Read Rise Of The Worm Sovereign Chapter 131 - Stability Increase? online for free - AllNovelFull
Lin Wu was focused on refining his spirit sense and didn't realize when time passed by. He only snapped out of it when he sensed the formation on the safe becoming active.
'Someone's coming? Shirong obviously…' Lin Wu though still feeling a bit dazed from the nonstop refinement.
He had refined his spirit sense further and now it had reached the max range of 110 meters. He had failed a couple of times too but was able to recover and regrow his spirit sense rather quickly. It truly was the spatial storage ring that was causing him all the troubles.
There were no spirit qi explosions when he failed, and the spirit qi simply dissipated when that happened. This made it quite peaceful for him, as he didn't need to be at a hundred percent alertness to escape from the explosion when they happened.
Also, now that there were no explosions, he wasn't as distracted either and didn't need to constantly refocus.
~hum~
A faint sound was heard as the door of the safe opened. The person who had opened it was Shirong as Lin Wu had expected. He was still lying in the same position as Shirong had left him, and thus he did not suspect anything.
"That was a good night…" Shirong muttered to himself, feeling quite relaxed.
He was only wearing a pant right now and was shirtless. His chiseled abs on full display like a Greek god's statue that had come alive. Lin Wu saw him and felt a bit jealous when he compared him to his past life's self.
In his past life, he was skinny and had the athletic skill of a snail. But now that he had reincarnated, he didn't even have the chance to get a ripped body. Even if he was born with an ugly face as a human here, he could still attempt to have an amazing body.
But then a few seconds later he realized something.
"Why am I even thinking of this? I am no longer a human, there is no sense in thinking about a human…" Lin Wu said to himself.
As soon as he did this, he felt as if his mind had cleared up and a wave of calmness washed over his entire body.
~Ding~
——
NOTIFICATION: Host Vitals improved.
HOST SOUL: Stability increased.
——
Lin Wu had not expected that this one single revelation would improve his condition. He knew that while his soul was healed, it was not completely stable yet. It was the same as if when someone sick was cured, they would still be weakened for a period of time.
"I feel much better than before…" Lin Wu muttered to himself.
Shirong was about to bend down to pick up the spear when he suddenly stopped. His eyes went wide as he sensed a fluctuation in the connection he had with the green crystal spear. He didn't know what had happened, but knew that there was a certain kind of change.
He tried to think for five minutes but still couldn't comprehend what must have happened.
'I'll just deal with it when I understand it later.' Shirong thought to himself.
He then bent down and picked up the green crystal spear while amplifying his strength with spirit qi. He then willed it and the spear started transforming. It coiled around his arm, moving upwards and around his body. Soon it had fully turned into a beautiful emerald green armor.
Shirong could feel the increase in the weight and stumbled for a bit before stabilizing.
"Seems like I still need to get used to it…" He muttered to himself while looking at the armor.
He left the safe and waved his hand, closing the safe and hiding it back. But just as he was about to step out of the study, something caught his eye. It was in the very corner of his field of vision and he couldn't help but feel curious.
"A brief history of the Lu clan?" Shirong read the book that was slightly sticking out from the shelf.
He furrowed his borrows for a moment before an idea papered in his mind.
~Chuckle~
"Clan head Lu took no stops, huh? Even going so far as to highlighting their clan's history book…" Shirong said before placing the book back onto the shelf.
He left the study while Lin Wu meanwhile was a bit on the edge.
~Phew~
"Seems like he didn't sense anything that different. Good, that I only read a few books and the one that I read the most was this one. I should have taken care to put it back properly though… I need to be careful in the future." Lin Wu said to himself.
Shirong had returned to the bedroom by now and took a look at his 'painting' that he had created. The canvas was the bed, and the characters were the ten naked beauties that were sleeping soundly with smiles on their faces. Some small 'red flowers' could also be seen hidden among the beauties.
Shirong seemed proud of his handiworks and nodded his head in approval. While Lin Wu simply ignored it. He found it much easier to not be bothered by something like this now that he had the revelation a couple of minutes ago.
Shirong looked to the side and picked up the sheet that had been pushed off. He flicked it in the air and covered all of the beauties that were currently sleeping as if a painter covering his painting to protect it from dust.
Shirong didn't expect that he would do this for someone, or rather a few people in this case. But he couldn't help but chuckle again. The night was indeed memorable for him and this was the least he could do for the girls that had pleased him.
He went to the wardrobe and picked out a new set of clothes before wearing them. The armor was once again hidden beneath the clothes, away from the prying eyes of others.
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"When will that messenger come back?" Shirong uttered as he remembered that he still needed a high grade spatial storage ring.
Simply wearing the armor for long periods was not sustainable, and he knew that he needed a solution quick.
'I'll just go hunt for now… need to get ready for the breakthrough.' Shirong thought to himself.
It was now that another thought appeared in his mind. In the next second, a frown appeared on his face.
"Where are Ye Dai and Bei Wen?" He questioned himself.
He tried to remember if he had seen them when the spatial rift had appeared or not. But even after thinking hard, he couldn't place them anywhere at the scene.
"This isn't right, they should have come to check up on me at the very first sign of danger…" Shirong muttered with disbelief.
He then realized that he had somehow completely forgotten about the two of them as well. In the past two days, not one thought about them had come into his mind. Neither had he seen them at the banquet either which was extremely strange as there was no chance they would give up on an event where they could praise their Young master.
"The people from the Lu clan didn't inform me about them either…" Shirong muttered in realization.
"SERV-" Shirong was about to shout when he realized that he was still in the bed room and the ten girls were sleeping.
Not wanting to disturb their well deserved sleep, he walked outside the bedroom and gestured with his hands. Formation runes appeared on the door of the bedroom for a few seconds before fading away.
"Now it should be fine…" Shirong muttered to himself.
Lin Wu meanwhile was wondering what he had done. He could sense that something had changed in the formation array of the House but he didn't know exactly what.
"System, what did he do?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
——
ANSWER: The isolation and sound proofing formations have been activated.
