Rise Of The Worm Sovereign

by Srtyi

Lin Wu was a university student that died after having one too many energy drinks and then reincarnated into the body of a worm. He awakens to find out that he now has a system, but even it doesn't have a clear idea of where they are. He comes out of the ground and discoverers that he’s no longer in his previous world but rather in a cultivation world. Witness Lin Wu’s journey as

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Hearing Wang Xiong's words, Ye Jin could finally make sense of some of the things.

"So this means… the patriarch has already decided to groom you as his successor?" Ye Jin asked.

"Indeed… well the chances are quite likely. But with the current split in our sect, there are chances that we may have two more candidates. One each from the three divisions. There is a chance the elders might argue for this soon, and the matter might be put forth in our annual sect meeting next month." Wang Xiong added.

"Will that be good, though? Our sect has had the tradition of the chief disciple being the next patriarch, hasn't it? Changing it like that will be against what our ancestors decided." Ye Jin said, remembering some of the doctrines of the sect that prevented traditions from being changed arbitrarily.

~huu~

"I honestly don't know. As long as the supreme elder gains support from half of the elders, they will have to agree with the change. The ancestors will probably be informed soon as well.

That is something Guardian Yun will do himself. He is the only one who can make direct contact with them in normal times. The others are prohibited from disturbing them as long as it's not an emergency." Wang Xiong explained.

"Hmm... That makes sense. Now that we know more about him, it does make sense with him having that much influence. He is literally the oldest member of the sect." Ye Jin agreed.

While Wang Xiong was having his conversation with Ye Jin, Lin Wu was having a different one from Yun Bai.

In the isolation field, Lin Wu looked around and could feel the effect in place.

"Now that they're gone… you can remove that mask. I reckon you don't like humans seeing your face?" Lin Wu spoke.

~clack~

The clasp hidden at the back of Yun Bai's head was opened and the mask was removed, revealing his face.

Similar to his white hair, his eye brows were white as well and he had a white mustache that looked like fox whiskers. Then there was a patch of fine white hair at his chin, making it look like he had a goatee.

His ears, which were hidden underneath his hair, were revealed as well. They were shaped like fox ears and were white, though there was a small earring hanging from one of them.

Yun Bai's pupils were a faint red, almost bordering on pink, and were vertical. Overall, while he did have a humanoid shape, he didn't fully have their features. As long as he wore a mask, no one would suspect him, but once it was off, people would certainly be creeped out.

"The humans… they like to judge and reject. Their actions are often not well thought out." Yun Bai spoke.

"That's right. They can be foolish… and smart at the same time. But their minds force them to hate the creatures that they cannot understand or is unlike them." Lin Wu replied.

"So you know it as well… you've lived as long as me, haven't you?" Yun Bai questioned.

'YES! GOT HIM!' Upon hearing this Lin Wu secretly exclaimed in his heart.

"As long as you? No… try a few hundred times more than that." Lin Wu answered.

Yun Bai's eyes went wide upon hearing this. But then he felt doubtful.

"That can't be… if that were possible, you wouldn't be able to exist on this planet. It would reject you too…" Yun Bai said, piquing Lin Wu's interest.

"Perhaps this might help convince you and answer some of your doubts." Lin Wu said and produced a crystal slip from his body.

"What's this?" Yun Bai asked as he took the crystal slip from Lin Wu.

"Just use your spirit sense, you'll know. And don't worry, I won't harm you. I don't need to use a sneaky method like this for that, you know." Lin Wu replied.

"Very well…" Yun Bai said, and used his spirit sense to activate the crystal slip.

After he did, Yun Bai went silent and Lin Wu simply observed him for the time being.

'This will take him a while. Just how much did you cram into that slip system?' Lin Wu asked.

~DING~

——

ANSWER: The information that the host sorted, some information about the Taiji celestial, and modified memories about the host made using the locations taken from the experiences of the Skull god.

——

"Huh… so you added that one. Yeah, that will take him some time to go through. That man's pretty much just watching a hundred hour long documentary." Lin Wu muttered.

He went back to watching Yun Bai while also analyzing the area around them. He had not gotten to see it properly, but now that Yun Bai was busy, he could see all the things that existed in there.

The things that caught his attention were none other than the many markers that were located on the mountain.

"Let's see what things are hiding here…" Lin Wu said as he spread his spirit sense.

A few seconds later, though, he furrowed his brows… or the brow crystals.

"Chickens? Ducks? Carps? And that's a farm… this guy farms here?" Lin Wu was a bit confused.

But then he sensed the cultivation base of the 'farm animals' and realized that they were not even close to a farm animal.

"Goddamn! These chickens are at the Nascent soul realm… and so are these ducks and carps." Lin Wu was surprised.

He was surprised because they didn't act like actual beasts in the Nascent soul realm at all. They looked just as dumb as any normal farm animal.

"What are they system?" Lin Wu asked.

~DING~

——

ANSWER: The chickens are a type of beast called Thousand feather chickens and are luxury meat among the aristocrats and people of the sects.

The ducks are called as Grey Beak ducks and their eggs are said to be one of the best to make century eggs out of in the cultivation world.

As for the carps, they are called as Silver Scale carps and are very expensive, with each carp being at least a peak grade spirit stone in value. They also eat silver as food.

——

Seeing the system's information, Lin Wu was surprised.

"Damn, these are certainly some top end food ingredients aren't they? And what the heck is with the carps? They eat silver? That would be really expensive, wouldn't it?" Lin Wu said after seeing it all.

But at the same time, he couldn't help but want to try out them as well.

"Hmm… will he know if I take some of them with me?" Lin Wu wondered.

He could count several of the beasts, but the Silver Scale carps were the least in number, being only thirty three. But they were also the ones that had three nascent soul realm carps among them.

Lin Wu checked the beasts closely and saw that the ones that were in the nascent soul realm were the bigger ones among their kin and would proudly strut around. The others would give them berth whenever they walked by.

What stunned Lin Wu even more was the defensive array that was set around them.

"This thing didn't get affected even during our battle? He made it stronger than the mountain's main defensive formation… he must definitely care for them a lot." Lin Wu noted.

He also checked out the various herbs that were planted by Yun Bai, but they weren't particularly as impressive when compared to the three types of luxury beasts. They would still be very valuable in the usual market though, and could be used to make some really good alchemical pills.

