Chapter 2273 Marooned On The Death Qi Sea

Lin Mu was curious as to why Ziran was outside, but decided to talk to the Crown Prince and Qiao De first.

~step~step~step~

His steps caught the attention of the two men who had been looking intently at the map above them.

"Daoist Mu Lin?" Crown Prince Feng Shun saw him.

"You came out of seclusion," Qiao De spoke. "I supposed it was time to check in how things are going." Lin Mu replied as he came to stand next to them. "Hmm the map seems a lot different than before." He said.

"Indeed." Crown Prince Feng Shun nodded his head as he looked back up. "Its less of map and more of an inkblot now." Lin Mu could see the similarity as the map looked like a large inkblot. None of the areas except the mountain base could be seen on the map. They all had been consumed by the Death Qi and had been fully obscured.

The layer was simply too thick and as such the map's formation couldn't scan anything at all. The fact that they were still functioning now was a miracle in the first place.

"I had hoped that the Death Qi would have decreased by this time, but seems like I was wrong." Lin Mu said feeling disappointed.

"Yeah, it's been bad." Qiao De agreed. "I should get you up to speed." Crown Prince Feng Shun said before taking out a jade slip and holding it in the air.

~SHUA~

The jade slip released a formation screen that linked up with the map and displayed a few images.

The images were of the same map, but in each image, there were vast difference.

"Is this the progression you recorded?" Lin Mu could tell from seeing them.

"Yes." Crown Prince Feng Shun nodded. "As you can see in the first image, the outer areas on the map could be seen clearly when the Death Qi had spread." He pointed.

Lin Mu watched it clearly, seeing the irregular borders.

"This was till the end of the first month, after which the Death Qi spread farther." Crown Prince pointed to the second image. "The Death Qi was still a bit vague back then, as some of the things like the mountains and hills could be made out even with the it covering the area. But as time went by, the Death Qi only got denser until they could no longer be seen." He said, moving onto the third image.

Lin Mu glanced at the fourth, fifth and sixth image that all looked almost the same. Only a few minor excursions could be seen along the outer edge of the map.

"Looks like this won't be stopping anytime soon." Lin Mu spoke after seeing all the images.

"Quite likely." Crown Prince Feng Shun replied. "As you said, the Death Qi would eventually disperse after being absorbed by that Chimera Seed. But perhaps the amount of Death Qi in this Spatial Plane was exponentially higher than we originally thought.

We wished to see what the progress of the Chimeric Seed was but had no luck."

"I've used some of my tools to measure and a.n.a.lyze things, but they all failed due to the sheer potency of the Death Qi." Qiao De added. "We all have used several methods to see how far this Death Qi 'sea' extends to but we've been unlucky so far." Crown Prince Feng Shun chimed in. "Our tools aren't made to handle Death Qi of this level."

"What about skills?" Lin Mu asked next.

"That's what we did after learning about the limitations." Crown Prince Feng Shun replied. "But while some of our skills are effective against the Death Qi, it is only up to a certain limit. So far only Monk Hushu's Buddhist Skills, my Lightning Skills and Lady Kang's unique skills have worked on it. But the effectiveness is quite limited and we cannot learn what is beyond a hundred kilometers. Considering where the Chimeric Seed was 'released' the area is at least five hundred kilometer away." He explained.

"And that's if the seed is still were we opened it." Qiao De spoke. "We don't know if it would have moved." "That's indeed a problem." Lin Mu furrowed his brows. "What about Ziran?" he asked, remembering the man was outside.

"Since we all failed, Ziran thought of another method. He wasn't sure about its effectiveness though so is figuring things out right now." Crown Prince Feng Shun informed. "What method is it?" Lin Mu inquired.

"We don't exactly know, but it is something to do with the race of elves." Qiao De answered.

"I see." Lin Mu replied thinking that he'll just have to talk to the man himself.

"Perhaps you can understand it better." Crown Prince Feng Shun suggested.

"Yeah, I'll do that." Lin Mu nodded before turning around. "Once you do, you should also talk to Lady Kang." Crown Prince Feng Shun suddenly said. "She told me to inform you once you were out."

"Huh? She could have just done it herself." Lin Mu was surprised.

"I reckon she didn't want to disturb you in your seclusion." Crown Prince Feng Shun stated.

"Alright." Lin Mu didn't know what she wanted to talk to him about, but decided to talk to her later himself.

With that done, Lin Mu walked out of the base and arrived in the outer area. ~huu~

Taking a breath, Lin Mu felt the faint bitterness on his tongue.

"Even the air has changed" Lin Mu wondered if this was due to his year long stay as a 'bird'. "The Death Qi is darker than the night sky now." He muttered looking up.

Nothing could be seen above and if not for the Formations illuminating the base, he wouldn't have been able to see anything around him either. Unlike the night sky, there were no moons or stars in the sky either, making one feel uneasy.

Glancing at the sky for a few seconds Lin Mu let out a sigh and moved towards Ziran's location.

~WHOOSH~

Lin Mu jumped into the air and landed direction onto the side of the mountain. There was a cliff that jutted outwards and was next to the very edge of the base. The half elf was sitting here with his eyes closed and was facing the outside.

"Daoist Mu Lin," Ziran's voice could be heard. "How's it going?" Lin Mu inquired seeing the listless expression on the man's face.

~Sigh~

The man's sigh gave Lin Mu all the answers he needed for that question.

"That bad, huh" Lin Mu replied.

"Mmhmm, I've tried several things but nothing works in seeing past this sea of Death Qi." Ziran spoke. "We are marooned on this tiny island now." "Even that elven method Crown Prince Feng Shun told me about?" Lin Mu inquired.

"Even that." Ziran nodded. "Though that may have to do with my own incompetence." He added in a self depreciating tone.

"Why so?" Lin Mu hadn't expected such an answer from the man.

Ziran seemed to have a decent composure at all times and wore a robe of optimism on it. But now it felt like he had let go of it.

"I've been an explorer for thousands of years and have faced many dangers. I've unearthed mysteries and lost secrets, and yet I've never failed as bad as this." Ziran replied. "Even when I was caught as a slave in the Demonic world, I still managed to get out of it even got a wife and a few hundred kids from it." He chuckled.

Lin Mu listened to the man's words and realized that he was simply in a state of loss.

"If you've managed to get through all that, why give up now?" Lin Mu asked.

"I'm not giving up." Ziran shook his head. "I'm simply disappointed that I didn't acc.u.mulate enough methods to get out of this situation." He stated.

"Ah," Now this was something Lin Mu could understand quite well.

He too was someone that liked to be prepared for a lot of situations, especially after having read the memoirs of the Lost Immortal all these years. The Lost Immortal was a man with the Broken Fate Physique and could be considered one of the most unlucky people in the universe.

And yet the man had overcome odds that should have killed him a thousand times over.

The only way the man had achieved it was through his wits, resourcefulness and unyielding will.

Lin Mu had learned a lot from the man and knew that among all the resourcefulness was quite necessary.

As even with the strongest of wills and cleverest of wits, one would still need a tool to open a door with no keyhole.

"Haha." Lin Mu suddenly laughed, making Ziran look at the man.

"What is it?" Ziran asked.

"Well you haven't failed." Lin Mu replied. "You simply forgot to see all the resources you had." He added.

"What resources?" The half elf asked.

"Mine." Lin Mu stated with a smile.