Lin Mu did not dwell on it.
Instead, he focused on his task.
He activated the ship's arrays, directing their perception toward the planet. asurents began to form, calculations running through the system as it determined the planet's exact position in space.
Coordinates.
Angles.
Relative motion.
Everything was processed.
Lin Mu took the data and fed it into the formula provided by the Rune Dwarves. SHUA
The map above the jade slip responded. The flickering marker that represented the Runweld Barren World shifted and stabilized. Previously, it had been erratic, moving across a wide are as uncertainty in its position caused it to fluctuate.
Now that arc reduced.
"Half circle to a quarter," Lin Mu observed.
It was progress.
Not yet precise.
But closer.
"We only need the third planet now," he said.
The ship adjusted course slightly.
The journey continued.
Days passed.
The routine remained unchanged.
Then, after nearly a week they found it: The third planet.
It was far.
Even farther than the fourth.
Over eighty million kiloters away.
Yet the telescope immortal tool functioned perfectly.
It extended outward, its arrays activating as it focused on the distant celestial body. The image ford slowly, resolving into a faint but distinct sphere.
Lin Mu captured its position imdiately.
The data flowed into the system.
Then into the formula.
The map responded.
This ti though there was no flickering. The marker stabilized completely.
A single clear and defined point could be seen.
"That is it," Lin Mu said.
The location of the Runweld Barren World had been determined.
ng Bai leaned forward, his eyes wide.
"How far?"
Lin Mu checked.
"Around eight million kiloters."
ng Bai exhaled.
"That still sounds like a lot..."
"It will take ti," Lin Mu said. "Approximately twenty two to twenty five days."
Daoist Chu nodded.
"At our current speed, that estimate is accurate"
The ship maintained its course.
Days turned into weeks.
The journey beca routine once more.
By now, everyone had adjusted fully to life aboard the ship. Their activities continued as before, each of them occupying their ti in their own way.
And then...
On the eighteenth day...
Sothing changed.
Lin Mu stood at the control point, monitoring their trajectory.
Everything was normal.
Stable.
Then...
"Ha-"
His breath hitched.
It was subtle at first.
A slight disruption.
But it did not pass.
Instead...
It worsened.
His chest tightened.
A pressure began to build.
Heavy and oppressive.
Daoist Chu, who stood nearby, noticed imdiately.
"Lin Mu?" he asked.
There was no response.
Lin Mu's breathing grew uneven.
Then...
THUD
He fell to his knees.
The sound drew imdiate attention.
Everyone turned.
"Master!" ng Bai rushed forward, his voice filled with alarm.
Cattaleya moved instantly, her expression sharpening.
"What happened?"
Elyon stepped closer as well, his gaze focused.
Lin Mu did not answer.
He could not.
The pressure intensified.
It felt as if sothing imnse had descended upon him, pressing down from
all sides. His body resisted, but it was not enough.
Every breath beca difficult.
His chest rose and fell with effort.
His limbs felt heavy.
Unresponsive.
Daoist Chu extended his immortal sense.
He scanned Lin Mu's body carefully.
And what he found...
Was troubling.
"His Qi is unstable," Daoist Chu said, his voice growing serious.
ng Bai's heart sank.
"Unstable how?"
"It is disordered," Daoist Chu replied. "So channels are accelerating. Others
are slowing. So have ceased entirely."
Cattaleya frowned.
"That should not be possible."
She was right.
Lin Mu's control over his energy was exceptional. For it to fall into such
disarray without external interference was... abnormal.
Lin Mu struggled.
His thoughts were scattered.
He could not focus.
It felt as if a mountain had been placed upon his back, crushing him under its
weight. His senses dulled, his awareness fading in and out as he tried to
understand what was happening.
"I... cannot..."
He tried to speak.
No proper words ca.
Even the Saintess reacted.
Though she remained unseen, her presence stirred as her senses extended
toward Lin Mu. She examined him carefully, her perception far beyond that of ordinary cultivators.
Yet even she could not find the cause.
"This is strange..." her voice echoed faintly.
There was no visible external force.
No attack.
No disturbance in the surrounding environnt.
And yet Lin Mu was being overwheld. ng Bai clenched his fists.
"What is happening to him?" he asked desperately.
No one answered.
Because no one knew.
The pressure continued to build.
Lin Mu's vision blurred.
His breathing grew heavier.
And then...
A voice spoke.
Within his mind.
Calm.
Ancient.
Unfamiliar in this mont of chaos.
Xukong.
"I see..." the voice said slowly. "I was wondering when this would happen."
Lin Mu's fading awareness latched onto it.
"What... is... happening..." he struggled to think.
Xukong's voice remained steady.
"You have reached a threshold." He paused. "What you are experiencing... Is the
beginning of sothing far greater."
Lin Mu's consciousness trembled under the crushing pressure, his thoughts
scattering like fragnts caught in a storm. Every instinct urged him to resist, yet resistance alone brought no clarity.
The only steady presence within that chaos was the voice that rose within his
mind: Xukong. It was calm, unshaken and anchored his mind. Lin Mu clung to it as if it were the only solid ground left to him.
"What... is happening..." he forced the thought through the haze, his awareness
barely holding together.
"Focus," Xukong replied.
There was no urgency in his tone, no panic, only quiet certainty.
"Filter the pressure. Do not fight it blindly. Look beyond it. Find where it
originates."
Lin Mu tried.
But it was difficult.
The pressure bore down on him relentlessly, distorting his senses, making even
the simplest act of thinking feel like an imnse effort. His breathing was uneven, his body heavy, his ridians in disarray. Around him, the others watched in growing concern.
ng Bai stood near him, his hands trembling slightly as he tried to figure out what to do. Cattaleya's sharp gaze remained fixed on Lin Mu, her instincts screaming that sothing was wrong on a level she could not comprehend.
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Elyon stood still, observing carefully, his expression serious. Daoist Chu continued to analyze, but even he had not yet found the answer. Even the Saintess was in the sa position and was unable to understand.
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