Read Rise Of The Worm Sovereign Chapter 541 - Enter The Trials online for free - AllNovelFull
While the 'Monk'ey beast was getting the two disciples, Lin Wu was setting up some things in the tomb. Since the disciples were goings to take the trials, he had to change things up a bit.
The trials that Wang Xiong had taken were modified by Lin Wu and would be far easier for the two of them. Since they had attempted the already far more hard trials of the Sky Bright Daoist, Lin Wu could not let them think that the trials of the Taiji celestial were easy.
Of course, fixing this was rather simple. Lin Wu simply had to return the trials to the default format. That way they will have to pass all the trails before they were able to get the inheritance and meet Lin Wu.
Lin Wu was obviously not going to give up on that and was definitely going to put traces and his crystals in the two disciples as well. This was to ensure that the two of them would not cause any problem in the future and he would also be able to communicate with them in time of need.
There were only advantages to this and no disadvantages to this… at least for Lin Wu. The same could not be said for the two disciples though. But their problems were not really something that Lin Wu would care for anyway.
"There they are…" Lin Wu said as he observed the window in front of him.
It zoomed into the two disciples and they could be seen entering the first hall with the murals. Lin Wu watched as the two disciples went through the same series of shock and awe as that of Wang Xiong.
~SHUA~
Suddenly the hall shook lightly and a sprint Qi fluctuation could be felt.
The two disciples felt their bodies go dull and their vision black. Then in the next moment, they found themselves in a very familiar place.
"Huh? It's the forest from the Sky Bright Daoist's trials." Jun spoke.
But this was the only thing that was familiar as a loud voice rang in their heads.
"First Trial has begun, the two contenders are to survive for a day or to kill all enemies in the area!" The voice of the trail said.
"There we go," Lin Wu who was watching them said.
He wanted his infinite imaginary snacks right now but could not get them since he was not in a memory sequence.
"Eh, I can still eat the real ones." Lin Wu said as he withdrew some of the snacks from the storage and started to eat
He watched as the two disciples began their trial. Lin Wu could tell that they were truly prepared and got into the flow right away. They completed the first trial in about three hours by killing all the enemies that were in the area.
"Huh, they were smart enough to know that the surviving this would be harder than killing the enemies." Lin Wu muttered in interest.
While the test seemed simple enough, and one would most likely take the option of surviving for a certain amount of time to pass, the two of them decided to do otherwise.
Instead of waiting it out, they decide to kill all the enemies enough though the other choice seemed to be safer. But this was actually a tricky trap.
The enemies would eventually discover them if they decided to wait it out and would then launch a series of attacks. But if they decided to take the first option and kill the enemies instead of just surviving, they would have the advantage of surprise.
Not only that, but they would even be able to get rid of the enemies without them even detecting them if they were sneaky enough.
In fact, they had gotten rid of over half of the enemies before they were even discovered. After that, the process was significantly easier for them and they managed to pass.
"First Trail has been completed successfully! Both the contenders shall head on to the next stage!" The voice of the trial said.
Lin Wu watched as the two disciples returned to their bodies. Same as that with Wang Xiong, the two disciples had only gotten their minds sent to the trial.
"Huh? We're safe? Our injuries are healed too?" Jun questioned.
"This is an illusory trial as well… though the difficulty is certainly higher," Xiaoge said.
She was close to being killed several times but had still managed to survive. She didn't know if they would be able to give the test again if they failed, thus she did not want to die even if it was an illusory trial.
She wanted to know what was the truth behind the Tomb and whether the records of her clan were true or not. The two of them continued on to the next hall and saw the murals there as well.
"This… just what kind of a power would be needed to do what is in these murals?" Jun said in shock.
"Whatever it may be, it is certainly beyond anything we have ever seen." Xiaoge said.
"True, there might not be anyone in this world that can even come close to this level of power." Jun agreed.
~SHUA~
"The Second Trial will become in one minute, all contenders are to be prepared." The voice of the trial said.
Lin Wu watched on as he ate more snacks. The trial was something that the two disciples struggled to complete but still managed to do it in the end.
"Hmm… this was good. Perhaps, I can see some of the things that are still hidden about the Taiji Celestial from these trials." Lin Wu said upon having watched everything.
The two disciples underwent more trials and continued to progress. The trials took far less time than the Sky Bright Daoist's trials but they were definitely many times more difficult.
Lin Wu knew that if it were not for the preparation the two got from the trials before, they might not have ever come close.
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"Finally done~" Lin Wu said as he stretched his body.
Xiaoge and Jun had just finished the final trial and Lin Wu had been overseeing them the entire time. It had been about five days since they started their trials and they were finally done.
Unsurprisingly both of them passed each and every trial as failure in even one trial meant that they would not be able to take them again. This was the restriction that was built into the formation and was something even Lin Wu could not change easily.
Of course, he already had the basic level inheritance with him thus if he really wanted to he could just directly pass it to someone. But since Lin Wu wanted to gain more parts of the inheritance and the sealed information that came with it, he needed for the people to pass the trials.
There was an unknown amount of information that was encrypted in the Tomb and the system was barely able to decrypt a small amount from that. He didn't even have an estimate on just how much information there was in it and the easiest way for him to get more right now was to take the opportunity when the new people got the inheritance.
"Let's get them to the next room, shall we? I have to meet them too." Lin Wu said and turned around.
"Should I wait outside, master?" The 'Monk'ey beast asked.
"Hmm… you can return to the shrine. I think the two of them will be able to return there on their own after they get the inheritance." Lin Wu replied.
"As you command, master." The 'Monk'ey beast said before teleporting away.
All of Lin Wu's servants now had a limited access to the tomb's formation and could at least use the teleportation and communication formations for their needs. This improved their productivity and speed as well.
Lin Wu meanwhile went to the same hall where he had met Wang Xiong before.
