Chapter 3723: A Surge Of Motivation For All

After informing the others, Lin Mu quietly left Mantleheim.

He traveled far away from the hidden dwarven city and arrived once more at the colossal magma sea within the world fragment. Endless crimson lava stretched in every direction like an ocean of fire while rivers of molten rock flowed down distant cliffs.

The environment suited him perfectly.

The magma naturally contained dense Fire, Earth, and Metal elemental energies. More importantly, there was little risk of collateral damage.

Lin Mu had no intention of accidentally tearing apart sections of Mantleheim while testing his abilities.

Before leaving, however, he had first called Meng Bai over.

The young man arrived quickly, still carrying the exhausted look of someone who had spent days recovering from alcohol poisoning and existential despair simultaneously.

Lin Mu smiled faintly before taking out Stasis.

The moment the spear appeared, the surrounding space subtly distorted. Even with the seals placed upon it, the weapon still radiated a terrifying aura.

Meng Bai stared at it with wide eyes.

The pale silver spear looked elegant and restrained compared to Collapse, yet its surface still shimmered faintly with hidden spatial energy. The shaft felt unnaturally smooth while the spearhead carried a cold sharpness that seemed capable of piercing space itself.

Lin Mu handed it over carefully.

"This is yours now," he said.

Meng Bai received the spear almost reverently.

The moment his hands touched it, the spear lightly trembled before gradually calming.

Lin Mu could already see a connection beginning to form between the two.

Still, his expression turned serious afterward.

"Be careful with it," Lin Mu warned. "The seals suppress most of its strength, but it is still far too powerful for your current cultivation. If you force too much energy into it or lose control, you can injure yourself badly."

Meng Bai immediately nodded seriously.

"I understand, Master."

Lin Mu then explained the various seals Xukong had placed within the weapon along with the formation arrays that allowed Meng Bai to use ordinary spirit Qi safely.

The more Meng Bai listened, the more stunned he became.

At the end of it all, he could only hold the spear silently for several long moments before bowing deeply.

"Thank you, Master," he said sincerely.

Lin Mu merely smiled and patted the young man’s shoulder before leaving.

Meanwhile, the others gradually recovered from the shock of learning Lin Mu’s true age.

Or rather, they learned to suppress the shock enough to function normally again.

It took roughly a week.

During that week, Mantleheim remained filled with strange scenes.

Daoist Chu occasionally stared at Lin Mu from a distance with hollow eyes before suddenly drinking an entire barrel of liquor alone.

Elyon spent several days silently questioning his life choices.

Cattaleya challenged increasingly stronger dwarves to sparring matches in what appeared to be a desperate attempt to recover her confidence.

Even the dwarves themselves needed time to emotionally recover from the revelation.

Eventually, though, everyone adapted. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

And once they did, an entirely different atmosphere emerged.

Motivation.

If Lin Mu could become what he was in merely a hundred years, then none of them had excuses to remain stagnant.

Thus everyone threw themselves into cultivation with renewed fervor.

Daoist Chu practically moved into the dwarven libraries.

The hidden knowledge stored within Mantleheim was simply too precious for a formation master like him to ignore. The dwarves possessed ancient texts, rune theories, array structures, and forging formations that even the Immortal Courts lacked.

Some knowledge dated back countless generations.

There were formation systems designed specifically for world fragments, ancient arrays meant for stabilizing energy of stars, and records of forgotten immortal civilizations.

Daoist Chu became utterly obsessed.

Many days, dwarves could spot him buried beneath mountains of books while muttering incomprehensible formation theories to himself. Sometimes he forgot to eat entirely until a passing dwarf shoved liquor and roasted meat into his hands.

The rune dwarves gradually grew fond of him as well.

At first they had viewed him as merely Lin Mu’s companion, yet, once they realized the man’s talent in formations, many began actively discussing theories with him.

Before long, Daoist Chu could frequently be seen arguing heatedly with rune dwarf elders over array efficiency while drawing complex diagrams across entire walls.

Elyon focused on something different.

His cultivation base had already reached a bottleneck and advancing further was proving difficult. Rather than forcing cultivation blindly, he instead chose to deepen his comprehension of Darkness Dao.

Mantleheim surprisingly suited him well.

The dwarves possessed large amounts of darkness elemental materials, mostly because many ores and metals naturally carried darkness aligned properties. Certain forge fires even required darkness minerals for stability.

The dwarves also maintained many weapons forged with darkness attributes.

Elyon trained constantly, using them.

Sometimes he meditated alone in isolated cavern chambers surrounded by darkness ores. Other times he sparred with dwarven warriors while suppressing all senses except his perception of shadows and darkness.

His control slowly improved.

The darkness around him gradually became denser and calmer, almost alive.

The dwarves respected him greatly for his persistence.

As for Cattaleya, her methods remained the simplest and loudest.

She fought.

Constantly.

Every single day.

The dwarves themselves enjoyed battle nearly as much as forging and drinking, thus they happily welcomed her challenges.

Entire training arenas frequently turned chaotic once Cattaleya arrived.

Her massive sword and fists clashed against giant hammers while shockwaves rattled nearby buildings. Dwarves often formed crowds around the arenas cheering loudly while placing bets on who would get launched farther.

The transcendents themselves occasionally joined.

At first they merely observed.

Then one day a Fireforge elder laughed and personally stepped into the arena against her.

The resulting battle nearly melted half the surrounding platforms.

Afterward, the transcendents started sparring with her regularly in outer space where collateral damage mattered less.

Cattaleya loved every second of it.

Her battle sense sharpened rapidly during those months.

Even the dwarves admitted her combat instincts were monstrous.

Meng Bai meanwhile, perhaps worked the hardest of all.

Ever since receiving Stasis, the young man had become almost inseparable from the spear.