"This one, then."
Lin Mu reached out and gripped that jade box radiating a nimble, ethereal aura tightly in his palm.
Rank 3 — the Green Wing Gu.
This was a movement Gu that could truly grant a Gu Master the ability to fly.
Once mobilized, it would condense a pair of semi-transparent green wings behind the Gu Master's back, allowing the Gu Master to truly leave the earth and fly through the air.
Its advantages went without saying.
Ignoring the rugged, complex terrain of the Southern Border, whether in pursuit, in flight, or in seizing the high air to suppress an opponent, it held an enormous advantage.
And its shortcomings were equally obvious.
Its Primeval Essence consumption was enormous.
Especially during high-speed flight and rapid ascent, the rate at which Primeval Essence drained away was enough to strain even an ordinary Rank 3 Gu Master.
But after weighing it for a long while, Lin Mu still chose it.
The reason was simple.
The Southern Border was crisscrossed with mountain ranges.
No matter how fast or how bizarre one's movement techniques were, in the end one still had to climb over mountains and ridges, constrained by terrain.
Since he now had a genuine opportunity to fly, he had no reason to settle for the next best thing.
With that, all three Rank 3 Gu worms were selected.
The Iron Chain Gu on the control end.
The Iron Curtain Gu on the defensive end.
The Green Wing Gu on the movement end.
...
Over the following several days.
Aside from relocating his residence, Lin Mu spent the greater part of his time refining these three Gu worms.
Only once all three had been utterly brought under his own command did he leave his residence, intending to head to the training grounds and properly verify this brand-new Rank 3 combat system.
However.
All along the way, Lin Mu was like a walking magnet, drawing no small number of gazes.
The deacons and guards along the route, upon seeing the clan elder's garments upon him, halted their steps one after another and saluted respectfully.
On the way to the training grounds, Lin Mu unexpectedly ran into an acquaintance.
Lin Ping.
Because of the frequent warfare before this, compounded by Lin Mu's long seclusion, and with Lin Ping deliberately arranged by him to work in the relatively safe rear, the two of them had not seen each other for some time.
Lin Mu had just been about to step forward and exchange a few words.
But unexpectedly, upon seeing him, Lin Ping too appeared somewhat constrained, just like everyone else.
He walked quickly to the roadside and bowed deeply.
"Greetings, Clan Elder Lin Mu."
Lin Mu's footsteps paused slightly.
Looking at Lin Ping's flustered manner — not even daring to raise his head — he could not help feeling amused.
He walked forward and, exceedingly naturally, threw an arm around Lin Ping's shoulder.
"What's this?"
"I change my clothes and you don't recognize the man anymore?"
Lin Ping's whole body stiffened, and he hurriedly raised his head, stammering out an explanation.
"N-no, that's not it…"
"Brother Mu… ah no, my lord Clan Elder…"
"Your status is different now. The rules… the rules can't be discarded."
Lin Mu did not tease him further.
He merely patted his shoulder and said, half in jest, half in earnest:
"Cultivate well."
"If there's a chance later on, I'll find a way to push you up a bit further too."
"You can't spend your whole life circling around in the low ranks, running errands for others."
Once the words were out, Lin Mu himself was instead slightly taken aback.
Then he merely smiled and shook his head.
He had keenly perceived a slight change in his own state of mind.
Ever since crossing over to this world, he had kept himself strung exceedingly taut.
Careful.
Cautious.
Calculating gain and loss.
But now that he had genuinely stepped into Rank 3, that feeling of being tensed at every moment seemed to have finally, imperceptibly, loosened somewhat.
At the very least, he finally possessed a measure of composure that belonged to himself.
...
Continuing on toward the training grounds, Lin Mu's mind gradually sank into his aperture.
Looking at that Rank 2 Four Flavors Liquor Worm floating upon the surface of his Flowery Silver Primeval Sea, he could not help frowning slightly.
He had now stepped into Rank 3 middle stage.
This Four Flavors Liquor Worm, which had once rendered such tireless service, had utterly lost its purifying effect upon Primeval Essence of the Rank 3 tier.
If he wanted it to once again exert its original value, then it had to be refined higher.
Rank 3 — the Seven Fragrances Liquor Worm.
