章節 5: Testing The Effects Of The Sutras
Xukong was a little lost upon seeing that Lin Mu was unable to affect any people. He could not figure out the reason for that either. Even if they had been affected by the Buddhist aura, they should still show some signs.
Understanding that this may not work, he decided to tell Lin Mu to try something else.
"Try using the Severing heart sutra on them." Xukong said.
"But senior..." Lin Mu spoke.
"Trust me. I think the reason why they are not affected by the calming heart sutra is that they are already under its effects." Xukong spoke, interrupting his sentence.
"Already under its effects? What do you mean senior?" Lin Mu questioned.
"While you were gaining enlightenment, the aura of the Buddhist path was being released from you. At first, I didn't know its reach, but now that I've seen these people, I can say that it was very strong." Xukong answered.
Lin Mu gently nodded and decided to go ahead. He took a deep breath and started chanting the severing heart sutra. He had chosen another man who seemed to be shopping. The effects of the severing heart sutra spread to the man and in an instant, the effects could be seen.
The man's eyes turned dull and his face became expressionless. It was as if he was a puppet whose strings were cut off. The man was currently standing in front of a vegetable vendor and holding some vegetables.
When the severing heart sutra affected him, he held onto the vegetables and just walked away without paying the vendor. The vendor noticed this and went after him to demand his payment.
"Hey! You can't just walk away without paying." The vendor shouted.
Seeing the vendor agitated, Lin Mu was a little surprised as the effect of the Buddhist aura had stopped. But a few seconds later, the vendor became calm again. The man who had taken the vegetables was still walking away. He had not responded when the vendor called out to him.
The vendor sighed seeing this and just went back to his shop without bothering to chase after the man.
"Hmm... this is interesting." Xukong spoke.
"Try using the calming heart sutra on that man now." Xukong ordered.
Lin Mu nodded and started chanting the calming heart sutra. The effects of the calming heart sutra spread to the man and his expression changed. Instead of the expressionless face and the dull eyes, a tranquil look appeared on him. A certain glint of intelligence returned to his eyes along with the glamor on his face.
"The effects are rather quick and abrupt, other people may notice it." Lin Mu spoke.
"That is true, but I think it's more of a question of practice. You just need more practice and then you should be able to control it better." Xukong advised.
"Yes senior." Lin Mu affirmed.
Lin Mu then set out to test the other aspects of the two sutras. He tested out its duration and range. He found out that the range of the sutras was currently limited to a range of ten meters, while the duration of its effectiveness was fifteen minutes. Though, if he kept on chanting, the effects would continue on.
Lin Mu also found out that the more he used the two sutras on other people, the more tired he got. This fatigue was not physical, but rather mental. If he continued using it despite his fatigue, a splitting headache would soon stop him.
It took him four hours to test it all out, and he even had to change his "Test subjects" as he could not just randomly follow people for that long without raising suspicion. Also, the people who he tested the sutras on started to feel strange as their emotions were going haywire. Lin Mu did not want to push his luck and harm innocent people, hence he stopped his experiment.
Lin Mu then walked out of the town and went towards the forest to hunt. He reached the forest after ten minutes and looked around for changes. The forest also felt a little calmer than normal. Though it was not completely silent, the noise was lower than normal.
"Did the effect spread to the forest as well?" Lin Mu questioned himself.
"It does seem like it, though I think the intensity was much less. The effect of the sutras on beasts should be different than humans. Most beasts have a distinct set of emotions than humans, thus you'll have to test out the specific effect yourself." Xukong replied.
"I'll have to capture some beasts then." Lin Mu muttered.
Lin Mu walked into the forest and went towards the depths of the forest. He wanted to hunt some spirit beasts, or at least some high tier beasts, as he did not feel satiated by lower-tier beasts. He soon found a beast, but it was a mid-tier beast. Not wanting to waste the time, Lin Mu swiftly killed it and stored it in the ring.
A few minutes later, he encountered a high tier beast. The beast had grey and green spotted skin with short limbs. It was the size of a calf and looked like a mix between a leopard and a bull. The beast had a screeching voice that disoriented Lin Mu for a bit.
While Lin Mu was disoriented, the beast pounced on him which he had to dodge by using the skill Flicker. After dodging, he twisted around and slashed at the beast, killing it. He stored the corpse and continued his hunt.
