Ancestral Grotto, Great Root Manor

"This junior has completed his mission and returned for seniors' summon." - Bao Xu Lian cupped his fists and bowed.

He stood there anxiously as he waited. He was trying his best to hide his nervousness. He had just returned from the academy and was summoned to the Great Root Manor.

In front of him sat his father, the supreme elder of Bao clan, Bao Lang Chao. He seemed to be lost in thoughts as he held an information path gu worm in his palm. He was looking at it intently, his expression was unreadable.

Next to him sat Fairy Bao Yijun, the second supreme elder. She had an indifferent expression as she patiently waited for Bao Lang Chao's evaluation.

The hall was dead silent.

Bao Xu Lian waited for a while, but no one spoke. He felt his palms sweating and his pulse quickening. He had no idea what was going on in their heads.

"Grotto Lord, second supreme elder, why did you summon me here? How can I be of use?" - He finally asked.

Bao Lang Chao finally lifted his head and looked him in the eyes. Bao Xu Lian felt his heart jump.

Bao Lang Chao was a powerful immortal. Bao Xu Lian could seemingly feel his blood and immortal essence trembling when he met his gaze.

After a long while, Bao Lang Chao broke the silence:

"Bao Xu Lian, you brought a group of talents to the academy successfully. That part you accomplished well. As per the rules of our Bao clan, you can receive an immortal material as your reward." - Bao Lang Chao said in a plain voice.

"The expended mortal lives are also not few, but we have planned for that. This result is still within acceptance." - He continued. He did not look happy, but he wasn't unhappy either. He was as expressionless as usual.

"You will receive a portion of the immortal material and a portion of merit points as your reward." - His voice was plain and emotionless.

Bao Xu Lian was overjoyed. He was expecting to be punished for deviating from the plan. But the fact that he was rewarded for his performance put him in good spirits.

Bao Xu Lian graciously accepted his result, but then Bao Yijun interjected.

"What made you decide to bring forward the date of your performance and deviate from the planned event?" - She asked casually.

Bao Xu Lian froze for a moment before replying:

"I wanted to be the first to finish this mission and show my dedication to contribute to the clan! I wanted to make an example for the others!" - He immediately made up an excuse.

Bao Xu Lian glanced at his father with suspicion. But he was unable to gleam any information from him and set his gaze back on the ground.

"I see." - Came the simple acknowledgment from Bao Yijun.

Bao Xu Lian felt time was passing very slowly. He was unsure why they were not letting him go.

"This question! Have I been seen through? She shouldn't know about Lang Chun's death. But is father suspicious of me? I need to keep up my act!" - He was inwardly worried. He did not want to give himself away.

But then Bao Lang Chao seemed to have remembered something:

"Son, you seem to be distressed. Have you seen or noticed anything unusual recently? Be honest with father." - Bao Lang Chao asked nonchalantly.

"No, not that I remember." - Bao Xu Lian had a pondering look on his face as he replied.

Bao Xu Lian could feel the sharp gaze on him, like a sword piercing and passing through him coldly.

"Wait, I remember! I did find an immortal material that one of the city lords has hidden away. I have taken the item and punished the culprit." - He admitted shamefully.

Bao Lang Chao narrowed his eyes, his thoughts were indiscernible as he listened.

Bao Yijun noticed the oddity and spoke up to extricate Bao Lang Chao from seeming like giving preferential treatment to his son. She then proceeded to ask:

"What is this item?"

"It is an immortal root of some kind. I have not identified it yet. It is a wood path material filled with vitality." - Bao Xu Lian answered truthfully.

"A root-like immortal material?" - Bao Yijun was surprised.

"What did you plan to do with it?" - She asked.

"I thought to keep it and cultivate it to support my aperture's development." - He replied.

"That's good. If it is an immortal root, it would be a rare and precious material. You have done well to find and collect it." - Bao Yijun praised him.

"But you did not report this matter to the clan. You also did not take into account the other clansmen. You only considered your own benefits. You should have reported the matter to the clan and let the clan decide what to do with it. It is not wise to keep such a precious material to yourself." - Bao Yijun scolded him.

"I understand, second supreme elder. This junior will reflect on his actions and report any future findings to the clan." - He immediately admitted his mistake.

Bao Lang Chao finally spoke up:

"You upheld justice and acted on our clan's rules to punish the thief city lord. There's no problem with you keeping the immortal material. But your reward will be halved for completing the mission."

"This junior is thankful." - Bao Xu Lian answered with a bow.

Bao Lang Chao took out a wood path immortal material and split it in two.

"This is for your hard work. Keep it well."

Bao Xu Lian took his share and put the material away into his immortal aperture. He bowed again before respectfully leaving the hall.

Bao Yijun looked at Bao Lang Chao meaningfully. She seemed to be troubled by something.

"Lang Chao, we have a problem."

