Read Rise Of The Worm Sovereign Chapter 611 - Hatch Rates online for free - AllNovelFull
Lin Wu's wait lasted just five more minutes as Tim finally appeared in front of him.
"Did you get those marbles?" Lin Wu questioned.
He could care less about the flowers themselves as they weren't as useful to him. While he still did consume them, they only gave him some spirit Qi and vital Qi in exchange. Lin Wu didn't eat any of the Millennium Parrot Bamboo eggs right now since he didn't want to eat one that could potentially hatch.
Though Lin Wu was curious about what would happen if he ate one of them. He had seen Tim eat the first one and he was forced to vomit it out. This was a highly unusual occurrence, considering its physique and cultivation.
Thus Lin Wu avoided eating it right now, even if he was sure that his body might be able to digest it.
After all, the way his body worked was vastly different from the average spirit beast. Lin Wu had managed to digest literally inedible things, thus something organic like an egg would be digested as well.
Tim nodded his head in response and then spat out something.
~BLEGH!~
~tak~tak~tak~
Out of his mouth, twenty three Millennium Parrot Bamboo fell out. They were covered in spit through and Lin Wu had to clean it up first.
~SWOOSH~
He sprayed them with water and got them all clean before finally checking them all.
"Good!" Lin Wu said, seeing the biggest egg of them all.
This Millennium Parrot Bamboo egg was twice as big as the biggest egg Lin Wu had gotten and thus had the greatest probability of hatching.
"System, what's the probability of this one?" Lin Wu questioned.
~DING~
——
ANSWER: The probability of this Millennium Parrot Bamboo egg successful hatching is 22.81%.
——
Seeing the system's answer, Lin Wu couldn't help but smile.
"Excellent! If I keep all of the eggs now, there is bound to be at least one that will hatch into the bamboo spirit." Lin Wu said.
He stored the Millennium Parrot Bamboo eggs away and decided to incubate them at the tomb where the spirit Qi was the thickest. He didn't believe the yield couldn't be increased by supporting the eggs more.
'Once at least one of them has hatched, I'll be free to try and eat the others. Wonder what I'll get from eating one of them.' Lin Wu wondered.
Done with this, Lin Wu checked the map to see if he had missed any more flowers with the eggs, but could not see any more left.
"Seems like our work here done. The flowers with the eggs are very rare among the normal ones and are gone now that I've plucked them all out." Lin Wu said after observing the map.
He then reactivated the route to the Tian clan and started moving in its direction. Tim followed after him and the two of them traveled for another hour or so before they reached the territory of the Tian clan.
"Don't get any closer or the humans will find out about us." Lin Wu warned Tim.
"Okay~ I sleep." Tim said before he curled up on a tree directly.
Since the trunk of the tree was thick, it was far more stable and could directly bear his weight now. Lin Wu nodded his head and found Tim to be getting a lot more presentable now. Though he was still worried that he might throw caution to the wind and pounce on a few humans as a snack.
~shua~
Lin Wu set up a formation array around them for that very reason and created an area that would not be detected or be seen.
"This should be enough…" Lin Wu said seeing the formation array that directly hid the area that Tim was in.
Lin Wu checked the map and saw that the actual location of the Tian clan branch was further in. The current part that he was in was the boundary of their formation array. It was a formation array that detected who and what entered the territory.
Lin Wu of course, got the system to take over the formation array and hid in plain sight.
"Without the system's help in things like this, it would take me a long, long time to do the same." Lin Wu muttered to himself as he let his spirit sense spread.
~humm~
His spirit sense spread across a wide area as the map started to update again. This time, Lin Wu finally got to see what the Tian clan looked like.
"Huh… they got some serious security compared to the other clans, not to mention their clan is pretty large. I think it's bigger than a few cultivation sects in size too." Lin Wu said, seeing the many buildings of the Tian clan.
While they were not built on a mountain peak like most sects, the buildings still exuded a level of majesty. The entire clan was hidden in a curtain of mist and was surrounded by a bamboo forest that further enhanced its secrecy.
'Plus, this is merely a branch of the Tian clan. Who knows just how vast the true Tian clan is…' Lin Wu thought.
He continued onwards and saw the main courtyard of the Tian clan in the range of his spirit sense.
"Hmm, this should be far enough. Time to let the spirit sense handle the rest." Lin Wu said as he quickly checked all the people that were in the area.
"System, scan the Tian clan in detail." Lin Wu ordered.
He then checked the map and saw the various people that lived in the Tian clan. For a simple branch clan, they seemingly had a vast number of people in their clan. Though their cultivation bases weren't too shocking for Lin Wu.
"Hmm… so there are four Nascent soul realm cultivators, hundred and fifteen Core Condensation realm cultivators, and then over seven hundred Qi refining realm cultivators, in addition to several servants that are just normal humans.." Lin Wu took note.
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To Lin Wu, the current Tian clan was nothing and he could easily deal with them if the need rose. But that was highly unlikely to happen and he would be done with this place as soon as he finished gathering the information and records.
"Hmm, where are the records, system?" Lin Wu questioned.
~DING~
——
MAP UPDATED: Highlighting targets.
——
Lin Wu then saw several points appearing on the map.
"So there are eight areas where they store the information. Three of them seem like the clan repositories where they store plain information and the rest seem like the place where they store cultivation related knowledge including techniques and such." Lin Wu checked.
He decided to start with the location that was closest to him and approached it. In less than a minute, he was under the building where this was located. It was a small library that was located in the outer area of the clan.
Lin Wu could see several servants and weaker members of the clan visiting the building.
"This should be the lowest level library of the clan. There are five more of them." Lin Wu muttered to himself as he extended his spirit sense and started to gather the information.
He spent about fifteen minutes here and got information about some low leveled cultivation techniques and skills. They were mostly useless for him and only the system could benefit from it.
"Onto the next." Lin Wu said as he went to the next closest location.
This time it was a different building and only contained normal information that was unrelated to cultivation for the most part. Lin Wu read the board at the top of it and understood what it was.
"The affairs hall… huh? Why would an individual clan need this?" Lin Wu felt curious.
