Read Rise Of The Worm Sovereign Chapter 201 - Happy Companions? online for free - AllNovelFull
Lin Wu appeared at the side of Shirong who was pretty close to waking up already. He could tell that the man was still adjusting to his new physique and his body was twitching as a result of it.
Lin Wu looked outside the cave and saw that it was nearly dawn and the sky had started to turn a pale blue. It was always hard to see the sun due to the thick forest canopy and thus the color was the easiest way to tell.
Lin Wu then checked upon his avatar and easily switched his point of view to it.
"Whoa, this is a bit disorienting…" The avatar said.
Lin Wu moved around his avatar a bit and got used to it. The size of the avatar was nearly identical to the main body and thus it didn't take him long to acclimatize. Once he was done, he brought up the monitoring formation screen and scrolled to the one that showed the entrance of the tomb.
There he could see Wang Xiong approaching his companions who were talking amongst each other.
"LOOK! Its senior brother!" One of them shouted.
"It really is him! And he didn't appear here directly like us, that means he succeeded, right?" Su Wen questioned.
Wang Xiong had a smile appear on his face upon seeing all his companions safe and sound. Even Su Wen, who had suffered the most trauma relatively speaking, was looking normal and there were no apparent effects on him.
His eyes then went to his junior sister, who had sacrificed her life to save him back in the last trial. He couldn't help but feel touched, and now that she was back to her normal youthful appearance he found himself to like her even more than before.
"I'm here and I got it! I succeeded in getting the inheritance!" Wang Xiong spoke.
"That's amazing senior brother." The late stage Core condensation realm woman said.
"If it were not for you, I would never have succeeded, Ye Jin." Wang Xiong said looking at the woman.
"Senior brother…" This was the first time Wang Xiong had called her by her name, and thus Ye Jin felt a bit flustered.
The others didn't notice this in either excitement and thus got to talking about all that happened after they were thrown out of the tomb. Ye Jin told them what happed to Su Wen as apparently, Su Wen himself had no memory of the thing. Wang Xiong then explained the rest, finishing up everything.
Lin Wu was gonna continue listening, but he felt something touch his main body which prompted him to return his focus.
'Oh, it's just Shirong.' Lin Wu thought.
He had woken up and was now holding Lin Wu in his hand, ready to leave the cave. Shirong had used up a part of the spirit Qi that was given to him by Lin Wu and used that to progress his body tempering realm cultivation to the peak. This had given him a lot of benefits and had raised his overall aptitude.
He still needed a bit more of the spirit Qi so that he could have enough to reach the Nascent Soul realm, but that was not going to be a problem with Lin Wu around. He jumped on his spirit sword and flew ahead while looking around for beasts.
Lin Wu checked on the map and easily found a few beasts on the path back to the city. Shirong had decided that he would only kill the beasts he encounter on his way back so as to save time, and Lin Wu just decided to help him out.
With a little suggestion here and there, Shirong quickly gained enough spirit Qi that was required for him to reach the Nascent Soul realm. And while he was doing this, Lin Wu was controlling his avatar to observe Wang Xiong and his companions.
Wang Xiong had contacted him in the middle and asked him whether he could tell his companions about the Taiji Celestial and the inheritance. Lin Wu permitted him to do that, as it was essential for his plans.
He needed to make an organization of his own and for that, he would need the reputation of someone strong and who else better than the Taiji Celestial himself. Although a lot of things that Lin Wu said about him were lies, there was no one who could verify those claims.
If they wanted to gain even the most basic of information, the only other source they had was the Tomb itself. But the tomb was now in the control of Lin Wu so that base was covered as well. Wang Xiong thus told his companions about the story of the Taiji Celestial and about the hidden threat of the Shadow Calamity.
They were shocked to say the least upon hearing that an existence such as the Taiji Celestial existed. Though Lin Wu asked Wang Xiong to avoid mentioning his own existence for now, as that would only be told to the people who absolutely needed to know or if the situation demanded it.
With all the points explained, the companions of Wang Xiong were lost in thought.
~Howl~
"We should leave the forest now, time to head back." Wang Xiong spoke.
"Umm… senior brother, we may have a problem." The Grey robed cultivator spoke.
"What is it?" Wang Xiong questioned.
"Since we've run out of the beast Inciting powered, how are we going to divert the beasts' attention?" He asked.
"Ahahaha!" Wang Xiong laughed in response.
"Did you forget I've already gotten the inheritance?" Wang Xiong said with a grin, "as long as we don't come across a Nascent Soul realm beast, I'm confident of getting us out of here." He explained.
The eyes of the cultivators lit up as they finally got out of their old mindset.
"Yes! With senior brother backing us, we will have an easier time now." Ye Jin said.
The others nodded their heads and felt a lot calmer than before.
"Let's head back then."
Shirong had crossed the third ring of the millennium forest by now and had also hunted pleat of beasts by now. On the other hand, Wang Xiong and his companions were also around the third ring although on a different direction.
Shirong was heading towards the north while Wang Xiong and his companions were heading towards the west. Their sect was to the south of the Millennium forest, but for them doing south directly would mean entering the sixth ring which would be a deadly decision.
Thus they were going towards the west, and then would change their direction from there. Lin Wu had estimated that by the time Shirong and he reached the Wu Lim city, Wang Xiong would reach the southern part of the first ring.
Currently, Shirong and Wang Xiong had nearly the same cultivation base. Shirong was slightly above Wang Xiong as he had the spirit Qi while Wang Xiong had used up his to increase the power of the skill Glacier Crash.
Though considering overall strength, Shirong and Wang Xiong would be the same as Shirong had his peak stage body tempering realm cultivation along with a higher aptitude, while Wang Xiong had the cultivation technique from the Taiji Celestial's inheritance.
Even the inferior version, The Taiji Refinement Scripture, was comparable to that of Shirong's top grade Immortal Sky Shaker Art. Perhaps the only thing that would change the standing would be Shirong reaching the Nascent Soul realm.