And one of the most important conditions for refining a Seven Fragrances Liquor Worm was the need for a full two Four Flavors Liquor Worms.
This meant that Lin Mu had to find at least two more Liquor Worms and once again gather the four fine liquors — sour, sweet, bitter, and pungent — to refine a second Four Flavors Liquor Worm.
Beyond that, he also needed to prepare another seven kinds of spices.
Thinking of this, Lin Mu let out a light sigh.
"And of all things, the Jia Clan Caravan has already left."
Liquor Worms had never been some common commodity found everywhere.
If he tried to seek them out now, it would likely be very difficult to gain anything in the short term.
Left with no choice, he could only file the matter away in his heart for the time being.
If in the future he encountered another large caravan, or truly traveled abroad, Liquor Worms and their related materials would have to be a point of focus.
...
A short while later.
Lin Mu arrived at a relatively remote area of the training grounds.
He was about to truly test this Rank 3 combat system for the first time.
First came the newly refined — Green Wing Gu.
Lin Mu's thought stirred.
The Flowery Silver Primeval Essence within his aperture swiftly poured into it.
"Hummm—"
Nimble currents of wind rapidly converged behind his back.
Accompanied by a faint jade-green radiance, a pair of semi-transparent green wings abruptly unfurled behind Lin Mu.
The wings beat lightly.
The next moment, Lin Mu's feet slowly left the hard blue steel rock ground.
His body rose bit by bit into the air.
At the moment he truly stood suspended in the sky, looking down upon the training grounds below, even Lin Mu could not help feeling somewhat dazed.
But very quickly, Lin Mu reined in his thoughts and began earnestly testing the Green Wing Gu's various capabilities.
Acceleration.
Sharp turns.
Sudden stops.
Ascent.
Diving.
And the rate at which Flowery Silver Primeval Essence was consumed at differing intensities of flight.
After several attempts, Lin Mu quickly reached a judgment.
Very useful.
But indeed very costly.
From that stretch of high-intensity testing alone, the Flowery Silver Primeval Essence within his aperture had visibly dropped by a notch.
In a genuine battle, mobilizing several Rank 3 Gu worms at once, even as a Rank 3 middle stage Gu Master he could absolutely not squander Primeval Essence without concern.
Afterward, Lin Mu landed once more.
He then separately tested the Iron Chain Gu and the Iron Curtain Gu.
The Iron Chain was mobilized.
A pitch-black chain shot out like a venomous serpent, instantly coiling around a heavy stone lock in the distance.
Lin Mu pulled his arm back.
BOOM!
The heavy stone lock was at once forcibly dragged along, plowing a deep furrow into the ground.
This Gu worm was undoubtedly well suited for use against enemies with nimble movement techniques.
And the Iron Curtain Gu likewise did not disappoint Lin Mu.
Once mobilized, a semicircular black iron curtain instantly condensed before him.
Lin Mu gripped the Stick Insect Gu and abruptly smashed down with it as a staff.
CLANG—!
An enormous reverberation echoed through the training grounds.
The iron curtain shook violently.
Yet it still held steadily in place.
Lin Mu nodded in satisfaction.
The performance of both was essentially consistent with his prior judgment.
Lastly, Lin Mu turned his full attention to what was now his true core.
Rank 3 — the Metal Sever Leaf Gu!
After being refined up to Rank 3, this Vital Gu had likewise undergone obvious changes.
The most important of them numbered three.
First.
Faster.
Once a leaf of ordinary size was mobilized at full force, its speed already far surpassed that of the Rank 2 era's Metal Rend Leaf Gu.
Lin Mu felt only a flash of golden light at his fingertip.
The next moment, upon that thick slab of refined iron in the distance serving as a target, a deep cut had already appeared.
The speed was so great that the naked eye could scarcely capture it.
Second.
Sharper.
The Metal Sever Leaf at the Rank 3 tier finally possessed the true qualification to tear through conventional defenses of the same rank head-on.
What had once required searching out a weak point to accomplish could now be attempted by cutting straight through the front.
And the third point was the change that most delighted Lin Mu.
Enlargement.
As Lin Mu continuously poured Flowery Silver Primeval Essence into it, that Metal Sever Leaf, originally only the size of a palm, actually began to swell rapidly in midair.
One foot.
Three feet.
Several feet!
