Read Rise Of The Worm Sovereign Chapter 321 - A Burning Desire? online for free - AllNovelFull
Inside the inner hall, Shirong could see countless torches made the form of a bird claws. They were holding the vibrant flames in their talons and looked fierce. But the torches were a mere accent to what existed at the end.
A massive statue of the same bird as outside was located here. But unlike those statues, this one was in a different pose and was heavily damaged. Multiple chunks were missing from the statue that towered over Shirong.
He looked up and estimated the statue was over a hundred meters tall.
"So it really is dedicated to this beast. But why is it abandoned? Was it left behind by the sect when it was wiped out?" Shirong wondered to himself.
Lin Wu though was having a different reaction. It was as if a fire had been lit in his heart and feeling rose from deep within his bloodline. It was a desire… a desire to devour.
"What… is… this…" Lin Wu uttered, finding it hard to control himself.
"System! Analysis!" Lin Wu ordered.
~Ding~
——
ANSWER: The host's bloodline is being stimulated by something. There is likely a resource that is extremely desirable to the host located here.
——
"A resource like that… it can't be a crystal from the meteor… then what could it be?" Lin Wu wondered to himself.
He extended his spirit sense to the full extent, even more than what was permissible by the backdrop function. Since Lin Wu's spirit sense had grown more and more, it had gotten a bit difficult for the backdrop function to keep on masking it.
And since Shirong's cultivation base had increased as well, it had only become harder. But it didn't matter usually since Lin Wu didn't need to exert it that much and the system could take care of the rest with the scanner function.
But now that he did it, Shirong could feel a pressure exuding from around him. His eyes went wide and he became alert.
"What! Who's there!?" Shirong said as he entered an offensive stance, wind and lightning swirling around him.
Since Lin Wu was inside the ring which was on Shirong's finger, it was as if the spirit sense was coming from his own body, which made it hard for him to pinpoint it. Lin Wu though didn't care about this for now as it was the least of his concerned.
If he didn't take care of this desire, he reckoned he would probably come out of the ring on his own, that too, in his actual form.
His spirit sense soon found the source of his desire. Shirong was also tracing this random spirit sense that had suddenly arisen out of nowhere and saw that it was going towards the top of the statue.
Shirong soon spotted where the spirit sense's target was. It was a small red stone that was clamped the beak of the beast statue. Since the stone was very small compared to the beak, Shirong had missed it the first time.
"That stone! I can feel it! It has a bloodline in it! A strong one!" Lin Wu uttered with excitement.
Shirong had a similar reaction and wanted to take a closer look. He flew up and picked the red stone out of the beak of the statue. He looked at the small red stone that was barely the size of a coin and could not sense anything from it.
He also discovered that the spirit sense that had appeared out of nowhere had faded away. He probed the red stone and could not feel anything different from it. Unlike Lin Wu, who was a beast, Shirong couldn't sense the bloodline within.
~BOOM~
An explosion suddenly occurred behind him, which caught him off guard.
~tak~tak~tak~
The red stone fell to the ground and skipped away.
~Thud~
Shirong was sent slamming into the wall and was stunned from the impact.
"WHO DARES!" Shirong yelled as blue sparks appeared around him.
The tearing sound of the wind could also be heard as sharp gales surrounded him.
~whoosh~
Shirong flicked his sleeve and blew away the dust and smoke in front of him. There he saw the culprits behind the explosion. A bunch of men in strange garbs were standing and one of them was holding the red stone in his hand.
The man who had the red stone in his hand looked at Shirong with the gaze of a hawk and scoffed.
"Let's go, we got the god flesh!" The man said.
"Wait Priest! I can sense the aura of a god servant on this man!" One of them, who was holding a pendant in his hand, suddenly said.
"A God servants' aura? Was there any that were sent to this area?" Another man who was shorter asked.
"Yes, there was one sent out a couple of days ago. I was not actively tracking it since I was not ordered to, but now that I checked the talisman it has gone out." The man with the pendant replied.
"That means… KILL THIS MAN! He killed one of the God Servant!" The man who was called as priest ordered.
The men in the strange garbs quickly rushed at Shirong with the intention to kill. Shirong though felt this to be ridiculous.
"TRASH like you dares to speak? I'll show you your place!" Shirong uttered with rage.
His hands spread apart as a whip made out of wind and lightning formed between them. He grasped the whip and swung it at the incoming men, who were caught off guard. Lin Wu who had probed the men with his spirit sense, found it to be ridiculous too.
Like Shirong had said, these men were indeed trash compared to him. They were at the core condensation realm with the man called priest at the Nascent Soul realm. He wondered if they had even checked his cultivation base before attacking.
"Humph! Puny tricks!" the man who was leading the charge spoke as he took out a black sword from his spatial storage ring.
Report chapter
The sword the man had drawn was strange, as black smoke kept on emanating from it. He swung the sword with all his strength and actually managed to meet Shirong's whip on equal terms!
Both the parties were shocked by this though. Shirong that his wind and lightning whip was stopped and the men in strange garb that his black sword could actually not cut through this.
~buzz~
The conflict between the two forces was not calm and looked like it would break at any time. Shirong smirked and punched with his other hand.
~whoosh~
A jet of wind hit the man, pushing him back and breaking the attack. The man managed to withstand the blow as the black smoke coming from the sword formed a barrier around him when the jet of wind hit him.
Shirong's eyes narrowed as he realized the sword was probably not normal. He tried to probe it with his spirit sense and found it to be difficult. It was as if he was trying to push through mud and his spirit sense got stuck in the mire.
The black smoke, whatever it was, could restrict the spirit sense. Lin Wu checked it and found that even his spirit sense was restricted by it.
"It seems similar to the interference field… is it perhaps linked? And what's this about Shirong killing the God servant, what did they mean by that?" Lin Wu wondered.
But it quickly struck him that the God servant that they were talking about could be the Specter Skull hound.
'Why do they call it God servant then? Though they also called that red stone god flesh… wait, if they are related then the bloodline in it… could it be related to the vermilion bird? But the specter skull hound being its servant would not make sense.
Both of them are opposing types of beasts and have conflicting aspects. The vermilion bird represents fire and purity while the specter Skull hound is a being of the nether worlds, being evil.' Lin Wu thought to himself.
