While the Saintess was pondering on the origin of the Legacy Ground, Lin Mu was busy cultivating and practicing.
~SHUA~SHUA~SHUA~
Searing hot magma floated around Lin Mu and turned into long claws that tore at the Evergreen Pillar Bamboo around him. The bamboo was cut with ease before combusting and turning into charcoal.
~huu~
"The speed has increased but I definitely need more practice with the third concept." Lin Mu muttered to himself while controlling the magma.
The fire Qi was extracted from it and the magma hardened into solid armor.
~CRACK~CRACK~
Lin Mu clenched his fist that was now equipped with a stone gauntlet.
~WOOM~WOOM~WOOM~
Lin Mu sent out a flurry of punches causing jets of air to make the bamboo bend. Even though his firsts weren't touching anything, they were still enough to break things. Especially with the added fortification of the Longgui Bulwark armor they not only had more mass and impact, but also a raw power that exuded from it continually.
~CHIRP~
But Lin Mu suddenly heard a crisp chirp, making him stop.
~SHUA~
The solid rock armor turned into pure Qi and was reabsorbed into Lin Mu's body in a mere moment as he turned around.
"She's awake?" Lin Mu quickly went to the immortal abode and found his newest companion.
Ashy was looking around curiously, feeling different. Lin Mu could tell that she was understanding her new body and the changes that had happened.
"How are you feeling?" Lin Mu spoke to the bird for the first time through their link.
"M… Master?" Ashy replied in an airy voice.
"Mmhmm, looks like you can speak." Lin Mu replied.
"We… can talk? WE CAN TALK!" Ashy finally got a grasp on it and hopped in joy. "I'VE NEVER TALKED LIKE THIS BEFORE! HOW ARE WE DOING THIS? HOW CAN I DO THIS!?" it didn't take much for the tiny bird to become hyper, her voice finally settling in and no longer airy.
"Haha, calm down. We can talk because of the link." Lin Mu said before giving her a quick explanation.
Through this interaction, Lin Mu also determined the communicative ability of the bird as well as the extent of her knowledge.
Just like Lin Mu had checked earlier, Ashy was indeed over three hundred years old and had memories from about two hundred years ago. Before that she did not have enough intelligence to remember much.
She also told Lin Mu how she had lived and the other Snow Stream Sparrows. Ashy was not from the Evergreen Pillars forest, but actually from White Leaf Peak.
White Leaf Peak was one of the few mountains in the southern part of the Dao Wind Continent that was tall enough to have snow on it perpetually throughout the year.
She had apparently been abandoned by her kin due to her looking different from the other Snow Stream Sparrows. She was also much weaker than most of her siblings and kin which made it very dangerous for her on the White Leaf Peak that was filled with countless immortal beasts.
Because of this, she went down the mountain two hundred years ago and eventually wandered into the Evergreen Pillars Forest which was almost two thousand kilometer from the White Leaf Peak.
And after entering the forest, she never managed to get out due to the Natural Befuddling arrays of the forest. While the Evergreen Pillars forest was as dangerous as the White Leaf Peak, Ashy actually had a better time here.
Her smaller size and high vitality gave her and advantage in the forest of bamboos. She could escape predators with ease and weave through the bamboos. She could also go to the canopy of the forest where she could stay safe.
Additionally she could also hide inside the Evergreen Pillar Bamboos. Some of them would have holes due to some insects drilling into them to sap the wood Qi.
These holes were too small for other beasts to enter, but perfect for her size. As such, after eating the insects as a snack, Ashy could easily stay in them.
Plus there was no lack of them in the forest and provided her safe haven wherever she went.
Then there was a surprising thing he learned. Apparently Ashy had more friends. Or rather beast friends.
She also told Lin Mu that she had seen many humans before, particularly those wearing robes with the morning glory crest on it.
'Guess the members of the Morning Glory clan come here regularly.' Lin Mu thought.
It was normal since there were many other herbs that one could find in the Evergreen Pillars Forest, along with beast materials that the alchemist clan could use.
Lin Mu listened to all that she had to say, or rather was forced to listen because Ashy would… not… stop.
She was a chatter bird who could talk for hours without stopping. Which was exactly what happened.
'Did she talk this much with Little Shrubby and the twins too?' Lin Mu couldn't help but wonder.
After all the three of them had met the bird earlier.
~Gurgle~
Fortunately, the bird finally stopped talking when she felt hungry.
"You want some food?" Lin Mu asked. "We have a lot of meat."
"Meat? No, I want bugs." Ashy replied.
"Oh yeah, you did say you liked bugs." Lin Mu replied.
Her diet had mostly been bugs before this along with some spirit fruits that grew in the forest.
"Yep, yep. They tasty." Ashy nodded like a chick pecking some grain.
"Well… I don't exactly have bugs with me." Lin Mu replied.
"No worries, I'll go find some." Ashy said before flapping her wings.
"Okay, be careful. And call for me if you need help. Our link allows us to talk from long distances." Lin Mu advised.
"Yay, I'll do that." Ashy said before flying up.
~WHOOSH~
Spirit Qi surrounded her wings before she flew away at great speed, leaving a gray trail behind in the air.
"Huh… she's certainly fast." Lin Mu muttered seeing it.
