Xukong was happy with the progress Lin Mu had done in the past day. Not only was he able to freely manipulate the wisps of spirit qi and link them, but he was also able to completely connect them into a tendril of spirit sense.
’The boy has talent in Spirit qi control, but I can’t tell if it is innate or if this is the work of the ring as well.’ Xukong thought.
Lin Mu was sitting on the ground cross-legged and was using his newly refined spirit sense to feel his environment. The new sensations felt novel to Lin Mu. He felt that he was able to see in a 360-degree angle with the help of the spirit sense.
Lin Mu wanted to test the second skill Blink and see if he could teleport to a location outside his field of vision, but decided against it as he had exhausted nearly all of his spirit qi. Every time he failed during the process of refining the spirit sense, he would lose the wisps of spirit qi that he was manipulating.
The spirit sense tendril that he had refined was one meter long and was refined by linking twenty wisps of spirit qi. Over the multiple attempts, Lin Mu had lost nearly five hundred wisps of spirit qi, leaving him with a meager 35 wisps of spirit qi in his dantian.
’I need to replenish my spirit qi and I also need to eat something, I’m starving.’ Lin Mu thought.
"You can continue your practice tomorrow, for now, you need to rest." Xukong ordered.
"Yes, senior." Lin Mu responded.
Lin Mu cooked some dinner for himself, ate it, and then laid down on the bed. He rested his head on the soft bolster and slipped into a deep sleep. Perhaps because Lin Mu was extremely exhausted both physically and mentally, he did not appear inside the Sleepscape and just slept normally.
While Lin Mu was sleeping, Xukong was continually absorbing the spatial energy within the ring.
’There seems to be no end to the spatial energy in here. I had originally thought it would be depleted after I absorbed it and would take some time to be replenished. But the ring seems to be producing it at a much higher rate than I can absorb.’ Xukong thought.
’Although the boy has talent, he is still lacking in resources. Without resources, it would be extremely difficult for him to progress in his cultivation. I need to figure out a way so that he can gain some resources. Till then, I guess he’ll have to depend on the forest.’ Xukong pondered.
Several hours passed, and the sun rose up in the sky. Lin Mu woke up and stretched his body, but found that it was surprisingly not stiff. He felt refreshed and his body felt as if it was new.
Lin Mu started his morning routine and cooked some beast meat. While the meat cooked, he sat down to cultivate and replenish his spirit qi. His body had already replenished a hundred wisps of spirit qi while he slept, thus he had a sufficiently large amount of spirit qi to start cultivation.
Although Lin Mu only cultivated for 15 minutes, he found out that the speed of absorbing spirit qi had increased again and he was able to absorb 50 wisps of spirit qi.
"How did my speed of absorption increase again?" Lin Mu muttered to himself, but senior Xukong heard him.
"That would be because of your spirit sense. Spirit sense not only allows you to sense your surroundings, but it also has other effects as well. One of them being an increase in sensitivity to spirit qi." Xukong spoke.
"What are the other functions and effects of spirit qi then, senior?" Lin Mu asked.
"Spirit qi is highly versatile and is used in things such as controlling spirit weapons and tools, creating formations and refining alchemical pills." Xukong answered.
Lin Mu’s had heard about spirit weapons before. He knew that they were much stronger than normal weapons and even had some special effects. He wondered if he should obtain one somehow. While Lin Mu was lost in his thoughts, his breakfast was ready.
He then finished his breakfast and assimilated the vital energy. When he was about to start cultivating, he noticed that the black dots had returned. He was able to spot several of them in the area.
"Senior, the black dots have returned." Lin Mu spoke.
"Black dots? Ah, you mean the spatial gates. Hmm, I can sense them too, but there are far too many of them here." Xukong replied.
"Too many? But I see them wherever I go. Is this abnormal?" Lin Mu inquired.
"Yes, those black dots you see are actually the weak points that exist in the space. Normally they should be rare, but it seems that the mere presence of your ring is enough to destabilize the space." Xukong answered.
Having satisfied his curiosity, Lin Mu sat down cross-legged to replenish his spirit qi. He cultivated for two hours and was able to replenish his spirit qi up to his previous levels. Lin Mu slowly extended the tendril of spirit sense and analyzed the surrounding area.
He could sense each and every blade of grass and the tiny insects that were crawling on it. If Lin Mu used the severing heart sutra and focused even more, he could observe the specs of dust floating in the air.
Lin Mu tried to sense the area underground beneath him and found that he was only able to probe a few inches in. If he tried to go any deeper his spirit sense was just blocked, as if there was an iron wall in front of it. Stumped at this problem, Lin Mu decided to ask senior Xukong for guidance.
"Your spirit sense won’t be able to pierce through solid objects for now. You will have to increase its range and strengthen it further to be able to do that. Right now you should just focus on increasing its range and leave the rest for the future." Xukong advised.
Lin Mu nodded and decided to finally test out Blink. He stood up and extended his spirit sense behind him. He locked on to a location and activated the skill. In the next instant, Lin Mu disappeared from his previous location and appeared in the location he had chosen.
"Well done." Xukong commended.
"Thank you senior, it is all due to your guidance." Lin Mu politely acknowledged.
He then continued to test out Blink in different manners. Since the range of Lin Mu’s spirit sense was only one meter, he was only able to teleport that far behind. If he wanted to increase the distance of teleportation, he would have to increase the range of his spirit sense.
While using spirit sense, he found out that he could actually teleport in mid-air. But it was only possible if he used his spirit sense and not by just using his eyes. Lin Mu could think of multiple situations where he could use this method for an ambush.
Suddenly, Lin Mu remembered that tomorrow would be the day when he had to return to the town. It had been five days since he had booked the room at the inn. So he will have to return tomorrow.
"Senior, I will be returning to the town tomorrow, to live in a room at the inn." Lin Mu said to senior Xukong.
When Xukong first saw that Lin Mu was living in an old and mottled shack, he did not think much of it. For a being such as him, who has lived for countless years, he had seen people from all walks of life. Also, because he was a beast himself, he could not be bothered with humans and had a different mind-set.
"Why have you been living here in that shack and not in a human town?" Xukong finally asked.
Lin Mu then went on to narrate the story of how he was punished and his house was seized. Xukong silently listened to the story and let Lin Mu speak. Only after Lin Mu had finished speaking did Xukong respond.
"So I guess you want to buy back your property?" Xukong asked.
"Yes senior, and once I do that, I’ll pay my respects at the grave of my parents and ancestors, before leaving the town to start my journey." Lin Mu answered with determination in his voice.
"Good. A true cultivator can only progress when he experiences the worldly tribulations. Your choice of leaving the town behind and journeying will only bring you benefits in the long run." Xukong spoke with a sagely voice.
Lin Mu was lost in thought after listening to senior Xukong’s words. He then remembered the esoteric chants that he heard while receiving the severing heart sutra. A sudden wave of enlightenment spread in his mind and he was washed away in it.
Seeing that Lin Mu had closed his eyes and seemed to be lost in his thoughts, Xukong called out for him. But suddenly alarm bells started ringing within his mind and he became apprehensive. Then Xukong saw a blinding glow appear in front of his eyes and felt a feeling he had not felt for millenniums, Terror.