Chapter 255 - Deciphering The Bewildering Formation
Lin Mu simply told it to wait in his mind, and he tried using the spirit sense to check the area. He was suspicious when he had originally arrived, but soon understood the reason behind the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat"s disappearance.
"Huh, there is a formation array here? How?" Lin Mu wondered.
"Not just any formation array. Look further with your spirit sense." Xukong spoke.
Lin Mu did as he asked and discovered that he could not extend it beyond two meters. After two meters, it was as if his spirit sense bent and came out of another part of the formation.
"What is this?" Lin Mu questioned.
"This is actually two formations layered together into a formation array. You have seen these two before at the Myriad armament canopy abode before, but its level is significantly low. You can use your previous deciphering method to find the nodes." Xukong answered.
Lin Mu then started chanting the severing heart sutra and extended his spirit sense, touching the formation array. The same thing as before happened and his spirit sense bent, coming out of another spot. But Lin Mu did not mind this and tried again.
An entire hour pa.s.sed and multiple attempts had been done by Lin Mu, yet every time the same thing happened and his spirit sense came or from another random spot.
Xukong actually knew how to help Lin Mu, but he intentionally did not help him. He wanted him to learn through trial and error, wanting to see how much he had improved from before. This formation in front of him, while similar to the one at the Myriad armament canopy abode, was not exactly the one that Lin Mu had solved.
The difference lied in the basic characteristic of the Myriad armament canopy abode. The Myriad armament canopy abode was a spirit tool and did not actually exist in the same plane as the real world, instead existing in a minor one in the lesser void. That was also the reason why Lin Mu was able to find it rater quickly, the mysterious ring had helped him.
But right now these formations had become an obstruction even though they were low leveled. This kind of formation array was composed of two types of formations. One of them was the common illusory formation that Lin Mu had seen before. It was similar to the one that was used to hide Jing Wei"s emporium and the desolate alley it was located in.
The second one was the more complex one that was actually causing the bigger problem. This kind of a formation was called a bewildering formation and its only function was to confuse the intruder. It could make the intruder change his direction if they walked into it, making them leave the formation from another direction.
Some of the bewildering formations could even trick the spirit sense and would make the cultivator using it feel as if his spirit sense was blocked by something. Another effect it could have on spirit sense was that it could make the cultivator misjudge it. This would cause them to extend and contract their spirit sense randomly.
The combined effect of both these formations created this formation array and had become the obstacle in Lin Mu"s path.
"Hmm, how was the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat able to get through it? I already checked the spot from where it entered, yet there was nothing there. What is it that I"m missing?" Lin Mu thought to himself.
He then thought about the characteristics of the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat and realized that it did not have any spirit sense of its own. Back when the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat disappeared, Lin Mu could still sense the connection between them, telling him that the beast was right there in front of him.
"Hmm, so if I restrict my spirit sense and walk in directly, would I be able to cross it?" Lin Mu thought out loud.
He then looked at the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat and told it to continue onward, which it immediately followed.
The Brown Shrubby Forest Cat walked forward and once again disappeared. This time though, Lin Mu did not lose focus and concentrated on his connection with the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat.
"Only one way to confirm my theory…" Lin Mu thought with determination as he took a deep breath and took a step forward.
As soon as he crossed into the invisible formation, he felt the scene in front of him change for a slight moment. If it were some other cultivator in the qi refining realm, they would not even have been able to notice this kind of a small change as it was very quick and hard to recognize with naked eyes.
But Lin Mu had an advantage in this area, being used to the rapid changes due to him using the skill blink. He understood that something had happened and there was a change. This doubt of his was confirmed when he sensed the location of Brown Shrubby Forest Cat suddenly switching.
Previously the connection told Lin Mu that the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat was right in front of him. But now it was telling him that it was on the left. He took a few steps forward, and it happened again, this time the location of the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat changed to being behind him for some reason.
Lin Mu did not follow his connection and just walked straight forward, wanting to see where it would lead him. Two minutes later, Lin Mu found himself back to where he had started from.
"So it will return me back to my original position if I keep on walking straight. My connection with Brown Shrubby Forest Cat also told me otherwise. It seems like the formation array is changing the direction I walk without me noticing." Lin Mu hypothesized.
"Hmm, let"s try this again." Lin Mu thought to himself before taking a step into the formation array again.
This time though, he did not keep on walking forward and instead changed direction to face the location of the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat every time it changed. Before he had crossed the formation array and come out of it in 2 minutes. But now he had been walking for over five minutes, and yet the end was not in sight.
"He"s close to figuring out. His investigational ability is not bad…" Xukong thought.