Ti passed steadily, and with it ca the end of their planned route.
The journey that had once felt endless now approached its destination. The ship slowed gradually, its forward motion easing as Daoist Chu adjusted the arrays, bringing them to a controlled drift within the designated region marked by the jade slip.
Lin Mu opened his eyes.
For nearly two weeks, he had remained deeply imrsed in his practice, refining his newfound gravity sense. The progress had been aningful, yet he understood its nature well enough to recognize its limits.
"This will take years," he knew.
The sense he had awakened was vast in potential, but subtle in its developnt. Each improvent required patience, focus, and continuous exposure to gravitational variations. It was not sothing that could be mastered in a matter of days.
And now they were close.
Close enough that his attention needed to return to the present.
Lin Mu stood up slowly, the Dominating Gravity Dao Embryo fading as he withdrew its active influence. His body felt stable, his mind clear, his perception sharper than before.
The others noticed imdiately.
ng Bai approached first.
"Master, what happened earlier?" he asked.
Cattaleya and Elyon looked on, their curiosity evident. Daoist Chu stepped
closer as well, his gaze attentive.
Lin Mu considered for a mont.
Then spoke.
"I had a breakthrough in my Gravity Dao," he said.
He kept his explanation concise.
"I unlocked a new sense. It allows to perceive gravitational forces."
He did not ntion Xukong.
So things did not need to be shared.
The others listened carefully.
Daoist Chu nodded slowly.
"I have heard of such things," he said. "Certain Daos grant additional senses when comprehension reaches a certain level."
He paused briefly.
"But I did not expect gravity to have one as well."
Cattaleya crossed her arms, her expression thoughtful.
"I t soone like that before," she said.
Lin Mu glanced at her.
"He used Gravity Dao?"
"Yes," she replied. "He worked as a navigator. Guided ships through dangerous regions. Asteroid fields, unknown routes, things like that. He particularly specialized in traveling in the Farlands."
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she recalled it.
"I always wondered how he did it. Now it makes sense."
Lin Mu nodded.
"That is one of its applications."
Xukong had already explained as much.
With sufficient mastery, gravity sense could allow one to navigate space with extre precision. One could detect massive objects long before they ca into view, identify safe paths through complex environnts, and maintain a course without constant adjustnts.
But that level...
Was far beyond Lin Mu's current ability.
"For now, I can only sense large bodies," he said.
Daoist Chu gave a slight nod.
"That is already impressive."
Lin Mu did not dwell on it further. He stepped forward and resud control of the ship. The task ahead required full attention.
Finding the Runweld Barren World.
The jade slip provided a location.
But in truth, even that point sized precise looking marker was only a region. A vast expanse spanning hundreds of thousands of kiloters.
Lin Mu looked out into the darkness.
"There is no exact point," he said. "Only an area."
ng Bai frowned slightly.
"That makes it difficult..."
"It does," Lin Mu replied.
He recalled the description given by the Rune Dwarves.
The world was supposed to be dark grey, almost black and broken into chunks. Two large fragnts among many smaller ones.
That was all.
No distinct shape.
No clear structure.
Nothing that would stand out easily.
And in space...
That was a problem.
Even though the star illuminated the region, visibility was limited. Objects that did not reflect much light blended into the darkness, becoming nearly invisible unless viewed from the right angle.
The ship moved slowly through the region.
Scanning.
Observing.
Searching.
Hours passed.
Then days.
Five days in total.
Still...
Nothing.
ng Bai leaned against the railing, his expression frustrated.
"We should have found it by now..."
Cattaleya sighed softly.
"It's like searching for a needle in an ocean."
Even Daoist Chu's gaze grew more serious.
"The region is correct," he said. "But the object remains hidden."
Lin Mu remained silent. His eyes scanned the space ahead as his mind worked
through possibilities.
And then... He felt it.
Subtle.
Faint.
Yet distinct.
A disturbance.
Lin Mu's expression changed.
"What is it?" Daoist Chu asked imdiately.
Lin Mu did not answer right away.
He focused. The sensation ca through his gravity sense.
Even though he was not actively using it at full capacity, it remained present in
the background of his perception.
And it had now picked up sothing unusual.
Not a single gravitational field.
But multiple.
Overlapping and interacting.
"Collision..." Lin Mu murmured.
The fields were not stable.
They shifted.
Pulled.
Distorted one another.
That kind of interaction only occurred when multiple masses were in close
proximity.
Lin Mu's eyes sharpened.
"Change direction," he said.
The ship adjusted.
It moved toward the source of the disturbance. The others watched, their anticipation rising. Hours passed as the ship continued its course. The darkness ahead remained unchanged at first.
Then sothing appeared at the edge of perception.
It was a faint shadow. Almost indistinguishable from the space itself. Lin Mu
adjusted the angle and the ship shifted position slightly.
Finally, the object revealed itself.
A cluster of fragnts. They were massive, irregular. Their color was dark grey
bordering on almost black. They floated together, so touching, others drifting slightly apart. Their motion was slow yet constant, influenced by their
own gravitational interactions.
ng Bai's eyes widened.
"There!" Cattaleya leaned forward.
"That has to be it..."
As they drew closer, the details beca clearer. The fragnts varied in
size. So were small, barely larger than buildings. Others were vast,
stretching across kiloters. And among them two stood out. Large and dominant.
Irregular in shape, their surfaces jagged and scarred, as if torn apart by
imnse force long ago.
"These are the main fragnts," Lin Mu said.
The gravitational interaction between them was strong enough to influence the smaller pieces around them, creating a slow, shifting cluster.
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