Lin Mu was rather surprised due to this discovery and wondered if there was really something problematic about the water.
~shua~
Suddenly he saw the glow again, and this time he could somewhat see the appearance of the object. It looked like a snail shell and was gently glowing in a blue light. From the surface of the water, it looked like a spark, but here he could see it better.
"A snail? But I didn't detect any life here." Lin Mu said.
He finally reached the bottom of the pond and went closer to the shell. It had dimmed down again and was hidden in the darkness. But for Lin Mu's spirit sense, it was no problem seeing the shell.
Lin Mu accurately picked it up and found it to be cold to the touch.. As he was holding it in his hand, he found the shell to suddenly become ice cold. It was then that it glowed again and let out the blue light.
Lin Mu was mesmerized by its appearance. The shell was a pale white and blue line went along the spiral on it. The shell was empty and it was evident that the snail that it belonged to had died.
He took another look around the bottom of the pond, but did not find anything else here. Lin Mu returned to the surface and let the water drip off the armor.
"Did you find it?" Little Shrubby questioned.
"I did," Lin Mu replied, and showed him the small shell in his right hand.
The shell was barely an inch in size, yet the cold it could exude was enough to make Lin Mu feel cold despite the armor of the mortal strengthening scripture.
"This is certainly not anything common if it can bypass the defenses of the armor." Lin Mu spoke.
"That might be the shell of a Glacial Snail." Xukong spoke.
"Oh? What's that senior?" Lin Mu questioned.
"It's a spirit beast as well but it's not really the same as normal spirit beasts. It can have a high cultivation base and yet not have a similar level of intelligence. They live in icy cold glaciers and can be found in its depths." Xukong answered.
"I see, wonder how this shell got here though." Lin Mu said.
He had not seen any cold areas when he was falling from the sky and even adviser Chu had said that there were no cold areas in the minor plane. Even on the tall mountains, there was no snow.
"It could have been brought in by some other cultivator that fell into the sinkhole, perhaps. Glacial snails aren't really that uncommon. They are hard to find just because they live beneath the thick glaciers.
But once you get to the right place, you will find enough of them." Xukong spoke.
"But how can it affect my armor? I'm not supposed to be able to feel temperature easily." Lin Mu asked.
"Hmm… it could be due to its inherent properties. The Glacial Snail is a beast of the extreme Yin Water attribute. Its body naturally contains the traces of the Dao and thus it can bypass the defenses of the armor." Xukong answered.
"That's rather strong. Isn't that only possible for Dao Treading realm cultivators and beasts?" Lin Mu said.
"Usually yes. But some beasts are just unique in that way. They don't need to be at the Dao Treading realm and can still contain the traces of Dao in their body." Xukong replied.
Lin Mu nodded his head and wondered if he could make use of this shell.
"I guess I can use this for the five treasures realm cultivation maybe." Lin Mu said.
"That might not be the best choice. Even though this shell is of the water element, it's not the normal water but rather Extreme Yin water. It may conflict with your body, thus it's best not to use it for that." Xukong suggested.
"I understand senior." Lin Mu agreed.
If senior Xukong said something was not right, it was best not to do it. So far, Lin Mu had avoided many problems due to senior Xukong's advice and wasn't intending to go against it for no reason.
Lin Mu put the shell away in the ring and went to explore the rest of the areas with little Shrubby.
"We should first try to find the place where the thousand year old Hong Lin trees grow." Lin Mu said.
"Do you want me to search at a fast speed?" Little Shrubby questioned.
"No, not now. There are some strong beasts hidden in this place and they might be far stronger than us. It is better to be careful for now." Lin Mu answered.
"Okay~" Little Shrubby replied.
Lin mu nodded his head and took out the map that the former adviser had given him.
"Hmm… now let's see which part matches what…" Lin Mu said as he looked at the details on the map.
The area they were in didn't really match the place and so he headed ahead, trying to get to an area that was actually mentioned on the map so that he could find a reference point.
~ROAR!~
While doing this, Lin Mu and Little Shrubby could hear the roar of a beast coming from the distance.
Little Shrubby's hair stood on its end, and so did Lin Mu's.
"It's a very strong beast. I can sense it…" Little Shrubby spoke.
Lin Mu nodded his head, "looks like Adviser Chu was right… there are Dao Shell realm beasts in this minor plane."
The roar had come from about two kilometers away, and Lin Mu definitely did not want to get close to that area. This also made him realize something else.
"No wonder the area was empty of beasts… no beast would dare to come near the place where a Dao shell realm beast lives." Lin Mu muttered.
The two of them quickly went as far as possible from the earlier location and reached one of the many forests that Lin Mu had seen from the sky.