NOTIFICATION: New arrays analyzed, adding them to the Courtyard Formation array interface.
Courtyard Formation Array Interface:-
1.Activate Formations
2.Deactivate Formations
3.Assign Key (Assigned keys= 1)
4.Isolation Formation
5.Sound Proofing Formation
CURRENT STATUS: Option 1,3,4,5 are online.
——
"Oh nice, seems like it can be increased in this method as well." Lin Wu said to himself.
Once the formations were active, Shirong turned around and shouted, "SERVANTS!".
A few seconds later multiple footsteps could be heard, and it was evident that people were running towards him.
Five men appeared and kneeled in front of him, their heads lowered. They could sense that something was wrong and Young master Shirong seemed to be displeased.
"What are your orders, Young master?" They asked in unison.
"Do you know what happened to my two followers, Ye Dai and Bei Wen?" Shirong questioned.
"Lord Ye Dai and Lord Bei Wen?" One of them repeated with confusion.
"YES! Where are they?" Shirong questioned.
"Forgive us Young master, but we do not know where they are." The servant replied.
"WHAT?" Shirong interrupted them.
"But we do know what happened to them," Another servant hurriedly said, knowing that Young master was misunderstanding something.
"What is it then? Speak," Shirong ordered.
"Lord Ye Dai and Lord Bei Wen left Deer Wood city a while ago. We do not know where they went, but they went to do some tasks. We are mere servants so we do not know the details. But you can ask the clan head." The servant explained.
Shirong furrowed his brows as many thoughts appeared in his mind. He knew that they would never leave like this without his permission, at least not if they wanted to give up on all the credits and rapport they had built with him.
Shirong had a bad feeling about this and ran towards the courtyard where Ye Dai and Bei Wen were staying at. He didn't have a spirit sword now and couldn't fly on one. This was one of the things that he had asked the messenger to bring him and was something that he needed urgently.
Meanwhile, Lin Wu was wondering what had happened to the two men as well.
"I don't think I saw them anywhere…" Lin Wu tried to recall as well.
"Wait a minute… System, when was the last record of the two men Ye Dai and Bei Wen?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
——
ANSWER: The last recorded appearance of the two men was back when they had returned to the city after the Host's breakthrough. No other record can be found in the systems database.
——
"Hmm… that was nearly half a month ago… what happened during that time?" Lin Wu wondered.
"System, can you scan for them in the city and mark them on the map?" Lin Wu asked.
~Ding~
——
SCANNING FOR TARGET: Please wait a moment…
SCAN COMPLETED: No signs of target found in the city area.
——
Just as the stem finished its scan, Shirong had reached the courtyard where the two were staying at. He looked around but didn't find them there. He checked every room, yet there was no one here, neither was there any message or letter left behind.
He then called for the servants of this courtyard and asked them where the two had gone and their last sighting. He received the same answer that they had left the city.
"This does not seem right…" Shirong muttered to himself.
His mind started to wander, and thoughts of different possibilities appeared in his head. But there was no concrete conclusion he could come to.
"Looks like I'll get my answers in the Lu clan only," Shirong said to himself before leaving the courtyard and going towards the Lu clan's location.
'This is getting interesting…' Lin Wu thought to himself.
A couple of minutes later, Shirong was standing in front of the Lu Clan's gates. The guards and the other people that were there instantly recognized him and greeted him.
"Greetings, young master Shirong! What brings you here? Do you want to meet the clan head?" The guards asked, guessing the most likely reason.
"Yes, I need to see him urgently this very instant," Shirong replied in a stern voice.
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Clan Head Lu had been informed that Shirong was here to see him and he seemed to be agitated.
"Dammit! Did those granddaughters of mine do something to displease him? If they really did then, I'll skin them the moment they come here." Clan Head Lu muttered under his breath.
His son Lu Peng who was standing near him clearly heard it and felt sweat appearing on his forehead. Among the girls that had gone to attend to Shirong last night, two of them were his daughters. While he would be displeased with them too, he wouldn't want to punish them that harshly.
'Hopefully, it is something else…' Lu Peng thought to himself.
A minute later, Shirong came through the doors of the hall, a pissed expression on his face. Clan head Lu's face only fell further and started thinking of all ways he could compensate Young Master Shirong.
"Young Master Shirong, I…" Clan head Lu was just about to speak when he was interrupted.
"Where are my two followers Ye Dai and Bei Wen?" Shirong questioned straightaway.
"Huh?" Clan head was dumb stuck.
He had been expecting a lot of scenarios in his head and had thought up some solutions, be he had not expected that after spending a night with ten of his granddaughters, Shirong would ask this question as soon as meeting him.
"Why are you asking that to us, young master? You are the one that sent them off for a mission, didn't you?" Lu Peng answered for his father, seeing that he was in a confused state.
"What! I did no such thing!" Shirong replied.
Now the others in the hall were also getting anxious and were wondering what exactly the problem was.
"Servants, please bring some refreshments for Young master Shirong. Please Young master, let's go discuss this in the private chambers." Clan head Lu suggested, after recovering a bit.
Shirong was still displeased, but could see the reasoning behind it. He followed the pair of father and son to the private Chambers.
"Now then, young master. Please explain to us what the problem exactly is." Clan Head Lu asked.
Shirong then went on to explain how he went to look for his two followers and found them to be missing. Even the servants were unaware of it and thus he came to ask the Lu clan as they were apparently aware about it.
"Young master, according to what we know the two of them came to us with a letter and told us that they were going out for some kind of a mission that you assigned to them. Seeing that you were in seclusion, I didn't dare to disturb you either.
Besides, I checked the handwriting on the letter and found it to match yours." Clan Head Lu explained.
"That is absolutely impossible!" Shirong protested.
"But you didn't ask us about them during the banquet or after the appearance of the spatial rift either. Thus we just assumed that you knew about it and had ordered them to go out." Lu Peng replied.
"That's another thing I'm worried about. Why did I not think of them all these days? There is no way I would have forgotten about them." Shirong said with concern.
