1976 An Abandoned Abode

The Saintess thought that she sensed something numinous in the distance but didn't know for sure as it had disappeared right away.

"Something wrong?" Lin Mu asked having noticed the momentary pause of the Saintess.

"I don't know yet. I might have to check up on it later." She said, surprising Lin Mu.

After all, if something was enough to warrant her to check, it must not be simple.

'She looked away… in the west.' Lin Mu remembered. 'Where exactly in the west though?' He knew her senses could cover a massive distance, and as such, it could be anywhere in the west.

"Is it something problematic?" Lin Mu asked next.

"Could be. It did not feel good." She said. "It also did not appear for long. Just for a moment before fading away."

"Hmm… that is indeed strange. And it was enough to catch your attention… it is certainly not normal." Lin Mu replied. "You should check up on it if you think it is concerning." He suggested.

"I can't go even if I want to. I don't have its location. It only appeared for a short moment, which is not enough to track it down." She explained.

"I see." Lin Mu spoke, feeling a bit pleased that she would continue to stay with them for a while more.

"I'll probably have to wait until I sense it again. This time I'll be on the look out and should be able to trace it." The Saintess spoke.

"That'll be for the best." Lin Mu nodded his head.

With that said, the group continued through the forest for about a hundred kilometers or so before reaching the place that Little Shrubby intended to show them.

It was the place that they had been staying while away from Lin Mu and he quickly understood why.

"An Immortal's Abode?" Lin Mu was surprised.

Standing in front of him was a rocky mountain that had been transformed into an immortal's abode. The solid mountain had been cut and carved, until it took the shape of a set of buildings.

All the buildings were made out of solid rock, and had vines and other plants covering them. It was clear that they had been abandoned a long time ago.

But there was one thing that surprised Lin Mu even more.

"Why aren't there any Evergreen Pillar Bamboo's growing here?" He questioned.

Looking around, there was a clear boundary where the Evergreen Pillar Bamboo's stopped growing. It was about fifty meters from the abode and was a perfect square around it.

It was easy to tell that this was an artificial divide.

'The Evergreen Pillar Bamboos are able to grow fast and will take over everything, there's bound to be something that prevents them from growing here.' Lin Mu thought.

"Come in, you'll know." Little Shrubby spoke and entered the boundary of the abode.

Lin Mu and the others did the same and he quickly realized what was the reason.

~shua~

"It's warm." Lin Mu felt the rich fire elemental immortal Qi in the air. 

It almost felt like he had walked into a Qi enriching training room that was used by the disciples of sect to cultivate. The Qi here had been artificially concentrated and it was a good location for those with the fire elemental affinity and techniques to cultivate.

"Are there formation arrays working here?" Lin Mu was surprised, as he didn't sense anything at first.

~shua~

His immortal sense quickly probed the entire area and found the source of it all.

"There sure is… and it's quite widespread too." Lin Mu realized why he didn't sense it at first.

It was due to the fact that it was actually deep in the ground.

Lin Mu sensed the core of the formation right in the center of the abode. It was a standard eight sided Qi gathering array layered with a Qi concentrating array which was then using an Immortal Flame Jade as the storage.

But this was just the core.

The way it was gathering fire elemental immortal Qi was even more interesting. Lin Mu could sense fire elemental Qi attracting formations spread around in the ground. And it wasn't just in the area of the abode either, but actually further from it.

These formations had seemingly transformed the underground and created paths from the long term flow of fire elemental immortal Qi. It cratered such perfect conditions for it, that it was now attracting fire elemental immortal Qi from the entire forest.

"Whoever made this was very smart to do it like this." Lin Mu was impressed. "With how long it has existed, the formation has transformed the topography in its favor and now has a natural supply of fire elemental immoral Qi." He analyzed.

Lin Mu even reckoned that this was the reason why the natural fire elemental Qi was so thin in the entire forest. Even if the forest would usually have wood elemental immortal Qi, there were always other elements spread in it too, as it was part of the nature.

But here it was highly concentrated.

The fire elemental immortal Qi was concentrated in the channels underground, which caused them to use it instead of spreading in the air. Since they had a path of least resistance in addition to being attracted by the formation arrays, it was the best place it would go.

'There's even a chance the Evergreen Pillars Forest grew to this level due to this formation array. The lack of fire elemental Qi probably boosted their growth by a lot.' Lin Mu thought to himself.

Of course, he didn't know if this was intentionally done by someone or was an unexpected outcome.

Whatever it might be, it was now benefiting him and his companions.

Though it certainly did raise his interest in the place and made him want to see more. It was another secret of the Evergreen Pillars Forest that had stayed hidden for who knows how long.

The group entered the main part of the abode and allowed Lin Mu to observe it in detail.