Read Rise Of The Worm Sovereign Chapter 391 - The Slim Arm Ape's Master? online for free - AllNovelFull
The Demon Spine ape was only getting more and more interested in the story of his father and looked at him intently. The Slim Arm ape felt the gaze on the back of his head and saw his son's expression from the corner of his eyes.
'Seems like my bloodline in him is still active. The curiosity has not died yet…' The Slim Arm ape thought to himself.
After taking a short pause, he decided to continue.
"The Tian Clan was a strange one, according to what I heard from my master's words. While they liked to stay hidden from the world and did not like to compete with the different powers, they were also obsessive about their clan's strength.
Their clansmen stayed cooped up in there all their lives while cultivating on their own. It was quite weird, to be honest. I only visited the clan with my master twice in my life, but each of those visits were peculiar." The Slim Arm Ape said.
The Demon Spine ape stroked his head in intrigue. He very carefully noted everything that his father was saying in his mind. His father's words have always been beneficial to him and whenever he followed them, he had not had a loss.
Rather, when he did not follow them, he had often faced losses instead. Fighting Lin Wu was once such a mistake that he had done. While his father had said that he had free rein to do whatever he wanted to do as a ruler, the demon spine ape knew that his father disapproved of it in his mind.
'That worm beast… if he can even be called that, has he perhaps had a fortunate encounter?' The Demon Spine ape thought to himself.
After having gone over his father's words and seeing the phenomena in the distance, the Demon spine ape came up with more questions.
"Now that you have been here in this forest for so long father, you must have some idea about where the said secret lies, right?" The Demon Spine Ape questioned.
"I do… most rulers should know about it at this point. Even you do," The Slim Arm ape answered.
"So it's the Dark Bloom Caverns?" The Demon Spine ape questioned.
"That… is one of the places and yes, all rulers think of that place to be of the hidden power. But I think it is not… I think there is another one that has been hidden under our noses this entire time." The Slim Arm ape replied.
The Demon Spine Ape instantly guessed what his father was hinting towards.
"The Forbidden hill with that tomb… that's where the Worm lives now!" The Demon Spine ape exclaimed.
"Indeed, that is the place. Most beasts ignore it due to being unable to enter it and those who tried to force their way in died at the very entrance. The many bones of the dead beasts speak enough to prevent any more from getting close to that place.
Rather than that, they think of the Dark Bloom Caverns to be of the greatest importance. And that isn't all wrong either, it does have the source of the spirit Qi hidden underneath it. But I have a hunch that whatever is hidden in the forbidden hill is definitely a lot more than that… many times stronger than that." The Slim Arm ape replied.
"All these years no beast was able to get close to the Forbidden hill but now not only did that worm beast manage to get close, he even managed to turn it into his home." The Demon spine ape stated.
"Yes, that is the reason why I have been careful in dealing with him. Even when he asked for our kin, I allowed them to be taken. That beast… he terrifies me. Not just his bloodline though… there is something else hidden in him, that is strange." The Slim Arm ape said, in a slightly fatigued tone.
"Do you think that something is from the forbidden hill?" The Demon Spine ape questioned once again.
"I do not know, but that does seem like the most probable answer. And if it is true, then it confirms my suspicion about the Forbidden hill.
Hundreds, if not thousands, had tried to enter the Dark Bloom caverns to search for more power within it, yet none of them returned. And then comes this beast out of nowhere and takes over the tomb on the forbidden hill, shooting through cultivation stages as if they were a bamboo.
If that is not the proof of power within that hill, then nothing else makes sense." The Slim Arm Ape said, his tone agitated.
The Demon Spine ape looked at his father and felt the faint anger seething within his body. He closed his eyes for a moment, before a determinate expression appeared on his face.
"Then what do you want to do with the worm beast, father? Do you want to kill him and take over the Hill?" The Demon Spine ape said, his aura flaring with the lust for battle.
The demon spine ape was fully expecting his father to say yes, but the answer seemed to surprise him.
"Fight him? Hahahah! Why would I fight him?" The Slim Arm ape suddenly laughed out loud.
"Then what do you want to do?" The Demon Spine ape questioned with absolute confusion.
"Fighting him would be a waste of effort, not to mention there is a great chance we would just perish under his tail. Rather than that, we should let him slowly expose his own secrets little by little. My goal… no, rather my master's goal should be achievable through proxy.
My master passed on the goal to me and I shall pass on that goal to that worm." The Slim Arm ape declared.
"But would he even accept it?" The Demon Spine ape asked with furrowed brows.
"Oh, he doesn't have to accept it. I don't even need to speak to him about it, he will do it on his own!" The Slim arm ape replied with a hint of confidence in his eyes.
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Hearing the words of his father, The Demon Spine ape did not know what to think more.
~HONG~
But his thoughts needed to come to a halt for now as the situation in the distance changed.
"Looks like it is about to end…" The Slim Arm Ape said while gazing at the pillar go green light that rose up to the skies.
"This… it is quite similar to the time when the stars fell from the sky." The Demon Spine ape recalled seeing something similar two years ago.
"Indeed. Looks like our worm friend has even more secrets than I had thought…" The Slim Arm Ape commented with an eerie smile that was quite similar to that of a human.
In the south eastern part of the Millennium forest, tens of thousands of insect beasts were looking at the green pillar of light coming from the edge of the sixth ring.
"What is that?" A Dung Beetle questioned.
"Looks like even your brain is filled with dung! Can't you see it's a pillar of light?" A beast that looked like an extremely large lice said.
The dung beetle looked at the lice beast with a wronged expression and didn't know what to say. But the question that he had asked was something that every beast in the area currently had.