Lin Mu was quickly brought out of his thoughts as he saw Shirong attacking again. The wind and lightning whip streaked across the air, leaving behind afterimages as it clashed against the man wielding the smoking sword.
Shirong wrapped the whips around the blade and tried to pry it from the man's hand, but saw a strange thing. The leather strips that covered the handle grip of the smoking sword suddenly came loose and wrapped around the man's hands, preventing it from being falling out.
"The sword… it's conscious?" Shirong muttered, feeling surprised.
Any weapon that could have this level of consciousness must be strong. Shirong was sure that it was at least a high grade weapon.
"Enough! Everyone attack!" The priest ordered.
~Shing~
~Shing~
~shing~
Multiple spirit weapons came flying at Shirong as they cut off all routes of his escape. But this was not all as various Qi skills, spells and attacks were also launched at Shirong, blurring his field of view.
~BOOM~
An explosion was heard as all the attacks hit Shirong at the same time.
"Humph! Even if he is a Nascent Soul realm cultivator, he thought too much of himself. We are the servants of the Skull god, none shall stop us!" The priest said.
But then, when the dust and smoke started to clear out, they saw a stunning sight.
"It can't be!"
"How!?"
"No one can survive all those attacks!"
~Whoosh~
A vortex suddenly appeared in the middle of all the smoke and blew it away. Hidden inside was Shirong who was finally revealed. Expect this time he was fully covered in a malevolent looking emerald green armor.
There were spikes on his back and shoulders while two crimson red eyes stared at the top of the helmet. Thorn covered gauntlets, protected his hands as an imposing presence exuded from him.
Shirong had summoned the Immortal Crystal Armament as he realized these men were truly pissing him off. Even Lin Wu was feeling the urge from the red stone and willingly came out of the ring, transforming into the armor form that he had used previously for Wang Xiong.
His desire for the Red stone had turned into an imposing aura that seemed to want to devour everything. The men in strange garbs were now truly afraid. If before Shirong seemed human to him, now he seemed something different… something beastly.
"Priest… that man… that's no man… I can sense a different presence on it… it's almost… comparable to the god's." The man who had the pendant spoke, stuttering.
The priest widened his eyes as he saw Shirong moving at breakneck speeds.
~boom~
~Splat~
Shirong's fist met one of the men and destroyed his chest, splattering his innards out of his back. But that was merely the start as the temperature of the hall started to rise up. The heat was coming from around Shirong as Lin Wu used radiation manipulation to the full extent.
~Crackle~
Lightning started to crackle around Shirong as hot winds swirled, forming into a cyclone. With each step that Shirong took, the ground trembled and cracked. The strong stone tiles which were not destroyed after thousands of years were finally broken.
Shirong punched out as burning hot orange jets of wind were shot out from his fists. The jets hit a few of the men, knocking them back and instantly burning through their clothes and flesh.
"ARGH!" the men cried out in pain as they had never expected Shirong to be this strong.
The others forcefully got hold of their minds and attacked Shirong. The man with the smoking sword did the same as he gritted his teeth.
~DENG~
The armor easily stopped all the incoming weapons, as if they were made out of paper. Not a scratch could be seen on it and they fell to the ground helplessly.
"Bah!" the one whose spirit weapons fell to the ground uncontrollably spat out blood.
"My brand! My brand on the spirit sword was forcibly severed!" One of them said fearfully.
Report chapter
Lin Wu had erased the brands on the spirit weapons by saturating the area with radiation, which pushed all the spirit Qi out of that zone. This caused their spirit sense to stop working and thus erasing their brands on the spirit weapons.
It was actually a rather crude way of doing it. But in the current condition where he was having a hard time controlling himself, this seemed like the easiest way.
Did it use up extra spirit Qi? Yes.
Did it matter to Lin Wu? No.
He would just be extorting the spirit Qi he used up from the corpses of these men. No way in hell would he let them go after this. He could feel that his temper was raging and he was in a destructive mood.
~Zing~
Shirong spun around with a whip kick, sending out arcs of lightning that sang like sparrows. The lightning cut through the men cleanly, searing their flesh. The smell of barbecued meat spread in the area, making Lin Wu feel hungry.
~HRRRR~
A strange distorting sound came out of the armor, which surprised Shirong, but he didn't have the time to pay attention to it. But the priest and the man with the pendant definitely noticed it.
"See! I told you that is no man!" The man with the pendant shouted.
This time the priest had no choice but to accept the fact that they had hit a steel board.
~gulp~
"RETREAT! I SAY RETREAT!" The priest ordered, unable to suppress his fear.
Even though he was a nascent Soul realm cultivator himself, the pressure exuding from Shirong was way stronger now that he was wearing the Armor. Not to mention the man could use two heavenly elements alone!
~Shua~
~shua~
~shua~
Those that were in the outer area quickly turned around before escaping the same way they had arrived, but the ones that were left at the back met their demise as Shirong tore through them.
He was like a wolf among a herd of sheep. Biting and tearing through them as he pleased.
Blood splattered on the emerald armor as it sizzled and instantly evaporated, leaving behind dry crusty residue which then fell off the armor. It was evident that the radiation emanating from Lin Wu's body was way too hot for it.
Seeing that his foes were escaping with the red stone, Shirong shouted "YOU DARE RUN! I'LL SPLATTER YOUR GUTS!"
He flew ahead like lighting, Lin Wu accelerating his speed further. Claws of wind gnawed at the ground as Shirong's flight displaced the air. He directly passed through the escaping men, absolutely destroying them in the process.
He was like an anti-material bullet, tearing through a mass of flesh.
The priest and the man with the pendant had managed to get to the top though, and the man who was using the smoking sword was lagging just a step behind.
"Priest! Quick! Use the beacon or we'll die!" The man with the smoking sword said.
~splat~
But before he could speak anymore, a hand protruded out of his chest. The hand clasped his heart and a part of his lungs, as they boiled under the heat and lightning.
~Shua~
~Boom~
The man's body suddenly exploded as Shirong saturated it with wind attribute spirit Qi from the gauntlets. The blood and guts rained from the sky, staining the platform and the stairs. The twisting and coiling trees were also covered with blood. Their original white color contrasted with the color of the blood, making them look like some horrifying ghouls.
~thud~
The man with the pendant fell to the ground with a thud as a foul liquid leaked out of his pants. He had pissed himself in fear!