Clan head Lu's brows furrowed, thinking of all the possibilities.
"So the Young master thinks that someone impersonated your identity and forged a fake letter?" Clan Head Lu reiterated.
"Yes, and not only that, but they also did something to me… I don't know how or what but they definitely did something to make me forget about them all this time." Shirong added.
"Hmm… we can take poison or toxins off the list as I doubt Young master wouldn't detect them on his own." Lu Peng said.
"Yes, I do not think it's a poison either. I would have sensed it rather easily. Besides, no normal poison would work on me anyway." Shirong stated.
"That narrows down the possibilities and leaves us with, hypnotic techniques and skills." Clan Head Lu inferred.
Shirong thought over it and found that to be the most likely reason. Be he couldn't remember where he could have been hypnotized. And if he truly was hypnotized, then how did he realize it now and why were his memories not completely changed?
"This still leaves us with two more questions… who and why?" Lu Peng added.
All three of them fell silent and started to think of what could be the reason and the possible culprits.
"Hmm, perhaps if we figure out the method that was used to hypnotize Young master, we may be able to narrow down on the suspects. After all, there aren't many people that have good enough attainments in hypnotic skills to affect a late stage core condensation realm cultivator." Clan Head Lu suggested.
"Alright, we can try that approach. But how will you do that?" Shirong asked.
"Lu Peng, go call Miao'er. We will need her help in this." Clan Head Lu ordered.
"Yes, father." Lu Peng said and swiftly went away.
About five minutes later, he returned with a gorgeous woman in two. Shirong looked at her and could tell at one glance that she practiced seduction arts. There was no way that the charm she had was natural.
'Those concealed fluctuations of spirit qi… they are definitely meant to muddle a man's mind subtly.' Shirong analyzed the method of her skill in a single try.
~Phew~
"Oh boy! Now that is a mature beauty!" Lin Wu praised seeing Miao'er.
But just as Miao'er got close enough, Lin Wu heard the warning of the system.
~Ding~
——
WARNING!: Abnormal spirit qi fluctuations detected.
PRELIMINARILY ANALYSIS COMPLETE: The spirit qi fluctuation can be detrimental to the host's mental state.
SUGGESTION: The host should create a protective field of radiation immediately.
——
Lin Wu almost flinched on seeing the system's warning and activated his innate skill radiation manipulation. Thankfully, his proficiency with the skill had reached Expert and now he was able to contain it much better. Otherwise, he may have ended up burning everyone that was near him.
"Did it just get a bit warm?" Shirong muttered to himself.
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Shirong couldn't help but look at the beautiful woman again and wonder if he was feeling warmer due to her.
'Damn, her skills must be something else…' Shirong's assessment of Miao'er just went up a notch.
"Young master Shirong, this is my daughter Miao'er." Clan head Lu introduced.
A charming and seductive smile appeared on Miao'er's face. Shirong couldn't help but feel his heart stir.
"Greetings, Young master Shirong. It's my pleasure and honor to meet you in person finally." Miao'er said with a little bow, giving Shirong the view of her deep valley.
"Ahem, likewise," Shirong replied.
"I believe Lu Peng already explained the situation to you?" Clan Head Lu questioned.
"Yes, father and I have an idea on how to figure out what happened to Young master Shirong." Miao'er replied.
"And what will that be?" Shirong asked.
"It is quite simple, really. We will simply counteract hypnosis with hypnosis, or more accurately some of my technique and skills. By comparing the effect, I would be able to devise what was actually done to Young master Shirong.
Of course, I will not go overboard and we can stop anytime young master asks me to. We will also have father and elder brother watch us for any problem." Miao'er explained.
Honestly, Shirong felt a bit anxious at letting someone else hypnotize him, that too willingly, but he knew that this was the quickest way to find out the culprits. If there truly was someone targeting and scheming against him, then it would be dangerous to let them hide in the shadows for long.
"Alright, I'll do it." Shirong affirmed.
"We can get started right away if the young master so wills it," Miao'er spoke.
"Young master?" Clan head Lu questioned with raised brows.
"Let's be done as quick as possible. I do not like to be schemed against." Shirong said with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
For a moment there, the clan head and his two children felt chills going down their spine as they sensed the change in Shirong's demeanor.
'Indeed, the heir of the Ji clan cannot be underestimated.' Clan head Lu thought.
'Ugh! Now I want to taste this man even more…' Miao'er thought.
'I pity the fools that tried to plot against Young master Shirong. Not only are they offending him, but in turn, they are also offending a great power of the Long Continent.' Lu Peng inwardly said.
Lin Wu sensed the change in Shirong's aura and could also sense the strange fluctuations that had appeared in his core.
"Huh, what's this…" Lin Wu muttered to himself before taking a look at Shirong's core.
With the back door function, Shirong had no idea that there was someone peeking at this core and prodding it carelessly.
Inside the dantian, Lin Wu could see that the unique energy that was flowing through the channels carved into Shirong's core was behaving abnormally. Usually, it would flow in a specific pattern around the core, but now it was as if there were eddies being formed in it.
"Hmm, system take note of this and analyze it further." Lin Wu ordered.
~Ding~
——
TASK NOTED: Added new objective
——
Seeing that this was done, Lin Wu focused back on the real world where the four people were talking. Miao'er was just explaining to Shirong what she will be doing and what to expect.
"So do you understand everything now, young master?" Miao'er asked for confirmation.
"Yes, I do. Please go ahead." Shirong replied.
Miao'er nodded her head, and suddenly her demeanor changed. If she appeared to be charming before, now she straight up seemed seductive. If she were to walk outside on the roads, the passing men may just jump on her with hearts in their eyes, doing their best to violate her.
Shirong's eyes went dull for a second before returning to normal.
"As expected of Young Master, something of this level won't affect you." Miao'er praised.
Shirong showed no reaction and simply gestured her to continue. Miao'er then went on to test a few more methods, barely any of which were affecting Shirong.
