1971 Seven Months

With the green wisps losing interest in him, the world around Lin Mu also seemed to turn blurry again.

"I guess this is the extent of it." Lin Mu muttered to himself, before he felt his vision turning dark entirely.

His body was dissociated and his mind turned numb. Lin Mu didn't know how long he was in that state, but the numbness lasted an immeasurable amount of time.

This was because he had no way of estimating time.

It could have been a mere moment, or a century. 

Only when he regained the sense of his body did he understand it all. It had not been too short or too long.

~RUSTLE~ 

The leaves of the Evergreen Pillar Bamboo's whistled in the wind, and played a soft melody that was perfect for Lin Mu to awaken to.

"Seven Months… I was in a trance for seven months?" Lin Mu Muttered, his eyes still closed.

He could tell it instantly not because of some tool, but because of the increase in his Immortal Qi. It was exactly the amount that would grow if he had cultivated passively for seven months.

Within Lin Mu's Dantian, the sea of immortal Qi had expanded quite a bit.

Even though he had only cultivated passively, the increase was about twenty percent. But this was only for the non attribute immortal Qi.

The elemental immortal Qis were still of the same amount and their 'lakes' in his Dantian had now become 'ponds.'

But there was on exception to this: His Wood Elemental Immortal Qi.

Before this, Lin Mu had a small pond of it. But now it had expanded to become a large lake.

"How did it increase this much?" Lin Mu was surprised sensing it.

In fact, in the elemental immortal qi's Wood elemental Qi was now the greatest in quantity even though he hadn't cultivated it all.

'Was this due to the Litany Of the Verdant Forests?' Lin Mu wondered.

He didn't have an exact answer, but this seemed to be the most likely. After all, he was in a forest rich with Wood Elemental Immortal Qi.

Even though the technique wasn't a wood cultivation technique, it still seemed to have a passive effect on Lin Mu and the trees around him.

Lin Mu didn't think that this was an exclusive to wood immortal Qi either.

'The plants can be of various elements and not just wood. If it is a forest with majority of a different plant with other elements the effect might just be the same too.' Lin Mu thought to himself.

He also didn't forget to notice that the wood elemental Qi that had been absorbed into his body wasn't exactly stable.

'The Purity is a bit lacking and the are turbulent ripples in it… while its it have been absorbed into my Dantian, it wasn't fully accepted by my body'.' Lin Mu noted.

This was the same as a person overeating.

They might be able to consume it, but it was a different case as to whether their body could handle digesting that.

Lin Mu was still in a better condition due to the fact that his Dantian was large and he was also a body cultivator. This provided him resilience that did not let the extra Wood Elemental Immortal Qi harm him.

'My affinity with the metal element was also a factor in this.' Lin Mu guessed.

Since the metal element suppressed wood element, Lin Mu was able to handle the wood elemental immortal Qi even if it had exceeded other elements in capacity.

The smaller amount of Metal elemental immortal Qi could still keep the greater wood elemental immortal Qi in check.

But this also meant that the opposite could also have been true.

'If I had affinity to the water element, I might just have been harmed by the rapid increase in wood elemental immortal Qi.' Lin Mu thought to himself.

Water element nurtured the wood element, and as such would have amplified the effects of the wood elemental immortal Qi, and possibly causing Lin Mu a decent amount of damage.

This experience though made Lin Mu alert about how what he should do from the next time.

'Depending on the kind of forest I practice the Litany of the Verdant Forests in, I need to check the element of the major plant.' Lin Mu noted it in his mind.

It was very important for him as it concerned his life and death.

And anything that involved those two factors were something every creature in the universal should prioritize. If they didn't for some reason, they were their too careless, or intended to cause themselves harm.

After having come to terms with his Qi cultivation, Lin Mu moved onto his body cultivation.

Unfortunately, unlike the Qi cultivation, his body cultivation hadn't progressed. Or rather, it felt a bit weak for him.

~RUMBLE~

"UGH!" As soon as he realized that, it was as if a switch had been flipped.

His stomach roared in protest and a pang of hunger filled him.

Lin Mu's toes and fingers almost curled in absolute starvation as a beasties instinct spread in his body.

"Need… Food! MEAT!" Lin Mu was reduced to his basic instincts, and the Great Slumber Bear bloodline was also demanding the same.

~THUD~THUD~THUD~

Without waiting a second, all the food that Lin Mu had prepared for later poured out of his ring. This not only included the cooked dishes, immorality fruits and herbs, but also raw meat and beast corpses that he had hunted so far.

~CRUNCH~

~MUNCH~

~KACHA~

~Crack~

The sound of bones breaking, tendons ripping and flesh being torn was heard as Lin Mu devoured all the food that he had. It didn't matter if it was cooked savory dishes or raw blood meat; Lin Mu ate it all.

His face, robes and hands were all bloody by the time he finished the food.

And despite all that, he was still not satisfied.

'Need more… hunger… need more meat!' Lin Mu's body screamed at him

~sniffs~

But in this drive for food, Lin Mu's sense of smell had also become stronger.

He smelled something fragrant near him and it was something that seemed to be in plenty.

Lin Mu's eyes darted around and soon spotted the item of desire.

It was none other than the Evergreen Pillar Bamboos. Or more accurately the young and tender shoots of the bamboo.

Bamboo shoots were something even mortals ate and as such for Lin Mu it was nothing. 

~RIP~

~Tear~

Lin Mu uprooted all the young Evergreen Bamboo Shoots he came across and shoved them into his mouth. He didn't care about the dirt and soil that was getting into his mind either. He just focused on chewing and swallowing it.

One after the other, Lin Mu continued to eat the shoots.

One shoot, ten shoots, hundred shoots, five hundred shoots!

The area around the bamboo pavilion was left bare and despite that Lin Mu was still not satisfied.

~CRUNCH~

The hunger had taken over Lin Mu's mind and he didn't even mind if the bamboo was young or not. He directly bit into the Evergreen Pillar Bamboo and tore into it tough walls.

Being a Body Cultivator, Lin Mu's teeth were no less than sharp iron cutters. It didn't mind if the bamboo was tough, Lin Mu bit through them as if they were Tofu.

The surprising thing was that even though Lin Mu didn't get as much benefit from it like the shoots, he still continued to consume it.

The raw wood that even animals would find it touch to eat was being swallowed down his gullet at a crazy pace.

Lin Mu finished segment after segment of bamboo and consumed an entire Elder Evergreen Pillar Bamboo before he finally stooped.

"What even… was… that…" Lin Mu felt exhausted and content at the same time.

This kind of desire was felt by him a long time ago when he was still preparing to learn the cultivation techniques in the past. But now Lin Mu felt like he absolutely needed to eat something or he would start swallowing anything that was within the scope of his vision.

Even if Lin Mu had experienced it before, the current hunger was unlike anything. 

Lin Mu rubbed his belly and felt like there was still more that it could consume. 

'I should find some beasts…' Lin Mu thought to himself, making a goal right then and there.

Next, he tried to find if there were any of the strong beasts nearby. But all he ended up seeing were native creatures that were afraid of humans. 

As such, Lin Mu wandered for quite some time until he found new path that went further into the depths of the forest.

'I should be right next to the exit…' Lin Mu thought to himself as he looked at the tall buildings some distance from him.

This time around though, Lin Mu felt the presence of his companions near by, making him halt.