"Need to set up the stage, heheh~" Lin Wu chuckled.
While he was doing this, Jun and Xiaoge were lying on the ground in the final hall where the last trial was held.
~Huu~huu~huu~'
They took deep breaths and seemed to be quite tired.
"That… last trial was something else." Jun said between his breaths.
"Yes, senior brother. I never expected there to be such creatures and powers in the world. I was sure we were going to die there." Xiaoge said as she wiped the sweat from her brows.
"I know right? Even our real bodies are affected despite never being strained." Jun replied.
"No… I think they were rather strained as well. Our brains were the ones mainly affected and thus the rest of the body had to work hard to make sure it was fine. We're out of breath because our hearts have been working hard as well." Xiaoge explained.
"That's new. For something to even affect me as a Nascent soul realm cultivator… these trials are something else entirely." Jun stated.
"We are far too weak to even comprehend how these trials were made." Xiaoge said.
~chuckle~
"I'm more interested in knowing who made these trials? Didn't senior Monk say we would get some answers here? The trials never said anything." Jun spoke in a curious tone.
"Well, the trials did tell us some things. Didn't you see, the locations that we fought and did the trials in… they were similar to some of the places in the murals. Even some of the beasts seemed to be the same." Xiaoge said.
"The murals don't exactly say much though. The man shown in them seems to be strange too? I mean that disaster that he was fighting wasn't it made by him too? Was he the villain or the hero?" Jun asked.
Xiaoge went silent upon hearing this and didn't speak for a minute.
"Xiaoge?" Jun asked in a concerned tone.
"I think… he's both." Xiaoge suddenly said.
"Huh? What?" Jun asked, feeling confused by the sudden random words.
"You asked if the man was a hero or a villain… I think he's both." Xiaoge stated.
"How can he be both? Or do you mean he did all that to gain some kind of benefit?" Jun guessed.
"Hmm… that is one of the options. But there are many other reasons that can be, we can't be sure until we see more." Xiaoge replied.
"Will we even see any? I mean the trial's voice said this was the last trial and I don't see any path out of here." Jun said feeling doubtful.
~RUMBLE~
And just as he said that, the hall shook lightly and it seemed like an earthquake had just happened. The two of them looked and saw that one of the walls of the hall was now moving.
"It can't be… another trial?" Jun muttered.
"No, I think that's… the reward room or something," Xiaoge replied.
~TREMBLE ~
The wall had now fully slid down and a new path was opened for the two of them to venture on to. They could see a long passage that headed upwards and it was currently illuminated with a few flickering torches.
~HUU~
The two of them took a deep breath and looked at each other before nodding.
"Let's continue," Jun said.
"Mmhmm." Xiaoge replied and took the first step.
Jun joined her and the two of them entered the new passageway. They walked all the way up as the path turned and curved. About five minutes later they finally reached the end of the path and saw a large dark room in front of them.
The room was pitch black and they could not see anything in it. It was rather surprising since the light of the torches seemed to end just at the edge of the entrance. It looked a bit unnatural and made the two disciples a bit wary.
They had already developed their senses to be keen and could pick up when things did not seem right.
"Be careful, it does not seem to be fully safe.." Jun stated.
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"Are you two just going to stand there and make us wait?" A voice suddenly came out of the dark hall.
"WHAT??" The two disciples were startled upon hearing the voice and took several steps back.
The voice was rather strange to them and did not seem human to them.
"What was that? Who are you?" Jun questioned as he withdrew his long sword.
Xiaoge was also alert and withdrew her bow. She was actually someone that preferred to use bows and was also good with them. Her small stature allowed her to outmaneuver enemies with ease and also made it easy for her to find good vantage points to attack from.
"Ahahah~ You two are here to meet me and are now hesitating? Do you not want the reward for the trials?" the voice spoke.
~GULP~
Jun and Xiaoge swallowed their saliva and were still a bit doubtful. While they had some thoughts about whether there was actually someone in the tomb they had not expected it to be true. Plus, the 'Monk'ey beast had not said anything to them either.
They looked at each other for a bit before nodding their heads in unison. They then stepped ahead and entered the dark hall.
~SHUA~
After taking about ten steps they felt a presence in the room and a green glow spread as well. Their eyes were trained onto it and they saw a pair of red eyes appear from the green glow.
The glow had not become like an outline and they could see a long body of a beast. It was larger than any beast they had seen and the pressure exuding from it was rather strong as well.
'This aura… even the elders don't compare to this…' Xiaoge thought.
"Welcome," Lin Wu finally spoke as the glow of his body fully illuminated the hall.
~SHING~
A blinding light spread from his body, forcing the two disciples to close their eyes. When they opened them again, they could see that the room they were in was now brightly lit. There were hundreds of light sources everywhere that illuminated the room that was rather bare.
The ceiling of the room was taller than any other room they had seen in the tomb till now and it was several hundred meters wide as well. But the most shocking thing was the large serpentine beast that was located in front of them.
It had a large crystalline body that seemed as if it was made out of priceless emeralds while its eyes were like flawless rubies that glowed with the light of magma. The spikes were long and looked deadly while the sharp fangs that came out from the mouth of the beast were both majestic and terrifying.
"W-what… W-who… is... are you??" Jun stumbled.
Unlike Xiaoge he could feel the fainter spirit Qi fluctuations coming from Lin Wu and knew that the beast in front of him was certainly many times stronger than him.
'Dao Shell realm? Or perhaps more?' Jun thought.
While Jun was thinking this, Xiaoge was having some different thoughts.
'Are both the trials headed by beasts? Is the final inheritance also related to a beast perhaps?' Xiaoge thought.
Lin Wu gazed at the two disciples that had a stream of emotions flowing through their minds. He could see the fear and wonder that was in their eyes as well as the wariness in their fingers as they gripped their weapons hard.