While Lin Wu was taking a look around, Yun Bai finally finished going through the information from the crystal slip. He had an expression of utter shock after he was done, and it looked like he still had a hard time believing it all.

"Oh? You're awake?" Lin Wu said as he noticed Yun Bai open his eyes.

"I never would have expected you to have a background like that." Yun Bai muttered.

"Not many do." Lin Wu casually said.

"How long have you been asleep for?" Yun Bai questioned, having understood the reason for Lin Wu's current cultivation base.

"I don't know either. It has been far too long." Lin Wu replied.

"I see… at least now I know I have some hope of leaving this planet." Yun Bai spoke.

"So why is it that you want to leave this planet?" Lin Wu questioned.

~Sigh~

"This planet… it rejects me… and my clan." Yun Bai answered.

"Your clan? What's that?" Lin Wu asked.

"I belong to the Frost Fox Demon beast clan. We are not originally the natives of this planet and were said to have been brought by other cultivators when they invaded this world.

Or at least that is the story that my ancestors told us. You must have already known about the main invasions this world has faced. We were brought as slaves during one of them.

But our masters failed, and either died or escaped. Some of us were left behind and managed to free ourselves. We hid for years and made sure that no one knew of our existence before finally making our appearance.

But that didn't go well as well, and we had more conflicts with the humans. It was then that we discovered another problem, the new generation of our clan could not grow strong. It was as if their cultivation base was forcefully restricted.

Our elders that had high cultivation bases managed to protect us for a long time, but their lifespans still came to an end. By that time they had figured out that problem that we had.

The reason why the new generation could not increase their cultivation base properly was because of the world itself… the world was rejecting us. It knew we did not belong to this place and thus prevented us from cultivating properly.

Still… we are Frost Fox Demon beasts and our bloodlines are strong on its own. We still managed to push through and the most talented of our clan reached the Nascent Soul realm.

But that was the limit of what we could achieve. I was the one with the best talent and the strongest bloodline among my clan, and thus my elders passed their entire inheritance to me. They told me that I have to save our clan and let it leave this world if we were to live.

The longer we lived here, the weaker our clan would get and eventually a time would come when they would simply die out. I do not want my clan to be exterminated, and thus the only way for us to survive is to escape.

And that is exactly what I want your help with." Yun Bai explained.

Hearing the entire situation, Lin Wu was intrigued and had not thought that Yun Bai's clan was not from this world.

'That does explain some of the parts… seems like they came here right before the three great guardian beasts were summoned. It does align with the entire history. Though there are a few things that are still not sure with me.' Lin Wu thought to himself.

"I see… but then how did you manage to reach the Dao Shell realm when the Nascent soul realm was the barrier for your clan?" Lin Wu questioned.

"That was where the Founder of the Frozen Cloud Sect came in. You see, I knew with my strength as a Nascent soul realm demon beast, I would still be too weak and won't be able to do much.

Thus to get stronger, I finally figured out a solution. Or at least I thought so at that time. Since the problem lay with the world itself rejecting us due to being invaders, I tried to find a way that would make it accept us.

And that way came in the form of a contract. I made a contract with the Founder of the Frozen Cloud sect; I would help him establish a sect, pass him some of the cultivation techniques we had in our clan, and also become the guardian of the sect.." Yun Bai answered, surprising Lin Wu once more.

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Lin Wu wondered just how viable this method of making a contract was. He was interested in this because it was actually useful to him. After all, he too was after a certain beast that was an invader in this world.

'That beast that came with the meteor… it's technically an invader too, isn't it? That means its power should be restricted too. Guess I'll have a better chance at killing it, if this restriction of the world thing applies to it as well.' Lin Wu thought to himself.

He then focused on Yun Bai's situation and thought over it a bit, before figuring out a few more things about him.

"So I'm guessing you regretted making that agreement later on?" Lin Wu questioned.

"Yes… our contract stated that I would serve as a guardian for five hundred years minimum, and after that, I would only stay with the sect as long as I didn't find a solution to leave this planet.

The contract was made with someone of this world, so it allowed the world to give me somewhat of a leeway and it eased up on me. Taking that time, I broke through to the Dao Shell realm. But I cannot progress anymore.

Another clause was for the sect to help me find a solution as well." Yun Bai answered.

"And they did not do that?" Lin Wu asked.

"No, they actually did… but that method is not something we can use. The way to leave the world was to reach the Immortal Ascension realm, but of course, the world will not allow us to do that.

I tried to look for other methods and researched a lot. I tried everything from teleportation formations to spatial rifts that occasionally appeared in the world. But none of them turned out to be a viable option.

The teleportation arrays that could have been used for leaving this world were either destroyed after the invaders were repelled, or they became useless due to the defenses of the world increasing due to the temples of the guardian beasts." Yun Bai replied.

"So you know about the three guardian beasts too… that is something not many people in this world know of." Lin Wu said.

"I do… I got to learn plenty about them in my years here. Half of my problems can be attributed to them. If it were not for them bolstering the world, we would have been able to leave with no problem.

But now we can neither become part of this world and neither can we leave it. Those three guardian clans also prevent any knowledge of the beasts from being revealed to the world. They want to keep the true power limited so that they can stay as the overlord of this world.

After all, if the people learn the true powers of the temples, they will start to grow strong at a far greater speed than before." Yun Bai stated.

"The bloodlines of the guardian beasts… the three clans don't want others to have it, but the temples can offer it to them. Thus by restricting the knowledge, they can prevent them from obtaining it as well." Lin Wu summarized.

"Indeed. Humans can find so many ways to oppress their own kind. If only they let everyone have more knowledge about the temples, there might have been a lot more experts.

Perhaps if there were enough of them, the world would have grown in its overall power and reached the next level. Thereby allowing the travel between worlds freely. At least that way we would have had some hope of leaving." Yun Bai said in a frustrated tone.

"Hahaha!" Lin Wu couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this.

"Seems like our goals are aligned in the end." Lin Wu stated.

"They are?" Yun Bai repeated.

"Indeed. We both are against the great powers of this world. You are against them for your reasons, while I am against it because they are not on the right path. There is a great danger that is in this world that no one knows about it." Lin Wu replied.

"The shadow calamity… and the skull god… I saw them." Yun Bai said, recalling all that he had seen in the memory slip.