He could understand a sect or a bigger organization having something like this, but the Tian clan branch was far too small to actually need an entire building for it. Only after he took a look inside and saw what was going on did he understand the reality.
"The new tasks have arrived!" A loud voice could be heard echoing through the Affairs hall.
As soon as the people in the hall heard it, they all rushed towards the wall located to the left side of the hall. The wall was plain and didn't seem to have anything on it at first. But as soon as the clansmen stood in front of it, runes appeared in it.
~SHUA~
The runes formed a textual display on the wall and soon a few lists appeared.
"Hey! Don't Push!
"Let me in the front! I want to see too!"
"Senior Brother Han is here, everyone make way!"
Various voices were heard as they all tried to see the list of tasks.
A rather proud looking man walked to the front as the people parted to give him way.
"Humph! Good," The man said with a harrumph and gazed upon the wall.
His eyes scanned from left to right before settling on a line of words that were glowing in a yellow light.
"I'm taking that task!" He said firmly.
The others saw what he chose and their faces fell. Some directly trowed while some could only shake their heads in disappointment.
"You can't just take the best task like that! I won't allow that." The sound of a girl was heard coming from the side.
The man named Han turned to look at the source of the voice and saw a slightly plump looking girl approaching.
"Oh? Cousin Chu does not approve of me taking the task of gathering the Fragrant Parrot Bamboo Flowers?" The man named Han questioned.
"You think you can do that alone? I'll be going with you as well! Don't think you can hoard this task all to yourself. Just because you have a little strength do you think you can suppress everyone in the clan?" The girl named Chu replied.
"Why does Cousin Chu not understand. Strength is the key to everything in the world. If I want to claim this task, do others dare to deny me that?" The man named Han said fiercely.
"Hah!" The girl chuckled. "That might work in other places, but as long as you are a member of the Tian clan you must follow the clan rules. Even if you have strength, you have to allow others to have a fair chance at the tasks." The girl named Chu said smugly.
'This pig… If we were not here, I would show her what she's worth.' Han thought coldly.
He was irked by her words and wanted to deal with her right then and there, but knew that would just be courting death.
"Fine then… I'll allow you to accompany me in the task." Han said in a gracious tone.
"Humph! Think I'm begging for scraps? It's not just me, more will be coming for it. The Fragrant Parrot Bamboo flowers only bloom once every hundred years. Even you alone won't be able to do it.
Don't forget that this is a rank I task issued by the main branch. If you dare to hoard it all to yourself and fail to gather enough flowers, the main branch will not be pleased." The girl named Chu taunted.
Han wanted to counter her but knew that fighting there was just useless. He knew the girl's personality and fighting a battle of words against her was just a waste of time.
"Fine! Bring who you want to for the task!" Han stated.
He then waved his hand and a token shot out of it. It came to float in front of the list where the task was written and shone a light on it. A second later the task returned to his hand and he turned around.
The girl named Chu did the same and marked the task. But in addition to her token, she also used eight more tokens.
Lin Wu who was watching this all was intrigued as their methodology seemed to be different than other sects.
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While Lin Wu was observing the little drama that was happening, he was also gathering the information in the hall. Doing these two things simultaneously was easy for him and watching the people was free entertainment for him.
"This guy is certainly not up to any good." Lin Wu said as he noted the evil gaze with which the man named Tian Han was looking toward Tian Chu.
Lin Wu was also interested in the different clan rules that Tian Chu had just mentioned and looked into them.
"Here they are," Lin Wu muttered as he found the clan rules of the Tian clan.
They were very prominently displayed in the Affairs hall for everyone to see and were hard to miss. There were over a hundred rules and most of them were normal and understandable, such as not killing fellow clansmen, not stealing things, and all.
But then there were unusual rules like, not participating in any tournaments outside the clan that were not approved by the clan elders; leaving the clan for more than a year without approval from the elders; monopolizing tasks and missions being prohibited and a lot more.
"Aren't some of these… not good for the growth of the clan?" Lin Wu said, finding the rule to be non-competitive and suppressive without a reason.
In addition to the more than a hundred main rules, there were a lot of smaller rules that were additionally hung on the side. They were written on long scrolls and one could read them just by tapping them which would cause the scrolls to unfurl.
Lin Wu found a mind raking level of rules in them. The smaller rules were different than the main rules, such that they could be broken and the punishment would be far milder.
"This clan is weird…" Lin Wu muttered.
To Lin Wu, this didn't seem like a family clan, but more like an indoctrination center of a cult.
'Though clans are kinda cults in a way?' Lin Wu reckoned.
He pushed this to the back of his mind and thought that he would learn about it more in detail once he finished gathering all the information in the Tian clan branch. That way he would be able to learn the history of the clan as well as the reasoning behind the rules.
About thirty minutes later, Lin Wu finished gathering all the information in the Affairs hall and went to the next location. He spent the rest of the day gathering information from five more locations and finally reached the final location that was the main repository of the clan.
It was the smallest of them all and contained the most secretive and important records of the clan.
But when Lin Wu was trying to gather information from this hall, he came across an obstacle.
"Huh? It can actually stop my spirit sense?" Lin Wu was surprised.
There was a thin barrier that actually protected the repository from being infiltrated by anyone. This was surprising to Lin Wu since the system was already in control of the clan's formation arrays.
"What's the issue here system? How's this possible?" Lin Wu couldn't help but question.
~DING~
——
ANSWER: The barrier was hidden from the system's scan and is on a different level than the others it has come across till now. While it can still be infiltrated by the system, it will take some more time to do so.
The Isolating formation array is on a different level than the formation array that is spread over the clan; It is at least two levels higher than it.
——
Seeing the system's answer, Lin Wu understood that this was not a simple thing.
"Was this made by the main branch of the Tian clan perhaps?" Lin Wu wondered.
That was the only logical answer that came to him at that time.
"How long will it take you to decrypt the formation array and take over it, system?" Lin Wu questioned.
~DING~
——
ANALYZING: Please wait a moment…
ANALYSIS COMPLETED: The Formation array decryption will take 7 days, 14 hours and 43 minutes.
