Hearing Lin Mu’s words, Shantung didn’t believe them at first.
"Wh-what?" Shantung couldn’t help but say.
His son was the same but didn’t speak anything, first wanting to observe the situation lest they make a mistake. He had become really careful since the appearance of Lin Mu and knew that they were being watched at all times now.
Not to mention they were shocked by the progress of the other people such as Mu Niu and Mu Tao. Both of them had broken through the next stages in just a few days of Lin Mu’s appearance.
He knew that the tide of change had arrived and if they tried to swim against it, they would only drown. It was better for them to go along with the flow and have a chance of flourishing.
"If you take a bloodline oath that you and your clan shall never harm me, and the alliance ever in the future, I’ll give you a chance to break through to the Nascent Soul realm. I know your lifespan is coming to an end and you want to set your clan’s future.
I’ll give you a chance to live longer and let your son gain a better grasp over the functioning of the clan. I’m sure you know the coming few years will be turbulent and without you being there, your clan will not survive.
Do you want that to happen?" Lin Mu expanded.
With the carrot and the stick presented to the Shantung, there was little he could do. He feared for his clan and his own life as well. Over the years he had come to accept that he would have no chance at breakthrough.
It was not merely a case of resources since with his clan’s fortune, they could definitely buy enough to nurture another Nascent soul realm cultivator, eventually. But his problem was due to a lack of talent and injuries as well.
In the long term though, the specific resources needed to increase his cultivation base were way more than what their clan might be able to afford. In the same amount, perhaps two more Nascent soul realm cultivators might be nurtured.
"We accept!" Shantung’s son was the one to answer for them this time.
Shantung looked at his son’s determined expression and sighed to himself.
"Yes, we accept," Shantung said before closing his eyes.
When his eyes opened, they had a staunch look and determination filled them.
"I Shantung Sang, swear upon my bloodline that neither I nor my clan will ever hurt senior Lin Mu and the Alliance. If I break this oath, may my bloodline perish and my life be crippled." He declared.
"I Shantung Bucao swear upon my bloodline that neither I nor my clan will ever hurt senior Lin Mu and the Alliance. If I break this oath, may my bloodline perish and my life be crippled." The son declared.
With the combined oath of the father and son, the sound of rumbling could be heard within the room. The sound was none other than that of their hearts. Lin Mu and the rest could feel a strange presence in the room other than them.
Lin Mu narrowed his eyes and looked at Shantung Sang and his son. He could faintly feel that there was more than was being shown there.
’What is this...?’ Lin Mu thought.
He himself had the bloodline of the Great Slumber Bear, which was a very high grade bloodline not seen in a world . It was sensitive to the other bloodlines and allowed Lin Mu to sense all this.
He curiously ended up using spatial perception and ended up seeing a different view than what was seen by the naked eyes. It was as if a gate was opened up behind Shantung Sang and his son. The gate extended into a long tunnel and in that tunnel, hundreds of silhouettes could be sensed standing.
Each of these silhouettes was blood red in color and had similar features to the Shantung patriarch and son.
’Are those... their ancestors?’ Lin Mu couldn’t help but wonder.
While Lin Mu had known about the effects of the Bloodline Oath, he did not think it would literally summon the specters of their ancestors.
"They should be the bloodline imprints of all their ancestors," Xukong replied.
"Huh... does this happen always? And I could only see it because of spatial perception?" Lin Mu questioned.
"No. Even if someone else had spatial perception and tried to see it, they would not be able to. The main reason behind it is the bloodline of the Great Slumber Bear that is within you. Since the bloodline Oath of the Shantungs included you specifically in their oath, it invoked the pressure of the Great Slumber Bear.
This caused resonance between the two bloodlines and allowed you to see the ancestral imprints. Other people who have bloodlines strong as you would be able to see the same in a situation too." Xukong explained.
"Ah, I understand now senior." Lin Mu replied, before focusing on the task at hand.
The presence stayed for about thirty seconds before fading away. The heartbeats of the father and son went to normal again, and they had rather red faces after that, as if they had done a lot of work.
Lin Mu nodded his head and took out a small pill vial.
"Very good. Take this," Lin Mu spoke and handed the pill vial to Shantung Sang.
Shantung Sang looked at the pill feeling a bit confused as he could not recognize it right away.
"It’s a Core Hatching pill." Lin Mu spoke, seeing that they didn’t even understand what he got.
A lot of raised brows could be seen upon hearing the name of the pill.
"Heavens! I never would have thought I would ever get to hold this pill." Shantung Shang exclaimed.
The only other person who was calm was Jing Luo, but it was only because he knew what kind of a pill this was.