"The first incident has already occurred. This time, the target was the Dread Coil marsh. I managed to stop it but I do not know if it will be possible again." Lin Wu revealed.

"That was you!?" Yun Bai was surprised again.

He knew of the incidents at the Dread Coil marsh as it had become a big shocker to everyone on the Long continent. Everyone, from the commoners to the top clans and sects, now knew of it and were investigating it.

Even after ten years, they had little to no clues about who could be behind it. The flames that burned the Dread Coil marsh had died out by now, but even then there was little to nothing for them to see.

Only ash and dirt were left behind with all the trees and places in the Dread Coil Marsh gone. The same could be said with the Jiao Dian city as it was already confirmed that it was done by the same being.

"Yes… and so was the Jiao Dian city. The shadow calamity had already spread amongst the populace there." Lin Wu stated.

"No wonder… seems like this world is far too unlucky. Not just for us but for the humans as well." Yun Bai replied.

"Mmhmm… though I want to change that." Lin Wu spoke.

"Change it? How?" Yun Bai questioned.

"By taking over it, of course. My master's initiative was for his disciples to spread to different worlds and establish a great power that would protect them from the Shadow calamity.

But he didn't specify that we only had to protect it. We can take over the world as well, if its powers was far too incompetent to look after themselves. And from all that I've seen after awakening, this world needs us far more than we need it." Lin Wu answered.

Hearing all this, Yun Bai was stunned.. He had not expected Lin Wu to have such great ambitions.

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Yun Bai was now certain that there was a great chance with the help of Lin Wu, he and his clan might have the chance to leave the world. The only questions left for him were now, how and when?

"Hmm… what you want to do is certainly not something the powers of this world will like… but I will support you. As long as you can fulfill your end of the deal." Yun Bai stated after hearing Lin Wu's words.

"Of course. As long as you are willing to follow me and go ahead with the plan, I'll do my best to fulfill my end of the deal." Lin Wu replied.

"Alright, say if I do agree with this. What are the requirements that I would have to fulfill and when is it that we might be able to leave this planet?" Yun Bai questioned.

"For the requirements, I do not have that many. I simply want you to cooperate with me in establishing my organization and spreading it. Of course, I've heard that you have certain restrictions and cannot act directly, and I understand that. We can find some ways to overcome that and work something out.

As for when we will be able to leave the planet, it will be slightly difficult to say… at the minimum, it might take us a hundred years." Lin Wu answered.

Hearing Lin Wu's words, Yun Bai secretly took a breath of relief. He was pleased that Lin Wu understood his restrictions and even if it was going to take a hundred years to leave, it was within his consideration. Leaving a world was not something easy to do anyway for an average cultivator, not to mention the fact that he needed to take his entire clan with him.

If he had to wait till all of his clansmen reached the Immortal Ascension realm, which was often the minimum needed to leave a world, it would have been at least a thousand years or more to do it. This was obviously an option that he didn't have.

Thus, a hundred years was far less than he had expected it to be possible.

"If you can truly do it in hundred years, it will be amazing." Yun Bai stated.

"Yes, but if we want to get started on it, I need to know what are the things you can do and cannot do." Lin Wu asked.

"The things that I can do are anything that my strength allows, as for the ones that I cannot do is anything that goes against the Frozen Cloud sect. I cannot interfere in its internal matters and neither can I do anything about its internal conflict." Yun Bai replied.

"I see… for the Frozen Cloud sect, I'll handle it since Wang Xiong is my junior. Frozen Cloud sect is certainly a good place to start with our mission. I've already taken over the Millennium forest and thus the beasts there will be supporting us." Lin Wu stated.

Yun Bai nodded his head and the two of them discussed for a couple more hours and planned on the things that needed to be done. In that time, Lin Wu also got to know more about Yun Bai and his clan. The Frost Foxes were currently living in a different area than the Frozen Cloud sect.

The area was under great formation arrays that had been made thousands of years ago, and it was said to be one of the strongholds of the invaders. After they were repelled, Yun Bai's ancestors turned it into a place for them to live in.

It was hidden in a grotto to the south of the Frozen Cloud sect and could only be accessed by those that had the bloodline of the Frost Fox Demon beasts. Lin Wu took note of it and the system quickly extrapolated the location.

Lin Wu also learned more about the situation of the Frozen Cloud sect and the division that had happened in the recent times.

'So the conflict has been ongoing for over three hundred years already… and it has been brewing since then. A rivalry between fellow disciples that continued onto their juniors…' Lin Wu thought.

The reason for the conflict started when the patriarch, who was the predecessor of the current one was chosen. There were two candidates back then as well and both of them were chief disciples. But in the end, Wang Xiong's master, the current patriarch won.

The one who had failed was the head of the discipline pavilion. But that was not the only identity the man had. He was also the son of the current supreme elder. The supreme elder had been in his position for over eight hundred years now and was even older than the patriarch.

Though both of their cultivation base were close and the patriarch was only stronger due to the techniques and skills he inherited. This was also why he couldn't fully oppose the competition either and could only maintain the balance.

This was also where Yun Bai's position came into play. In the sect, only a few people knew of his existence, which included the patriarch, the supreme elder, and the ancestors of the sect. He was their guardian and would also act as an arbitrator when problems arose.

His powers were restricted by the contract he made and he would have to be as fair as possible. He could not favor one party over the other. Thus, if they wanted to do anything, it would have to be Wang Xiong and Lin Wu would do it.

With the plans determined, Lin Wu decided to call Wang Xiong and Ye Jin back.

"You called for us, senior?" Wang Xiong said after returning.

"Yes… come sit. We have some things to discuss." Lin Wu replied.

Wang Xiong and Ye Jin felt a little nervous, but acquiesced nevertheless. Once Lin Wu started to speak of his plan though, Wang Xiong and Ye Jin were blown away.. This had gone beyond their understanding and left them short of breath.

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"You want to take over the world!?" Wang Xiong said out loud.

"Yes." Lin Wu replied.

"And you want to start by taking over the Frozen Cloud sect?"

"Yes."

"And you want me to take over it?"

"Yes, it's the most obvious method and won't go against Yun Bai's restriction either. You are a legitimate member of the sect and also the chief disciple. If anything, we are just speeding up the process." Lin Wu stated.