——
Seeing the system's answer, Lin Wu was surprised.
"No way! How's it taking you that long? Just what level is this formation array at?" Lin Wu was shocked now.
~DING~
——
ANSWER: The system estimates it was set up by a cultivator that was at the Immortal Ascension realm at the very least.
——
"GODDAMN! I knew the Tian clan was hiding something." Lin Wu exclaimed.
He spread his spirit sense around the clan and checks it in detail to verify the cultivation bases of every person. But even after two tried, he didn't find anyone that was at the Dao Shell realm or above here.
"Huh? So was it someone from the main clan that set this up?" Lin Wu guessed.
No matter what, Lin Wu was now determined to obtain the information that was hidden here. This repository stood out from all others and had a security that was on par with the Frozen Cloud sect which is one of the top ten sects of the Long continent.
"Is there any other way we can speed up the process of accessing it?" Lin Wu questioned.
~DING~
——
ANSWER: The host can directly break down the confines of the repository and access the contents inside. The defense of the repository only pertains to spirit sense and other investigative techniques, it does not actually defend as well against direct attacks.
The repository can only defend attacks of Nascent soul realm completely and will be able to hold on for a while against Dao Shell realm attacks. The ones above those realms are able to break it in a single blow.
Though doing so will inevitably trigger the warning and alarm formations that will send alerts to every Tian clan branch as well as the main branch.
——
"This is basically a trap, isn't it? The one who set it up must be confident that no one would attack it physically. They probably have solutions set up for that too. The main clan will definitely react to protect their branch.." Lin Wu understood.
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Lin Wu knew that attacking the formation array was out of options, thus his only option was to now wait.
"No wait… what if we just follow after someone that opens it for us? Will you be able to use that to get access, System?" Lin Wu questioned.
~Ding~
——
ANSWER: The system can gain access if the formation array is unlocked in its intended manner. It will give enough of time for the system to analyze the details.
——
"Good! We can use that then." Lin Wu said.
But then a second later, his brows furrowed.
"Now I need to find out who has access to the place. The ones who most likely have it are the patriarch and the high elders. I just need to find one of them and take over temporarily." Lin Wu muttered.
Lin Wu's spirit sense spread around the area before he quickly found a suitable target.
"Huh, he's out for a stroll." Lin Wu said as he spotted none other than the patriarch himself.
He recalled that he was also the father of Xiaoge.
'His name is… Tian Aiguo right… That should be correct.' Lin Wu thought.
He then started to think of how to do this without others finding it out. Tian Aiguo was calmly walking around a herb garden and was observing the various spirit herbs and flowers that were blooming.
~Sigh~
"The time for the Bloom has arrived, even the flowers here are getting affected. Hopefully, the juniors can have a good harvest this time. It would be bad if the main clan's elders get angry again, we are already in debt to them…" Tian Aiguo muttered to himself.
He liked to contemplate on his problems like this and the garden helped him think clearly. As a patriarch, he had a lot on his plate and things often got hectic.
"Xiaoge hasn't spoken to us in ten years… is she still angry about that?" the man rubbed his forehead.
"Silly girl, why does she trouble her father so much. Perhaps I should inquire about her from the Frozen Cloud sect. Ten years is still a bit too much for them to not tell us anything." Tian Aiguo reckoned.
"Fath…"
But while he was doing this, his ears suddenly perked up as he heard something.
"What…?" The man looked around.
"Father…" The voice was heard again.
He turned towards the source of the voice and observed that it was coming from the trees in the distance.
He furrowed his brows, but decided to check it out.
"Father…" The voice called out again.
This time though, Tian Aiguo could hear it far better than before.
"Xiaoge…?" he said in disbelief.
"Father… here…" The voice continued to call out.
"Xiaoge? Is that you!?" Tian Aiguo called out in response.
At first he couldn't confirm if the voice was really who he thought it belonged to, but now he could hear it far more clearly and knew it was of his daughter.
"Father… I'm here…" The voice spoke.
"Xiaoge! I'm coming…" Tian Aiguo said, nervousness appearing in his voice.
He didn't know why, but he was feeling anxious all of a sudden. The feeling took over him very quickly, and he didn't even think clearly about the whole situation. If it were any other person of his stature, they would have understood just how shandy the entire situation was.
"Father… I'm here… come…" The voice called out once more.
~woom~
This time Tian Aiguo broke out in a full blown sprint.
"I'm COMING!" he shouted.
To him, it felt like Tian Xiaoge was in trouble and was calling out to him. His mind was telling him that something was wrong and this shouldn't be possible, but his heart as a father was telling him otherwise.
He didn't even realize when he had rushed out of the boundaries of the clan and entered the forest. There, he could feel a faint figure in the distance.
It was small and looked like a girl. Tian Aiguo's brows furrowed and he withdrew his spirit sword as spirit Qi waves came off his body.
~SWOOSH~
He flew towards the figure at great speed, and shouted.
"WHO DARES!"
~DENG~
The figure of the girl faded away like a shadow and sparks were seen.
~Sigh~
"And it was going so well… seems like I need more practice…" A feminine voice said, that soon turned inhuman.
~thud~
Tian Aiguo recoiled back from the attack as his wrist ached. He gritted his teeth and flipped back, finally getting a clear look at the thing in front of him.
But when he saw it, his eyes went wide.
"W-what?!" The man was shocked.
"Well, hello. This is awkward… you shouldn't have seen me… well, optimally." Lin Wu spoke.
Only his large head was out of the ground right now and spoke. The green light on his body flicked and was forming various shapes. It was how he had made the figure of Xiaoge in the air.
It was simply casting a shadow onto the dust floating in the air. A common trick that illusionists used.
"A beast?" Tian Aiguo muttered.
~step~step~
He took a few step backs, trying to retreat, when his back hit something.
~SHING~
A green crystal wall popped up behind him and stopped him from retreating.
"Ah, yeah I can't let you leave. At least not like this." Lin Wu said.
"You! What do you want!?" Tian Aiguo said, hints of fear visible in his voice.