Lin Mu hunted four high tier beasts and nine mid-tier beasts over four hours, but he still could not find any spirit beasts. Only when the sun was about to set did he encounter a spirit beast. The spirit beast was the same kind of spirit beast that he had hunted before.
The beast was hiding on the top of a tree and was stalking him. Lin Mu had to use his spirit sense to get its exact location. The beast was around four meters away from him. Having confirmed this, Lin Mu used the second skill Blink, and appeared on the branch. The beast seemed startled by this and could not react.
Lin Mu stabbed his short sword through its back and ended its life. He then stored the corpse and decided to return to the town.
'Increasing the range of my spirit sense was definitely a good decision.' Lin Mu thought.
The sky had turned dark, and it had started snowing. The cries of the beasts had faded away, only to be replaced by the silence of freezing snow.
While on the way to the town, Lin Mu saw a small group of people standing on the side of the road. They were all wearing dark grey clothes and had their faces covered.
章節 6: An Unexpected Fight
Lin Mu looked at the six darkly dressed individuals who were standing a hundred meters away from him. They noticed him at the same moment Lin Mu noticed them. They tensed up and then placed their hands on the hilts of the swords they were carrying.
It looked like the men were hiding something as they were trying to cover something behind them. Even Lin Mu became nervous upon seeing the men, as he could tell that something was definitely wrong.
"I thought the routes were already blocked. What do we do now first brother?" One of the darkly dressed men spoke.
"Dammit! those guys can't even do a single task correctly," Another man said.
"Silence! It's just a kid, we'll take him as well. Master will be fine with some extra goods, anyway." The man named the first brother grimly spoke.
The first person to react among the six was the man to the very right. He walked towards Lin Mu and then started running as he drew his sword from its sheath.
"Focus and brace yourself. Use your spirit sense there may be cultivators." Xukong spoke in a firm tone.
Lin Mu instinctively started chanting the calming heart sutra. His mind tranquilized and he could think clearly. The movement of the man approaching him slowed down by a notch and he could see the man's tracks.
As soon as the man got in the range of Lin Mu's spirit sense, he detected that the man was not a cultivator and was instead at the 9th stage of the body tempering realm. Felling assured Lin Mu drew his sword, set his hand straight, and entered a stance.
Lin Mu bent to the side in an effort to dodge the man's blade and barely scraped by.
"That was close." Lin Mu muttered.
"You're not gonna avoid the next one." The man spoke.
The man approached Lin Mu again and slashed at him, which he blocked with his short sword. Lin Mu then pushed back and deflected the sword.
"How?" The man exclaimed upon seeing Lin Mu's strength.
Lin Mu had an advantage over the man as he was already in the 10th stage of the body tempering realm, along with being a cultivator at the Mid-stage of the Qi refining realm.
The companions of the man noticed this and were just about to warn him when...
"AAARGH!!" the man shouted as he was stabbed through his heart.
Lin Mu took advantage of the moment when the man was shocked and stabbed through his heart. The man collapsed in the next moment, freeing Lin Mu's attention.
"Fourth brother! No!" Shouted the darkly dressed man who had spoken the first time.
"He's strong, we have to be careful. Fifth, sixth, pull his attention, third attack him from the back." First brother spoke.
"Second brother, wait for the right moment to strike. This boy is not simple." First brother spoke again.
The men named fifth and sixth advanced towards Lin Mu from the opposite side, while the man named third circled around Lin Mu. The remaining two men were glaring at Lin Mu, looking out for an opportunity.
Knowing that it will be difficult for him to go against three people at once, Lin Mu decided to split them up, beforehand. Lin Mu withdrew the hatchet from his ring and strengthened his arms with spirit qi.
Seeing that a hatchet had appeared in Lin Mu's hand out of thin, the three approaching men were a little stunned. Grasping this chance, Lin Mu hurled the hatchet at the man named as the sixth brother with all his strength.
A whirling sound could be heard as the hatched spun through the air and then buried itself in the chest of the man. Unable to utter even a single word, the man crashed to the ground; his life or death unknown.
"RETREAT! He's a cultivator, he has a spatial treasure!" The second brother yelled.
"Quick." First brother spoke, as he tensed his jaw.
Now that the battle was tilting in his favor, Lin Mu did not want to slow down and let go of the lead. He instinctively chanted the severing heart sutra and targeted the two men, fifth and third brother.
