Lin Mu continued to watch elder Niji, knowing that it might take a little while for him to be done.
"It's finally happening!" Lanbao said with joy. "After all these years, the city is back under Haima!"
"You've really missed them, haven't you?" Lin Mu could feel the truth in her emotions.
"Of course! I was made for the Haima and I exist for the Haima. Without them, I am incomplete." Lanbao said with tears in the corners of her eyes.
Lin Mu nodded his head, looking at elder Niji.
"How long will it take for this to be done?" Lin Mu asked Lanbao, wondering if she knew.
"I don't know fully either. Elder Niji is now learning all the information that is stored in the city's array archives. Additionally, he'll also need to get used to the expanded sense of consciousness." Lanbao replied.
"Expanded sense of consciousness?" Lin Mu raised a brow.
"Yes. As the owner and a Haima, he can sense anything that happens on the island. His consciousness will merge with the island's arrays, allowing him to control it directly. While he won't be able to do it on the same level as me, he'll still be the strongest person here." Lanbao answered.
"Strongest person… so he'll have the strength of a peak stage immortal?" Lin Mu asked curiously.
"With the offensive arrays of the Deep Sapphire island, he does have that ability. Not to mention, his cultivation base should rise quickly too as the energies of the island will be channeled into him at all times.
This is the benefit that comes with being the owner of the island." Lanbao explained.
Lin Mu was amazed by this, feeling that the Haima tribe might be able to rise to their previous glory much faster than expected.
After a few minutes had passed and Elder Niji hadn't moved, Lin Mu decided to take a look around the temple instead.
"Is it fine if I take a look here?" Lin Mu asked for permission.
"You are trusted by elder Niji, thus you can do that," Lanbao said with a smile. "Though…" she suddenly appeared right next to his face.
"I'll accompany you," Lanbao said with a little excitement.
Having someone new to talk to and see meant that the lonely spirit wouldn't be bored.
"Alright, you can tell me about this place then." Lin Mu nodded, thinking that having a guide would be a lot better.
"En!" Lanbao nodded her head like a chick pecking rice.
Lin Mu picked a random direction and started walking. He took in the sights of the temple as well, finding there to be a lot of runes and formations hidden in them.
"Even spending a year might not be enough to study these all…" Lin Mu muttered.
"It is said that ancestor Muxuan made this temple from the bones of an Immortal whale beast. Its bones had natural rune markings on it which now act as the conduits for the array that operates in the temple." Lanbao explained.
"Natural rune markings on bones?" Lin Mu was interested. "I don't think I've heard of this before…"
"I read in the library before that there are some great beasts that can form natural runes on their bones. This only happens when they have gained a lot of Dao insights though." Lanbao introduced.
"Wait! There is a library?" Lin Mu was now excited too.
"Yes! There is a large library in the city. I've spent a lot of time there reading when I had nothing to do." Lanbao said.
This gave Lin Mu another thought about the spirit.
"What else did you do here other than reading?" he was curious about what the spirit could do.
The artifact spirit didn't really cultivate in the first place, so that option was not on the list.
"I either read at the library, went to the beach to gather seashells, watched the beasts play, and gathered shinies," Lanbao replied.
"Shinies?" Lin Mu didn't understand her. "What do you mean by that?"
~Huala~
In response to that, Lanbao waved her hand creating a ripple in the space. Then, her hand directly entered the space stunning Lin Mu.
"These," Lanbao pulled out her hand, and showed it to Lin Mu.
In her hand were shining objects and items. Most of them were small stones, but Lin Mu instantly realized they weren't normal at all.
"This… aren't these treasures?" Lin Mu said sensing the amount of energy that was emitting from the shining stones.
"I call them shinies!" Lanbao chucked. "They turn up on the coast every so often." She added.
"They do?!" Lin Mu was really shocked now.
This was due to the fact that the stones in Lanbao's hands weren't just normal stones. Instead, they were a mix of Water Essence crystals, Water elemental ores, and gems. Each of them was precious and could sell for a lot.
"Yeah! Do you like them?" Lanbao asked.
"They are nice… yeah." Lin Mu could only say that.
But then in the next moment, Lanbao grasped his hand. "Here you go then! You can take these. I got more." She handed the 'shinies' to Lin Mu.
"Wha—" Lin Mu was taken aback by the sudden gift.
Any of these items were worth a lot of immortal stones. Lin Mu didn't know the exact value, but knew that it wouldn't be cheap.
Especially the Water Essence crystals were something that was very useful for body cultivation. And if used to make alchemical pills, they could be used for Qi cultivation as well.
Lin Mu could use it for both paths, granted he had an alchemist specialized in that. At the very least, he could use them for his normal use or exchange them later on.
"Thank you…" Lin Mu said after gathering his wits.
"It's okay! You're the first friend I made." Lanbao replied with a large smile.
"Friends?" Lin Mu muttered unconsciously.
"Are we not?" Lanbao's face fell sad.
"We are! We are!" Lin Mu hurriedly said.
"YAY!!!" Lanbao danced around in joy hearing that.