Even if he was an Adult Soul Stage Nascent soul realm cultivator, even he couldn't help but feel pressured at seeing Lin Wu. The aura exuding from Lin Wu was almost always there and even if he suppressed it, those that had higher sensitivity to it could feel it.
Tian Aiguo practiced a cultivation technique that increased his sensing capabilities. It was also why he was so unnerved by the voice of his daughter. He knew that it could be faked, but his technique would be able to perceive it.
If it was fake he would find out as no voice could be replicated 100%. Or so he thought.
Unfortunately, he didn't know Lin Wu would be here and could do a lot more with the assistance of the System. Lin Wu already had the sound command skill and modifying it a little bit by adjusting the crystals in his throat was enough to replicate the voice of Xiaoge.
This was the method that Lin Wu decided to used to lure the man. He knew that it was important to get the man out of the clan first. Since Lin Wu had not confirmation if there were other methods by which he could alert the other branches.
Since there was a formation array in the clan, Lin Wu reckoned it was the best option to get the man away from there first. Then, even if he had some other method on his own body, Lin Wu still had the confidence to catch him before that.
"Well, I just need your help. Don't worry, it will be over soon and you won't be hurt. Nothing will happen to your clan either…" Lin Wu said with slight assurance.
But no matter what his words were, there was no way Tian Aiguo would believe it.
He looked around, trying to find a path of exit, but his spirit sense started being suppressed.
"What? HOW?" Tian Aiguo was scared now.
He felt his control of spirit Qi weakening and a few seconds later, he couldn't feel any spirit Qi in the air at all.
~drip~
A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead and he gritted his teeth.
"DAMN IT ALL!" He cursed before shooting up.
~SHING~ SHING~
"GAH!" but before he could get even a meter away, five spikes pierced through his body.
One each went through his limbs, and one went through his abdomen.
"Now look what you made me do!" Lin Wu said as he shook his head.
~Sigh~
"Everything would have been so easy if you just stayed put." Lin Wu said as he controlled the spikes to change the shape.
Tian Aiguo felt a searing pain spreading from the spots where he had been pierced.
"You… what are you?! Why are you doing this?" He questioned.
But he didn't receive his answer, as a few seconds later his vision went dark. The five spikes that had pierced him changed their form to become a slim armor. The armor retreated inside his clothes and was hidden from the sight of others.
~chink~ chink~
The base of the spikes detached from Lin Wu's body and fully merged into the slim armor that covered Tian Aiguo.
"There we go, let's see if it works." Lin Wu said as he connected his spirit sense.
The slim armor faintly glowed as a response and dimmed down, hiding its presence.
"Step forward," Lin Wu ordered.
~step~step~
"Good!" Lin Wu said seeing Tian Aiguo moving forward.
A wide smile appeared on his face as he controlled Tian Aiguo to move around. Once Lin Wu was sure that he could control the man's movement freely, he nodded to himself.
"This should be enough for mechanical control." Lin Wu said as he looked at the unconscious man.
Tian Aiguo had been knocked out, and his eyes were closed. Seeing him walk in this state was a bit strange to see, but Lin Wu doubted anyone would question it. They would simply think that Tian Aiguo was deep in thought while walking to his destination.
'A cultivator of his level doesn't need eyes to 'see' anyway.' Lin Wu thought.
"Let's begin then.." Lin Wu said as he controlled Tian Aiguo to walk back to the Tian clan.
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Lin Wu himself went back underground and followed from there. One of the restrictions that Lin Wu had in controlling the man like this was that the range of this was very short. Lin Wu not only needed his spirit sense for it to work, but the cellular manipulation link that his body had with his crystals was also needed.
With just his spirit sense, he would not be able to control the man, not to mention if he went past a certain limit, the crystals that were detached from his body would become lifeless.
This was something Lin Wu had only gained recently after his upgrades to the innate skills. Being able to control his body parts as crystal when they were detached was only possible in the Crystalline form, though.
He could not do the same in the organic form and would just end up injuring himself instead.
"For now, this will have to do. Thankfully, as long as I hide underground, just below Tian Aiguo, there won't be anyone that really sees me." Lin Wu muttered to himself as he controlled the man to walk further and further.
Lin Wu had to be sure that the man was walking in the proper gait or it would look very suspicion. The patriarch of a clan with Nascent soul realm cultivation suddenly walking like a drunk would be an alarming sign.
While Lin Wu didn't know what kind of a personality Tian Aiguo had or how he behaved while drunk, he safely assumed that he simply did not do that. It was more safe for Lin Wu to make sure that the man acted normal.
Even if the man had his eyes closed while walking.
And Lin Wu's guess turned out to be true a few minutes later.
"Huh? Is that… the patriarch?" One of the clan members questioned.
His companion who was standing by the side, turned around and saw that it really was Tian Aiguo.
"What's he doing here? Were we informed of this?" the comparison questioned.
"Hmm… I don't think so. Maybe he's here for some personal task? If it were an official issuing of weapons, we would have been informed." The clansman answered.
They did notice Tian Aigou's closed eyes but didn't question it. For them, it was just the patriarch being deep in thought. Which was understandable, considering the amount of work he needed to do.
His mind needed to be working at all times and thus he made the most efficient use of his time… or so they thought.
~step~step~step~
"Oh, he's not coming here." The clansman said, seeing that Tian Aiguo turned into a different corridor.
"Isn't that… the forbidden repository?" The second clansmen recognized.
"Shush!" The first one hurriedly shut his comparison mouth shut.
"Are you looking to get us in trouble? You know we are not supposed to question something like that and neither know about it. We best look away!" The man stated.
His companion, whose mouth was still shut, nodded his head and only after did his mouth was freed.
Lin Wu who had been observing everything, took a breath of relief.
~phew~
"I almost had to get rid of them." Lin Wu said to himself.
"Thankfully, they know better than questioning things like these." He added.
Lin Wu turned his focus back to the patriarch and finally got him to enter the outer chamber of the repository.
"Now to see if he can directly enter the actual forbidden repository or not…" Lin Wu said as he controlled the man to put his hand on the door handle.