~Rumble~
The sound of something large approaching was heard, and all the insect beasts turned around to see a large figure appearing from the massive nest made from rotting logs of giant trees.
"King! The Beetle king has appeared!" The insect beasts all got excited.
The Split thorn horn Beetle King's massive horn pierced through the wood as he pulled out his large body from the nest. It was evident that he had been asleep for quite a while and seemed to be a bit groggy.
"What's all the commotion about?" The beetle king questioned.
But soon he was able to sense the spirit Qi fluctuations coming from afar. He turned his head, which made his massive horn move like a staff, knocking up gales along with it. The nearby insect beasts that were a bit on the lighter side were directly sent flying from the winds.
Even though some of them got injured, it was not like they could complain about it. After all… who would they even complain to? The king? He was the one who caused it in the first place!
Thus, they could only grit their teeth and bear it with a wronged expression.
The Split Thorn Horn beetle king did not mind this, or rather he didn't even notice that he had done this. Even if they complained, he would not put them in his eyes. After all according to him, why would they come close to him if they were this weak?
With neither side saying anything, the Beetle king was free to observe the phenomenon.
"So he grows stronger once again…" The Split Thorn Horn Beetle King said.
~Rumble~
The sound of strong footsteps came once again and the insect beasts turned around to see another beetle beast appear. This was also a Split Thorn Horn Beetle, but it was much smaller in size. But that was not the most distinguishing feature of it.
Rather than that, the emerald green parts of its body along with its horn were the most eye catching features. The aura of this beetle was also quite strong than most other insect beasts here and if one sensed its spirit Qi fluctuations, they might even realize that the beast was quite close to breaking through to the Peak Stage of the Core Condensation realm.
"It is definitely master," The Split thorn horn beetle that was one of the servant beasts of Lin Wu said.
The beetle king turned to look at his descendant and nodded his head. His little nod made his massive horn shake again, which generate more winds, knocking away more insect beasts. Those who were a bit clever among the insect beasts had already kept a sufficient distance between them and their king.
"It does not seem like he's that far off from my level now…" The Beetle king said.
The Split thorn horn beetle that had the emerald patterns closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them.
"It does seem like he's getting stronger… I can sense it. The power… it's affecting me too." The Split thorn horn beetle said as a small rhombus shaped gem that was hidden beneath the carapace of her head shone.
~Sigh~
"At least the insect clan made a wise decision this time and sided with the right party." The Beetle King said as he looked at the forbidden hill with a strange look in its eyes.
If it could be compared to that of a human, the Beetle king was basically giving a wry smile.
"What should I do now, ancestor?" The smaller beetle asked.
"Go and pay your respects of course." The beetle king stated.
In the burrow that was located in a lake, a serpent's long neck was rising.
It looked at the green pillar of light with envy in its eyes.
"Mine! All mine! I'll have it! You just wait!" The Olive Viper King declared.
At a large cave of the Dark Bloom Caverns, a group of Lamp Light ligers was pacing around in nervousness.
"Why is king not answering our calls?" one of the Lamp Light Ligers asked.
"Yes, we need to quickly inform him of the phenomenon! It's similar to that of the fallen start two years ago!" Another Lamp Light Liger said.
"Silence!" A Lamp Light liger that was one size larger than the others appeared from one of the caves at the side.
"The king is in seclusion and shall not be disturbed. Go away, I'll inform him when he's out." The Large Lamp Light Liger said in a harsh tone.
The other lamp light ligers were scared by his aura and voice and quickly scampered off. Once they were all gone, the large Lamp light liger looked at the main cave with a scared expression.
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Lin Wu, who was unaware of all the happenings in the forest, continued to feel the increase in his power. The second Nascent Soul was now at the cusp of reaching the same level as that of the first one and would soon break through to the Adolescent Soul stage of the Nascent Soul realm.
While he could see the pillar of light that his body was releasing into the sky, he didn't care as much about the backlash. He now knew that he didn't really have much to fear in the forest.
Having spent time with the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle and witnessing the powers of stronger beings had allowed him to estimate his own power. Even the Aqua Dream Sea Lotus which was at the Dao Treading realm, was held back by the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle despite being weaker than it.
Lin Wu had been comparing himself to either very strong beasts or beasts that had powerful bloodlines like the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle. Having learned all that, he now knew where he stood.
The rulers of the Millennium forest were nothing in front of him at that point. The only thing that Lin Wu understood he would have to be wary about was the Olive Viper King. That beast technically had the same bloodline as him, but it may have assimilated differently.
Thus, Lin Wu would need to figure out if his abilities would work on that beast or not. Through with the other different ones that he had accumulated over the time, he was sure that he would not need to worry much.
~shua~
~thud~
The process was finally competed, and the green pillar of light faded away. Lin Wu's body descended to the ground with a thud and he looked around. Even though he could not see the beasts, he could feel tens of gazes on him.
"Seems like I was rather flashy this time… Hmm it shouldn't matter though, gotta get to the avatar first." Lin Wu said before teleporting down to the main hall where he had been living.
Once he was there, he looked around at the screens. There were n number of beasts all looking towards the sky of a particular part of the forest. This was the nearby area of the tomb which could currently be scanned using the system's help and that, combined with the formation array of the tomb, allowed Lin Wu to monitor.
"Ah! I completely forgot about the Source crystal!" Lin Wu suddenly remembered upon seeing the monitors.
He remembered that the system had told him he could expand the scope of influence of the tomb with the help of more spirit Qi. And to do that, he needed a constant supply of it which, while he could do it, it would come at the cost of his own cultivation.
"System, use the spirit Qi sprint source crystal for the tomb. Add it to the spirit Qi supply network!" Lin Wu ordered.