"I am Lin Wu, and I'll be giving you your reward." Lin Wu replied.
"You will be giving us the reward? But… you're a beast and we're humans, will the inheritance even be usable for us?" Xiaoge couldn't help but ask.
"Ah hahaha!" Lin Wu laughed out loud.
"Why do you think they would be unusable? Just because I'm a beast? If you two think so, then your understanding of the world is less than shallow." Lin Wu spoke in a low tone.
His voice subconsciously pressured the two disciples and made them swallow down their saliva.
Lin Wu's head rose and he got closer to the two disciples. When the two of them saw him up close they found it to be even scarier. Lin Wu's head was over four times as big as their entire bodies.
If he wanted to he could simply inhale them and they would be dead.
"Hmm…." Lin Wu hummed as he stared into the eyes of the two disciples.
~HONG~
The aura coming from Lin Wu's body increased once more and the disciples realized something horrifying.
"My spirit Qi… I… I can't feel it." Xiaoge said while stuttering.
Jun tried to feel the spirit Qi and was unable to do it as well. He couldn't sense any spirit Qi in the air and neither could he feel any spirit Qi that was in his body either. Instead of spirit Qi, it felt like there was something very dense stuck around them.
It was preventing them from using spirit Qi and also feeling it. It was a very strange situation for them and they didn't know what to make of it.
'Being able to make us lose control over spirit Qi like this… what even is this beast?' Jun wondered.
'To be able to pressure us and stop spirit Qi from flowing… I've read this before haven't I?' Xiaoge thought. A few seconds later, the word she was looking for appeared in her mind. "Immortal…" She muttered.
"Oh?" Lin Wu raised his brows upon hearing her speak.
The pressure was intentionally being emitted by him as he wanted to see how they would react. It wasn't really a test or anything, Lin Wu was just curious about it
It definitely wasn't him being a jerk and wanting to act all high and mighty…
'This girl is certainly strong… even if not physically right now, her mind and will definitely is.' Lin Wu thought to himself.
He knew that the pressure he was exuding was mixed with radiation and it would make most if not all cultivators scared and unable to use spirit Qi.
Her being able to even mutter that much was unexpected.
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Lin Wu's gaze continued to linger on the two disciples and made them uneasy.
But Xiaoge seemed to be determined to say something. She gathered up all her strength and finally spoke.
"Y-You… You're an Immortal aren't you?" Xiaoge asked.
Hearing this Lin Wu was a bit stunned but did not show it on his face. Of course, even if he did, his expressions weren't something humans would be able to understand, anyway. They would simply feel that it was a bit different but won't be able to tell what that meant.
"Why does that matter?" Lin Wu questioned instead.
"You have to be… such power… and those records… all these things… they won't make sense otherwise," Xiaoge answered.
Her voice was trembling and she was struggling to speak. Lin Wu finale decided to give the poor girl a little rest and withdrew the pressure. The natural pressure exuded due to his aura and spirit Qi was still there of course, but it was manageable for the two to handle.
~Phew~
Both of them took breaths of relief and relaxed their grip on their weapons. They were certainly stressed and now wondered why the pressure had disappeared.
"Hmm… why don't we start with the main thing that we are here for?" Lin Wu said changing the topic.
"The main thing? Our reward?" Jun asked.
"Indeed… along with a few explanations which I think both of you desire." Lin Wu said as his eyes glowed.
Xiaoge was about to say something else but before she could her eyes went dull. The same happened with Jun and both of them felt a rush of memories in their mind. They saw everything that Wang Xiong had seen and experienced and learned about the Taiji Celestial.
Of course, all of this was the modified form of the history that Lin Wu had prepared. He didn't want them to know some of the secrets such as that he was now an old disciple.
He wanted to keep the misunderstandings in some parts and it was not like they would be problematic to the disciples either. Lin Wu waited about ten minutes for the process to complete after which the eyes of the two disciples finally opened.
"That… how is all that true?" Jun muttered in disbelief.
"I would have never thought our understanding would be this lacking. The world is truly great and we are mere frogs in a well." Xiaoge stated.
Her expression was that of an awed person and the memories kept on reappearing in her mind. To her who was curious about learning the history and the mysteries of the world, this was one of the most valuable things.
Even her clan did not have any records that went this past and even they did exist, Xiaoge reckoned they were either with the main branch or with other great powers of the Ming Dao world.
"I believe the two of you now know the origins of this place and who the Taiji Celestial is." Lin Wu spoke, pulling the two out of their daze.
"We do," both of them said while nodding their head.
"But… who are you senior?" Jun asked carefully.
He had already expected that Lin Wu was not some normal beast and if he could exist here and give them the reward, his status was definitely high.
They had just learned of the Taiji Celestial and were now wondering how Lin Wu was linked in all this.
"You two know about the Taiji Celestial and how he brought about the change in the myriad of worlds. In order to keep that up, he recruited several people and beasts; taking them in as his disciples.
I am one such beast. I am Lin Wu, the Crimson Eyed Emerald worm and a direct disciple of the Taiji Celestial!" Lin Wu revealed.
This revelation was enough to shock the two disciples.
'He… he's a worm?!' Both of them thought at the same time.
They scanned Lin Wu from top to the bottom. No matter what way they looked at him they found it hard to believe that he was a worm. At the very least, they thought that Lin Wu was some serpent or some other reptilian beast.
But him being a worm was completely out of the norm. They didn't know of any worms that could get as strong as this. Even in insect beasts, there weren't really that many worm beasts that could be said to be strong.
As for the ones that were strong like some caterpillar, or larva beasts, they weren't true worms. They were the primary stage of many insect beasts and would metamorphose to become a true beast.
But in the case of worms, this didn't happen. At least they didn't know of any worm that could reach the nascent soul realm or above.
