Yin Hu stared at the system message before him. At any moment, he could rip them out of the Inheritance Instance without any consequences to them. He was confident that the system itself would have made any negative effects of doing exactly that obvious to anyone reading it. It tended to be clear when it dealt with secondary and tertiary recipients of its effects.
So, the question remained.
Should he leave them in there for a little while?
This could be the perfect, isolated, and controlled process to give them experiences that would not end up harming them for the long run. If he could somehow convince the arrogant spirit before them to do as it was told, he could tailor it as a simulation of different events and situations to further their development in the direction he wanted. It could literally become the perfect training source Yin Hu could create for them.
On the other hand, he had no idea if he could trust the old man before him.
While he knew it could be sitting there to hurt the girls.
Just the thought made his blood boil and his heart to begin thumping loudly.
Yin Hu had to take a deep breath to calm himself once more. There was no point overworking himself when he was in full control of the situation at hand, especially if Rong was correct in his assessment of the spirit before them. It could only control the Inheritance Instance and what appeared there and nothing in the physical realm. That meant the only potential avenue for causing the girls harm was a mental one.
Shit! They only recently started making positive strides in the right direction. How do I make him get in line without causing danger to the girls?
“What do you mean, little Spirit. Fear? Begging for mercy? Those are concepts that I have forsaken after ascending upon the pinnacles of many worlds and realms–”
Rong laughed, standing from his fallen position. “Yet, you fail to see what stands before you.”
“Fail to see? There is nothing before me that I cannot witness. The very universe conspires to aid me and informs me of what existence are before my presence. You are nothing but a Heavenly Immortal. The height of this pathetic world. Just because you killed an injured and already weakened Calamity does not make you entitled to speak so brazenly before my presence!”
“Wait,” Yin Hu stepped forward, he raised his hand to prevent them from speaking.
The old spirit scoffed.
It took him a few moments to gather his thoughts and decipher all the cultivator mumbo-jumbo and translate it into something coherent and understandable. The conclusion he reached was not something he enjoyed. Rather it left a horrible taste and filled him with disdain for the being before him. If he was right, then he would need to question whether he wanted to keep this old man alive even if his ability to open simulations for the girls to practice with was worth the headache attached.
“Are you saying,” Yin Hu closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Are you saying you have access to the system?”
The old man froze and stared dead into his eyes.
“Are you,” Yin Hu took a deep breath to calm himself again. “Are you saying that you offered my Jun the system I just told her to reject?” Yin Hu struggled to keep his voice from rumbling something deep and primal. His mind spun with conflicting thoughts and emotions. So many that he struggled to parse through them, eventually leading him to ignoring them for the time being.
He could always go in depth some time later.
The old spirits trembled. “Y-You..?”
“Answer my questions–”
“You have access to the administration too? What level? How high in the totem pole do you go? W-Why can’t I sense you? System members should be able to detect each other as soon as we enter any world.”
Administrator? This is the second mention. First by the system messages and now this spirit?
Yin Hu wanted to ask, but that would affect his persona. Whatever crazy imagination the spirit had, he would use it against it to gain what he wanted. Just like everyone else. No matter how haughty or arrogant it seemed to like acting. There was no difference between it and Cai Xuefang or Dong ZhenKang. Each one fell in line once they created their own monsters to fear.
“Think, Child. What could possibly be the reason? What could the system be telling you that it refuses to identify me even at your level?”
Yin Hu had no clue what level he was at nor what level the person before him was, but that didn’t matter. The only thing that did was what it thought his level was.
Though he had a backup plan if everything went sideways. While the whole debacle with Rong speaking to the spirit was happening, he had been searching through the rice bag mentally for anything that could help him with the situation. It didn't take except a few moments before he found multiple weapons with terrifying names connected to destroying and devouring spirits.
One in particular was more menacing than any other within his entire rice bag. At least when it came to dealing with spirits.
Not that its name was anything special, but the feeling he got from it gave him goosebumps and an itch going down his back. It had a simple name; Spirit Devourer. But its description had him swearing to never use it unless it was absolutely necessary. Good thing that all the Weapon Spirits in his bag were completely loyal to his commands and desires. He feared for Rong if he ever needed to bring it out.
Yin Hu looked back into his rice bag while the old man went through multiple stages and face colors.
Spirit Devourer - An ancient token that carries the cries of a destroyed planet. Millions of souls coalesced into a single being of tortuous pain and suffering that searched for its freedom and escape. Yet, after eons of insanity and endless hunger, its mind had collapsed. Turning into nothing more than a monster to command at the behest of its master. Searching no longer for peace and freedom, but rather to devour and feed upon the living spirits of all existence and satiate its bottomless pit of hunger.
Yin Hu noticed the spirit searching the surroundings while he was distracted. “Don’t try anything funny. You can’t escape me. All three of us know this fact.”
“S-Senior,” The old man trembled and Rong’s eyebrows raised. “I can’t do anything about the girls. The Inheritance Instance cannot be stopped once it has begun. Their survival is based on their merits and successes, nothing we do from this outside world can help them. Though if they defeat it, they will gain treasures beyond measure. Items that would shake the foundations of any–”
Yin Hu sneered.
The old man stopped midsentence, just his expression enough to silence him.
“Nothing you offer is worthy of my disciples. Not you, and not a thousand like you, Little Spirit.” Yin Hu made sure to get Rong’s get back.
He waved his hands and prompted the system to bring his girls back.
The jagged scar in reality trembled and rose far above in the sky. Dark storm clouds rushed into the sky above them. Lightning without any thunder rained upon the land before them, leaving craters of burned glass wherever it touched upon the lands surrounding the dead First Calamity. The old spirit snapped its head back and forth, staring into empty space and searching for something.
Rong screamed.
The world turned white.
The jagged scar in reality tore open with a banshee scream.
All three watched as two gargantuan paws grabbed the very edges of tear in reality. Bear claws that were as large as a mountain flexed, roaring with effort as they forced the rift open further than it had been before. Large enough for even it to cross with it's prodigious size.
For the very first time, Yin Hu saw one of his Weapon Spirits. He saw what had beaten Mr. Cupcake black and blue and forcefully tamed it for Shui. He saw what everyone else feared when dealing with his little helpless disciples.
Maybe they aren't as helpless as I’d like to think.
A Kaiju sized monster stepped into reality. Upon its head were three figures, two of which he recognized as Jun and Shui, the third wore nothing but green and stood a few meters taller than the older girl. He knew that was the She-Devil blade spirit.
They landed before him, both kneeling and keeping their heads low.
Jun and Shui rushed to his side, shouting and yelling in joy. Laughing and enjoying themselves as though they hadn’t been kidnapped from his side just a moment ago. They were speaking to him, but their voices were distant as he stared at the two figures. Their bodies slowly fading away. For some reason, he knew well enough that it was likely that he may never see them again.
He wasn’t sure whether his perception was too weak or if it had to do something with cultivation shenanigans.
Only when they completely vanished could he hear the world around him.
There were no more winds or screaming storm clouds. The old man sat on his haunches with a pale stunned face while Rong danced around the two girls running around him. Everything was back normal, well… almost, but close enough.
Now he just needed to finalize the entire process and force the bastard old man into serving him as his training simulator.
Still got to figure out a punishment for the scare it caused me. Can't let it get away with trying to help Jun inherit the system the first time and then kidnapping her after it failed.