Lin Mu looked at it curiously but couldn't tell what it was. From his own body's response, it didn't seem to desire the energy as it did with spirit Qi or vital energy.
"What is this senior?" Lin Mu questioned feeling completely lost.
Xukong though did not respond to Lin Mu. He just kept on staring at the string of energy that was floating above Lin Mu's spirit Qi sea without moving.
"Senior? Is everything okay?" Lin Mu questioned feeling concerned.
"Could it really be…" Xukong muttered.
"Senior?" Lin Mu called out again.
"Yes?" Xukong said snapping out of his daze.
"What is that strange energy?" Lin Mu questioned.
"That Lin Mu… is something nearly every beast in the world would desire…" Xukong said and took a pause, looking at the energy again.
"That energy is a strand of pure Beast Qi." Xukong answered.
"Beast Qi? Is that another type of spirit Qi?" Lin Mu questioned.
"No…" Xukong shook his head. "It's something on a completely different level."
"Beast Qi is a special type of Qi that contains a fragment of the essence of the Beast Path." Xukong revealed.
Upon hearing that it was related to one of the 'Paths', Lin Mu instantly connected the points and realized what it was.
"So it's similar to other derivative Qi's like the Sword Qi, Buddhist Qi, and more." Lin Mu asked.
"Exactly… these types of qi's are different from the three categories of the Qis of the universe. They all contain a fragment of the essence of various paths. Sword Qi would contain the fragment of the essence of the Sword path, Buddhist Qi that of the Buddhist path and in this case, Beast Qi has the beast path." Xukong explained.
Lin Mu felt excited about this as he understood that the fourth sutra that he obtained was the representative of the Beast path. Now he had sutra for four paths including the Sword, Buddhist and Demonic path.
While Lin Mu was feeling excited about this, Xukong on the other hand was going through a storm of emotions. He felt sad, angry, happy, terrified and excited at the same time.
"Seeing as it is of the beast path, will this Beast Qi help other beasts to cultivate?" Lin Mu asked.
Xukong forcefully controlled himself and reminded himself he needed to be calm.
"Yes… but not directly. It will not be like spirit Qi which would increase the cultivation base of a beast. Rather Beast Qi has a slightly different effect." Xukong said as he took a pause.
"What is it?" Lin Mu asked impatiently.
"Beast Qi can instead help a beast improve their bloodline and overall quality of their body." Xukong answered.
Upon hearing this Lin Mu knew exactly what he now needed to do.
Lin Mu placed his hands upon little Shrubby's body. He then controlled the Strand of Beast Qi to leave his Dantian before guiding it through his meridians and then into the body of Little Shrubby.
Once it entered Little Shrubby's body, Lin Mu didn't need to do anything else. The arrival of the Strand of Beast Qi was like throwing a drop of water into a vat of boiling oil.
Little Shrubby's body convulsed violently as its spirit Qi became chaotic. Lin Mu became scared and went to intervene when Xukong interrupted.
"Don't! Let it happen! Little Shrubby needs to do this on his own." Xukong said.
Lin Mu had a worried expression on his face as he looked at little Shrubby on the ground.
"What is happening to him senior?" Lin Mu questioned.
"The Beast Qi is not something that is easily handled by anyone. Absorbing it is an even more difficult task." Xukong said.
"But… didn't you say it is something that every beast desires?" Lin Mu asked feeling confused.
"Yes… while nearly every beast desires it, they can't all hope to survive it. When a Beast absorbs Beast Qi, it will be forced to withstand its power. The Beast Qi will thoroughly activate every part of the Beast's body. The beast's bloodline, whether it has one or not will be tested and trialed.
If the bloodline is strong enough it will be able to absorb the beast Qi, but if it is weak then the only chance the beast would survive it is if it has luck or a good body. In a way, it will temper the body of a beast as well.
Once a beast successfully absorbs some Beast Qi they would gain an increase in the quality of their bloodline." Xukong explained.
"Then will they undergo a bloodline evolution?" Lin Mu questioned.
"No, of course not." Xukong said before continuing, "a bloodline evolution is no small thing. While a bloodline evolution can indeed happen due to Beast Qi, it would require a large amount of it. A strand like this will only increase the quality of a beast's bloodline.
It also has more effects but they vary from beast to beast. It's hard to tell what would happen in each beast due to the vast variety of beasts in the world." Xukong answered.
"I see…" Lin Mu nodded his head.
He then looked at his Dantian and a wry smile appeared on his face.
"All this spirit Qi and only a small strand like this…" Lin Mu muttered.
"No, Lin Mu. That's not it. You don't understand… If the Nurturing heart sutra can keep on producing Beast Qi like this then it is nothing less than a fortune of the heavens. If a beast want's to get Beast Qi normally, they would have to obtain it by killing countless other beasts in hopes of condensing a small amount themselves.
Or… they would have to find a natural treasure that contains such Beast Qi. Either of these options are hard for most beasts and even cultivators would go crazy to obtain Beast Qi just so that they can get their tamed beast to progress." Xukong stated.
Lin Mu finally understood the gravity of the situation and knew he would need to ponder on this matter more.