At last, it became a colossal golden leaf blade, hovering silently before Lin Mu.
Its keen aura pressed against his face.
The greater the volume, the stronger its cutting range and frontal destructive power.
But correspondingly, its Primeval Essence consumption also increased substantially.
At the same time, it lost the concealment and agility that the small leaf blade originally possessed.
After several consecutive tests, Lin Mu quickly arrived at a clear judgment.
The small Metal Sever Leaf.
Fast, precise, concealed.
Suited to sudden assassination and strikes at weak points.
The large Metal Sever Leaf was better suited to breaking through defenses head-on, and to facing those enormous savage beasts in the future.
With this, at the Rank 3 tier, he could be counted as truly possessing a preliminarily mature combat system.
It was only…
At this thought, the joy on Lin Mu's face gradually receded.
None of this had come without a price.
In order to make the growth of his own strength appear more reasonable, he had already been forced to expose more and more to Lin Cang that ought never to have been exposed.
Originally he had only intended to borrow a few fragmentary inheritances from the original work to fob Lin Cang off for the time being.
But the sudden upheaval at the rear mountain had forced him to increase his stakes further.
To hand over some genuinely precious intelligence.
For now, he could only take one step and see where it led.
As for the Black Bone King Inheritance…
Lin Mu's gaze crossed the training grounds, cast far off toward the direction of the rear mountain.
There.
Lay buried the entrance to the Black Bone King's fragmentary inheritance.
And the second trial — capturing the Thousand Beast King alive.
still lay squarely before him.
If he could complete this trial and obtain the next inheritance reward…
By then, he likely truly ought to start considering leaving Black Blood Stockade.
...
After the testing concluded, Lin Mu formally moved into the new residence the clan had allotted him.
Whether in terms of land area, environment, or various privileges, it could not be spoken of in the same breath as the past.
However.
He had scarcely finished settling in when the Sound Transmission Gu on his tabletop practically exploded, messages arriving one after another without cease.
There were congratulations from colleagues of the External Affairs Hall.
There were overtures from clan members.
There were even some mid-level figures with real power who, because of his collateral status, had in the past almost never had any dealings with him, and who now began actively sending men with gifts and calling at his door.
Lin Mu looked at the assorted gifts gradually piling up on the table.
He merely shook his head lightly, his expression calm.
With a different status, the world one saw was naturally different as well.
However, once Lin Mu had read through every last message, he suddenly noticed one thing.
Lin Feng — not a single word.
Lin Mu fell briefly silent.
The image of Lin Wan'er as she was now surfaced unbidden in his mind.
Back then, he had told Lin Feng with his own mouth— that he had a way to save Lin Wan'er.
Though a great part of that had merely been a stopgap remark at the time, meant to steady Lin Feng.
But unexpectedly, Lin Feng seemed to have truly taken those words to heart.
For a long while.
Lin Mu let out a light sigh.
"It seems…"
"he really has changed."
Lin Mu said nothing further.
He merely thought of one person.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng.
"If I truly need a route secure enough…"
"then the Man as Before Immortal Gu in Tai Bai Yun Sheng's hands might, in the future, be one method."
It was only that this was, in the end, far too distant.
For now, he could only file it away.
...
Once utterly settled in, Lin Mu sat alone in his spacious study.
A rare moment of leisure.
He began to sort through the present situation anew.
From his crossing over until now, a considerable stretch of time had already passed.
"Over at Qing Mao Mountain…"
"just what step has Fang Yuan reached by now?"
Lin Mu's fingers tapped lightly against the tabletop.
The Jia Clan Caravan had long since left Black Blood Stockade.
Having lost that anchor point for pinning down the timeline, he could now only reckon by the rough timeline in his memory.
But as for exactly what stage things had developed to, he could no longer truly be certain.
Just as Lin Mu had fallen into deep thought,
"Hummm—!"
The Sound Transmission Gu on the tabletop suddenly gave off a burst of urgent vibration.
Lin Mu's brows knit slightly.
He had assumed it was yet another house's congratulations.
He offhandedly mobilized his Primeval Essence.
However, what sounded from within the Sound Transmission Gu was a brief and authoritative order.
"By order of the Patriarch."
"All clan elders are to proceed at once to the great deliberation hall."
"None may be absent."