Lin Mu realized that the expanded formation array branded him as a beast, probably because he did not have the identity badge of a disciple. It basically scanned the entire area when it was being made and marked everything with a cultivation as a beast while excluding the disciples from it.
Now that he thought of it, he wondered why the sect had not thought of this loophole before, or rather why didn’t they think that others may take advantage of this and infiltrate the sect.
"No rather, they did this after finding about me, right? So, didn’t they think I may have already entered the sect?" Lin Mu wondered.
"Did you forget about the distance? I doubt they even expected Little Shrubby to be so fast that he carried you all the way here. Plus, they didn’t think of others trying this as they are probably a top sect and had better security from the start." Xukong suddenly said.
Lin Mu thought over it and realized that senior Xukong was right. He was the only one who had been successful in robbing a sect like that while going past multiple formations. Thus they probably didn’t keep up their guard against others.
In a way, it was a combination of ignorance and belief that no one would target them. Still, it turned out to be advantageous to Lin Mu and he now had a safe haven for the time being.
"No wait, even if I’m registered as a beast in the formation array, shouldn’t it still prevent beasts from entering the sect?" Lin Mu wondered.
His spirit sense spread around and he quickly found out the reason for it.
"Ah, so they use a different method for this. A beast repelling formation instead of an active block against the beasts." Lin Mu learned.
"This is the more effective method and will also save them quite a bit of resources that letting the formation array actively filter out beasts all the time. Formation arrays as large as these take up a lot of spirit Qi and they probably save at least couple thousand mid grade spirit stones every day from doing this." Xukong explained.
"I see..." Lin Mu muttered, noting this point in his mind.
While he knew he would not be detected by the formation for now, Lin Mu still didn’t dare to go deeper into the sect, though. He didn’t want to risk someone recognizing him as he was sure they had portraits and sketches of him circulating.
Though he had not seen any of them in this sect for now. Even if he had worn a mask when he was caught, others had seen him before that and the sect would have likely found out about his appearance and would have spread it in the kingdom, or even beyond it.
"Though I wonder if Gu Yao had any reaction to the Tri Cauldron Peony sect getting robbed." Lin Mu muttered to himself.
He roamed around the outskirt of the sect for a little while more and gathered a bit more information before deciding to leave. In this time he had learned that the mountain that he was living in was actuals the backyard of the sect.
This was a protected area and there were many beasts that lived here. They were all brought in by the sect and were left here to grow. Over the years it had become flourishing and now the disciples could go out to hunt the beasts whenever they watered.
Lin Mu even learned that there were Nascent Soul realm beasts living in the forest, though he did not know the exact number. For the time being, Lin Mu decided that he would wait till Little Shrubby recovers and in the meantime he will check out the surroundings of the mountain.
He didn’t want some random Nascent Soul realm beast stumbling upon the cave when he was out or when he was cultivating. Lin Mu thus flew back to the mountain and scouted its surroundings.
"Hmm... good thing I checked, there is a nest of a Core condensation realm beast nearby." Lin Mu discovered.
The beast in question was a large Fire Fang Snake. It had built a nest in the hollow of a massive tree and had probably been living there for a while. Lin Mu didn’t know how the beast didn’t come to attack them, even though he was in its territory for all this time.
Though when he went closer to check did he realize why.
"Seems like it is going to lay eggs soon," Xukong spoke upon seeing the balding body of the snake.
"No wonder it didn’t leave the nest, it didn’t want to get into a fight before that." Lin Mu said in understanding. "Hmm... though it is still a bit strange. Don’t Fire Fang snakes live in pairs? If it’s going to lay eggs its mate should be with it." Lin Mu recalled from what he had read before.
"That’s true... perhaps it went out to hunt? Or maybe it died." Xukong suggested.
Lin Mu wondered if he should kill the beast now, but then realized it wasn’t really a threat to him. The beast would not move from the spot till it laid eggs, and even after that it would guard the eggs till they hatched.
While Lin Mu was thinking about what to do next, he sensed the ground tremble.
"Huh? Something’s coming." Lin Mu muttered and distanced himself from that area, just in case.
He moved up from the ground and entered a tree using Phase instead. From there, he observed what was happening. About a minute later, the tremors in the ground only got stronger before the ground burst open.
Lin Mu saw the beast that had just come out of the ground. It was another snake, but unlike the Fire Fang snake, which had a mix of red and orange scales, this one had black and blue scales.
"A Black Water snake?" Lin Mu recognized. "Is it here to attack the Fire Fang snake?" Lin Mu wondered.
But then he saw something that rather surprised him.