Bao Lang Chao's face was dark. He knew what she was going to say.

"The Wen clan has been probing our clan's defenses. We cannot allow them to continue their actions. They have been testing our limits for a long time now."

Bao Lang Chao nodded. He had been expecting this.

"Xu Lian has deviated from our plans. The timing of the development plan was deliberately set for each member of the clan differently. I do not believe it is he. But you know what this could mean." - Fairy Yijun stated.

Bao Lang Chao nodded seriously. He knew the implications of this very well.

"I will look into this carefully. You know my nature, I wouldn't let anyone tarnish my own or my clan's reputation. If Xu Lian really is the spy, I will not hesitate to do what's necessary." - Bao Lang Chao's voice was cold.

"Good. I trust your judgment on this. I believe there's little chance that Xu Lian would have any tie to the Wen clan as a newly advanced immortal. It probably is just a coincidence. But it's also indisputable how valuable the son of the supreme elder would be as a chess piece for them." - Bao Yijun said.

Hearing her last sentence, Bao Lang Chao's face darkened.

"I will go and probe Wen clan on this matter." - He said, and left in an agitated state.

* * * * *

Xu Lian blessed land

Bao Zhi inspected his fake aperture. It was filled to the brim with green copper primeval essence.

There were gu worms floating in the sea of primeval essence. The most eye-catching was the thousand-year ginseng-looking rank five Man Triumphing Heaven gu. It was still sealed by a thin layer, it would not require feeding for a long while.

The second most notable thing there was the rank three Primeval Rafflesia gu house. It sank to the bottom of Bao Zhi's aperture. It was slowly trickling primeval essence out, keeping the level full at all times.

There were other less important gu worms, like the defensive Leaf Skin gu, the miscellaneous Powder gu and a common storage type gu.

Outside his aperture was two additional gu, the Flesh Worm gu and Verdant Heart Seed.

This was already a lot. Just a single rank five gu worm would put a lot of pressure on a lower ranked aperture. If there was a second rank five gu, it would be even harder.

"This fake aperture has another advantage I only just now considered. Mortal gu's dao mark fragments can't overpower the dao marks that my aperture is carved from. But the capacity is still limited, I can't fit many more gu worms in." - He noted to himself.

Time flew quickly in Xu Lian blessed land. Bao Zhi spent his time cultivating. He focused on his root transformation, intent on perfecting it.

Bao Zhi was using his time well and cultivated tirelessly. He experienced the world through his root system.

He observed the other plants, he observed the flow of the primeval essence underground.

He observed the gu worms that were in his fake aperture.

He observed and observed, many ideas came to him along the way.

Bao Zhi was a very patient person.

"The next step is creating a variation killer move on top of my Earth Root Transformation killer move that allows me to turn into a tree." - He thought.

A tree-like transformation would need not just roots but a trunk, branches and leaves at the  minimum as well.

"Activating my transformation killer move drains my essence at a constant rate. But that's something I don't need to worry myself about, my reserves are plentiful."

"First and foremost, I have to consider disguising and integrating myself into the environment."

With this direction, he started to deduce his new transformation.

...

After five days have passed. Bao Zhi attempted to activate his new method.

With a single thought, his body transformed into a tree.

His upper body was the trunk, his arms were branches and his lower body were the roots.

Bao Zhi's head was hidden in the trunk.

He was in a tree form, barely resembling a human.

His new transformation was not perfect yet. But it was a good start.

"This is a good start, I will continue to work on this. I will add leaves and other necessary details later." - He thought to himself.

But next he returned to his root-like transformation to avoid suspicion.

"I will gradually 'grow' into this tree. I can't set too high of an expectation for this immortal about this tree. I have ample time till the calamities and tribulations arrive. Not only that, but I need to be at least one step ahead to account for unexpected events." - He thought.

Bao Zhi moved on with his plan.

His next step was to form a better connection with the plants of Xu Lian blessed land.

He could already feel the connection, but he wanted to make it stronger.

He needed to understand the current plants of Xu Lian blessed land and the direction that Xu Lian wanted to develop it. Blending in and going with the flow was beneficial for both him and his environment.

He started to expand his root system first. His roots were already spread out. But they were not as connected as he wanted them to be.

He needed them to be interconnected, like a huge net that was spread out under the ground.

He wanted to connect to every plant, every tree and every flower within Xu Lian blessed land eventually.

Bao Zhi's roots were not just for him to absorb the essence of the earth. He could also pass information through them.

A plant's root system was a complex thing. There were many different ways that plants communicated between each other.

Bao Zhi could use this to slowly expand his grasp over this place. It was a necessary step to contend with Bao Xu Lian's overwhelming control.

"This is just the beginning. I will start from here, but eventually I will spread my roots far and wide." - He thought.

"This world, it is too small to house my ambitions for long!"

* * * * *