bei Wen were going deeper and deeper into the water, yet just after twenty meters the diameter of the barrier had shrunk by a third. One could imagine how much of a profound effect was occurring on the barrier because of the radiation.

Although Lin Wu did not know how radiation worked in a cultivation world such as this or how it interacted with spirit qi, he could estimate some things after listening to the talks of the three men. Right now Lin Wu was thinking of a few things.

It was likely that these three men would possibly die if their barrier was broken, as they were not even one tenth of the way down. Their Spirit sense was suppressed because of which they could not perceive the true depth of the underground lake, and the darkness was not helping them either. The fire balls that Bei Wen had created, could only illuminate a small area of about five meters before the light faded away.

Lin Wu could see that it was a bit abnormal as this was clear water and the light should have traveled much farther than that. But then he realized that the reason behind that was perhaps spirit itself.

'So if the fire is made with spirit qi, its illumination is also restricted by the radiation? Hmm… interesting.' Lin Wu thought.

Lin Wu knew the true depth of the water and knew that it was more than four hundred meters deep. If Shirong and the two men continued on for even a hundred meters, it was likely that their barrier will not last even if they stopped and came back from that point.

"Young Master Shirong, we should head back I don't think the barrier will hold on for long!" Ye Dai warned with fear in his eyes.

"I agree too, Young Master. We can come back once we have appropriate measures." Bei Wen spoke.

"You really think that would be possible?! Now that we've killed their people, the clans will definitely send more people to investigate this area. Even if we are free from suspicion, they will not give up that easily. The people that come to investigate the deaths will most likely take a look in the rest of the area as well.

You do not know the workings of the clans, almost any clans will do everything in its power to gain more benefits. We cannot leave it up to chance and let them find whatever that is hidden here." Shirong replied with a stern voice.

Ye Dai and Bei Wen were taken aback by his scolding and were now cursing their luck. They were now doubting whether it was really a good thing having been chosen by Young Master Shirong. Even if he wanted to die, why was he taking them with him!

Shirong saw the faint change in their eyes the moment he said that, and knew that perhaps he had said much more than he should have. Living in a clan and being the Young Master of all things had allowed him to gain enough experience to gauge the thoughts of a person just from their eyes and subtle changes in their expression.

Shirong knew that he would have to rectify and placate them quickly as they were in a rather dangerous situation and if they decided to rebel at this point, there was no way he would be able to survive even if he was much stronger than them.

~Sigh~

Shirong took a let out a sigh and calmed himself down before showing a much milder expression.

"I know you two are scared, but know this that you will not have a lack of resources if you follow me. The clan will amply supply you with whatever you require, whether it be pills or other things. And… if the patriarch is particularly satisfied by your performance, he may even allow you two to join the clan." Shirong spoke.

The two men Ye Dai and Bei Wen were now greatly interested in Young Master Shirong's words. Although the two of them had joined him back when Shirong was still living at the clan. They were actually not servants working in the clan. They were but measly cultivators who did small time job requests to get money.

"Besides, I will not be stupid and let myself get killed like this. I have been ordered by the ancestor to investigate this place and he knows that there is definitely something precious here." Shirong added at the end as an irresistible bait.

Report chapter

The eyes of the two men lit up the moment they heard the word 'Ancestor'. They now knew why Young Master Shirong had been so insistent in coming to the forbidden zone, even after knowing of the dangers. He even went so far as to spend two years in a small city like the deer wood city preparing and binding for his time.

He then spent a lot of resources and favors in order to obtain the official permission to enter the forbidden zone. This was strange, as forbidden zones usually did not need a permit for one to go in. If one wanted to go, in theory, were welcome to do so at the expense of their life.

The directives for the forbidden zone were meant to be more of a warning for people so that they would not wander in carelessly. But unlike the other forbidden zones, this one was actually being guarded by the clans of the Deer Wood city, as they had been directed to do so by the King of the Ling Kingdom himself.

They had even placed formations that would record who passed through it and also those that left it. In the two years, the clans had been able to fully surround the forbidden zone with the formation and isolated it from all sides, even the millennium forest, which it was originally a part of.

Ye Dai and Bei Wen knew that if it was the Ancestor who ordered for Young Master Shirong to investigate this, then it meant that there was guaranteed information about treasures here. They had already seen the pseudo immortal weapon that was the green crystal spear and were wondering what else could be there.

