Lin Mu knew that a tribulation platform was out of the question for him since he didn't even have a Qi cultivation technique. Senior Xukong had explained to him back in the Sleepscape that he was following what was called the path of the primordials.
The primordials were none other than the very first Qi cultivators that were born in the cosmos. They were the ones who established the way of qi cultivation and from where Qi cultivation started.
At that time they did not have any Qi cultivation techniques, and they followed the body cultivation path. But that was not possible for everyone to practice and thus when the hostilities and conflicts with the other races were reduced, mankind thought of finding a way to cultivate Qi normally.
It took them many years before they figured out a method to absorb spirit Qi from the environment. They gained the knowledge of meridians and the Dantian becoming more erudite.
Back then cultivation was simply absorbing the spirit Qi into one's body passively and there was no specific method as everyone figured it out on their own. Those that had good observation and perception were able to do it better than others and succeeded.
Then as time passed, the cultivators started to figure out methods to better absorb and assimilate the spirit Qi. These methods were recorded and refined, before they became the first cultivation techniques.
But it wasn't as if the cultivation techniques from back then were necessarily good than the ones that were practiced currently. In fact, even Lin Mu would have been extremely slow in cultivating had it not been for the support of the ring.
But now that he had the bloodline of the Great Slumber Bear assimilated in his body, he had overcome one of the flaws of the primordial path.
Xukong had told him that the primordial path would help him in the future, but he hadn't told him exactly how because of the restriction of the world. The simplest way he could do was to give a comparison.
He said that the primordial path was like a key that was compatible with nearly any lock, while cultivation techniques could restrict them to a lesser number of the locks.
~whoosh~
While pondering on his thoughts, Lin Mu suddenly felt a strong gust of wind passing by. The wind shook the trees and made some leaves fall from them. He looked around and spotted a group of cultivators passing by in the sky. But they were not flying on separate spirit tools, but rather on a boat of some kind. It was ten meters long and two meters wide from what Lin Mu could estimate.
It flew through the air and did not have a sail. But its speed was quite fast and whipped up winds as it passed by.
"Is that a spirit boat?" Lin Mu asked.
"Yes, that is indeed a spirit boat. A low quality one though." Xukong confirmed.
Lin Mu gazed at the people that were sitting in the boat and saw they were wearing the same type of outfits which made him think that they belonged to a cultivation sect. By the time he saw them though, they had gotten far and thus he couldn't tell which sect they belonged to from their outfit.
"They came from the west and are heading to the south as well… the closest sect that is located in the west is the Cloven Sea sect. Hmm… I don't think their outfits match those of Dumu Ao from the tournament." Lin Mu muttered to himself.
"They are in a spirit boat which is an uncommon spirit tool for this world, they are probably not from some low level sect," Xukong said.
"That is true." Lin Mu muttered and got up.
Little Shrubby was now fine and stood up with a long stretch.
"I'm ready!" he said.
"Alright, let's continue." Lin Mu said and got onto his back.
Lin Mu had not expected it at first, but little Shrubby's back was relatively comfortable to sit on. The fur was soft and thick which made it ways, though the main problem raised from the speed which threatened to throw him back because of which he needed to tightly grip his fir.
'Hmm… maybe I can get a harness made too…' Lin Mu thought to himself.
Lin Mu added that to the list of items he wanted to commission for little Shrubby. Right now the things on the list were; a spatial storage tool, a spirit tool that could help him to better cook and do other stuff since he did not have hands, and then finally this harness.
Lin Mu and Little Shrubby shot forward in a leap and covered hundreds of meters in a second. A couple of hours passed and then they came upon an obstacle.
There was now an army blockade in front of Lin Mu. If this were any normal blockade, Lin Mu would have been able to go around it but the problem was it was set up in a circular perimeter around the capital city.
Lin Mu could tell that there were cultivators in the blockade as well, and they were vigilantly watching around for anyone passing by. Near the blockade, he spotted a long line of carts and carriages along with people who were waiting for their turn to get in.
Now here came the problem for Lin Mu. It was no problem for him to enter the blockade alone but he wouldn't be able to take Little Shrubby with him. He wanted him there near the city so that he could help him if any problems arose.
With little Shrubby's speed, it wouldn't take him long to cross over into the city and come to his aid. He could even escape with him if needed, as only an adolescent stage or adult stage nascent soul realm cultivator would be able to catch up with him.
"Hmm… how do we get through here now?" Lin Mu wondered for a bit before an idea came to his mind.