To them, this was a very absurd revelation. Worms were one of the creatures that were at the lowest hierarchy in the world. Not only were they eaten by other beasts, but many animals also ate them.
Whether they had cultivation or not, their fate was often the same and there was little to change that fact. But now, here was Lin Wu in front of them, clearly showing them that the reality was often different.
The two disciples didn't know how to react to this other than to just swallow down this information. They knew the cultivation and status of Lin Wu were very high and they could not compare with it. Forget them, they thought that even the patriarch of the Frozen Cloud Sect might not be equal.
"Junior Tian Xiaoge pays respect to Senior Lin Wu." Xiaoge suddenly said.
Jun who was a little behind her quickly did the same as well.
"Disciple Pei Jun pays respect to Senior Lin Wu!" he said loudly.
The two of them kneeled down on the ground quickly and kowtowed once.
"That's enough, get up." Lin Wu said, stopping the two of them.
The two looked at Lin Wu and felt a bit lost at this.
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Lin Wu knew that if he let the two of them take the same course as Wang Xiong, they might go into the worship mode again. Rather than that, he'd much rather get the task they were here for completed first.
He realized that unknowingly he had already spent half a month on these two. Whether it was watching them or letting them take the trials. There were many tasks that Lin Wu needed to do next and he realized he should hurry up.
There was a potentially unstable factor sitting in his backyard that he needed to deal with as soon as possible. This factor was of course the Twin Lights Liger King and the Dark Bloom Caverns.'
Lin Wu did not know what was up with the 'Ruler' of the Millennium forest and also wanted to know what the hidden information there was about the forest. The Twin Lights Liger King was possibly the only one who had this and it was best if he dealt with him at the earliest.
"It's time to give you two the reward." Lin Wu spoke.
"Yes Senior," the two of them stood up respectfully.
Lin Wu looked at them and spoke internally to system, "everything ready system?"
"Affirmative." The system replied.
"Good… the new process should be better than that of Wang Xiong." Lin Wu said before raising his tail.
"Come close, I'll pass on the inheritance to you two on behalf of master, as is my duty." Lin Wu said before extending two spikes out of his tail.
The spikes spread in a uniform manner and reached the foreheads of the two disciples.
They were a little scared as the spikes looked sharp and strong. Even a touch would probably cut and injure them.
"Don't move." Lin Wu said as the tips of the two spikes approached the two disciples.
The tips touched the forehead of the two and they felt a sharp pain from it. Fortunately, the pain was only for an instant and after that, they felt numb. They didn't even notice that a very small piece of a crystal had been inserted into their forehead.
Their body felt a bit numb, and they knew that they were in a special state. They had already felt this state when they underwent the trials and thus weren't scared.
What they didn't know was that a small piece of crystal had been inserted deep into their head. It easily pierced their skulls and entered their brain. There it quickly increased in size and took a snowflake like shape.
While Lin Wu was doing this, the two disciples were getting the inheritance of the Taiji Celestial in their minds. It was the same as that of Wang Xiong and was the basic level inheritance.
~DING~INHERITANCE FORMATION: Activated
TRANSFERRING DATA: Two Contenders detected (Tian Xiaoge and Pei Jun)
INHERITANCE LEVEL: Basic inheritance
BASIC INHERITANCE CONTENTS: 1. Cultivation Technique= Taiji Refinement Scripture
2. Qi Skill= Unity Returning Fist
INJECTING TROJAN V2: Special Snowflake
INJECTION: SuccessfulThe system modified the second version of the Trojan on the basis of the new Pentagem that it had devised. Unlike Wang Xiong, in whom the crystal could not be implanted due to the restriction between humans and beast servants, the version two of the Trojan had a physical body and would be more strong.
'I should do it for Wang Xiong later as well when I meet him. That's another thing I need to add to the list. Then all three of them will be my special snowflakes. hehe~' Lin Wu thought.
"Oh yeah, system show me the list of tasks I made." Lin Wu spoke.
~DING~TASKS TO DO: 1. Upgrade cultivation base (completed)
2. Deal with the trials (Completed)
3. Pass inheritance and convert disciples (in process)
4. Investigate Twin Lights Liger King (Incomplete)
5. Deal with Twin Lights Liger King (incomplete)
6. Find out information about the Dark Bloom Caverns (incomplete)
7. Visit/investigate the Dark Bloom Caverns (incomplete)
8. Visit the Tian clan and obtain the information from their records (incomplete)
9. Visit the Frozen Cloud sect and meet the Fox masked man (incomplete)
10. Visit Wang Xiong and upgrade TrojanThese were the tasks that Lin Wu had decided to do and were the main priority in the coming few months to years. He knew that the things would take longer from here on, but he was ready to deal with them.
"A slow but steady approach is the best one, isn't it?" Lin Wu said to himself.
And while Lin Wu was thinking of all this, the two disciples Jun and Xiaoge finally woke up.
Their eyes glimmered lightly and a mix of white and black could be see in their pupils for a few seconds. The light faded away rapidly, but it was evident they had learned something.
"Thank you senior!" The two of them said while cupping their hands.
They understood the Taiji Refinement scripture and just how strong it really was. They compared it to their current cultivation techniques and found them to be far inferior.
They finally understood how Wang Xiong could progress as fast as he did. Now they would be the same as him and would probably catch up soon.
"Now then… are you two ready to learn about the truth of the world? The disaster that awaits it?" Lin Wu dropped another bomb on top of them.
"Huh? What!?" The two of them who were feeling the euphoria of getting the inheritance felt incredibly shocked now.
"The shadow calamity… it's not gone yet. This world still has traces of it and it will be returning in the future. If nothing is done to stop it, the world as you know will be consumed by it and all that you love will be destroyed." Lin Wu said, beginning his process of conversion.
He needed to talk to them even if he had planted the Trojan as conversations were the easier way of doing this rather than prodding around in their memories.