While Wang Xiong knew that Lin Wu wanted to make an organization to protect the world against the Shadow calamity, him taking over it entirely was way beyond his thinking. It was frankly something no one in the world could do.

There were many reasons for it, the main one being that the powers of the world would not allow something like that to happen anyway.

'No, wait… Senior Lin Wu is not a normal being, anyway. If there's anyone that can do it, then it's him.' Wang Xiong thought to himself.

Ye Jin had simply given up on thinking anymore and had decided that she will just let everything happen. As long as Wang Xiong was there, she would be with him and support him. Other than that she only felt like she would stress her mind if she thought too much about it all.

The powers that were now acting was beyond her power and thus it was better for her to keep her head down.

~Sigh~

"Guess I'll just follow your words, Senior." Wang Xiong stated.

"Mmhmm, I assure you it will be for the best." Lin Wu replied.

"So, where do we start?" Wang Xiong asked.

"The first would be to solidify your position in the sect. We will begin with the Di Guan mine and solve the problem there. I'll go there myself and also see what's exactly hidden in it that the Frozen Cliff Division wants it." Lin Wu replied.

"Yes, senior. Plus, there is the spy that we caught as well. There are some other people that are interfering in this. They have apparently allied with the Frozen Cliff division. The one name we have is Weiyuan. I've already checked the sect and its no one from here.

We tried to see the other potential suspects as well that may have been behind it, but our investigations came out negative." Wang Xiong stated.

"Hmm, Weiyuan… I'll keep that in mind. What else do you have about it?" Lin Wu questioned.

Wang Xiong then told him about the agitation jade and a little more information they had gathered. Lin Wu was really intrigued by this and wanted to see the item himself.

"Show me the agitation jade." Lin Wu asked.

"Here you go senior." Wang Xiong withdrew the agitation jade from his spatial storage ring.

This time he had three of them. There were two more that his subordinates had managed to find in the Di Guan mines. Lin Wu took a look at them and found them to be rather peculiar.

"System, scan and analyze them. I want to know everything about them." Lin Wu ordered.

~DING~

——

SCANNER: Activated

TARGET IDENTIFIED: Agitation jade

INFORMATION: It can be made from several different materials that can be mixed and matched to get the same result. These are made using Demesne Blood Cobra Venom, Mind Befuddling flower, and Vitrine Gourd Water; its mixture is then infused into a jade. The combination of these materials results in an effect of anger and volatility in beasts.

The Agitation jades can decrease the intelligence of beasts, increase their anger and make them hostile to all beings. They will fight anything that they see and it can cause a beast wave if enough beasts are affected.

The agitation jades are a forbidden spirit tool, first used by the invaders that appeared in the Ming Dao world. They used them to induce beast tides that devastated the lands.

The greater the number of agitation jades used, the greater its effect. If the beasts are under its influence for longer periods of time, they can be permanently be affected.

Depending on its grade an agitation jade can affect beasts all the way up to Dao treading realm. The one that the host has right now is a mid grade agitation jade and can affect beasts in the Nascent Soul realm.

——

Reading the information, Lin Wu furrowed his brows.

"This is certainly not something just anyone can make… if they can do this, then they are probably from one of the stronger powers of this world. After all, the information about things related to the invaders was either destroyed or hidden away by the guardian clans." Lin Wu stated.

"You think this is related to the invaders' senior?" Wang Xiong asked, feeling worried.

"I don't just think, I know it. The agitation jades were made by the invaders first and they brought the knowledge. Thus the only people who can make it are the ones who hid the information in the first place." Lin Wu replied and looked at Yun Bai.

"What do you think?" Lin Wu asked.

"Hmm… I think I've heard of these before, though I'll need to check my clan's archives again. Perhaps I'll find something there." Yun Bai replied.

"Alright, you can go and check that, I'll go deal with the beast in the Di Guan mines. You two just gather your people and get them ready for the things to come. We'll have a lot of work to do. They need to be strong if they are to fight for this." Lin Wu ordered.

"Yes senior!" Wang Xiong replied.

"Oh and… take these." Lin Wu said as a mountain of objects appeared next to him.

Seeing these, Wang Xiong was confused at first, but then he recognized what they were.

"This… what do we do with these many pills, senior?" Wang Xiong asked, feeling a bit dumbfounded.

"What else do you think? Give them to your people and tell them to hurry up. I don't want us to lag behind just because your people are weak.." Lin Wu replied, much to Wang Xiong's embarrassment.

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Wang Xiong had not expected to suddenly get so many cultivation pills. Even if he was the chief disciple, there was actually a limited amount of resources that he could pass on to his subordinates.

For the most part, they would either have to depend on the sect itself for their regular allowances. At most, Wang Xiong could help them out in some of the missions and give them tips so that they could earn more merits.

Still, there was a limit to how much he could do on his own, and that's why the external sources of resources were important if one wanted to make their own camp in a sect. That was one of the reasons why the Di Guan mine was important.

It was said to have a secret spirit stone mine in its depths that had not been unearthed until now. An Untouched mine like that had a great price and could help them a lot. After all, a spirit stone mine was basically a continuous source of spirit stone as long as it was mined conservatively.

A sect that started out would barely have a single mine to themselves, and would slowly increase the number of them that they own. It was not an easy task and took many years to achieve.

That was also how they got richer and more powerful. After all, spirit stones were the currency of the world and could either be used to cultivate directly or be exchanged for other things that they did not have.

Plus, wherever there was a spirit stone mine, the chances were… there could be more of them. Thus, it was really important for Wang Xiong to ensure that he would be able to obtain the spirit stone mine.

But that beast that had been terrorizing them had made it impossible to do so. Even he himself was unable to catch that beast. And the underlying problem with the agitation jades made it so that even if he managed to get rid of this beast, there was a chance some other beast might enter and cause a problem the same as this.

It was a two-pronged problem that needed to be targeted at the same time.

"Thank you, senior!" Wang Xiong said, feeling grateful.

"I'll make proper use of these and ensure that my people do not lag behind." Wang Xiong stated.

"Good, I'll head to the Di Guan mine and figure out the problem there." Lin Wu replied.

"Farewell senior." Wang Xiong and Ye Jin said.

Lin Wu nodded his head and looked towards Yun Bai.

"You coming with me?" Lin Wu asked since their path was the same about half way through.