~DING~
——
TASK ASSIGNED: Spirit Qi supply upgrade
OBJECT SELECTED: Spirit Qi sprint source crystal
ANALYZING PARAMETERS: Network nodes identified
ANALYSIS COMPLETED: Optimism Network node found
——
Upon Lin Wu's command, the system started its process. The Source crystal was automatically removed from the inventory and came to float in front of Lin Wu. He could see multiple new screens appearing in front of him that showed a dense network that overlaid on the map of the tomb.
Lin Wu understood that this was the spirit Qi supply of the entire tomb and spanned over it all. But that was not all, as it expanded outside of it too and linked to multiple locations. The only problem was that many of these external links had either deteriorated over time or had been completely severed.
The system scanned for the proper place that would benefit from the addition of the Spirit Qi sprint source crystal. Since the spirit Qi source crystals would not directly produce spirit Qi for now, the system needed to find a broad area where it could be left for a while.
Once it started to stabilize and assimilate on its own, the source crystal would make another spirit Qi spring. While it could make a spirit Qi spring in any place given time, the system found a place that would accelerate this process.
Since the sixth ring was neurally rich in spirit Qi due to the hidden source beneath the Dark Bloom caverns, the system chose a location there. Thus, with the assistance of the passive spirit Qi from the Dark Bloom Caverns, not only would the source crystal make a spirit Qi spring soon, it would also link up the broken parts.
Once the spirit Qi spring source crystal was scanned one last time, the system teleported it to the chosen location. Lin Wu could see it moving on the map and it came to settle in a broken down hall, which was a bit similar to the trial grounds.
There were several damaged formations here, along with the collapsed statues and murals.
"So this is the extended part of the tomb… I guess having more spirit Qi from me allowed the system to unlock the newer parts of it." Lin Wu muttered as he saw the system implant the spirit Qi sprint source crystal.
It entered the center of what was a broken formation circle but still managed to function partially. Once it was there, Lin Wu got another notification.
~Ding~
——
NOTIFICATION: Inject 100,000 units of liquid spirit Qi to initiate process? Y/N
——
"Go ahead system, do it." Lin Wu said, giving the system permission.
~Ding~
——
PERMISSION GRANTED: Consumed [100,000] units (liquid spirit qi)
SPIRIT QI STORAGE: 1,268,911 units [liquid spirit qi]
——
With that done, Lin Wu felt the tomb shake slightly as a strong wave of spirit Qi was released. It quickly traveled through the network and reached the source crystal, lighting it up.
~HONG~
In a few seconds, the source crystal became active and started to suck the spirit Qi of the environment.
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Seeing that the source crystal was now set up and working as it should be, Lin Wu felt a bit better. He knew that he would not get to reap the benefits of the source crystal soon, but he was pleased to see that it would be helpful in the long term.
~Sigh~
"I'll come for you all later, but for now I got a different situation at hand…" Lin Wu said before transferring his consciousness to the Avatar.
His vision went dark for a second before returning. But now the scene in front of him had changed completely. Unlike the white hall filled with tens of screens, Lin Wu was now in a dimly lit hall, with the only light source coming from the inner hall.
He looked around and saw that Jiao Fan and Old Man Tiandi were still there in their positions and had not moved. They were observing the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle, who was now close to finishing her transformation.
'Hmm… her cultivation should stabilize soon and her transformation will be complete. Though I think she still needs more of the bloodline in order to be able to reach the peak and awaken a major part of her bloodline.' Lin Wu thought to himself.
Less than ten minutes had passed since he had left his avatar and returned and thankfully nothing strange had happened. The commands that he had left for his avatar had never been activated and even when he checked the memories from the system, everything was fine.
"Guess it was indeed safe leaving the avatar for a bit, despite these two guys being here. Not like they can harm the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle anyway and they fear me far too much to do anything right now." Lin Wu muttered to himself.
Jiao Fan felt a gaze on him and turned to look at the source which was none other than Lin Wu. He felt a bit nervous bit since Lin Wu had not done anything to him or any humans for that matter till now, his guess that Lin Wu was a mechanical puppet was turning out to be more and more solid.
'Should I ask him…?' Jiao Fan couldn't help but think.
~thud~
His gaze was attracted by the loud heartbeats of the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle and he couldn't help but gulp down his saliva. The beast was simply too powerful for him or anyone in the city.
Not to mention just that, Jiao Fan was sure that in the entire Bing Kingdom there would be less than three people that might be able to compare with the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle as of now.
"Will the Minister even be able to do anything to this beast?" Jiao Fan couldn't help but wonder.
Lin Wu heard the man's words and was intrigued, but did not question it now. He guessed that the man might be talking about the higher ups of the Bing Kingdom or something like that. That was what Lin Wu was originally concerned about, but with the increase in the power of the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle, he did not need to worry as much.
"I should start my part too," Lin Wu said. This time, his words were audible to the two men.
"Start… his part?" Jiao Fan and Old Man Tiandi repeated, wondering what Lin Wu had just said.
~thud~
~thud~
But then, in the next moment, their eyes went wide and they fell to the ground.
"Wh-what!? What's happening?" Old Man Tiandi said in shock.
In front of him, Lin Wu's body was glowing with an emerald green light and his eyes also glowed with a crimson light. Currently, the Jiao Fan and Old Man Tiandi were unable to use their spirit sense and had a hard time sensing the spirit Qi but due to the sheer amount of spirit Qi waves Lin Wu was releasing they could feel it on their skin.
"This… is this beast… or puppet having a breakthrough, too?" Jiao Fan said in surprise.