Currently, Lin Wu was practicing the Taiji Dual Unity Scripture with his Avatar. He didn't do it with his main body, as he didn't know if there would be any additional effects that could be problematic. With the avatar, Lin Wu would have a free hand in experimenting with techniques and testing new things.
~Ding~
——
SPIRIT QI INCREASED: 200 units [Liquid Spirit Qi]
AVATAR CULTIVATION: Early Stage of the Core Condensation Realm.
-Spirit Qi required to upgrade = [1200/6000] units (liquid spirit qi)
——
Lin Wu had been cultivating with his avatar for the past two days while they traveled and had obtained 1200 units of Liquid spirit Qi in that time. While this seemed like it was slow compared to hunting down beats and consuming their spirit Qi, that was not a sustainable method, while this would keep on providing him with spirit Qi as long as there was spirit Qi in the environment.
Another thing was that he could do other tasks while cultivating as well, which increased his overall efficiency. During this time, Lin Wu had checked the functions of the Tomb's formation array and had learned more about them. Before he didn't have as much time and thus couldn't see them properly, but now he also knew how to turn on the functions that were offline.
At first, Lin Wu had thought that the reason why the functions were offline was because of some kind of damage that could have happened to the formation array over the many years it had been working. But that assumption turned out to be wrong as the formation was fully intact, rather it was the power source that originally used to be part of it that had been disconnected.
This was all that was needed for Lin Wu to guess what the power source must have been.
"The Spirit Qi source beneath the Dark Bloom Caverns… that is the main power source of the Formation array. Currently it is just operating by using some spirit Qi in the area with the help of some spirit Qi absorbing formation array." Lin Wu muttered to himself.
'But why did it get disconnected?' Lin Wu wondered.
This was the second question that Lin Wu had reached after that. He had already asked the system to check the formation array for any information behind the disconnection. He thought that if he could find the reason behind the disconnection, it might be possible to reverse that without going into the Dark Bloom Caverns.
He was still waiting for that, as the system had quoted him a time period of anywhere from one day to ten days for that. Two days had already passed since he did that, and there was still no response to it.
Checking the functions also gave him information on the Tribulation Attenuation formation that the tomb had. This formation was basically a part of a tribulation platform, but this one could be used for any cultivation technique. Lin Wu had thus decided that he would be using this when the time for his own tribulation came.
Unlike the other functions, the Tribulation Attenuation formation didn't necessarily need the spirit Qi from the main source below the Dark Gloom Caverns, rather it could be powered by the auxiliary powering formations as well, as long as enough supply was assigned to it.
For now, Lin Wu had diverted 10% of the spirit Qi absorbed by the auxiliary powering formations to the Tribulation attenuation formation as he didn't know when he would need it. And by the time he does, the formation should have accumulated a decent amount of spirit Qi.
~Rumble~
Suddenly Lin Wu's main body heard the loud rumbling of thunder from the sky above. The thunder was much stronger than normal thunder and he could see dense dark clouds gathered in the sky. But the thing that was the strangest was that there was a disturbance in the spirit Qi in the air too.
"What! Those clouds and the thunder…" Shirong suddenly stopped and looked up at the sky through the gaps in the forest canopy.
He hesitated for a bit before flying halfway to the top of the trees and then climbing all the way to the top. There were a few flying beasts that tried to attack him, much to their misfortune as they were smashed with a single swipe of the spear.
When Shirong reached the top and saw the sky clearly, his eyes went wide.
"What's he shocked about? Didn't we see a few storms like this before?" Lin Wu wondered to himself.
"It can't be… Heavenly Tribulation!"
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Lin Wu was shocked from seeing the heavenly tribulation too. He had not expected to see it today, and it has just appeared randomly here. He didn't know why but he had a bad feeling about it.
Even though Shirong was on top of a tree, the source of the heavenly tribulation could not be seen. Whatever beast or cultivators were undergoing the tribulation, the clouds would be concentrated over them.
Lin Wu immediately switched to his avatar and teleported to the top of the hill where the tomb was located. The hill was taller than the other trees thus it was relatively easier for him to spot the source of tribulation.
"It's there, in the south at the sixth ring." Lin Wu muttered.
He was then reminded of the words of the mole beast. He had told that the rulers of the forest wanted to make one of their subordinates into a Nascent soul realm beast and they were looking for the opportunity.
'Seems like one of them succeeded… but who?' Lin Wu wondered.
He immediately contacted his servant beasts one by one, wanting to see if they had any more information about it. The two bird beasts and the beetle beast were in the blind about this and had only found out it right now when the tribulation clouds gathered.
The mole beast though had an answer.
"Master, the Slim Arm Ape King! He had been hiding his capabilities all along!" the Mole beast spoke
"What? Calm down and explain properly." Lin Wu said.
Lin Wu could tell the beast was anxious and its breath was out of order. It was likely to have been running or doing something strenuous, otherwise it would have not been like this. He also checked his vital status just to be sure and found it to be normal.
"The Slim Arm Ape, he isn't at the child stage of the Nascent Soul realm, he's at the adolescent stage. He had apparently been holding back his breakthrough this entire time and used the force of his breakthrough to trigger his son's heavenly tribulation.
His son was already at the peak of the core condensation realm and was waiting for the heavenly tribulation to come. With the help from his father, he is now about to undergo the heavenly tribulation." The mole beast explained.
~RUMBLE~
Just as he finished speaking, a bolt of lightning streaked across the dark clouds, lighting up the sky in a bright white light. Lin Wu looked at the color of the lightning and found it to be white with purple edges, just like normal lightning was. But he could also sense a strange power contained within the lightning.
He could tell that it wasn't just spirit Qi that was within it, but a different power that he couldn't quantify.
"System, what's your analysis?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
——
ANSWER: According to the data banks and the system's analysis, the heavenly tribulation contains a 'Dao' within it. This is the reason why the host is feeling the suppressor from it.