~SHUA~
The moment he did, runes appeared in the air and quickly formed into a formation that spread on the door. Lin Wu got the system to restrain the spirit Qi in the air, so that no one else was alerted about this opening.
While Lin Wu could not access the repository, just stopping some spirit Qi fluctuations was an easy task for the system. Plus, he could simplify it even more by using radiation and just filling the are with it.
Any spirit Qi that came into contract with it would be neutralized. Though there was also the off chance that it might damage the formation array and bring more trouble. Since the damage to a formation array could be perceived as an attack, which would result in an alarm ringing.
'The moment of truth…' Lin Wu watched as the formation array scanned Tian Aiguo.
He didn't know if the formation could be activated passively with just the man being there, or if it needed his actual control. Lin Wu wanted it to be the first option, as the second would mean, he would have to temporarily merge with the man.
That was not a task that was possible for him anymore, simply due to the fact he had become far too large now. Even after shrinking his body to the maxim, Lin Wu was still thirty meters long and thus could not hide as an armor or a spear like before.
'Well technically, I can still disguise as them… but just extra large.' Lin Wu thought to himself.
~HONG~
While he was thinking all this, the formation array finally completed its work and the color changed.
~CREAK~
"BINGO!" Lin Wu exclaimed as he saw the doors open.
His tactic of using Tian Aiguo had worked, and just the passive presence of the man was enough for the repository to open.
~DING~
——
FORMATION ARRAY: Access obtained
——
"Nice!" Lin Wu said as the system did the task it was assigned.
With the system having taken over the formation array, Lin Wu quickly 'entered' the repository. The moment, his spirit sense looked inside, he could see two things there. One was a book shelf that was located along the back wall.
While the second was a wide table that was kept in the center. The room was smaller than the other repositories and even some basic storage rooms.
"Now let's see what's hidden here exactly…" Lin Wu said as his spirit sense got to work.
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Lin Wu could see several pill bottles and preservative jade boxes kept on the table. There were individual locking formation carved onto the table which would prevent one from just taking them casually or even knocking them down by accident.
Of course, the locking formation was nothing for him and the system had already decrypted it the instant it saw it.
"Hmm… not really useful for me anymore." Lin Wu said, seeing the items in the table.
While the pills and resources kept in the jade boxes were helpful for cultivation, for Lin Wu, that was still a minuscule amount at this point. Not to mention, he was already at the Dao Shell realm and the spirit herbs kept in the boxes would have no effect on him.
'Plus, taking them just like this would not be good later on. Would certainly make everyone suspicious as to how the items disappeared.' Lin Wu thought before looking at the book shelf instead.
"Now this… is useful." Lin Wu said as his spirit sense got to checking them and the system recorded.
Since Lin Wu simply needed to copy and record the information, there was no problem or conflict of interest here. None would be the wiser after he left this place.
"Damn, these books are dense!" Lin Wu said as he felt the information coming from the books being more than what was physically gritting on them.
He knew that this was another method of storing a large quantity of data without the use of jade slips. In this, special paper that had been treated with word condensation liquid were used.
It would allow multiple layers of information being stored and could almost rival the storing capacity of a jade slip. While it seemed better to save such information in a jade slip so that it could be easily learned and transported seemed normal, there were still some aspects that were better learned from books.
There was the aura and intent that was often hard to put into the jade slips due to how volatile they were. But such books could help in storing that and would be helpful with techniques that needed the intent behind the words at all times.
Lin Wu actually ended up spending the rest of the night in this task, before he was finally done. He got to learn a lot of new things, but knew that it was best to leave before it was too late and others wondered where the patriarch was.
"Alright system, wipe his memories and replace with the fabricated ones." Lin Wu ordered.
~DING~
——
REMINDER: A direct memory modification might lead to brain defects and cognitive degeneration in the long term.
——
"Huh?" Lin Wu was surprised seeing this warning.
"Well… if he dies, he dies. At least the cause would be something unrelated to me and undetectable by others." Lin Wu said.
With that done, Lin Wu gave the go head to the system and controlled the man to leave the repository.
~DENG~
The door of the repository closed automatically on his exit and he was now free to drop off Tian Aiguo.
"Just leaving him in the bedroom should be fine." Lin Wu picked and brought the man there before putting him in some extra sleep.
~DING~
——
NOTIFICATION: Memory fabrication completed; injection successful.
——
"Perfect." Lin Wu said, using seeing the answer.
With everything done smoothly, Lin Wu left the area of the Tian clan and appeared back where he had left Tim at. The beast was still deep in sleep and didn't seem like would wake up that easily.
'Though food should help rouse him,' Lin Wu thought.
He felt good at having completed this task as well and decided to look through it now.
"I can finally satisfy the itch!" Lin Wu said with excitement.
"System, show me the analyzed information!" he ordered.
~DING~
In the next second, a few windows opened in front of him and Lin Wu could see various titles and information on them. Lin Wu quickly changed the filters to new and unlearned information and started to read.
"Oho?! This is interesting." Lin Wu said as he got to learn more about the Tian clan.
The first thing he learned was the true situation of the Tian clan.
Apparently, there were eight branches that had split off from the main Tian clan. Of these eight, only three were officially known by the other powers and sects, while the other five were also Tian clan branches, but they pretended to be separate.
Tian wasn't really a rare surname in the Ming Dao world and also had multiple meanings with pronunciations. Plus, there would always be some clan that claimed to be part of the Tian clan, just to get some benefits and reputation.
They could very easily claim that they had a long lost bloodline as there were often clansmen that would leave behind their children outside the clan. This was either due to choice or ignorance about the issue.
There were chances that someone would just not be told that they were father for a Long term.
The Tian clan's branches were spread all over the Long Continent as well. The location of the main clan was securely guarded and Lin Wu only figured it out after piecing together information from various sources.
The actual location wasn't mentioned anywhere in the records clearly, probably due to the fact that they didn't trust the clan to have that secret easily.
"Looks like my decision turned out to be right." Lin Wu said as he looked at the derived location.