And it was exactly as how they had thought. Lin Wu was truly having a breakthrough right now. The waves coming from his body only got stronger till he finally broke through to the Child Soul stage of the Nascent Soul realm.
~Ding~
——
CULTIVATION UPGRADE: Complete
AVATAR CULTIVATION BASE: Child Soul stage of the Nascent Soul realm
-Spirit Qi required to upgrade = [1,798,811/3,000,000] units (liquid spirit qi)
——
With the upgrade complete, the spirit Qi fluctuations that were coming off Lin Wu's body calmed down and the glow of his body dimmed down as well. He opened his eyes and looked at the two men with a large, toothy grin on his face.
"Ah, pardon me! Perhaps it was a bit unexpected…" Lin Wu chuckled.
He then turned his head at the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle and looked at her, open her eyes.
"Perfect! At the same time almost." Lin Wu said as he proceeded ahead.
The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle looked at the approaching Lin Wu and the two humans that were watching her as well.
"Congratulations, another breakthrough." Lin Wu said.
"Mm… it was nothing. Once my bloodline is truly awakened, no one in this world will be my match." The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle said with a proud expression on her face.
Jiao Fan and Old Man Tiandi could not perceive this pride though and for them it only looked like the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle was having a fierce expression. Only Lin Wu, who had gotten used to the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle's emotions and expression, could tell it now.
He could even feel that if he did not have the translation of the system, he might still be able to talk to her and understand her.
"Of course! No other bloodline can come close to the descendant of the legendary Vermilion bird." Lin Wu said with a smile.
"Legendary Vermillion bird?" for the first time, Jiao Fan and Old Man Tiandi heard the name of the beast that the statues depicted.
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Jiao Fan and Old Man Tiandi tried to search their memories for any information on such a beast, but they were unable to.
"A legendary beast… that title seems familiar," Old Man Tiandi said upon hearing it.
Jiao Fan nodded his head, and an idea suddenly appeared in his mind.
"Wait, a minute! Weren't the three guardian beasts called as legendary beasts in their origin story?" Jiao Fan suddenly said.
Lin Wu heard this and raised his brows. The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle on the other hand, paid no attention to that and instead spread her spirit sense around seemingly looking at the entire area.
Old Man Tiandi also had an expression of realization after hearing Jiao Fan's words.
"But that can't be! There are only three guardian beasts." Old Man Tiandi stated.
"Haha… seems like you two finally figured it out." Lin Wu said, feeling a bit amused.
He was truly wondering since there were so many intelligent people who had lived long lifespans, then there should be someone who was able to link the vermilion bird to the three guardian beasts.
And now he finally got to see that very thing. Jiao Fan and Old Man Tiandi though were not amused at all.
"How can it be? There can never be another beast on the same levels as that of the three guardian beasts. The three great clans proclaim this!" Old Man Tiandi said.
"Ahahah!" Lin Wu couldn't help but laugh again.
He had once heard Shirong saying that the Three clans had pulled the wool over the entire world to ensure that they would forever stay in power. They even split the three continents equally so that they would not have any unnecessary conflicts.
They spread the faith of the three guardian beasts all over the world, and now very few people would deny and doubt the truth behind them. Seeing Old Man Tiandi's reaction had confirmed that point for him.
"Seems like only the top sects and clans know about the truth. But since it is in their favor as well, they do not wish for it to be let out…" Lin Wu muttered to himself.
Jiao Fan had a pale expression on his face after hearing all this. He wondered if this entire situation was being orchestrated by some greater power that was hidden in the shadows or not. This all seemed far too coordinated to be unplanned to him.
But then the doubts he had about Lin Wu's identity reappeared in his mind.
"You!… You are a human, aren't you? Or at least used to be." Jiao Fan suddenly said.
"What did you say?" Lin Wu asked again, wanting to ensure that he had not heard it wrong.
"You are a human's soul in a mechanical puppet, aren't you?" Jiao Fan elaborated.
"Huh?" Lin Wu said in a confused tone.
He was frankly stunned that this man would have somehow figured out that he truly was a human before and that his soul was human right now, too. The only difference was the two words, 'Mechanical puppet.' Lin Wu did not know what they exactly meant.
"System, show me the information about these 'Mechanical Puppets'." Lin Wu secretly ordered and in the next second, a window popped up in front of him that showed all the information that the system had in its data banks.
Lin Wu read the summary that the system showed in the first window rather quickly in less than a minute and got the gist of it.
'No wonder he thinks this is a mechanical puppet. The crystalline structure does make it seem like that.' Lin Wu thought to himself.
Though Lin Wu was still a bit confused about how the man figured out, he had a human soul. Lin Wu looked at Jiao Fan, which only made the man nervous.
'Dammit! What was I thinking? If It really is true, then he must have been hiding this for a long time and now I just revealed his secret.' Jiao Fan thought to himself, feeling even more scared as Lin Wu gazed upon him.
"And why do you think I'm a human? Or why this is a mechanical puppet?" Lin Wu questioned, wanting to know the man's hypothesis.
To Lin Wu, if Jiao Fan was able to grasp this, then others should be able to do so as well. While he did not know if it would be better or not, that they knew about his human soul, he knew that his current situation had not caused him that many problems.
Thus if it was possible, Lin Wu would like to continue staying in his current situation. At least until he figured out why he had a human soul himself. Jiao Fan who heard his question, was stunned at first and even wondered if he should answer or try to escape.
He secretly gazed at the exit but realized that it might be a long shot. If the thing in front of him truly was an old cultivator that had taken over a mechanical puppet, then he must have had multiple tricks to ensure that he died. With that inference, Jiao Fan decided he may as well speak, and perhaps he would survive somehow.