——
"Hmm… I had expected it as such. But seeing it is completely different." Lin Wu muttered to himself.
He was also gonna undergo heavenly tribulation soon enough and thus wanted to get more information about it. There was Shirong too of course, and Lin Wu was gonna be quite close to him during the tribulation. He didn't want to accidentally be affected by it, thus thought that getting more information would be the best course of action.
He went back to his main body for a second and saw that Shirong was not moving from his place and had instead sat down cross legged on one of the top branches of the tree, closely observing the heavenly tribulation.
"Even a single chance extra of seeing a heavenly tribulation is valuable. The people at the Deer Wood city are paying so much to see mine, while I can see one here for free. How can I waste this opportunity." Shirong muttered to himself.
Lin Wu internally nodded his head in understanding and returned to the avatar again to observe the tribulation properly. It had been ten minutes by now and the clouds were fully saturated by this point.
Thick lightning bolts the size of a bowl were slithering in the clouds like snakes. A suppressive feeling came from the clouds that silenced the entire forest. Even the beasts that could be seen flying from time to time stopped.
~rumble~
~BOOM~
The lightning gathered around making rumbling sounds and then fell from the sky striking an area in the sixth ring. The sound was loud and shook all the trees of the forest with its force.
"Damn! It's powerful!" Lin Wu exclaimed.
After the first bolt fell, the lightning gathered again for a minute before striking.
~BOOOM~
This time its power was greater and even exploded some of the trees in the area. Lin Wu could tell this, since a lot of debris was thrown in the air due to the power of the lightning strike. Lin Wu felt goosebumps on his body seeing the lightning. He looked back at Shirong from his main body and saw that the faint threads on his clothes were standing due to the static electricity in the air.
But this caused Lin Wu to feel something different in his perception now. He changed his perception from normal to radiation perception and saw radiation spread everywhere in the air. But this radiation was different from the normal thermal radiation he was used to seeing. It had a different form, and it was distributed in waves.
Lin Wu looked back up at the sky and saw the dense blue colored lights there. Instead of black clouds, all he could see were blue ones. He finally understood what it was.
"Of course! Lightning is electricity, which is just another form of radiation." Lin Wu exclaimed in realization.
And just as he had this realization, more lightning gathered in the sky before a large 'mouth' was created in the clouds. Then from that 'mouth' a bolt of lightning that was three times thicker than before fell.
~KABOOOM!~
The power of the third bolt was the strongest and created a sonic boom that destroyed trees in an even larger radius than before. In fact, some of the trees have been directly been ignited due to the traces of lightning that had spread in the area.
Lin Wu could see the red flames and the smoke coming from the distance, signifying that the fires were blazing. He wondered if there would be more strikes, but soon it proved to be no.
The clouds started dissipating, and about five minutes later they were gone, leaving behind a clear sky.
'So did that monkey beast succeed or not?' Lin Wu wondered.
He watched on for a few more movements and saw the change in the spirit Qi of the area. A huge vortex started manifesting, completely made out of spirit Qi. This vortex was right where the tribulation lightning had fallen.
The vortex spun at great speed and gathered a lot of spirit Qi, pouring it down to the bottom. This process lasted for about five more minutes before it stopped and a strong fluctuation of spirit Qi came from that location.
But that was not as Lin Wu could feel a bloodline aura mixed within it. Lin Wu's body started glowing without control and his red eyes glimmered like stars. He suddenly found himself in a different space.
He knew that it was just his mind that was here and not his body. Here Lin Wu saw a few figures manifesting in front of him. The first figure was that of a large beetle that had a horn with barbed thorns on it.
The second figure was that of an ape that had long and slim arms that reached all the way to the ground. Its body was packed with lean muscles and a hint of intelligence could be seen in its eyes.
The third figure was that of a large liger. It was similar to that of the Lamp light ligers that Lin Wu had seen before but was much larger in size. It had two eyes, one black, and the other white.
The fourth figure was of a snake that was about a hundred meters long and three feet thick. It had green crystalline plates on its back and its scales were olive green. It had long fangs and yellow eyes.
The final beast was the one that caught Lin Wu's attention the most. This was also an ape, but it was much larger than the one he had seen before. It had a buff, muscled body with a wide torso. Its spine could be seen coming out of its back as the bone grew directly out of the flesh. The spine spread into the ribs, which formed a sort of armor around its chest. Its fur had red patterns on it, and a dangerous aura could be seen coming from it.
Lin Wu realized who all these beasts were. The first four were the rulers of the millennium forest and the final one was the son of the Slim Arm Ape king that had the second bloodline of the Demon spine ape.
~Roar!~
The Liger king roared at everyone after appearing, trying to intimidate them.
~Thud~
The beetle king slammed its horn on the ground, creating quakes and threatening the others.
~Kiiiii~
The slim arm ape let out a strange growl from its throat that spread through the air.
~Hiss~
The Viper king let out a deadly hiss, that suppressed other's auras while bearing its long fangs that were dripping with venom.
~HOWL~
The son of the ape king let out a howl from its mouth that seemed unusual coming from an ape. The beasts all growled at each other, trying to suppress each others' bloodline. There was a strange resonance that was occurring between each bloodline, and it was as if they were trying to determine which one was the strongest.
For a while, the five beasts were only trying to intimidate each other, and it was as if they had not seen Lin Wu there yet. Their battle continued and eventually, the Demon Spine ape came out on the top, letting out a great howl while beating its chest and baring its teeth.
It was now that the beasts noticed a sixth being along with them.
~howl~
~hiss~
~Roars
~Kiii~
~Thud~
Not a single word was spoken before all of the beasts started intimidating Lin Wu. The pressure on his mind increased by a lot suddenly, and he couldn't think for a bit due to the impact. But then his main body that was in the form of a spear started glowing too, along with the avatar and an impeccable pressure was released from it.
Shirong who had been holding the Immortal Crystal Armament in his hand found it to be thrumming with power and then started glowing in a green light along with two red ones at the top.