Shirong stepped forward and the fallen man could not stand up, frozen due to terror.
~step~
~Sizzle~
Shirong stepped on the man as the hot crystal boots burned his clothes and flesh.
"NOOO! PLEASE HAVE MERCY!" The man pleased.
~humph~
~splat~
Shirong harrumphed in disgust and increased the weight on his leg, flattening the man's chest in one go, silencing him forever.
He continued ahead coolly, staring into the eyes of the priest as he left the body behind.
"N-No… don't… oh great Skull god please save your servant from this beast!" The priest prayed.
The priest trembled under Shirong's gaze, wishing that he would be taken away from here. Shirong thought simply extended his hand, his fingers spread apart, nearing his neck.
But before they could actually touch him, he felt something approaching.
~WHOOSH~
A massive cyclone suddenly stuck where he was and blew him away. This was quite surprising since he was wearing the Immortal Crystal Armament in the armor form, which was quite heavy. Even with his Nascent Soul realm cultivation base, it was difficult for Shirong to lift it.
Had it not been for Lin Wu 'floating' Shirong would never be able to move this well while bearing the weight.
One must know Lin Wu's avatar's current weight was over 100,000 kilograms. Sending something this heavy flying, meant the winds were terrifyingly strong.
~thud~
~splat~
Shirong was embedded into the ground as he created a crater around him. His spirit sense spread around and discovered the presence of another Nascent Soul being in the area. But this was no normal Nascent Soul realm being but rather one at the Adult Stage of the Nascent Soul realm.
"WHO!?" Shirong yelled as he pulled himself out of the ground.
But then he saw the source of the cyclone in front of him and recognized it. Not only him, but even Lin Mu recognized it.
"It's her?!" Lin Wu said in an astonished tone.
The priest who had also been knocked but not as far as Shirong coughed out blood. He had been injured from the cyclone as well. He looked up with difficulty and saw the massive beast that stood up in front of him.
The beast was a large bird with a hooked beak and sharp talons. Its beak was silver and its feathers were yellow colored. But one could also see a faint red plumage appearing around its neck.
Report chapter
Lin Wu looked at the beast which was once one of the Rulers of the Millennium forest.
Yes, this beast was none other than the Silver Beak Sky Soar eagle. Lin Wu had gotten a clear look at the beast in the forest and the system had also scanned it. The only reason why he didn't notice it approaching them was because Lin Wu was affected by the red stone.
The system also failed to notify him because the interference field was also restricting it. With all that, the Beast managed to approach them unnoticed. Though now that Lin Wu was sensing the spirit Qi fluctuations coming from the beast he could tell that the beast was much stronger than before.
There were additional changes that Lin Wu could sense. First of all the beast's aura had gotten many times stronger and Lin Wu could even feel a hint of suppression coming from its body.
"The Silver Beak Sky Soar eagle… it has awakened another bloodline within it… or it is evolving its bloodline." Lin Wu realized.
~Piiii~
A loud cry was let out by the beast as its beak opened wide. It stared at the priest with a gaze that could kill.
~sniff~
Shirong could see that the beast was searching for something and it soon spotted it on the body of the priest. Having found it, the beast's eyes glowed as it lowered its head.
The priest saw this and felt terror in his heart. But before he could let out a sound, the beast picked him up with his beak and threw him in the air, before swallowing him whole.
"This…" Lin Wu was stunned as the Eagle had just swallowed Nascent Soul realm cultivator whole.
"NOOO!!!!" A loud scream came out of the Eagle's body as an illusory infant floated out of there.
If one looked at the infant, one would be able to tell that it looked quite similar to the priest. This was evidently the Nascent Soul of the priest!
The Eagle obviously spotted the Nascent Soul that was trying to flee and reacted.
~Piiiiii~
~Whoosh~
Its wings started flapping before they lit up with flames. Crimson red flames that burned intently the spread all over the area as the trees ignited instantly. Even Lin Wu felt threatened by the flames and quickly created a barrier of radiation around him while using that very radiation to control the heat.
It turned out to be hard for Lin Mu, as there was something strange within the flames. He couldn't tell what it was, but his radiation manipulation was not as effective as before. It was a bit better than when he tried to control the tribulation lightning, but it was still quite hard.
The Nascent Soul that was trying to run was not so fortunate though and was instantly burned to nothingness. Once that was done, the beast stopped flapping its wings and turned around to look at Lin Wu.
By now Shirong had also managed to stand up and was looking at the beast which he had recognized from the millennium forest. The Eagle beast let out another cry before opening its wings wide.
It was just about to flap its wings when it was interrupted.
"EAGLE QUEEN STOP!" Lin Wu said in the beast tongue.
The eagle who was about to attack Shirong and in turn Lin Mu was stunned by the voice. It tilted its head in confusion before spreading its spirit sense. Its sharp eyes had a hint of intelligence as they focused on top of the helmet.
"You… you are a beast…" The eagle beast said.
"Yes, I am. Don't attack me, we can talk!" Lin Wu said more clearly, his desire for the red stone vanishing away.
Whatever the red stone was or 'god's flesh' since it had been consumed by the Eagle beast, it didn't affect Lin Wu's state anymore. Lin Wu also decided that it was better to not fight the eagle beast now.
There were a few reasons for this. The first was that he could tell the eagle beast had gotten very strong and was perhaps not even in the Nascent Soul realm. Lin Wu could have confirmed this by probing the beast, but doing so may probably prod it to attack him.
Another reason was that if the Eagle had come all the way here just for the Red stone, then it was likely that it knew what it was. Lin Mu knew the intelligence of the Nascent Soul realm beasts and knew they would not do something without any reason.
"why are you in this form? Did this human turn you into a tool?" The Eagle Beast asked curiously.
"No… this is just my own ability." Lin Wu replied.
"If it's your own ability, then why are you being controlled by this human?" The Eagle Beast asked again.
"I am the one controlling him." Lin Wu replied.
The eagle beast found it to be a bit strange, but it could very well sense the two different auras coming from Shirong. One belonged to Shirong himself and the other to Lin Wu. And since they had not attacked her yet, She reckoned that it was truly as Lin Wu had said.
"Why are you here?" Lin Wu decided to question this time.
The eagle beast did not answer Lin Wu and only stared at him for a while without speaking.