If even a precious weapon like that was abandoned at the edge of the zone, then what more mysteries were hiding in this crater that was at the very center of it. Ye Dai and Bei Wen also realized that if it was the ancestor of the clan who had ordered Young Master Shirong, then he had definitely provided him with more trump cards that were not shown by Young Master Shirong.

This defensive treasure was probably just one of them that he had used, and Shirong was probably just hesitant about using the remaining ones, as one trump card used meant that there was one less opportunity for use in the future.

'Young Master Shirong won't be unprepared, he'll probably intervene and save us using the methods at his disposal.' This was the thought that was now in the minds of both Ye Dai and Bei Wen.

And just like this, Shirong had changed the entire situation to be in his favor again. He had mixed in some lies with truths and weaved a tale that could not be clearly verified without a lot of effort. At least in their current situation, there was no chance that these two would be able to do it.

Besides, if they actually did find a treasure and went back, the two would not doubt his words and on the off chance that they were actually going to die, Shirong would immediately abandon them. But currently, they were still of use to him and it was better for him to keep them by his side.

'Ha ha ha! You two are still too naive. Better to behave like you deserve and be my servants.' Shirong internally spoke without a change in his expression.

Lin Wu meanwhile had gotten quite interested in Young Master Shirong's story and new ideas were forming in his mind. Lin Wu had read enough cultivation novels to know that this 'Ancestor' was probably an old man who was controlling the clan that Shirong belonged to from the shadows and was most likely to be quite powerful.

'Hmm, an old ancestor who orders the Young Master of his clan to search for something. It does not seem like he would have sent this Young Master Shirong on a death hunt as he does seem quite a bit influential considering their conversations and his mannerism.' Lin Wu thought to himself.

"It's a shame that while his ancestor was correct, that treasure has already moved from its location, and not only that, you are holding it in your own hand. I wonder what his reaction would be if he ever found out… Hehe." Lin Wu amused himself.

Lin Wu's mind then went to the spirit qi that the Young Master Shirong had poured into him to make the brand on him. His disguise as a weapon was going rather well, and they had even overestimated him to be a pseudo immortal weapon.

While Lin Wu did not how strong a pseudo immortal weapon would be, just from the reactions of the previously massacred cultivators and the two followers Ye Dai and Bei Wen, Lin Wu could gauge it. He then thought how influential Young Master Shirong seemed to be and his promise to provide them with resources.

"Hmm… Maybe this can work. Can I somehow leech off this guy and obtain more benefits for myself?" Lin Wu thought out loud.

By now Lin Wu had realized that no matter how much he spoke, he actually was not speaking in reality and everything was happening in his mind. He did not know the exact cause behind this, but he just attributed it to him being previously brain damaged. He thought that perhaps it had just changed him enough that his monologues became more realistic.

Lin Wu knew that this was quite strange but came to the conclusion that it didn't matter in the long term. He was no longer the human that he was before and was now a beast, that too a rather unique beast.

A myriad of thoughts were going through Lin Wu's mind, when suddenly a very radical one appeared, which knocked all the other thoughts a mile away.

"Hehehe, I don't know if this will work but if really does then I'll be killing two… no three… no wait four birds with one stone."

And with this, Lin Wu started asking the system a few questions and formulated his 'Nefarious' plot.

Report chapter

Shirong and his two followers Ye Dai and Bei Wen were still descending to the depths of the underground lake. They had reached a depth of nearly a hundred meters, and the barrier that was surrounding them had now reached fifty percent of its original size.

The more deeper they went, the more the rate of shrinking increased. While Shirong was keeping a staunch look on his face all throughout the way, it could not be said the same for Ye Dai and Bei Wen.

Although Young Master Shirong had placated their concerns before, they could not help but get alarmed seeing the shrinking barrier.

They wanted to say something, but the promise of rewards and resources was making them keep their mouth shut. The three men looked like they were traveling in a bubble of some kind, which was nothing but the barrier and it was shrinking at a rapid pace.

'Dammit, this speed is not what I expected. Is the cause behind it whatever that's hiding at the bottom?' Shirong thought in his mind while keeping a calm face.

A depth of two hundred meters was reached and now the barrier had shrunk to a third of its original size, making the three men shift closer.

Ye Dai and Bei Wen's fists were clenched in stress and they were now ready to escape when the danger would present itself. They no longer cared about the resources as long as they lived.

"Young Master Shirong we need to turn back, I do not think this is worth it!" Bei Wen spoke with caution in his voice.