Plus, it was a path of less resistance and would be more impactful if the two of them made decisions on their own.
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Lin Wu then went on to tell them about the shadow calamity and how he had sensed its presence in the world as well. He also told them that Wang Xiong knew about it as well and that the two of them were working towards making sure that something like that would not happen.
Of course when Lin Wu had told this to Wang Xiong back then, it had pretty much just been a lie. But now that he had fought the skull god, Lin Wu knew that it wasn't really false either.
Lin Wu knew that the Skull god was here for the Taiji Celestial's inheritance as well and had gotten the 'Hei' aspect of Taiji celestial. The Skull god and the shadow calamity were rather similar and the Skull god himself had done this by taking on the aspects of the Shadow calamity when he had found a weakened seed of it.
Lin Wu guessed that if there was one such Skull god, there were probably others that had gotten the inheritance of either the shadow calamity or the Taiji celestials inheritance as well.
There was bound to be someone that would try to get the other inheritances as well. Especially the Skull god himself. Lin Wu had only gotten rid of a single Avatar of the Skull God and thus he was not sure if there would others that he might send or if he would come here on his own if the time so arrived.
'Even with the restriction that he has from the guardian beasts, I wouldn't be too sure of it. This world already is not fully protected since it only has three statues and not all four. While we don't know if that is enough or not, and if Zhu Tianying's presence would be any help, it would be better to assume that there would be an attack incoming.
I best be prepared, not going to let go of this world so easily.' Lin Wu thought to himself.
~THUD~
Xiaoge and Jun sat down in shock after hearing all that.
"Such danger… the people of our world are just blind aren't they?" Jun spoke.
"They aren't blind, just ignorant. And they aren't fully to blame either." Lin Wu answered.
"What do you mean senior?" Xiaoge asked.
"Have you two heard of what happened in the west? The great flames of the Dread Coil Marsh and the fall of the Jiao Dian city?" Lin Wu questioned.
"You know about it senior?" Jun asked in surprised.
"Of course I do." Lin Wu replied. "Who do you think they were caused by?"
Hearing this, the eyes of Jun and Xiaoge went wide.
"You mean… they were done by you?" Jun asked feeling shocked.
"No, no… that wasn't me. But rather another ally of mine. And why do you think something like that was done?" Lin Wu asked further.
"The… Shadow calamity?" Xiaoge asked.
"Indeed. Or rather one of the pawns of the shadow calamity. You two have already seen how it can corrupt others right? This pawn was the same. He was called as the Skull god and had been corrupted by the shadow calamity.
He is very powerful and from a different world. He roams the myriad of worlds pillaging and conquering them. He once sent an avatar to this world and tried to take over it. He was prevented many times by was never killed successfully.
He was also the one who had created the Dread Coil Marsh. In fact, that area was once the home of a very prosperous Vermilion sect. The sect's head sacrificed herself to kill the Skull god but was unable to do so. The Dread Coil Marsh was the result of that." Lin Wu explained.
~Gasp~
The shock of the two disciples only kept on increasing more and more as they listened. Lin Wu was internally rejoicing and felt that his words were working just as he had intended for them to.
"Did… the Skull god die?" Jun asked carefully.
"His avatar did die, but his main body is probably alive somewhere in a different world. Besides, the power of his avatar is incomparable to his main body. That is not something anyone in this world can handle.
Even if everyone in this world decided to fight together, they would not be able to last for more than just a few minutes. It is the world's protection that had prevented him from coming to this world.
If not for that, this world would have ended thousands of years ago." Lin Wu replied.
"I understand the Dread Coil Marsh, but why did Jiao Dian city perish?" Xiaoge questioned.
"There were others being controlled by the shadow calamity there as well. It could infect more people and it was unknown just how many there were. We don't know if some people managed to escape either.
Thus even if the entire city was burned, there would probably be a more such infected appearing, eventually." Lin Wu explained.
"That will be rather problematic. How do we deal with this when the number of corrupted would increase?" Xiaoge said feeling a bit lost.
"That is exactly why the Taiji Celestial created his tombs as a means to pass on his inheritance. You two would be helping in this and I would be doing it as well. I simply need to recover my cultivation base." Lin Wu spoke.
"I see… what do we do for now senior?" Jun asked.
"For now, you two need to focus on learning the inheritance of the Taiji Celestial. Your companions who are learning the inheritance of the Sky Bright Daoist will also help you in this venture." Lin Wu replied.
"They would help too? Why?" Xiaoge asked.
"After all, the Sky Bright Daoist was one of the disciples of the Taiji Celestial as well and his mission is the same. In fact, he knew that not everyone will be able to get the inheritance of the Taiji Celestial and thus he made his own.." Lin Wu stated.
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The two disciples Xiaoge and Jun learned everything from Lin Wu and finally understood their duty. The two of them were chosen by Wang Xiong on the basis of their personality already and he knew that they would suit this thing.
That was the reason why he had sent them here. Lin Wu was happy that Wang Xiong could do this and felt that he was getting better and better.
"You two can go and cultivate in one of the halls for now, the spirit Qi is better there so it should help you two." Lin Wu ordered.
"Yes senior!" Xiaoge and Jun said in unison.
~SHUA~
Runes appeared around them and formed into teleportation formations which then took the two disciples away.
~Phew~
Lin Wu took a breath of relief after seeing this and removed all the effects that he had been using.
"That's one thing out of the way. Now to do the other tasks…" Lin Wu said as he checked the other windows.
He spent a few hours checking the situation of the other places and the beasts.
"Hmm… they should have already communicated with the Slim arm ape king, the demon spine ape king and the Split thorn horn beetle king by now right?" Lin Wu wondered.
He then decided to contact his servants to know how things were going. Fifteen days had already passed and thus there had been enough time for his servants to have talked with the kings.