"I came for the bloodline source." The Eagle beast responded.
"So it truly is a bloodline!" Lin Wu exclaimed.
The eagle beast did not take kindly to Lin Wu's words and puffed up its chest, trying to act intimidating.
"So you're here to steal my bloodline!?" The Eagle Beast screeched.
"NOO! I just want to know what it is." Lin Wu hurriedly replied as he learned what level the Silver Beaks Sky Soar Eagle was at.
Lin Wu realized that the beast's spirit Qi fluctuations were comparable to those Dao Shell realm cultivators at the Frozen Cloud sect.
'The silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle managed to break through to the Dao Shell Realm!' Lin Wu thought to himself with shock.
Shirong, who had been observing the strange beast was now feeling weird. He also realized that he was now unable to move for some reason. At first he had actually panicked and was wondering if some skill had been used on him, which paralyzed him.
But upon checking with his spirit sense, he could not find anything. It was just the armor that he was wearing which had stiffed. It was as if all of its joints had been welded stuck and he could not move at all.
Shirong would have even tried to put the armor away into his spatial storage ring, had it not been for the large eagle beast that had just appeared in front of him. Removing the armor and trying his luck without it would only spell doom for it.
Just from his instincts, Shirong could very well tell that the beast in front of him was no common beast and was likely to be in the Dao Shell realm. Fighting the beast without any preparation or intimation would only get him killed, and thus not acting was his best option for now.
The eagle beast also calmed down a bit after hearing the words of Lin Wu and decided to wait and see what Lin Wu had to say.
"Why did you leave the millennium forest and kill so many of your subordinates?" Lin Wu questioned.
"They were necessary supplements for my bloodline to grow. They had served their purposed and them being in my belly is a good ending for them." The Silver Beak Sky Soar eagle answered without hesitation.
"Do you know that the other rulers call you Crazy for killing them and leaving the forest?" Lin Wu replied honestly.
"I don't care about that. All I care about is my cultivation and strength. Those rulers are mere slaves of the forest and need to live under its limitations. Whereas I am free to go wherever I want to." The Eagle Beast answered.
Lin Wu found it to be correct, as that was how most beasts thought. The Beetle king and the ape kings were right about this, that the eagle beast had massacred a lot of people.
"What was that red stone you ate and how did you know where it was.?" Lin Wu questioned.
"That red stone is the leftover crystallized bloodline of the great vermilion bird. I the Silver Beak Sky Soar eagle have awakened my bloodline and am a noble beast descended from the vermilion bird the king of birds!" The Eagle Beast answered, much to the expectation of Lin Wu.
"As for how I found it… the bloodline resonance." The eagle beast responded before turning around to show its neck, which was covered with red feathers. Seeing the plumage and the changes in the beast's body Lin Wu knew that the beast was not lying.
Report chapter
Having heard everything from the Eagle Beast Lin Wu now understood the situation better.
The Eagle beast was basically pissed off due to the appearance of the Olive Viper King as it had suddenly grown stronger while she herself had been stuck at the Adult Stage of the Nascent Soul realm for over a hundred years.
Then a time came when she could not hold back anymore and she decided to kill all the beasts she could and consume them in hopes of increasing her chances of breaking through to the next stage.
During that, the bloodline of the Vermillion Bird awakened within her and allowed her to progress further. But she knew just that would not be enough for her and she would need more of the bloodline.
She had awakened barely a trace of it in her body, but that was still enough for her to sense that there was more of it somewhere west of the Millennium forest. And thus she left the forest to come to the Dread Coil Marsh.
But this then made Lin Wu question the existence of the Vermillion Bird.
"How is that The Vermillion bird is not known in this world while the other three beasts are well known?" Lin Wu questioned, not knowing if the beast even knew about it.
"The other three beasts? You mean the guardian beasts?" The Eagle beast asked.
"Yes, you know about them?" Lin Wu asked.
"I do. They were part of my bloodline memories. As for why they are unknown in this world, I do not know. But I was able to tell that the other three guardian beasts in this world are not the true ones.
They are actually quite similar to me, being descendants of the original beasts." The Eagle beast answered.
"Hmm… I see. How many of those red stones or the crystallized bloodline of the Vermillion bird have you gathered?" Lin Wu questioned.
The Eagle beast narrowed its eyes, but still answered.
"I've eaten four of those, including the one now." The eagle beast stated.
"Four? Where did you find them?" Lin Wu questioned.
"Two of them I took from the men such as these. I don't know what they talked about but I've seen them lurking around the places where I've sensed the presence of the Bloodline. As for the third one, I found it in a place such as this." The Eagle beast answered.
Upon hearing all this, Lin Wu felt like he understood the situation a bit better.
'So those servants of the 'Skull God' are looking for the 'god's flesh' which is nothing, but the crystallized bloodline remnants of the Vermillion bird.' Lin Wu thought.
"So you mean to say there are more of such places all over the swamp?" Lin Wu questioned.
"Yes. I can sense when they are about to appear, as that is when the bloodline resonance is the strongest. I can't tell their exact location, but there are more of them spread all over the Marsh." The Eagle Beast replied.
Lin Wu nodded his head and reckoned that this must really be related to the legend of the Dread Coil Marsh.
"Wait, if you can sense the bloodline of the Vermillion bird and have bloodline memories about the other guardian beasts, can you sense their presence here too?" Lin Wu asked curiously.
"No." The Eagle beast replied in a straight tone.
Shirong who had been stuck in the armor while being unable to move till now, was feeling weird. The eagle beast in front of him would look at him and let out some strange sounds. It looked like it was doing something, but Shirong could not tell what.
He was also confused as to why the beast had not attacked him yet.
'Is that Immortal Crystal Armament behind this? Is it trying to repel the beast?' Shirong wondered.
"What are you going to do now?" Lin Wu questioned the beast, feeling curious.
"I'll continue finding more of the fragments of the bloodline crystal and consuming them to further my Cultivation base." The eagle beast said proudly as powerful waves of spirit Qi emanated from its body.
As soon as Lin Wu felt them, he realized that the beast was stronger than he thought.
'Damn, she already reached the Dao Shell realm with three of the fragments. If she gets more of them, will she keep on getting powerful?' Lin Wu thought while Shirong was just stunned in silence.