'His mental defenses are truly quite strong and his will power is unyielding as well.' Miao'er thought.
Finally, after nearly twenty tries, something worked. Shirong's expression became dull while he was talking and when it returned to normal a couple of seconds later, he repeated the same thing he had said; forgetting that he had ever said it.
Clan head Lu and Lu Peng's eyes went wide at seeing this.
"Oh, heavens…" Clan head Lu muttered.
Miao'er also furrowed her brows after seeing this and instantly recognized the skill that was used on Young master Shirong.
"Nian Yue sect…" Miao'er uttered.
She then canceled the skill she was using on Shirong, and he returned to his normal condition.
"Huh? What happened…" Shirong muttered in confusion before suddenly realizing it.
"You found the skill that was used…?" Shirong questioned.
"Yes… yes, I did. But you may not like it Young master Shirong." Miao'er replied.
"Just say it, it is fine." Shirong stated.
"The hypnotizing skill that was used on Young Master Shirong belongs to the Nian Yue sect. It is part of their signature cultivation technique, the Hundred Emotions Bending arts." Miao'er answered.
After hearing the words, Shirong's eyes went wide as well. He had never expected this to be true.
"Nian Yue sect? What sect is that?" Lin Wu questioned after being unable to remember from the records he had read.
~Ding~
——
ANSWER: The Nian Yue sect is a mid sized sect that is located outside the borders of the Ling Kingdom and is considered to be one of the subordinate sects that are controlled by the Ji Clan. The Ji clansman that is currently assigned to the Nian Yue sect is Ji Xiaolian, the second sister of Shirong.
——
Lin Wu's interest in the matter just increased by a few levels as he could sense the drama incoming.
"Oh man! We're going to have a lot of fun, aren't we? HAH HAH!" Lin Wu laughed.
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Shirong's face fell as he heard the words of Miao'er. He had never expected that the Nian Yue sect could be behind it. While he knew about the sect itself, as it was one of the subordinate sects of the Ji clan, he didn't know much about their cultivation techniques.
He wondered if it was a misunderstanding of some sort, as he couldn't believe his second sister doing something like this. But the implications of this were obvious, someone was scheming against him and he definitely did not like it.
'What benefit could they have by doing this? Even if I do lose the two guys, I wouldn't have much of a problem… no wait! They know of the secret of the green Crystal spear!' Shirong's eyes went wide as he realized that he had just gotten into much bigger trouble than he thought.
"Young master, are you alright?" Clan head Lu asked.
~sigh~
"I am fine… just need to think over a few things…" Shirong answered.
"Do you need us to do anything?" Lu Peng questioned.
"Yes, send out people to look for Ye Dai and Bei Wen's traces. They are definitely in danger. I want them even if they are dead corpses." Shirong said with a fierce look in his eyes.
"As you wish, young master," Lu Peng replied before leaving to carry out the task.
Miao'er meanwhile looked at him and could sense his discomfort. She was an expert with men's behaviors and could tell that he was much more bothered by this than he was showing. Even she was shocked that the Nian Yue sect could be behind it.
While she knew that it was a subordinate of the Ji clan, she did not know who controlled it apart from the Sect Patriarch. The Ji clan did not let many others know which one of their clansmen were assigned where. Another reason people did not know was that even if a clansman had been assigned to a particular sect, they did not necessarily stay there.
Ji Xiaolian was the same, and while she did have control over the sect, she stayed at the Ji clan most of the time. Only when it was absolutely needed was when she would go there.
Shirong finally looked at Miao'er and found her to be staring at him with interest. He thought for a bit and then spoke.
"The skill that I was hypnotized with, will it still be effective? I mean the one from the Nian Yue sect." Shirong asked.
"No, young master was already getting free from its effects on his own. And now that I've used my own skill on you, it has broken the Thousand Emotion Bending arts' effect totally." Miao'er answered.
"That's good…" Shirong uttered, feeling a bit satisfied.
Now he was feeling just more pressure and knew that if he wanted to come out on top every time, he needed to be stronger… much stronger than he was right now.
"What will you be doing now, Young Master Shirong?" Clan head Lu questioned.
"I'll be going out to practice and train. When I return, I should be ready to breakthrough." Shirong answered.
Clan Head Lu raised his brows, but then nodded his head in understanding.
"Do you need me to send some attendants with you?" Clan head Lu asked.
"No need… I have to do this on my own." Shirong said with determination.
"Please take this communication jade slip, and contact me anytime you need." Clan head Lu said, handing Shirong the jade slip.
"Thank you, this will come in handy. Wait, a few things will be arriving for me from the clan. Inform me when they reach here." Shirong replied after thinking of the high grade spatial storage treasure that the messenger was gonna bring him.
"I'll inform you at the very first moment I see them." Clan head Lu assured.
"Oh, and I need a better spirit sword so I can fly." Shirong asked.
"That's not a problem," Clan head Lu said before withdrawing a spirit sword from his own spatial storage treasure and handing it to Shirong.
Shirong scanned it with his spirit sense and found it to be decent. It was a mid grade spirit sword that was bordering on the edge of high grade. While it was not as good as his previous sword, it didn't matter to him as he only wanted it for flying and not fighting.
In case of a battle, he had the immortal weapon, the green crystal spear. Besides, that spear was the reason why he was going out to hunt. He needed to let it grow and supply him with spirit qi as well.
Nodding his head, Shirong left the private room. The clan head and Miao'er accompanied him to the exit, bidding him farewell at the end.
Shirong jumped on the spirit sword and flew away at a great speed.
Once he was gone, clan head Lu remembered something. He turned his head to look at his daughter Miao'er.
"Wait, we don't know if Young master Shirong was pleased or not!" Clan head Lu said out loud.
~Chuckle~
Miao'er let out a little laugh, seeing her father getting anxious.
"Fear not father, I've sensed Young master Shirong's condition. He was definitely happy with the girls I believe. Anyway, we will learn of it soon… I'll go check up on them." Miao'er said.
