"I have to say, your actions have been suspicious even for me." Dugu Shanhe spoke, expressing some doubts. "Why is it that you have no sponsor, and yet managed to get free entry into the palace grounds? Then there's the strange thing about those companions of yours… they are quite weak and yet… they've managed to come too far."
"All those that fought your companions showed discrepancies in their fighting styles too." Dugu Shanhe continued to speak. "Why is that? It is not something that should be possible if one thinks about it rationally."
"That's because I've been teaching them." Lin Mu presented a fact while avoiding showing any extra thoughts.
Dugu Shanhe felt the thoughts of Lin Mu and could somewhat 'see' Lin Mu teaching his companions.
Lin Mu even let off a few thoughts in the form of memories, allowing Dugu Shanhe to see even more.
Dugu Shanhe saw how Lin Mu extracted the weaknesses of the opponents and then formulated tactics that could allow even weaker opponents to defeat them.
Most of it was indeed accurate, thus Dugu Shanhe had no reason but to accept it as the truth.
"Astonishing intellect… I haven't come across many immortals that can analyze like you do. The few that I have, are all old experts that cannot be touched." Dugu Shanhe replied.
~SIGH~
"Oh, how I wish I found you earlier. Perhaps I would have been able to grow stronger even faster." Dugu Shanhe said before a strange aura flowed off him.
Lin Mu felt it too and realized that it wasn't coming from the man's body.
'It's coming directly from his mind?' Lin Mu sensed.
"You are correct." Dugu Shanhe replied. "And since you've been so good at guessing, I'll throw you a few freebies."
Lin Mu waited in silence for the man to speak while keeping his senses alert. He had no idea what he would have to be dealing with after all. And if Dugu Shanhe intended to take his memories, it would be quite dangerous for Lin Mu. After all, he knew things that could not only be threatening to himself but also to others if it was revealed.
Simply the fact that he was the 'demon' who had stolen the Violet Mystic Life Tree would be enough to spur a war. And this was barely one of the sensitive pieces of memories that Lin Mu had.
"Seems like I'll have to see you after the tournament." Lin Mu said openly. "I might not be able to harm you during it, but I'll be sure to go after you." He promised.
"Haha! Sure, you can try that." Dugu Shanhe laughed. "But that if you can even remember all this. I'll be erasing your memories of this interaction."
"You can try," Lin Mu taunted this time.
"I sure will… why don't we start with the fun, then?" Dugu Shanhe said, the aura coming from him turning dangerous.
Lin Mu felt his vision change and his body getting lighter. A few moments later, everything around him had disappeared and he was no longer in the Spatial Plane.
He could tell that this was an illusory change though as he could still pick up on the Spatial fluctuations.
~RUMBLE~
But this was just the start as a new area appeared around Lin Mu. He was surrounded by a barren land that looked quite different from the Spatial plane. The ground seemed to be made out of stone and there were no clouds or sun in the sky.
The sky just looked like an empty night sky with no moons or stars.
Just as Lin Mu glanced at all this, the ground shook as large pillars rose from them.
The pillars were made out of stone and were carved with various motifs. Lin Mu counted the pillars and found there to be thirty six of them. They were set in two rows of eighteen each. The pillars lined both sides of Lin Mu blocking him in place.
Then, a large statue rose from the end of the pillars. It was located at the very back and took up the space between the two rows.
Lin Mu glanced at the statue and found it to be some kind of a creature. It looked to be humanoid and had two arms and two legs.
It's face though was featureless.
And standing in front of it was none other than Dugu Shanhe.
"Since you like learning about new things, I think you'll find pleasure in learning about this too." Dugu Shanhe spoke. "Not many have gotten the chance to witness this after all." He said, spreading his arms wide.
"And what exactly am I witnessing?" Lin Mu asked.
"What you are witnessing is the legendary Six Faiths Soul Mystic Art!" Dugu Shanhe revealed.
~BOOM~
And as if on his command, the statue behind him shook and its 'head' exploded.
The stone head was gone, leaving only a broken neck behind. But that was only for a few seconds, as Lin Mu soon saw something wiggling out of the stone neck.
'What is…' Lin Mu watched it all in astonishment as flesh started to grow from the broken neck.
The flesh grew to take the shape of a head, but it was still featureless.
"Witness, the power of the Six Faiths Deity!" Dugu Shanhe shouted. "OPEN!" he ordered.
~SLICK~
With his command, six slits opened up on the fleshy head. The slits expanded into six eyes that looked to be empty.
The eyes had no pupils and were only white sclera with dark red veins spreading through them.
"Six Faiths Soul Eye Mystic Art: Eyes of Engulfment!" Dugu Shanhe chanted while pointing at Lin Mu.
~SCREAM~
An inhuman scream was heard at that moment, as the pupil-less 'glared' at Lin Mu.
"ARGH!" Lin Mu felt a great pain that seemed to be rising from his soul itself.
In the next moment, white illusory ribbons started to come out of Lin Mu's head and flew towards the six eyes. They entered the six eyes while Dugu Shanhe smiled in pleasure.
"Good, good… I see it all now…"