It flickered on the map and pointed to the southern part of the Long Continent. It was quite far from where he was at the moment, and it would take him a long time to reach that place.
"That all will come later. For now, I need to figure out the power structure of the Tian clan." Lin Wu said as he observed the rest of the information.
By the time it was afternoon, Lin Wu was finally done with his research, having learned some astounding things.
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"This is a messed up clan." Lin Wu said after having read everything.
"They are doing everything just for a prophecy that some random beggar made?" Lin Wu muttered in disbelief.
That was right, the entire reason for the strange rules of Tian clan and their tendency to keep hiding was a beggar!
It was said that a long, long time ago, when the first founder of the Tian clan was a child, he had gotten lost in a forest. The forest was vast and full of dangers. The Tian clan founder was the only child of a pair of farmers that worked in a village next to the forest.
They were very anxious and spent all their time in searching for their child. The Tian clan founder was playing with his friends and accidentally wandered too far in. And there, he saw something shining and went after it.
He was merely seven years old then and thus couldn't resist the attraction of something like that. At first he only wanted to go a little further, but he didn't even realize when he had lost his way.
The forest was full of beasts of course, and while there were only weak beasts at the periphery; they were still more than enough to kill a mortal child. In just six hours, the Tian clan founder came across the first danger.
There were several wolf beasts nearby that were hunting for some prey. They ended up smelling his scent and came after him. The child didn't even have the first stage body tempering realm cultivation, thus he would be injured with just a weak flick.
The wolves stalked the Tian clan founder and finally attacked him when they were close enough. The boy screamed in terror, but just as he was about to be killed, something pushed him.
He fell to the ground and scratched his body. But instead of checking that, he turned to look at who had just pushed him, only to find none other than his father then. In front of him, the Tian clan founder saw his father's arm being ripped off.
Blood spilled like a waterfall, and the father protected his son. Without wavering, he swung the sickle he had in his other hand and attacked the wolf beast. The beast was hit accurately on his neck and fell on the ground helplessly.
'Run!' ordered the farmer, and the son obeyed.
Unfortunately, even if the father was stronger than the son, a pack of such wolf beasts were too much for him. In less than a minute, the farmer was killed and shredded apart. The child could only keep on running as his tears clouded his vision.
He didn't even realize how long or how far he had run, but by the time his wits were a bit more in control, he saw his village there again.
Stumbling into the village, he collapsed and passed out.
When he finally came to his senses, he found a few people staring at him. He was now in a familiar room and another familiar face was staring at him. This was none other than his mother, whose eyes were bloodshot and swollen, as if she had been crying for a long time.
The other people in the room were the other villagers who were concerned about him.
A lot of conversations happed after that, but in the end the mother of the Tian clan founder heard that her husband had died. She felt pale after that and fainted. The child founder kept silent and stayed in the same place for a long time.
Finding him to be traumatized, the villagers cared for the fainted mother and the shocked child. A few hours later, the woman did wake up and came to terms with the siltation, but the boy never did.
He became very silent and would never talk unless talked too. And even then, there was a great chance he could just ignore others.
He stayed like that for many years, and when he was twenty, he finally changed. This change was brought about by a beggar that the founder had met.
The beggar asked for money for him and as usual, the founder ignored it. But then the beggar offered something else.
The beggar said that if he gave him some food, he would tell him his fortune. The Tian clan founder didn't know why, but he finally responded to the beggar. He gave the man some food and in exchange, he told him his fortune.
But the fortune telling turned out to be bad for him as the answer that the founder got was that he was doing to die.
'You will die the same way as your father did, in ignorance and because of your weakness.' The beggar said.
This thing struck the Tian clan founder, and he asked a few more things, but the beggar didn't answer him just like that. Instead, the beggar insisted the young man follow him for a while.
The Tian clan founder ended up agreeing and went along with the beggar as he wandered the village and nearby towns, begging for food and money. A month went by like this when finally the beggar spoke with the young man who had patiently waited.
'You have patience, but you lack execution. You can work hard, but you can't bide your time well. That will be your undoing and the reason behind your death. But if you are able to overcome that, you will become peerless in the world!' the beggar stated.
The Tian clan founder was easily convinced, because he had already seen the beggar tell the fortune of others in this time and all of them came true.
And thus, The Tian clan founder adapted the careful approach that the beggar had told him and started to work towards his growth. He still had his mother to care for and didn't want her to suffer or die.
The founder kept true to this and saw his first few gains after a year.
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Ten years passed like this, during which the young man gained some experience. He worked and gathered enough money to buy a cultivation manual. He had already reached the eighth stage of the Body tempering realm and was free to cultivate now.
Five more years passed after that and the Tian clan founder finally managed to enter the first stage of the Qi refining realm. All of this was a secret from the entire village and no one knew that he had become the first cultivator of the village.
The Tian clan founder kept this fact hidden and followed the advice of the beggar and stayed low key.
He would continue his practice and keep up the facade. Fifteen more years passed and the Tian clan founder's mother died. Having lost her, the man got silent again. By now, he looked like he was in his early thirties, but his actual age was over fifty.
His cultivation had managed to keep him younger than most people. But having lost his mother, he went off the knocker and started to wander around again. He gained more during his travels and increased his cultivation base.
Fifty years flickered by and now the Founder was in the core condensation realm instead. He had obtained several fortunate encounters and was still growing strong. But his heart would still ache for his mother.
He wished that he would have been able to let her live longer, but the regret would get worse and worse.
It was during that time; he came across someone familiar. This was none other than the beggar who the Tian clan founder had met as a child.
He was certainly astound and had never expected him to be still alive. It was then that he found out the beggar was not simple and he could not sense his presence easily. The beggar recognized the Tian clan founder and talked with him about all that had happened.
In the end, the founder was challenged, and he lost. The beggar forced him to follow him along again and the founder did that for five years. After this time passed, the beggar gave him another ability.
But that was not the most important thing, rather it was how to hide it from the others.
He got the same advice as before but, this time he followed it religiously. His bet turned out to be right and the more he stayed hidden, the better progress he made. Over time, he gathered more and more friends who became his companions.