"No, I need to deal with the sect first. Our battle might have caused a few people to notice it. I need to inform the patriarch just in case and deal with a couple more things. I should be leaving in less than a day though." Yun Bai replied.

"Okay. Take this," Lin Wu said and created a communication jade slip for him.

"You can contact me with this." Lin Wu explained.

"Hmm… that'll help." Yun Bai nodded his head and watched Lin Wu leave.

Once Lin Wu left the sect, he thought to himself.

'Can't use the Pentagem on him for now. Being at the Dao Shell realm and more experienced will probably alert him to the functions that are hidden in it. Besides, I doubt he will want to become a subordinate like that when his entire goal is to leave.

I think I'll have to hold off on making him one, anyway. At least until I can think of something else. Still… that jade slip should help in tracking him.' Lin Wu pondered.

~Rumble~

Lin Wu's body dug deeper into the ground and he entered his drill mode. He started moving at a great speed and made his way to the Di Guan mine.

"Let's see what we have here…" Lin Wu muttered and opened the map.

The map had just been updated and some real-time information had been added to it. He could now see the various kinds of beasts that were present on it and Lin Wu got an estimate of their powers.

"The Southern Tusk tapirs are located beyond the Di Guan mines too, right? Perhaps I might find something there… need to investigate how they managed to get without the sect finding out about it too…" Lin Wu muttered.

To Lin Wu, it was obvious that someone else was orchestrating the events in the dark. The agitation jades in the Di Guan mines, the natural migration of the Southern Tusk Tapirs that was hidden from the sect, all these pointed to someone actively controlling them.

But the only problem was that who it could be.

"They are bound to be strong if they can operate without anyone else finding out. Plus, being able to put the sect in ignorance also means they may have some influence in the sect.

Hmm… the Broken Cliff division might have some information. I should interrogate if I get the chance." Lin Wu muttered to himself.

His travel lasted a few hours before Lin Wu finally came across a couple of towns. These were the towns that hosted the miners and other people that worked in the Di Guan mines. Lin Wu quickly made his way to them and used his spirit sense to gather some information.

In just two hours, he had got the current situation of the town and the mines.

"So the beast has become a bogeyman for them. They attribute everything to the beast now, even when getting things stolen in the town." Lin Wu reckoned.

The townsmen had several places from where things like food and livestock were stolen. They could not figure out how someone broke through the protection and left without them finding out, thus they all just blamed the nightmare of the Di Guan mine.

That was the title that they had ended up giving to the beast that had been causing all the problems.

"Well… it is kinda accurate in their sense."

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Having gathered enough information from the people, Lin Wu decided to head to the actual mines. They were located about ten kilometers to the south east of the town and the path there was well demarcated.

The road to the mine was rather broad and had the tracks of horses and carts on it. It was obvious that a lot of traffic went over it every day. But once reached the halfway point, they would find that the tracks ended there.

A large barricade was built here with logs and rocks, blocking the path of everyone that tried to pass. And a large board was also placed over here with a warning on it.

'Do not enter! Dangerous Beast inhabits the mine!'

Of course to Lin Wu, all of these were not of concern and he easily passed ahead of it. After all, he was underground and not on the surface. He kept an eye on the map though, to ensure he could see everything that was in his path.

"This should be a good enough place to enter…" Lin Wu said as he found a relatively open path underground.

He quickly broke through the rocks and appeared in one of the mine shafts.

"Now then… let's see where we exactly are." Lin Wu said as he checked the map.

According to it, Lin Wu was currently in the third level of the Di Guan mines. About a hundred meters above him, the main entrance of the mine could be seen. It was blocked as well, though a large hole could be seen on its side.

"Something definitely came out through that…" Lin Wu took note.

The hole wasn't that big, being only a meter wide. This made Lin Wu wonder about what kind of a beast it really was. The sketches Wang Xiong and the rest got could not show the beast accurately and thus Lin Wu did not assume from it.

'The beast is rather small if it can pass through this… considering it is at the Nascent Soul realm, this is unusual.' Lin Wu thought to himself.

Most beasts in the Nascent soul realm would grow rather big and it would be hard to miss them. A beast that was small and yet in the Nascent soul realm was rather rare. Such could be seen from the Thousand feather chickens, Silver Scale carps and the Grey beak ducks Yun Bai kept.

But those were somewhat of outliers and weren't 'true' Nascent soul realm beasts as they didn't have the same level of intelligence.

"System, scan the mines in detail and show me what it has." Lin Wu ordered.

~DING~

——

SCANNER: Activated

DEEP SCAN: Initiated

NOTIFICATION: Please wait till the scan is complete

——

"Oh? It's going to take time? Must be more things here than I thought then," Lin Wu reckoned.

Usually, if the system took longer to scan, it meant that there was either something restricting it or that there were a lot of things to scan. While the system completed its scan, Lin Wu checked out the area using his spirit sense.

"There's not much here other than rocks… even the ores have been mined out for the most part…" Lin Wu muttered as he observed the area.

Di Guan mines were originally silver mines and also had some other metal ores mixed in them. It was said to have been depleted for a few years now, but the locals still mined here for whatever remnants were left.

Even if there wasn't much, whatever ore they mined was enough to at least feed them. Plus, they could still mine out the rocks, since they were also used in construction. This was also the reason why the Di Guan mines weren't abandoned.

Its close proximity to the towns also made it easier for the people to have a good source of stones and rocks. Otherwise, the nearest stone quarry was located at least two hundred kilometers away.

Lin Wu continued making his way through the mines and saw the abandoned tools and equipment that were left by the miners. He was taking the main routes of the shafts, since they were the only ones that could accommodate his body even after he had shrunk it down.

While he could always expand the shafts, it might get problematic and just collapse in its entirety. Plus, it might be suspicious for the miners later on.

"Oh? What's this?" Lin Wu noticed something.

All along the path, he found several small holes that went deep and turned into full blown tunnels. They were about a meter wide in size and were carved at the base of the shafts.

"Are these perhaps made by that beast?" Lin Wu wondered and used a spirit sense tendril to trace its path.

But that turned out to be useless as the paths intertwined and turned into a maze that had no end. It was so long that Lin Wu's spirit sense ended up reaching its range limit, which was relatively long.

"Damn, it did a number here. Guess it used all the years to make a home for itself." Lin Wu muttered.

