CHAPTER 2252  A GAMBLE ON A ROCK

Lin Mu got to learn a bit more about the Crown Princess and the struggle for power that went in her empire.

"I didn't expect that Crown Princess Shang's position was not confirmed." Lin Mu spoke.

"It mostly isn't for many empires." Crown Princess Shang replied. "Crown Prince Feng Shun is the exception to it due to being far superior to his siblings." She added. "Haha, it's rare to see you praise me like this." Crown Prince Feng Shun chuckled. "But I suppose it won't be long before it's the same for you. Your siblings won't be able to match your achievements once you establish the research collaboration with the Kang Clan. Especially if it all succeeds." He stated.

"I hope so." Crown Princess Shang nodded. "My brothers are close to me in cultivation base so all we've got separating our ranks is our achievements. So far I've managed to stay ahead due to joining the Immortal Court for training, but my Second Brother will be doing the same soon. So this collaboration comes at the right time." She explained.

"Oh? Is that the brother from your second mother?" Daoist Chu asked.

"Yeah." Crown Princess Shang nodded her head. "Second mother's influence is still as strong as ever. So if I lag behind even slightly, my brother will take over really quick." She added.

"Amithabha… The Secular Empire's conflicts are indeed too much for this monk." Monk Hushu muttered.

The Crown Princess gave him a look before turning to Lin Mu. "Should we check what that core is now?" She asked.

"Ah yes!" Lin Mu nodded taking hold of the core that was about half a meter in thickness.

He felt its texture that was slightly rough, somewhat similar to a mix between granite and sandstone. But the toughness of the rock seemed to be much higher, being almost on the same level as the Null Iron Ore itself.

"The way this rock is shaped though, doesn't it feel like this was sedimented over a long time?" Ziran suddenly spoke. "Look, there are faint lines on it too." He pointed at them.

Lin Mu and the others looked and saw that there were indeed lines on the rock. Though they weren't linear and were quite curved along the circumference of the spindle shaped rock.

"It definitely formed layer by layer… Covering whatever is inside it." Lin Mu said as he gripped it tightly. "Can you cut it open with your Spatial Skill like before?" Crown Princess Shang asked.

"I can, but there is a chance it'll damage whatever is inside." Lin Mu replied. "If it is sensitive, it might not be the right choice." He added.

"Hmm… I suppose you can take a more stable approach to it then." Crown Princess Feng Shun suggested.

"Yeah." Lin Mu replied. "I first need to see how deep the object inside it is, so I'll make a small incision for that." He said before taking out Afternoon Pine.

~HUMM~

Lin Mu then infused Sword intent into the blade before pressing on the surface of the spindle shaped rock.

~WOONG~WOONG~WOONG~

The Sword Intent made the blade hum as it circulated in the blade. This made it act like a saw as the surface of the rock started to get cut. And under Lin Mu's control the cut was very fine, making sure that whatever was inside wouldn't get affected.

Once he detected what was inside, he'll be able to stop at a moment's notice.

Bit by bit, he cut into the spindle shaped rock while everyone watched with great interest.

"Almost makes me wanna go back to rock gambling." Daoist Chu said in a lingering tone.

"You best not. Last time you lost over half a million High Grade immortal stones." Crown Princess Shang reminded him. "If you do it again, we're not bailing you out." "Amithabha, gambling is not good for the Dao Heart." Monk Hushu was in agreement too.

"Yeah, yeah." Daoist Chu rolled his eyes. owns this.

Lin Mu listened to their conversation, finding it a bit funny. 'Rock gambling… I think I saw a few places in the capital city that had it.' Lin Mu recalled seeing them while passing through the entertainment district.

"Wait…" Daoist Chu said looking at Lin Mu, making the man stop. "It isn't gambling if we know the result right?" he suddenly spoke.

"Huh?" Lin Mu raised his brows.

"Can't we just… Take Daoist Mu Lin to the Rock Gambling centers?" Daoist Chu suggested. "With his Spatial skills, he should be able to peek inside the good rocks without even needing to touch them." He said with a hint of excitement.

"Pretty sure that'll get you thrown out." Crown Princess Shang replied. "It's against the rules to use observational Qi skills after all. Plus, they're all protected by barriers that prevent the skills from working." She added.

