While the news about the Calamity Fiend was just reaching the Hu clan, the being in question was currently on his way to another city.
And accompanying him was another person, it being none other than the Wandering Head Bandit. The two of them were traveling underground with Lin Wu basically carrying the man like a sack in one of his tentacles.
"Tell me more about the Duke." Lin Wu asked.
"His name is Hu Yang and he is an external elder of the Hu clan. He isn't actually a directly member of the Hu clan, but had actually married into the clan. Before this he was named Bai Yang and belonged to the Bai clan.
After being granted the title of the duke, he changed the name of his province to Bai Yang and elevated the Bai clan to a high position. Though most of this was due to the grace of Hu Peiliang as he had granted him the opportunities to show his abilities.
He is at the Dao Treading realm and practices techniques of his clan as well as the Hu clan." The Wandering Head Bandit explained what he knew.
He had quite a lot of details about the man, including some fine details like what kind of food he liked and which concubine he slept with on which day of the week.
'Its a little much, but guess he just worked hard.' Lin Wu thought to about the Wandering Head bandit.
Apparently when the man was asked to 'take a break' from being the Wandering Head Bandit, he was put on the intelligence network that Hu Peiliang had established. Because of this he had a lot of information about various powers and experts of the Hu Continent.
'Seems like I got lucky with him too… he'll be of good service.' Lin Wu thought to himself.
While he hadn't put a Pentagem implant in the man yet, Lin Wu could easily verify the words of the man with the help of the system. He knew that the man wasn't lying at all.
He had become tired of serving Hu Peiliang and had long since dreamed of being free. And now that he was, he was willing to do a lot to stay that way.
'I'll get Cang Ci acquainted with him. That should make the process of gathering information a lot more efficient.' Lin Wu decided.
By the time the Wandering Head Bandit was done talking, they had entered the Bai Yang Province.
~RUMBLE~
The ground split open near some mountains and Lin Wu rose out of it along with the Wandering head Bandit. They directly soared high up into the sky and gazed at the city in the distance.
"That's the capital of Bai Yang Province, Yang City." Wandering Head Bandit confirmed.
"Alright, let's see where our little duke is…" Lin Wu ordered the system in his mind.
~DING~
——
SCANNER: Activated
SCAN: Completed
MAP: Updated
TARGET FOUND: Marking on map
——
Lin Wu saw the layout of the entire city appear on the map as well as the location of the duke. He was the only Dao Treading realm cultivator in the entire city thus he stood out like a torch in the night.
But that wasn't all that the system detected.
"Oh? Our little friend is nearby too?" Lin Wu saw another Dao Treading realm marker on the map.
It was heading to the east and seemed to have left the city not long ago.
"Let's say hello to him again." Lin Wu said much to the Wandering Head Bandit's confusion.
"Who are you talking about?" he asked.
"You'll see…" Lin Wu sped to the location of the second Dao Treading realm marker.
Chu Feng had not expected his mission to go this way. Not only had he failed in capturing the culprit, he had also witnessed the destruction of Danching city. He had witnessed the monster that had appeared and was left scarred.
"The Calamity Fiend… just where did this monster come from and why did he destroy Danching City?" Chu Feng couldn't understand it at all.
Being one of the subordinates of Hu Peiliang, he had access to a lot of information and as far as he knew there was no mention of a being like this. From what the Calamity Fiend had done, Chu Feng reckoned that it was at least at the Immortal Ascension realm.
'There is no other way it could do all that… a power like that is not obtained at the Dao Treading realm. Even if I try, I would not be able to replicate the same level of destruction.' Chu Feng thought.
The image of Lin Wu was carved into his mind, and he kept on recalling the scene again and again. It wouldn't be wrong to say that this could turn into a Heart Demon in the future.
"So you want to know why I destroyed Danching city?" A voice was heard by Chu Feng making him shiver.
It was a voice that he hoped to never hear, and he wondered if he was hallucinating it.
"W-what!?" the man looked around frantically while his face turned pale.
But he didn't see anything around him.
"Up here." The voice spoke again, making Chu Feng raise his head fearfully.
"No… why… how?" The man couldn't gather his thoughts, finding his mentality to be crumbling.
"You don't need to know." Lin Wu said with a grotesque smile.
There was no other way as his Avatar had no other way to smile.
"W-what do you want?!" Chu Feng questioned.
"To free you from your fear." Lin Wu answered.
"What? How?" Chu Feng didn't even know why he was asking this.
His mind was simply unable to bear it and he was saying the first thing that come to him.
"By freeing you from your suffering." Lin Wu said.
Not even a second had passed since Chu Feng heard it before a tentacle rushed towards him. A gaping mouth appeared on the tentacle and quickly swallowed the man while he was frozen in fear.
~gulp~
The Wandering Head Bandit who witnessed all this was terrified too. The speed at Lin Wu had moved as well as the fear that his inspired was simply on another level.
'Even Dao Treading realm experts can't move in front of him. What will I do if I were to go against him?' The Wandering Head Bandit found himself to be quite lucky.
If Lin Wu didn't see the potential in him, perhaps he would have met the same fate too.
Of course, he didn't know that it was the exact plan that Lin Wu had originally. Though thankfully he was still a bit 'reasonable' and let the man speak first.
~DING~
——
SPIRIT QI: Obtained…
VITAL ESSENCE: Obtained…
DATA NODES: Obtained…
ANALYZING DATA NODE: Please wait patiently…
——
While the system analyzed the memories of Chu Feng, Lin Wu decided to go ahead with the original goal.
'Since he was leaving the city, he should have already given the news about me. That goal is now fulfilled.' Lin Wu had intentionally let the man go, as he had wished for him to spread his name.
It would help him grow the totem of Upheaval and strengthen his Main body. Plus the incoming foes will serve as a source of nutrition for his Helix Of Assimilation. The two Dao Embryos formed an almost perfect feedback cycle that made things quite easier for Lin Wu.
The Wandering Head Bandit watched as Lin Wu directly flew to Yang city.
Lin Wu had left the Wandering Head Bandit behind to watch intentionally, as it would serve to instill more 'enthusiasm' within the man, and make him serve him more willingly. Which was quite accurate, as the man now feared Lin Wu a lot more than he did Hu Peiliang.
And this fear only increased as he watched the bone pillars rise in Yang City too.
The screams of the inhabitants echoed for tens of kilometers while the 'bone grinder' crushed the city.
The Duke wasn't even given a chance to see Lin Wu, as he had directly consumed the part of the residence where the Duke lived.
More data nodes were obtained and the system quickly got to processing it. And by the time Lin Wu was done with the city, the process had been completed.
~DING~
——
DATA NODES: Analyzed
DATA BANKS: Updated
NOTIFICATION: Hu Dagao's location has been found!
MAP: Updated!
——
"Oh? So that's how they trapped and hid Hu Dagao…" Lin Wu was a bit impressed. "At least the location isn't that far."
Hu Dagao had been trapped in an independent space that had been opened up by a special sealing talisman. And the location of this independent space wasn't that far from the Bai Yang province either.
"Come, we have another place to go." Lin Wu called for the Wandering head Bandit.
"Y-yes, senior…" The man subconsciously changed the way he addressed Lin Wu.
~WHOOSH~
The two dug back into the ground, making their way to the location of Hu Dagao.