Xukong was a little lost upon seeing that Lin Mu was unable to affect any people. He could not figure out the reason for that either. Even if they had been affected by the Buddhist aura, they should still show some signs.
Understanding that this may not work, he decided to tell Lin Mu to try something else.
"Try using the Severing heart sutra on them." Xukong said.
"But senior…" Lin Mu spoke.
"Trust me. I think the reason why they are not affected by the calming heart sutra is that they are already under its effects." Xukong spoke, interrupting his sentence.
"Already under its effects? What do you mean senior?" Lin Mu questioned.
"While you were gaining enlightenment, the aura of the Buddhist path was being released from you. At first, I didn't know its reach, but now that I've seen these people, I can say that it was very strong." Xukong answered.
Lin Mu gently nodded and decided to go ahead. He took a deep breath and started chanting the severing heart sutra. He had chosen another man who seemed to be shopping. The effects of the severing heart sutra spread to the man and in an instant, the effects could be seen.
The man's eyes turned dull and his face became expressionless. It was as if he was a puppet whose strings were cut off. The man was currently standing in front of a vegetable vendor and holding some vegetables.
When the severing heart sutra affected him, he held onto the vegetables and just walked away without paying the vendor. The vendor noticed this and went after him to demand his payment.
"Hey! You can't just walk away without paying." The vendor shouted.
Seeing the vendor agitated, Lin Mu was a little surprised as the effect of the Buddhist aura had stopped. But a few seconds later, the vendor became calm again. The man who had taken the vegetables was still walking away. He had not responded when the vendor called out to him.
The vendor sighed seeing this and just went back to his shop without bothering to chase after the man.
"Hmm… this is interesting." Xukong spoke.
"Try using the calming heart sutra on that man now." Xukong ordered.
Lin Mu nodded and started chanting the calming heart sutra. The effects of the calming heart sutra spread to the man and his expression changed. Instead of the expressionless face and the dull eyes, a tranquil look appeared on him. A certain glint of intelligence returned to his eyes along with the glamor on his face.
"The effects are rather quick and abrupt, other people may notice it." Lin Mu spoke.
"That is true, but I think it's more of a question of practice. You just need more practice and then you should be able to control it better." Xukong advised.
"Yes senior." Lin Mu affirmed.
Lin Mu then set out to test the other aspects of the two sutras. He tested out its duration and range. He found out that the range of the sutras was currently limited to a range of ten meters, while the duration of its effectiveness was fifteen minutes. Though, if he kept on chanting, the effects would continue on.
Lin Mu also found out that the more he used the two sutras on other people, the more tired he got. This fatigue was not physical, but rather mental. If he continued using it despite his fatigue, a splitting headache would soon stop him.
It took him four hours to test it all out, and he even had to change his "Test subjects" as he could not just randomly follow people for that long without raising suspicion. Also, the people who he tested the sutras on started to feel strange as their emotions were going haywire. Lin Mu did not want to push his luck and harm innocent people, hence he stopped his experiment.
Lin Mu then walked out of the town and went towards the forest to hunt. He reached the forest after ten minutes and looked around for changes. The forest also felt a little calmer than normal. Though it was not completely silent, the noise was lower than normal.
"Did the effect spread to the forest as well?" Lin Mu questioned himself.
"It does seem like it, though I think the intensity was much less. The effect of the sutras on beasts should be different than humans. Most beasts have a distinct set of emotions than humans, thus you'll have to test out the specific effect yourself." Xukong replied.
"I'll have to capture some beasts then." Lin Mu muttered.
Lin Mu walked into the forest and went towards the depths of the forest. He wanted to hunt some spirit beasts, or at least some high tier beasts, as he did not feel satiated by lower-tier beasts. He soon found a beast, but it was a mid-tier beast. Not wanting to waste the time, Lin Mu swiftly killed it and stored it in the ring.
A few minutes later, he encountered a high tier beast. The beast had grey and green spotted skin with short limbs. It was the size of a calf and looked like a mix between a leopard and a bull. The beast had a screeching voice that disoriented Lin Mu for a bit.
While Lin Mu was disoriented, the beast pounced on him which he had to dodge by using the skill Flicker. After dodging, he twisted around and slashed at the beast, killing it. He stored the corpse and continued his hunt.
Lin Mu hunted four high tier beasts and nine mid-tier beasts over four hours, but he still could not find any spirit beasts. Only when the sun was about to set did he encounter a spirit beast. The spirit beast was the same kind of spirit beast that he had hunted before.
The beast was hiding on the top of a tree and was stalking him. Lin Mu had to use his spirit sense to get its exact location. The beast was around four meters away from him. Having confirmed this, Lin Mu used the second skill Blink, and appeared on the branch. The beast seemed startled by this and could not react.
Lin Mu stabbed his short sword through its back and ended its life. He then stored the corpse and decided to return to the town.
'Increasing the range of my spirit sense was definitely a good decision.' Lin Mu thought.
The sky had turned dark, and it had started snowing. The cries of the beasts had faded away, only to be replaced by the silence of freezing snow.
While on the way to the town, Lin Mu saw a small group of people standing on the side of the road. They were all wearing dark grey clothes and had their faces covered.