After hearing the explanation given by Senior Xukong, Lin Mu finally understood the level of trouble that had been caused. Though now he wondered, what Gu Yao was up to.
"What happened to Gu Yao now senior?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Hmm… I do not know, but the mental strain I put on him should be enough for about three days. I think he probably woke up two days ago." Xukong estimated.
"Three days ago? Wait! If he was unconscious all this time, doesn't that mean we could have attacked him then?" Lin Mu asked, feeling as if they had lost a great opportunity.
"No… not exactly. Even if he was unconscious, he had already made the entire city his servant by then. After the Supreme elder and the peak master Yi Deng were controlled, the rest of them were a child play for him. It seemed like it was only those two who were causing him to take such a long time.
The weaker cultivators were controlled rather quickly after that. Because of this, even if you tried to attack him, the others would have stopped you. The Human Controlling Blood Curse that Gu Yao used is a rather sinister technique." Xukong explained.
"I see… Senior." Lin Mu replied.
"Well, now that you're already here at the cave, I assume you've checked out the condition of the great slumber beast? Is it weakened yet?" Xukong questioned.
Lin Mu shook his head and spoke, "seems like we underestimated its ability. Not only has it expelled the invader from its body, it has also recovered its cultivation base up to the peak stage of the core condensation realm."
"So it really did… I had hoped that it would take longer but seems like we have no option now." Xukong said.
"What do we do now senior?" Lin Mu questioned.
"You won't be able to refine the bloodline of the Great Slumber bear with your current cultivation base," Xukong said.
"Then you mean…" Lin Mu said before being interrupted.
"Yes, you'll have to break through to the Core condensation realm," Xukong confirmed.
"But that would take more time, and won't the great slumber beast only get more strong till then?" Lin Mu asked with concern.
"Just because you need to be at the core condensation realm to refine the bloodline doesn't mean that you can't kill it." Xukong said.
Lin Mu understood what he was saying and nodded his head.
"My body is going to fully become a Xiantian physique too." Lin mu informed.
"Oh, it is? That's good… Wait!" Xukong suddenly said.
"What's the problem, Senior?" Lin Mu questioned.
"There may be another way to approach this. If you obtain the Xiantian physique, your body will be strong enough to use that method," Xukong said.
"Are you suggesting a different method than what we practiced, Senior?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Yes. This one is a rather crude method and isn't used that much. But the advantage of this method is that you can directly assimilate the bloodline while also increasing your cultivation base." Xukong informed.
"It has risks and I'll explain them to you. Tell me if you want to attempt it after that." Xukong said.
"Alright Senior, please tell me." Xukong then went on to explain everything to Lin Mu.
The steps were many, and it took a while before Xukong was able to explain everything. But after that Lin Mu did not even rest for a second before saying, "I'll do it!"
"You sure?" Xukong asked again.
"Yes, Senior. I believe in myself, this is our fastest way. If we wait too long, who knows what more difficulties could arise." Lin Mu said.
"Alright, now then you have to prepare." Xukong said.
Lin Mu nodded his head and began chanting the calming heart sutra. He knew that to progress the Xiantian physique he no longer needed Vital energy as it had already been saturated fully in his body. That 0.01% that was left was something that he needed to check himself.
Lin Mu stimulated the vital energy within his body and observed its movements. It flowed from his cells into his blood and then into the rest of the body. A harmonic cycle was formed between this, and it continued without a stop.
He probed every single inch of his body and searched for flaws. He tried to see where the problem laid, and what was causing him to not progress further. Just like this, hours passed and night arrive.
~Huu~
Lin Mu let out a breath and opened his eyes.
"What could the problem be… I can't see it anywhere?" Lin Mu muttered to himself.
'What is it that I'm missing now…' Lin Mu thought as he ticked off things from a list.
Finally, he came upon something very obvious that he had missed.
"My Dantian! I never checked it." Lin Mu realized it.
He chanted the severing heart sutra and probed the dantian, trying to see where the problem was.
"Here it is… no wonder I couldn't see it." Lin Mu stated.
The last bit of impurities was actually settled upon the outer layer of the dantian and was hidden because of the spirit qi fluctuations that arose from it. The impurities had merged with the dantian and seemed as if they had always been there.
Lin Mu made up his mind as a serious expression appeared on his face.
~humm~
The spirit qi sea within Lin Mu's dantian started roiling as it began emanating wisps of spirit qi. The wisps tried to enter the meridians due to the dantian becoming full, but Lin Mu had blocked them. He forced the medians shut and kept on increasing the amount of spirit qi wisps in the dantian.
Bit by bit the pressure on the walls of his dantian started increasing, and Lin Mu felt as if knives were goring him from the inside. He gritted his teeth and continued doing what he was, not faltering even for a second.
Another hour passed as the howls of beasts could be heard from afar when the sound of something shattering could be heard.