'Why is it doing this?…' Shirong wondered.
"Wait! Is it due to the heavenly tribulation, perhaps? Did something trigger a seal in it?" Shirong muttered to himself in confusion.
Shirong couldn't sense the bloodline aura of the beasts and neither could he feel it coming from the body of Lin Wu, thus he was not shocked like he was before when he had fainted directly.
Back in the mind of Lin Wu, the pressure he was feeling from the intimidation of the five beasts was suddenly gone. Instead, the five beasts were now cowering on the ground, unable to move.
If one looked from the perspective of the five beasts though, they would see a massive beast that was the size of a hill standing in front of them. Its body was hidden in a haze and could not be seen clearly, but what could be seen were the crimson red eyes that had purple outlines.
The eyes glared at the five beasts and suppressed them with ease. It was as if the battle of auras that they had before was but just a joke in front of it.
The illusion broke after that, and Lin Wu found himself back in his mind.
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After his consciousness returned back to his body, Lin Wu understood what had happened back there.
"So that was bloodline resonance, huh?" Lin Wu muttered to himself.
While Lin Wu was at the Tomb and with Shirong, at the sixth ring of the millennium forest, a great uproar was currently happening.
A huge beetle beast awakened from its sleep and let out a loud chittering sound. This caused a lot of other insect beasts to rush to meet him. After reaching him, they all lowered their heads in submission.
"What happened, my king?" Another beetle beast that was smaller than the big one asked.
"The son of the Slim Arm Ape King has awakened its Bloodline and has become a Demon Spine Ape. But that is not all… there is another beast. A beast that has a bloodline stronger than us all… even stronger than the Demon Spine Ape." The beetle king spoke.
All of the subjects were shocked by this and didn't know what to say. They had known about the Demon Spine ape but this second beast that had come out of nowhere was surprising.
"What should we do now, my king?" one of the insect beasts asked.
"What are your orders?" Another beast questioned.
The beetle king thought for a bit before speaking.
"For now, we wait and see how the rest of the kings are acting. Just keep an eye out for the time being for anything unusual." The beetle king stated.
"But my king, what should we keep an eye out for? What does the second beast look like?" the beast asked.
"I do not know. Its bloodline suppression was strong enough to overwhelm the resonance quickly. I only got to see its eyes. So for now look out for any beast that is not native to the forest or is unusually strong." The beetle king answered.
"A beast that is not native and unusually strong? Wasn't junior brother cricket speaking about something similar?" Someone commented.
"Yeah, he did. He even wanted an audience with our king but I told him to wait." A smaller beetle spoke.
"Oh? What's this about?" The beetle king asked.
"Junior brother cricket recently went out to intercept some intruders near the egg clutches and got defeated by them." The smaller beetle replied.
"Defeated? Are the egg clutches fine?" The beetle king asked with concern.
"Yes my king, they are fine. The intruders didn't intentionally come to the area. They were just passing by." The smaller beetle answered.
"Hmmm… call the cricket, I'll talk with him." The beetle king ordered.
In a cave in the sixth ring, an ape with long arms opened its eyes. Sitting beside it was another ape, but this was much bigger than this one. It had a bony spine that jutted out of its back and red patches of fur.
It looked rather menacing and a powerful aura could be felt coming from its body, showing that it was in the Nascent Soul realm.
"Looks like we have a hidden player in the forest." The slim-arm ape king spoke.
The Demon Spine ape opened its eyes that were bloodshot and let out a low growl.
"What should we do, father?" The demon spine ape asked.
"That is up to you now. You are a king too, what you do is not in my control anymore." The slim arm ape said with a little smile.
"Ah! Don't be like that father, I won't ignore your suggestions even If I've become the fifth ruler of the forest." The Demon Spine ape replied.
"Hahah! Okay, I'll try to control myself. For now, the best course of action would be to just observe. I'm sure the beetle king would do the same while the viper king and the liger king will try to find and kill the new beast that has appeared." The Slim arm ape spoke.
"To be honest, I want to have a fight with the new beast too. It was able to fight us all to a defeat that means it must be at the Nascent Soul realm at the very least, right?" The Demon spine ape questioned.
"Hmm… Not necessarily. If that beast is anything like your mother, then even if it is weaker and at the core condensation realm, its bloodline will still be strong enough to suppress us all. If you were a pure blood Demon spine ape, you would have been able to do the same." The Slim Arm ape king answered.
"I understand, father." The demon spine ape replied.
In another cave, a massive snake was raging around, breaking the rocks and walls of the cave.
"I WANT THAT BEAST DEAD!!!!" The Olive Viper king shouted.
There were a few other beasts that were standing outside the cave, scared to enter it. They knew very well that if they entered right now, they would either be smashed into meat paste or swallowed whole.
~Sigh~
"Let's go and find it then…" One of the beasts said and the rest of them dispersed.
At the Dark Bloom Cavern, the Twin Lights Liger King was pacing around. There were a few lamp light ligers near him, waiting for his orders.
"I think it is the same beast that caused the anomaly in the fifth ring, my king. It has already killed a lot of our brothers." One of the Lamp Light Ligers spoke.
The liger king stopped pacing and looked at his subordinates.
"Fine, go search for it then. Also, take some of your brothers and go test out the Demon Spine Ape. I want to see what the kid is like with his bloodline. He won in the battle of the bloodlines, but does he have the actual strength to back it up." The Twin lights liger king ordered.
"YES, MY KING!" The lamp light ligers replied before going away.
~Sigh~
"What was so important that the eagle king left his seat as one of the rulers? Did he find some treasure, perhaps?" The Liger King muttered to himself.
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Shirong seemed to have had some gains from observing the Heavenly tribulation and looked to be happy. Lin Wu didn't know what exactly it was, but he thought of keeping an eye on it.
