The drifting streaks of spatial energy, usually flying aimlessly like shooting stars, abruptly shifted their direction.
They streaked toward the Void Loach.
All at once.
The beams of spatial force converged like a pack of wolves descending upon trapped prey. The beast writhed, realizing too late that escaping was impossible.
The first spatial streak sliced across its body, cutting a shallow gash.
The second pierced its flank.
The third twisted through its flesh and severed one of its heads.
Then a dozen more followed.
In monts, the Void Loach's body was surrounded by a net of razor thin, prismatic blades. The beams crisscrossed, weaving a lattice of spatial force around it.
Each movent the creature made only caused more beams to slice into its flesh. It tried to warp itself, slip into pocket spaces, or fold parts of its body... but every attempt failed. Xukong's presence prevented any spatial manipulation near it.
Within seconds, the massive beast was carved apart.
Chunks of dark flesh drifted into the void.
One last screech echoed, fading into the depths.
Silence returned.
Lin Mu's companions slowly lifted their heads, still trembling from the oppressive aura that lingered for several seconds after the creature's death.
Daoist Chu whispered, voice shaking, "Lin Mu... what kind of technique... did you just use?"
Cattaleya stared blankly at Lin Mu's hand. "That was not a technique. That was not sothing mortals should wield. Even the Celestials I have seen never released sothing like that."
ng Bai felt his mouth dry. "Master... this... this was unreal."
Lin Mu was too distracted to answer.
The shattered corpse of the Void Loach floated in the void, dissolving into spatial motes. But from deep within its torn torso, sothing remained.
Sothing that did not break. Sothing that shimred with strange, shifting colors.
A prismatic object fell free.
It was like a blob of liquid glass and light. Sotis it appeared solid white. Sotis completely invisible. Sotis clear with swirling colors. Sotis shadow black. Sotis gleaming with a rainbow glow.
It shifted shape slowly, pulsing like a living thing.
Xukong's voice echoed faintly. "There. That is the compensation."
The shimring object drifted toward the teleportation channel. It passed through the barrier without resistance, sliding into the air as if the channel had no walls at all.
It descended gently and dropped into Lin Mu's open hand.
The mont it touched his palm, the teleportation channel stopped shaking. The barrier healed. Everything steadied.
The group stared at the blob-like object resting in Lin Mu's palm.
Daoist Chu breathed out slowly. "What... is that?"
Cattaleya whispered, "It is alive. Or at least... sothing close to it." ng Bai only gawked.
But Lin Mu stood perfectly still.
The strange, prismatic blob pulsed once like a heartbeat.
And he had no idea what it was.
Lin Mu looked down at the strange shimring blob in his palm. It pulsed faintly like a beating organ, shifting in color, shape, and brightness every few seconds. It felt cold one mont, warm the next.
Solid for an instant and then perfectly fluid right after. He could not even tell if it weighed anything. Sotis it felt light as air. Sotis it felt as though gravity warped around it.
He narrowed his eyes. "Senior Xukong, what exactly is this thing?"
Xukong answered imdiately, the ancient pride in his voice returning. "You can think of it as the concentrated essence of the Void Loach."
Lin Mu blinked. "Essence? Like a core or Dao Crystal of sorts?"
"Not exactly," Xukong replied. "Void Loaches do not possess cores like normal beasts. Their physiology is built for the void. Their bodies work differently." Lin Mu examined the blob again and frowned. "Then what is this specifically?" Xukong seed pleased at the question. "The Two Headed Void Loach has no digestive organs in the conventional sense. Instead, its stomach functions as a spatial storage region. It tosses everything it consus into that internal space. Minerals, beasts, energy, void debris, even pieces of ruined teleportation channels it has eaten over its lifeti. All of that is broken down and refined slowly into a nourishing mass."
Lin Mu stared at the blob with new appreciation. "So this is the final product."
"Correct," Xukong said. "What you hold is the refined essence of everything that Void Loach has consud throughout its life... or at least the stuff it hasn't absorbed yet."
Lin Mu probed the object with his immortal sense but found it difficult to perceive. The thing did not behave like normal matter or energy. His perception slid across it like water on polished glass.
But when he concentrated harder and used his Spatial Perception, he detected sothing inside it. A swirling cyclone of spatial currents. Fragnts of so mixed Daos. And spatial Dao Traces woven tightly together.
There were even... insights. Slivers of understanding locked into the essence.
Lin Mu's eyes widened. "There is spatial Qi inside it... but not just that. There are Dao Traces. And even Dao Insights."
Xukong humd in approval. "As expected of your perception. Yes, you can absorb all of that. Slowly. You will gain spatial Qi to store, Dao Traces and insights to comprehend, and even so of the Loach's natural instincts for movent through the void."
Lin Mu stiffened. "Store? I thought I could not store spatial Qi in my Dantian
yet."
"That is why this is useful," Xukong replied. "Your body and cultivation technique are not yet adapted to permanently holding spatial Qi. You can generate it through comprehension and manipulation, but you cannot keep it. This essence will help with that. Once absorbed, it will remain in your Dantian like a small reserve. You can refine it over months or years."
Lin Mu felt his heart stir. This was a treasure. A priceless one.
"So I can finally store spatial Qi properly."
"Not fully," Xukong corrected. "But this will act as a seed. A foundation. Once refined, it will allow you to shape and hold spatial Qi without it dissipating" Lin Mu nodded slowly. Then he frowned a bit. "If I absorb it now, will it be
dangerous?"
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