While Bei Wen wanted to believe in Young Master Shirong's previous words, the fear building up in his mind was telling him to escape as soon as possible from the area. Ye Dai was feeling the same, but he did not say anything as he wanted to gauge his response first.

'So they couldn't hold back anymore,' Shirong thought upon hearing Bei Wen's words.

"Just a bit more, I have a hunch that we are very close to the goal. Please hold on for a little bit more." Shirong said in a friendly tone disguising his true intentions.

Ye Dai could perceive something different about Young Master Shirong and decided to no longer hold back.

Bei Wen thought the same, and both were about to act when suddenly a wave of spirit qi spread in the area. The spirit qi was rather concentrated, and all three of them were thrown off by it.

"Huh, Wh-" Bei Wen uttered in surprise.

Suddenly the three men's eyes went wide as they saw the barrier start to shrink at a blinding rate.

"Dammit, what is happening?" Shirong questioned in frustration.

He had certainly not expected for the speed to increase by such an amount as this did not leave him with much time to use his trump cards either. The two men Ye Dai and Bei Wen were utterly terrified and dropped the idea of protesting. Right now, the only person who could potentially save them was none other than Young Master Shirong.

"Quick Young Master Shirong, save us!" Both Ye Dai and Bei Wen uttered in an urgent tone.

Shirong knew that he now had no choice but to return with the two of them. Because if he wanted to save himself, he would have to save them too. If it was a little while ago and the speed of the shirking barrier was slower, he would have had time to activate the trump card secretly and would have been able to escape alone while leaving these two behind.

But now the time required for it was simply not enough and if he did try it openly, he would no doubt get attacked by the two of them.

Shirong withdrew a square plate from his spatial ring and held it in his hand while activating it. He started pouring his spirit qi in the plate, making it light up.

But Alas! The barrier had already shrunk to the point where the three men were stuck back to back and cracks started to appear on the barrier itself.

"OH NO! SAVE US!" Bei Wen pleaded.

"DAMMIT! There isn't much time left, the teleportation badge needs longer." Shirong revealed.

"We're doomed!" Ye Dai said helplessly.

The three men looked at the cracking barrier as water started leaking in from the cracks. They were still able to prevent the water from touching them because of the defensive talisman that they had used, but even that was deteriorating at a great pace.

Just a couple of drops were enough to drain the durability of the talisman by about ten percent.

"Is this how it ends…" Shirong muttered with regret.

He regretted taking the risk and not turning back when he was asked to. He regretted not taking precautions. He regretted that he was blinded by the greed of the Ancestor's rewards and continued on even while the danger presented itself face first. He regretted not leaving the moment he had obtained a great fortune like the pseudo immortal spear that he had found.

Shirong regretted coming to the forbidden area. He closed his eyes as he gave up. He knew that escaping now was impossible unless some kind of miracle happened.

Shirong, Ye Dai, and Bei Wen could feel the barrier touching their bodies and they realized that it had reached the very limit. But just as they were about to give up all hope, something happened.

~Hum~

A humming sound was heard as an even stronger wave of spirit qi was spread around in the area. But this time the three of them were able to sense where it was coming from. The three heads turned to the source of the spirit qi wave.

"The spear? It's doing something?" Bei Wen said feeling surprised.

A first Shirong was taken aback by this and was about to let go of the spear, but then he remembered that they were already close to death and he may as well take a chance.

Report chapter

~HUMM~

The humming of the spear got louder than it then started to glow. Then suddenly the three of them felt as if a weight was being lifted off of them. The invisible force that was weighing down on them and suppressing their spirit sense was gone.

They then saw the shrinking of the barrier stop.

"Huh… it stopped?" Ye Dai uttered with confusion.

All three of the men were a bit dumbfounded and didn't know what exactly was happening by now. At one moment they were close to death and now in the next, they were somehow fine. The terror the three of them were feeling in their guts also dissipated for a bit.

Then the spear in Shirong's hand glowed once more, this time releasing a glowing wave of light that spread in a curricular manner.

"IT'S THE SPEAR! It stopped it!" Bei Wen yelled with excitement.

"It saved us… IT SAVED US!" Ye Dai shouted in jubilation.

Shirong looked at the spear in his hand with a complex expression. He knew how lucky he was that he had found the spear before and even more so, now that he had been saved by it.

A minute passed, and the three had calmed down now, but then suddenly the spear started humming again and this time violently shaking too.

