Lin Mu took a deep breath when he saw the outcome of his slash. He had expected it to cut a certain part of the rock. But did not think the sword would end up smoothly cleaving through the rock. He looked closer at the cut and found that the surface was smooth and shiny.
Lin Mu then relaxed and let the spirit qi return back to his dantian. He sensed that he had consumed fifty wisps out of the 200 that he had reinforced the short sword with.
'I'll be able to use four strikes of equal to this strength after amplifying the short sword to the maximum once.' Lin Mu thought.
While Lin Mu was focused on the short sword, Senior Xukong's focus was on the large rock. Xukong felt a little confused at the large rock. He was able to identify the material it was made out of.
'Why is there such a large chunk of Heavy depths Iron ore here? It shouldn't be present in this world.' Xukong thought.
"Where did you get this Heavy depths iron ore from Lin Mu?" Xukong questioned.
Lin Mu stopped his thoughts upon listening to senior Xukong question and turned towards him.
"Heavy depths Iron ore? You mean this large rock?" Lin Mu counter asked.
"Yes, that's what it is called." Xukong answered.
"Oh, I found it in a spatial rift. Is it something rare and special?" Lin Mu spoke.
'Is there a collapsed oceanic world somewhere nearby?' Xukong pondered to himself.
"Not specifically. Except for it being heavy and hard, there isn't much special about it. Although it is not rare, but such a large chunk is usually only formed is special conditions. In a world such as this, only smaller chunks of it would be found." Xukong answered.
Heavy depths iron was a type of metal that was formed under the heavy pressure of a large water body. It could be found in any world that had seas or ocean, but the size of its ore would depend on the size of the ocean. The chunk of ore that Lin Mu found was too large for it to belong to this world. The only place it could be formed would be in an oceanic world.
Oceanic worlds were large planets that had nearly no landmass and were completely covered with water. Such worlds were dominated by monstrous Aquatic beasts and were often uninhabitable for cultivators. However, oceanic worlds also had magical treasures and unique materials that were only found within them. Thus they were the targets of many large cultivator sects and organizations.
Since Lin Mu was able to find such a large chunk of Heavy depths iron ore, it meant that there was quite likely a collapsed oceanic world nearby this world. It also meant that there were precious treasures that were lost in the void, waiting to be found. And if someone was able to find the original location of the oceanic world, they may even be able to find something priceless, a world essence crystal.
Stopping his train of thought Xukong, saw that Lin Mu was asking him something.
"Senior is this Heavy depths Iron ore useful for making weapons or armors and can it be sold?" Lin Mu asked with expectation on his face.
"It is unsuitable for making weapons and armor because of its properties. It would be fine if it was just hard and heavy, but because it also obstructs the flow of spirit qi, it is not used to make them. Instead, it is used in the construction of defensive fortifications for castles and forts, so you can sell it." Xukong answered.
Lin Mu's eyes lit up with the glint of gold. Now that he had the support of senior Xukong, he would not have to be as cautious as before and would be able to ask him for advice. The quicker he bought back his house, the quicker he would be able to start his journey into the cultivation world.
While Lin Mu was thinking about his future prospects, Xukong was thinking about the situation of this world. He was wondering if there were more collapsed worlds near Lin Mu's world. He thought of a way to confirm his doubts.
"What other items have you found in the spatial rifts? Show me all of them." Xukong ordered.
Realization dawned on Lin Mu's mind. If the large rock which looked useless was precious, then who knows what other things he found were rare and perhaps priceless. Lin Mu hurriedly started taking out one item after the other from the ring. Soon enough there were five piles of items lying haphazardly on the ground inside of the Sleepscape.
Lin Mu had separated the items which he found useful, such as the booklet which contained the martial technique 'boulder collapsing fist' and the four vessels restoration pills in different piles and useless items like the old shoe and clump of soil into a different pile.
Senior Xukong closely scrutinized every item and then came to float in front of Lin Mu. He then instructed Lin Mu to separate the items into two different piles from the five piles. Senior Xukong then came to float in front of a pile and spoke,
"This is garbage."
"This is useful." Xukong said after floating over to the other pile.
Lin Mu looked at the garbage pile and sure enough, most of the items he thought were useless were just that, useless. But he was a little surprised looking at the pile of useful items. There were some items which he did not think would be useful.
For example, the clump of soil that he had found was now in the pile of useful items and the small shard of metal was too. Lin Mu could not understand the reasoning behind this, thus he asked senior Xukong.
"That clump of soil is not what you think it is. It is actually the dried blood of a spirit beast. While that metal shard is quite possibly part of an immortal tool. Even though it's only a small shard, it is still linked to the immortal tool and you may be able to find it with the help of it." Xukong explained.
Lin Mu was shocked upon hearing about an immortal tool. He could tell that it was something that was above spirit weapons and was much stronger than them. But he could not help but wonder how these items ended up in the spatial rifts.
"Senior there is one thing I could not understand. How do these items end up inside of spatial rifts?" Lin Mu asked apprehensively.
"There are many reasons for that. But the most common reasons are either the destruction of a spatial treasure or the collapse of a world. Depending on the reason, the item will be lost in a different layer of the void." Xukong answered.
Lin Mu had heard the two words Grand Void and lesser void from senior Xukong before, but could not understand the difference between them. Thus he asked him to explain.
"Senior, could you explain to me about the void?" Lin Mu asked.
"While you will not understand the actual characteristics of the void, I'll give you a simplified explanation. The Void can be broadly divided into four layers- the lesser void, the great void, the greater void, and the Grand void." Xukong spoke and took a pause until he was sure that Lin Mu had digested this information.
"The lesser void is a place that exists parallel to the real world and is separate for each of the worlds. The great void is the layer which contains minor worlds and spatial dimensions, your Sleepscape could be considered as an example of a spatial dimension.
While the Greater Void contains all the worlds in a specific realm. Finally, the Grand Void is the layer that separates the different major realms and contains all the layers below it. Also, every higher layer in the void contains multiples of the layer below it. For example, the great void has multiple layers of the lesser void contained within it." Xukong explained.
Lin Mu was a little overwhelmed by all the information that senior Xukong had just spoken. It took him a few minutes before he was able to analyze and integrate all the information into his mind. He also felt minuscule at the immensity of the entire universe. He could not even imagine the sheer size of the worlds that existed, not to speak of entire realms.
Xukong saw that Lin Mu was astounded at his explanation, thus he spoke,
"Don't be overwhelmed by my explanation. Even if you don't understand it right now, it won't matter. You will eventually understand it in the future."
Lin Mu felt a little better after hearing senior Xukong's encouraging words. His attention was then redirected towards the useful pile of items. There were some items in it that he knew were useful, but he could not tell what their use could be. One such item was the high-quality wooden slip he had found.
Lin Mu picked up the wooden slip from the pile and showed it to senior Xukong while asking,
"Senior, what it this wooden slip, why is there nothing written in it?"
Xukong looked at the exquisite wooden slip in Lin Mu's hand and let out a chuckle before speaking,
"That is the most useful item out of all of them, its worth exceeds all the items combined. That wooden slip is a Legacy treasure."