The area was unlike anything that Lin Mu had seen so far. He spread his Immortal sense and probed the surroundings. Even Little Shrubby was a bit unnerved by the aura and took a bit to get used to it.
Lin Mu was highly interested as to how the area had transformed. And when his spirit sense touched the soil, he felt the bloody aura within it. It had permeated it to the point where its very essence had transformed.
'It's not just that… it has reached the level where it can actually propagate the bloody aura.' Lin Mu grasped.
But it also made him wonder about a lot more.
"For it to be able to propagate the bloody aura… doesn't it need to be on the level of Dao?" Lin Mu wondered.
He had learned enough to know that permanent transformation of this level were not achieved easily. The area would have to be constantly infused with a particular type of Dao for it to work. This could be in the form of a Dao Trace or even a Dao Insight.
Which was exactly why Lin Mu was confused since the Desolate Blood Battlefield was said to have been transformed due to many battles.
'What kind of Dao would have to be it to cause a change? And how would it rise from battles?' Lin Mu thought about it.
"Hmm… I sense a mix of several Dao Traces here." Xukong's voice was filled with intrigue.
"Senior?" Lin Mu responded. "You can tell them apart?" he asked.
"Yes… Though I didn't expect the place to be of this level." Xukong replied. "This place could have become a base for several unorthodox sects easily." He added.
"Unorthodox sects… you mean the Dao Traces here aren't exactly…" Lin Mu said, guessing a few things.
"Yes. There are the Dao Traces of Blood, Dao Traces of Despair, Dao Traces of Massacre, Dao Traces of Slaughter and Dao Traces of War here." Xukong answered. "Perhaps if this place was 'nurtured' a bit more, it would have directly transformed into Holy Land for cultivators of those Daos." He added.
Lin Mu hadn't been able to sense those Dao Traces but hearing about them certainly made him a bit unnerved. Dao Traces themselves were something that were rare and for ones that were from Derivative Dao's it was even rarer.
These weren't like the Elemental Dao Traces which were ever present, nor like the Weapon Dao traces that could be formed from using said weapons. For example, the Dao traces of Despair would only appear when a colossal amount of despair was felt in a place by millions of beings over years.
The same could be said for the Dao Trace of massacre, Dao Trace of Slaughter as well as Dao Traces of War.
'Just what kind of a bloody history does the Rust Sky world really have?' Lin Mu couldn't help but think that what he had heard so far might have been an understatement.
"Though this is certainly a place of opportunity. You will have a chance to learn quite a lot and possibly obtain some treasures." Xukong reminded.
"Yes… that is what I am here for anyway." Lin Mu replied.
Having overcome his initial surprise, Lin Mu got used to the area and its bloody aura. He flew up and tried to get a sense of direction.
"Let's see… according to the information that Alchemist Ruoxian gave, I need to find a hill carved with sword marks…" Lin Mu muttered.
The said hill was apparently a relic of the past battles and was now used as a marker to determine directions. Since the Desolate Blood Battlefield was an independent plane, there wasn't exactly a 'north'.
The cardinal directions couldn't be determined normally, thus the directions had to be decided on the landmarks that dotted it.
"I can do it." Little Shrubby spoke up.
"Ah yes! It'll be faster if you do it." Lin Mu nodded his head.
"Yup!" Little Shrubby jumped off Lin Mu's shoulder and quickly started to grow.
~THUD~
By the time he landed on the ground, Little Shrubby was already at his maximum size.
"I guess we get to test out the new Harness too." Lin Mu said before taking out the said item.
He had bought this during one of his tours in the city and didn't have the chance to use it till now. Thankfully, it wasn't that hard for him to get the harness as the Rust Sky World had plenty of cultivators that kept large beast mounts.
The only issue was the fact that Little Shrubby's belt couldn't be improved right away. So Lin Mu simply tied the belt around Little Shrubby's right foreleg. His neck was too big for the belt to fit now and only his legs could accommodate it.
He could have also gotten Little Shrubby a new belt, but the beast liked his old one. Plus, it was also something that Jing Luo had refined and had emotional value to it. He didn't want to discard it just like that.
With the little set up done, Lin Mu climbed into Little Shrubby's back and strapped in.
"Let's go!" Lin Mu spoke.
~ROAR!~
Little Shrubby let out a roar for the first time in a long time, making him feel excited. His Roar echoed across the Desolate Blood Battlefield, sparking fear and surprise in the hearts of those who heard it.
Though they simply attributed it to one of the many denizens of the Desolate Blood Battlefield and decided to avoid the vicinity of where it had come from.
Little Shrubby started to sprint and soon turned into a red blur, with Lin Mu not even visible on his back. The size difference between the two was great, and it was easy to mesh into Little Shrubby's long fur.
'Let's do a quick circle around and see if we can spot the hill.' Lin Mu spoke to Little Shrubby through their link.
"Okay!" Little Shrubby ran straight before turning to the left.
