Lin Mu had imagined a lot of possibilities upon seeing the beast approach him, but that beast taking a burning stick was not one of those possibilities. He couldn't even begin to think for reasons behind that as the confusion plaguing him was rather complex.
'Why?'
Was the main question hanging in his brain.
"This is rather peculiar." Xukong chimed in.
"Isn't it Senior? What would a spirit beast need with a burning stick?" Lin Mu questioned.
"I have no idea… Well I do, but they are likely to be false and would be far-fetched." Xukong replied.
"Hmm, it is a mystery. Unless we see that beast again, I don't think we can determine the reason for it." Lin Mu spoke with slight disappointment.
Having spoken his mind, Lin Mu pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind and focused on what needed to be done, the second reason why he had come to the forest. He was here to test out his skills now that his strength had increased and his foundation had become more deep.
Not to mention, Lin Mu had not tested or even used some of his skills for a while. The main one being the Boulder collapsing fist. Lin Mu had not used it ever since he used it to kill the former vice captain Han Xu before. Though it was more because he had not gotten an opportunity to do it after that.
Lin Mu had known very well that the boulder collapsing fist was a rather exhaustive skill and would drain all if not most of his vital energy and spirit qi. Although he could still control the amount of resources used up to a certain extent, it was still difficult to do so in a life threatening moment.
Another thing was the recoil of the boulder collapsing fist. Using it even once would render Lin Mu's hand numb for a while and would make it difficult for him to use it in the best case. In the worst case, he would instead be severely injured.
"Start with the basics, use your vital energy for the boulder collapsing fist," Xukong spoke.
Lin Mu nodded his head before entering the stance for it and initiated the breathing technique that was needed for the technique. He performed its routine and felt the vital energy within his body getting agitated.
At first, all of it was moving and entering his arms, but he then focused and limited the amount that entered them to less than five percent. Unlike before, Lin Mu had no difficulty in doing this, as the vital energy within his body was quite harmonized and listened to his will.
Soon a clockwise spiral of vital energy was formed in his right hand and an anticlockwise one was formed in his left arm. Having completed the routine, Lin Mu focused on the air in front of him and punched out, releasing the energy that had been building in his arm.
"Boulder collapsing fist!"
In that moment, Lin Mu could see an almost physical outline of his arm extending forward in the air. Sensing this new change, Lin Mu immediately focused on it and extended his spirit sense to observe it. But alas, it was far too fast for him to respond.
~Whoosh~
The effect of the technique continued outward and cause a gale to whip up. The gale went straight and shook the leaves of the trees in the distance. Some of the leaves detached and flew away with the wind. It seemed as if other than that, nothing much happened.
But that wasn't exactly the case. This time the distance between Lin Mu and the trees was about twenty meters and yet the wind created by his attack was still strong enough to make the leaves fall. Another big thing was that Lin Mu had used only five percent of his vital energy in that attack, unlike a large amount before.
"This is certainly strong…" Lin Mu muttered to himself.
"Indeed, if it can cause such an effect even at a long distance such as this, then the technique is quite strong. Not to mention it's not supposed to be a long distance technique, it's a close combat technique." Xukong replied.
Lin Mu nodded in acknowledgment and decided to try the technique again, but this time with a greater energy output. He entered the stance again and directed his vital energy to form the spirals, but this time he used ten percent.
Once the vital energy spiral was stable, he punched forward, letting the energy fly forth.
~Whoosh~
The fist outline was seen once again, and this time Lin Mu was ready with his spirit sense. He observed it the moment it was formed and sensed the changes in it. He could see that once the fist outline was formed, it stayed in shape for a brief instant before breaking down into a spiral of energy that kept on moving forward.
But that was all Lin Mu could perceive before the spiral dissipated and turned into a gale. The wind this time was strong enough to make the branches of the trees in front of him shake and more leaves to fall.
"Hmm, I'm starting to understand the technique a bit more." Xukong suddenly spoke.
"Oh, you are senior?" Lin Mu questioned with interest.
"Yes. Use it again with more vital energy and see its effect. It should be more clear this time." Xukong replied.
Lin Mu hummed in response before repeating the technique and increasing the output to twenty percent.
"Boulder Collapsing Fist!"
~Whoosh~
Lin Mu's spirit sense followed behind the fist outline and the spiral and could sense them quite clearly this time. The spiral was clear at the start and Lin Mu could see it churning upon itself, before it could no longer stay stable and dissipated.
~Crack~
A small branch from the tree broke and fell while the top of the tree shook and the leaves flew away.
"Hmm, it is a rather straightforward method of using energy." Xukong commented.
"Can you tell me more about it, Senior? We still have to test it out with spirit qi and finally the combination of spirit qi and vital energy." Lin Mu spoke up.
"Of course. But before that, how does your arm feel?" Xukong asked with concern.