Lin Wu could compare the spirit Qi waves of the Eagle beast with the high elders of the Frozen Cloud Sect and could tell that she was definitely in the first stage of the Dao Shell realm, which was the Shell initiation realm.
Lin Wu had yet to see how Dao Shell realm cultivators fought, but he definitely did not want to experience it right now. If his main body was here and he merged with it, Lin Wu may have thought of contending, but not now.
Lin Wu's mind worked to figure out how he could take benefit from this situation. He knew letting go of a beast that had the bloodline of the vermilion bird would be bad, but he wasn't strong enough to kill it anyway. Instead of that, he thought of another way.
"What do you think of making an alliance?" Lin Wu questioned.
The Eagle Beast tilted its head and let out a chirp showing its confusion.
"You've said that you want to find the bloodline crystals of the Vermillion bird, so I can help you with that." Lin Wu stated.
"You, help me? Why would you do that and what do you benefit from it?" The Eagle beast asked with apprehension.
"You've seen these men, right? We are looking for them and want to get some information from them. If they are also looking for the Bloodline Crystals, then our goals are the same." Lin Wu stated.
The Eagle beast did not say anything and stayed silent. Lin Wu didn't know if he would get the beast to agree with him, but he knew for sure that he had piqued the beast's interest. Or there was no way the beast would talk to him for this long.
Report chapter
The Eagle beast spent its time in thinking while Shirong, who had felt the cultivation base of the beast, was nervous. He was sure that the Immortal Crystal Armament was the reason why the beast had not attacked him, but now the question for him was why?
Still, as long as the beast did not do anything to him, he felt like he should be fine. Though if he managed to move again, he reckoned he should be able to escape safely. He at least had the confidence in that even if he could not fight the beast.
The eagle beast suddenly turned its head and looked deep into Shirong's eyes, which made him internally tremble. But what he didn't know was that the beast was not looking at him but rather on his forehead where Lin Wu's eyes were located.
"And how would you be helping me? From what I can see you would be the one befitting as I would be killing the men for you." The eagle beast said.
Lin Wu was already expecting this question and was waiting for the beast to act. There were a few reasons why he had not stated at the very start, why he had not told her. The first was that he didn't want to appear overenthusiastic.
The second was that he wanted to see the cleverness of the beast. While Lin Wu knew that the beast had intelligence the same as that of a human, he wanted to know if it could scheme or not.
He had seen the Slim arm ape which was much clever than other beasts and had spent its time with humans before depending on if it could scheme or not, Lin Wu would set its danger level.
"Since the temples are hidden underneath the ground where you can't reach them, I can help you get to them. You would just need to use the bloodline resonance to find an approximate area and I'll dig down to find it." Lin Wu said.
The Eagle beast thought about Lin Wu's words and found them to be strange. Why would a beast that was in the form of an armor be able to dig?
"You said dig, but can you even do that?" The Eagle Beast questioned in a doubtful tone.
"Of course I can. Don't guess from this armor, my true form is that of a worm." Lin Wu stated.
"A Worm!" The Eagle beast said with a little too much excitement.
Hearing the tone of her voice, Lin Wu suddenly realized something.
'Dammit, she's a bird in the end and I'm a worm; Birds eat worms!' Lin Wu thought.
But then a few seconds later the eagle beast calmed down and even showed a look of disgust from what Lin Wu could perceive.
~phew~
'Seems like it awakening the Vermillion bird's bloodline made it feel disgusted about eating mere worms.' Lin Wu thought to himself.
"Alright, if you say so, then we can do it." The eagle beast said, much to Lin Wu's content. "But what are you going to do about that human with you?" She added.
"The human will be away when I help you did. Though this can only be done at night time." Lin Wu said, but then thought of something more. "Though, if you can find a way to trap the human for a bit, I may be able to help you out openly." Lin Mu added.
"Oh? You want to play around with the human?" The Eagle beast said, misinterpreting Lin Wu's words.
"Yes! Yes, that's it!" Lin Wu said, taking advantage of the misunderstanding.
The eagle beast raised its head and spoke, "there is a place where you can leave him. It's a little far from here, but it's a rather big place and has formations around it. I was unable to enter it but maybe you will be."
'A place where even the Dao Shell realm Eagle beast can't enter? It must be some ruins from the olden times.' Lin Wu was intrigued by it.
"Alright, show me that place and we can leave this man there till we solve the problem." Lin Wu stated.
"Follow me then." The eagle beast said before talking flight.
~WHOOSH~
A strong gust of wind was released from the wings of the Silver Beak Sky Soar eagle as it knocked down several trees nearby and covering the platform with dirt and mud.
~phew~
Shirong seemed visibly relieved after seeing the Eagle beast leave and felt like he was lucky.
"The immortal Crystal Armament is truly miraculous… it even managed to repel a Dao Shell realm beast." Shirong said.
"Huh? This guy is really good at making up stuff. Welp, gonna be fun to tease him a bit." Lin Wu chucked to himself.
Shirong, who was now looking to get away, suddenly felt a message from the Immortal Crystal Armament.
"What!? Why does it want me to follow the Eagle beast?" Shirong said out loud, feeling bewildered.
~Sigh~
"This guy will take too much time…" Lin Wu said, before deciding to take action himself.
~Shua~
Then, before Shirong could say another word, he suddenly found himself flying. Or rather… being hijacked.
"Damn! I can't control it anymore…" Shirong cursed, trying to command the Immortal Crystal Armament.
He didn't know why it was suddenly acting like this but realized that it must be something to do with the Eagle Beast. He could not understand the conversation between Lin Wu and the Eagle beast and thus was in the dark about their true intentions.
Though while he was soaring through the sky, Shirong realized that the Immortal Crystal Armament was not using his spirit Qi.
"Its… its… it is flying on its own?" Shirong said, feeling surprised.
~Piiiii~
Shirong's attention was suddenly pulled by the loud cry of a bird. He spotted the Eagle beast right in front of him, a short distance away.
"What the hell! Why is the Immortal Crystal Armament following the Eagle beast?" Shirong said, feeling both shocked and scared.
Report chapter
Lin Wu didn't really bother with Shirong for now and just continued to fly behind the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle. It was actually a bit difficult for him to keep up with the beast despite it slowing down for him.
