Guna Caves!
At the bottom of a shallow tunnel was a strange situation. Peeking across the entire section of the tunnel were Shifting Ants, numbering in the thousands. Strewn at the bottom, amidst Ewworms were Bludders, acting cute while coiled up to resemble decoration.
They formed a circle and remained still, as if posing for a photo that took decades to be clicked. The cause was a certain individual that stood in the centre of the circle, his expression calm, staring at the two individuals before him.
The Boar King hadn't even released much of his presence, but even that was enough to freeze up all these Iron Grade Pranic Beasts. In response to his presence, the Bludders acted like a ball, the Shifting Ants turned into sculptures, and the Ewworms acted like noodles.
They all tried their best in whatever ways they could think on the spot to avoid the Boar King's attention. Of course, the latter had better things to do than bully Pranic Beasts considered dust in his eyes.
He stared at Inala and asked with a smile, "Did you manage to obtain Subtle Terrain Domination?"
"Yes," Inala nodded and generated a mild wind in response.
"And what about you?" The Boar King stared at Wittral next, smiling upon seeing the latter conjure a Prana Bomb.
There was no dialogue exchanged between them, but Inala and Wittral uniformly hid details regarding their ability to swap genders. It was best to hide such a trump card, for even someone as knowledgeable as the Boar King would never expect them.
"Awesome!" The Boar King grinned in excitement as he stared at Inala in a new light, "That truly worked. You're a mad genius, Amita."
"I…just did whatever I could in desperation." Inala smiled bashfully in response. Honestly, being praised by his ultimate enemy was an odd feeling, something he couldn't digest.
"You didn't just obtain Subtle Terrain Domination, but you even became a Cooter Clansman." The Boar King nodded, thinking, 'That last part is a bit of a pity though. It would have been better if she remained a Free Human. She could have become a good friend to Yarsha.'
Yes, Inala's female form was that of a Cooter Clansman now. Unfortunately, he couldn't fully exercise a Cooter Clansman's power system, since he had already attained Body Stage as a Mammoth Clansman.
Therefore, whether it be his male or female form, he would be transforming into the respective Zinger versions, as he would through the Mammoth Clan's power system.
Had he obtained this power at the Spirit Stage, Inala's female form could have cultivated the power of a Spirit Pool and even become able to take on a Spirit Weapon form. But that route was blocked since he was already at the Body Stage.
It was fine though, as his gains were a lot already.
"Now, let's get to the serious part." The Boar King's expression changed subtly as the Bludders trembled in response, "How were you planning to assist me in finding Loot?"
"I have felt his Prana many times before. Even though I don't have his Prana signature recorded in me, I can still try to emulate all the versions I sensed of him." Inala said.
"Versions?" The Boar King frowned, "You mean, he was hiding his Prana signature even before you?"
"Yes," Inala nodded, "Every time he used Prana, there was a different signature. So, it'll be impossible to determine what his Prana signature actually is like. But, I'm sure having all his variations would help you narrow it down. After all, all roots must lead to one source, right?"
"True," The Boar King nodded. That was precisely how he tracked Inala's location at Leh Island through the Brangara puppets. So, the Boar King was confident in tracking Loot's location through it.
Besides, he already knew that Loot was at the Mammoth Clan. His objective now was to have a tracking method that could point him toward Loot once the latter starts to flee from the Mammoth Clan.
The Empyrean Tusks would feel his location, allowing Loot to escape well in advance. Hence, the Boar King would require a proper means to chase after Loot. Having the variations was enough help to him.
'Let's see,' Inala thought of how he would emulate Virala's Prana signatures. Of course, he hadn't absorbed the latter's Prana, so creating the original's signature was impossible. Besides, that wasn't his intention anyway.
He planned to create Prana signatures that were ten percent Virala and ninety percent other random crap. The random part would have Prana signatures of the countless Pranic Beasts whose data he had consumed.
A regular Life Bomb appeared in his hand as Inala activated Mystic Mist Art, seeping his Prana into the fluid within to refine it, gradually causing it to contain the Prana signature that he intended it to.
"Here's one." He expressed in exhaustion and slumped to the ground, "I need to rest a little before doing it again."
"Twenty minutes for one." The Boar King commented as he observed the Life Bomb, noticing the Prana signature be preserved well within it, 'I can use this a few times before it loses its value.'
Inala consumed a Low-Grade Elixir from the baggage he had brought and used the generated Prana to create a second Life Bomb with the falsified Virala's Prana signature. In a few hours, he created a bunch of Life Bombs, stopping at the fifteenth to say, "This is the last signature."
"That's a lot." The Boar King nodded and pocketed them all. He then stared at the duo and asked, "Where will the two of you go?"
"I was thinking of heading to the Brimgan Empire originally. But," Inala smiled wryly and stared at himself, "I'm afraid that's not possible as a Cooter Clansman. Free Humans at the Life Stage can figure out our identities."
'It's better to keep someone this useful close by.' The Boar King thought, 'If these Life Bombs work, then I'll be needing more of them in the future.'
He never assumed he'd be successful in finding Lurt on the first attempt. The latter seemed incredibly slippery until now, not to mention his cunningness. Therefore, it was bound to be a long game of cat and mouse chase.
"That's not an issue." The Boar King took out a pair of simple rings and slung them on the fingers of Wittral and Inala, "Circulate your Prana through these once and you'll appear no different from Free Humans to the senses of the Brimgan Empire Life Stage cultivators. Just control air and make it seem like a product of your Human Avatars and you'll be fine."
"We'll follow your orders." Inala nodded and circulated Prana through the ring, watching his presence as a Cooter Clansman vanish and become that of a Free Human, 'The effects are a tad inferior to my Inhibition Needle, but it's still terrifying.'
The ring seemed capable of fooling the senses of those at the Gold Grade at most. But the Inhibition Needle worked against even the Boar King. It was superior since it was refined using the skeleton of an entire Millinger using grey sand by the Mudropper.
The ring was casually refined by the Boar King using a small piece of an Empyrean Tusk's tusk. They couldn't be compared.
'Though the Inhibition Needle shouldn't be effective towards those above the Gold Grade, it has worked wonders.' Inala thought and stared at the Boar King, 'Until now, he hasn't realised it. Good, if things stay like this, then maybe in the future when I conceptualise a better idea, I can enlist the Boar King's help by taking advantage of Loot.'
"I'll drop you two at the Brimgan Empire." Saying so, the Boar King carried the two and made a beeline towards the Brimgan Empire. This was the first time in history that a Mammoth Clansman could ride the Boar King.
'Hurray for the Boar King Bus!' Inala cheered mentally upon seeing his surroundings change rapidly under the Boar King's speed—who sprinted in his Pranic Beast form. Clutching the Empyrean Boar King's hair for dear life was Inala and Wittral, remaining stuck on its back, hitching a free ride for thousands of kilometres.