A minute ago.
Xukong had finally felt the barrier surrounding the mysterious ring disappear. He had been trying to contact Lin Mu's mind but was unsuccessful as the shield surrounding it was still present, but now that his spirit sense could leave the ring he could at least observe what was happening outside.
As soon as Xukong's spirit sense left the ring he saw the Town head's skull getting crushed in Lin Mu's hand. He was surprised by this sudden development. But not because Lin Mu had killed someone, instead because of how quickly and effortlessly he had done it.
Xukong then saw the expression on Lin Mu's face and the condition of his body. The malevolent smile on his face, accompanied by the blood-shot eyes and the strained veins, only made him think of one thing.
"Demonic Might! He's actually able to replicate the innate ability of the demon race." Xukong exclaimed.
'Is this the new ability that he received from the ring? Is that why there was the aura of the Demonic path in the ring?' Xukong wondered.
There were many more questions that were popping up in his mind, questions to which he could not find the answers to right now. But that was the least of his concerns. Xukong knew about the ability 'Demonic Might' and knew the side effects that came with it.
'Will he be able to bear them… No. He doesn't have enough spirit qi to even reach that point. He should be exhausted anytime now.' Xukong thought.
Xukong next saw Han Lei revealing his secret and taking Lu Xiao hostage. He then saw Lin Mu blink and appear behind him, swiftly killing him.
'This is a little strange. His senses should have become dull after using the ability, but they seem to be normal still. Is this ability not Demonic Might?' Xukong wondered.
*****
Lin Mu was standing over the dead body of Han Lei and the now unconscious Lu Xiao. Evidently, the entire ordeal had been extremely intense for Lu Xiao, and he had fainted due to the shock.
Lin Mu pulled out the short sword that was still stuck in Han Lei's skull and splattered more blood on the floor. Even though he had killed both the people in the room, he still did not feel satisfied. He wanted more.
The comfort that he felt while killing them was only temporary and lasted for a few minutes before fading away. The rage within him was still seething and demanded more.
Lin Mu looked over to the unconscious Lu Xiao.
"It'll be a bother to explain this to him, and there are more people outside the building. Better just kill him and be done with this." Lin Mu spoke to himself.
Xukong heard Lin Mu's muttering and tried to warn Lin Mu, but was unsuccessful as the shield in his mind was still there.
'It's the ability! It's clouding his mind and preventing me from talking to him.' Xukong understood.
Lin Mu was just about to stab his blade through Lu Xiao's heart when he suddenly stumbled back. His head felt like it was spinning and a wave of intense exhaustion washed over him. Lin Mu held on to the wall nearby and collapsed onto the floor.
"Wha… What's happening?" Lin Mu uttered before fainting.
"Ah, so his spirit qi finally ran out. Just in time, or he would have just complicated the situation more and increased his own work." Xukong said with a relieved tone.
'Let's see how long it takes for him to recover. I'll need to keep a lookout, though I don't know for how long I would be able to do that. The world's restrictions should be returning soon.' Xukong concluded.
Xukong had realized that the reason why the world's restrictions were not affecting his spirit sense. It was because of the mysterious ring. His conjecture proved to be right when the environment within the mysterious ring started to revert to normal.
The altar returned to an ethereal state, and the beam of light that was being emanated from it was also stopped. Even the True Grand Formation Array faded away as if it never existed. Xukong then felt the world's restrictions acting as his spirit sense was forced to retreat back into the ring.
'We'll just have to leave it up to luck now. If someone discovers him, he'll just have to deal with it.' Xukong thought.
Fortunately for Lin Mu, it seemed like people seldom came to the town head's office, as even after an hour, no one came to check up on them. Not even a clerk or staffer came to pay a visit. From this, one could tell that the mayor was either very reserved or was overbearing enough that the people avoided him.
Lin Mu eventually woke up feeling fatigued. His body was aching and felt sore as if he had overexerted himself in training. He looked around and saw the aftermath of his fight. It was then that the memories came to him.
All that he had previously done hit him like a tsunami.
"How did I do this? And why would I even think of killing Lu Xiao?" Lin Mu spoke to himself with dread.
"Finally, you're awake. All that has happened is due to the new ability that you obtained." Xukong answered.
"A new ability? The Burning Heart Sutra!" Lin Mu recalled.
"So it's called the Burning Heart Sutra. A fitting name for its effects, I must say." Xukong replied.
"Do you know about it, senior?" Lin Mu asked with a desperate tone.
Lin Mu had been feeling a little sick due to what he had done, and his mind was not in the right condition right now either. He was desperate for answers because although he could remember the chants for the Burning heart sutra, its effects were much more dangerous than he thought.
When he had received the Calming heart sutra and the Severing heart sutra, nothing of such sort had occurred. The effects of Burning heart sutra were the most impactful, or rather one could even say overbearing.
Xukong knew what was going through Lin Mu's mind and knew that he would have to counsel him for a little bit soon. But for now, he needed to deal with this situation first. He may have forgotten that if someone discovered them here, they would be caught red handed.
"I do know some things about it, but now's not the time. First, you need to deal with the scenario here. Anyone could come here and discover you." Xukong spoke.
Lin Mu then realized the severity of the situation and became even more stressed.
~sigh~
"First you need to replenish your spirit qi. Eat the spirit apples that you have stored in the ring." Xukong suggested after sighing.
Lin Mu heeded Senior Xukong's advice and withdrew three spirit apples from the ring and started eating them. In a couple of minutes, the spirit apples had disappeared down his stomach. He then started chanting the severing heart sutra and assimilated the spirit qi that was being released into his stomach.
Two minutes later he had replenished a part of his spirit qi store and had obtained around a hundred wisps. Another big thing he noticed was that after using the severing heart sutra, a portion of his stress had disappeared.
Lin Mu then informed senior Xukong about this effect and asked for more advice.
"Hmm, it was expected. The Buddhist path and the Sword path are the opposites of the Demonic path, of course." Xukong said.
"What are these paths you're talking about?" Lin Mu asked.
"I'll explain them to you later. Just know that the Calming heart sutra and Severing heart sutra can most likely help you recover from the aftereffects of the Burning heart sutra." Xukong urged.
Lin Mu nodded in understanding and tried chanting the calming heart sutra. In another surprise to him, the effect of the calming heart sutra was even better than the Severing heart sutra as he instantly felt better. His normal state of mind returned and his thoughts became sharp again.
Lin Mu now started to think of possible solutions to his current situation. He had killed the Town head and the Han Lei, and there was no chance that this wouldn't become huge news for the town. Even if he hid their bodies and cleaned up the scene, there would still be people who would have seen him enter the town center.
The staffers and the mercenaries had all seen them enter the building, so it would be incredibly suspicious if he left in front of them. There was another problem in front of him though, Lu Xiao. He was innocent and had witnessed him kill the two people, thus if he reported to others it would become difficult for him.
'Is that why the previous me wanted to kill Lu Xiao? Just so that I wouldn't have to deal with the extra load. Well, it may work, but I don't want to kill him just because of this.' Lin Mu thought.
"You do have something that can help you not only deal with this situation but also potentially turn it around in your favor," Xukong spoke.