Keeping up with the speed of a Dao Shell realm beast was quite difficult for Lin Wu. Besides, this was not the fastest way he could move. Lin Wu's fastest movement method was to move in his drill form.
They flew straight for about two hours before they reached the place that the Eagle beast was talking about. Lin Wu could see it from the sky itself.
It was a sprawling set of ruins that spanned for about ten kilometers. From what Lin Wu could see, it was probably the remains of a sect.
"Huh? Ruins of an ancient sect? So the stories were really true?" Shirong suddenly said.
Lin Wu could also sense the formation arrays in the distance using his spirit Qi. They were spread all over the area and seemed to be complex. The eagle beast came to land near the edge of these formations and waited for Lin Wu to arrive.
~Thud~
"So this is the place you were talking about?" Lin Wu questioned the Eagle beast.
"Yes. I've tried to enter it but no matter how much power I use, this barrier doesn't break." The eagle beast replied.
"Why did you try to enter it, though? Did you sense anything good inside?" Lin Wu questioned.
"Indeed, I can sense a large amount of spirit Qi being suppressed in there. I don't know what it is, but it is bound to be a treasure." The eagle beast answered.
"Is that so…" Lin Wu Muttered before asking the system to do its work.
"System, check if you can figure out the formation." Lin Wu said.
~Ding~
——
SCANNER ACTIVATED: Limited Functionality available
TARGET SELECTED: Analyzing parameters
TARGET IDENTIFIED: Large scale, multi-layer formation array found.
——
While there was still interference in the area, the system was still able to scan something like a formation array directly due to being close to it. Plus Lin Wu was directly using his spirit sense to probe the barrier and thus it was easier for him to check it.
"Can you make an entry way into the barrier, system?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
——
ANSWER: The system can find a weaker node from where the host should be able to enter the first layer of the formation array. There are multiple barriers in this formation array and each has an independent formation matrix.
——
"Hmm… we can work with that. I think I got an idea…" Lin Wu said.
He then followed the system guide and saw the weaker node a short distance away from there. Lin Wu prodded Shirong to move there, and he really did. This time he was a bit more cooperative as he realized there must be something inside the runes because of which the Immortal Crystal armament had brought him here.
'Though why is that Eagle beast here too and why did it let us follow it? It's almost like… the Immortal Crystal Armament Communicated with the Eagle beast… but why would it do that?' Shirong had a lot of questions appearing in his mind now and the image that Lin Wu had made of a spirit tool was slowly being changed.
This was something that was bound to happen eventually and Lin Wu didn't mind. He wanted to make it seem to Shirong that he was more than just an Immortal Weapon. By now he didn't fear Shirong or his power and only wanted the access to his clan.
Lin Wu knew for sure that the Ji Clan had a literal treasure trove of knowledge hidden in their clan, and Shirong was the best option at accessing it. Not to mention that the man would also come in handy in a few more plans that Lin Wu had about the future.
The place where the weaker node was located was actually an old collapsed hut. Lin Wu could sense that the barrier here was weak due to lacking spirit Qi. Looking down, he could see the formation inscriptions that had been damaged over time.
"So this is why it is weaker here… I think I should be able to pass through this as long as I use the effect of the sapphire meridians." Lin Wu said.
Shirong, who was also observing the barrier felt an urge to touch it. Not thinking much, he extended his hand and felt spirit Qi suddenly surrounding it. The moment his hand touched the barrier, he saw something surprising.
"What!? The spirit Qi managed to get past the barrier?" Shirong said with surprise.
Even the Eagle Beast who was watching from the side was surprised. She had used her entire strength to try to get past this barrier, but had been unable to. And now Lin Wu had done it somehow.
Shirong then saw that the spirit Qi coming from the Immortal Crystal Armament increased and exerted more force on the barrier. Understanding what he needed to do now, Shirong placed both his hand on the barrier as spirit Qi came pouring in from the other hand too.
It was as if the spirit Qi ate at the barrier, and after a few minutes, Shirong managed to pierce his fingers through it.
"HAHA! It works!" Shirong said with excitement, completely forgetting that there was still a Dao Shell realm beast nearby.
It was evident that the fear he felt from the beast had reduced after seeing its tolerance to him.
Shirong continued doing what he was and even supplied his own spirit Qi to the Immortal Crystal Armament, which Lin Wu gladly took up and stored in the spirit Qi storage. Both of them worked in tandem and about an hour later, the hole that they had created had become large enough for a child to pass through.
~heng~
Shirong lifted his hands and felt tired now. He had extenuated quite a bit of spirit Qi in opening this.
"Should be able to pass if I go horizontally…" Shirong said.
Report chapter
Shirong did a little mental Tetris and figured out that if he floated in the air horizontally, he would be able to enter the hole easily.
And thus that's what he did. He floated, turned horizontally, and entered the hole which was slowly closing. When he fully passed through it, Lin Wu intentionally stopped his control on his spirit Qi and let the barrier close.
~Zing~
The barrier flickered due to being restored, and Shirong flinched.
"It closed back?… Never mind, I should be able to open it again later." Shirong said before taking a look around.
He walked about ten steps ahead before...
~DENG~
~Thud~
He hit an invisible barrier.
"Huh? Another barrier?" Shirong said as used his spirit sense to check the barrier.
"Heavens! This is no simple barrier!" Shirong exclaimed.
If he were to compare it, the barrier was on the same level as the ones which were in his own clan. They were made by the many ancestors that came before his time and reinforce over time.
There was no way Shirong would be able to get through this.
"There should be some other way… if the Immortal Crystal Armament brought me here, it should have a method to go further." Shirong said.
"Bingo! Was just waiting for you to say that." Lin Wu stated before starting to morph into the form of a spear again.
"Huh? What-" Shirong was a bit surprised as the Immortal Crystal armament acted on its own.
It changed back into the spear form and floated in front of him.
"What are you going to do?" Shirong asked.
In response to that, Lin Wu stabbed into the ground and let out waves of spirit Qi. Shirong had a bout of realization as he understood the Spear's intentions.
"It's going to open the formations somehow?" Shirong muttered.
He observed how there were different spirit Qi fluctuation coming from the spear and how the barrier was interacting. Runes had appeared on the barrier, which revealed the structures of the formation beneath.
Shirong then saw that the spear was sinking deeper into the ground until only the bottom six inches of it were left out.