~SHUA~
"Master?" the beetle beast directly appeared in front of Lin Wu upon his call.
"How's the deal with your ancestor going? Has he decided anything?" Lin Wu questioned.
"Ah! Yes. He accepted it right away. With you being one of the insect beasts as well, he has no problem with you being the overall king of the entire forest." The beetle beast answered.
"I see… that's good then. Guess I just need to ask the monkey beasts now." Lin Wu spoke.
"I know about that too," The beetle beast added.
"Oh, you do? Do tell." Lin Wu asked.
"The Slim Arm ape is fine with it as well but he wants you to ensure that his kin would be protected as well. He also has some things that he wants to talk to you about in person." The beetle beast replied.
"And what about the Demon Spine Ape king?" Lin Wu questioned.
"Well… he has a condition as well. He wants to fight you." The beetle beast answered.
"Hmm, just as I expected." Lin Wu nodded his head.
"Very well, guess I'll go and meet the father son pair now." Lin Wu stated.
"As you say, master. Is there anything else I need to do?" The beetle beast asked.
"Nothing for now. You can return to your tasks." Lin Wu said.
~SHUA~
The beetle beast nodded and teleported away. Lin Wu looked at the map and knew where the two monkey beast kings were.
"The beetle beast saved me some time there, time to head out and stretch a bit…" Lin Wu said before he teleported away as well.
~SHUA~
Runes rippled in the air, and Lin Wu appeared in one of the areas of the sixth ring. His body left a deep imprint on the ground just by the virtual of his sheer weight. Lin Wu looked at it and thought of something.
"Hmm… I'll need to do something about this as well. It's fine if I'm in non-hostile territory but in dangerous or enemy territory I'll need to be careful of leaving behind traces." Lin Wu took note.
With this done, he floated up and flew towards the territory of the two monkey beasts. The forest around him had gone silent due to his presence and all the beasts were scared enough to stay silent.
Lin Wu reached the monkey beasts' territory in a few minutes and landed in front of the cave. He knew that his aura would be picked up by the two ape kings rather quickly and he wouldn't need to announce himself.
~thud~
Lin Wu landed on the stony ground, cracking it a bit and looked into the cave.
"King Lin Wu," The voice of the Slim Arm Ape King was heard coming from the inside.
"Slim Arm Ape King," Lin Wu greeted.
The two ape kings walked in from the inside and looked at Lin Wu.
"You wanted to talk in person about the deal?" Lin Wu asked.
"Indeed. I'm fine with your decision as long as you satisfy some things that I want." The Slim Arm Ape King replied.
"And what are they?" Lin Wu questioned.
"I want you to do something… I want you to find the truth about this place… this forest and the Dark Bloom Caves. Since you live at the forbidden tomb, you must already have some idea but I'd like you to figure out the entire thing." The Slim Arm Ape king answered.
"Hmm… I can do that. But why do you want that?" Lin Wu asked feeling curious.
The ape king's request was something he was fine with and it wasn't something that was out of his goals. He was going to do them anyway himself but he wanted to know what the ape king's interest in this was.
"I once had a master… a long time ago. He was the one that raised me from a common ape all the way to the Core condensation realm. If it were not for him, perhaps I would have died a long time ago.
I have a debt to him and I'd like to fulfill it. His last wish was to find the secrets of this forest, but he died before he could do that. I've tried to do it myself but it wasn't really possible for me. The rules of the forest were hard for me to go against.
But you… you've already changed them. If you can do that, then you can definitely do this." The Slim arm ape king requested.
"Alright, I'll Do it!" Lin Wu agreed.
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Lin Wu's quick agreement was not something that the Slim Arm Ape king had thought of. Even if he knew that Lin Wu could do it was going to do it on his own, he was sure that Lin Wu would probably ask for something extra, perhaps.
He didn't know what Lin Wu would ask, but in his mind, the common option was none other than his kin, the Black Fur Monkeys. Even though they were not of the same species directly, being of the same source, the Slim Arm ape king still considered them to be his kin.
Back then, Lin Wu had asked for some of his kin to join him. Of them all, about ten of them had decided to join Lin Wu. And those that joined were now many times stronger than before.
In fact, two of them were already at the Nascent Soul realm. Even though they weren't as strong as him, they were still far stronger than any other beast in the forest. The Slim Arm ape had met them before and knew that they had gone on an entirely different path than what he had seen.
The influence of Lin Wu had changed them and this was a fact. With the miraculous changes that Lin Wu brought, the slim arm ape king was confused as to whether this was due to him getting the crystal from the meteor or something entirely.
But now there was nothing that the Slim Arm ape king needed to worry about.
'Perhaps it might really be better with Lin Wu at the helm. He's eerily like humans… despite being a beast. Though he truly is a beast, the bloodline does not lie…' The Slim Arm ape king thought to himself.
"Alright, I shall follow you then." The Slim Arm ape king stated.
"I won't though!" The Demon Spine ape king suddenly said out loud.
"Oh?" Lin Wu looked on with interest.
He knew what the headstrong beast wanted and would not mind giving it to him, either.
"What do you want?" Lin Wu still decided to ask for the sake of formality.
"I want to fight you!" The Demon Spine Ape King spoke.
"Son! You cannot do that!" The Slim Arm ape king wandered.
"I know, I know! I cannot fathom to think of winning against him. I do not want to fight him for that. I want to fight him to see the power of a Dao Shell realm beast. And I also want to see if I can comprehend something." The Demon Spine ape king replied.
Lin Wu nodded his head and thought that it was fine. He himself had no threat and if he wanted to, he could defeat the Demon Spike ape king without even touching him. Simply the radiation let off by his body would stop the beast in place.
With the increase in his control after the breakthrough, Lin Wu's power had increased once more.
'This might be a way to test my control as well. I can try that on the Demon spine ape king.' Lin Wu thought to himself.