This finally ended up becoming the Tian clan. The clan progressed well despite being well off and from time to time, the beggar would appear again.
And whenever the beggar appeared, it would either be before or after something disastrous. With the multiple meetings, the Tian clan founder had become a lot more cautions and he finally made it into a rule.
A hundred years passed like that and the beggar made his return. This time, the Tian canal founder went to meet him personally and learned that there would be a great upheaval later on.
The beggar made a different prophecy this time. He said, 'There will always be people envious of you and your succeeds. While attacking them might be a useful, after a certain point, it would only cause more distress to you.
To prevent yourself and your clan from falling, you need to bide your time for an indefinite amount of time. If he could have the patience for that, a miracle would appear for the Tian clan.'
The Tian clan founder took this very religiously, and all the members started to follow his cause.
"So the reason they do this is that they believe they will achieve something really great in the future and become the rulers of a world." Lin Wu muttered.
The people of the Tian clan would follow their doctrines for an unknown amount of time, until the person of the prophecy appeared. The said person would cause a great upheaval in the world and allow many great talents to appear.
One such talent would be from the Tian clan and would be the signal for it to appear in the real world. All those that were part of it would be very strong by that time and would be able to dominate the others that were not ready.
While all this seemed like a long shot, the Tian clan had a very deep belief in the beggar and had even venerated him in the clan.
Many generations passed after the first founder of the Tian clan and even then, the tradition and the rules were strictly followed by the current patriarchs.
"All this just seems like coincidence, though. That beggar might just be pretending the entire time, or was a cultivator that was also a con artist." Lin Wu muttered to himself, finding it all strange.
Though he couldn't tell if it was entirely true either, since the records did not mention a lot of details.
'It could also be that the branches don't have the entire information. They don't even have the name of the beggar.' Lin Wu thought.
He couldn't help but think that there was something more to the Tian clan and the prophecy.
"Maybe I'll have to visit the Tian clan in the future, just to be sure. That beggar might be more than just an average cultivator." Lin Wu said before shaking his head.
He could understand how the other rules of the Tian clan came around. The people of the Tian clan were of the same thought at first, but as more and more generations passed, their thinking changed.
And with this change came a different interpretation of the prophecy. It led to the creation of a lot more rules and restriction on the members.
In general, the reason behind them staying hidden was because they didn't want to come in limelight like the other top clans and be ready for the day that the disaster happens.
That would be their day of debut and they would shock the world.
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Having understood the thinking behind the Tian clan, Lin Wu could only shake his head.
"They can either become really strong, or become weak in the long term. Though they do have different factions in their clan that think differently and want a different approach." Lin Wu muttered to himself.
But this didn't reduce his interest in the Tian clan. There was still a lot of information that the Tian clan had which the others didn't. Because the Tian clan had stayed hidden for the most part over the years, they had the lost information with them.
'If the assumption is correct, then the Tian clan should have existed since before the time of the Three Guardian clans. They probably have the true records of the world with them.' Lin Wu thought.
With this in mind, Lin Wu decided to visit the Tian clan one day. But that day was not today or any time in the future.
"They have Immortal Ascension realm experts with them… and not all of them are I seclusion. They may actually find out if I get close." Lin Wu said in a serious tone.
He reckoned that until he himself reached the Immortal Ascension realm or at least the Dao Treading realm, going to the main Tian clan would be a bad choice. From all the information that he had obtained, the system had surmised that there were at least four Immortal Ascension realm cultivators along with several Dao Treading realm cultivators.
"Wouldn't this strength match the Long Clan itself?" Lin Mu reckoned.
After taking one last look around the area, Lin Wu decided to return.
'Hopefully Tim hasn't cause any trouble…' Lin Wu thought as he made his way back.
About fifteen minutes later, he was at the place where he had left Tim and found him right there. The beast was still sleeping and didn't seem to have moved at all.
~phew~
"Good," Lin Wu said, but just as he was about to resurface, his spirit sense caught something.
"Oh?" Lin Wu became alert and scanned the area.
Some distance away from where Lin Wu and the Weasel where, a small group of humans were traveling. Lin Wu checked them in detail and found them to be none other than the Tian clan branch's clansmen.
"It's those two," Lin Wu recognized.
Lin Wu glanced at Tim one last time before deciding to follow after the clansmen. Once he got close, he could hear their conversations.
"This is strange? Where are the Fragrant Parrot Bamboo flowers?" one of the clansmen questioned.
"Were the reports we got wrong? We should have started encountering them here, shouldn't we?" Another clansman asked.
A slightly plump but decent looking girl at the front furrowed her brows and kneeled down to check the ground.
"This area has been harvested already… someone was here before us." Tian Chu said.
"Hah, looks like Cousin Chu's delay in beginning has cost us now." Tian Han said from the side.
"Speak for yourself, Cousin Han. Don't forget that there are beasts in the forest not to mention other cultivators we might encounter. Don't be so arrogant to think that you are strong to fight all of them." Tian Chu scoffed.
The other clansmen didn't dare speak or interfere in the conversion. The two cousins were of a higher rank than them, not only in terms of cultivation base, but also the ranking in the clan.
Both of them were clansmen that had the direct bloodline and were the closest linked to the Main branch's bloodline.
"I know my limits, and how to prepare the best. You simply lost time in over preparing and now we will be slow in gathering the flowers, not to mention that others might have already started to gather the flowers before us." Tian Han replied without backing down.
"Humph, I won't dignify that with an answer." Tian Chu said as she continued walking.
Tian Han frowned and clenched his fist secretly.
'This girl… if it were not for her father, would she even be able to speak.' Tian Han thought. "I'll show you…" he muttered silently as a dangerous light appeared in his eyes.
The group continued to explore and couldn't find any of the Fragrant Parrot Bamboo Flowers anywhere. All the areas looked like they had been dug out and there were even some strange marks on the ground, which made them feel confused.
"Are these… beast marks? Is it beasts that have come to eat these?" A clansman questioned.
Tian Han furrowed his brows and used his spirit sense to scan the area. His nose wrinkled, and he withdrew a small hoop from his spatial storage treasure.
