Lin Mu was a bit taken aback by the entire series of events. From what Kong Hutao's spirit portrait had said, there would be a test for him, but now it seemed to be far different from before.
Lin Mu's vision returned to the same ruins as before and he understood that whatever the test was, it was now over.
"That's it? I thought it would be a bit more difficult than that." Lin Mu muttered.
It was even more perplexing for him since there were so many skeletons and remains around the ruins showed that whatever the test was, it was far more dangerous than this. Plus, the formation arrays were rather complex as well.
"Seems like you being the world's ordained was enough to bypass the test." Xukong spoke.
"Perhaps…" Lin Mu muttered and looked towards the coffin, which had started to move.
~CREAK~
The coffin started to slide and a staircase was revealed below it.
"So, I'm supposed to go down?" Lin Mu guessed and walked towards it.
Little Shrubby waited outside, since they did not know if the formations would react to him being a test taker as well. The staircase was covered in darkness and Lin Mu had to light a flame above his hand to illuminate the path.
He could see that the walls of the stairwell were made from solid rock and the staircase was the same as well. Lin Mu walked for about a minute before reaching the very bottom of it.
There, he could see what looked like a very plain looking platform and on that platform, a table was placed. Walking up to it, Lin Mu discovered what looked like a small rectangular piece of stone kept on the platform.
"Is this the key?" Lin Mu said as he picked the rectangular stone up.
It looked similar to that of a miniature Jade slip, but was made from a different material. It was about the length of a pinky finger and was a greenish yellow in color. Lin Mu used his spirit sense to probe it and could feel that there were certain inscriptions written inside the key.
~shua~
The inscriptions suddenly started to move and Lin Mu felt a rush of memories in his mind.
"I am Kong Hutao, the last ancestor of the Kong clan.
If you have managed to obtain this key, it means you passed my test and are worth to inherit the last of the Kong clan's resources and the sacred ground. This world experienced a great calamity and a lot of enemies pushed me to doing this.
Your reward will be waiting in a cave to the north of here, the key will guide you. As for any questions you have, they will be answered there as well." A voice spoke in Lin Mu's mind.
~huu~
Lin Mu took a breath and shook his head after the effect of the key passed.
"Guess it's time to return now." Lin Mu said.
"Aren't you going to take a look below? I thought to found there to be something here?" Xukong questioned.
"Oh? I thought this place was it?" Lin Mu said and spread his spirit sense around.
He couldn't find anything within the room itself, but when he let his spirit sense descend below, he could sense something hidden there.
"No… this is not the place, there is something more down there." Lin Mu said.
At first, he wondered if there was another cave below, but there was no entrance around here.
"Hmm, Phase it is." Lin Mu said and sank into the ground.
For the first time in a long while, Lin Mu felt some resistance going down.
'Oh? This thing is far denser than most metals?' Lin Mu discovered.
While Lin Mu's phase could pass through most things, there were still certain restrictions on it. For example, he could not pass through restrictive formations and barriers. He also could not pass through things that were rich in spirit Qi or filled with it; a good example being other cultivators.
To do that, he needed to use Flicker, which still allowed that. Flicker and Phase were similar, yet their scope of actions was different.
The same could be said for the substance that was of exceptional density and complexity. Lin Mu might be able to pass through soil, dirt, rocks, and even metals, but certain denser materials were still hard for him to pass through.
The substance that he was passing through right now seemed to be one of those things.
Lin Mu looked around and found the substance to be a bit familiar.
"Is this… bone?" Lin Mu guessed.
"You might be passing through the shell of the dead turtle." Xukong stated.
"Oh? So the surface above was just normal rock and soil, huh…" Lin Mu understood.
The shell itself was about ten meters thick and took Lin Mu two minutes to pass through. This showed just how dense it truly was, as normal rock and soil were like water to Lin Mu at this point.
"This is certainly quite strong and with this thickness… will anything even be able to affect it?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Hmm… it is certainly far beyond normal. I've heard of Great Island Turtles before and their abilities. They have large bodies that are like islands and can carry large landmasses on them.
Some that manage to go above the Immortal Ascension realm are even able to reach sizes rivaling that of entire cities, if not states. I recall there being an ancient tale as well, about a massive turtle." Xukong spoke.
"Oh? What tale senior?" Lin Mu questioned.
"There was a certain turtle beast that was so large it had an entire kingdom on its back. The people living on it never knew about it and the said turtle disguised himself as the patriarch of a sect that he started.
No one knew the reality until some disciple discovered it all and forced the turtle to reveal itself." Xukong answered.
"That's interesting. What else happened?" Lin Mu asked.
"I don't know much more than this. Either the tale is too ancient or just a made up story.." Xukong replied.