In the Star catching peak, disciples could be seen rushing around with anxiety on their faces. They had detected multiple spatial disturbances a little while ago and were currently trying to pinpoint its location.
A black-robed elder with the insignia of star catching peak embroidered on their chest could be seen standing at the head of a large formation array. A hundred other disciples could also be seen sitting in their respective positions on the formation array.
Sweat could be seen on the faces of all the disciples, and even the black-robed elder seemed to be distressed.
"Elder Feng the disciples can't hold on much longer. We need to ask the other elders to support the formation." The Head disciple who was sitting near the black-robed elder spoke.
A hint of annoyance along with helplessness could be seen on the black-robed elder's face upon hearing the head disciple's words. The black-robed elder faced towards the head disciple and spoke,
"You think I don't know that? I would have already contacted the other elders if it was possible."
The head disciple was not the least bit bothered by the black-robed elder's chiding and still had a staunch look on his face. Elder Feng noticed this and let out a long sigh.
"The other elders are currently in the trial grounds and cannot be contacted. The communication jades don't work across different spatial planes. Though I have contacted an elder to enter the trial grounds and personally inform the other elders of our peak." Elder Feng revealed.
The head disciple nodded in acceptance and returned his attention towards the formation array while muttering,
'Let's hope they are able to return before we lose the trace of the spatial disturbance."
The black-robed elder heard the head disciple's mutterings and let out another sigh.
Back at the hunting shack, Lin Mu was currently lying down on the bed. He was waiting to fall asleep and enter the Sleepscape. He had a few ideas that he wanted to try out in the Sleepscape, now that he had spirit qi.
A few minutes later Lin Mu fell asleep and appeared in the Sleepscape. The sight of the blue sky, green flowing grass, and the apple tree in the distance made Lin Mu feel a sense of belonging. He walked up to the tree and observed that it was different than before.
An apple could actually be seen hanging from one of the branches. The apple's colour was a mix of red and green, with green being the more prominent. The fruit looked juicy and succulent to Lin Mu's eyes, making him desire to pluck it.
Lin Mu jumped up and easily plucked the apple, the height of the tree no longer a restriction to him. But as soon as Lin Mu had the apple in his hand, it disappeared. Thinking that it was probably returned to where it was, Lin Mu looked at the place from where the apple previously hung.
'It's not there? Where did it go?' Lin Mu wondered.
The last time Lin Mu had come to the Sleepscape, he had tested out its characteristics. The main thing that he found out was that any change he made to this place would automatically be restored to the state it was before. Seeing that the apple did not return to the tree, he wondered if there was something he missed.
Lin Mu remembered how the items from spatial rifts would be automatically stored in the ring when he touched them and wondered if it was the same in this case too. He thus willed the apple to be withdrawn from the ring, and it appeared in his hand.
"Seems like I was right." Lin Mu spoke to himself.
Lin Mu studied the apple and did not find anything wrong with it. He then tried to eat it, but the moment he took a bite out of it, the apple disappeared and was then restored to its original form in his hand.
'So I can't eat it. Maybe it's only because I'm in the Sleepscape, and I'll need to be awake to eat it.' Lin Mu thought.
"But wait, if the apple can be stored in the ring, can I withdraw other items as well?" Lin Mu speculated.
Desiring to verify his hypothesis, Lin Mu willed for his short-sword to appear in his hand. In the next moment, the short sword had materialised in his hand. Excited at this discovery, Lin Mu tried the same with the other items from the ring.
"I can now practice in the Sleepscape as well." Lin Mu said with an optimistic tone.
Thus Lin Mu continued his weapons practice in the Sleepscape. He practiced all the way until he felt mentally tired and wanted to sleep normally. When Lin Mu thought this, his body faded away from the Sleepscape but did not appear in the actual world. Lin Mu was now sleeping normally. He had just discovered another function of the Sleepscape.
A few hours later, the sun had risen, and Lin Mu had just woken up. He was feeling refreshed and clearly remembered the practice he had done in the Sleepscape.
'I now have more time to practice and improve my weapon skill.' Lin Mu thought.
He then stood up and prepared his breakfast. He had consumed the 9th stage body tempering realm beast's meat and was now using the steel-back wolf meat as it was the next better option. While the meat cooked, he tried whether he could withdraw the apple from the Sleepscape.
Lin Mu willed it, and indeed the apple appeared in his hand. He then brought it close to his mouth and took a bite. The rich juices from the apple spread in his mouth, giving rise to a sweet and sour taste. He savored the taste and then felt a warmth spread from his abdomen.
Lin Mu was surprised by the warmth as he could tell it was spirit qi.
'Is that tree in the Sleepscape a spirit apple tree?' Lin Mu wondered.
He then finished the entire spirit apple and sat down to chant the severing heart sutra. He guided the spirit qi through his meridians into the dantian. Once all the spirit qi was stored into his dantian, Lin Mu estimated that he had obtained nearly twenty wisps of spirit qi from the fruit.
Lin Mu was delighted by this result and figured that if he could get more of these spirit apples from the Sleepscape, he could very well use them to recover his spirit qi if it was ever completely depleted. The only problem in this equation was that Lin Mu did not know if or how long it would take for another spirit apple to be formed in the Sleepscape.
It had been around fifteen minutes, the meat was now fully cooked and emitted a delicious aroma. Lin Mu ate the roast meat and then sat down to assimilate the vital energy. With his improved speed of assimilation, he had completed the entire process within 10 minutes.
Lin Mu then looked within his dantian and sensed the spirit qi present within it. He found that the quantity of spirit qi had increased to nearly 150 wisps. His dantian was now at 7.5 percent of its total capacity. This was the result of the spirit qi from his yesterday's cultivation session combined with the spirit apple he ate today.
"I should continue testing out the second skill 'Blink'" Lin Mu muttered to himself.
Lin Mu stood up and triggered the skill. He focused all his attention on his body for any change that would be happening. He found that his body did turn blurry for a moment when the skill was used, but could not find the reason for it.
Lin Mu continued using the skill multiple times and in different conditions. After ten more tries, he had nearly depleted all of his spirit qi, thus he sat down and chanted the severing heart sutra to refine more spirit qi.
Three hours later, Lin Mu had restored all of his spirit qi. He had a capacity of 150 spirit qi wisps and could use 'Blink' fourteen times before needing to rest and replenish it back again. By now the sun had reached the top of Lin Mu's head, showing that it was noontime.
"I'll try it a few more times before eating lunch." Lin Mu decided.
Lin Mu had to try it a few more times until he learned a bit more about the skill. He found out that his body only turned blurry when he was out in the open and not in a restricted space like the hunting shack. But if he used the skill in the hunting shack with its door open, his body still turned blurry.
It was not until the 23rd try that Lin Mu was able to successfully use the skill. When Lin Mu used the skill in that attempt, he gazed at a location a few meters away from him and found himself suddenly appearing there.
Because of the sudden movement Lin Mu lost his orientation and fell down, but he did not wince in pain but rather laughed out loud.
"Hahaha, I've got it." Lin Mu exclaimed.