1139 A Path Hidden For Ages

"What makes you think this was built recently? This has existed since the times of our ancestors." The leaders of the northern tribe group revealed.

"WHAT!?" Hearing this, almost everyone in the prince's group along with the prince were stunned.

Even Lin Mu who heard it, was surprised.

"How is that possible? This should have been discovered by the experts, right?" The prince couldn't help but say.

"Yeah, and if there was such a path, why have the northern tribes never used it before?" the commander asked as well.

"That is something I do not know. It is beyond my authority and was not informed. I only know that this path existed for a long time and has a cost to be used." The leader of the northern tribes spoke.

Hearing this all, Lin Mu furrowed his brows and couldn't help but take a look at the surrounding mountains.

'There are certainly no signs of them being excavated or moved. And neither are there any traces of spirit Qi or similar things. The formation array runes are hard to examine and I can't tell how old it is either…' Lin Mu thought to himself.

"If you want to identify the age of a formation array, you need to examine the power source for it. This is easy in the case of fixed power sources like spirit stones and mines, but not so much in the case of the environmental spirit Qi." Xukong explained.

"Does this mean there is still a way? Even if it's hard?" Lin Mu asked.

"Indeed… a formation array that uses the environmental spirit Qi pulls it towards itself and absorbs it. This inadvertently creates a higher concentration of spirit Qi around it. And what do you think happens to that area?" Xukong replied.

Lin Mu thought over it and realized it in a few seconds.

"The soil, rocks, trees or anything that's around it would increase in spirit Qi!" Lin Mu answered.

"Exactly! This part is still easy. The tricky part is to differentiate how much spirit Qi would naturally be present in them and how much was added due to the effect of the arrays. The natural spirit Qi concentration can vary greatly in areas and even a small distance such as a meter can have a significant difference." Xukong explained further.

"Then how do I do this accurately?" Lin Mu asked.

"Unfortunately, there is no easy way for this. The only way you can get good at is with experience. Once you know the compositions of different kinds of areas and materials, you might get used to it and get better.

But don't worry if you don't get it accurate right now. It takes thousands of years to get good at it. This is a very high level analytical skill." Xukong answered.

"I see…" Lin Mu nodded his head.

Just having information about a skill like this was good for Lin Mu and now he would pay attention to her different kinds of areas whenever he traveled.

With this done, Lin Mu followed behind the northern tribesmen. They crossed the path that had opened up between the mountains and took about an hour to go past it.

'This is only because they have people that can't fly. Even core condensation realm experts will be able to cover this distance in a matter of minutes,' Lin Mu estimated.

He himself would be able to cross it in less than two minutes and with Little Shrubby even faster.

He needed to keep this travel time in mind, since it was important.

'If the army of the northern tribes is to come from here, it will take approximately the same time. And that is the time period we will have to act in and take advantage of.' Lin Mu thought to himself.

The high level experts of the northern tribes weren't something that Lin Mu was considering when he talked about this path. After all, those experts could very easily traverse the mountains.

It is the low leveled members that were the main users of this path. After all, they were in the majority and formed nearly 90% of the army. They needed a proper path to cover it and would not be able to traverse the mountains… at least not fast enough and with a guarantee of survival.

Lin Mu followed the prince for about ten more kilometers when Xukong suddenly spoke up.

"Lin Mu Stop!" Xukong hurriedly warned.

"What is it senior?" Lin Mu questioned.

"There is a sensory barrier here. And not just any… but one made by at least an immortal tool perhaps." Xukong answered.

Lin Mu's expression turned serious as he looked at the north. He knew what the immortal tool might be.

"Yeah, it is an immortal tool, I can feel its presence." Xukong confirmed.

"Hmm… it should be the Ancestral Bell that Wu Hei told us about." Lin Mu stated.

"Indeed." Xukong agreed.

"What does this barrier do, senior? Does it just inform the user of the immortal tool if someone passed through it?" Lin Mu questioned.

"That might just be one of the functions. We don't know what else it can do. It's best not to test your luck now. If there is an offensive function to it as well, it could very well target you from this range." Xukong answered.

"I see… they must have used the ancestral bell to set up the barrier since the time for war is so near. We just got another proof of it in this way." Lin Mu spoke.

"Yes, and now you can plan accordingly." Xukong replied.

"Exactly… no way we are going to let this opportunity go." Lin Mu said before returning back to the official territory of the Great Zhou Continent.

~Rumble~

Spirit Qi fluctuations were felt once again as the mountains and hills that had disappeared materialized again. A minute later, it was as if they were always here. And just to be sure, Lin Mu even went up to the mountain and physically touched them, examining if they are real.

"They really are real?" Lin Mu was surprised.