"Aural Exposure Hoop!" Tian Han chanted.
~whoosh~
The hoop flew out and expanded in size, before becoming about a meter wide in diameter. Glittering particles fell out of the hoop as it flew across the ground. It made a circle around the area that Tian Han had selected and returned to him.
Tian Chu was looking with curiosity, having never seen something like this.
"What is that spirit tool?" A clansmen questioned.
"I don't know, but it seems like a tracking or analytical spirit tool?" A second one guessed.
Lin Wu who had been seeing it all, was intrigued too.
"This is new," he muttered and saw as Tian Han used the hoop.
He turned it vertical, and a screen appeared in the hoop. On the screen, several yellow dots could be seen and along with the faint black marks, were spread across the area. The marks were unusually long and looked like strings.
"This was certainly caused by beasts… not humans." Tian Han said as he saw the marks.
"What is this tool?" Tian Chu couldn't help but ask.
"Not something, someone like you would know. But I will be gracious enough to explain." Tian Han smugly said, irritating Tian Chu.
But since she wanted the answer, she didn't speak anything.
Tian Han smiled in pleasure and started to speak, "it can sense the traces of auras left in the area that were recently there."
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The clansmen were intrigued after hearing this.
"This is really good, Senior Brother Han!"
"Yes, yes! Where did you get it?"
"Yeah, I'd like to get one too."
The clansmen said in excitement. They could very easily tell the usefulness of a spirit tool like this, as it could be used in a variety of ways and situations.
~humph~
"Do you think a spirit tool like this is easy to come by? Just anyone can get it? I got this as a reward from Elder Jigou." Tian Han stated in a proud tone.
"ELDER JIGOU!?" the clansmen exclaimed and even Tian Chu seemed surprised.
"Isn't he… the guest elder from the main branch?" Someone asked.
"He is…" the person next to him answered.
"Why would Elder Jigou give something like this to you?" Tian Chu questioned.
"Because he liked my talent, of course!" Tian Han said smugly.
Tian Chu felt like she had lost this time and didn't have anything left to say. Tian Han felt pleased at her look and couldn't help but want to trample on her more. But he also knew that now was not the time for it.
'Need to check the situation before the hoop stops working. I cannot charge it here…' He thought to himself.
But while they were talking about this elder, Lin Wu was also interested in him.
"Elder Jigou huh… so he's from the main branch and was assigned to the Tian clan here…" Lin Wu muttered as he checked the older map data from the Tian clan.
"He isn't here, is he?" Lin Wu muttered in confusion.
"System, any information on this man?" Lin Wu questioned.
"None," The system replied simply.
"Hmm… so he isn't really someone that is know by others as much and doesn't even reside here. The system would have known about it otherwise…" Lin Wu muttered to himself.
He also hadn't sensed anyone that was above the Nascent soul realm in the clan and guessed that the guest elder from the main branch would have to be at the very least Dao Shell realm.
"The main branch and the sub branches have different standards for elders. Nascent soul realm cultivators can be elders in the Sub branch but it's not the same in the Main branch.
Just like the top sects, they need to be at the Dao Shell realm to be elders." Lin Wu muttered, recalling the information from the rules of the Tian clan.
Though hearing about an elder from the main branch of the Tian clan gave Lin Wu some other ideas.
"Perhaps more information can be gained from this elder." Lin Mu said. "If I can find him…" he added while glancing at Tian Han.
He continued watching them as Tian Han got some information from the hoop.
"This is impossible," Tian Han said as a confused expression appeared on his face.
"What is it senior brother?" A clansman questioned.
"The auras… according to the hoop, they belong to Nascent soul realm beasts… or even stronger…" Tian Han answered as his brows furrowed.
"The clan would have known if there were Nascent Soul realm beasts, here. This is far too close for the elders to not know. Something is wrong…" Tian Chu said as she looked around anxiously.
Lin Wu who saw this, couldn't help but think about being more careful in the future.
"So such tools exist too… will need to be on the watch for them, or there might be a time when I fall into a trap." Lin Wu said.
He looked at the hoop in Tian Han's hand and wondered about something.
"System, can you fix this vulnerability?" Lin Wu questioned.
~DING~
——
ANSWER: if the host can obtain that spirit tool, the system can analyze and derive a patch for the vulnerability.
——
"Good," Lin Wu said with a nod as he trained his eyes on Tian Han.
To Lin Wu, keeping his safety was of the top most importance and he knew just how advantageous it was to stay hidden from the knowledge of others. It was fine now since the person that sensed him was Tian Han and it was not even accurate.
But Lin Wu couldn't rely on that fact as there could very well be better treasures that can detect more information than just this. This was even more important as it was not in the system's data bank.
Lin Wu followed behind the ground as they continued their search. They had become far more careful and knew that there was potential danger all around them. Even Tian Han and Tian Chu didn't bicker and stayed alert.
The Hoop spirit tool had stopped working after a while and Tian Han had put it away, telling Lin Wu about the limitation it had on it.
The group searched for over a day but still could not find anything. No matter where they went, it was as if all the Fragrant Parrot Bamboo Flowers had been plucked.
"This can't be… if we go back empty handed without even a single flower, the elders will not be pleased." Tian Chu said, feeling upset.
"But what can we do, senior sister Chu? It's not that we are unable to fulfill the quota, there are simply no flowers to be found." A clansman said with concern.
"Shut up!" Tian Han said in anger. "There is no way we are going empty handed. We will head to the east!"
"The east!? But that's in the depths of the forest. If we got there, we are very likely to encounter the stronger beasts." The subordinate of Tian Han said, feeling afraid.
"Do you not want to complete the mission and lost your rank?" Tian Han asked the man, but he simply lowered his head. "I thought so…" Tian Han scoffed.
"Those that don't want to follow can return, but I am going. Feel free to go back. I was intending to go alone in the start anyway." Tian Han taunted.
Tian Chu gritted her teeth and knew that if she let Tian Han do this, she would be losing face.. And it would be even more if he actually managed to succeed.
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