Waves of Qi rushed outward as if reacting to a foreign invader. Yet the blob had not even touched the Qi sea. It rely floated above the inner space.
That was when the formless mass that was his Spatial Dao Embryo awakened.
SHUA
A glimr of starlight flashed within Lin Mu's body. The Four Faceted Nebula, normally invisible and impossible to perceive without direct attention, manifested by itself. The swirling nebula of starlit dust and cosmic darkness expanded. The four colored stars within it were faces shimring like a distant galaxy reflected in water.
Lin Mu barely had ti to gasp.
The Nebula lunged.
It pounced on the Void Loach essence like a beast that had spotted a al after centuries of hunger. It wrapped itself around the blob like a vast cosmic cloth, enfolding it completely.
"Wait, hold on!" Lin Mu said reflexively, but he had no control over it.
The Dao Embryo devoured the blob.
Not absorbed. Not refined.
Devoured.
In the span of less than two seconds, ninety percent of the essence was consud. The Nebula vibrated with satisfaction, glowing with an inner radiance that Lin Mu had never seen before. The stars on it brightened before it settled, its outline shivering once, before fading from sight again and returning to its formless state.
All that remained of the blob was a small fragnt. Barely a tenth of the original size. A dense nugget of shimring color that floated quietly in his Dantian.
Lin Mu stared in astonishnt.
"What just happened...?"
Xukong answered imdiately, his tone equal parts shocked and impressed. "I did not expect your Spatial Dao Embryo to behave like that either."
Lin Mu exhaled slowly. "So it acted on its own."
"It acted instinctively," Xukong said. "Dao Embryos have their own form of hunger. They devour what is useful for their advancent. The Void Loach essence must have contained sothing extraordinarily compatible with your Spatial Dao."
Lin Mu rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Then I should feel so kind of change in the Embryo."
"Check," Xukong instructed.
Lin Mu closed his eyes and focused inward. He observed the nebulous mass that was his Dao Embryo. It was still formless, still mysterious, but now there was sothing different.
There was energy inside it. A lot of energy.
Specifically, he sensed that one of his Dao Skills had fully recovered.
The First Facet of Freedom. Warp.
Lin Mu opened his eyes in surprise. "Warp is back."
Xukong let out a thoughtful hum. "It seems the Nebula absorbed most of the refined essence in order to recharge that Dao Skill. The energy needed to restore a Dao Skill is imnse. That is why Warp has been unavailable since you used it in the Bridge Plane. It required far more than ordinary Qi to recover. But this essence provided what was needed."
Lin Mu nodded. "Makes sense. But that ans nearly all of the blob was devoured."
Xukong replied, "A Dao Embryo prioritizes itself first. Consider yourself lucky that it left even a small portion behind."
Lin Mu looked again at the tiny surviving fragnt floating in his Dantian. "At least I can refine what is left."
"That fragnt alone is worth more than most immortal treasures," Xukong said.
Lin Mu took a slow breath. "If this essence is so valuable... can we hunt for more?"
Xukong snorted lightly. "If you encounter another Two Headed Void Loach by chance, you can kill it. But you must not expect it. After my aura leaked through the void, no Void Beast within several million kiloters will dare approach this teleportation channel. They will scatter like frightened insects."
Lin Mu sighed. "So this is a one ti thing."
"Most likely," Xukong said. "Treat it as a heavenly gift. You will not find another so easily."
Lin Mu accepted that and refocused.
He sensed the tiny remaining fragnt of the Void Loach essence and began to absorb it gently. The fragnt pulsed weakly but steadily, like a droplet of condensed starlight. Slowly, wisps of spatial Qi peeled off from it and flowed into Lin Mu's Dantian.
The mont the first wisp entered his body, Lin Mu felt a sharp coldness. It was not uncomfortable, but it was powerful. The spatial Qi settled at the edge of his Qi sea and hovered there, waiting to be integrated.
Another wisp followed.
Then a third.
Each took several minutes to separate from the condensed essence.
Lin Mu kept concentrating, refining the fragnt without rushing. Yet after an entire day of focused effort, he counted barely thirty wisps of spatial Qi.
And the fragnt had not grown any smaller.
Not even by a fraction.
Lin Mu's eyes narrowed. "This thing is unbelievably concentrated."
He tried to examine the Spatial Dao Traces within the fragnt, hoping to glean a few insights, but found none.
He understood why.
"The Nebula must have absorbed all of the Dao Traces," Lin Mu muttered.
"Correct," Xukong replied. "Dao Embryos cannot resist devouring pure Dao essence."
While most cultivators grew their Dao Embryos by comprehending the Dao
and naturally absorbing Dao Traces, a few could actually encounter rare treasures to do the sa. Not any Dao Treasure could do it though, as the energy within it needed to be compatible.
Doing it forcefully would just cause it to disperse rapidly. But the blob was already digested, so it was the best thing one could get when considering Spaital Dao in the Immortal realm.
Lin Mu didn't mind the Nebula absorbing it either, as it just ant he could use
Warp again which was basically a life saving skill for him.
Lin Mu sighed. "At least so energy remains for ."
He sat back, letting the fragnt float quietly inside him.
He would need months to refine it. Maybe years.
But he welcod the challenge.
It would only make him stronger.
And as he sat there, letting the wisps settle and rge with his inner world, he
felt a certainty growing inside him.
This was only the first step.
More trials were waiting for him.
More dangers too.
But with strength like this... he would be ready.
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