His Avatar on the other hand had recorded everything when the heavenly tribulation happened and the system had already analyzed and updated its data banks. The avatar had also cultivated in the past two days and already had enough spirit Qi for the upgrade.
"Alright system, upgrade my cultivation base to the next stage." Lin Wu's avatar ordered.
~Ding~
——
UPGRADING CULTIVATION BASE: Early stage of the core condensation realm - Mid stage of the core condensation realm.
SPIRIT QI CONSUMED: 6000 units [liquid spirit Qi]
CULTIVATION BASE UPGRADED: Avatar Data Updated
AVATAR CULTIVATION: Mid Stage of the Core Condensation Realm.
-Spirit Qi required to upgrade = [0000/12000] units (liquid spirit Qi)
——
"This was quicker than before. Seems like going through it once before helps a lot." Lin Wu muttered to himself.
He could already feel the difference in the power, and this was spread across both the bodies. It was a strange sensation, but Lin Wu was quickly getting used to it. He looked at the map and saw that his new subordinate and his companions were nearly out of the forest by now.
Unlike Shirong, they had not stopped to see the heavenly tribulation and had instead focused on traveling. Lin Wu saw that they were getting into battles with the beasts and wondered how they were doing.
"Wang Xiong is definitely handling it rather easily now." Lin Wu said.
He observed him on the map for a couple of hours like watching a game live stream and then got bored.
"Man, they really are slow. I should just tell them so directions." Lin Wu muttered to himself.
He used the communication link with Wang Xiong and spoke to him.
"Senior? Do you need something?" Wang Xiong asked.
"No. I'm gonna give you some directions, and you just follow them. That way you'll avoid the beasts and get out of the forest quicker." Lin Wu replied.
"Really? Thank you senior." Wang Xiong responded.
Lin Wu nodded and then started to direct him in the safe direction. He entertained his avatar like this while cultivating at the same time. Lin Wu's main body was currently skewering a couple of beasts and draining them of their vital energy and spirit Qi.
~shing~
"Should be out of here in one more day…" Shirong muttered to himself.
Lin Wu checked the map and found that they were at the edge of the second ring now. The number of beasts was getting lesser and lesser, which had increased their speed, thankfully. Now Shirong could just fly the rest of the way on the spirit sword, and it wouldn't pose him much of a problem.
In the past two days, Lin Wu had also been receiving some information from his servants too. The bird beasts told him that the viper king and the liger king were searching for a new beast and had sent out their subordinates for it.
The Beetle said something else though. Apparently what the cricket beast had said was true and the beetle king was truly inviting Lin Wu to meet him. They were also looking for him, and the beetle was simply informing him in advance while keeping her identity a secret.
They were not able to find Lin Wu directly, thus they were now looking for the sparrow beast and the swan beast as they were his subordinates and thus should know his location. Lin Wu could have directly gone there but wanted to wait and watch the actions of the rest of the beasts.
"This should be due to the results of that battle of the bloodlines. I don't know if I should accept this though… I'll just wait and watch, I guess." Lin Wu thought out loud.
The mole beast though told him about the different attitudes of the Viper King And the Liger King. While the viper king wanted to outright kill him, the liger king seemed to be a little bit more cautious since he had found out he was the one that killed all the lamp light ligers.
The thing that Lin Wu was most happy about was the cultivation speed. It was rather quick, and he knew it wouldn't take it long for his avatar to reach the peak stage of the Core condensation realm. But that was where a thought came to him that confused him.
If both his main body and the avatar reached the Nascent Soul realm, then will they both have a heavenly tribulation and nascent souls, or not. Even the system couldn't answer this for him and told him that only doing it will give him an answer.
Lin Wu could upgrade his main body to the Nascent Soul realm at any time and was only waiting to reach the Deer Wood city, so that he could teleport back to the tomb to do it. He also needed to wait for the Tribulation attenuation formation to charge up so that was another thing.
'If push comes to shove, I'll just use the stored spirit Qi that I have. I should still have plenty left over after using it for the upgrade.' Lin Wu thought.
Shirong kept on fighting a few beasts and eventually exited the Millennium forest.
"Finally…" He muttered and continued onwards.
About an hour later, he was at the Deer Wood City's entrance. He saw that there were a lot more people going in and out of the city. Some of them were workers that were carrying materials and transporting them onto carts that were being pulled by some tamed beasts.
There were also cultivators that were overseeing the work and ensuring that it went well.
"HURRY! We have to finish up the Tribulation platform as soon as possible and we haven't even accumulated all the materials by now," one of the cultivators shouted at the workers.
The workers gritted their teeth and hurried according to directions. One of these workers looked up at the sky and spotted something.
"LOOK ITS YOUNG MASTER SHIRONG!"
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Shirong had not expected someone to recognize him so quickly due to the change in his appearance. He completely hairless and was thin like a stick, his bones visible. Overall, he looked like a slave that had been starved for a couple of months.
He looked at the person who had recognized him and identified him to be one of the servants that had served him food at the banquet.
'He was still able to recognize me? This is strange…' Shirong thought.
There were some apprehensions in his mind and he reached a few possibilities that could have led to the person identifying him. He noted this in his mind as another one of the things to investigate.
After his appearance, it didn't take long for the news to spread in the city that Young master Shirong had returned. Clan head Lu was informed and he went out to personally meet him but was shocked upon seeing him.
"Young master… what happened to you?" Clan Head Lu said, seeing the thin figure of Shirong.
"It's just a side effect of a cultivation technique, clan head. Do not worry, I will be fine after a few days." Shirong assured.
"If you say so, young master. But for now, I think we should head back to the clan, continuing here would not be appropriate." Clan Head Lu replied.
Shirong nodded his head and flew behind the clan head Lu to the mansion. While flying there he could see that the entire city was in a perked up mood. There were people working with gusto, and new travelers arriving in the city as well.
"Seems like the city is doing pretty well," Shirong said.
"Indeed, young master. This is all due to you, though. When we revealed that you were going to break through to the Nascent Soul realm here and were going to use a tribulation platform to demonstrate, the powers from the nearby cities couldn't help but request us for the access too.