"Your body… I don't think there are any beasts like these. It is fully made out of crystals as if someone carved out emeralds and jades to make it. There is no way it can be naturally made. I've read about the mechanical puppets and some of them can be made in similar ways as you are.
And seeing your cultivation base, only an old cultivator that was at the very least a Dao Treading realm cultivator would be able to do the same. Plus, since you know about this 'Legendary Vermilion bird' it must have been from long ago.
There is no way anyone that was born in the recent five hundred years would even know about this. I've never seen any records such as this." Jiao Fan explained his side.
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Having heard Jiao Fan's side of the story, Lin Wu could understand his thinking.
'Didn't expect just my crystal body having this kind of a misunderstanding for him…' Lin Wu thought to himself.
Old Man Tiandi heard everything as well and couldn't help but agree with Jiao Fan's words. To him, Lin Wu also seemed like an ancient cultivator that had lost their body and now resided in a puppet like this.
"Are you done here?" The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle suddenly spoke.
Old Man Tiandi and Jiao Fan were startled upon hearing the cry of the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle and looked at her. They couldn't understand what she said and only Lin Wu understood the meaning.
"Oh? You're done checking out the area? Did you find anything interesting?" Lin Wu asked instead.
"Yes, I'm done. We should leave now. There are too many humans here, I don't feel comfortable. And… I feel hungry again." The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle said.
While Jiao Fan and Old Man Tiandi could not understand the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle's words, for some reason, they felt chills going down their body upon hearing the last cry of the beast.
"Hmm… okay. Let's leave then. You can have your appetite satisfied as well. I want to restore the energy I used as well." Lin Wu replied before turning to look at the two men.
"Wh-what do you want?" Jiao Fan asked, instantly feeling that something was wrong.
"Well… it was pleasurable meeting and talking to you, but now… it's time to go," Lin Wu said with a smile.
"Ah, so that's what it was—" Before Jiao Fan could complete his words, he saw something that terrified him.
~gulp~
Lin Wu had moved at a blinding speed and swallowed Old Man Tiandi whole. The man didn't even have the chance to resist, and he was gone.
"Wh-why?" Jiao Fan questioned, feeling absolutely lost.
"It's just business…" Lin Wu nonchalantly said before eating up Jiao Fan as well.
The man had no chance to let out a cry or scream and was quickly reduced to mush. Of course, under the effects of Lin Wu's body, their Nascent Souls that tried to escape were killed instantly.
The radiation that his body passively emanated was far too much for the Nascent Souls to bear, especially when they were literally inside his body. And just like that, the two men who had entertained Lin Wu for about ten hours now were no more.
"Well, that should compensate for some spirit Qi I used up," Lin Wu said before turning to the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle.
"Let's head off, shall we? We got a lot more humans out there." Lin Wu stated.
"Okay," The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle agreed and the two beasts left the temple.
Some distance from the temple, a woman was watching it closely.
"What is happening in there? What the hell was that strong spirit Qi wave?" the woman said as she wiped some sweat off her forehead.
~RUMBLE~
And just as she said that, she saw the two beasts who had entered the temple reappear.
"Did… did they change? Why's the bird beast like that now?" The woman realized.
And just as she was looking at the two beasts, she noticed something else. One of the beasts was looking in her direction.
"No… it can't be… is it looking at me?" The Woman wondered as she saw Lin Wu gaze at her direction or perhaps even at her.
Lin Wu, who had just returned to the surface, checked the map for any differences and found it to be relatively normal.
"There she is, I'll go meet with a certain person, while you can go and eat." Lin Wu said to the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle.
"Sure." The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle said before flapping her wings.
~shua~
A single flap of her wings created strong winds that toppled the few buildings that were still standing nearby. As for the debris of the previously collapsed buildings, it was pushed away too. The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle then started to fly up into the sky and gazed at the people below.
In reality, since she was at the Dao Shell real, the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle didn't even need to flap her wings to fly. She could literally take off straight up and hover, using just her cultivation base. But since she had been used to flying like this for hundreds of years, it was hard for her to give up.
Besides, flying using her wings was far faster than by just using her own cultivation base. This was the one benefit flying beasts had over other non- flying beasts. When they reached the Nascent Soul realm, their speed while flying would still be far greater than the others.
~Piiiii~
The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle let out a loud cry that sent shivers down the people's spines. Meanwhile, Lin Wu calmly apportioned the woman who had been staring at him the entire time and had been spying for a certain mistress.
"He's really coming here!" The woman said to herself, feeling shocked.
She didn't know what to do at first, but then remembered her orders. The woman gritted her teeth and hesitated, but as Lin Wu got closer, her heart started to waver.
"Mistress will understand me, I'm sure of it. This was not my mission anyway," The woman said to herself before turning away and stepping into the air.
~shua~
But in the very next moment, she found a large emerald green wall appearing in front of her, blocking her way.
"W-what!" The woman said as she saw the obstacle.
"Now, now, not so fast," Lin Wu said as he got closer to the woman.
It was his tail that had blocked the woman's way. The woman turned around while shuddering slightly. Her eyes met those of Lin Wu and trembled as if a sheep encountering a wolf.
"Well… Hello there~"
Cai Ming had not expected that the mission she had been assigned would turn out like this. Originally when she had been assigned a mission by her mistress, she had rejoiced. It had been a long time since her mistress had looked to her other than sometimes at night, but now she was finally back in her eyes.
The mission was very simple. She merely had to spy on the mistress's younger brother. She even got the location where he was heading to and where he would likely head to after that.
While she didn't really have to do anything other than observing and recording the actions of the Mistress's Younger brother, the location that the target was going to was quite dangerous… The Dread Coil Marsh.