"Wha-What's happening?" Ye Dai and Bei Wen asked with fear in their eyes.

Shirong could tell exactly what was happening this time though, as the spear itself was telling him through his connection with it. There was only one thing it wanted, "QI," it said.

"It wants spirit qi…" Shirong answered.

He knew that that now was not the time to hesitate and he gave it what it wanted. Shirong started to pour all his qi into the spear and it kept on absorbing it. But after a minute, he was in a dilemma: he had depleted half of his entire store of spirit qi and the spear was still sucking it.

"No, this is too much," Shirong said with a bit of fear in his eyes.

"What's the problem, Young Master Shirong?" Ye Dai asked.

"You two quickly give it your spirit qi, the spear is sucking all of mine I can't sustain it for long. I think this is how it is preventing the force from affecting us and also how it stopped the Barrier from cracking." Shirong explained.

The two men did not even blink before they placed their hands on the spear and started pouring their spirit qi into the spear. The two had thought that perhaps Young Master Shirong had exaggerated it a bit, but once they felt the suction force for themselves they were scared too.

"How can it be so strong? Even with all our stores, we won't be able to sustain it!" Bei Wen stated.

The three of them were scared of having their spirit qi drained completely, but their fear of the situation was much worse. They knew that if it went beyond a certain point, their cultivation will regress. Shirong was relatively on the safe side since he was at the peak of the core condensation realm and perhaps even half step into the nascent soul realm.

But the two men Ye Dai and Bei Wen were still in the late stage of the core condensation realm. They looked into their dantian's and saw their cores draining rapidly. The thing they were scared about was their cores themselves shrinking as coming back from that would be incredibly hard.

For a core condensation realm cultivator, if they want to increase their cultivation base, they need to double the size of their core. At the start when they newly enter the core condensation realm and are in the early stage they have a very small core that the size of a tiny marble. This marble is condensed from all the liquid spirit that a cultivator accumulates in their dantian in the peak stage of the qi refining realm.

The total quantity of the spirit qi depends on the cultivator's talent, as the size of their dantian's can vary. But usually, it is between 1000 to 1500 drops of liquid spirit qi. For more talented cultivators, it can even reach up to about 3000 drops of liquid spirit qi.

Once a cultivator starts to further refine it into a solid form, that is when he is said to enter the core condensation realm. This stage is also quite dangerous as one small mistake can lead to qi deviation or worst, death.

After reaching the core condensation ream, if a cultivator wants to progress to the next stage, he or she will need to double the size of the core by refining more liquid spirit qi and then using it to increase the core's size.

So an early stage core condensation realm cultivator would have a core made from 1000 drops of liquid spirit qi, a mid stage one will have a core made from 2000 drops of liquid spirit qi, a late stage one will have a core made from 4000 drops of liquid spirit qi and finally, a peak stage core condensation realm cultivator will have a core made from 8000 drops of liquid spirit qi.

Thus this showed the difference between each stage only got larger and larger the higher they progressed. And this was only for a cultivator that had low talent and only had a capacity of 1000 drops of liquid spirit qi. For the others that had a higher capacity, their cores would only be that much more massive.

Shirong was one of those people and the capacity of his dantian was originally two thousand drops of liquid spirit qi which meant that his current core's size was much bigger than the other twos and was at 16000 drops of liquid spirit qi.

This was what had made them terrified. As even Shirong himself was unable to sustain the consumption of the green crystal spear. It didn't take long for Ye Dai and Bei Wen to let out a painful grunt.

Meanwhile, Lin Wu was rejoicing in his mind.

"MUHAHAHA! UNLIMITED POWERRR!"

The Ye Dai and Bei Wen grunted in pain and spit out blood. Their expression fell and their faces turned white.

They had just fallen from the late stage of the core condensation realm to the mid stage of the core condensation realm.

Shirong saw this and was silent, but soon blood started dripping out of his lips as well. He too had fallen from the peak stage of the core condensation realm to the late stage. A bitter taste was left in his mouth not just because of the blood due to the backlash but because of the great price that he had to pay right now.

But Shirong did not regret it, no he did not regret it even one bit. He knew what the cost of using a pseudo immortal tool could be and even if it was more than he had expected, he was fine with it. For it was that very thing that had saved his life today.

"DAMMIT!" Shirong cursed, unable to hold his frustration in.

Ye Dai and Bei Wen were not doing that good either, and they cursed in their mind as well. It was not easy for them to reach their current level, and they were definitely not happy about it happening.

