Rise Of The Worm Sovereign

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.