Upon opening, Lin Mu's eyes looked dull and empty, but slowly they lit-up and gained their vigor back. Lin Mu looked around and remembered where he was. He stood up and shook off the dust that had settled on his body.
He opened the door of the room and walked outside. Lin Mu was feeling uncomfortable because of the dust, so decided to take a bath. He walked to the small well in the yard and drew up some water for a bath.
A few minutes later Lin Mu was refreshed, but then suddenly his stomach started groaning. A severe pang of hunger struck him, as he realized that he had probably not eaten for a while. He withdrew the beast meat from the ring and started to cook it.
Meanwhile, in the ring, Xukong was engrossed in absorbing the spatial energy. His progress had been great, and he had increased his cultivation base by a significant amount. The effect of the Buddhist aura on him was much greater than he thought.
Xukong's gains in these seven days were more than the entire month. He reckoned that if he was able to somehow maintain this pace, he'll probably be able to exceed his previous cultivation level in less than a million years.
While a million years would be an unimaginable amount of time for most people, it was but a mere fraction of his lifespan. For beings of his standing, it was immensely difficult to progress in cultivation. Their pace could even be considered to be slower than that of a snail.
Xukong still felt nice that his decision to start over by creating an avatar was correct. He wondered if that old monster knew an artifact like the ring existed, would he turn green with envy.
*****
A few thousand years ago, in the Grand Void.
A colossal platform could be seen floating in the space. It was black in color and its size was immeasurable. The borders of the platform could not be seen, making one wonder about its actual size.
On this colossal platform, an old ruined temple existed. The walls of the temple were mottled and degraded. It seemed as if they would collapse at any moment, yet it did not happen and they stood tall and unyielding. Hundreds of sky-piercing pillars held up the ceiling of the temple, which was glowing with a faint light.
A giant figure was approaching the colossal platform from above. The figure soon landed on the platform and walked towards the temple. The figure had a pale white body, eight legs, and ten golden yellow eyes. This was none other than the Void Weaver spider, Xukong.
Xukong walked towards the gate of the temple and entered through them. Even though Xukong's body was colossal, it had no problem passing through the gates, as they were even more massive. The inside of the temple looked similar to the outside, except for a large number of statues and sculptures placed inside of it.
Some of the statues and sculptures looked lifelike while others looked esoteric, making one lose themselves in its origins. The statues were made of a variety of materials and depicted beasts, demons, devils, plants, ghosts, humans, gods, buddhas, immortals, and a myriad of weapons.
The more Xukong walked forward, the more the number of statues increased. At a certain point, paintings also started appearing on the walls. The paintings were of various beings, landscapes, and mystical things.
Xukong kept on walking, and after an unknown amount of time, he finally reached the end of the temple. At the very end of the temple, a massive stone throne was erected. The throne was empty, yet a presence could be felt from it.
Xukong looked up at the throne and spoke,
"I'm here, old monster."
Xukong's deep voice echoed in the temple, making the statues shake. A faint silhouette appeared on the throne and then slowly materialized.
A person was now sitting on the throne. Compared to the throne, the person could be considered to be tiny. The person was wearing long and pitch-black robes, which had twinkling stars depicted on it. The stars would move and fade, thus making them look alive.
The person was wearing a hood over their head and one could not see their face as it was hidden by darkness. The person gently lifted its head towards Xukong and spoke.
"I see that."
"My duty is complete." Xukong spoke.
"Hmm, that could be said to be true and false." The hooded person replied.
"Stop with your word games and speak straight with me." Xukong said with a hint of annoyance.
"In terms of that place your duty is complete, but overall it is not." The hooded person spoke.
"Just tell me the new coordinates then." Xukong spoke with a sigh.
A surge of qi was released from the hooded person, which was then absorbed by Xukong. Having heard the coordinates, Xukong turned around to leave.
"Hmm, perhaps you should get a disciple." The hooded figure mysteriously spoke.
Xukong stopped in his tracks and replied without turning around.
"A disciple? As if I want that. Besides, how would I even get one, if I'm stuck performing my duty." Xukong replied.
"Teaching a disciple would help you learn. It will give you a new perspective of yourself and you may finally be able to exceed the limitations of your kind." The hooded person spoke.
"I'm sure you'll figure it out sometime." The hooded person added.
Xukong did not reply and swiftly left the temple. The hooded person was still there, sitting on the massive throne in silence.
"The time of upheaval is nigh, the heir of cosmos should be born soon." The hooded person muttered and then disappeared.
*****
Back at the northern town, Lin Mu had just finished eating. He had ravenously devoured all the meat that he had stored in the ring. He barely had any beast meat left, thus would have to hunt more today.
Lin Mu wondered how much time had passed, considering the kind of hunger he just experienced. Not being able to estimate the time or the day, Lin Mu decided to ask senior Xukong.
This time it was Xukong's turn to be woken from his reverie. Lin Mu spoke out in his mind, and Xukong heard it, which made him stop his cultivation session.
"Senior Xukong, How many days has it been?" Lin Mu asked.
"Hmm, it should be a week since you entered your state of enlightenment, this is the eighth day." Xukong answered.
Lin Mu was a little shocked by this revelation. He had expected it to be a couple of days, but never a week.
"So, what did you gain from the enlightenment? If you stayed in that state for such a long time, you should have some really great gains." Xukong spoke enthusiastically.
Lin Mu nodded and spoke,
"Yes senior, I ended up learning a lot of things. My comprehension of the calming heart sutra has also progressed to the next stage. It is now in the second stage of external comprehension."
"You should test out the effects of both the calming heart sutra and severing heart sutra on other people now." Xukong spoke.
Lin Mu agreed with senior Xukong's words. Originally he had been averse to the idea of testing out the severing heart sutra on other people, as he did not know how severe the effect would be. But now that the calming heart sutra was in the second stage of external comprehension as well, he should be able to use it on other people with no problem.
Lin Mu then remembered the condition of his beast meat stock. Wanting to get enough meat for at least the dinner, he left the house for the forest. While walking on the streets, Lin Mu saw a few scenes that made him feel strange.
He walked past a tavern that was usually boisterous even in the morning, yet today it was silent. The patrons within were sitting in silence, calmly drinking their choice of intoxicating liquid. He then passed the market and saw that it was also eerily silent. The people shopping were neither haggling nor arguing with the vendors.
Everywhere he walked by, he witnessed similar scenes. He started to wonder if the city mayor had declared a ban on noise or something.
"Umm senior, something seems wrong." Lin Mu muttered.
"Indeed. These signs are very strange." Xukong said.
'Seems like the Buddhist aura was much stronger than I thought, it was able to affect the entire town or perhaps even more.' Xukong thought.
Lin Mu randomly chose a person for his experiment. He started to chant the calming heart sutra and let its effect spread to that person. Now that he was in the second stage of external comprehension, he inherently knew how to do this.
Though a few moments later, Lin Mu could not see any change in the person. The person was still doing his previous task and was shopping. Unhindered by this failure, he tried using it on a variety of people. Yet in the end, the effects were the same, in that there were no effects.
"What am I doing wrong?" Lin Mu muttered to himself.