But of course, Cai Ming could not help but accept the mission given to her and went on it right away. Her mistress had even given her some life preserving treasures and spirit tools that would assist her.
And it was not as if she was weak. She was an Infant Soul stage Nascent Soul realm cultivator. Even her mistress was in the Nascent Soul realm, but she could not tell what stage she was in exactly.
The only thing Cai Ming knew for sure was that her mistress was far stronger than she was. Among the other subordinates of her mistress, Cai Ming ranked third and she had two more senior sisters that ranked higher than her.
Her strongest senior sister was at the Child Soul Stage of the Nascent Soul realm, but even she was no match for their mistress. All of them had been brought up by their mistress ever since they were little girls.
Her mistress had recognized their hidden talent and nurtured them to become the cultivators they were currently. Even back then, their mistress was at the Nascent Soul realm, so it showed just how powerful she would be right now.
After setting out on the journey, Cai Ming found it to be relatively smooth. Even when she entered the Dread Coil Marsh, she was not troubled by the beasts and the ghosts. The treasures that her mistress had given her were able to keep her hidden from the perception of the Marsh Ghosts and other beasts.
Even when she was within a hundred meter radius of the target, he could not see her. This, along with the unique conditions of the Dread Coil Marsh where the spirit sense was greatly suppressed, made it easy for Cai Ming to spy on the mistress's younger brother.
It was safe to say she got to see several secrets of the target. The biggest of them being the unique Crystal spear that the man used. He called it the Immortal Crystal Armament that could transform into multiple different forms of weapons.
Cai Ming had actually been injured a few times by the attacks of the weapon when she had been accidentally within the range of its attacks. The attacks of that Immortal Crystal Armament were fierce and hard to heal.
They contained a strange aura that could taint her flesh and make it harder to heal and for spirit Qi to flow. Had it not been for some of the good quality healing pills that her mistress had given her, Cai Ming may have been crippled a couple of times.
From that moment onwards, she had become greatly cautious and kept her distance from the target. She finally understood why her mistress had asked her to spy on her younger brother and given her this mission.
The mistress's younger brother was no less talented than her and could even be considered to be a bit more powerful. Cai Ming was sure that if they went to battle head to head, she would be unable to last long. She had already seen the Mistress's brother fighting multiple beasts and humans that were at the Nascent Soul realm together and win.
Even without the Immortal Crystal Armament, he was powerful. But then something unexpected had happened. She had to get away because of the large number of men that had appeared in strange garbs.
They could somehow detect her and were following her around. Not wanting to get caught, she decided to retreat for the time being. But that turned out to be a mistake and she lost her target.
But she had also felt a really strong spirit Qi fluctuations from the location of the target and Cai Ming knew something must have happened. Sadly, by the time she got there, the target had disappeared.
But the scene was quite disastrous. There were dead bodies lying around everywhere, with some of them being scorched to death. The area was greatly burned as well and had hardened into a rock.
There was the remnant of the temple there which she could see but did not know what it was exactly. Fearing that she may have failed her mission, she decided to search around the Dread Coil marsh more. But no matter where she went, she couldn't really find anything even after two days.
Finally, she understood that it was best she headed to the next location that the target was going to head to and wait there. And after having waited there for a few weeks, this is the situation that she ended up in.
Cai Ming's eyes were glazed over as blood spilled from her lips and nose. Half of her body was gone and half of it hanging out of the mouth of the crystal beast. The moment she had been stopped was the moment her fate was decided.
"Why… Forgive me, mistress… I failed you…" Cai Ming said her last words.
~CRUNCH~
Her entire body disappointed into Lin Wu's mouth as he finished eating. A rush of memories appeared a few seconds after he had eaten Cai Ming, and he learned of everything that she knew.
"Oh? Didn't expect this… a spy for Shirong's second sister, Ji Xiaolian. And she has been following us all this time without coming to my notice…"
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Lin Wu was intrigued, to say the least, after seeing Cai Ming's memories. The ones that he got right now were the most recent memories that she had, but the system was sorting out the remaining ones so that Lin Wu would be able to see them in detail later.
"At least now I know there is an additional party keeping an eye on Shirong. Though I doubt this woman is the only one that Ji Xiaolian has on the mission. If there is more, even if they aren't here, they should turn up eventually after Shirong reappears." Lin Wu muttered to himself.
'Though by chance if there is an additional spy here… it could get problematical.' Lin Wu thought as he looked around at the terrified humans that were all running around.
The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle was already slaughtering the humans and her flames would have been scorching the ruins had it not been for the fact that she wanted to eat them to fill her belly.
If the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle wanted to, she could have erased the entire city in one move by just using her flames that could drown the entire place.
"I may as well replenish my spirit Qi, and also make sure there are no extra spies here…" Lin Wu muttered as he moved his head.
~shua~
Then in the next moment, his body moved like the wind, appearing next to a group of men who were trying to carry out their items from a shop that seemed to be selling Spirit tools.
"M-MONSTER!!!" the men shouted upon seeing Lin Wu suddenly appearing there.
"Aw, I'm offended." Lin Wu said before opening his mouth wide and gulping them down.
"Four down and…. Over twelve thousand to go. Geeze, how fast is the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle eating them?" Lin Wu said with surprise.
He looked at the counter for humans and found it to be falling at a great speed. Lin Wu then spotted the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle and found her to be flying close to the ground. Vortex of wind surrounded her body, pulling in all the humans towards her.
The vortex would then pull them into her mouth, making it easier to eat.
"Damn, she's moving like a vacuum!" Lin Wu said.
"Though… that's an efficient method. Let's try that as well…" Lin Wu said before using the Immortal Sky Shaker Art.