He continued wandering around and eventually reached the next level of the mine. The Di Guan mines in total had five levels, with each subsequent level larger than the one before.

This was due to how the tunnels were made and branched, so as to ensure that they did not collapse directly. And just as Lin Wu reached the fourth level, the system sent him a notification.

~DING~

——

DEEP SCAN: Completed

MAP UPDATED: New markers added

INTERFERENCE FIELD: Detected

NOTIFICATION: Interference field is ineffective against the host

ANALYZING: Interference field

ANALYSIS COMPLETED: The interferer field is identified to be causing mental changes. The system's estimation is that it is caused by the Agitation jades and the similarity is 98.6% with the previous sample.

——

"Oh? You found them already. That's good. Highlight them on the map and we'll head to them. And also point out the beast if you can now." Lin Wu ordered.

In the next second, the map changed but made Lin Wu furrow his brows.

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Lin Wu could see several layers appearing on the map along with multiple markers that pointed out the location of the Agitation jades. They were spread around in the different levels and Lin Wu would have to go a long way around to get to them.

But that was not what had made Lin Wu a bit tense. Rather, it was the layer beneath the fifth level of the mine. It basically appeared like a black mass and almost nothing could be seen beneath it.

Even the system was unable to go beyond it. The problem was though, that it was not an interference field but rather something solid that was blocking it. This made Lin Wu wonder what it could be.

'Where's the beast though?' Lin Wu looked around on the map but could not see it.

"System, where's the beast? I thought you found it?" Lin Mu questioned.

~DING~

——

ANSWER: There is a dense material that prevents the system from directly scanning beyond it, but the system might be able to do it if the host makes direct contact with it. As for the beast, the system detected traces of aura and spirit Qi entering that layer.

This is likely to have been left behind by the beast and is found in some of the other parts of the mine as well.

——

"I see… Seems like whatever is hidden in the Di Guan mine is probably below that black layer. Though I should get rid of the Agitation jades first." Lin Wu said and got to finding them.

In about an hour, Lin Wu had finished finding them all and had quickly stored them away in the inventory. If the need arised, he could use them in the future again. Plus the system will be analyzing them for more information and will be adding them to its Data Banks.

"Now to head on to that layer…" Lin Wu muttered and started to drill down.

While there was indeed a path that led to the black layer, it was far too small for him to enter through. Lin Wu reckoned that it was made by that beast and had been in use for a long time now.

'Now that I'm on the final floor, there is no need for me to worry about collapsing the mine…' Lin Wu thought as he bored through the solid rocks and soil.

The dark layer was situated rather deep in the ground, which made Lin Wu think that perhaps this was why no one had found out about it. Lin Wu even wondered if it was something made specifically by someone to hide treasure.

"If it really is like that, it might just be a jackpot. Though… It might not be as good for Wang Xiong." Lin Wu muttered to himself.

He ended up digging for about five hundred meters straight down before finally reaching the black layer on the map. And when he saw it, he realized that it was not a barrier or some kind of a manufactured structure.

"Huh? What is this?" Lin Wu questioned.

~Ding~

——

SCANNER: Activated

SCAN COMPLETED: Target identified

TARGET: Earthen Depths Obsidian

INFO: Earthen Depths Obsidian is a type of hard mineral that is formed under great pressure and heat. Usually formed around Magma tubes and underground Magma pools, these take thousands to tens of thousands of years to form and are an amalgamation of several ores.

They are heated, melted, and cooled several times over before forming a smooth yet tough material. The pressure of the earth would harden it even more and finally turn it into Earthen Depths Obsidian.

It is a good material for the creation of Pure Refinement type spirit tools and is very hard. A piece broken from the main mass can have a very sharp edge that is often used as a weapon directly.

Since processing it is very difficult, only Grandmaster Weapon forgers use it. Though finding a deposit of Earthen Depths Obsidian is a very difficult task as well and thus increases its price.

Since it is most often found near magma tubes and magma pools, obtaining it often involves extreme danger and very few people mine it in the Long Continent. In total, the Long continent has three official deposits of the Earthen Depths Obsidian and are all monopolized by the sects and clans.

Each of the top three clans owns a deposit while the sects have a share in it.

——

Reading the information provided by the system, Lin Wu's eyes lit up.

"Seems like we may have hit an even bigger jackpot…" Lin Wu muttered to himself.

"Even if this was not a spirit stone mine, Wang Xiong should still be able to make a fortune from it." Lin Wu said before he got close to the surface and tapped it.

~ring~

A very crisp sound was heard as his crystalline body tapped against the crystalline Earthen Depths Obsidian.

"Ooo… System this any use of to us?" Lin Wu asked.

~DING~

——

NOTIFICATION: Please consume a small sample for in-depth analysis.

——

"Okay, let's see just how hard this is." Lin Wu said as he changed the shape of his tail.

The tip of it started to broaden before it spit apart in two. A crescent like shape was formed and the tips of the crescent were incredibly sharp.

"The Pickax form makes its return!" Lin Wu said with a chuckle before raising his tail.

~CLANG!!!~

A loud clang was heard as his tail vibrated with recoil. It was the first time in a long while that Lin Wu had faced something this hard. One must know that Lin Wu had used a significant amount of his physical strength, which was enough to pierce through the defenses of a Nascent soul realm beast.

"Oh? That's good! The tougher it is, the better its uses will be." Lin Wu said as he raised his tail again.

This time, spirit Qi surged into it and amplified his strength by another level. A faint flow illuminated the dark obsidian, and a spark was created when the Pickax struck it again.

~CLANG!!!~

Lin Wu's tail struck the Obsidian and only managed to make a small indent in it. Seeing this effect, Lin Wu's interest was piqued even more.

"Time to try out the Sapphire Qi now…" Lin Wu said before raising his tail again.

This time a blue glow appeared on its tips and get intense. Finally, when the power was at its peak, Lin Wu slammed it down onto the Obsidian.

~DENG~

~Crack~

Eventually, a crack spread in the Obsidian as the pickax finally pierced it. Half of the pickax had sunk into the obsidian.

"Bingo!" Lin Wu exclaimed and started to repeat the process.

About a minute later, several fragments of the Earthen Depths Obsidian had been mined out and Lin Wu was now ready to taste them.