"Good, please do that and tell me. NO wait! I'll come with you." Clan head Lu said anxiously.
~Chuckle~
Miao'er let out another chuckle before the both of them flew away to Shirong's courtyard. Landing at the entrance, the servants were alerted and saw that the clan head and mistress Miao had come.
They hurriedly greeted but were dismissed by clan head Lu.
"I'll go check in, you wait here father," Miao'er said before walking into the bedroom.
As soon as she opened the door, she could smell the faint scent that was dispersed in the air. Then she saw the ten girls are lying around on the bed covered by a sheet.
"My, my… he's really a gentleman isn't he~"
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Shirong flew past the Deer wood city at great speed and entered the Millennium forest after half an hour. This spirit sword was much slower than his previous one and thus it took him longer than normal. Still, this was much faster than just walking there.
"Hopefully that messenger can bring me a new spirit sword and spatial storage treasure quickly…" Shirong muttered as he touched the armor on his body.
He was continually draining spirit qi while wearing it and was barely able to balance the drain with his own passive absorption of spirit qi. Shirong also realized that the more time he wore the armor the more comfortable he was getting with it.
His efficiency with spirit qi use was also rising and he was barely wasting it now. Shirong scanned the area with his spirit sense and was not able to find any spirit beasts nearby.
"Hmm… need to go deeper," Shirong said with furrowed brows.
The millennium forest spanned for more than a thousand kilometers in all directions and spanned across five different kingdoms. There were stronger beasts in the center of the forest and the deeper one went the higher the danger became.
At a certain point, it would even become dangerous to fly over the forest as there would be flying spirit beasts that would attack. Still, it would take Shirong around two hours to even cross the outermost ring of the millennium forest.
This was the area where mostly normal beasts lived but also had a few weaker spirit beasts living.
Seeing that he was not having much luck with the beasts, he just decided to kill whichever he saw. Shirong touched the armor and willed it to change the form. The armor trembled on his body and started changing before slithering out of his sleeve like a snake.
Reaching his palm it turned rigid and took back the form of the green Crystal spear.
"Alright! Time to gain more spirit qi!" Lin Wu said to himself with excitement.
~Shua~
The sound of wind tearing was heard as the spear was thrown forward with great speed.
~Thuck~
The spear effortlessly pierced through the back of the spirit beast impaling it to the ground. No cry or growl was heard as the beast died instantly and in a couple of seconds reduced to a dry husk.
Shirong got down to the ground and grasped the spear, pulling it out and absorbing the spirit qi that it gave him. Adding it to his dantian, he let it float around letting his core absorb it passively. Shirong scanned the area again and went towards the next beast that turned up in his range.
This beast was a rather large spirit beast that had forelimbs with two large claws. Still, Shirong did not pay much attention to it as it was much weaker than him, being at the mid stage of the qi refining realm. He approached the beast from the sky and jumped down, stabbing it through its head.
"Might as well practice some different moves and get used to it…" Shirong muttered to himself as he basked in the feeling of absorbing liquid spirit qi.
Shirong repeated the same thing multiple times, as he carved a path paved with beast corpses reaching all the way to the second ring of the millennium forest. This was the ring from where the number of spirit beasts rose and had only a few normal beasts.
The Millennium Forest was divided into a total of six rings. The third ring had spirit beasts that were at the late stage of the qi refining realm and higher. From the fourth ring, one could start to encounter core condensation realm beasts and was the part where Shirong would have to start being cautious.
The fourth ring still had some peak stage qi reining realm spirit beasts and normal cultivators occasionally went there. But the fifth ring was the absolute bordered where seldom anyone went unless they were also at the core condensation realm.
But in the fifth ring, even peak stage core condensation realm beasts could be encountered. Even Shirong would have to be careful when dealing with them. But it was these very beasts that he had come here for. If he wanted to gain a massive amount of spirit qi then core condensation realm, then this was his best bet.
Then finally there was the sixth ring. This was almost considered as a forbidden area as it was occupied by a few nascent soul realm beasts. No one knew how many there were exactly and no one dared to check it either. The sects that were stronger than them wouldn't bother to do a task like this and the others were too weak to even think of that.
The reason behind the growing strength of the beasts as one went deeper into the forest was due to the increased concentration of spirit qi. It was said that there was a spirit qi spring in the very center of the millennium forest and was the thing that allowed the spirit beasts to grow stronger.
Some sects had actually tried to obtain this spirit qi spring, but till now no one had been successful, most of them dying before even reaching it. And the ones that did get near it, were either eaten by the nascent soul realm beasts or escaped by the skin of their teeth.
If Shirong wanted to go to the fifth ring of the millennium forest, he would have to spend at least fifteen days to cross the first to fourth ring.
Lin Wu was enjoying this and felt amazing to leech of Shirong. He barely had to put any effort and he would get spirit qi and vital energy.
"Ahh~ it was the right decision, saving Shirong that day. If I had let him die, who knows what I would be doing today, but enjoying free spirit qi like this would have definitely not been possible." Lin Wu said to himself while lying in an imaginary hammock in his mind.
Meanwhile, Shirong was slaughtering a pack of long horned earth bulls. He was covered in blood from the beasts while Lin Wu was still spotless, enjoying it all.
Report chapter
About five days had passed since Shirong had started hunting for beasts. He would hunt for about eight hours straight every day before stopping to travel further. The constant hunting was replenishing the spirit qi he would use during the fights and even exceeding it by a small margin.
While it was a rather small net increase in his total spirit qi amount, it was still more than what he would obtain by cultivating normally. Lin Wu meanwhile was having a great time. His spirit qi stores and vital energy stores were rising steadily and even their progress with the systems analysis was going well.
Lin Wu had already scanned the area around him with the help of the system and knew that they were at the edge of the second ring, soon to enter the third ring. Had it not been that Shirong needed to rest as well, they would have already entered the third ring a day ago.
