Chapter 1002: Redundant Choice
The loss of the Great Hu claws was a great blow to Hu Dagao.
After all he had put his blood and sweat into nurturing them for many years. In fact, the Qi Sapping ticks that were under his authority were all being raised for his Great Hu Claws in the first place.
If he wanted to he could breakthrough to the Dao Treading realm a long time ago. But instead of that, he had chosen a path of absolute stability. He wanted to make his foundation very deep and also wanted to discover his own unique Dao Embryo.
The Hu clan had two main Dao Embryos that most of the clan had. These Dao Embryo’s either belonged to the Dao of Metal or the Dao of Sharpness.
The first Dao Embryo belonged to the Dao of Metal and was called as Tiger Striped Coat. It embodied the toughness of the Dao of Metal and looked like the skin of a white tiger.
The second Dao Embryo belonged to the Dao of Sharpness and was also a pair of claws. They were called as the Deep Shear Claw Dao Embryo and embodied the sharpness of the White tiger.
The two Dao Embryos were not just the most common in the Hu clan but were also very strong. Even the past three patriarchs of the clan had these Dao Embryo and no other Dao Embryo in the clan could compare to it.
It wasn’t that there weren’t others, but they often ended up being quite inferior to these two as there was a long line of research behind them. Hu Dagao could have very well picked either of those two to progress and would have broken through easily too.
But he had not.
With the path of seeking his own Dao Embryo, he had to wait a lot. But at the same time he also knew that he needed strength. Thus he made the Great Hu claws and chose to nurture them.
He would use them to hold his position while fighting above his level and when he finally had the chance to breakthrough, his strength would improve once more.
After all a peak grade spirit weapon would only be stronger in the hands of a Dao Treading realm expert.
“You… you broke them…” Hu Dagao almost felt his heart collapse.
~THUD~
It was at this point that he was struck on the side of his body by a large hammer like tail.
~WHOOSH~
His body was sent flying and slammed into a building nearby, making it collapse.
~COUGH~ COUGH~
Hu Dagao spat out several mouthfuls of blood along with a few teeth.
“Y-you… How… what are…” Hu Dagao felt a great pain all over his body.
His control over spirit qi was also wavering and he felt like it was being taken away.
“Ah… what a pity.” Lin Wu shook his head as he saw the Hu clan heir wallow in fear. “I thought I would get to see a better show. Guess I was just overestimating you…” he mocked.
Lin Wu looked at the damage that had been done around the area and also the people in the area.
‘They shouldn’t be able to leave or spread the news of this…’ Lin Wu had already set up arrays that would prevent anyone from leaving and the system was blocking all communication.
All of this was important to keep his presence on the Hu continent a secret.
~tremble~
The ground trembled as Lin Wu’s large body moved towards Hu Dagao. The man had a weak gaze and several scratches could be seen on his face as well. Blood covered his neck and torso, having come from all the wounds he had sustained.
A mere slap was enough to make him unable to fight now.
A long shadow was cast over the man, making him look up weakly.
“What… do you want… with me?” Hu Dagao questioned knowing that if he was to be killed it would have happened already. “Why did you trap me?” he asked.
“Hmm… you can say that I’ve some interest in the Hu continent. And in order to cover them, I reckoned the best way was to make use of the local hegemony. The Hu clan is that, isn’t it?
And you… the local hegemon of this area?” Lin Wu replied casually.
Hearing all this, Hu Dagao had a few questions rising in his mind, with the main one being who Lin Wu was and why was he ‘interested’.
But before he could ask again, Lin Wu spoke. “So, you can say that it is in my interest that the Hu clan listens to me. But as they are right now, that is doubtful.”
“The Hu clan will never heed you. Even if you kill me, the clan will not yield.” Hu Dagao stated, knowing that at this point it was safer for the clan to give up on him.
“Oh, I know that.” Lin Wu said stunning both Kulung and Hu Dagao. “In fact, I’m counting on it.”
“So why do it like this?” Hu Dagao asked again.
“It was the most straightforward way. Plus you just happened to be the tenth heir, which would put you quite high up in the ranking of the Hu clan. Besides, you don’t have to die either.” Lin Wu replied, much to Hu Dagao’s disbelief.
The man wondered how he would be getting through this and had almost started to expect death. But this answer made him think otherwise.
‘There’s no way he is lying either. If he wanted to kill me, he would just do it right away. There must be a reason to spare me…’ Hu Dagao reckoned.
“I’ll tell you this, if you listen to me… you’ll live. And if you don’t… you’ll still live.” Lin Wu said confusing the man.
“What?!?” Hu Dagao found the options redundant.
“The difference between the two is that, listening to me will allow you to still have your freewill. But if you don’t listen, I can just enslave you.” Lin Wu dropped the bomb.
