With the spoils divided, Lin Mu reckoned it was ti for him to leave.
But before he could take his leave, Chung Pung spoke up.
"Do you wish to co to our camp, Daoist Lin Mu?" Chung Pung asked. "It is not safe to stay here alone." He added, his tone carrying a note of concern.
"It's fine, I have my own camp set up," Lin Mu replied, his voice steady.
Chung Pung nodded, but didn't seem entirely convinced. "I see, but if you encounter danger, please don't hesitate to contact us." He pulled out a rolled-up map from his bag and unfurled it. "We are located here. There are several more hunters with us, so it is a relatively safe place."
"Yeah, we even have Head Hunter Deng with us this ti. He's at the Fourth Tribulation Stage of the Immortal Realm and is one of the strongest hunters in the city," another hunter chid in, clearly proud of the association.
Lin Mu glanced at the map. It displayed various locations, including the prominent landmark known as Thumb Hill. The hunters' main camp was about seventy kiloters away from Thumb Hill and wasn't far from Lin Mu's own camp. With Little Shrubby's speed, it would take him only a few minutes to reach their location should the need arise.
"I'll keep that in mind," Lin Mu said, though he didn't truly believe he would need their assistance. He doubted that anything he encountered would require him to rely on the hunters. And if sothing did prove too difficult for him to handle, then it was unlikely that the hunters would be able to deal with it either.
With that, the hunters got up, gathering their supplies as they prepared to depart. Just as Chung Pung was about to turn away, he suddenly stopped as if rembering sothing.
"Oh yeah, we'll be leaving for the city in a couple of days. So if you co after that, you might not find us there," Chung Pung inford Lin Mu.
"Alright," Lin Mu acknowledged, nodding slightly before bidding them farewell.
Once they were gone, Lin Mu turned and resud his original task. He had only covered half of the area he intended to scout and wanted to finish his periter check before dusk arrived.
Thirty minutes later, he completed his circuit and returned to his camp. As he arrived, he cast a glance at ng Bai, who was still hard at work. The young scribe was diligently writing away, yet despite all his effort, he had barely made a dent in the ink barrel. Nevertheless, he had managed to fill another forty sheets of paper with his crooked script.
"Still needs ti," Lin Mu muttered to himself as he observed the progress.
Having nothing else pressing at the mont, Lin Mu decided to return to his own quarters and read for a while. He had gathered and transcribed a large number of books, many of which he had yet to go through. As such, he settled down comfortably and began reading.
The first record he picked up pertained to the very forest in which he currently resided.
The area was known as the Ram Orchard Forest, nad after the city it bordered. In the past, before the city had expanded to its present size, this region had been entirely covered by the vast woodland. Even now, deep within the heart of the forest, lay a protected zone where the Deep Wood Rams resided, a species unique to this region.
The sky outside had shifted to a brilliant orange hue, slowly deepening into shades of crimson as the sun sank toward the horizon. Within a matter of minutes, the llow glow of the evening dimd into darkness. As the twilight receded, the first stars began to twinkle in the firmant, accompanied by two prominent celestial bodies.
These were the twin moons of the Jui World, celestial objects that had once been worshipped as deities in ancient tis. However, as cultivation advanced and people ventured beyond their planetary boundaries, they ca to understand these moons as re astral bodies rather than divine entities.
Of the two moons, one was smaller and glead in a stark white shade, aptly nad the White Moon. It was currently in its crescent phase, lending it a delicate appearance in the sky. The other moon, considerably larger, had a brownish hue. At this mont, it was in its full phase, its waxing period at its peak. Its surface bore a rugged landscape, covered in deep pockmarks and intersected by five massive ravines that slashed across its terrain.
Legends attributed these scars to a battle that had taken place between two Transcendent Immortals in ancient tis.
The nas of these figures had been lost to history, but their fight was said to be the first recorded instance of an immortal reaching the moon's surface. The story recounted how they clashed relentlessly for seven days and seven nights, their duel driving them ever higher into the sky until, before they knew it, they had reached the Brown Moon. Realizing the vast distance they had traveled, they continued their battle there, leaving behind marks of devastation upon the lunar surface. What beca of them remained unknown, as neither had ever returned.
So speculated that both had perished in their struggle, while others believed that the victor had simply left the world behind, having defeated his opponent and deed the mortal realm no longer worthy of his presence.
As Lin Mu continued reading, he ca across an intriguing entry.
"A double eclipse?" he murmured, his brows furrowing slightly in thought.
He read the passage carefully:
'The double eclipse is a rare phenonon in the Jui World, but when it occurs, it heralds a great calamity. The rivers seethe, and the oceans overflow, swallowing the shores for hundreds of kiloters. Aquatic beasts surge onto the land, bringing destruction, while land beasts rampage across the continents.'
According to the text, the double eclipse took place when both moons aligned perfectly with the sun, casting the world into a deep and prolonged darkness that would not lift for weeks.
The last recorded instance of this celestial event had occurred over a hundred thousand years ago. The devastation had been catastrophic, with casualties estimated in the billions. The exact number of lives lost was impossible to determine.
Despite countless efforts, no thod had been found to predict when the double eclipse would occur. The phenonon followed no discernible pattern, happening at irregular intervals. Over the past three million years, only ten such occurrences had been docunted, yet no scholar had ever succeeded in uncovering a mathematical or cosmic sequence to explain them.
Every attempt led to the sa frustrating conclusion.
The available data was simply not sufficient.
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