1959 Acclimatizing To The Forest

Within the Northern Part of the Evergreen Pillars Forest, a new structure had been formed.

For the first time in a long while, a patch in the Forest was cleared, within which one could see a bamboo pavilion. It didn't stand out much as it was made from the Evergreen Pillar Bamboo, but it could still be noticed from above.

And it was made by none other than Lin Mu.

"And that should do it." Lin Mu said, finishing the final part of the formations, making them complete.

~shua~

As soon as he did that, the runes all glowed, and the formations linked up.

Six layers of formations were created with all joined together to become an array. The array was an isolating array that would prevent beasts from noticing Lin Mu, but would still allow him to indulge in the presence of the entire forest.

This was the crucial point of the Litany Of The Verdant Forest and he needed to follow it.

Without that, Lin Mu would not have had any success with it.

~huu~

"Let's get going with the technique." Lin Mu muttered to himself and sat down in the center of the pavilion.

He didn't add any Qi channeling formations or anything like that. Doing that could only lead to him getting distracted which was strictly not needed. Lin Mu fully needed to focus on himself, and the forest around him. 

Lin Mu closed his eyes, and chanted the Calming Heart Sutra to first stabilize his mind. 

'If I am to sense the voice of the forest, then I need to have absolutely nothing in my mind.' Lin Mu had understood this much from the guidance of the Azure Dragon.

As such, he then used the Severing Heart Sutra!

~HUMM~

A wave of Sword Intent rippled from his body, as Lin Mu used the Severing Heart Sutra intensely. In just a few seconds, all his thoughts were gone, and only an empty mind was left behind. 

Lin Mu's body had become incredibly still, and it felt like he wasn't a human but just a statue that had been kept in the middle of the forest.

In the green forest, the wind blew and the bamboos swayed with it. The long branches rubbed against the other branches, while leaves whistled with the wind.

A soothing environment was created that was devoid of the noises of the birds, beasts, and more.

The flow of energy in Lin Mu's body had also become very smooth, and unknowingly started to become attuned to the forest around him. 

As the forest breathed, he too breathed.

When the wind blew towards Lin Mu, he took a breath, and when it flew opposite him, he let out a breath.

A state of trance was achieved and Lin Mu stayed in it without moving.

Sometime later, Little Shrubby had also arrived and seen Lin Mu. But discovering that he was in a deep state of cultivation, he didn't disturb him and left for some other area. 

The beast still had other things he could do after all. He had also sensed with his link that Lin Mu was doing just fine.

Little Shrubby was also familiar with Lin Mu cultivating like this, and knew that it was best not to disturb him during it. Not to mention, he had also been informed by Lin Mu that the current cultivation technique he was practicing needed to be undisturbed for a long time to work.

'I should clear out any beasts that try to come near.' Little Shrubby thought to himself.

While the Natural Befuddling Array of the Evergreen Pillars Forest had kept the beasts away, there was no telling when it would disappear. As such, Little Shrubby would avoid any beasts from approaching just in case, and if they did, they would simply be added to their stockpile of meat.

Days started to pass without interruption, Lin Mu sat still in the bamboo pavilion.

Fresh bamboo shoots had started to appear from the ground where Lin Mu had cut the Evergreen Pillar Bamboo. They were white in color and were pointed like a spear tip. They were also numerous and quickly filled the area up as if competing against each other.

As the days continued to pass, the shoots grew taller and soon filled the empty areas. The bamboo pavilion that Lin Mu had built also became surrounded by bamboo shoots, with them bending around the pavilion in order to rise to the top.

The patch of empty forest that had been created by Lin Mu disappeared in less than ten days, as the fast growing Evergreen Pillar Bamboo covered it again.

Now, if anyone looked at it from the sky, they wouldn't be able to make out anything at all.

Most of the Evergreen Pillar Bamboo in the forest grew straight without much deflection. But the ones around Lin Mu's bamboo pavilion were all bent. But the newly grown bamboos didn't seem strange. 

Instead, the bent and curved bamboos added a contrasting compliment to the straight and uniform Evergreen Pillar Forest.

The winds passed through the curved bamboos, causing them to rub against the pavilion and make a low sound. Strangely enough, it wasn't noisy at all, and felt like someone was playing an instrument of some kind.

This further improved Lin Mu's condition, and he slipped deeper into his trance.

A whole month went by, with days turned into nights, and nights turned into days.

In this time, the Natural Befuddling Array of the Evergreen Pillars Forest hadn't disappeared and no beasts had appeared in the area.

There were no disturbances either, but despite all that, Lin Mu's eyes opened.

~huu~

Lin Mu let out a breath, as a complex expression appeared on his face.

"The Azure Dragon Guardian wasn't joking when he said it is many times tougher than the Longgui Bulwark Armor." Lin Mu muttered. "An entire month, and I don't think I'm necessarily any closer to learning the technique." He reckoned.

Lin Mu wondered what was going wrong.