Chapter 364 - Desire

While Lin Mu was focused on his mind, the pair of mother and son were seeing something completely different. At first, they thought that Lin Mu was simply gonna demonstrate his skill of using a spirit sword with his spirit sense. 

But they had completely misunderstood it.

Lin Mu was trying to emulate what he had seen Old man Jing Wei do when he went to buy the short sword and knew that he could do it after seeing the progress he had with the thousand armament blade Scripture.

He had known that the Thousand armament blade scripture was what both Jing Wei and Duan Ke's techniques were derived from and were inferior versions of. He guessed that he wouldn't be at the level of Jing Wei of course, but if he could demonstrate even one percent of that, Lin Mu would be happy.

The thing that Lin Mu was mistaken about though was his method. Jing Wei's sword intent was born after countless years of battles and fights. He had slain mountains of enemies before he had reached his current level. 

Xukong was also curiously watching what Lin Mu was doing currently. He didn't know either and didn't want to read his mind as it could cause him to become disturbed. Lin Mu was almost in a state of trance and had cut off the real world.

For him, only he and his sword existed.

In the room, Zhen Sui's heart was beating like crazy and Wu Hei wasn't in a better position either. Both of them felt as if they were in mortal danger, yet not at the same time. It was not that Lin Mu was targeting them, but rather his very presence that had become dangerous.

Wu Hei could sense the spirit qi in his core becoming unstable, and Zhen Sui's sea of spirit qi in her dantian became stormy. Now for them, each second felt like an hour.

Unknowingly Lin Mu felt as if he had discovered something, it seemed far yet close, ethereal yet material. He tried to grasp it but found it to be slipping through his fingers. 

In his mind, he was standing in an empty space. This was unlike the empty Sleepscape which he used to be in. If that Sleepscape was absolutely dark, then this was different… just empty. It was as if there was no concept such as light or darkness in here.

Yet Lin Mu could sense the thing that his heart desired to be in front of them. He walked towards it and held onto it; but it slipped away again. He ran and clutched it, only for it to knock him away. He tried countless times, yet the result was a failure.

"What am I doing wrong?" Lin Mu questioned himself.

He did not feel sad at failing. He did not feel happy at being here either. All he could feel was nothingness. He looked at his heart's desire and it was right in front of him again. But this time he did not try to catch it.

"Am I wrong?" He questioned himself.

Lin Mu stood in silence, looking at his heart's desire without moving an inch. It was as if he had become a statue that would not move no matter what tempests it went through.

Lin Mu continued thinking and question after question appeared in his mind; One became two, two became four, and four became eight. Eventually, his thoughts were no longer thoughts but were now floating in front of him, becoming real.

"What is 'wrong'?" Lin Mu questioned again.

His heart's desire that was once the only thing in front of him was now hard to see. It had been hidden behind the thoughts that had become real. 

Lin Mu kept on looking at them and time passed during which the thoughts kept on multiplying.

It was as if a millennium had passed by when Lin Mu spoke again.

"WRONG!" He said, this time his voice was cold yet filled with power.

The entire space shook as his voice traveled through it. An earthquake appeared, yet Lin Mu stood there unaffected. The material thoughts in front of him shook around like reeds in a storm.

"Nothing is wrong and everything is wrong…" He said making some of the thoughts break.

His heart's desire that had been buried under this ocean of thoughts had suddenly been awakened. It struggled to rise, yet found it difficult.

"A desire is nothing and everything is a desire…" He continued making more of the thoughts break apart.

It was as if they were crumbling to dust and fading away into nothingness. With each thought that dissipated, Lin Mu's voice became more powerful.

"A desire is born from nothing and everything can become a desire…" Lin Mu whispered, but the whisper was as if lightning striking a mountain.

"A desire is power, and a desire is poison…" He declared wiping away half of the thoughts.

His heart's desire that was struggling to float, rose above coming to the top of the ocean of thoughts. Yet it was far away, as if a mirage on the sea.

Lin Mu took a step forward and all the thoughts moved backwards. His every step causing tremors, creating waves in the ocean of thoughts.

"A desire can be strength and a desire can be weakness…" He claimed shattering another quarter of the thoughts.

Now it was as if the thoughts had become alive. They were scared of Lin Mu and angry at the same time. Some of the thoughts that seemed to be stronger came to attack him while the rest ran away.

"Nothing matters when my heart desires everything, and everything matters when my heart desires nothing." Lin Mu uttered, destroying the thoughts that came to attack him.

Now there were only the eight original thoughts left. They appeared as if mountains and were the strongest of them all. Lin Mu's heart's desire was still there now, being crushed by the eight mountains.

"Sever the heart and gain everything, sever everything and gain the heart!" Lin Mu proclaimed, but this time his voice was inaudible with merely his lips moving.