Still, Lin Wu was not one to complain about someone that was basically power leveling him for free. He was liking this 'carry'. All Lin Wu had to do in exchange was bear the blows which he was quite used to now and could ignore without much problem and also to use the skills when he was directed to.
~Shing~
~Splatter~
~Drop~
Shirong just cut off the head of another beast that looked like a lizard that had scales with the texture of wood. He then stabbed the green Crystal spear into the beast to let it absorb the spirit qi for him. A second later, he felt the liquid spirit qi pouring into him and quickly absorbed it into his dantian.
Shirong was still a bit doubtful about the strange energy that flowed around his core. That was the reason why he was not absorbing the spirit qi directly into his core. He would gather it into his dantian and would then properly assimilate it when he went to rest.
This way he was able to sense for any abnormalities that may arise due to the strange energy. Though after five days, he was finally feeling that there was most likely no problem with his core.
~Sigh~
"Another day of hunting in the third ring should push me back to the peak stage of the Core condensation realm…" Shirong muttered to himself.
Another thing Shirong was doing during this time was to keep an eye on the communication Jade slip. He wanted to be alerted the moment the news about the messenger came and thus kept an eye on it. But now that five days had passed, and he had come this deeper, he was in a dilemma whether to return back to the town or not.
If the messenger really did come now, he would take at least two days to travel back, even at full speed. But if he did that he would also end up depleting a significant part of the spirit qi he had obtained. It would have been fine if he was still at the first ring, as returning would have at most taken a day.
He wouldn't be making much of a loss there either. The other side of his dilemma was that, if he crossed the third ring of the Millennium forest and entered the fourth, even if the messenger came, he wouldn't know as he would be beyond the maximum range of the jade slip.
This jade slip was a low quality one and thus could not communicate for that far off a distance with its maximum range being 500 kilometers. If Shirong had his previous one it would not have been a problem to communicate even at a distance of a 1000 kilometers, but that jade slip had been destroyed along with the spatial storage ring.
A lot of things had become problematic for him due to that incident, and he had never expected that a loss of a spatial storage treasure would inhibit him so much.
~Sigh~
"I need to make a decision soon, or there would be no turning back…" Shirong muttered to himself after thinking for a bit.
The sky was turning dark, and it would be night time soon. The noise of the beasts was only starting to get louder as the sun went down, bit by bit. It was as if the entire forest came alive at night and a cacophony of growls, howls and cries echoed.
Shirong soon found some shelter and chose to rest. He knew very well that the danger during the night time was much greater than the day time. While he had confidence in his strength, he knew better to err on the side of caution.
He assimilated all the spirit qi that he had obtained during the day and slept after that. He had already set up some protective and alarm formations around, so he wasn't as worried. The place where Shirong was resting currently was an old tree that had collapsed.
The bottom of its trunk was rather wide and hollow, making him able to comfortably sit inside. While Shirong had lived in luxury most of his life at the Ji clan, he was no foreigner to a life of a wandering cultivator. He had been to many missions before and had explored dangerous areas.
He didn't mind being tainted with dirt and water, and neither was his mind affected. The Ji clan wasn't one that would raise a flower in a green house, incredibly weak to the outed elements. No… they raised unyielding trees that would grow through mountains and shatter rocks with their roots.
Still, none of this applied to Lin Wu, and he was comfortably laying on the side of Shirong. The man had placed him on a folded piece of cloth that was rather soft and of a good quality. While the cloth and spear were spotlessly clean, Shirong himself was stained with blood and mud.
Lin Wu was getting bored and thus started playing with the map, checking out the areas, when he suddenly found something that caught his eye.
"Oh? What's this?"
Lin Wu had seen something peculiar on the map. While the map was mostly static and would only update when Lin Wu asked for it, seeing as he had a steady supply of spirit qi, he had asked the system to switch it to dynamic mode so that he could see the changes in real time.
Lin Wu felt that it would be better as there could be danger at any time seeing as they were in an incredibly dangerous forest. He had been informed by the system about a long list of dangers that were present in the forest and had also been warned about things that could harm him.
Thus even if he was with Shirong, he still kept an eye on everything.
The thing that had caught Lin Wu's eye was some changes that were happening on the map, a few tens of kilometers away from his current location. He could see that the trees were being broken as they would disappear from the map and the ground's color also changed on the map, which meant that either its depth was increased or decreased.
'Something or someone is moving things there, huh…' Lin Wu thought.
"System, can you check what's there? You can use the spirit qi." Lin Wu ordered.
With the steady increase in spirit qi, Lin Wu had set a certain limit on the spirit qi consumption rate of the system. As long as the consumption was below 100 liquid spirit qi units, the system could use it without his permission.
But if it went beyond that limit, the system would have to ask for his explicit permission before it could proceed further.
~Ding~
——
MAP SCANNER: Activated
MULTIPLE TARGETS DETECTED: 241 beasts, 895 Spirit beasts.
NARROWING TARGETS: 2 Core condensation realm beasts detected in the chosen area.
——
"Oh, so its caused by them it seems… are they fighting?" Lin Wu wondered.
Lin Wu was now interested and wanted to see how other core condensation realm beasts fought like. In the entire time he had been here, he had only seen one beast that Shirong encountered. That too was killed rather quick and absorbed by him.
Lin Wu had slowly realized that while he himself was a beast, he barely had any knowledge about other beasts in this world. All that he knew was from the books and data that the system had gathered. But there was a big difference in the recorded data and the actual thing.
Even if the information about the beasts had been gathered, it had been done so by the by none other than humans. Even if humans were knowledgeable about beasts, they wouldn't have an idea of what being like a beast felt like.
Lin Wu felt like he was in a strange conflict. On one side was his human aspect which was his soul while on the other hand was his beastly Worm form. He couldn't help but feel that he was missing something, but to find out what he was missing he felt like he needed to see other beasts.
This was an innate feeling he got from the bottom of his heart and he couldn't explain it. Even the system was clueless about it and simply told Lin Wu that his condition was normal with no abnormalities.
'Hmm… should I check it out, perhaps?' Lin Wu thought to himself.
