Learning all this from Senior Xukong, Lin Mu was sure that him coming this early was the best.
"The Violet mystic Life Tree can increase one's lifespan right Senior? By much can it do that?" Lin Mu questioned.
"It depends on the part of the three. The Fruits are the main method of increasing lifespan and it can increase one's lifespans by a thousand years. Of course, a cultivator can only eat one fruit. Consuming them again will have no effect and might actually cause them a backlash.
The leaves of the tree can also increase one's lifespans, but it does not work for immortals. For those below the immortal realm though, it can still be a saving grace. Though they do not increase more than ten years of lifespans." Xukong answered.
"What about the trunk, branches or the roots?" Lin Mu asked feeling curious.
"The trunk, root sand branches don't have the same effect." Xukong replied. "Though they all have other uses. The Roots can be refined into healing pills, while the branches and trunk can be used to make immortal tools." He added.
"I see… so its useful all over." Lin Mu was impressed. "If the tree is carefully cultivated, one can enjoy the benefits for years to come." He understood,
"That is true, but it has never happened." Xukong denied.
"What? Why's that?" Lin Mu asked, but the realized it himself. "Of course… the conflicts won't let it happen, will it?"
"Indeed. With so many powers are fighting for one thing, it is hard to control greed. They would rather destroy the long term gains and repay the entire tree rather than wait and let others have an equal share." Xukong agreed.
~Sigh~
"Guess it'll be the same fate for this too…" Lin Mu muttered. "Though maybe we can get some benefits from it before that."
The biggest benefit was obviously the fruits and Lin Mu would be able to exchange them for a decent fortune. Though the roots didn't seem like a bad option either as they could be refined into healing pills.
'Maybe Alchemist Ruoxian might be able to do it too…' Lin Mu thought to himself.
~DRIP~DRIP~DRIP~
The sound of something dripping could be heard, which snapped Lin Mu out of his thoughts.
"Water?" Lin Mu spread his immortal sense around searching for the source of sound.
He was currently passing through a narrow gap between two walls that was created due to roots growing between them. Because of this he couldn't tell where he was going or what laid ahead, but with his immortal sense he quickly grasped it.
"There it is!" Within Lin Mu's scope of Immortal sense appeared a new area.
And after walking a few more meters, he could see it with his eyes too.
Unlike the rest of the mine, this place was illuminated!
The source of the light was none other than the roots of the Violet Mystic Life Tree. The violet veins on them were glowing and cast a light that reflected off the millions of crystal surfaces in the mine.
All of this created a dazzling scene and perfectly illuminated the cave.
This section was wide and seemed to be the core place of the entire mine. The reason being none other than what Lin Mu had come looking for.
"There it is! The hundred year old Essence Spring Stalactite!" Lin Mu exclaimed.
In the center of his sights there was a pond. The pond was roughly five meters wide and was filled with a milky white liquid that shimmered under the light of the roots. Ripples would form on it as small white drops would fall in it from time to time.
And the place where these white drops fell from was none other than the Hundred Year old Essence Spring Stalactite!
The Stalactite hung from the roof and seemed to have several segments. From it one could tell that it had taken a long time to condense and form. It was nearly a meter long and was about ten centimeters wide.
It wasn't the only stalactite though as there were several other stalactites around it too. Though they were shorter than it, with the majority being less than twenty or thirty centimeters long.
Lin Mu's immortal sense spread towards the stalactite and carefully examined it.
'I need to confirm if it really is a Hundred Year old Essence Spring Stalactite…' Lin Mu checked the number of segments on the formation.
For it to qualify as a Hundred year old Essence Spring Stalactite, it needed to have at least a hundred segments on it.
"One hundred and four… it's actually more than that." Lin Mu was surprised.
He knew that these stalactites didn't form easily and were quite fragile. While a Hundred year Old Essence Spring Stalactite only took a hundred years to form, not all of them lasted that long.
Due to being fragile, most of them would end up crumbling way before that. Thus among several hundred such Essence Spring stalactites, only one or two might reach the age of a hundred years old.
"There might be more of them, you should take a look." Xukong suggested. "With the size of the area, there should be more essence springs."
"I'll take a look." Lin Mu let his Immortal sense spread further, while trying to avoid the stalactites.
Immortal sense was made from Immortal Qi and could actually cause the Stalactites to break due to their properties. Thus he needed to be carfare not to touch them too forcefully. Just from this one could see how fragile they really were.
For one to last over a hundred years was already close to a miracle.
"There's more of them… two more!" Lin Mu was stunned.
Some distance from the Essence Spring he was at, several more ponds existed. And these ponds had two stalactites that had reached the length needed for them to be Hundred year old!
"This'll be good…" Lin Mu was very excited about the pills that he would be getting from these later.