Finally, the absorption of the spirit qi slowed down and a few minutes later stopped.

"Enough, let's go back. We've already lost far too much." Shirong himself said it this time.

He was now angry that he had to go back without fully completing the mission given to him by his ancestor, but he knew that his ancestor will still be happy with what he had achieved. Any clan or sect would be incredibly happy with acquiring a pseudo immortal weapon.

"Yes, Young master. We should return." Bei Wen said with a relieved tone.

"Hehehe, not so fast! I'm only halfway through my plan," Lin Wu said in his mind.

Suddenly Shirong found himself unable to handle the green crystal spear. It was as if it was moving on its own.

"Now what!" He shouted in frustration.

Shirong had already depleted a majority of his spirit qi and had even fallen an entire stage, thus he did not have enough strength to hold the spear back.

"GAH!" Shirong yelped in pain as his wrist twisted.

The spear shifted downwards which made his wrist twist forcefully. Due to the pain, he filched and let go of the spear. It fell out of his ground and broke through the barrier.

At first Shirong's heart fell and he thought that he had now lost his last saving grace. Bei Wen and Ye Dai also thought that they may now die as the spear had left Shirong's hands. But surprisingly, it didn't happen. Everything was the same, and the invisible pressure didn't return.

Shirong then saw the spear actually stop in the water and glow calmly. He then felt something in his mind and knew what it meant.

"It… it wants us to follow it," Shirong said.

~Gulp~

Ye Dai and Bei Wen were hesitant about it, but knew that they had no choice in their matter. Their lives hanged in balance and the thing holding it was none other than the green crystal spear.

"Alright," They said in unison.

The three men started to descend down and followed the spear. The spear also started moving and seemed to be changing its directions too.

"It is leading us to something?" Shirong muttered.

'Nice, keep on following me and you shall be rewarded.' Lin Wu thought in his mind.

The three men realized that the water seemed to have trained tame and was not corrosive anymore. Whatever was causing the water to be corrosive was no longer there, or was perhaps suppressed by the green crystal spear.

Suddenly the speed of the spear increased and the three could barely keep up with it. But it was still in the range of their spirit sense. The three men were able to gain control of their spirit sense and could observe an area of about ten meters now.

Because of this, they were not as apprehensive and their confidence was building. For most cultivators, their spirit sense was an important part of their body. Without it, they would feel as if they were missing one of their organs or a limb, perhaps.

The speed of the spear got faster and faster until it was no longer within the range of their spirit sense.

"Quick speed up, we can't lose it!" Shirong urged.

Currently, the barrier was collectively maintained by the three of them thus they needed cooperation to do anything otherwise the barrier may collapse. The spirit swords they were flying on were also barely holding on as their spirit qi stores were at a low point.

Eventually, Lin Wu had reached a greater speed and disappeared from their sight.

"Dammit!" All three of them cursed.

But they then saw the green glow in the distance and took a breath of relief

~Phew~

"It's still calling me," Shirong said as he looked at the glow.

The three of them reached the spear and saw that they were now at the very bottom of the underground lake. They saw the spear stuck on the floor and right beside it they saw another object.

"Young Master look!" Ye Dai said while pointing at the object, "it's some kind of a rock?"

"Is that perhaps what we came here for? Is that the precious treasure of the forbidden zone?" Bei Wen wondered in a hopeful tone.

After all that they had gone through and the losses that they had made, they were finally seeing hope. They wondered if they will finally succeed in their mission.

"What're you two waiting for? Let's get it," Shirong ordered.

The bubble like barrier got closer and engulfed the spear as well as the rock that was lying beside the spear. Shirong picked up the spear first of all and looked at it closely, ensuring that everything was fine. Only then he looked at the object for which they had sacrificed so much for.

"Huh? It's really a rock!"

Report chapter

Shirong and the two men curiously looked at the rock like object and wondered what it actually was. They couldn't imagine Shirong's ancestor sending them to find a rock, they knew that there must be something special to it… something like a secret.

Shirong picked up the rock and probed it with his spirit sense. His brows furrowed as he opened his eyes.

"What's the matter, Young Master? Did you find out what it is?" Bei Wen questioned.

"No… it seems like a rock. Although its composition seems different from a common one of course." Shirong answered.

"This… Perhaps there's something else?" Ye Dai added.

"Hmm, we'll have to see," Shirong replied.