He looked at Shirong and saw that he was deep in mediation. Lin Wu used his link with Shirong through the Back door function of the system, and saw that he was fully focused on assimilating the spirit qi. In fact, he was actually half asleep and was letting his core absorb on its own now.
It was evident that constant hunting and traveling like this had taken a toll on Shirong's mind and he needed to rest his mind. While he couldn't fully sleep as it would be incredibly dangerous, he could still mediate to recover his mental energy.
These past five days Lin Wu had seen Shirong closely and knew that he would not move until the morning, or if the formations were triggered. So far no beasts had come closer to him as they were also repelled by the power of the formations.
Lin Wu knew that even if he left, there shouldn't be much of a problem.
"Hmm, system link up with the formations here and create a temporary interface." Lin Wu ordered.
~Ding~
——
ESTABLISHING LINK: Please wait patiently
LINK ESTABLISHED: Virtual interface created.
Formation Array Interface:-
1.Activate Formations
2.Deactivate Formations
——
"System, just alert me if there is a breach in the formations." Lin Wu ordered.
A notification sounded telling him that the command was accepted, and then Lin Wu got ready to leave.
"Hmm, I should check if everything is ready, who knows what could happen there…" Lin Wu muttered to himself.
"System, show me the Host Data window." Lin Wu ordered.
He had not seen the window for a while now, and there had been a lot of updates to it. So many that he had just put them on the back and had instructed the system to only inform him of the most important ones.
~Ding~
——
HOST NAME: Lin Wu
AGE: 2 years, 5 months, 19 days
LIFESPAN: 300 years
HOST SPECIES: Crimson Eyed Emerald Worm
HOST CULTIVATION: Mid stage of the Core Condensation Realm
-Spirit Qi required to upgrade = [0000/12000] units (liquid spirit qi)
QI STORAGE: 12597 units [liquid spirit qi]
BLOODLINE: 1. Crimson Eyed Emerald Worm (System Manufactured)
2. Unknown (3)
CULTIVATION TECHNIQUES: None
QI SKILLS: 1. Qi Amplification (Lesser)(Proficiency: Novice)
INNATE SKILLS: 1. Radiation Manipulation (minor) (Proficiency: Expert)
2. Cellular Manipulation (lesser) (Proficiency: Expert)
3. Cellular Crystallization (great) (Proficiency: Intermediate)
INVENTORY: Broken Spear, Broken metal plate, Pink Women's underwear, Dagger
BEAST CORES: 1.Fully Condensed(Crimson Eyed Emerald Worm)
2. Incomplete core
VITAL ENERGY STORAGE:13698 units
SYSTEM ENERGY STORAGE: 11985 units
RAW BLOODLINE DATA COLLECTED:
1. Common Grass Mouse
2. Rock Trampler Boar
3. Human
4. Unknown (3)
5. Ash Crowned Buck
[Extend 54]
——
Lin Wu was a bit surprised but had expected for the result to be something like this. He had been getting so many notifications that he had to make only the important ones come up and the minor updates were hidden until he asked for them in the log.
He looked at his spirit qi stores and saw that he already had enough to upgrade to the next stage of the core condensation realm. But he was not ready to do that yet. He had already seen the effect that happened when he rapidly upgraded his cultivation.
Lin Wu reckoned that this was the 'Stable foundation' that they talked about in cultivation. Even the system was rather unsure of this concept as according to it, everything was normal. Yet there were unknown things that would occur beyond his control.
He had also added a rather large amount to his system energy storage as it had a lot of tasks it needed to do and it was rather convenient when the system didn't have to ask him every few minutes. This way he could limit the system's usage of energy by soft-capping it by this method.
Lin Wu had also known how much spirit qi he would be requiring for the next upgrade seeing how each upgrade needed double the amount of the previous amount. He estimated that he would need 24,000 drops of liquid spirit qi to upgrade to the peak stage of the core condensation realm.
Another thing was the incomplete core which belonged to his second bloodline which was unknown. He was still a bit unsure about touching that thing yet and wanted to watch it for a bit. He had also assigned another task to the system, which was to analyze this incomplete core for any problems.
Only when he received the green signal that everything was safe would he touch it.
The second big thing that happened was the rather large number of raw bloodline data he had collected. Lin Wu realized that if he didn't consume the entire beast, it took longer to obtain the raw bloodline data for that beast.
In fact, for one of the beasts he had to drain about a hundred and twelve of them to gain the raw bloodline data. Still, he wasn't as interested in these bloodlines as they were of common beasts and weak spirit beasts.
His own bloodlines were of a much higher level than those and assimilating them was out of the equation. Besides most of them were not even compatible with him and could not be refined further. So for now they were pretty much only there for show.
Since they took up a rather large space on the Host data window, Lin Wu simply condensed the section.
"System, from now on only the bloodlines that are either close to mine in quality or a above mine should be shown." Lin Wu ordered.
~Ding~
——
COMMAND ACCEPTED: Changing display order.
RAW BLOODLINE DATA COLLECTED:
1. Human
2. Unknown (3)
[Extend 57]
——
"Ah, that's much cleaner. I can check them later if needed, anyway." Lin Wu muttered to himself.
Lin Wu took one last look at Shirong and ensured that he was occupied with himself before sneaking from the side. He immediately dug into the ground and started moving a bit away from the area Shirong was in. Lin Wu was now excited about something new.
"I finally get to return to my full form!" Lin Wu said in excitement.
He came out of the ground about two kilometers away before transforming. There were a few beasts around him that noticed him and came close to him to attack him. It was night time, and this was when most of the beasts were active.
The beasts were peak stage qi refining realm Shadow Claw beasts. They looked like a mix between a dog and a lizard and had long black claws. Their dark fur allowed them to blend into the shadows while their scaly tail slithered.
Lin Wu knew that they were gathering around him but it didn't matter to him. His defenses were far too strong for them to get through it anyway. Another thing was his status as a core condensation realm beast. If his aura was fully released there was no chance a qi refining realm beast would come close to him.
