Rise Of The Worm Sovereign

Having heard about the seal from the Twin Lights Liger King Lin Wu could guess who made it.

'The Sky Bright Daoist no doubt… so he made the tomb and the seal. But that doesn't fully make sense. The Tomb is that of the Taiji Celestial. Why was it called as the Dark Celestial's tomb?' Lin Wu wondered.

"This place binds to one of the 'rulers' and forces them to maintain it." The Twin Lights Liger King added.

"Maintain it? How's that exactly?" Lin Wu questioned.

"Have you ever wondered why the beasts never go above Nascent soul realm in this forest?" The Twin Lights Liger King replied.

This made Lin Wu raise his brows and he finally understood it.

"So the forest drains their spirit Qi and prevents them from doing so." Lin Wu stated.

"It does do that, and the ruler that is bound to this place needs to directly contribute spirit Qi to control the seal. That is what I have been doing all these years…" The Twin Lights Liger King revealed.

"If it were not for this place then… you would have become a Dao Shell realm beast already." Lin Wu said.

"Perhaps if I never came to this place, I would have been able to. But now that I'm bound there is no other way other than to let another being take my place. The other rulers are at least free in this aspect and can leave the forest if the need arises and they want to.

But I can't do that. Back when the Silver Tusk Tapir King arrived, I even wondered if it was intentional on the forest's part as before this there has never been an invasion as big as that. It has always prevented it one way or the other." The Twin Lights Liger King spoke.

"Hmm… this is indeed too complex." Lin Wu said before looking at the barrier.

"How did you even get involved in this? You said you came to this forest which means you were not a native?" Lin Wu asked.

"Yes, I am not a native of this place. While the Lamp Light Liger Pride that lives here is native, I myself am not. I was once a Lamp Light Liger too, but once I awakened my bloodline and became a Twin Lights Liger, I moved out from the pride I used to live in and set out for a new place of my own.

Eventually, I found the pride of Lamp Light Ligers living in the millennium forest and took over as their head. Shortly after that, I… like many other rulers stumbled into the Dark Bloom Caverns.

There have been many generations of rulers that were bound to this place. In my time it was another beast and she was the one who passed on the position of the 'keeper' to me. I was naive at that time and thought it would give me more power and authority. 

But it was a trap masked by fortune instead. It gave me a quick boost in my power, but shackled me in the long term.

Now all I can do is do my duty here and prevent the creature from getting out. I have to supply my spirit Qi to do so every time it manages to slip through. It is hard to tell when it gains sufficient strength to do so because it doesn't come out until there is someone to tempt.

At all other times, it stays hidden. That's why I stop all beasts from approaching. But there is little I can do when there is not one but four such places. Thankfully they are harder to reach than the one I guard most times." The Twin Lights Liger King explained in detail.

Lin Wu now understood the strange behavior of the Twin Lights Liger King. He understood why he was so hard to see and why he was the ruler for so long. It also explained his disappearances at long time periods, since he was here guarding.

It was now that Lin Wu was reminded of something.

"Wait… I remember hearing that many rulers have entered the Dark Bloom Caverns from different entrances, what happened to them? I'm sure not all of them died." Lin Wu spoke.

"There have been many that entered this place. In my time alone there have been about twenty three rulers." The Twin Lights Liger King said.

"Twenty three?! That's way more than what the Slim arm ape king and the beetle king told me." Lin Wu said feeling doubtful.

"That's understandable. They are one of the more recent rulers and are more stable than the ones that came before them. You must understand, most rulers that actually became rulers weren't one for long.

Of the twenty three that came here, fifteen died before they could even reach the seal. Five couldn't resist the temptation and were killed. From the remaining three, two managed to resist it and turned back, the Olive Viper King being one of them and the other being the ruler that the Olive Viper King killed to take his place." The Twin Lights Liger King answered.

"And what about the final one?" Lin Wu asked, seeing that the numbers didn't add up.

"Number twenty three is you, of course. The only question that stands is what you want to do? Will you turn back and pretend like this place does not exist like the Olive Viper King, or will you take over for me?" The Twin Lights Liger King questioned in a calm tone.

Lin Wu was sent into deep thought after hearing this question. He was fully informed of the danger of this place and who it would bind him, but he also knew the place was important for him overall if he wanted full control over the Tomb of the Taiji Celestial.

'But the Dark Celestial tomb… two tombs in one place… one functions as the power source for the other… my choice is obvious.' Lin Wu thought to himself before deciding on an answer.

"I choose… NEITHER!"