On the western coast of the Great Zhou continent existed a sect.
This was named as the West Ocean Sect and was one of the top ten sects, being ranked ninth in the rankings, just above the Noon Grass sect. Along with this, it was also the member of the Zither Wind Alliance and its higher ups were under control by Gu Yao.
The disciples of the sect were going about their day, and everything was normal there. There was no sign of any conflict or anything unusual there at all. It wasn't as if the alliance they were part of had just launched a full offense against the Noon Grass sect.
It almost seemed like a dream.
Some distance away from the border of the sect, a man and beast stood in the sky.
Lin Mu's eyes scanned the sect, which was built along a long cliff. The cliff extended for over five kilometer and some buildings of the sect were hanging from its side, while the rest were built on the other side of the cliff.
Additionally, a large building was built upon the water, just half a kilometer away from the rest of the sect. This was the grand hall of the West Ocean sect and was where the high elders and patriarch of the sect resided.
"Clueless and conceited… but not for long." Lin Mu muttered to himself.
Lin Mu took a step forward and rapidly fell from the sky like a cannonball. But instead of crashing into the ground, he entered it like it was water. Little Shrubby stayed behind in the sky, and hid in the clouds, waiting for further orders from Lin Mu.
Though his senses were fully alert as well, and his aura seething around him, ready to act at any moment.
Upon entering the ground, Lin Mu's spirit sense extended and quickly entered the sect. The formation array protecting the sect was still there, but before it could detect the spirit sense, it disappeared.
"Fade…" Lin Mu disappeared along with it as well, and when he reappeared, he was already within the limits of the sect.
He stayed underground and let his spirit sense spread, scanning each and every person that was present inside the sect. His instincts had already felt a few auras that he knew exactly what they were, but he needed to know more than that.
"Got the locations… under the ocean huh…" Lin Mu said as he opened his eyes.
Lin Mu rapidly moved underground and continued falling even deeper before finally moving to the west towards the ocean side.
~blub~
When he left the cliff, he was inside the water. The armor of the mortal strengthening scripture was already active and prevented any water from actually touching him or his robes.
A few beasts were detected by him, but they quickly ran away upon sensing danger. Lin Mu didn't even need to act for these aquatic spirit beasts, had a great instinct for danger.
The water rippled and bubbles appeared in the water, left behind in the trails of the beasts.
Lin Mu didn't care for this though and looked towards where his goal actually was. The water here was dark, and the visibility was reduced to merely a few meters in front. But that was nothing to Lin Mu's spirit sense that could observe for him.
Tens of spirit sense tendrils mapped out the topography of the underwater area for Lin Mu and gave him the route he needed to take.
Some distance away from him was actually an underwater mountain. It was on the top of this mountain that the grand hall of the West Ocean sect was built. It was built such that it appeared to be floating, but it was not.
Additionally, illusory formations prevented others from seeing the mountain under the water too. If not for Lin Mu's spirit sense, it would appear invisible to others even if they were standing right next to it and illuminated the path with light.
This mountain was the biggest secret of the West Ocean sect and also their treasure trove.
After all, there would have to be a great reason for a sect to make their grand hall in the dangerous waters of the ocean, instead of the safety of the land.
And the reason was that there were three Spirit stone mines hidden in the mountain.
Spirit stones could be found in many locations around the world and weren't just present on land. They could also be found underground and deep under water as well. This mountain was one such example of it.
This information was not known by anyone other than the higher ups of the sect, and not even the disciples knew it. They thought the sect owned mines were somewhere else inland. Which was true, but that wasn't all of the spirit stone mines. And neither were they the best ones either.
The best ones were hidden underneath the great hall of the West ocean sect, underneath the ocean.
Lin Mu's targets was this place, and he quickly made his way there. The formation arrays on the mountain were of least concern to Lin Mu, as he could simply take another path. After all, the people of the West ocean sect couldn't cover the entire ocean floor, could they?
Simply finding another location some distance away from the mountain, Lin Mu looped around and entered the mountain.
Once inside the mountain, Lin Mu saw the vast and wide tunnels that took one to the depths of the ocean floor. It was obvious that this area had been mined clean, but from the traces of spirit Qi here, it was evident that this place once contained a lot of resources too.
Lin Mu imagined it to be the same as the mountain they had excavated in the fragment of the minor plane of the Ripple Mist sect.
This was not his goal though. Lin Mu rapidly fell through the ground using phase and reached the very depths of the mountain. He was now officialy below the ocean floor!