"I'm fine with that too. But if you get injured, you will have nothing to complain." Lin Wu stated.
"I am not scared of injuries. Give me this one thing and fight me at your full power. I want to witness it! I want to see if you are worthy of being my leader!" The Demon spine ape stated.
"Oho? You want me to fight at my full power? That might not be good for you or the forest either. I do not have control over it and even my half power will kill you before you react. The forest won't fare well either." Lin Wu replied.
The Demon spine ape gritted his teeth upon hearing this. He knew that Lin Wu was not lying. This much he could tell. He still had a hope that he might be able to match a little bit against a Dao Shell realm beast.
But he had forgotten that he was not just fighting against any Dao Shell realm beast, but Lin Wu. Even the Sliver Tusk Tapir King, who the Demon Spine ape was intending to perish against, was nothing in front of him right now.
The Demon Spine ape king had been stunned by seeing the power of the White fox masked man. He had heard that he was a Demon beast that had taken a humanoid form and wondered if he himself would have the same power.
His mother was a Demon Beast and he knew that while he might not have the same potential as her, he would still be many times stronger than the average beast.
"Just do whatever you can, I'll fight at my full power then." The Demon Spine ape replied after thinking for a bit.
"Okay, where do you want to fight?" Lin Wu asked.
"The forbidden area… it has calmed over the years and any damage caused there shouldn't be problematic for us. We can go there." The Demon Spine Ape suggested.
Lin Wu thought over it and nodded.
'Haven't been there for a while now, wonder what the changes there have occurred till now,' Lin Wu thought to himself. 'Maybe I'll get to see if there are any lava fishes there hehe~'
With the agreement made, Lin Wu and the Demon spine ape flew towards the forbidden area. To them, it was merely a few minutes to reach at their cultivation base.
The forbidden area had become desolate over the years since the meteor landed here. This was the place Lin Wu started his journey, and this is the same place that he had returned to.
~thud~ thud~
The two of them landed in the middle of the area and looked around. The lava pits had long since cooled and hard black basalt could be seen there. In some of the places, the lava had turned into obsidian instead and long slabs of it were spread as cracks were visible within it.
This was the arena that the two would be fighting in.
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Lin Wu and the Demon spine ape stood face to face at the desolate forbidden area, their gazes were sharp.
"You sure you want to do this?" Lin Wu asked for a sense of propriety.
"I am, let's start." The Demon spine ape said with confidence.
"Alright, you go on ahead. I'll defend and give you the chance." Lin Wu said.
He wanted to see the change in his defenses and test out how much his body had changed. The Demon spine ape had managed to injure him before, thus he wanted him to be the test subject again.
'After all, it is only proper that we use the same subject in an experiment for an unbiased result.' Lin Wu thought to himself.
The demon spine ape agreed as well as he knew that if Lin Wu truly decided to attack him first he might be too injured to act after that.
"Don't mind if I do!" The demon spine ape said as his aura shot up like a beacon.
Spirit Qi fluctuations rose from his body and spread throughout the area. His fur stood up and ignited in small, dark red flames.
~BANG~
He started with a leap and raised his fists like a hammer. They were covered in dark red flames that originated from his spine. The flames were like snakes that wrapped around his back and reached his hand before igniting his fists.
This move was the same one that he had attempted to use against the Silver Tusk tapir but had been stopped by the white fox masked man. Though in that attempt, he had ended up using all his power going so far as to ignite his bloodline.
Thankfully, he had been stopped in the initial stage, or it would have been rather dangerous for him. Death would have been the most likely option if not being crippled. This time he was just using his own power and was not going overboard as he knew that he was not fighting to the death.
Lin Wu's eyes watched the Demon spine ape's every move. To him, he move slowly and his vision was dynamic. Lin Wu's eyes narrowed and his radiation perception activated. The scene in front of him changed and different colors appeared in front of him.
The radiation in the air moved, and the spirit Qi moved between it. This allowed Lin Wu to see the flow of spirit Qi in the air and see how the attack was working. Only high level cultivators would be able to do something like this, but Lin Wu was able to do the same with his radiation perception.
The hammer like fists of the Demon spine ape king descended upon Lin Wu's head and he kept it rigid.
~DENG~
A loud ringing sound was heard, and the fist and the head collided. The shockwave spread and shook the surroundings, cracking the ground spreading tremors in the area. Lin Wu's body sank into the ground slightly, but no damage was actually sustained.
He stared the Demon spine ape straight in his eyes and saw the surprise in them.
"System, what's the damage?" Lin Wu questioned in his mind.
~DING~Initiating Host scan: please wait a moment
Host scan completed: No injuries found
Host integrity: 100%"Just as I thought," Lin Wu said with a chuckle.
Lin Wu bore a full powered attack of a Child Soul stage nascent soul realm beast with ease and shrugged it off like nothing.
"Should I start now?" Lin Wu asked with a chuckle.
Lifting his tail up high, Lin Wu morphed it into a smoother and flat surface, which then curved to form a cylinder. If one looked at it right now, one would find it to be rather similar to a baseball bat.
Lin Wu's tail, which sent a chill down the Demon Spine ape king's back, cast a long shadow.
~thwack~
"Aannnnnd! Home run!!" Lin Wu said as the Demon Spine Ape was sent flying high into the sky.
He kept on flying due to the impact and probably went a couple of kilometers away before finally crashing into one of the hills. A deep imprint was left by his body and blood could be seen splattered around.
Lin Wu had evidently held back, or the Demon Spine Ape would probably be reduced to a mush, or directly exploded upon impact into a rain of blood and gore.
Holding up his tail like a visor, Lin Wu gazed into the distance.
"He should be fine," Lin Wu said with a nod.
'He'll be fine? You launched him into the air like a rag doll and you say he'll be fine?' the Slim arm ape king thought, but did not dare speak.
