Now that he knew a bit more about the place Lin Mu decided to return for now. He reckoned that spending any more time here would be just wasting it and thought it would be better to leave it to the Hei Corps.
But there was another problem that presented to him. He couldn't justify to them how he got into the cave in the first place. Neither could he tell them how he got there in the first place. After all, he could not tell them that he walked through the territory of a terrifyingly strong beast, could he?
Not to mention that even if he did show them the path, they wouldn't be able to take it, anyway. He was the only one who could walk through solid objects like that.
"You'll have to find an alternative path for them," Xukong spoke.
"Yes, Senior. Seems like I'll need to go around the mountain once I bring them here. This mountain is visible from far, so it shouldn't be hard to guide them here. Though I'll need to do something about that boulder at the entrance." Lin Mu replied.
He then walked up to the boulder and thought for a minute before finding a solution that was rather simple and straightforward.
Lin Mu unsheathed his short sword and amplified it with his spirit qi. Once it had a sufficient amount of spirit qi in it, he slashed it at the edge of the large boulder where it was the thinnest.
~Swish~
~Thang~
The corner of the boulder was cut cleanly and fell down to the side making some noise. If one looked at the surface of the cut boulder, they would see that it was smooth and pletely uniform. Lin Mu's sword had sliced through it effortlessly.
"If I can't get through, I'll just cut it apart." Lin Mu thought out loud.
He then pushed the piece of rock that he had cut to the side and walked out of the cave. He then turned back and looked at his handiwork.
"Now they shouldn't mind it." Lin Mu muttered and started walking towards the cave of the Great slumber bear.
An hour later, he reached the cave and walked all the way over to the beast's location. He checked to ensure that it was still sleeping and then entered the wall by using Phase and appeared on the other side of the mountain.
The fire that he had lit was still burning albeit it had grown smaller because no extra fuel had been added to it. Lin Mu looked up at the moon in the sky and estimated that there was still quite a long time till the morning.
"I'll eat some food and then cultivate. I should be able to return to the camp by tomorrow afternoon if I'm fast enough." Lin Mu spoke to himself.
He then withdrew some of the meat and started cooking it. The meat he had taken out was the meat of the core formation alpha steel back wolf. Lin Mu generously dressed the meat in spices and prepared it well before cooking it.
A tantalizing aroma spread in the cave, which made his mouth water and taste buds tingle. He sliced a piece of the meat and put it in his mouth. The roasted meat was juicy and flavorful. His taste buds jumped in joy and he felt amazed.
"Delicious! Seems like the stronger the beast, the better the taste." Lin Mu exclaimed.
As soon as the first piece of meat was swallowed down into his stomach, a familiar warmth spread from his stomach. The vital energy and spirit qi that was stored in the meat started being absorbed by his body. It took Lin Mu a few seconds to snap out of the strange sense of euphoria.
He quickly ate the rest of the meat and soon got full. The meat of a core condensation beast was rather filling for him and had satisfied his appetite for the first time after quite a bit. Lin Mu then sat cross-legged and started chanting the calming heart sutra to quickly assimilate the vital energy.
Half an hour passed by and Lin Mu felt a wave of energy spread from his body. It was as if a stream of energy was drilling into his bones. Lin Mu understood what was happening and quickly focused on it. He channeled more energy and intensified the process.
Soon the small stream of energy turned into a raging river and Lin Mu directed it into his bones. The energy reached his marrows and started dousing them in it. A strange sense of pressure appeared in his body and he felt as if a weight was placed on him.
The pressure intensified until when…
~Pop~
It was as if a dam had broken and a tremor passed through Lin Mu's body. The waves of energy stopped being emanated from his body and he opened his eyes. His eyes glimmered in under the flames of the fire in front of him.
~Huu~
Lin Mu let out a breath and a streak of black gas came out. The gas traveled forward and met the wall of the cave.
~Sizzle~
As soon as the gas touched the wall, it started sizzling and corroded. A hole that was about an inch deep and three inches in diameter was formed after the black gas was dissipated.
~Gulp~
Lin Mu swelled his saliva in slight fear after seeing this sight. He had seen this happen before back in his house, but that was a wooden wall. Now it was a solid stone wall that was affected.
"That looks very dangerous." Lin Mu spoke in a nervous tone.
"Indeed, this is quite strange," Xukong spoke in an equally nervous tone.
Lin Mu wiped the sweat off his forehead and took a deep breath.
"I guess I just need to be more careful. Though it seems like I progressed in progressing my body tempering realm by a little." Lin Mu spoke, feeling a little happy now.
"Yes, that's good. This is the effect of the core condensation beast meat. Though this will only be a one-time effect I think, since it's the first time you've eaten it. The next time should be rather mild." Xukong replied.
Lin Mu nodded and scanned his body with his spirit sense. He could feel the vital energy that was saturated within his skin, muscles, blood and now his bones. He tried to go deeper and was able to feel his marrows, which did not have as much concentration of vital energy as the rest of his body.
Xukong could guess Lin Mu's thoughts and understood what he was thinking.
"When you reach the thirteenth stage of the body tempering realm, your bone marrow should be saturated with the vital energy as well. Once you reach the peak of the Body tempering realm, you should be ready to assimilate the bloodline of the Great slumber bear." Xukong explained.
'Though you will need a little extra help before that. Hopefully, you reach it before the deadline and I'm able to give it to you.' Xukong internally spoke.
Lin Mu nodded and responded, "I understand, senior."
He then sat back down and chanted the severing heart sutra to continue his cultivation. An hour later the clouds covered the sky again and winds started to get stronger. Snow soon started falling, and the forest became shrouded in it.
Lin Mu peacefully cultivated until the morning and only stopped when the sunlight illuminated the cave. Faint beams of sunlight would enter the cave and get dissipated in the darkness. Since the cave was at a diagonal angle and was blocked by the trees, sunlight barely got through.
Still, it was enough for Lin Mu to sense it and he opened his eyes. The sunlight that diffused through the branches of the trees dappled the floor of the cave. He stood up and looked up at the sun that was hiding behind the horizon.
~Sigh~
"Time to return." Lin Mu muttered as he looked back at the cave one last time.
The fire had gone out a long time ago and the embers had cooled down, leaving behind a pile of ash and unburnt charcoal. Lin Mu lightly stretched his body before he started out in a jog. The light jog soon turned into a sprint and he burst forward.
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