Right now the system was still restraining his spirit qi fluctuations but now that he was free, he could do whatever he waited.
"KRREEEEEEEE!!!!!"
An ear piercing screech came out of Lin Wu's mouth as he started to grow in size rapidly. This was the first time he had actually let out a noise like this and he didn't even know his natural voice would be like this.
'Damn! It really is scary as hell! I sound like some alien from a movie.' Lin Wu thought to himself.
The Shadow claw beasts that were running toward Lin Wu froze in their tracks, unable to move a single muscle. Some of them directly collapsed to the ground due to the fear while the ones that were the closest started trembling.
The full force of Lin Wu's aura was released as the nearby trees started to shake due to the wind stirring up. Lin Wu was now in his full size being over ten meters long and about thirty centimeters thick. His size had actually grown a bit more and he was unaware of this as he had been in the spear form all along.
~Welp~
The shadow claw beasts cried in fear as they tried to retreat. But then an emerald green tail blocked their path.
"Where do you think you are going?" Lin Wu said, but all that came out of his mouth was another beastly screech.
Then in the next instant, he lashed out whipping the shadow claw beasts that were nearby.
~Shua~
He slithered ahead and killed the rest of the shadow claw beasts that were ahead as well. Within five seconds nine shadow claw beasts were dead and no cries were heard anymore.
"Well then… dinner time~"
It had been a long time since Lin Wu had the chance to eat beasts directly and even though he had eaten some of the food at the Lu clan, it was barely enough as a snack for him. Lin Wu opened his mouth wider than the thickness of his body and swallowed the beast corpses whole.
He also ended up eating some soil and stones with it, but that wasn't really a concern for him.
~Crunch~Crunch~Crunch~
His spike like teeth protruded inside his mouth as they minced the corpses. A minute later, Lin Wu was finally done and felt good.
~Ding~
——
SPIRIT QI OBTAINED: 2446 Units [Drops]
QI STORAGE: 15043 units [liquid spirit qi]
VITAL ENERGY OBTAINED: 1265 Units [Wisps]
VITAL ENERGY STORAGE: 14963 units
——
"Damn! I've really been making a loss there with Shirong there, huh?" Lin Wu said seeing the amount he got from these beasts.
"Perhaps I should figure out a way so that I can sneak out more." Lin Wu muttered to himself.
'Well, then where are the two beasts?' Lin Wu thought to himself as he brought out the map window.
He could see that the two beasts had moved much farther than where they were before and they had left a trail of destruction on the way.
"System, how much distance is this?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
——
ANSWER: The host is approximately 102 kilometers away from the targets.
——
"Hmm, alright. Shouldn't take me that long to reach there." Lin Wu muttered to himself before lowering himself and entering the ground.
With the navigation running in background and giving him directions, Lin Wu could fully focus on digging. While digging he was even figuring out different methods, he could use to increase his speed furtherer. At first, he was just digging how it was instinctively known by his body.
But he reckoned that there much to be more efficient methods to dig. He had dug for about thirty minutes by now and had covered about twenty kilometers of a distance. He finally came up on an idea and tried to apply it.
"Let's see… move the eyes to the front, streamline the body. And, create some groves…" Lin Wu muttered to himself.
The joints of his segments smoothed out a bit as his body became more streamlined. Then spiral grooves started to appear on his body bit by bit. It took him more effort than he thought to make them uniform. After about ten attempts, he had finally made them to look like the grooves on a screw.
"Time to try it out now…" Lin Wu said as he took a deep breath.
Then… he started to rotate his body.
~Rumble~
The ground trembled a bit as his body sped up. Soon it had become fast enough that he started moving ahead. The grooves along his body created traction, and the rotation caused him to move forward, just like a screw would when you turned it.
Though after about a minute, his head started to get dizzy.
"Aw damn… I can't keep on spinning like this or I'll vomit… though I don't even know if that's possible." Lin Wu said to himself as he stopped.
As his body was spinning, his eyes would spin with it too, making him much more dizzy.
"What else can I do… if I want to not get dizzy I need to make it so that my eyes stay in the same position…" Lin Wu thought out loud.
He then began a new attempt, this time controlling his eyes to stay in place as he moved ahead. He failed this time too though, as his eyes would still involuntarily move along with his body. Lin Wu didn't give up though, he kept on trying until he was finally able to match the speed of rotation of his body and the counter rotation of his eyes.
Eventually after another thirty minutes he had achieved the equilibrium speed and no longer felt dizzy.
"System, how far is the target now?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
——
ANSWER: The host is bout 42 kilometers away from the target.
——
Just using the new method of movement had more than doubled Lin Wu's speed, even though he had taken a few breaks along the way as well.
"Looks like the two beasts are moving further and further as well… but why are they fighting though? Territory? Or just a normal conflict?" Lin Wu wondered.
Now fully focusing on the task of digging, Lin Wu started to spin even faster as he moved at a greater speed than before. Then within twenty minutes Lin Wu was at the location of the two beasts. In fact, he was already able to feel the vibrations in the ground due to their fights.
Lin Wu didn't know how big the beasts were before coming here, but now that he scanned them with his spirit sense he found that they were actually smaller than him. One of the beasts looked like an oversized beetle that was the size of a small car while the other beast was a large mole.
The beetle was bigger than the mole in size though, and even had a long horn with multiple small spikes on it. Blood could be seen on the horn, but cracks were also visible on the carapace of the beetle's body. As for the large mole beast, it was missing a few of its teeth and a long gash could be seen on its back, evidently caused by the horn of the beetle beast.
The two beasts were far too involved in the battle to pay attention to Lin Wu. They did not even react when his sprite sense scanned over them as they were drowning in blood lust. This was rather surprising to Lin Wu as he wondered if this is what being a beast was like. Fighting mindlessly until one of them came out on the top.
"Well, then… time to make my presence known," Lin Wu muttered to himself.
He got into the perfect positing before bursting out of the ground with great momentum.
"KREEEEEEEE!!!"