~Gasp~
Duan Ke couldn't help but watch in shock.
She had not seen this form of Lin Mu's ever before, but she was sure that it was not normal. If it were not for the fact that the wooden compass was pointing to him and confirmed his identity, she would have never believed her eyes.
"Lin Mu? W-what happened to you?" Duan Ke asked, taking a step forward.
~HISS~
But just as she did, the red aura that was surrounding Lin Hu lashed out at her.
"ARGH!" Duan Ke barely managed to block it with her sword but even then she felt the impact and was knocked severe meters back.
"I said stay back!" Lin Mu warned once more.
This time, Duan Ke heeded it and watched from afar. Taking a closer look at Lin Mu, she could see he was in a strange state. Even if she was unfamiliar with his 'demonic' form, she could tell he was not fine.
There were several injuries on his body and they didn't seem to be inflicted by someone else.
~KACHA~
"Huh?" Then in front of Duan Ke, a crack appeared on Lin Mu's body.
More of the Red aura escaped from the crack and joined the rest of it swirling around him.
"What's happening to you?" Duan Ke questioned, feeling nervous.
"I can't control it any longer. If I let this form stay, I might not be able to return to normal. I need to suppress it." Lin Mu replied, his voice hoarse and vastly different from normal.
He had never expected that there would be such a change in the effects of the burning heart sutra. While it certainly provided him with great strength and even gave him this form, it came with great disadvantages as well.
Lin Mu only discovered them now that he was experiencing them.
He had known that Burning Heart Sutra was not a chant he should use casually since the power increase it offered came at an expense. Not only did it consume his Vital essence rapidly, but it was also greatly taxing on his mind.
Along with an increase in physical power, the Burning Heart Sutra also amplified Lin Mu's emotions, with the main one being anger. And now that he had maintained the form for this long, it wasn't just amplify the rightful anger, but the irrational anger that was ever present.
Slowly Lin Mu realized he was losing control of his body and didn't know what would happen if he stayed like this for any longer. He had been trying to get a hold of himself, but found it very difficult.
Even Xukong's link with him had been blocked and they couldn't communicate right now. This was something that had happened before as well, and Lin Mu knew that the ring's skills could overwhelm his mind like that.
Another thing that was happening was that Lin Mu felt like he was getting ravenous by the minute. He had already consumed several Dao Treading realm experts directly, and they were already digested by his body and converted into pure vitality that further fueled this form.
But that gain was depleting rapidly. Even the many beast corpses and spirit herbs he had eaten before coming to the battle had been exhausted in this form.
Just seeing Duan Ke was making him hungry as well, and he was doing his best to hold back.
"W-what can I do to help you?" Duan Ke asked, knowing that the situation was dire.
She didn't run away, as that was not something she would ever do. She owed Lin Mu a great debt and there was no way she would abandon him here like this.
"I… I… I can suppress this form… but… I need a way to hold back this wild aura." Lin Mu spoke with great difficult, beastly growls escaping between his words.
"Surpass that aura?" Duan Ke muttered as she observed the red aura.
Her spirit sense moved and tried to touch the red aura, but was quickly repelled by it.
"SSS~" She hissed in pain and held her head. 'Even using my spirit sense is not an option here?' The red aura was far too volatile and injured her spirit sense with ease.
Her mind worked quickly as she tried to figure out a method to help Lin Mu.
Duan Ke had spent years on comprehending the information that had been passed on to her by Xukong. In doing that, she had improver her skills by many times and had the confidence to use abilities she had never attempted before.
"I have to try that… It has to work!" Duan Ke muttered to herself as determination appeared in her eyes.
In the next moment, she flicked her hands and threw out eight stakes that were filled with densely carved runes.
~SHUA~ SHUA~ SHUA~
The eight stakes flew out and embedded themselves into the ground around Lin Mu.
~THUD~ THUD~ THUD~
The red aura around Lin Mu lashed out towards the stakes, but the stakes were durable enough to hold on. From this, one could tell that the aura was violent against everything that approached it and held no proper sentience.
Once the stakes were embedded into the ground firmly, Duan Ke uttered several incomprehensible syllables before drawing out tens of runes with her hands. Her brain worked on multiple things as she kept on muttering and making runes with her hands.
Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead as the runes increased in number.
Then at a certain point, she gritted her teeth and brought her fingers together in a hand seal.
"Aural Binding Chains!" Duan Ke uttered, executing the skill.
~SHING~
The runes turned into chain links and flew towards the eight stakes, joining with them. The chain links latched onto each other before turning into long chains that swirled in the air.
"BIND!" Duan Ke clenched her hands together.
~SHUA~ SHUA~ SHUA~
The chains stabbed through the red aura and seemingly latched onto it. They then pulled back, stretching the aura thing such that it couldn't lash out anymore.
