Days passed as Lin Mu continued his work.
Then more days.
Three days turned into a week.
Lin Mu remained within the Healing Hall, imrsed in his research. He barely left except to ditate briefly or consu so food prepared by Shrubby. The rest of his ti was spent analyzing the blood, testing on it, and of course thinking.
The elders did not disturb him.
They understood the nature of such work. They knew it required ti and a lot of patience. Yet even after a full week, Lin Mu found himself standing at the sa point he had begun.
There was no apparent cause behind the degeneration. There didn't even seem to be any identifiable anomaly hidden in it which left him with no direction.
He stood in silence, looking at the blood sample floating before him, suspended by a thin thread of Qi.
"This makes no sense," he thought.
By all known logic, this should not be happening.
Bloodline degeneration, as he understood it, was a dilution of lineage. It weakened traits but did not inherently reduce fertility to such an extre degree.
And yet...
Here it was.
A contradiction.
A problem that defied conventional understanding.
Lin Mu closed his eyes for a mont, letting his thoughts settle.
He began to review everything he had learned so far.
The purity of the bloodlines.
The reduced population.
The lack of identifiable defects.
The rejection of external influences.
His mind worked through it all, piece by piece. But no matter how he approached it it felt as if the answer remained just out of reach. For the first ti since taking on this task, Lin Mu felt a genuine sense of perplexity.
"This... is not going to be simple," he admitted to himself.
And yet rather than frustration, there was a faint spark in his eyes. Interest.
Because if there was one thing Lin Mu had learned over his journey... It was that the most difficult problems often led to the greatest discoveries.
The Healing Hall remained as tranquil as ever, its natural structure humming softly with layered vitality. Gentle streams of Wood Qi flowed through the interwoven roots and branches, carrying with them the faint scent of herbs and blooming flora.
Yet within this serenity, Lin Mu stood unmoving, his gaze fixed upon the suspended droplet of foxkin blood before him. The thin strand of Qi holding it steady trembled ever so slightly, reflecting the subtle fatigue that had begun to seep into his body.
A full week had passed in relentless analysis.
His mind had traversed countless possibilities, each more intricate than the last, only to arrive at the sa unyielding conclusion. There was nothing wrong with the blood on the surface. There were no natural impurities or unnatural corruption within it.
Or rather, there were simply no structural flaws visible to him.
The blood was pristine in every asurable way, yet the reality of its degeneration could not be denied. The contradiction lingered like a figure hidden in thick mist.
SHUA
Lin Mu exhaled slowly, dispersing the sample with a flick of his finger. The Qi thread dissolved, and the droplet evaporated into nothingness. For the first ti since beginning his investigation, he allowed himself to step away.
Fatigue was not sothing he often acknowledged, but it had begun to accumulate in subtle ways. Not in his body, which remained resilient, but in his mind. Continuous analysis without progress had a way of dulling even the sharpest focus.
Recognizing this, Lin Mu decided to take a brief respite.
He moved to the side of the hall where a vine-crafted seat had ford naturally along the curved wall. As he sat, the structure adjusted slightly beneath him, conforming to his posture with quiet precision. The ambient energy of the Healing Hall gently flowed around him, easing the tension that had built over
the past days.
Monts later, soft footsteps approached.
A Foxkin entered, her presence quiet and respectful. She carried a small tray ford from woven bark, upon which rested a delicate cup filled with steaming tea. The aroma reached Lin Mu before the foxkin spoke, carrying notes of forest herbs and a faint sweetness that seed to calm the mind.
"Senior," she said softly, bowing her head, "please have so tea."
Lin Mu nodded in acknowledgnt. "Thank you."
She placed the cup beside him and withdrew without another word, her steps fading into the natural quiet of the hall.
Lin Mu lifted the cup and took a slow sip. The tea was warm, its energy gentle and stabilizing. It did not enhance his cultivation, nor did it provide any dramatic effect. Instead, it soothed the subtle strain within his mind, allowing his thoughts to settle.
For a brief mont, there was silence.
Then, a voice echoed within his mind.
"Tch. You really are making this harder than it needs to be."
Lin Mu's hand paused mid-motion.
His brows furrowed slightly, though his expression remained composed.
"Lin Mo," he said inwardly.
A faint chuckle followed, laced with amusent and a hint of mockery.
"Who else?" Lin Mo replied. "I leave you alone for a few days and this is what you end up doing? Poking at blood like a clueless apprentice?"
Lin Mu did not respond imdiately. He set the cup down and allowed his mind
to focus inward, where the presence of his other half lingered.
"I have already tried all conventional thods," Lin Mu said calmly. "There is
nothing detectable."
"That's exactly the problem, Lin Mo clicked his tongue. "You're using conventional thods on sothing that clearly isn't conventional."
Lin Mu's eyes narrowed slightly as he considered those words.
"And what would you suggest?" he asked.
Lin Mo let out a short laugh.
"You already have the answer," he said. "You just aren't using it."
A brief pause followed before he continued.
"Have you already forgotten the 'little' gift of millions of years of mories you
absorbed?"
Lin Mu's thoughts shifted.
The Withered Spirit Daoist.
mories surfaced, vast and ancient, filled with countless techniques and
experiences accumulated over more than a million years. He had accessed them before, though only selectively, using what was imdiately relevant to
his needs.
"You are referring to her alchemical knowledge," Lin Mu said. "Finally," Lin Mo replied with exaggerated relief. "I was starting to think you'd
lost your edge living like a tourist these few months."
Lin Mu remained silent, allowing the thought to settle. Alchemical thods.
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