"Here goes nothing…" Lin Wu said as he threw a small finger sized piece into his mouth.

Of course, the size might be too big for a normal person, but for Lin Wu's cavernous mouth, it was the same as a grain of sand.

His body got to working and digesting the fragment and started to grind it down. The system also began its analysis, and it lasted for about five minutes before it was finally over.

~DING~

——

ANALYSIS COMPLETED: Earthen Depths Obsidian

DATA BANKS: Updated

INFO: The Earthen Depths Obsidian has a high durability to direct and Qi type attacks. Due to the vast mixture of ores and other minerals in it, it acts as a spirit Qi insulator and cannot be used for formations or anything such as that.

The Earthen Depths Obsidian is durable but can be weak under certain conditions. Constant vibrations that reach its resonance frequency can make it brittle and any attack it sustains at that point will shatter it.

As for the host, it is not fully compatible directly but the system can further analyze it and devise some compatible forms.

——

Seeing the information of the system, Lin Wu nodded his head.

"Alright, you can add that to the background tasks and work on figuring out a compatible form. In the meantime we have to investigate the beast. So can you simulate the resonant frequency?" Lin Wu stated.

~DING~

——

INITIATING: Resonance wave

RESONANCE: Detected

ANALYSIS COMPLETED: Resonant frequency found

SIMULATING: Please wait a moment…

——

Lin Wu waited a minute before he felt his tail start to vibrate at a very rapid frequency. Its form also changed, and it felt like it had been detached a bit as several hundred small segments appeared in one of the joints.

They were just a few centimeters long, but all worked together. It was these segments that prevented Lin Wu's entire body from vibrating together with the Earthen Depths Obsidian.

"Here we go again," Lin Wu said as he changed the form of his tail into a long needle.

It then pierced into the crack he had made already and started the vibrations.

~buzz~

The needle sprouted more branches from it and turned into a barbed structure that pierced more into the obsidian while also vibrating. The vibrations continued to intensify until finally… the resonant frequency was reached.

~DING~

——

RESONANCE: Achieved!

——

With the system's alert, Lin Wu directly bashed his head onto the Earthem Depths Obsidian.

~SHATTER~

As if it had turned into normal glass, the wall made out of Earthen Depths Obsidian shattered and scatted into thousands and thousands of pieces.

"Perfecto!" Lin Wu said as he pulled his tail back.

With the Earthen Depths Obsidian broken, Lin Wu was now free to explore further.

Though before heading onwards, he took a pause and looked at the fragments on the ground.

"Might as well eat them if I have them." Lin Wu gave himself an excuse as he got to eating all of the fragments.

He directly chewed out the rocks along with the Earthen Depths Obsidian.

~Crunch~

"Oo! Now that I think of it… these are like the Hard candy pops from my past life… though they need to be a bit more fruity. Though they are a bit salty somehow…" Lin Wu muttered.

~Ding~

——

ANSWER: The Salty taste is due to the natural sodium and potassium salts that are present in the rocks that the host just ate.

——

"Oh… then I guess we just flavor it with something later on." Lin Wu said as he continued to eat.

In just five minutes, he had finished eating all of the Earthen Depths Obsidian and along with it, a big chunk of the rocky floor.

Lin Wu took another look at the map and saw that the entire black layer was an enclosed structure. Whatever there was hidden, it was within the center of the entire area. Though its shape was certainly unique to Lin Wu and he wondered how it was formed.

"No, wait… if it was this hard for me to break, then how did the other beast get into it?" Lin Wu couldn't help but wonder.

He could see the small path that the beast had made and he could see the teeth marks on it.

"It actually bit its way though, damn! Must be some bite strength… though I guess it also took a long time to do the same." Lin Wu reckoned.

He continued onwards and saw the darkness in the entire area. He realized that the area inside the Earthen Depths Obsidian was not just made out of it, there were other materials inside it as well.

There were normal rocks that were spread everywhere in the mine and some ores as well. But the deeper Lin Wu went, the more he realized the uniqueness of this place.

"There are a lot more ores here," Lin Wu took note.

The system also did its scan and showed Lin Wu what it discovered in a different window.

"Essence Cooper, Twisted Iron Veins, Fume core Metal, and even some Fire essence crystal!?" Lin Wu read them.

By now Lin Wu was sure that this piece was more than just a jackpot, it was a super jackpot.

"The Earthen Depths obsidian was just the treasure chest, the actual treasure is inside it!" Lin Wu exclaimed.

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Lin Wu felt like coming to the Di Guan mines was way useful than he had trigonally thought now.

"All this is way more valuable than normal spirit stones." Lin Wu said as he checked everything.

He took out a few samples from the walls so that the system could analyze them in the background. All the materials had different properties and could be used in many different ways.

There were materials here that could be used for spirit weapon forging, for alchemical pill refinement, formation creation, and even something obscure, like divination. Lin Wu didn't even know how such a vast variety of materials could be formed here.

"How is this possible?" Lin Wu wondered.

~DING~

——

ANSWER: According to the system's analysis, the Earthers Depths obsidian acted like an incubation chamber, and various kinds of energies were trapped within it along with small amounts of minerals.

Over time, spirit Qi in them got concentrated and they started to morph and grow into different forms. And due to the insulating properties of the Earthen Depths obsidian, it managed to stay like this for a long enough time for the different energies to separate along with the different materials that contained them.

——

Seeing the answer of the system, Lin Wu was intrigued.

"Hmm… so basically what was supposed to be impurities mixed in an almost homogeneous manner were all separated out and nurtured out over a long time to form all these materials." Lin Wu summarized.

"That is amazing…" Lin Wu couldn't help but say.

He continued exploring a bit more and soon found the center of the area. This was a hollow space and was covered in several shining crystals.

"Is this a spirit stone mine?" Lin Wu was shocked again.

"Affirmative." The system replied.

"Damn! No wonder those materials formed so perfectly. They had a steady source of spirit Qi!" Lin Wu exclaimed.

He looked in the more central area and could feel the concentrated spirit Qi that was hidden within it. It faintly exuded more and more spirit Qi, which Lin Wu could tell was freshly produced.

"That should be the source vein. What grade is this, though?" Lin Wu questioned.

~DING~

——

ANSWER: While the size of this spirit stone mine is very small compared to a normal mine, it is still a mid grade spirit stone mine. The growth of other materials has suppressed it from expanding naturally.

