Chapter 310 – Evolved Lu Bu
January 1st, 186 A.D.
Ganling City.
After midnight.
Tong sat cross legs in his room, cultivating and meditating. The automatic system had finished giving out the rewards for defending Yi City and Julu City for another year, but Tong did not pay attention.
The reason for that was because he was contemplating how to get across the bottom neck.
Tong opened his eyes and breathed out cold air of winter.
"System, report my [Sin] status."
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For almost three years, Tong spent every night sitting and cultivating his mind to lower all sins as much as possible.
As he continued performing duties as the lord of many affiliate cities, his sins slowly reduced to the bottom. However, he could not awaken any wing since all of his mundane actions were not significant enough to be considered a redemption.
Thanked to his hard work, all sins revealed itself once it reached 0%, which gave Tong a whole picture of what he had sinned in the past.
Unfortunately, Tong had gotten stuck with three wings for years, and he grew impatience each day, fearing that one day the locals would start getting the angelic or demonic powers like him.
The deadline of the mobilization was approaching as Jia Xu and Xun Yu had arranged the plan for the coalition forces to strike back against Xiongnu. Tong would not have more times to cultivate like this anymore, starting from tomorrow onward.
'Sparring without using skills with my generals doesn't work. Abstaining from luxurious food also didn't work. What else should I do to create a situation for the awakening?'
Unable to think of anything, Tong glance at his wife, who was also sitting cross legs and cultivating.
Hua Shi had two white tentacle wings fluttered behind her back, signifying that she had conquered two virtues, [Love] and [Diligence]. Soon, she would obtain her third wing as most of her virtues were already higher than 50%.
Their daughter, Zhang Min, was sleeping peacefully on the bed, not knowing what their parents were up to.
'I'll have to lead the coalition this year. At least, I should have four wings to ensure everyone's safety. But how can I awaken them?'
Tong glanced at his status window.
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**Status**
Name: Zhang Tong
Age: 21
Lifespan 2,819,746 Years
Shopping Tickets: 24
[Homing Arrow] LV. 10 MAX
[Time Stop] LV.10 MAX
[Create Food] LV.10 MAX
[Firearms Creation] LV.4 EXP( 615,866/10,000,000 )
[Radar Map]
[Inventory]
[Immortal Yang Vein]
[Sword Mastery]
[A Bit Weak Demonic Body]
[Demonic Curse] - Unusable
[Demonic Seal] LV.7
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The skills were unchanged, only the levels of some skills had increased through the dual-cultivation with Friday.
[Create Food] at max level could give Tong enough food for the millions of civilians for a year, which was the core skill for his empire's economy.
[Time Stop] gave Tong 50 additional seconds to act when he faced a dangerous opponent.
[Firearms Creation] could be used to create handgun bullets, handguns, shotgun bullets, and shotguns. Unfortunately, Tong could not max this skill since the EXP requirement was absurdly high, which the dual-cultivation was not enough to max this skill.
[Demonic Curse] was unusable as usual, and the [Demonic Seal] was there to keep his sanity in check.
The rest of the skills were the same.
'Should I get rid of my skills to bet on it?'
It was a bad idea. Tong shook his head and abandoned the thought.
'For now, it should be enough to decimate a force of mortals. I still have other trump cards.'
Tong clenched his right fist, and the skin of his hand transformed into green luster scales.
It was the upgraded version of Lamia Step, the Scale Transformation, which was the core technique of Friday that he had mastered during these past years.
'I won't lose to anyone, even Lu Bu with wings!'
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Jinyang County.
Ding Yuan, Li Feihong, Zhang Liao, and Lu Bu gathered in Ding Yuan's private courtyard. They had a matter to discuss with Lu Bu.
Ding Yuan and Li Feihong explained about the clan chat feature and the benefits of being in the same clan as Tong. However, they were trying to persuade Lu Bu into joining the clan.
"So, you're saying all of you have joined this immortal clan for years …"
Ding Yuan and Li Feihong were sweating bullets, fearing that Lu Bu might get mad again. Zhang Liao, on the other hand, still had an indifferent expression.
"Fengxian, I know that you're not in good terms with Tong, but you should think of the bigger picture. For years, our county has become more flourish than the times before we serve him. Have you ever seen so many merchants come and go in our city? Do you remember that we can hardly entice any damn merchant to come? We had to bribe several nobles to give a good word for us, so a couple of rich guys came to buy our minerals and coals."
Li Feihong nodded, "Yes. Fengxian, our population back then was only about 50,000 people in our county. But look at the buildings and shops! We have over 200,000 civilians in this god-forsaken place because Tong's influence covered here. We can recruit more soldiers. We can have better weaponry. Heck, we're about to complete the development of a new cannon that can pulverize everyone! Please join us!"
Ding Yuan could not say anything to convince his adopted son. He only watched the poker-face Lu Bu, staring at each of them.
The eyes of Lu Bu glanced at all of them without showing any sign of emotion. After everyone had finished speaking, Lu Bu slowly opened his mouth.
