Rise Of The Worm Sovereign

'So they are not too ignorant and know to think further, huh…' Lin Wu thought to himself upon seeing that old man Tiandi had actually chosen a competent person.

"I shall do my best, Elder Tiandi." The owner of the Mystic Treasure pavilion said before heading towards the temple.

Everyone watched on as he reached the entrance of the temple, which was on the top. It was a rather strange set up which made them feel weird but they didn't mind it for now and just thought that the creator must have been eccentric or had some other thought in mind while building the temple.

The trapdoor had over ten different formations, all of which blocked it from being opened. The owner checked the door with his spirit sense as he closed his eyes. No one made any noise during this time so as to not disturb the man.

About five minutes later the owner, brows furrowed and ten more minutes later, sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Is everything okay with him?" One of the cultivators on old Man Tiandi's side whispered to his companion.

"I don't know, but seems like he is having a hard time. Formations on old ruins such as these are usually quite strong and complex." The companion replied.

"Hmm… yeah you are right." The other man agreed.

Fifteen more minutes passed before a change was finally observed.

~DENG~

~thud~

The trapdoor finally opened up as the owner of the mystic treasure pavilion collapsed on the ground.

"It… is… done…" The man said in-between breaths. 

All that he had done right now was very exhausting for him and he didn't expect the formations to be this complex. He would say that he had barely managed to even open the door and did not know if he would be able to do it again.

"Are you okay?" Old Man Tiandi questioned.

"I'm fine but opening this door took up nearly all of my spirit Qi. I don't think I can continue further." The owner replied.

"Mmm, wait here then. You'll have a part in the reward too, don't worry." Tiandi assured.

"Thank you, Elder." The owner of the Mystic pavilion said before retreating to his other companions that were still waiting in the crowd.

"We can head in now!" Old Man Tiandi announced.

"Praise to the owner!" Some of the people exclaimed.

"Who shall be the next to enter it, then? Since the owner is no longer capable to do that now." Someone asked.

"There are bound to be dangers in there, so I want you all to be sure of it." Old Man Tiandi spoke.

Lin Wu, who was watching this all, thought of something before speaking.

"I think you've had your turn and can pass it to the other guy now." Lin Wu spoke.

As soon as Jiao Fan heard this, his eyes lit up.

"YES! YES! We only decided who will enter the temple first. Since your member has decided to retreat, we should be able to enter it rightfully." Jiao Fan said out loud.

"You!…" Old Man Tiandi wanted to protest but could feel the gaze of Lin Wu on his back. 

He then looked at the other side's cultivators and they seemed to be ready to fight as well. Tiandi understood that this was not a time to argue and since Lin Wu the overseeing party, had spoken, they may as well go according to his wishes. 

Unknowingly, this group of humans had become subservient to Lin Wu in a way that even Lin Wu did not understand fully.

'Seems like some respite offered in the face of overwhelming danger can be a good way to tame people.' Lin Wu noted in his mind as his eyes glowed slightly.

The people felt chills on their necks for a moment, but they ignored it as they focused back on the matter at hand.

"Alright, Elder Qian shall go in then." Jiao Fan decided right away.

"As you command, Mayor Jiao." An old man who was at the Infant soul stage of the Nascent Soul realm spoke.

Lin Wu slightly nodded his head and knew that this was the better choice. Even if the owner of the mystic treasure pavilion was an expert in formations, that would not have helped him much after coming across the formation array in the temple.

Unlike the other temples Lin Wu had come across, this one was in the best condition with most of its formations intact. Even the complex formation array made out of hundreds of Vermillion bird statues was functioning relatively well, though there were a few statues that were inactive and broken.

Lin Wu had gotten all of this information with the help of the system and had already made a virtual interface for the formation array as well.

~Ding~

——

VIRTUAL INTERFACE: Thousand Fire Plume Formation array.

FUNCTIONS: 1. Defensive mode

2. Offensive mode

3. Inactive mode

4. Self destruct

——

Lin Wu secretly smiled upon seeing the function of the array and let it be in the Defensive mode for now. He wanted to see what kind of effect it could exert on the people who would try to enter it.

If need be, he could modify the responses as needed anyway. He watched on as Elder Qian walked in through the trapdoor and descended down the stairs. A few others like Jiao Fan and Old Man Tiandi were now at the top of the temple as well, using their spirit sense to observe the interior of the temple.

Everyone else could only wait and see the response of Elder Qian. For about two minutes, they could hear nothing as the temple stairs went quite deep. Jiao Fan estimated that they may even go about half the height of the temple, which was right as Lin Wu knew the exact depth.

Their spirit sense was still able to freely keep up and thus they observed Elder Qian and the interior as well. They could see the carvings on the walls and finally the statues that just appeared.