Lin Mu remained seated, his breathing steady now, his body slowly returning to equilibrium as the Dominating Gravity Dao Embryo hovered above him.
The oppressive force that had once threatened to crush him was no longer overwhelming. It still existed, vast and immeasurable, yet now it had bee something he could perceive without being consumed.
Within his mind, Xukong continued.
"You could not have grasped this before," he said.
Lin Mu listened quietly.
"On a planet, gravity is singular in dominance. The world itself exerts the greatest pull. Everything else bees insignificant in parison."
Lin Mu nodded faintly.
"That makes sense," he said. "The planet’s gravity overwhelms all others."
"Yes," Xukong replied. "Even the sun’s gravity is present there, yet it is buffered. Filtered through the planet’s own mass. It bees something subtle, something your senses ignore."
Lin Mu thought back.
He had never once considered the sun’s pull while standing on the Fox Scion world.
It had always been there.
Yet it had never been felt.
"Now," Xukong continued, "you have stepped beyond that environment. You have e close enough to a star that its influence can no longer be ignored."
Lin Mu’s gaze shifted slightly, though his eyes remained closed.
"The threshold," he murmured.
"Yes," Xukong confirmed. "You have crossed it."
There was a brief pause.
"I had been waiting for this moment." Xukong said.
Lin Mu understood immediately.
"You knew this would happen."
"I did," Xukong said. "And I chose not to warn you."
Lin Mu did not react negatively.
Instead, he asked.
"Why?"
Xukong’s answer was simple.
"Because you needed to experience it."
The words carried weight.
"Understanding cannot be given. It must be felt," Xukong continued. "Only when you feel the true might of a star pressing upon you will you prehend what gravity truly is."
Lin Mu recalled the sensation.
The crushing pressure.
The helplessness.
The realization of how small he was in parison.
"Yes..." he said softly.
"You felt it," Xukong said. "You felt how easily a star could reduce you to nothing."
Lin Mu did not deny it.
"That is the foundation," Xukong continued. "Without that, your prehension would remain shallow."
Lin Mu exhaled slowly.
"I understand."
There was no resentment.
Only acceptance.
"And now?" Lin Mu asked. "How do I develop this further?"
Xukong’s tone shifted slightly, carrying a hint of approval.
"Through what you’ve always done... practice."
Lin Mu expected that.
"You are in the perfect environment," Xukong added. "The sun provides a constant gravitational background. Within it, other sources exist. You must learn to distinguish them."
Lin Mu’s thoughts sharpened.
"The planets."
"Yes," Xukong said. "Even millions of kilometers away, their gravity persists. Weak. Subtle. Yet present."
Lin Mu nodded.
"A normal cultivator would never sense it," Xukong continued. "But you are no longer limited in that way."
The Dominating Gravity Dao Embryo pulsed faintly above him.
"You have the means," Xukong said.
Lin Mu opened his eyes briefly and looked toward Daoist Chu.
"I will focus on cultivating," he said. "Please handle the ship for now."
Daoist Chu nodded immediately.
"Understood."
He stepped forward, taking control of the navigation arrays without hesitation. The others did not question Lin Mu. They had seen enough to understand that something significant had occurred.
Meng Bai looked curious.
Cattaleya crossed her arms, watching with interest.
Elyon remained silent, his gaze thoughtful.
The Saintess, hidden from sight, understood more than the others.
"He has advanced," she thought.
Her concern faded.
Instead, she extended her senses outward, observing the surrounding space carefully. While Daoist Chu was capable, she chose to remain vigilant, ensuring no unexpected disturbances would interfere with Lin Mu’s focus.
Lin Mu closed his eyes once more.
He turned inward.
Then outward.
His awareness expanded.
The sun’s gravity was the first thing he felt.
It was immense.
Dominating.
A constant pull that stretched across space, shaping the movement of everything within its reach.
Lin Mu anchored himself within it.
Then...
He searched.
Xukong’s words guided him.
"Find the disturbances."
At first, there was nothing.
Only the overwhelming presence of the sun.
Days passed.
Lin Mu remained seated, his body still, his mind active.
He refined his perception.
Filtered.
Separated.
Focused.
Gradually...
Something changed.
A faint variation.
A subtle distortion within the vast field.
Lin Mu concentrated on it.
It was weak.
Almost imperceptible.
Yet...
It was there.
He followed it.
Traced its origin.
And then...
He recognized it.
"The fourth planet..." he murmured.
Though they had already passed it days ago, its gravitational influence still reached them.
Faint.
But undeniable.
Lin Mu felt a sense of clarity.
"It exists..."
A small breakthrough.
But an important one.
He continued.
Refining further.
Days turned into a week.
Then another.
His perception deepened.
The sun’s gravity no longer overwhelmed him.
It became a background.
A constant.
Within it, smaller influences began to emerge.
And then...
He felt something else.
Far away.
Much farther than the fourth planet. A massive presence, slow and heavy. Lin Mu’s focus sharpened and he followed it.
And then understood.
"The gas giant..."
The one he had seen earlier in their journey. It was not visible to his eyes now. Yet its gravity reached him. Its presence was undeniable.
Lin Mu remained still, absorbing the realization.
"This... is incredible."
He did not know the limits of this sense.
It did not function like sight.
Or hearing.
It was passive.
Dependent on the gravitational fields that reached him.
He tested it.
He tried to sense the ship beneath him.
Nothing.
He tried to sense the others nearby.
Still nothing.
He frowned slightly.
"The scale is different..."
Xukong spoke again.
"You are perceiving large masses," he said. "Celestial bodies. Objects whose gravitational influence extends across vast distances."
Lin Mu nodded.
"That is your current level."
The implication was clear.
He was not yet capable of sensing smaller sources.
Not the ship.
Not individual beings.
Only the immense.
Lin Mu accepted it.
"This will take time."
"Yes," Xukong said. "But you have begun."
Lin Mu exhaled slowly.
His awareness remained extended, his perception anchored within the invisible web of gravity that stretched across space.
For the first time...
He was not simply traveling through the cosmos.
He was beginning to feel it.
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