Chapter 462 - Catching Up

Lin Mu sat down on one of the sofas that were placed in the room and began his story.

"After escaping from Gu Yao, I knew that returning was not gonna be an option for a while. At least until I was strong enough to fight him again. I thus went beyond the northern forest, all the way into the northern mountains.

There I cultivated in seclusion until I reached the peak of the core condensation realm. I reached a bottleneck and thus need to wait for the heavenly tribulation before I can continue forward.

I knew that the longer I waited the more dangerous the situation would get and thus finally decided to return. Thankfully, during that time I also experienced a growth spurt and my appearance changed enough that no one recognizes me now." Lin Mu spoke.

Wu Hei felt dumbstruck at his words.

'Reaching the peak stages of the core condensation realm in two years? That too from the peak stages of the Qi refining realm? Is this a joke?!' Wu Hei thought.

But the reality proved him otherwise. Wu Hei could clearly sense the faint spirit Qi fluctuations that were coming from Lin Mu and knew for sure that the man was at the peak of the core condensation realm.

'Wait… how old is this kid? Back then he was barely sixteen and now a little above eighteen?' Wu Hei wondered.

He couldn't help but compare Lin Mu with the other young geniuses of the Great Zhou empire. The crown prince was said to be the youngest person to have reached the core condensation realm at the age of twenty.

Sure, there were geniuses in the top sects that were able to do the same at an even younger age, but there was no one like Lin Mu. Not only had he broken through to the core condensation realm, but had also reached the peak and was now literally only restricted due to the heavenly tribulation.

Wu Hei had no doubt that if the tribulation came right now, Lin Mu would come out on top to become a Nascent Soul realm cultivator. This was a terrifying thought that even he did not dare to think of.

He couldn't help but remember the fact that Lin Mu's master was someone that was beyond the Immortal Ascension realm.

'Xukong… he called him.' Wu Hei remembered.

~Sigh~

"I see… that's rather good. At least you had some gains in these two years…" Wu Hei said with a sigh.

Lin Mu stayed silent for a bit and let Wu Hei calm down a bit as he could sense that the man was a bit agitated. Giving him some time to think would be better, he thought.

"So what happened on your end after I escaped?" Lin Mu questioned.

~Sigh~

"After you escape, I don't know what exactly happened to Gu Yao. He… kind of went insane…" Wu Hei answered.

"Insane? Wasn't he already like that?" Lin Mu asked.

"No, not in that way. Like mentally insane. He kept on repeating about some monster and that it will come for him." Wu Hei replied.

"Monster?…" Lin Mu finally realized. "Master…" he muttered.

"Huh? What?" Wu Hei asked upon hearing Lin Mu mutter.

"I think it was due to my master… he kind of warned Gu Yao that if he went overboard, he would descend to teach him a lesson." Lin Mu revealed.

"Your master… I understand…" Wu Hei said.

'So the monster that Gu Yao has been raving about these past two years is no one but, Lin Mu's master. What kind of a cultivator is he?' Wu Hei wondered.

"When did you wake up? And were you injured?" Lin Mu questioned.

"Yeah… getting injured was the least of my worries though. After… whatever your master did to Gu Yao, he was unconscious for five days from what I heard. This would have been a really good opportunity to get rid of him, but he was being guarded by his 'servants'. 

I myself woke up after two days and was injured of course, but was able to heal myself using some of the healing pills I had. Gu Yao had controlled everyone in the city by then though, and the red tide had scared the nearby towns as well. They were apparently able to see it from afar as the sky had turned red over the Wu Lim City.

After I woke up though, I found my thoughts in disarray. It was as if there were two people inside me and they were fighting for control." Wu Hei explained.

"How did you break out of Gu Yao's control, if even the supreme elder of the Tri cauldron peony sect and Peak master Yi Deng were controlled?" Lin Mu asked curiously.

~Sigh~

"It was due to the combination of a few reasons. The first being that Gu Yao is my uncle by birth and due to being blood-related the Human controlling blood curse didn't affect me completely. But what made me get fully out of his control was the cultivation technique I practiced." Wu Hei revealed.

"A cultivation technique? How did that help?" Lin Mu wondered.

"I practice a cultivation technique called the Unity Reversal Secrets." Wu Hei answered.

"Oh? The Taiji Celestial's inheritance was spread to this world too?" Xukong suddenly spoke.

"You know about the technique, senior?" Lin Mu asked.

"Yes, I do. I'll tell you more about it later, for now you need to focus on him." Xukong replied.

"But what truly helped me hide that I was free from Gu Yao's control was my assimilated bloodline." Wu Hei added.

"You have an assimilated bloodline?" Lin Mu asked, feeling surprised.

'Did you know this, senior?' Lin Mu asked Xukong.

"No, even I didn't sense it on him. I should have been able to sense a beast's bloodline normally, but it seems like there is more to it than we know." Xukong replied.

"Yes, I do. It is a bloodline that belongs to a beast called Shadow Lurk Beast." Wu Hei answered.