Lin Mu let the understanding settle into his mind, the image of the coordinates floating before his inner sight. "So this is how the Hidden Cave Sect ensures no one stumbles upon them... A five-dinsional lock, wrapped in formations so subtle they cannot be sensed unless you already know what to look for."
He had sowhat expected the Hidden Cave Sect to be in a minor plane or dinsion of this kind, but this was beyond that.
"Not just hidden. Mobile," Lin Mu realized, narrowing his eyes. "They shift their refuge through the Lesser Void itself. No wonder they have remained undetected for so long."
The weight of the discovery pressed on him.
He knew enough about the nature of sub-spatial realms to understand that stabilizing one while moving it was no trivial feat. This was easily understood by anyone that, had used a Teleportation Array before.
It required not only monuntal energy but also exquisite knowledge of arrays and Spatial laws. This was not sothing the cult’s current strength could possibly maintain. The question that ford in his mind was chilling.
"Who made this?" Lin Mu wondered.
If there was a Formation Grandmaster like this among their ranks, one that could dabble in space to this extent, things might just a lot more dangerous for them.
’And if it’s not just a Formation Grandmaster, but a full fledged Spatial cultivator...’ Lin Mu thought of the worst case scenario.
He only hoped that it was not that bad.
His fingers tightened slightly around the token.
Now that he had the coordinates, he knew where the sect was. But knowing was one thing. Reaching was another.
He would need preparation. Anchors. Stabilization arrays. If he forced it recklessly, the teleportation could collapse, tearing his body apart or scattering his essence across drifting space.
Lin Mu sat in silence, letting the weight of the discovery press upon him.
The Hidden Cave Sect had gone to great lengths to remain hidden. That only confird that whatever they were guarding, or whatever they were plotting, was far more dangerous than what he had seen so far.
For a mont, Lin Mo stirred within him.
The devilish persona’s voice slithered through his mind like smoke. "So close... just a step away from prying open their den. Don’t falter, Lin Mu. The blood they’ve spilled will be repaid in kind. And rember, when you seize their secrets... seize them fully."
Lin Mu opened his eyes, the faintest ripple of doubt flashing within them.
Lin Mo’s tone carried its usual hunger, but there was sothing else this ti — a weight of certainty, almost as if he were pleased that Lin Mu was inching closer to a truth they both craved.
Clutching the token, Lin Mu whispered under his breath, "If this is the trail to the Hidden Cave Sect, then I’ll follow it to the very end."
His gaze hardened.
The sect’s hidden refuge had remained untouchable for too long. But now, for the first ti in centuries, its door had been cracked open.
The eting hall was quiet when Lin Mu gathered his companions.
The lantern light swayed softly, throwing long shadows against the wooden walls, and though the battle with the cultists was behind them, the air still carried an undercurrent of tension.
Everyone present understood that the battle had only peeled back the first layer of the threat they faced.
Daoist Chu sat with a dignified air, his robes neat despite the long day.
His expression, however, betrayed the curiosity flickering in his mind. Across from him, Cattaleya leaned back in her chair, her arms folded, her sharp eyes glinting as if waiting for a revelation.
ng Bai looked restless, fidgeting slightly, though the twin snakes, Xiao Yin and Xiao Yang, coiled lazily beside him, their tongues flicking in the air as though sensing his mood. Little Shrubby was sprawled near the doorway, his tail swishing back and forth like a pendulum, ever alert.
Ashy on the other hand, was flying sowhere outside in the city. Officially it was so that she could collect ’intelligence’ but Lin Mu was sure she was just hunting for bugs, or out collecting gossip instead.
Grand Elder Huo remained silent at first, seated at the other head of the table. His aura was calm, yet no one in the room doubted the weight of his presence.
Lin Mu began without delay.
He placed the small wooden object on the table, its plain surface illuminated by the lamplight. It looked unremarkable, like a carved trinket one might find in a market stall. But all of them knew better.
"This," Lin Mu said evenly, "is the teleportation key."
Daoist Chu’s brows rose almost imdiately. "That? Are you certain?"
"Yes," Lin Mu replied. "I saw it in the cult leader’s mories before. I found it within his spatial ring. At first glance, it appears ordinary. Even when I examined it with my Spatial Perception, I could not discern anything unusual.
Its presence was completely masked within the ambient fabric of space. If I had not known what to look for, I would never have noticed it at all."
Lin Mu paused, letting the words sink in.
Cattaleya raised a brow hearing Lin Mu’s words, especially ’Spatial Perception’.
’So he’s a Spatial Master too?’ She couldn’t help but be surprised.
Still, she held her questions for now, as there were more pressing things at hand.
After a minute, Lin Mu continued. "It took four days of careful unraveling to strip away the protective layers woven into its formations. Once I did, I could finally read the spatial coordinates engraved onto it."
Daoist Chu leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. "Four days? For a key of such size? That is... excessive." He exhaled slowly, as if weighing the implications. "This was no ordinary array work. They embedded levels of encryption that, frankly, are unnecessary for a restricted-use key.
Such keys are already bound by range limitations. Unless one is within proximity to the designated location, the key is useless. To add such extre security asures on top of that... it is a little overkill."
He shook his head. "And yet they did it."
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