Chapter 786 - A Mental Demon And Xiaobao Breaking Through

Lin Mu looked up to see none other than Xiaobao staring at him. His eyes were locked onto him and were scanning him from the top to bottom. 

"Your father's aura?" Lin Mu questioned.

"Yes… I can feel it. It wasn't on you before, it is now." Xiaobao stated.

"Huh? Is it perhaps because I went down into his body from the ruins?" Lin Mu replied.

"That cannot be it. His aura has faded away a long time ago and cannot be felt from his body. How do you have it?" Xiaobao asked again.

Lin Mu furrowed his brows and wondered what was the reason for it, but then it struck him.

'Could it be the Remnant Dao Crystal?' Lin Mu guessed.

He then thought for a bit before deciding to withdraw the Remnant Dao Crysta from the ring. 

~shua~

The moment it appeared out in the world, the water around them started to get agitated. Ripples started to appear on it and it started to swirl around the entire island, which was the dead body of Bao.

"That's it! That's my father's aura!" Xiaobao said out loud.

Lin Mu nodded his head as his guess turned out to be right. While he was a bit confused as to how there was any aura on this Remnant Dao Crystal as he had not felt it at all and he was rather sensitive to that.

"I think he's mistaken. He's thinking of the natural aura of the remnant Dao Crystal to be his father's." Xukong suddenly said.

"Mmhmm, though what do we do now?" Lin Mu asked after observing the reaction of the turtle.

It was evident that the turtle was desiring the Remnant Dao crystal. 

"That's up to you. Truthfully, that Remnant Dao Crystal isn't really of use to you. While it can allow you to comprehend the Dao of water, you do not have any affinity for it and neither do you have any skills that use it.

You can sell it of course, but that would be even more foolish. And I doubt you will want to give to other humans, anyway. Another thing is… it was formed from a beast, and thus the Dao Embryo would be something that is more adapted to that of a beast.

While a human would be able to comprehend it from that, it would still be a bit weaker than if they did so themselves." Xukong explained.

Hearing this, Lin Mu nodded his head and looked at the turtle.

"Do you want it?" Lin Mu questioned the beast.

"Yes." The beast replied without hesitation.

"Sure, take it then." Lin Mu gave away the crystal to Xiaobao.

He did so because of several reasons, some of them being that perhaps it remaining in this place would be better than appearing in the Xiaofan world where it could add to the chaos, and the other being that Lin Mu felt a bit bad for Xiaobao.

Not only was he alone all this time, but he had also lost his entire family to other humans that came here. And all that only happened because they were doing the duty that Kong Hutao gave to Bao before his death.

Lin Mu himself knew that he did not need the Remnant Dao Crystal and was more than confident in himself to be able to comprehend one himself. 

He thus watched as the Crystal floated towards Xiaobao and was quickly absorbed into his head. It was as if it was a part of him from the very start and merged with his aura as well.

The water that was swirling calmed down on its own and Xiaobao seemed to be in a dazed state. His eyes were out of focus, but soon they returned to a normal state. 

~HUALA~

The moment this happened though, a strong pressure exuded from Xiaobao's body and spirit Qi waves started to emanate from his body. Lin Mu felt the fluctuations and was able to sense his cultivation base for the very first time.

Lin Mu's brows raised as he realized something.

"He… he's having a breakthrough?" Lin Mu questioned.

"How's this possible? Didn't you say there is no spirit Qi in the Remnant Dao Crystal senior?" Lin Mu asked, feeling confused.

"I don't think the breakthrough is because of the crystal providing the spirit Qi needed for the breakthrough. Rather, it is due to a mental need that was fulfilled by it." Xukong replied.

"A mental need?" Lin Mu wondered. 

After thinking for a few seconds, he understood the reason.

"A heart demon? Or a mental demon?" Lin Mu asked.

"Indeed. But in this case, it is a mental demon. The beast probably had one for a long time and had thus been unable to progress any further. Or maybe it had no desire to do so. But now… that he felt his father's aura again and got that Remnant Dao Crystal, that mental demon was purged.

There was nothing stopping him from breaking through anymore." Xukong replied.

Lin Mu nodded his head in understanding and recalled some information about mental demons.

Both Mental demons and Heart demons were something cultivators often suffered from. It was difficult to tell which was more dangerous or hard to overcome as they could present themselves in different forms.

Though the major difference between a Heart Demon and a mental demon was that the Heart Demon could actually gain a corporeal form. They mostly did so by taking over the body of the cultivator and destroying their true consciousness.

Of course, this was only if the cultivator had truly reached that limit, but most would die way before that ever happened. 

A mental demon was not something that would ever gain a corporeal or a true form. It was part of the cultivator's mind itself and could even be said to be a form of disease.

It was in fact, something that could even plague a mortal commoner and was not limited to a cultivator.. Many considered mental illnesses as a form of mental demon as well.