As it turns out, processing the territories and resources of a former rival was a massive pain in the ass to do.
People had to be hired to protect it, hidden security measures had to be reworked, secret caches had to be dug up and redistributed, it was a whole fucking mess of work. This was especially the case when the aforementioned claimed territory had a lot more secret treasures than displayed.
When the Zhen Clan did a thorough sweep of the Wolfe Family estate, they had discovered that the Wolfe family were in the process of establishing a second cultivation chamber.
The Wolfe Family, for the most part, had an aether cultivation skewed towards the usage of sand aether, a combination of wind and earth in a 2:3 ratio. As such, their most prominent cultivation chamber was a big ass cavern with a single stone pillar platform in the center, perpetually surrounded by a sand tornado. If one looked closely at the pillar, one would see the sand come off it and reattach to it in a perpetually circular motion.
However, unbeknownst to everyone, the Wolfe Family had also dug up a cavern that was rich in ice aether and had been in the middle of converting it into a cultivation chamber when their Grand Elder decided to do something stupid.
It was... ironically poetic that he was turned into a block of ice while his family was attempting to create an ice-based cultivation chamber.
Regardless, the discovery of this chamber turned out to be a blessing of sorts for the Zhen Clan, especially since their main pillar of power had suddenly developed ice aether affinity... alongside one other...quirk.
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"To quote the younger generation: what the absolute titanic fuck?," Zhen Shi asked aloud as he examined his formula, more specifically the portion with the aether beast spirit embedded in it.
With all of the busywork happening as of late, Patriarch Zhen Shi had very little opportunity to sit back and re-examine his cultivation.
But with the discovery and subsequent completion of the ice cultivation chamber, courtesy of the Wolfe Family, Zhen Shi finally had to time to do so.
While normally he’d be in the Zhen Clan’s cultivation chamber dedicated to Aquarii aether, after his battle with Harold Wolfe, Zhen Shi had undergone some rather strange developments.
Aside from breaking through to Aether Lord and suddenly looking about ten years younger, Zhen Shi had unexpectedly developed the ability to express ice aether.
While no one in the family had any explanation as to why this occurred, aside from testimonials about a "mysterious supreme master" swooping in for shits and giggles, Zhen Shi had a sneaking suspicion it involved a certain giant being stuffed into his head.
Which would also explain the fact that his Gold Scale Sea Serpent spirit, wasn’t a Gold Scale Sea Serpent anymore...it was something a lot bigger, a lot more powerful...and somehow sapient.
When Zhen Shi stretched his senses to determine what the hell had happened to it, it had somehow reached out in response and began to communicate with him directly. Evidently, the old man was still not used to voices in his head like his grandson was.
"Wait, you’re alive?! ...oh not exactly...and you’ve become a...Lesser Primordial World Serpent? Hold up, lesser? You have the same power level as a ninth tier aether beast! Actually wait, you’re like way stronger than me and sapient, why haven’t you tried to take over my body?"
The serpent spirit inside him didn’t say anything, but it did communicate its thoughts in a straightforward manner.
"Since I’m not the one who killed you, you don’t really have any incentive to do that...you’ve gotten used to being inside of me and the free food that comes with it... it’s significantly easier living for you to just be a support spirit that doesn’t have to worry about getting killed or eaten...and you frankly find it too bothersome to take over whatever bullshit that is running my clan-hey, that’s my, our(?) family you’re talking about! Wait, I am getting off track here..."
For a non-verbal entity, this serpent was unusually sassy and it was throwing Zhen Shi off. He still had one more important question to ask.
"How is it that you managed to evolve ? Was it because of the giant?"
The serpent was surprisingly silent when Zhen Hai asked this question. As the latter waited for an answer, he swear he could feel the serpent spirit going into deep thought.
Finally, after several seconds, the serpent actually spoke a single word.
"Chaos?," Zhen Shi repeated.
Zhen Shi wasn’t entirely sure why, but something about that single word, or at least, the way it was presented, sent a chill down his spine.
With this answer given, the serpent proceeded to move on to topics it found more interesting...namely critiquing Zhen Shi’s ability to make use of it’s power.
"Hey I just found out you can communicate about five minutes ago, give me a break here...what do you mean, ’even when we were both weaker you didn’t do it right, I’ve been practicing hard!"
In response, the serpent proceeded to info dump exactly how to use it’s newfound powers...as well as the older ones.
"Oh...shit. Better start practicing then."
Newly given knowledge in hand, Zhen Shi proceeded to perform a new series of moves, one given to him by a giant snake of all things.
’Huh...really hope this doesn’t become a trend in the future.’
Unbeknownst to the patriarch, another member of his family was also dealing with unexpected...benefits.
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The dummy that Zhen Hai just gut punched was sent flying as arcs of electricity jumped between his fist and the fist print left inside the dummy.
As it clattered to the floor, sparks of lighting could still be seen occasionally appearing out of it.
However, Zhen Hai did not look at the dummy and his handiwork, he was too busy trying to figure out how the fuck he did that.
’Alright, so...I guess I can use lighting aether moves more efficiently now,’ he noted, ’but...why?’
Zhen Hai wasn’t much of a thinker, but when it came to his own body and abilities...he needed answers.