Chapter 555: Qualitative Change

The next day Lin Mu opened his eyes and saw a change in Little Shrubby.

"Did his fur fall off?" Lin Mu spoke.

He stood up and observed the fur that was fallen on the ground everywhere. Lin Mu checked little Shrubby and saw new fur growing on his body. It was very small and would take a while before it would be replenished.

Lin Mu didn't know if this was a good change or not, but then remembered even he had lost all his hair when he had obtained the Xiantian Physique. He reckoned that this must be something similar, if not different.

Little Shrubby's aura had also gotten a bit more stronger than before, and it had yet to fully absorb all the Beast Qi that Lin Mu had injected into him yesterday.

"Hmm… I'll give him more when he is done with this part." Lin Mu spoke before leaving the cave.

He wanted to see what the condition of the two snakes was now that a day had passed. Lin Mu flew there and saw the two snakes still lying there. The Fire Fang snake was in the same position as before and was resting while the Black Water snake had calmed down, too.

It no longer looked like it was in discomfort, though it was still sprawled on the ground like he was dead. Lin Mu checked both of them with his spirit sense and found that there was a slight change in their cultivation base.

It had increased by a little bit, but it was most obvious in the Black Water snake.

"Hmm… a few more strings of the Beast Qi should be enough to show an effect, I think. Since Little Shrubby shed his fur after two full strings, it should be roughly the same for them too… hopefully." Lin Mu estimated.

Lin Mu chanted the Nurturing heart sutra and refined another string of Beast Qi before taking it out of his Dantian. The Fire Fang Snake woke up immediately upon sensing the Beast Qi and raised its head. The black water snake though, was still asleep and it seemed like it could not take any more for now.

"Seems like it's just you this time…" Lin Mu muttered.

The Fire Fang Snake looked at Lin Mu with eyes filled with interest, and actually took the initiative to approach him. Lin Mu couldn't help but raise his brows at this action and saw the snake stopping a couple of meters away from him.

It looked intently at the String of Beast Qi but did not rush in for some reason.

'It's willing to wait?' Lin Mu thought.

He moved the beast Qi around and saw the snake following it. He moved it to the top, to the left and to the right. The Fire Fang Snake Continued staring at it, not even blinking for the fear of missing it.

Lin Mu then flicked his finger, sending the beast Qi flying towards the Fire Fang Snake, who quickly consumed it.

~hiss~ 

The Fire Fang Snake let out a contented hiss as it coiled back up in her nest. Lin Mu could sense its heartbeats getting stronger. 

"Time to wait and watch…" Lin Mu said before taking his seat on top of a tree nearby.

This time the Snakes were much more tolerant of him and thus did not mind him being nearby. Lin Mu also took this opportunity to cultivate so that his spirit Qi would be replenished. He was there for about two hours before he felt a bit hungry and went to hunt.

He had not had proper food for more than a month now and felt like he needed to cook and eat something. Even though he had some pre-cooked food in his ring, he wanted to eat something fresh. 

Lin Mu flew over the forest and daily caught a bunch of Rabbit beasts that were all at the Qi refining realm. 

"Ahh… this reminds me of the time in the Northern forest." Lin Mu said as he reminisced about the past.

Just like today, the rabbits were being roasted over the fire while he gently applied the spices to them. 

'All things come back in a circle… times repeat and so do memories… three years passed in the blink of an eye and I changed too…' 

The food was soon cooked while Lin Mu was engrossed in his memories and he woke up from the rumble of his belly. Lin Mu quickly finished the meat before chanting the nurturing heart sutra and refining the Beast Qi string.

"He seems a bit better than yesterday." Lin Mu said, upon checking Little Shrubby's condition.

He then placed his hands on Little Shrubby's back and injected the string of beast Qi. 

~shua~

This time the reaction was much stronger than before. A spirit Qi vortex seemed to have formed around Little Shrubby, and it started to pour into his body at a great speed. 

"What's this?…" Lin Mu said, feeling surprised.

"Looks like you triggered a breakthrough for him. This is the infusion of spirit Qi which happens when a cultivator or a beast is undergoing a qualitative change." Xukong said.

"Spirit Qi infusion? How is this different from a normal breakthrough or cultivating normally?" Lin Mu questioned.

"Think of it like this… the body of Little Shrubby is a vacuum and the Sprint Qi is the air that is in rushing to fill that vacuum. While when you cultivate you are trying to stuff that very air into a filled container." Xukong answered.

"Ah, now I understand." Lin Mu nodded his head.

He watched the spirit Qi vortex for about fifteen minutes, after which it finally faded away. 

~Huala~

Spirit Qi fluctuations that were much stronger than before came from Little Shrubby's body as it fully broke through into the Peak stage of the core condensation realm. Its fur which was short, started to grow at a rapid pace and soon covered its entire body.

Now it was actually longer than it used to be. Another thing that was different was that more patterns had appeared on Little Shrubby's fur than there were before.