"It must be directly interacting with the formation matrix deep in the ground." Shirong fussed to himself.
"Good, good! Make up stuff so I don't have to." Lin Wu said with a chuckle.
He then extended his body and detached a long twelve inch crystal from his body. This was the very part that seemed to be outside the ground and made it seem like he was stabbed in the ground.
In reality, Lin Wu went back to the barrier and opened another hole before leaving through it.
"There we go. The 'crib' should keep him in there for a while." Lin Wu stated with a chuckle.
Lin Wu had basically baited Shirong into entering the barrier and was going to leave him there, while he went away with the Silver Beak Sky Soar eagle. The eagle beast was looking at Shirong and was wondering what Lin Wu was doing.
~thud~
The eagle beast sensed something moving behind him and saw that the earth was rising. It looked at the ground with sharp eyes, ready to act at any moment. The moment a crystal head appeared out of the ground, it realized who it was.
"How are you here?" The eagle beast said, before turning her neck. "And there too?"
"Don't mind that. We can now leave for work. The 'baby' should stay in the 'crib' safely till then." Lin Wu joked.
The eagle beast tilted her head in confusion, unable to understand the words Lin Wu had just used. Lin Wu saw the awkwardness and lightly coughed.
~cough~
"We should go and search for the underground temples." Lin Wu suggested.
"Alright…" The Eagle beast agreed before taking flight.
Lin Wu too flew up behind it at great speed, leaving Shirong wondering why the eagle beast had left.
"Strange…" Shirong muttered, unaware that the Eagle beast was not the only one that had left.
He looked at the spear in the ground with a smile on his face and spoke, "Haha, I'll be able to get the secrets of these ruins soon!"
Once Lin Wu had gotten far enough from Shirong, he transformed back into his real form.
"You're quite big…" The eagle beast said upon seeing Lin Wu's true form, which was twice as big as her in size.
"Yeah, people say that a lot." Lin Wu chuckled.
"Though… are you sure you are a worm? I sense an aura similar to that of the Olive Viper King." The Eagle Beast said, narrowing her eyes and wondering if she had been tricked.
Lin Wu got a bit tensed and realized that the eagle beast couldn't tell that his aura was similar to that of the Olive Viper King due to him being 'equipped' by Shirong. This had made their auras mix and made it difficult for the Eagle Beast to tell them apart.
But now that she could fully sense Lin Wu's aura, which was revealed, she found it to be quite similar to that of her old enemy.
"I'm not related to the Olive Viper King if that's what you're thinking. Though we did get our cultivation and bloodline from the same thing." Lin Wu replied.
"The fallen star…" The Eagle beast muttered.
"Indeed." Lin Wu chimed in.
Seeing that the Eagle beast was still a bit unconvinced, Lin Wu decided to speak to her a bit more.
"Look, can the Olive Viper King change its shape and size?" Lin Wu asked the Eagle beast.
"No… not from what I've seen." The Eagle beast shook its head, which knocked away a few clouds in the process since she was flying at a great speed.
"See, I have different abilities than the Olive Viper King." Lin Wu stated.
"As for the Bloodline…" Lin Wu said in a deep tone as his eyes glowed crimson red and his body emerald green.
"MINE IS FAR SUPERIOR TO THAT SNAKE!"
Report chapter
The moment Lin Wu unleashed the full potential of his Aura the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle could feel a powerful presence coming from it. She could also feel a hint of suppression from it.
'His bloodline… it is comparable to mine… or even superior… but how? I have the bloodline of the legendary Vermillion bird?' The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle wondered.
There were more questions that arose in her mind, but she could not come to any conclusion. The only thing that was concrete was the fact that Lin Wu was no common beast and those rulers of the forest could not compare to him, either.
Even that old 'enemy' of hers' the Olive Viper King was nothing compared to him, even though both of them had obtained the bloodline from the same meteor. She now knew that she should not take Lin Wu lightly even if he was much weaker than her in terms of cultivation base.
Having shown his cultivation base, Lin Wu calmed down and realized that he had gotten a bit too fired up. This was strange for him, and he didn't know why he had acted like this.
'Is this the bloodline's effect? It cannot handle others insulting it…' Lin Wu thought to himself.
~Ahem~
"Well then, we should get to our task I suppose." Lin Wu said, wanting to change the topic.
"Okay." The Eagle beast replied simply.
"So where do you think the next place where the Bloodline crystal is?" Lin Wu questioned.
The Eagle beast closed its eyes and stayed like that for a few minutes before opening them back again.
"There are multiple of them that I can sense. The closest one is in that direction though." She said, pointing to the east.
"To the east huh…" Lin Wu felt strange as that was the direction he had originally come from and had even checked it himself for about two days.
But in that two days, except for the common beasts, he had not found anything else. This confused him, as he wondered if there were a lot more things that he missed or not.
"Since you say it's there, let's check it out." Lin Wu stated.
"Alright," The Eagle beast said before changing her direction to the east.
~Shua~
A strong gust came from her wings as she flapped them, blowing away the nearby clouds in one go. Even Lin Wu was slightly affected but was able to manage using the wind attribute spirit Qi to negate the effects.
"Seems like she has some attainments with wind element as well. Though it should be from her original bloodline of the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle. I've seen her use that strong fire, so that should have come from the bloodline of the Vermillion Bird." Lin Wu analyzed.
This incited a bit of curiosity in Lin Wu's mind.
"System, can you scan her now?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
——
CHECKING FOR INTERFERENCE: Interference field at a minimal level
SCANNER FUNCTION: Available
——
"Perfect! So the interference field of the Dread Coil marsh is stronger if I get closer to the ground, huh." Lin Wu said.
"Alright then, scan the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle and tell me what new data is seen." Lin Wu ordered.
~DING~
——
SCANNER ACTIVATED: Target selected
TARGET IDENTIFIED: Scan successful
Target: Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle
Cultivation Base: Shell Initiation Stage of the Dao Shell realm
Bloodline: 1. Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle [complete]
2. Vermillion Bird [Partially awakened]
Elemental Affinity: Wind, Fire
Info: The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle are a species of rare bird type Spirit beasts and they usually live in tall mountains. Their main ability is the elemental manipulation of wind in which they are innately talented. They can use wind attribute spirit Qi right from their birth, but their control gets better the more their cultivation base increases.
