Chapter 178: No Respite (1/2)

Lin Mu sat there for hours following the technique, yet could feel no difference, except for his spirit qi being consumed. He only stopped when it had been nearly empty and only had about a hundred wisps left along with of course the liquid spirit qi drops.

~Sigh~

”This is much more difficult than I thought.” Lin Mu muttered.

~Pop~

”Well, cultivation techniques usually take a while to learn and for auxiliary ones like this one, the time frame is even vast. It's a technique that has never been cultivated, thus we can not put an estimate on it.” Xukong said, after suddenly appearing in front of Lin Mu.

Ever since Lin Mu had progressed in his cultivation, Xukong had been able to freely appear and disappear from the Sleepscape as long as he himself was there. Xukong did not tell Lin Mu this, but he himself was starting to enjoy his time there.

While he was beyond habituated to cultivating in seclusion in the void, having a break like this felt refreshing to him and he even felt a slight improvement in his cultivation speed.

”I will have to wait and see then. Hopefully, I learn it before the Great Slumber bear awakens from its sleep.” Lin Mu replied.

He then stood up and withdrew a long spear from the ring. Lin Mu had practiced a sufficient amount with the two slim swords and now wanted to try out the other weapons. His next choice of weapon was the spear, as it had the farthest reach for him.

Lin Mu started his practice with the spear and followed the stances and maneuvers mentioned in the Thousand armament blade scripture. He practiced until he felt mentally tired and then stopped. Lin Mu noticed that he had tired much faster than before.

”Huh, is it due to my depleted spirit qi?” Lin Mu questioned himself.

”Well, it could be that. Perhaps you need a certain amount of spirit qi in order to maintain your connection with the garden of karma. If that is true, then having a low amount of spirit qi may be reducing your capability to practice further here. Though this is all that I could deduce, we still don't know how exactly a Garden of Karma works.” Xukong replied from behind Lin Mu.

Lin Mu nodded and spoke, ”Hmm, I see. Well then, time to sleep again.”

Lin Mu then willed it and his body disappeared from the Sleepscape, and he entered deep sleep. Waking up in the morning, the first thing Lin Mu did was to clutch his stomach.

~Groan~

”Aargh!” He screamed in pain.

”Wha…t… is… this… pain…?!” Lin Mu uttered between breaths.

He could barely breathe right now and was slumped up against his bed. Lin Mu was unable to think clearly right now and did not know what was happening to him. He did not even hear senior Xukong who was calling out to him.