We thus allowed travelers to come here, and the powers also pledged some resources to us. This has actually delayed the construction for a bit since we were waiting on the logistics to be sorted out.
But yesterday we finally finished up on that and now the resources have started to arrive and they are being transported to the site of the constriction as we speak." Clan Head Lu informed.
"Ah, I see… at least the businesses will benefit from the influx of the travelers," Shirong replied.
"Indeed, young master." Clan Head Lu agreed.
"How long will it take for the Tribulation platform to be constructed? Do you have an estimate?" Shirong questioned.
"If all goes well, we should be done in about ten to fifteen days. Oh, and a messenger also arrived for you some time ago." Clan head Lu answered.
"Hmm… that should give me enough time to return to my optimum condition and as for the messenger, where is he currently?" Shirong asked.
"The messenger has been waiting at the mansion as well. He brought a few things with him and he said he is supposed to give them to only you. We told him that we would pass them on to you when you arrive, but he did not oblige." Clan Head Lu replied.
"I see. Let's head to meet the messenger first, then. He has some important things with him." Shirong stated.
"As you wish, young master." Clan head Lu said.
They soon reached the mansion and clan head Lu took him to the place where the Messenger had been staying. He called a servant to inform the messenger, and the same man who had brought Shirong the letter from his clan appeared.
"Greetings, young master," The messenger greeted with a bow.
"At ease. Show me what you brought." Shirong spoke.
The messenger nodded and took out a spatial storage ring from a hidden pocket in his robes and passed it to Shirong.
"This has everything you asked for young master. Please take a look," The messenger said.
Shirong branded the spatial storage ring with his spirit sense and put it on his right hand. He checked it with his spirit sense and saw all the things that he had asked for from the messenger before.
There was an assortment of alchemical pills, a few piles of spirit stones, and even some clothes there. Seeing the clothes made Shirong look at the messenger with a questioning look, since he had never asked for them.
"I took the liberty of procuring some good robes worth your standing young master after hearing that your previous ones were destroyed. Please forgive me for this insolence." The messenger stated.
Shirong nodded his head and spoke, "that was good, I like the initiative."
"If everything is up to the mark, I will take my leave young master." The Messenger asked.
"You are dismissed," Shirong replied.
The messenger cupped his hands one last time before leaving the mansion. Clan Head Lu looked at Shirong and gestured at the servants to leave the room.
"How was your training, young master? I can see that there have been some peculiar changes." Clan Head Lu said.
"It went better than before, and I got to see quite a few shocking things in the millennium forest too," Shirong replied.
"Oh? What kind of surprises?" Clan Head Lu questioned.
"Did you know of a huge eagle beast that is at the Nascent Soul realm living in the Millennium forest?" Shirong asked.
"A Nascent Soul realm eagle beast? No! We have no idea a beast like this lived in the millennium forest. We only have the information about three Nascent Soul realm beasts as far as I know." Clan Head Lu replied, feeling a bit shocked.
"Hmm… then you need to update that to five Nascent Soul realm beasts from now on," Shirong said.
"Five Nascent Soul realm beasts? Not four? If we add the eagle beast it should be four, no?" Clan Head Lu asked.
"No," Shirong shook his head, "while I was on my way back, I had the fortune of witnessing a heavenly tribulation. Another beast has reached the Nascent Soul realm, though I do not know which beast."
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The words of Shirong were like thunder ringing in Clan Head Lu's mind. The appearance of a Nascent Soul realm beast was a major matter and had many implications. Whenever a new beast breakthrough to the Nascent Soul realm, there would be power struggles in the Millennium forest.
This could lead to a beast wave which was problematic for the people living in the nearby areas. He needed to inform the royal court of the Ling Kingdom of this as soon as possible and would also have to prepare a defensive force, for when the beast wave arrive.
"Young master… when this Heavenly Tribulation occurred… how many bolts of tribulation lightning were formed?" Clan Head Lu asked with apprehension.
"There were three bolts," Shirong answered.
~Ssss~
Clan head Lu hissed in shock. This was what he was dreading and was hoping would not be the case. Whenever a creature reached the Nascent Soul realm and underwent the heavenly Tribulation, the number of Tribulation lightning bolts determined the strength and talent of the creature.
Usually, one bolt of tribulation lightning was enough for a person to break through to the Nascent Soul realm successfully. People that were a bit more talented would endure two bolts instead of one and those that were even more talented would have to bear three entire bolts.
Each additional tribulation lightning bolt increased the difficulty by multiple folds and reduced the chances of success. If a beast had survived three bolts, it meant that it was perhaps the strongest beast in the millennium forest for now.
"We need to inform the royal court, young master. A beast that survived three bolts would be extremely dangerous." Clan head Lu said, looking anxious.
"That would be the right course of action, clan head. But I think you will not have to worry as much, because the eagle beast I spoke of, it was leaving the forest." Shirong revealed.
"WHAT! Which direction was it going towards?" Clan Head Lu questioned, this time his hands trembling.
"Worry not, it went to the western direction and was not heading towards here. I saw the eagle beast when I was going toward the fifth ring. It was about a week into the forest if I remember correctly. It has been thirteen days since then so I think, it should have gone quite far by now." Shirong answered.
"Thirteen days? And there have been no reports of it. ~phew~ that's a good sign." Clan head Lu took a breath of relief.
"Indeed, but the new beast though… I can't tell much about it except that if one of the Nascent Soul realm beasts has left the forest, then the power vacuum would be filled by the new Nascent Soul realm beast." Shirong said.
"I see. That does make sense, though I will still do my due duty and inform the royal court." Clan Head Lu replied.
"Of course, that is of no doubt," Shirong said.
"Before I go young master, is there anything you need? There is still some time till fully construct the tribulation platform." Clan Head Lu questioned.