The strongest recorded Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle was in the Immortal Ascension realm.
The system has also detected the bloodline of the Vermillion bird within the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle, but it cannot estimate how much it has affected the beast. The system will need additional updates to the data banks in order to have a better analysis.
——
Lin Wu read the entire thing and found it way more than he had expected it to be. The information that was additionally added to the window was taken from the libraries of the royal library of the Ling kingdom. Apparently, it was part of their restricted section and it was one of the old books that looked like it had not been opened in a long time.
Lin Wu reckoned that no one bothered to check the books in a long time, which caused them to just forget about the beast. Though he wondered if it was such a strong beast just with its own bloodline, then how would it appear in the millennium forest.
It was not even its native habitat, not to mention the fact that just from its original bloodline it should have been stronger than the Twin Lights Liger King and could have become the stoniest beast of the forest.
"Hmm… system why is it that its progress was halted even though it had a better bloodline than the Twin Lights Liger King?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
——
ANSWER: According to system's analysis, this may be the result of the vermilion birds' bloodline. From the data, the system extrapolated the vermilion bird's bloodline is quite superior to the beast's original bloodline and maybe having an antagonistic effect on it.
This may have caused it to become suppressed on its own and thus preventing the beast from progressing in its cultivation normally. This is a common problem that happens with beasts that have multiple bloodlines as they become incompatible.
In fact, most of the beasts in the world have multiple bloodlines that have mixed so much that they become very weak. Not all beasts can make their bloodline compatible and this becomes a shackle for them.
The host would have been in the same position, but the system and modify the bloodlines enough to make them compatible with the host's body.
——
Lin Wu read through the system's description and found it to be reasonable.
"Hmm… now that I think of it, a lot of common beasts are just descendants of much stronger beasts. The only difference being that their bloodline kept on getting diluted till it morphed into something completely different and they became a different species.
Though this also gives rise to the question… can a common beast progress his own cultivation far enough without a good bloodline or not? If humans can do it, then technically beasts should be able to do it as well." Lin Wu muttered to himself while flying behind the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle.
The two beasts flew for over eight hours before they reached the location that the Eagle Beast was talking about. The strange thing was Lin Wu had been here before. There were literally the track marks left behind by his large body in the mud, along with the trees that were destroyed.
"Are you sure it's here?" Lin Wu questioned.
"Yes, I can sense it deep within the ground here. But I can't exactly tell where." The Eagle Beast replied.
"Hmm… alright. I'll go down and see." Lin Wu said before landing on the ground and digging in.
~Rumble~
Lin Wu's large body pierced through the dirt and soon disappeared beneath the ground. The eagle beast couldn't help but raise its brow feathers.
"He truly is a worm alright…" she said upon seeing the efficiency with which Lin Wu dug into the ground.
Lin Wu traveled through the ground and used his own spirit sense to check for the temple. Since the system was unable to provide him with coordinates, this was all Lin Wu could do for now. He started from the point where he entered the ground and dug in circles, covering a large radius of area.
It took him over two hours to cover the entire area before he had to move deeper. He repeated the same thing, moving in circles before going even deeper.
"Damn, just how deep is it?" Lin Wu wondered.
The previous temple that he saw was not as deep as this one. In fact, that one was at barely half the depth at which Lin Wu currently was. Still, since the eagle beast had said that the temple was here, Lin Wu continued his hunt, until an entire six hours passed.
"How far deep am I even?" Lin Wu wondered.
~Ding~
——
ANSWER: The host is 12641.23 meters deep under ground.
——
"Goddamn… if it was the previous world of mine, I would have already hit oil at this point." Lin Wu said.
This was in fact the farthest Lin Wu had dug until now. But just when he was about to give up, his spirit sense picked up something.
"Huh? Is that it…?" Lin Wu wondered and got closer to the area.
"It really is!" Lin Wu exclaimed.
Lin Wu's spirit sense scanned the large structure and found it to be the same as the temple he had seen before. It had the same kind of platform on top of it along with the trap door, which was technically its roof.
"Now then… how do I actually get the Eagle Beast here?" Lin Wu wondered.
The depth of the temple was quite far and Lin Wu's original method was going to be just digging the soil to make a large tunnel for the Eagle beast. But now he couldn't say the same. While he could really use the same method of just digging the soil, he didn't know how long it would end up taking.
"Maybe I can find the mechanism that makes the temples rise up from the ground. If I can trigger it, I may be able to get it to ascend to the surface." Lin Wu said to himself.
Having thought of that, he got close to the entrance of the temple and shrunk himself. There were the same carvings on the tiles that Lin Wu had seen before, along with the ones on the doors of the trapdoor.
Lin Wu infused some spirit Qi into the formations of the trapdoor and managed to unlock it.
~creek~
The trap door opened and Lin Wu walked, or rather slithered, down the stairs while making his body glow. When he got to the very bottom of the stairs, he reached the same kind of a hall from the previous temple.
"So they really are just replicas of each other." Lin Wu stated.
He walked ahead and saw all the statues of the vermilion bird decorating the hall. Lin Wu avoided triggering any traps that may be present and got to the door of the inner hall. Pushing them open, Lin Wu caused the torches in the inner hall to light up.
~Shua~shua~shua~
The talons that were holding the crimson flames illuminated the hall, revealing the entirety of the hall. There Lin Wu saw the large statue of the vermilion bird at the very end. This statue was also damaged, like the previous one, but in different parts.
The crumbled and broken fragments could also be seen lying around and Lin Wu reckoned this was due to age. Though there were some peculiar things that Lin Wu noticed there.
"Huh? Scratch marks?" Lin Wu observed.
Lin Wu got closer and then suddenly heard a growing sound from behind.
~Grrrr~
His spirit sense spread around, but he could not sense anything.
"Who?!" Lin Wu's body whipped at a blinding speed as he hit whatever was approaching him from behind.
There Lin Wu saw a large six legged beast that had a featureless, mask like face, with only a mouth that was filled with sharp teeth. As soon as he saw it, he recognized what beast it was.
"The Specter Skull Hound? What is it doing this far deep?" Lin Wu wondered. "No, wait… its size is also much bigger than the previous one…" Lin Wu added.
~Ding~
——
ANSWER: This is a mature Specter Skull hound that is at the Nascent Soul realm. Host should proceed with caution!
——