"Are you sure you don't want to stay any longer, Noble Lin Mu?" Elder Niji gazed at the young man standing in front of him.
Lin Mu gleaned over from the side of Elder Niji and looked at the Haima tribe's people going about their way. It had been a couple months since they had arrived here in the Deep Sapphire Island and things seem to be going well.
Neither of them thought that they would be in a stable state like this, making the peace feel almost surreal.
But to Lin Mu the peace felt foreboding. He just couldn't get comfortable enough to continue staying here. Then there was also the desire in his heart that was slowly resurfacing. Lin Mu now had a good guess that if he kept on stalling the desire might grow and break out.
After a few seconds of pondering Lin Mu looked back at the elder who didn't look as old now. The breakthrough to the Immortal Realm had bought Elder Niji the much needed longevity and had allowed him to regain a part of his youth.
In fact, the more time went by the younger he was getting. For example, when he had just broken through to the immortal realm, his hair had started to grow back. But that hair was still grey in color unlike the current hair that was more salt and pepper.
Even the wrinkles on his face seemed to be reducing little by little.
If any other person were to see him, they would think that Elder Niji had returned to looking like a normal 60 years old man instead of a 90+ year old man.
Lin Mu had once wondered how he would be when he turned old. He also worried about that, but now that he had over eight thousand years of longevity he didn't know how to completely feel about it. It felt safe and a little lost at the same time
It was a feeling that could not be described and only felt when one was in that position.
"Yes... I think it is now time for me to leave." Lin Mu said after a bit of hesitation.
~sigh~
"If that's what you want then it's okay. Though you should take plenty of supplies. You will need tons of immortal stones if you are to use the teleportation array after all." Elder Niji replied.
"I'll do, thank you for them." Lin Mu smiled.
~WHOOSH~
"WHAT! You're leaving already!?" A high pitched scream was heard coming from the distance.
A blue streak could be seen flying towards them, it being none other than Lanbao the mermaid. A hint of anxiety was present on her face, obviously not pleased with the news.
"Yes, I have to leave Lanbao." Lin Mu replied. "There are things I need to do. Answers... that I need to seek." He added.
Lanbao pursed her lips and her eyes fluttered in dislike. But a few seconds later she took a hold of herself and shook her head.
"Will you be back?" She asked, having calmed down.
"Of course I will. I'm not going away forever. Plus, I think Elder Niji might bring the others out later too." Lin Mu replied.
"That I will. The juniors and I need to take a look at the human world later." Elder Niji nodded his head.
"But you can't just leave empty handed," Lanbao said before she pointed out with her finger.
They waved in the air, forming several runes. The runes merged into the air before a gate formed in front of them.
"Come with me," Lanbao asked and took them through the gate.
"What's this place?" Lin Mu appeared in a place that looked like a blue glass cave.
It was about fifty meters tall and over two hundred meters wide. There were several pools of water here forming a lake and stream system. Flowers and corals grew too, making a rather strange but beautiful mixture of scenery.
"You can call this my house." Lanbao said. "I stay here... sometimes."
Lin Mu raised a brow as it was a little strange. Being an artifact spirit meant that Lanbao didn't need a 'house'. Every place she was in could be her house. After all, her body was illusory in the first place.
"What are we here for?" Elder Niji asked, not understanding.
"I heard that Noble Lin Mu has no immortal weapons?" Lanbao asked.
"Yes, I don't. I do have my short sword that I like the most, but it can't keep up now." Lin Mu replied.
"That's why I brought you here. The best weapons in the Haima Tribe are here." Lanbao said as she brought them to the very back of the cave.
They passed by several lakes before reaching what looked like a wall of crystalline coral. It shimmered with a pale blue light and immortal qi could be seen floating around it.
"The immortal qi is visible?" Lin Mu raised a brow.
"An Immortal Weapon Nurturing Case!" Xukong spoke up.
"This is that?" Lin Mu had heard about Immortal Weapon Nurturing Cases before.
They were a class of specialized Immortal tools that were used to nurture immortal weapons. It aided in their growth even when they were not under the use of any cultivator. It was said that a top quality Immortal Weapon Nurturing Case could nurture an Immortal weapon all the way till they gave birth to an artifact spirit.
"Not just that, this is a high grade Immortal Weapon Nurturing Case. If used exclusively by a single Immortal it will give birth to an artifact spirit in just a thousand years." Xukong explained.
"Then... doesn't it mean that all weapons that had been placed in it would have developed artifact spirits by now?" Lin Mu wondered.
"That's unlikely. It is only if it is under the exclusive use of a cultivator. This is a more broad use one that will nurture an immortal weapon to the maximum, but won't be able to push it past the level needed for developing an Artifact spirit." Xukong answered in detail.