The two men slowed down as their eyes turned dull. Lin Mu 'blinked' forward and appeared at the sides of the two men. Amplifying his short sword with spirit qi, Lin Mu slashed through the two men in a single smooth stroke.
The defenses of the two men could not resist the sharpness of a spirit weapon, thus they were split into halves.
Horrified and furious at the development, the remaining two men shouted and sprinted towards Lin Mu. Rage burned in their eyes, as they regretted underestimating Lin Mu.
The man named first brother reached Lin Mu in the next moment and struck him with his sword. Lin Mu sensed his cultivation and estimated it to be at the mid-stage of the Qi refining realm. Blocking the strike with a buckler, Lin Mu twisted to the side. Suddenly Lin Mu's spirit sense detected something coming at him from the back.
Unable to dodge the incoming object, Lin Mu 'Flickered' and then the object passed through his back. He saw the object and found it to be a small dagger that was dripping with a black liquid.
"Careful! He has some mysterious martial techniques." The second brother warned.
Lin Mu blinked to the back of the man named first brother and cut at it. Second brother noticed this and jumped forward to block it.
"Dammit." Lin Mu cursed.
Lin Mu stored the short sword in the ring and seamlessly withdrew the spear from it. Having lost the force from the short sword, second brother's sword went straight ahead, through which Lin Mu flickered and moved away.
Then, using his legs as a pivot, Lin Mu twirled and pierced the spear through second brother's jaw. The spear entered at the base of his jaw and went straight through the top of its skull.
"YOU!!!" First brother said with great rage in his voice.
Not bothering with the man's words, Lin Mu lunged at him. The man's eyes flared as he bit on his tongue and spit out some blood. Gesturing with his left hand, the man drew some pattern in the air. In the next moment, veins appeared on his face as his eyes turned red.
"He's using a sacrificial technique, you need to end it quickly." Xukong spoke with urgency.
Lin Mu blocked an attack with his short sword, which made him recoil in pain. The man's strength had nearly tripled as Lin Mu was barely able to dodge it.
'I won't be able to win against him in a straight fight, I have to find some other way.' Lin Mu thought.
Lin Mu then chopped at the man's arm, which he blocked with his own sword. But at this moment Lin Mu used the skill 'Flicker' and the short sword passed through the man's sword. He then canceled the skill at the very last moment, making a deep cut appeared on the man's arm and shoulder, making him wince with pain.
Now, with his short sword stuck in the man's arm, Lin Mu was unable to withdraw it. Choosing to leave his sword behind, Lin Mu blinked to the back of the man.
Entering the stance for the Boulder collapsing fist, Lin Mu coiled his hand back. His breath melded with the stance, as the spirit qi formed a spiral in his hand. Putting all his bets on this final attack, Lin Mu executed it.
"Boulder Collapsing Fist!"
~whew~
A whistling sound could be heard as a jet of air shot forward, which made the man's clothes flutter and tear. Then, a sickening sound could be heard as Lin Mu's fist made contact with his back.
~Crack... floosh~
Lin Mu's fist broke through the man's back while turning his insides to mush. The fist then punctured through the chest and sprayed out the man's pulverized innards.
The now-dead man was stuck standing on the ground, with Lin Mu elbow deep in him.
Lin Mu then slowly withdrew his blood-drenched hand and sat down on the ground, breathless. Looking at what he had just done made him feel sick, but then the effects of the calming heart sutra resolved it for him.
"That was horrifying." Lin Mu spoke.
"You'll get used to it soon." Xukong spoke.
"At least you kept your wits. Good job defeating those men, I can certainly see the improvement." Xukong then spoke with a chuckle.
"It was all due to senior's guidance." Lin Mu politely replied.
Senior Xukong had been giving him pointers whenever he trained, which had helped him improve. Although senior Xukong himself had a completely different fighting style, he was still experienced enough to give pointers to him. Perhaps if he ever started giving lectures to the public, even immortals would attend to take benefit of it.
"Now won't you take a look at your spoils?" Xukong spoke
"Ah yes!" Lin Mu replied as he stood up.
The first thing Lin Mu did was to store the bodies inside the ring. After this, he went to the place where the six men were originally standing. There was a large rock placed at this location which seemed to be hiding something.
Lin Mu gazed at the rock and saw a small pool of blood near it. He looked behind it and saw something that shocked him.
"Gan Ma!?"
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