The wind attribute spirit Qi swirled around his body as it started to glow slightly. He then controlled it to form a vortex around his body as well and started to move around the ruined city.
~shung~
~shung~
~shung~
One by one, the nearby humans, along with some debris, started to get sucked into Lin Wu's mouth as well.
'System, sort out all of the data nodes and search for the keywords Ji Clan and Ji Xiaolian.' Lin Wu ordered in his mind.
"Affirmative." The system responded.
With the system working in the background, Lin Wu got to feasting. Lin Wu didn't want to spoil his taste again and thus turned his tongue into a crystalline form as well, which prevented him from tasting anything.
Usually, when he ate any snacks or food, he changed his tongue into an organic form so that he would be able to enjoy the food. This was one of the little joys of life he had as of now that stopped him from getting bored and thus he wanted to preserve it.
Lin Wu and the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle ate all the humans for about fifteen minutes, after which most of them were now dead and inside the bellies of the two beasts. The few that remained were either still in hiding or had managed to get away from the city.
"Can you go and get those humans that ran away? I'll take care of the ones hiding underneath the ground." Lin Wu spoke to the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle.
"Sure," the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle said without even thinking much.
This was something she was going to do anyway, even if Lin Wu did not ask and thus she flew away quickly. Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle's improvement in cultivation and her bloodline had caused her to feel a lot of hunger.
It was obvious that her body had used up quite a lot of nutrients to make itself grow. So it was understandable that she would like to have her fill of meat. Though the meat in this case was none other than humans.
~Rumble~
Lin Wu dug into the ground to find the humans that had chosen to hide underneath. These were the people from the clans of the city that had safe bunkers made underneath their mansions and manors.
A bunch of these people from the city clans were huddled together in one of the underground rooms. This room was about three hundred meters deep as well and would have been beyond the spirit sense of most cultivators, but sadly for them, it was Lin Wu and Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle here.
"Here'sss… Me!" Lin Wu said out loud as he burst through a solid stone wall.
"AHH!! MONSTER!!!"
"NO! LEAVE US!" The clansmen shouted in fear.
Lin Wu didn't respond to them and simply gave a wide smile that turned into a gaping mouth which then devoured all of them.
"One down, six more to go," Lin Wu said as he went to the other clans of the city.
In less than five minutes, all of the clans of Jiao Dian city were wiped out from existence. But Lin Wu didn't stop here. He spread his spirit sense around and found all the places where the valuable items of the clans were kept.
~boom~
Lin Wu collapsed a few walls in one hit and revealed the secret vault of the clan.
"Bingo!" Lin Wu said with a smile as he entered the vault. He looked around at the items and knew he was gonna have a fun time.
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There were thousands of spirit stones, along with other things such as spirit herbs, spirit tools and even some books kept in the vault. Lin Wu quickly stored them before heading to the next place on the map.
There were over ten clans in the Jiao Dian city and all of them had their fair share of items stored away. While Lin Wu had killed plenty of cultivators and eaten them, they didn't really have that many items in their spatial storage treasures.
Lin Wu was able to automatically sort their spatial treasures and any spirit tools they had on their body when he ate them and the system would categorize them. Till now he had obtained over a hundred spatial storage tolls from the city and was depending on the system to scan and sort the items.
One by one, Lin Mu raised each of the vaults and obtained all of the things that were hidden in there. He also found several cultivation techniques, but would need to wait for the systems analysis to complete before he was able to see if they were useful to him or not.
"Hmm… where is the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle now?" Lin Wu looked at the map.
Since she had not returned despite it being quite some time, Lin Wu was curious. Then on the map, he saw the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle about two hundred kilometer away from the Jiao Dian city.
"Huh? What's she doing there?" Lin Wu wondered and zoomed into the map.
There were some trees and hills around the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle, but he couldn't see any other markers there. The only marker that glowed there was that of the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle.
"System, update this area's map." Lin Wu ordered.
~Ding~
——
SCAN COMPLETE: Map updated
——
In a few seconds, the system updated the entire map that it had scanned and showed the new changes on it. Most of the life markers on the map had already disappeared, which was humans.
As for the ones that were still present in the ruined city and around it, they belonged to that of the various beasts that lived in the area. They weren't particularly of interest to Lin Wu as they weren't even at the Core condensation realm.
Lin Wu instead gazed at the area around the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle and saw that there was actually a marker for active sprint Qi disturbance there.
"System what is this?" Lin Wu questioned, unable to understand.
~DING~
——
ANSWER: The spirit Qi fluctuations show that they are from a formation array. But the system cannot tell what kind of a formation array it is without coming into closer contact. The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle seems to be contained within the formation array though.
——
"WHAT! How the hell did that even happen?" Lin Wu couldn't help but exclaim.
In the very next second, he burrowed underneath the ground and bored his way to the location of the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle.
~Rumble~
The ground around Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle shook and she looked around.
~PIIIII~
She let out a cry and slammed her wings at the cage like barrier that was surrounding her.
~DENG~
The cage rang like a bell, but was surprisingly able to withstand the attack of the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle.
~thud~
The ground burst open and out came Lin Wu. He looked at the cage that surrounded the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle and was shocked.
"How did this even happen?" Lin Wu questioned.
"It's those sneaky humans! Three of them were running away and two of them suddenly used this formation to trap me. Their bodies withered right away after using it though, and the third human managed to get away." The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle answered.
"Huh? What was their cultivation base?" Lin Wu questioned, feeling suspicious.
"The seemed to be at the core condensation realm at first, but when they used this formation, their cultivation suddenly increased to the Nascent Soul realm." The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle answered.
"What about the third human that got away?" Lin Wu questioned.
"He was at the core condensation realm as well, but he was much younger than the others." The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle answered.