——

Lin Wu nodded his head upon seeing this, as it wasn't a bad thing either.

'Its value is actually more due to the other materials…' Lin Wu muttered.

This was because even if the materials were minded out, the spirit stone mine will still keep on working normally. It might even spread more and continue expanding, reaching its normal size after a century or two.

~Keeeeeee~

It was now that Lin Wu heard a noise coming from the side.

~WARNING!~

——

NOTIFICATION: Beast detected approaching at great speed.

——

Lin Wu snapped toward the direction where the beast was coming from and was surprised. This was because he had not felt the beast nor its presence yet. His spirit sense had been working the entire time and still could not perceive it.

~CLANG~

His body felt like it was hit by a cannonball, but he still managed to hold his ground. After all he was incredibly heavy. Lin Wu's tail slimmed down and quickly wrapped around the object that had just hit him.

~KREEE~

The beast which had now been caught by Lin Wu cried out in protest and he could finally take a look at it. But when he did, he was astonished.

"IT'S YOU?!" Lin Wu said out loud.

The beast in Lin Wu's grasp was none other than the Copper Hide Weasel. Although its form seemed to have changed quite a bit now. It no longer had the copper colored fur it used to.

Instead of that, it had become inky black and had patches of brown in between. Its claws were also metallic and so were its teeth. They shined like they had been polished for hundreds of hours by an expert craftsman.

Nothing made sense to Lin Wu and he wondered what had just happened.

"STOP SQUIRMING!" Lin Wu shouted.

The Weasel looked at Lin Wu and its eyes squinted as if thinking.

"FOOD SNAKE!" It suddenly shouted.

"I'm not a snake!" Lin Wu replied. "And I'm not food either!" Lin Wu stated as a matter of fact.

But the weasel did not care and started munching on Lin Wu's body.

"Dammit, it's still dumb." Lin Wu cursed.

Fortunately, Lin Wu's body was far too durable to be broken by the weasel.

'Is he even a copper hide weasel now?' Lin Wu wondered.

"System scan him and checks what's up with him." Lin Wu ordered.

~DING~

——

SCANNER ACTIVATED: Target Selected

SCAN COMPLETED: Target identified

TARGET: Copper Hide Weasel (Mutated)

CULTIVATION BASE: Adult Soul Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm

INFO: The Copper Hide Weasel seems to have mutated due to the consumption of various materials here. The system can identify high concentrations of Earthen Depths Obsidian in its fur and bones.

Its flesh and blood are concentrated in multiple different forms of energies. Yet even then they seem to be in a harmony and are still keeping his body intact. The weasel beast's spirit Qi meridians though, have been mutated in a strange manner and do not conduct spirit Qi in the normal form.

According to the system's analysis, the weasel beast cannot use any spirit Qi skills or even Qi amplification due to the changes in his meridians. Instead, his meridians are fully dedicated in nourishing his body and are limited to his internals.

His peripheral meridians are almost absent, while his internal meridians have expanded in thickness.

The system can also detect some brain irregularities that were possibly caused due to long term exposure to the effects of the agitation jade.

——

Lin Wu furrowed his brows upon reading this.

"So from what I'm seeing… he randomly ate everything he came across and mutated, but the mutation crippled his meridians and his body further adapted to it." Lin Wu spoke.

"Affirmative." The system replied.

"That's really weird. I don't know if it's lucky or not." Lin Wu muttered.

Though there was one thing Lin Wu knew for sure, the weasel beast was now a unique beast and possibly a good subject.

"What do you think we should do system?" Lin Wu asked.

~DING~

——

SUGGESTION: The system suggests putting the Weasel beast under observation. The unique balance that its body has achieved despite the damage to the meridians gives clue to a greater adaptability ability.

The system can gather more data and update the data banks. It might even be able to gain father insight into bloodline compatibilities.

——

"I see…" Lin Wu thought over the system's words and found them to be fine.

Right now, Lin Wu had hundreds of raw bloodlines that he had obtained. But all of them could not be used due to being incompatible. While a few of them could be changed to be made use of, they would still not be useful when Lin Wu added more of them.

The bloodlines had small fractions of beneficial traits in them that the system had identified. The only problem was that they could not be used together.

'If the system can truly figure it out, I might be able to grow my power even more.' Lin Wu thought to himself.

~clack~clack~clack~

While Lin Wu was thinking this, the Weasel beast continue to nibble on his body but was unable to really do anything. Lin Wu looked at it and couldn't help but chuckle.

"He really is dumb and those agitation jades probably didn't help him much." Lin Wu said.

~Sigh~

"Alright! Listen to me," Lin Wu said to the weasel while bonking him on his head.

~thud~

~KREEE~

"I SAID LISTEN TO ME, YOU LITTLE WEASEL!" Lin Wu said out loud.

Finally, the beast seemed to have understood that Lin Wu was speaking to him and paid attention to him.

"What? Eat time?" The Weasel said.

"No, eat time! It's listening time!" Lin Wu replied.

"Listening time? What get I? Eat time better!" The Weasel spoke instead.

In response to this, Lin Wu sprouted a small crystal from his body and injected some vital energy and spirit Qi into it.

"If you listen to me, you get this." Lin Wu waved the crystal.

"You want this, right? Good food! Very tasty!" Lin Wu enticed.

The Weasel Beast looked at the crystal and followed it with his eyes as it moved around.

"I get food! I follow!" The Weasel replied.

"Good, at least you have some sense." Lin Wu said and gave the crystal to the weasel.

He quickly grasped onto it with his claws and started munching on it. The crystal was weaker than Lin Wu's normal level and was still eatable by the Weasel. In a few bites, it had already bitten off half of the crystal and in two minutes he had eaten it whole.

And once he was done, he got sluggish and calmed down.

"Huh, seems like stuffing his belly worked." Lin Wu muttered.

"Me want more," The Weasel stated.

"And you will get more, IF you follow my orders." Lin Wu replied.

The Weasel looked at Lin Wu without moving its eyes and finally spoke. "Okay."

"Good, now I'm gonna let go of you. Don't you run away!" Lin Wu warned, and put the weasel down.

Lin Wu was half sure that the weasel would not listen, but surprisingly, it did.

'Hmm… so hunger makes it antsy and feeding him makes him more tame."

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