"Hmm… I will like some food made with spirit beast meat and spirit herbs. I… need to restore my body's condition." Shirong answered.
"Ah, that is no problem. That shall be done without delay and if you need anything else, please do not hesitate to inform the servants." Clan Head Lu said before taking his leave.
Shirong sat in the hall for a bit and took a sip of the tea that was placed in front of him. He thought in the silence and called out for a servant.
"What are your orders, young master?" The servant asked.
"Tell the guards to bring in the servant that identified me when I entered the city," Shirong ordered.
"Yes, Young master." The servant replied before quickly going to do his task.
Shirong closed his eyes and meditated for a while before he heard a knock on the door.
"We have brought the servant, young master." A voice spoke.
"Mmm, come in." Shirong permitted.
The door of the hall opened and in came a couple of guards who brought with them the man who had recognized Shirong at the city gates.
"Leave us," Shirong ordered the guards, who promptly left the hall.
The servant looked at Shirong with nervousness in his eyes and anxiously twiddled his thumbs.
"You should have practiced better… you can't even hide your emotions," Shirong stated, seeing the condition of the servant.
"Wh-what do you mean, young master?" The Servant asked.
"Hmm… so we're gonna take this route. Alright, I'll play along for a bit." Shirong said, much to the surprise of the servant.
"Now tell me… how did you recognize me? I mean, I look vastly different from before and it is unlikely that just any servant like you should have been able to do this." Shirong asked.
"I-I… young master Shirong is just too impressive, I cannot help but remember his visage deep in my mind." The Servant hurriedly said.
"Ahahah! Nice try at flattery… But I want the truth ~whoosh~" Shirong said and gestured with his hand, making winds stir around the servant.
The servant could feel the power contained within the winds and gulped in fear.
"I'm telling the truth young master. Please believe me!" The servant stated.
"INSOLENT!" Shirong yelled before,
~slash~
~Splick~
"AHHHH!" The servant cried in pain as Shirong cut his body in multiple places with wind blades.
"Now… if you don't want your neck to be the next part I cut, tell me how you recognized me." Shirong said and gestured with his hand again.
This time the winds got closer to the servants' neck and a faint cut could already be seen forming as a drop of red blood oozed out.
The servant looked on in horror, as he could not help but plead for his life.
"I'LL TELL I'LL TELL! Please spare me for lying, young master!" The servant said while knocking his head on the floor in a kowtow.
"My, My... things got really interesting while I was in the Avatar I see..." Lin Wu muttered upon his return.
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Lin Wu had engrossed himself in cultivation because of which he had not paid attention to what Shirong had experienced upon reaching the city. Thankfully, because the system was always recording everything, he got the gist of it quickly.
"Hmm… this is indeed strange. It should have been close to impossible for the servant to recognize Shirong. There were hundreds of people out there but only this guy identified him… this is suspicious." Lin Wu muttered to himself.
Lin Wu thought of potential methods that could have been used for it and became a bit confused.
"It couldn't have been something they marked him with or the system would have detected that. His body also changed greatly so the only thing that should have been the same would either be his spirit Qi signature and his soul." Lin Wu muttered to himself.
Lin Wu was leaning towards the first option, and the second one was rather unlikely. Even if tracking one's soul was possible, he was sure a tool that could do something like that wouldn't be in the hands of a mere servant like this.
The servant was quivering on the ground and begging for mercy while Shirong watched.
"Now then… tell me in detail how you identified me and who's behind you," Shirong spoke.
"YES, YES!" The servant said before removing a talisman from his pocket.
As soon as Shirong saw the talisman, he recognized it.
"A Qi tracking talisman? How did a puny servant like you get this?" Shirong questioned with a fierce look.
"Elder Pei gave this to me and instructed me to inform her whenever you were nearby. I thought she was… ahem… interested in the young master and thus wanted something like that. She paid me to keep silent about this and I just informed her whenever the young master was in the mansion.
I never did anything more than that, I swear. The talisman would detect whenever young master Shirong was in the nearby area and would inform me." The servant spoke.
After hearing the servants' words, Shirong was bewildered, to be honest. Even Lin Wu hadn't expected something like this.
'This elder wanted to keep an eye on Shirong huh… still it doesn't seem all right.' Lin Wu thought.
"Who's this Elder Pei?" Shirong questioned.
He felt like he recognized the name but didn't know the face of the person.
'I should have seen her at the banquet or even before that.' Shirong thought.
"Elder Pei is one of the external elders of the Lu clan. She's mostly busy with training the junior members of the clan and is not seen as much." The servant spoke.
"Is that so…" Shirong said before calling out. "Guards!"
The door of the hall opened immediately and in walked two guards.
"What are your orders, young master?" The Guards respectfully.
"Call the clan Head and the other elders for a meeting," Shirong said.
~gulp~
"Calling all of them together for a meeting is beyond our capability, young master. May we know in what capacity are you inviting them, so that we can inform our superiors." The guards spoke as beads of sweat rolled off their foreheads.
Calling an entire meeting with all the elders and the clan head was no small matter and few people in the clan had such authority. Even the elders themselves couldn't often call for a meeting on their own and needed the agreement of others.
"I call them with my authority as the Heir of the Ji Clan!" Shirong declared.
"YES, YOUNG MASTER!" The guards spoke before hurriedly going away.
The servant was now shaking in horror and didn't know why the situation had progressed to this point. His day was going normally, and he had been assigned to take part in the construction of the Tribulation platform. The wages were better than his normal and could even reach three times as much as before on some days.
But now, here he was, kneeling on the floor, unable to move due to fear, while a big shot stared daggers at him. Lin Wu enjoyed the show and anticipated more drama in the coming few minutes.
"Oh! Here they come!" Lin Wu said as the doors of the hall opened again.
Forty people walked in, including the clan head Lu. The clan head had a serious expression on his face and was wondering what could the young master be calling them for.
'I just left him half an hour ago, what changed in this time?' Clan Head Lu wondered.