Hearing the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle's words, Lin Wu understood that she had met some hidden experts. Though they were not able to fight much against the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle, they did manage to delay her from pursuing the third man.
~Sigh~
"Let's get you out first…" Lin Wu said and raised his tail up.
Its shape started to change, and it became like a long blade. The long blade then glowed before a blue layer appeared over it.
~shua~
~kacha~
Lin Wu swung his long blade like tail at the cage barrier and broke it in one hit. The cage split apart like cake, though the noise made by it was a lot more annoying than that of the people who sang happy birthday.
~piiiiii~
The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle let out a cry and flapped her wings, destroying the rest of the cage. Once Lin Wu had made one cut on the formation, the rest of it had weakened considerably.
"This was a twin metal mesh cage formation array, wasn't it system?" Lin Wu questioned upon recalling about it.
Lin Wu had read about this formation array in the many records that he had, but he wasn't fully sure.
~Ding~
——
ANSWER: yes, this is a Twin metal mesh cage formation array. But it was an inferior version that was powered with a sacrifice technique, along with a lot of spirit stones. Traces of souls can also be felt here, which is a confirmation that the two men who used this formation array were at the Nascent Soul realm.
——
Upon seeing the system's answer, Lin Wu furrowed his brows and felt like this was not something simple.
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Lin Wu was lost in thought for a few seconds after getting the system's answer.
"A formation that can trap even the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle… their background must not be simple. Though the question is what were they doing here and if they were related to Ji Xiaolian as well." Lin Wu muttered to himself.
~PIIIII~
The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle let out a loud cry as she flapped her wings and flew up to the sky.
"I'll have his head!!!" She yelled before shooting off towards one of the locations.
Wanting to see who could do this, Lin Wu followed behind her as well, except underground.
"System, keep on scanning and see who that person was." Lin Wu ordered.
While Lin Wu had ordered this, he did not get a response, which meant that the person was quite far.
'Just how far did he manage to get?' Lin Wu wondered as he entered the ground and followed behind the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle.
The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle had the scent of the man and with her great vision, she would be able to spot the runaway easily. Lin Wu's body parted the earth as it moved at a great speed.
In a minute or so, Lin Wu had already caught up with the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle and was right below me. Lin Wu also had an eye on the map to see if there were any markers in range but he could not see anything yet.
"We should be more than three hundred kilometers away from the city by now, just how fast is that guy?" Lin Wu couldn't help but wonder.
~PIIIII~
A minute after Lin Wu said this, the cry of the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle could be heard as she spotted the man. Lin Wu instantly checked the map and found him to be at the very edge of the map.
"Got you now…" Lin Wu muttered as he sped up even more.
The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle did the same and swooped down onto the man.
~PIIIIIII~
But just as her claws were about to tear into the man, a shield appeared around his body, actually managing to block the attack for a second before breaking.
~shatter~
"HOW!?" The man couldn't help but shout.
Lin Wu finally got to take look at the man and found him to be in his early twenties. He was in the core condensation realm as the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle had said earlier and was dressed in rather high quality clothes that were all spirit tools.
"He's certainly not someone normal." Lin Wu said upon seeing the sheer number of spirit tools he had on his body.
From head to toe, there were over twenty spirit tools that he was wearing. On his head there was a cap that was a spirit tool, then there were two earrings, a pendant on his neck, his inner shirt, his inner armor, his outer robe, frontal armor, his gloves, his pants, boots and finally the many rings and bracelet that he wore on his hands.
Overall, he seemed less like a cultivator and more like a rapper from Lin Wu's past world.
"Get away, you filthy beast!" The man shouted as he threw out tens of talismans at once.
~boom~
~boom~
~Boom~
The talismans exploded with a relatively strong force, managing to push back the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle back.
~Piiii~
Anger poured out through the eyes of the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle as they turned red. It was obvious that she could not hold back anymore plus she had heard the man curse her so she was even more furious.
While the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle could not fully understand human speech, she had still managed to learn quite a few words over time and recognized the word 'beast' and 'filthy'. Hearing those two words together was enough to piss her off.
~shua~
A deep breath was taken by the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle as air filled her lungs. Strong spirit Qi fluctuation came out of her body as they knocked up winds. The man who had made her angry was still trying to run away and was throwing out some talismans continuously.
"No way this guy is normal!" Lin Wu grasped and knew that he could not let the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle kill him without him getting the information from his soul.
Lin Wu activated his innate skills and made his body a bit more streamlined. Wind attribute spirit Qi gathered around his body as he shot out of the ground like a rocket.
~boom~
The earth burst apart, pelting the man who was running away as well. His attention was brought back as well, and he saw not one but two beasts attacking him. The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle was mid away to spewing her flames at him, while Lin Wu was directly attacking the man with his large body.
~DENG~
Lin Wu's body was the first to hit the man and met another barrier that had come up to protect him.
~shua~
The flames of the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle finally came and attacked the man as well. Unfortunately, Lin Wu was currently near him and got hit with it as well.
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Hot! It's hot! Way too hot! Stop it!" Lin Wu shouted.
The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle had not noticed Lin Wu in her rage, but once she saw that he had surrounded the man with his body, she stopped.
"GIVE HIM TO ME!" The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle shouted.
"Yes, yes! You can take him, but first I need to get his memories. Let me just get them first," Lin Wu explained.
"Humph!" the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle huffed out more flames and hovered in the air.
Lin Wu, who had coiled his body around the man… or rather the barrier that surrounded the man, looked at him.
"Now I got you. Who the hell are you?" Lin Wu questioned the man, this time in the human tongue.
"You! You can speak!?" The man was stunned.
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