The two men nodded, and they started searching the bottom of the lake. They went from one corner to the other and then circled back. But even after searching the entire thing, they could not find anything.

"There is nothing here you dumbos. Now quickly go back so that I can start the next part of my plan." Lin Wu said in his mind.

Everything that had happened till now was caused by Lin Wu. After inquiring about certain things with the system, Lin Wu was able to formulate a plan that would not only allow him to leave this place much faster, but would also give him the resources to complete the mission of finding that beast that killed the nascent soul realm cultivator.

After finding out that this person called Shirong was the Young Master of a clan that seemed to have a powerful ancestor, Lin Wu decided to do this. While there were many risks to it, Lin Wu still wanted to do it. The system had ensured him that as long as all of the spirit qi fluctuations are masked and restricted by it, no cultivator would be able to find out what he was.

And the cultivators that were relatively low leveled like Shirong, Lin Wu could still use a few loopholes to fool him. Shirong still did not have the same experience or skills like that of the cultivators with higher cultivation realm, thus Lin Wu could take a few liberties.

The start of Lin Wu's plan began with controlling the radiation in the water with his skill Radiation manipulation. This would have not been possible if his skill had not reached the novice proficiency level that it was at currently.

Even with that proficiency level, Lin Wu had to take some extra efforts to make sure that it would work and he would not be found out. The skill was powered with the liquid spirit qi he had obtained from Shirong when he had branded him, and Lin Wu ended up using about half of it.

This was a big gamble to him, but he still decided to go with it. Because if he succeeded, the gains would be multi-fold. But he also had to ensure that the Shirong and his two followers Ye Dai and Bei Wen were not focusing on him at that time. Or there was a chance he would be found out.

Thus for that very reason, Lin Wu targeted their fear of dying. He used the liquid spirit qi to basically overcharge the skill radiation manipulation and sent out a strong wave that caused all the radiation in the water to concentrate around the barrier.

This caused the barrier to start shrinking as its durability rapidly went down. Because of this, the three men were scared and did not have the chance to focus on Lin Wu, or they would have seen that the source of the wave was none other than the spear Shirong was holding.

This also worked because of an additional thing- Ye Dai and Bei Wen's doubts. Shirong was worried about these two men betraying him and thus was focused on them the whole time, which allowed Lin Wu to do this step successfully.

Once this was done, the next step was to begin. Now what Lin Wu need to do was give them a bit of hope so that their thinking would get even more dazed. He used a little bit of liquid spirit qi to make a flamboyant show of light and glamor.

This made Shirong and the two men think that the spear was actually protecting them, which in reality was the opposite of what Lin Wu was doing. To make them believe that it was true, Lin Wu simply reversed what he had done.

Instead of concentrating the radiation around the barrier, he made it so there was no radiation around it, which stopped the bubble like barrier from further degrading. Then came the next step, which was to obtain some rewards.

But this step was twofold, not only was Lin Wu going to obtain some rewards, but he was also going to ensure some safety for him. He did this by inquiring the system about the characteristics of core condensation realm cultivators.

When he learned that they could regress and become injured if they expended too much of their qi, Lin Wu's eyes lit up. He knew exactly what to do. He then transmitted some thoughts through the simulated connection he had with Shirong and made him think that he wanted Spirit qi to maintain what he was doing.

As Shirong had the misunderstanding that Lin Wu was a pseudo immortal tool, he did not think one bit before supplying him with his spirit qi. But Lin Wu did not stop there and continued sucking it endlessly. If it were any other beast or cultivator they would have been unable to do this as their bodies would simply explode due to the rapid increase in spirit qi.

But due to the system, Lin Wu virtually had an infinite storage capacity. This did not mean that he could utilize this spirit qi though, as his cultivation base was simply not that high. But with coordination from the system, Lin Wu could still do some things that were unachievable by beings of his cultivation realm.

Lin Wu not only drained Shirong, but he also drained the two men Ye Dai and Bei Wen of their spirit qi, making them fall an entire cultivation stage.

"Hehehe, now that you three are weakened, I have the confidence that I can kill you anytime," Lin Wu said in an evil tone.

Report chapter

Lin Wu truly had the confidence that he could kill the three men. He did so because he had the advantage of surprise, not to mention that with radiation manipulation he could kill them anytime as long as they stayed in the forbidden zone.

His innate skill of Radiation manipulation became a trump card which was much more stronger than he had expected.

'Who would have thought that radiation and spirit qi doesn't mix well… at least not in this case, there may be other differences in cultivators.' Lin Wu thought to himself.