Upon entering the elders and clan head Lu saw the servant who was kneeling on the ground and bleeding from multiple places. His robes had been drenched in blood while Shirong sat on the couch on the other end of the hall, drinking tea calmly.
His bald head and hairless face pulled some strange looks from the elders, but they knew better than to show any outright expression on their face. If they did, and it was mistaken as ridicule or an insult, they wouldn't be able to answer to the power behind Shirong.
"What's the problem, young master Shirong? And why is this servant here in this condition?" Clan Head Lu questioned.
Shirong looked up at the people who had just arrive and waved his hand.
~whoosh~
~DENG~
Winds started blowing in the hall as the doors of the hall were shut due to them with a loud thud.
"Young master!" Clan head Lu called out anxiously.
He didn't know why the young master was acting like this, and it was only making him worry more.
"I called you all here to tell you that the Lu Clan has a traitor!" Shirong declared.
"TRAITOR? Who is that and what did they do?" The other elders questioned.
"A certain elder called Elder Pei, apparently asked this servant to keep tabs on my location. She told him a different reason than was intended, but they cannot fool me." Shirong answered.
"Elder Pei? Why would she do something like this?" Clan Head Lu wondered.
The others had a similar reaction, but Shirong's brows only furrowed more.
"Where is she?"
Shirong didn't know if Elder Pei would arrive along with the rest of the elders and thus he had cut off their route of exit. But now it was quite obvious that the elder wasn't here.
"I think she should be training the disciples at the grounds." One of the elders spoke.
Clan head Lu looked at the guards and spoke, "bring Elder Pei to us."
"No," Shirong interrupted. "Let's go meet her ourselves. I want to see what she acts like; first hand."
The elders looked at the clan head for approval, to which he nodded.
"Let's go, we'll see it ourselves." Clan head Lu said.
Shirong gestured to the guards to get the servant and followed the rest to the ranting grounds. It was behind the mansion and was populated with disciples training and cultivating.
Though most of them were practicing their martial skills and the instructors would guide them while correcting their mistakes. Sounds of punches and kicks echoed, and Shirong could hear them from afar.
The large entourage that was approaching the training grounds consisted of the most powerful and influential people of the clan, and thus everyone was shocked to see this. The disciples were stuck in their positions as they saw the clan head with expressions of awe.
It was not every day that they got to see the clan head and many of them were not even qualified to come close to him. Only the main members of the Lu Clan could do so. Many times even the grandchildren of the clan head didn't get to meet him due to how busy he was.
Now that he was here, the disciple got nervous, which was increased by a few more folds seeing the rest of the elders.
Shirong on the other hand, received strange looks from nearly everyone. His bald head shined in the sun while his stick like figure looked like it would be blown away by a slight breeze.
If it were not for the presence of the Clan head and the elders, perhaps they would have chuckled seeing this.
The guards were following at the very back and thus they did not get to see the bloodless servant that was being carried along. Otherwise, they would have gotten different thoughts instead.
"What do you think the clan head and the elders are here for?" someone questioned.
"It should be to assess us, right? Maybe they are here to pick the outstanding disciples." A teenage boy commented.
It was now that clan had Lu spoke up. "ELDER PEI! PRESENT YOURSELF TO US!"
His voice rung out like thunder as the disciple flinched in shock.
"Why are they looking for Elder Pei?" A girl wondered.
The door of one of the small pavilions that were built along the training grounds opened as out walked a woman. She looked to be in her late twenties and, from what Lin Wu could sense, was at the Mid stage of the Core condensation realm.
"So she is Elder Pei…" Lin Wu muttered to himself as he assessed her with his spirit sense.
"Clan Head, Elder! Eh-what are you all doing here together?" Elder Pei questioned.
"Well, you have some explaining to do. Particularly something to do with me." Shirong stated.
"And who's this, if I may ask?" Elder Pei asked, unable to recognize him.
"Maybe you'll recognize this servant instead." Shirong spoke before ordering the guards, "bring him."
The guards came forward with the servant in their hands.
~Thud~
They threw the servant on the ground and he cried in pain. As soon as Elder Pei saw the servant, her eyes went wide. Shirong noticed the change in her expression and knew he had hit the nail head on.
"So you do know him… then you must be the one who ordered him to track me too… getting a Qi tracking talisman too, now that is not something I expected. Tell me, who is behind you and I will spare you." Shirong threatened, not caring for the presence of the Clan head.
If someone else were to behave like this in the clan, their head would have rolled on the ground by now. Such insolence and disrespect would not be tolerated by the clan head nor the elders. But Shirong was the one exception. No one would dare to deny his requests, that too when the situation was in his favor and it was their clan that was proving to be on the side of the fault.
Elder Pei watched on for a second before she pulled out a talisman in a flash and activated it.
~Shua~
Barriers appeared around her, blocking Shirong and the rest from approaching her.
"ELDER PEI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! STOP THIS INSTANT!" Clan head Lu shouted.
He knew that this time they had messed up, and it was just as Shirong had said. They had a traitor in their clan. Now the only question that remained was who were they serving.
Their motive, on the other hand, could be guessed rather easily as there would be many people who would like to keep an eye on the heir of the Ji clan. Besides, after the fact that Shirong was hypnotized was discovered, Clan Head Lu had already been apprehensive about it.
He knew if the alliance between their clan and the Ji Clan were to be ironed out; they needed to be prompt or miss out on the chance.
Elder Pei paid no attention to the clan head and took out a square plate from her spatial storage treasure before spitting out a mouthful of blood on it. Her complexion turned paler as she gritted her teeth and looked on in fear.
"A teleportation talisman! That's a teleportation talisman!" One of the elders recognized the square plate.
~Deng~
Clan head Lu attacker the barrier but it was blocked by it rather early. He looked at the disciples nearby and knew that he couldn't use his full strength or his juniors would get injured in the process as well.
"Not so fast!" Shirong said before speeding ahead, his fist glowing in a green light.
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