"Then, do you know what Tong is planning to do next? I heard he is forming a coalition against the Xiongnu."
Li Feihong nodded, "That's right. Tong invited all governors from all provinces to join the fight. Tong is in Ganling right now, and he will mobilize to Xuchang with other forces this year. Jia Xu and Xun Yu are also planning for another full-scale expansion after we finish with the Xiongnu, so our legion will also be dispatched soon."
Lu Bu fell into silence. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms, thinking.
The awkward atmosphere lasted for another five minutes.
"I have a few conditions for joining his clan."
Ding Yuan, Li Feihong, and Zhang Liao were delighted as there was still a chance for Lu Bu and Tong to reconcile.
Lu Bu continued, "First, he must arrange a resident for my wife in the inner area of Ye City or Julu City. Second, he must arrange a mentor for my daughter. And third, I want the cultivation method for growing angel wings."
"What!?"
Li Feihong and everyone were shocked. Aside from them who were in the clan chat, Lu Bu should not have known about this immortal information.
Zhang Liao frowned, "Where did you learn about this, Fengxian?"
"A sage called Zuo Ci visited my family and me. He taught me a few things before he left."
"…"
No one here knew about the existence of Zuo Ci. Although Li Feihong knew about the tales of this mystic, it was only a fairy tale derived from a historical record.
"Tell Tong, give me the cultivation technique, and I'll serve him."
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It was a message that astonished all clan members as they knew that Lu Bu and Tong were not in a good term, yet Lu Bu still joined the clan.
No one dared to comment in the clan chat, including Hua Shi, Friday, or Li Feihong.
Except for one lunatic,
Tong: "Do you realize that once you have joined, you can't quit?"
Lu Bu: "As long as you can grant me what I asked for, I don't care."
Tong: "Do you not want to rule over everyone anymore?"
Lu Bu: "As I said, I don't care."
Tong: "Alright. I'll grant you what you've asked. But can I assign you a task right away?"
Lu Bu: "Once I have everything, I don't mind."
Tong: "Thanks, I need the Mountaineer Legion south. Go and help the Ghost Legion in Henei. Li Feihong has the supply and weaponry for the task."
Lu Bu: "Fine."
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At the night of the same day, Lu Bu heard the obnoxious voice of Lilim for the first time.
[Hello, God of War biatch! I'm your favorite Goddess of this world. Nice to meet you!]
"…"
[Tong has paid me 100,000 years of lifespans as a tuition fee to activate your wings. Be grateful to that brat, alright?]
"…"
Lu Bu did not know if he should answer the voice in his head. However, he stared at his status window in a daze. In there, his name and his remaining lifespans were revealed.
'Since when did I have a thousand years of lifespans?'
He had not realized that Tong gave him extra lifespans from the clan pool as a bonus. Since he was too preoccupied with his military duty, he never checked the system log or even knew how he could check it.
[A silence type? Well, it doesn't matter. I'll accelerate your growth, and that completes the deal. Ciao!]
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Lu Bu sat alone in his room for an entire night, reading through everything that the system had to offer. His reading speed was slow, yet he read through everything twice in patience.
The sun rose, but Lu Bu had not moved away from his previous location as he was concentrating on the most crucial part of his newly immortal power.
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<[diligence] –="" 47.28%="">>
<[loyalty] –="" 30.88%="">>
<[patience] –="" 93.28%="">>
<[humility] –="" 56.34%="">>
<[abstinence] –="" 97.37%="">>
<[charity] –="" 6.13%="">>
<[honesty] –="" 51.66%="">>
<[kindness] –="" 60.99="">>
'Zuo Ci taught me to use these as a guidance in life. So this is what he was aiming for.'
For years, Lu Bu had been reigning his ill attitude and bad habits to start over. He had never thought that his hard work would be rewarded in this form.
'The chances here are the success rate of awakening wings, and wings are the secret behind Tong and Xiao Wu's power.'
Lu Bu did not wait for his [Patience] and [Abstinence] to reach 100%. He closed his eyes and attempted to breakthrough right away with these two high percentage virtues.
His heart shook as he felt his soul emerged within his body. Two transparent ghost-like spirits stood behind Lu Bu's back, watching over him.
Lu Bu experienced what Tong first had done in the past, the vision of many points of views. It gave him a headache at first, but after an hour of trying to control them, Lu Bu got the hang of it.
By using the guidance in the note messages that Lilim left behind for him, Lu Bu managed to control the spirits back to his body.
Two white tentacle wings fluttered behind his back, as well as the surge of power inside his mind and body.
The eyes of Lu Bu snapped open, staring into a distance into a daze.
He did not laugh or became arrogance upon acquiring new power. Instead, a tear dropped from his eye. All of his hair turned white from the shock.
For an instant, he had an unpleasant dream that continued to traumatize him on his wake.
He dreamt that he killed Ding Yuan and bowed his head to Dong Zhuo.</[kindness]></[honesty]></[charity]></[abstinence]></[humility]></[patience]></[loyalty]></[diligence]>