The next step that Lin Wu had planned was to divert the attention of the three men on a completely different thing. For this, he used nothing but the fragment of the beast carapace that he had with him all this time. It was this very fragment that had killed the nascent soul realm cultivator, and Lin Wu was sure that if he incited their curiosity, Shirong would definitely take interest in it.

Lin Wu already knew that the man was a bit stubborn and did not want to go back empty handed, even going so far as to risk his own life along with two others. Thus he fitted perfectly in Lin Wu's plan and acted just as he had hoped for.

Since Shirong was the Young Master of a powerful clan, Lin Wu reckoned that he could use their resources and connections to search for that beast. Though the biggest benefit was Shirong himself, Lin Wu was sure that he could leech off of him comfortably.

"Hehehe, I got you right where I want you. Your lives are in my control now!" Lin Wu uttered in the same evil tone that he had come to like.

He now understood why villains liked to monologue so much, it was because it simply made them feel cool. And if they got to shock their enemy, the benefit was just an extra cherry on top.

Shirong and the two men were now ascending through the water and were returning to the surface. They had given up on finding anything else and had come to terms with the fact that they had truly risked their lives for an unassuming piece of rock.

Ye Dai used all his experience in investigation and appraisal, and yet he could not find anything special with the rock. But this only made him more interested, as if it were a common rock, he would have gotten at least some results. Unexpectedly, though, all his routes took him to the same dead end.

"Still can't find anything?" Shirong questioned with furrowed brows.

"Unfortunately yes, Young Master Shirong. It seems like I'll need some additional tools to appraise it, there is only so much I can do right now and with my cultivation base reduced I can't fully use my skills either." Ye Dai answered with a crestfallen expression.

~Sigh~

"Leave it for now. I'll have it looked over at the clan." Shirong replied.

Ye Dai simply nodded in response, and the three men soon reached the top of the crater. After reaching there, they took one last look and then flew away to the direction they had come from. Their original plan was to actually check the entire forbidden zone, but now with all the stuff that happened they did not want to take that risk.

They had already made a lot of losses, and they definitely did not want to add to that. About five minutes had passed and the three men were still flying. Bei Wen looked over at the spear in Shirong's hand and thought of something.

"Young Master Shirong, why haven't you put the spear in your spatial storage ring?" Bei Wen questioned curiously.

Bei Wen could not think of a reason behind this. The spear was quite heavy and needed to be held on by using spirit qi to reinforce their arms, otherwise they would not be able to lift it. This was a constant use of spirit qi, and considering the condition they were in right now was a waste.

Lin Wu also became interested in Bei Wen's words and wondered why Shirong had not done so. He had a spatial storage ring, thus it was the most obvious thing to keep a valuable item in it rather than carrying it out in the open like this. That took an object that was heavy as an elephant.

"Pseudo immortal tools and weapons cannot be stored into any spatial storage treasures. Their mere presence can destroy most spatial storage treasures and thus most of them can't even be put if one wants to try it." Shirong answered.

"But Young Master Shirong isn't your spatial storage treasure a high grade one? It should technically be able to hold it, shouldn't it? You may as well try it if it works. I mean, we already know this is a rather unique treasure. Who knows what else is possible with it?" Ye Dai asked.

Shirong thought over it and reckoned that it was at least worth the try.

He activated his ring and willed for the spear to enter the ring. Just as he did then, a string of notifications appeared in front of Lin Wu.

~Ding~

——

DETECTED: New interface channel found.

IDENTIFIED: Interface channel is classified as a minor spatial dimension.

COMPUTATIONAL A.I.: Activated.

ANALYZING PARAMETERS: New variables found.

ANALYSIS COMPLETED: New simulated function now available = Virtual Ring Interface

COMPUTATIONAL A.I.: Shutting down.

NOTIFICATION: Does the host want to enter the ring? The system has established a simulated function and the host can exit and enter at will.

——

Lin Wu was unimpressed by the System's ability to do this and he noticed that the computational A.I. had been activated again. Lin Wu was still a bit confused about what that was, but had not asked the system about it. Though Lin Wu did know that there were a lot of functions that were unavailable to him due to the 'lack of resources' as the system called it and attributed this to it as well.

"Alright, system I'll allow it."

Report chapter

When Shirong willed for the green crystal spear to enter the ring, he had not expected that there would be a shock to his sense. His mind had almost been shaken, and he felt the connection he had with the spear through the brand being strained.

