189 The Courtyard

A pleasant fragrance entranced Lin Mu's senses as soon as the opening appeared.

An elaborate and luxuriant courtyard appeared, with flowers and trees everywhere planted in an auspicious pattern. Although it was night here as well, no snow was falling. A crescent moon could be seen high up in the sky and had as a slight tint of blue. A blanket of stars covered the night sky.

There were small rivers and streams along with fake mountains in the courtyard, giving one a feel of aesthetic luxury. At the end of the courtyard, there was a large mansion that looked more like a palace instead. Statues of auspicious beasts were placed in the surroundings and gave the place a strange yet calming aura.

Lin Mu subconsciously took a step forward and entered the courtyard. As soon as he was fully in the courtyard, the opening behind him closed up and disappeared. He snapped out of his daze and his eyes went wide. A sense of alarm washed over him as he turned around to look at the place where the opening was.

Looking back, he could see nothing but more trees and plants in the distance. And at the very end of it, he could see a tall wall that was at least ten meters tall. But even on that wall, he could see paintings of mountains and rivers that looked realistic.

If he did not look at the very top of the wall and see its edge he would have thought that's what was actually what existed.

"What is this place?" Lin Mu muttered in shock.

Still unable to believe it, he did a 360 degree turn, taking in all the sights of the place. In the opposite direction of the mansion, there was a small building. Compared to the size of the mansion, it was comically small and looked out of place for a courtyard such as this.

It seemed to be old and weathered, whereas the mansion was the epitome of luxury. Lin Mu thought that even the houses and courtyards in Wu Lim city would not compare to it.

"Seems like you have entered a minor plane." Xukong suddenly spoke up.

Xukong himself had been reeling in shock about what Lin Mu had done.

'How did he open a stable portal to a minor plane like this, wasn't he just studying the formations? How did it lead to this…?' Xukong internally thought.

"A minor plane, the ones that you talked about Senior?" Lin Mu questioned, feeling curious.

"No, what I told you was minor worlds, not minor planes. Minor worlds are entirely self sustaining while minor planes need to depend on an actual world to anchor themselves to. Minor planes are also much smaller than minor worlds, so small that this place you see, it only exists within the confines of the four walls." Xukong answered.

Lin Mu felt fascinated by this and had twinkling in his eyes.

"Also another big difference is that while a minor world is part of the great void, a minor plane exists in the lesser void. Although the way a minor plane exists is a bit unique in that, they can either be artificially created or naturally as well." Xukong added.

A string of questions popped up in Lin Mu's mind as he started walking around. Looking around, he could tell for sure that there was someone living here and he was sure that it was the pair of grandfather and granddaughter; Jing Wei and Duan Ke.

Still, Lin Mu wanted to ensure that it was safe before approaching the mansion. It didn't take him much longer to walk around the three sides of the courtyard, leaving the side with the mansion to the last. He wanted to take a closer look at the boundaries of this place thus went to the walls.

While the walls were ten meters tall, it was nothing to Lin Mu. He simply blinked to the top of a tree nearby and then blinked again to the top of the wall. While the wall looked sturdy from the inside, when he was at the top, he could see that it was actually very thin and narrow.

In fact, the area that he had to stand in was only about a foot wide. If he had not judged properly and was careless, there was a chance that he would fall into the other side, which he certainly did not want after seeing what existed there.

A vast black expanse came in the view of Lin Mu that expanded from one edge of the horizon to the other. When he was standing inside the courtyard, he could see a completely different scenery with there even being a sky above him.

But as soon as he was at the top of the wall, the scenery changed and all he could see was darkness. It was a darkness he was familiar with.

"The lesser void… but how?" Lin Mu wondered.

From the information he had received from Senior Xukong, Lin Mu leered that lesser void exited in parallel to the real world and enveloped it simultaneously. Although it seemed hard to understand and comprehend, it was just how it was.

"Think of this place like a bubble. There are multiple formations placed on this courtyard that isolate it from the rest of the lesser void." Xukong explained.

'Hmm, seems like the ring can open portals to minor planes as well, despite there being the isolation and barrier formation arrays. Did he actually manage to find a flaw in the formation array? That would be very impressive if it's true… or is it the work of the ring, perhaps.' Xukong thought.

While Xukong was thinking to himself, Lin Mu was walking along the wall, trying to get a sense of this place. While from the inside it looked large, from the top of the wall Lin Mu could see its actual size, which was of about a square kilometer. He then jumped down and walked towards the small building that was to the opposite of the mansion.

'This is rather peculiar, I wonder how it works…' Lin Mu was thinking to himself when he got interrupted.

"Who are you!"