บท 56: Returning To The Northwind Inn

Lin Mu had been reading the wooden slip for the past few hours, but still had not finished it. Senior Xukong had tried calling out to him multiple times, but he never responded, thus senior Xukong gave up and waited for him to normalize.

In the blink of an eye, it was morning, and the sun had risen. Lin Mu was shaken from his trance after his consciousness disappeared from the Sleepscape and returned to his body. He slowly opened his eyes in a daze and looked around. After seeing that he had returned to the hunting shack, Lin Mu took a deep breath.

"That was a really unique experience." Lin Mu muttered as he remembered the information recorded in the wooden slip.

After Lin Mu had finished reading the introduction, he saw the technique that was created by the Lost immortal. It took him a long time to read it, and he still could not understand it. The technique was complex, very complex; so much so that he could not even identify some of the words that were mentioned in it.

After the technique, the next thing that was recorded in the wooden slip was the life experiences of the Lost immortal. When Lin Mu read them he felt as if he was there and was experiencing them firsthand. He could not tell if it was an illusion or not, but everything that he saw looked extremely real.

'Guess, I'll have to ask senior Xukong for an explanation.' Lin Mu thought.

Lin Mu then called out to senior Xukong and received a reply instantly.

Xukong had been a little worried after seeing that Lin Mu was in a trance. He knew it was due to the legacy treasure, but could not tell if it was good or not. When Xukong had told Lin Mu about the legacy treasures, he had left out some information. Some Legacy treasures had powerful seals on them, which when released would bind to the first person who came in contact with it.

While this was fine, if the Legacy contained was suitable for that person, but if it was not so, this would become extremely troublesome. Xukong had observed and scanned the wooden slip before allowing Lin Mu to use it; but when he saw that Lin Mu was stuck in a trance and could not respond, he became wary.

The only reason Xukong could not find the cause for this would be if the legacy treasure was created by someone from the higher realms. Another reason why he easily let Lin Mu use the legacy treasure was that he was sure that there wasn't much chance that it could be difficult for him.

While Xukong was thinking of possible scenarios, Lin Mu suddenly disappeared and his vision turned black for a moment. Then he felt the familiar spatial energy in his surroundings and realized that he had returned to the ring. A few seconds later, he sensed Lin Mu's voice and responded to it.

"What did you gain from the Legacy treasure, Lin Mu?" Xukong asked.

Lin Mu then started to explain everything that he had found out from the wooden slip. He told him about the Lost immortal and how he created the nameless technique. He told him about the technique itself, how it was very complex, and about the words, he was unable to read. Finally, he told him about the life experiences of the Lost Immortal that were recorded in the wooden slip.

The first thing that shocked Xukong was the circumstances of the Lost Immortal. He was able to identify the reason for his misfortunes and the unending streak of tribulations. The person titled as the Lost Immortal actually had a special type of physique called as the 'Broken Fate physique'.

It was an extremely rare physique and could be ranked along with the people who were the owners of the Garden of Karma. Though its rarity did not mean that the physique was beneficial to its bearer. Rather, the person who was born with this physique would suffer endless misfortunes and tribulations. They would then perish and be removed from the wheel of fate. This was the reason this physique was named as the 'Broken Fate physique'.

Xukong could not tell how an expert like the Lost Immortal, who had traveled countless worlds, did not identify his own physique. He should have been knowledgeable enough to identify it. It was only when Lin Mu was telling Xukong about the mythical beasts that the Lost Immortal encountered, that he understood the reason for his ignorance towards his physique.

The mythical beast that caught Xukong's attention was the 'Realm eater worm'.

'It's impossible that the Lost Immortal encountered a Realm eater worm. Their clan was eradicated millions of years ago and the last of their bloodlines were also extinguished by the heavenly Dao for accumulating unforgivable amounts of negative karma.' Xukong thought.

"Unless the Lost Immortal encountered the Realm eater worms before their extinction." Xukong muttered.

'This would explain why he did not know about his physique. He was probably one of the earliest owners of the Broken Fate physique. There simply was no information about this physique back then.' Xukong inferred.

Xukong was also wary about the nameless technique that was created by the Lost Immortal. He could not tell what effect the technique would have on Lin Mu, as it was deemed incomplete by its creator himself. Considering the state in which the Lost Immortal created the technique, Xukong had all the reasons to be wary of it.

But Xukong would not be prohibiting Lin Mu from learning the technique. He will only explain to Lin Mu what he thought about the technique and leave the final decision up to him. If he wanted Lin Mu to become a peerless cultivator, he could not keep on interfering in his life. It was up to Lin Mu, to decipher his fate and wade through his karma.

Lin Mu then asked senior Xukong about the words which he was unable to understand. He felt that the words were from a different language and did not seem to belong there. After explaining to senior Xukong, he got the reply that while senior Xukong knew what language the words belonged to, he would not be able to tell him what the words meant, until he drew them.

Lin Mu thus tried to draw them on the ground, but found that he could not. It was as if his mind went blank as soon as he thought of drawing them.

"Hmm, it's the world's restrictions prohibiting you from drawing them. Wait till tonight when you return to the Sleepscape. There you should be able to draw them with no problems." Xukong told Lin Mu.

"But what language are these words from, Senior?" Lin Mu asked.

"It's not exactly a language but rather a different script of writing. Those words are most likely from the Dao script. It is a universal script that every language can use and can be understood by all intelligent races." Xukong answered.

"It is also necessary for many things such as making formations, forging spirit weapons, refining alchemical pills, and of course creation of various techniques." Xukong further explained.

Lin Mu's curiosity in learning the Dao script was ignited, hence he asked senior Xukong to teach him about it. Senior Xukong accepted Lin Mu's request and told him that he would teach him some lessons every day. Then he reminded Lin Mu what he was supposed to be doing today.

'Oh no! I need to get to the town soon.' Lin Mu thought.

Lin Mu skipped his breakfast and started storing everything that he thought to be of use. Before leaving, he made sure he had everything one last time. He then started his journey back to the town. But for Lin Mu, who had become a cultivator, such distance was a stone's throw away.

Lin Mu strengthened his legs with spirit qi and broke into a sprint. His speed was incomparable than before, and within five minutes he was already at the town. Some people spotted him running towards the town, but all they could see was a trail of dust.

Before entering the town, he saw the peasants working in the spirit apple orchards. This made him reminisce about the time when he was still weak and was working in the orchards. Although it had only been a few weeks, he still felt as if ages had gone by.

Pushing his thoughts to the back, Lin Mu continued on to the inn. Because the Northwind inn was close to the entrance of the town, it did not take him much time to reach it. When Lin Mu was standing outside the inn's entrance, he heard the sounds of someone arguing and shouting, coming from inside the inn.

He walked in and found a group of ten hunters arguing with the three people at the desk. Lin Mu identified one of the three people at the desk as the clerk who had booked the room for him. But he could not tell who the other two were. He also identified the ten hunters rather easily. These ten hunters belonged to one of the two hunter groups in the town, whose leader was a cultivator.

The Leader of the hunter group was a man called Gan Ma. He was a cultivator, thus had some influence in the town. Lin Mu had seen the man before and also had heard about him. Gan Ma was a rather crude man, who was selfish and ruthless. He would often forcefully take over good hunting areas from common hunters, and if they resisted, all that waited for them was a harsh beating.

Lin Mu's father especially did not like Gan Mu and had warned him to stay away from the man. Who knew that Lin Mu would have to defy his father's warning today.

Suddenly the clerk who had booked the room for Lin Mu spotted him and pointed at him while shouting, "There he is, that's the boy who booked the last room."