"Actually…. It might still work." Lady Kang said. "As far as I recall, while observational Qi skills are prohibited, Daoist Mu Lin's Spatial Skills are not exactly the same. You'd be able to use them despite the barriers right?" she asked.

"Probably." Lin Mu replied. "As long as the barrier isn't something that can block the space too." He said after thinking for a bit.

"I doubt most places would set up a barrier like that. It won't be worth the cost to maintain one." Daoist Chu stated. "It's decided then! I'm taking Daoist Mu Lin to a Rock Gambling center once we're back." He was quite excited about it now.

~Sigh~

"This man…" Crown Princess Shang shook her head in defeat. Lin Mu didn't have any particular thoughts about it all, and reckoned it would be good to have a new experience. ~SHUA~

He resumed the work after the little conversation and got to cutting in the rock. The others focused on it too, not disturbing him anymore. ~SHUA~SHUA~SHUA~

Bit by bit, the spindle shaped rock's surface was carved away as a thin slit less than a millimeter was made by Lin Mu. He took his time, only carving a centimeter every minute as he didn't wish to be too rushed.

With how thick the rock was, it took Lin Mu about half an hour before he felt some change.

"The thickness of the rock is different now… It's denser." Lin Mu informed. ~SHUA~

He used his Immortal sense and probed the denser rock finding that it could still block their immortal sense. "That should have been the rock that became compressed over time." Ziran stated. "Probably why its denser than the rest." "Yeah." Lin Mu nodded his head. "I think we're probably close to whatever's inside." He said.

~SHUA~

Lin Mu increased the amount of Sword Intent being used to match the density of the rock and continued to cut.

Ten minutes passed like this before Lin Mu finally hit the final layer.

~CRACK~

"Huh?" But once he did, a chain reaction happened.

The cut Lin Mu had made was tiny, but it soon started to spread from there.

It took less than a second before Lin Mu's eyes went wide.

"GET BACK!" Lin Mu shouted, as the Longgui Bulwark Armor manifested on his body.

The others were alarmed at Lin Mu's sudden shout but they still heeded it. ~HUALA~

But it wasn't enough, as a dark wave of energy leaked out of the rock!

When it washed over the group, they all felt a chill going down their body. "Ugh! It corrodes Immortal sense!" Crown Princess Shang warned, having her Immortal sense damaged from it.

The group was highly alarmed now and wondered just what was inside the rock.

"Throw it away!" Ziran shouted.

Lin Mu did exactly that and used his entire strength to do so. His muscles bulged, and the spindle shaped rock soared into the air!

~WHOOSH~

It flew at a great speed, but the dark energy kept on leaking from it. It was thick like oil and left a trail as it continue to rise into the sky.

"What was that?" Qiao De felt his heart beat nonstop.

"I don't know…" Lin Mu said feeling the effect of the dark energy on his skin. It was trying to enter his body, but the Longgui Bulwark armor was preventing it. Lin Mu released some of the Searing Energy to burn the remnants away, but knew that he had come quite close to danger.

"Baleful Energy?" Lady Kang guessed.

"It's definitely a Baleful energy of some kind." Lin Mu agreed. "Its corrosiveness is very high… Even higher than the Corrupting Qi." He stated.

~HISS~

"It tastes bad." Xiao Yin spoke.

"Yeah, it tastes bitter." Xiao Yang nodded his head.

The twins had been wrapped around his arms, thus got into direct contact with the energy. As such, they had 'tasted' it right away and were now disliking it.

"Are you two fine?" Lin Mu asked with concern. "It didn't harm you, right?" "We're fine." The twins said in unison. "But we don't want to eat it… it's worse than the bugs we ate with Ashy." Lin Mu furrowed his brows, as there hadn't been any energies that had made the twins detest them.

"Do you two have any idea what it is?" Lin Mu asked them, while glancing at the spindle shaped rock that continued to rise into the sky.

"It feels similar to the Baleful energy in the lake… but worse," Xiao Yin replied.

"Yeah… it feels like it has… Rotten." Xiao Yang added.

"Rotten?" Lin Mu had a bad feeling about it.

~HONGLONG~

~BOOM~

The feeling came true, as a large explosion soon happened in the sky!