2269 Comprehending The Sky

Xukong watched as Lin Mu continued to practice while days continued to pass.

He had thought that he would need to advise him more, but that time never came, as Lin Mu managed to learn it all on his own. Still, learning it was no simple thing and just the Footwork alone ended up taking Lin Mu an entire month to figure out!

~WHOOSH~

-STEP-STEP-STEP-

Lin Mu moved like fish in water, his every movement containing a fluidity that was seldom seen as his feet maneuvered on the ground of the Sleepscape. What was surprising was that his feet barely made contact with the ground before he had already moved.

It was as if he was not walking on the ground, but rather a cloud floating in the sky.

There were no abrupt changes in his stance or his steps, all of them seemed to be harmonized and were close to perfection.

Every step carried Lin Mu at least a hundred meters, which was a major improvement from before.

When he had started out, Lin Mu was stumbling and falling at even five meters. But now he could travel much farther without falling. And if he maintained his gait, he could repeat it tens of times before he would have to stop.

-huu-

"That was better." Lin Mu said as he came to a stop after making a circle of the Sleepscape.

"You've certainly improved fast." Xukong praised.

"I still haven't fully learned it though." Lin Mu replied. "I've only grasped the footwork of the Cloud Dragon Stride and not the full technique." He stated.

"That is still good progress." Xukong replied. "Most wouldn't even memories the stances and the Qi circuit of the footwork in this time. And you've managed to not only do both but also apply them into your movements. Now all you have to do is to learn how to manifest the clouds." He explained.

"That's the hard part, though." Lin Mu said before looking up at the empty 'sky' of the Sleepscape. "If I am to do that, though, it would be best to do it outside in the real world with proper clouds." He stated.

"That's true." Xukong nodded. "The best way to grasp a Dao is to immerse oneself in its presence. The Sky Dao is ever-present in the skies and yet not many can sense it. But you should also remember the Sky Dao isn't just about the clouds." He reminded.

"Oh?" Lin Mu raised his brows.

"The Sky Dao is composed of more things." Xukong replied. "What do you see in the sky?" he asked.

"Hmm... Clouds, the sun, the moon, the stars..." Lin Mu answered.

"And what do you 'not see' in the sky?" Xukong asked.

Lin Mu narrowed his eyes as he thought about it for a minute before speaking.

"The air... The wind... the moisture... Dust?" Lin Mu answered.

"Indeed. They are present in the sky, but cannot be seen by the eyes... at least not all the time." Xukong spoke. "As such if you want to comprehend the Sky Dao, you have to sense all of these things... not just the clouds." He added.

Hearing that, Lin Mu felt like he had obtained the missing aspect that had been stopping his progress.

"Of course!" Lin Mu's eyes lit up. "The Cloud Dragon Stride technique might only need one to manifest clouds, but it still needs one to grasp a fragment of the Sky Dao. But to sense the Sky Dao I need to sense all those things... I cannot do that here, but I can still focus on learning every aspect one by one." He stated.

Lin Mu quickly understood that his method of dividing the technique into multiple parts could be applied here

too. As such, instead of simply grasping the Sky Dao in its entirety, he could comprehend each part of it bit by bit.

Among all the aspects, there were three that he could comprehend even now.

"Air, Wind and Moisture." Lin Mu muttered. "These three are present here too and for Wind I've also learned the Bending Will Fists. Perhaps I can start off from there." He reckoned.

The Bending Will Fists were a technique that had been made by the Storm King Shirong and were meant for a cultivator that didn't have an affinity with wind. It would make an introduction for them into the Wind element and allow them to eventually grasp it.

Lin Mu had fully learned the skill long ago, but that didn't mean that he had 'mastered' it.

As such, he stood in a horse stance and began the fist routine of the Bending Will Fists. -SHUA-SHUA-SHUA-

Each of his fists whipped up winds that spread in the area. Lin Mu executed punches with different force and direction, causing the winds to move in varying ways.

'I've to get a 'feel' for the wind. I can make them move and twist with my fists, but that is not the same as what's needed for me.' Lin Mu thought to himself as he continued to punch nonstop.

His immortal sense was surrounding him in all directions, allowing him to finely sense the winds.

The feeling of the wind was something everyone could feel. But it was not the same as grasping the wind itself.

'What is wind?' Lin Mu questioned himself. Wind is simply air that is in motion...' a chain of thoughts started in his mind.

'What is air?" He questioned next. 'Air is all the invisible particles that are spread around us... it can have impurities like dust, toxins and more... It can be pure and beneficial too...' he continued to think more and

more.

The more Lin Mu thought, the closer he felt like he was getting to understanding it all.

He had started from wind, and now he was thinking about air itself. But he realized that the air was also linked to other aspects like moisture and dust.

From one concept, he had derived several others.

Xukong watched him for a while before returning to the ring.

'He'll be able to do it on his own. This part is something that's fully on him anyway. I've already pointed him in the right direction.' Xukong thought to himself, leaving Lin Mu to his devices.

Lin Mu's tamed beasts watched from afar, as he continued his practice. Immersing himself in it fully meant that the flow of time became vague to him and a week went by without a notice.

~Chirp~

Ashy who had built a rather large nest on the Violet Mystic Life Tree, was watching too and was curious about what Lin Mu was doing.

"How long will master be doing that?" She asked.

"I don't know." Little Shrubby replied, sitting on a branch next to her. "He can be training for a long time. I've seen him go on for over a year too." He added.

"A year? Hmm... What's he training for though?" Ashy asked.

"He's trying to learn about the Sky?" Little Shrubby recalled the discussion between Xukong and Lin Mu.

"The Sky? What's there to learn about the sky?" Ashy titled her head. "The sky is the sky. You can fly in it and also hunt in it." She stated.

As a bird, the Sky was basically home to Ashy. As such, her understanding of the sky was something that naturally came to her.

The twins, who had also built a 'nest' near Ashy, raised their heads. The duo had collected a lot of materials on their outings and used it to build a 'nest' like Ashy.

Though if one looked at the materials that composed the nest, they would probably find it more like a pile of gems and bones instead. The bones were from the beasts that the twins had eaten, and the gems were gathered by them when they had gone wandering with Little Shrubby and Ashy in the Evergreen Pillars forest. With the twins' sensing abilities, finding the gems was casy as they could see the Qi that was contained within them. And breaking rocks to obtain them was even easier.

Ashy's nest also had a few gems in it along with a few other shiny articles, but it was still a more 'traditional' nest with plenty of branches, twigs, and leaves mixed in it.

"Maybe you can help, master." Xiao Yin suddenly spoke.

"Yes- Help him." Xiao Yang agreed.

"Should I?" Ashy asked. "Won't I be disturbing him?"

"It's fine." Little Shrubby replied. "He doesn't mind when we talk to him." Having been with Lin Mu the longest,

he knew him the best.

"Okay-" Ashy said before diving from the nest.

~WHOOSH~

She flew in a downward arc and quickly reached Lin Mu.

-Chirp-

She let out a soft chirp to let him know, and the man opened his eyes.

"Ashy?" he spoke without stopping his punches.

"You want to learn about the sky, right?" Ashy asked.

"Yeah." Lin Mu replied.

"I can teach you." She stated.

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