"Let's go check up on your son." Lin Wu said and flew up.
The Slim Arm ape king joined him and the two of them reached the place where the Demon Spine ape had landed in a minute.
The scene looked ever more devastating up close and the crater made by the Demon Spine ape was at least fifty meters wide. The beast himself, though seemed to be relatively fine.
Blood dripped out from his nostril and mouth, and his arms seemed to be broken as well. But other than that, there was no other damage that could be seen from him.
"Son! Are you okay?" The Slim Arm ape king asked out loud.
~Cough~cough~
"I'm… fine… just… gonna need to rest a little." The Demon Spine ape said as he coughed out some blood.
He laid on the ground and took some breaths, trying to initiate the healing process. He was after all, a Nascent soul realm beast and was also a partial Demon beast. To them, injures such as these could be recovered in less than a month.
It certainly was not life threatening and could be easily taken care of. Not to mention, there were even fruits and herbs that they had which could help in healing the injuries.. The Slim arm ape king was smart and would definitely make use of his experience.
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With the short battle over, both the parties were satisfied. Lin Wu was satisfied with his defenses while the Demon Spine Ape king was satisfied with the power that Lin Wu showed. He now knew what to look forward to in the future and didn't mind following someone that was this strong.
"Now then… I'll head back. I have some other things I need to get to." Lin Wu spoke.
"That's fine. We'll head back too… need to let him heal now." The Slim Arm Ape king said.
Lin Wu nodded his head and flew away to another destination. The place he was heading to was none other than the territory of the Twin Lights Liger king. The location was to the north east of the sixth ring, though the cave that the king himself lived in was more to the center.
The territory of the Lamp Light Ligers and the Twin Lights liger king was very wide and thus there were many places of conflict between them and the other rulers. In the recent years, the conflicts had pretty much mellowed out due to Lin Wu's takeover.
The last major conflict was when the Beetle king and the two ape kings blocked the Lamp Light Ligers from acting when Lin Wu was killing the Olive Viper King. After that day, the conflicts started to reduce.
Then when the new Nascent soul realm beasts started to breakthrough in the forest, the Lamp Light Ligers were forced to stay in their territory. Right now, it was just the Twin Lights Liger king's influence that was holding the territory in place.
Once the territory lost its owner, it wouldn't take long for the order to collapse.
"Hmm… let's see," Lin Wu muttered and hovered in the sky.
His vision and spirit sense scanned over the entire area and went as far as possible. This gave Lin Wu an idea of what beasts there were and who was currently watching him as well.
The system had already updated the map, but to him, observing them on his own was important for details as well. Without it, things could turn problematic.
"The Lamp Light Liger Kings are spread around rather evenly. Seems like they aren't staying in groups anymore. This is strange…" Lin Wu understood.
Lin Wu's aura was now contained and he had surrounded himself with radiation. This prevented any spirit Qi waves from going and alerting the others. Plus, he was high up in the sky, hidden in the clouds, thus the Lamp Light Ligers could not spot him anyway.
Lin Wu continued traveling and soon found a suitable location to land. It was distant from all the lamp light ligers and was close to the Dark Bloom Caverns as well.
~thud~
Lin Wu controlled his body to make as little noise as possible and landed before moving towards the largest cave there was in the Dark Bloom Caverns. Lin Wu could faintly feel a strange aura in the air that got stronger the closer he approached the caverns.
After a few minutes he finally reached the main cave of the Dark Bloom caverns.
"Alright system, scan it all." Lin Wu ordered.
~DING~SCANNER: Activated
ERROR!: Interference detected
SCAN: Failed!
NOTIFICATION: The host will need to manually scan around with his spirit sense and the system will pick up the passive data from that. Active scan will be disabled until the interference is removed."Hmm… the place certainly has a lot more to it than we thought. At least the system isn't completely in the blind this time though, which means it has improved." Lin Wu muttered to himself.
He spread his spirit sense just as the system had told him to and entered the cave. The cave was tall enough for him to easily move around with his head raised, which was a bit unusual.
"Caves as tall as these are rather uncommon… was this perhaps made by someone?" Lin Wu wondered and took a closer look at the ceiling and the walls.
Most of the places were covered with either moss or looked like normal rocky walls. But after going a bit deeper, Lin Wu started to see the signs of human interactions.
"These marks… they're certainly made by tools. Plus this shape… it's too smooth for it to be natural." Lin Wu said, seeing the corners of one of the tunnels.
By now, he was sure that there were humans that had come around later. This was after the tomb had been built by the Sky Bright Daoist.
'These marks are certainly not made by the Sky bright Daoist. He wouldn't use normal tools to make a cave like this. Instead, it looks like someone tried to expand on an already existing cave.' Lin Wu guessed.
After working for about five more minutes, Lin Wu finally came across the reason for the Dark Bloom Cavern's name.
"Whoa!" Lin Wu exclaimed, seeing the blue light illuminating the inner area of the caverns.
The light came from a special type of moss that was growing on the ceiling and the walls of the cavern. In addition to the moss, some large mushrooms could also be seen growing on the floor.
These were glowing as well, but their illumination was a bit weaker than the moss. The size of these mushrooms was the same as any small mushroom and they were spread around the rocks that were scattered in here.
"There is no information about the flora here, is there, system?" Lin Wu questioned.
~DING~DATA DECRYPTED: Incomplete Data node obtained
TARGETS IDENTIFIED: 1. Dark Bloom Moss
2. Dark Bloom Mushrooms."Huh… that was rather simple. Though this new information… it's from the two disciples, isn't it?" Lin Wu asked.
"Affirmative" The system responded.
Lin Wu nodded his head and continued onward, though he didn't forget to take some samples of both the new things.
'This place is really big… I've already been traveling for an hour now..' Lin Wu thought to himself when finally he appeared in another larger section of the cavern.
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