Lin Mu became interested in what senior Xukong had just spoken. However, he could perceive that senior Xukong was still in thoughts, thus he did not interrupt him and waited till he was done.
But Lin Mu did not expect that he would get no answer even after thirty minutes, thus he returned Senior Xukong to the ring and started practicing with his weapons.
After nearly four hours, Lin Mu heard the voice of senior Xukong in his mind prompting to bring him out of the ring. He heeded senior Xukong's words and brought him out of the ring.
After being brought out of the ring senior Xukong floated up from his hand and flew away at great speed, only to return after ten seconds.
Xukong had heard about the characteristics of the Sleepscape from Lin Mu's mouth, but he still wanted to see it with his own eyes. After observing the entire place, he came to the conclusion that this place was indeed a 'Garden of karma'. Though it had some differences compared to the information, he had in his memories.
The biggest difference was in the rudimentary laws. From the information he had in his memories, he knew that a Garden of karma was a fully stable spatial realm with its own Dao laws. But in the case of Lin Mu, there wasn't even a sun in the sky and there was no night either. And from the ability of the space to return to its initial conditions, he could tell that this place was not fully developed yet.
Though the fact that strengthened his belief in this being a Garden of karma was the spirit apple tree that was growing in the middle of the Sleepscape. It was the only thing in this place that allowed 'change', the change being able to pick its fruits.
"What do you know about Sleepscape, Senior Xukong?" Lin Mu asked.
"This place that you call Sleepscape is actually a spatial realm called as Garden of Karma. It was difficult for me to identify it because of its rarity and also because of its characteristics being different from the ones I know." Xukong answered.
"Why is this place different?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Well, even the information I have in my memories is not complete. It is not known whether the creation of a Garden of Karma is linked to a person's physique or something else. Even the existence of a single Garden of Karma is incredibly rare, such that there are known records of only four people in the entire cosmos." Xukong replied with uncertainty in his voice.
"Because there have only been four owners in the past, the information about the Garden of karma is very limited. Even the past owners had differences between the characteristics of their respective Gardens of karma. But I can say one thing for sure, your Garden of Karma is not developed yet. And even after it is developed, it will still keep on growing. For example, you are not able to use vital energy here, but you should be able to use spirit qi." Xukong explained.
Lin Mu felt a little happy that there were other people who had a similar condition to him before. He felt that he may be able to resolve a lot of his questions if he got to know them. He also tried guiding the spirit qi and found that he was indeed able to control spirit qi in the Sleepscape now.
"These people who had a Garden of karma, where are they?" Lin Mu asked with a hint of anticipation on his face.
"Three of them died before I was born and the one that I knew of also died some years ago." Xukong answered.
Disappointment could be seen on Lin Mu's face after hearing senior Xukong's answer. However, he was able to snap out of it and returned to his weapons practice. Senior Xukong stayed there, floating in the air. He was observing Lin Mu's weapon skills.
Xukong saw that Lin Mu was using multiple weapons instead of focusing on one weapon, thus was intrigued by this. He had seen some experts use multiple weapons before but those experts were much much stronger than Lin Mu.
"Why do you use multiple weapons instead of focusing on only one?" Xukong curiously asked.
Lin Mu stopped his spear thrust mid-way and turned around to answer senior Xukong.
"I prefer using multiple weapons, as I want to be ready if there ever comes a situation where I've lost all my weapons and I don't have a choice. I want to be able to use any weapon that's available in that situation." Lin Mu answered.
"If you are going to follow this path, then you need to learn from a proper weapons manual that teaches the use of multiple weapons." Xukong advised.
"I know that senior. I've been intending to buy a weapons manual once I return to the town." Lin Mu answered.
Senior Xukong hummed in approval and spoke,
"You probably won't be able to find a Spirit weapon manual in that town though I expect."
"Spirit weapon manual? But I will first need a spirit weapon before that, senior." Lin Mu replied with slight confusion.
"You already have one. Your short sword is a spirit weapon. Don't tell me you didn't know that." Xukong spoke with a puzzled voice.
Lin Mu was shocked by this revelation. He never expected that the short sword he had been using all this time had been a spirit weapon.
"I… I did not know that. But I don't think a spirit weapon should so cheap that it is worth less than even a gold coin." Lin Mu said with an embarrassed face.
Seeing that senior Xukong did not understand him, Lin Mu explained to him how he bought the short sword from the old store and how he was suspecting that the owner and his granddaughter were cultivators.
"Hmm, I don't know why that old man gave you the short sword for cheap, but I can tell that he is definitely a cultivator." Xukong said.
'Everything will be revealed when we get to the town, anyway.' Xukong said inwardly.
"How do I use a spirit weapon then, senior?" Lin Mu asked with excitement on his face.
"Use it the same way you strengthen your body with qi. Spirit weapons are conductive to spirit qi, thus you will be able to guide it into it the same way you do with your body." Xukong explained.
Lin Mu withdrew the short sword and held it in his hand. He guided a wisp of spirit qi from his dantian and guided it into his hand, and from his hand he let it flow into the short sword. He had thought there may be a slight difficulty in doing this but did not expect the short sword to freely accept his spirit qi.
As soon as spirit qi entered the short sword, it hummed and a faint glow could be seen in it. A few runes appeared on the blade and soon faded away. Lin Mu then slashed at the air and could see a faint outline cutting out in the air. Senior Xukong saw this and spoke,
"Hmm, surprisingly that short sword is a high-grade spirit weapon." Xukong spoke.
Lin Mu looked at senior Xukong with a question expression, which he understood and explained.
"Spirit weapons are divided into four grades depending on their quality. They are- low grade, mid-grade, high grade, and top-grade spirit weapon."
"That old man was very generous if he gave you a high-grade spirit weapon. He even sealed it so that other cultivators won't be able to detect it. But now that you've activated the short sword and released the seal, you'll need to be careful." Xukong said.
Lin Mu could not help but wonder why that old man would give him such a precious item.
"Also, you won't be able to use the full potential of the short sword yet. If you want to be able to fly with it, you will have to reach the core condensation realm or at the very least the peak of the qi refining realm. You will also need to refine your spirit sense to a much higher level as well, as you need spirit sense for the more complex control of spirit weapons." Xukong elaborated.
Lin Mu felt elated at the aspect of flying. He had heard the stories of immortals who would fly using their swords, clouds, beast, and countless other items. Being able to fly was one of the dreams that everyone had as a child.
When he slashed using the short sword, he had only used a single wisp of spirit qi. Back then, he was able to feel that it was not the limit and he can actually amplify the strength of the short sword even more. To test out the maximum power of the short sword he withdrew the large heavy rock that he had found in the spatial rift.
Lin Mu had tested the rock before and knew that the rock was unusually strong and hard. It would be the perfect target to test the power of the short sword on. He thus channeled spirit qi into the short sword and kept on doing it, till he felt that he was going to lose control over it. Once it was filled with 200 wisps of spirit qi, Lin Mu raised the blade and slashed the rock with all his might.
In the next moment, the blade passed through the rock with ease, as if a hot knife through butter. The part that was cut fell down, revealing a smooth surface at the site of the cut.