Once the voices disappeared, Lin Mu found that the world he was in disappeared as well and he was now back in the Mysterious ring. He looked at the altar in front of him, which had become dim again, and sighed.
"When will I figure out how this works…" Lin Mu muttered to himself.
Lin Mu didn't exactly know by what logic the altar gave him the parts of the Nine Divine Heart sutra and the skills. For skills, at least he reckoned it depended on his cultivation base, but even that had varied a lot.
"I got the Calming heart sutra at the very start, then I got the severing heart sutra when I managed to cultivate spirit Qi, I got Burning heart sutra when I felt angry and killed the Town head and now… the Nurturing heart sutra… I got because of little Shrubby?" Lin Mu spoke.
Lin Mu now fussed that the altar would give him the other parts of the sutra when he fulfilled certain conditionals, though what they were, it was unknown. Lin Mu had now obtained four of the nine parts of the Nine Divine Hearst Sutra.
Each sutra was unique and transformative for Lin Mu. He wondered what kind of effect the Nurturing heart sutra had.
~humm~
Lin Mu felt the ring on his finger hum and realized it was time to return to the real world now.
"I should head back… I have a lot of things to check anyway…" Lin Mu muttered to himself.
Back in the real world, Lin Mu opened his eyes that felt heavy and looked around. Straightaway the first thing he saw was little Shrubby lying on his side. The beast looked to be exhausted and was in a bad condition.
Even though it didn't have any injuries per say, it looked to be weakened and sick.
"Little Shrubby…" Lin Mu muttered as he felt a pain in his heart upon seeing him like this.
Lin Mu then looked around at the rest of the place and saw that they were in a cave currently. The cave wasn't that big and plenty of light came from its opening to the front. It was daytime, and Lin Mu could see the trees that were located in front of the cave's entrance.
~phew~
Seeing that he was in a relatively safe place for now, Lin Mu took a breath of relief. That was one of the worries out of his mind.
"Senior, Senior are you there?" Lin Mu called out in his mind.
"LIN MU! You're finally awake!" Xukong spoke in an anxious one.
"Yes, senior. I am…" Lin Mu spoke.
"That's a relief. You've been unconscious for over a month now." Xukong replied.
"Wait WHAT!? A month?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Yes. I managed to get my spirit sense through a few times and observed the surroundings from time to item to confirm. Little Shrubby managed to get you here after a day and night of constant running. But after that both of you have been unconscious." Xukong answered.
"That is…" Lin Mu couldn't find words to describe the situation.
"Put that aside for now. How are you feeling? I couldn't check your body at all during this time. I was being prevented by the ring, it seems like." Xukong asked.
"Prevented by the ring… I think I know why I was unconscious for a month senior." Lin Mu suddenly said.
"Why?" Xukong questioned.
"The altar in the ring… it gave me another part of the Nine Divine Heart Sutra." Lin Mu answered.
"So it was that… no wonder." Xukong spoke in an understanding tone.
"I couldn't tell how long I was there in the ring, but from what you have said, I guess it was for over a month. I saw a lot of things at that time and learned the sutra." Lin Mu stated.
"What is the sutra that you obtained?" Xukong questioned.
"It's called the Nurturing Heart sutra." Lin Mu answered.
"That's an… unexpected name." Xukong said. "Do you know what it can do?" he added.
"I think I have a guess…" Lin Mu said as he looked at Little Shrubby.
"But before that I need to sort myself." Lin Mu said as he peered into his body, using his spirit sense.
He was finally able to use it and didn't feel the strong paralysis that he had felt before. While his body still felt numb, he reckoned it could have been due to not moving for a long time.
Inside his body, Lin Mu saw that his muscles and tissues were fine but his meridians had some injuries. But when he reached his Dantian did he saw the main problem.
"Oh no…" Lin Mu said with surprise he saw his core.
His core was now covered with cracks. Xukong, who was watching along with Lin Mu though felt strange instead.
"It's not damaged… rather these cracks are similar to a cultivator who is undergoing Heavenly Tribulation." Xukong spoke.
"It's not?" Lin Mu asked, still feeling unsure.
"No… if it was cracked due do being damaged, it wouldn't be just the core that was this damaged. Your meridians and the entire Dantian would be damaged too. Right now your condition is similar to someone who is in the middle of his breakthrough to the nascent soul realm." Xukong explained.
Lin Mu nodded his head and tried to use his spirit Qi, finding that it was still controllable.
"That's correct. My spirit Qi is not hampered at all." Lin Mu said, feeling pleased. "But then, what am I supposed to do about my core?" he asked, feeling confused.
"This is a complex situation which I don't think I've seen before. But if my assumption is correct, it may be due to your bloodline of the Great Slumber bear. Remember what I told you about them before?" Xukong replied.
"That they are born at the at the realm above Immortal Ascension realm and that they can give birth to their nascent soul with just a thought?" Lin Mu replied.