The runes revolved around the books and then entered the jade slip. After they entered the jade slip, its color changed and it became completely green. The formation array that had lit up soon faded away and everything went to normal.
Jing Wei waved his hand, and the pile of books all went flying back to their respective places. He then picked up the jade slip and took out another jade slip from his spatial treasure. This jade slip was different in color being azure blue.
He tapped the green jade slip with the azure colored jade slip and made it glow again. He then stored the azure one away while passing the green jade slip to Lin Mu.
"I reckon you know how to use a jade slip, at least?" Jing Wei questioned in a teasing tone.
'Tell him yes. You can use it with your spirit sense.' Xukong spoke in Lin Mu's mind.
"Yes, I do know." Lin Mu affirmed.
"That's good. Though you should bind the jade slip to yourself. We do not want the information in it leaking and I also registered my own jade slip to it, so if you need to inform me about something you can." Jing Wei added.
Lin Mu nodded in response and took out his short sword before pricking his finger with it and dripping a little bit of his blood onto the jade slip. As soon as the blood touched the jade slip, it disappeared, and it was as if a connection appeared in Lin Mu's mind.
While he could feel the jade slip's position, he actually could not use it without holding it in his hand and using spirit sense. The only thing the blood binding did was increase the security of the jade slip, making it so that only Lin Mu could use it.
Lin Mu then stored the jade slip into the ring when Jing Wei interrupted him.
"You shouldn't put communication jade slips into a spatial treasure or they won't work when someone tries to contact you."
"Huh? But I can still feel it." Lin Mu replied without thinking.
"What, you can? Hold on…" Jing Wei spoke as he then held his jade slip for a moment before looking back at Lin Mu with a confused expression.
"Hmm that's strange, it does work. But how? Ahh… it is probably because of the spatial storage treasure that your master gave you." Jing Wei came to his own conclusion.
Lin Mu just kept on looking and neither confirmed it nor denied it. He realized that he may have let it slip accidentally, but was lucky that Jing Wei assumed on his own. A question then popped into Lin Mu's mind. He wondered what was the maximum range till which he could contact Jing Wei.
But before he could ask him that, Xukong suddenly spoke up.
"Depending on the grade of the communication jade slip, its range may vary as they are also spirit tools. But the most common feature is that the range of its transmission depends on the spirit sense of the cultivator. For example, a cultivator that has an extremely long ranged spirit sense will be able to multiply the transmission range of the communication jade slip even if it is of a low grade.
Similarly, if it's a higher grade jade slip, even if the cultivator has a short range of spirit sense, they will still be able to communicate up to long distances. In simple terms, the jade slip only helps to amplify the range." Xukong explained.
"Ahh, I understand now senior." Lin Mu thanked.
"Now then, what are you going to do now?" Duan Ke asked, seeing that Lin Mu had been silent.
Lin Mu snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Duan Ke before speaking.
"I want to go back to cultivating. I think I'll be in seclusion for a while. I want to be prepared for all that's to come in the future and don't want to be caught off guard." Lin Mu replied in a determined tone.
"Good… good… We need to make preparations of our own. But for now, we can't leave the courtyard. Still, if you want to talk to us you can come to the courtyard, you've found a method to do so anyway." Jing Wei said with a calm expression.
A troubled expression appeared on Lin Mu's face, which was noticed by both Jing Wei and Duan Ke.
"Go on, ask us. It's fine." Jing Wei spoke up.
"Why is it that you need to hide here in the courtyard?" Lin Mu questioned.
~Sigh~
Jing Wei let out a sigh that seemed to have sorrow and pain hidden behind it. His expression also fell and it was as if the memories of the past ran in his eyes.
"I cannot tell you everything, but I'll tell you as much as I can." Jing Wei spoke and took a deep breath.
"My clan had always been defending against the northern tribes, and we contributed by providing weapons to the sects and the kingdoms. But a few decades ago we were betrayed and our clan was wiped out, leaving only me and my granddaughter as the last remaining members." Jing Wei revealed.
Lin Mu was shocked by this and didn't know what to think of this knowledge. He couldn't imagine what it could be that would threaten even a cultivator that was at the Dao treading realm and make him hide all this time.
Still, Lin Mu knew that he shouldn't probe more than this and he could see that Jing Wei was already uneasy with this and did not want to continue.
"I understand. I will take my leave now." Lin Mu spoke in a straight tone.
Jing Wei nodded and spoke, "Go on, Ke'er will show you out." He then walked away without saying anything more.
~Sigh~
Once Jing Wei was gone, Duan Ke let out a tired sigh. She then gestured for Lin Mu to follow her and guided him out of the mansion and into the courtyard. They came to stand in front of the Small rundown building that was at the opposite end of the courtyard.