Even if he knew that a pseudo immortal tool would most likely be unable to enter the ring, he had not expected something like this. He thought that at most he would feel some kind of resistance, but this… this was different. He felt as if the spear was doing something to him.

This instinctively made Shirong want to guard against it, but then he remembered what the implications of that could be. This was no ordinary spirit tool but rather a legendary pseudo immortal tool that was desired by countless people and the strongest of cultivators.

Even the Immortal Ascension realm cultivators did not have to fortune of owning a pseudo immortal tool, not to mention a measly core condensation realm cultivator. Even if Shirong knew he had a lot of talent, he was not so blind that he would overestimate himself in matters such as these.

Thus considering all these things, Shirong let the spear do whatever it was doing and discovered something even more surprising. The moment he let go of his guard, the pressure he was feeling was gone, and the spear did something to his spatial storage ring.

He didn't know what exactly it was, but he could not see any change in his ring. Guessing that it was simply a reaction to the process of being stored into the ring, Shirong didn't mind it much. But then in the next instant, the green crystal spear disappeared from his hand.

"Huh? It actually went in?" Shirong said in a dumbfounded tone.

.

.

.

"It actually went in!" He then exclaimed.

Bei Wen and Ye Dai were also surprised by this, as they had seen the entire series of events that had happened. They had guessed that perhaps Young Master Shirong had failed in storing the spear into the ring, but he had unexpectedly succeeded.

"Congratulation Young Master Shirong!" Ye Dai and Bei Wen praised in unison.

But Shirong paid no heed to the two men's words. He was instead now focusing on his spatial storage ring. He peered into the ring using his spirit sense and saw the spear calmly floating around the empty space of the ring. He also saw the other items that were kept in his ring and fording them to be safe.

'A pseudo immortal tool that actually adjusted its characteristics according to my needs… this is… simply marvelous. No other power has a pseudo immortal tool that is like this, I'm sure. From what I've read, no normal pseudo immortal tool can do something like this, as that would mean it could think for itself.

No, no, no… even peak grade spirit tools only have very basic instincts and even pseudo immortal tools are no exception to this. Then that means… it is an immortal tool!' Shirong thought as his pupils went wide.

As Shirong was looking down at his ring, the two men Ye Dai and Bei Wen were able to see the change in his eyes, thus didn't know what conclusion Shirong had just reached. If they ever heard it, they would either be extremely afraid or extremely dangerous.

An immortal tool was not something that could even be found in this realm. Shirong had read some myths about them which told of cultivators who could imbue tools with a spirit. These tools were nothing but spirit tools that were widely known.

But even this imbuing of spirit did not give the tool sentience, and the tool merely had instincts that it could act on. These instincts were programmed at the creation of that tool and would not change ever again unless of course the tool was further enhanced and refined.

Then there were some cultivators that could take this a step further and make the spirit tools reach the apex. These tools were called as the pseudo immortal tools, such that one would have to nearly be an immortal in order to be able to obtain one.

The name pseudo immortal tool had multiple meanings and could be interpreted in many ways, but the most common meaning that people followed was a tool that could be worthy for an immortal.

Then finally there were certain cultivates who had discovered the secrets of the heavens and had found methods to further extend their lifespans, thus becoming 'Immortals'. These were the cultivators who broke through the limit of the tools and took a pseudo immortal tool fur therm turning it into an 'Immortal tool.'

An immortal tool could think for itself and had a level of sentience. These tools could greatly help the cultivator and would help them in battles. They would accommodate according to the cultivator's needs and fulfill their functions.

But such a thing was beyond any one of this realm, not to mention this world. Most cultivators only thought of the immortals as mere myths, but Shirong knew that it was not so. He had been secretly shown the forbidden records of his clan but the ancestor himself.

This was one of the rewards that he was given for his past accomplishments. At that time he had the choice to choose any material resource, but Shirong instead chose this as he knew that knowledge was perhaps the greatest advantage a cultivator could have.

If one had the right knowledge, they could change the very direction of fate itself!

Thus Shirong pleaded with the ancestor to let him read the forbidden records. There he had found out some of the hidden truths of this world. He found out that the place he lived was merely a single continent on one of the planets. This was his so-called 'world'.

He learned that there were countless of these worlds in a greater plane called as the 'Mortal Realm'.

An immortal tool was something from above this realm called as the "Immortal Realm'!

Report chapter