Looking at the swirling portal both Lin Mu and Xukong were confused and amazed.
"Be careful," Xukong warned. "The power coming from it is enough to match a Transcendent Immortal." "Really?" Lin Mu hadn't expected that. "Yes… Though do you know what it does?" Xukong asked even though he could already tell it.
"The Four Faceted Nebula Dao Embryo's first form opens a teleportation portal to other places." Lin Mu answered.
"Hmm… but do you know where it leads to?" Xukong asked.
"I… Don't know." Lin Mu replied honestly. "All I can feel is that it'll take me somewhere far." "Hmmm…" Xukong was left in thought after hearing that making Lin Mu explain more.
"The Four Faceted Nebula was based on freedom and as such, this Dao Skill allows the freedom of movement. I can use this to escape when I am in absolute danger with no other option left." Lin Mu stated.
"Yeah, other than as a last resort it might be too risky to use this." Xukong replied. "Though considering the power coming from it… I reckon it can send you all the way to the other end of the Immortal realm." He added.
"That far?" Lin Mu raised his brows.
"That is just an estimate. The way the Dao Embryo is working is different than all other teleportation methods I know." Xukong responded. "It has either made its own method or is using a method that has been long forgotten." He added.
For even Xukong to not know, despite being an expert in space was astonishing. It just showed just how unique the Four Faceted Nebula was.
'Seems like I'll have to keep it as a last resort. And I'll only use it when I have everyone with me.' Lin Mu couldn't imagine getting separated from Little Shrubby, the twins or the Saintess.
After all, if Xukong's words were accurate, and the portal could really send him as far as the other side of the Immortal realm, there was no telling how long it would take him to make his way back. And that was IF he even arrived at a world with an established order. If it was a desolate world with no Cross World Teleportation arrays, it would become very difficult. There were more lifeless worlds than worlds filled with life in the universe which made it a lot more probable.
"Can you control its location?" Xukong asked after looking at the portal for a bit.
"Let me see…" Lin Mu replied and closed his eyes.
~SHUA~
Using his link with the Dao Embryo he communicated his desires. ~HONG~
The Four Faceted Nebula responded to him, and the stars in the portal started to shift again. Previously, they had formed a pattern around the vortex which was rather simple. The four colored stars simply formed a ring around them.
But now, there was a particular shift in them.
Among the four colored stars, a single white colored star responded to Lin Mu's desire.
It moved to the center of the Vortex, changing its color to white!
Meanwhile, the rest of the stars retreated to the edge, as if there was no need for them.
"It changed color?" Lin Mu was surprised and walked closer as he felt a connection to the white star. It felt incredibly close to him, as if he knew what it was, but couldn't place his finger on it.
~Flicker~
~SHUA~
But when he got closer, the portal abruptly shrank and reduced in size.
"What happened?" Xukong asked.
"It does not have enough energy…" Lin Mu replied. "What location did you choose?" Xukong asked. "Was it too far?" "No… the location was something we have been to before… it felt familiar. Very familiar." Lin Mu answered as a complex expression appeared on his face.
"Stop this and see if there are any other locations you can recognize," Xukong said as a few hints appeared in his mind.
With his experience, it wasn't that hard to figure out the workings of it.
Lin Mu did as told and tried to see if he felt familiarity with any of the other stars. For a minute he felt nothing, until one of the red stars moved.
~Pulse~
But when it tried to come to the center of the vortex, it was pushed back.
"It doesn't work?" Lin Mu tilted his head in confusion.
"No…" But Xukong had picked up on something. "It isn't that it doesn't work… It's because the location of that star is invalid." He said, confusing Lin Mu.
"How would it be inval—" It was then that Lin Mu felt the spatial fluctuations. They were minuscule, but Lin Mu matched them with the lesser void fluctuation he had felt around the Rust Sky world.
"That red star… it leads to the Rust Sky World… that's why it's invalid." Lin Mu figured it out.
"Indeed… it's invalid, because you are already here." Xukong confirmed.
"Then that means the white star is… The Xiaofan World!" Lin Mu exclaimed.
Lin Mu was sure of it. The connection that he felt from it was innate. After all, he had been ordained by the Xiaofan world and as such could feel it in his bones.
"Looks like you now have a way to head back to the Xiaofan world." Xukong spoke. "If you wish to visit it someday." He added.
"Yes…" Lin Mu knew going back there now wasn't an option. He still had a lot of things to explore of course. But if one day he really missed it, he could always head back. "Though… There is still the question of how to make it work." Lin Mu said with a little uncertainty. "I don't know exactly how the teleportation cost is determined. Like you said, it can teleport me basically anywhere in the Immortal realm, but it cannot work if I pick Xiaofan world as an option." "It might be due to the complexity of traversing through the Grand Void. Don't forget, the Xiaofan world is in the Mortal realm. In order to go there, it would have to pass through the Grand Void and then move down to the Mortal realm where the Xiaofan world is located.
Whereas now, it can just teleport within the Immortal realm which does not involve it going through the Grand Void." Xukong explained.
"Hmm, that does make sense." Lin Mu muttered. "Looks like it'll need a lot more energy to travel back. If I wish to use it." "How does it gather energy, though?" Xukong asked, as he genuinely could not tell. He might have seen it absorb the Spatial Immortal Qi from the Spatial Cracks, but that did not seem like the normal option.
"It seems to be able to absorb energy passively on its own." Lin Mu stated. "I can also charge it with Spatial Qi, but the sheer amount needed is way beyond what I can control now." He added.
Xukong nodded his head, knowing that it was still a tall order for Lin Mu to start using high volume of Spatial Qi. However, with his improved understanding of space, he should be able to control it a lot better and start accumulating it within his Dantian bit by bit.
"Looks like you'll have to let it passively charge then," Xukong said. "It'll be your final trump card to escape after all."
"Yeah… in the ideal situation, I should have enough energy stored in it for not just a trip back to the Xiaofan world, but also a random teleportation to escape." Lin Mu concluded.
"That will be for the best." Xukong knew being cautious would be the better option.
"Also… I think I can add more worlds to it." Lin Mu suddenly spoke. "The White Stars seem to be mortal worlds, while the red stars seem to be Immortal worlds." He analyzed.
"Yeah, it probably adds to them if you visit them." Xukong agreed. "But… if those two stars' colors represent Mortal and Immortal… then what do the Blue and Gold stars represent?" Lin Mu wondered. "One could be the Celestial worlds, but that still leaves another color." "That… will be for you to figure out on your own." Xukong said plainly.
"I'll try my best." Lin Mu replied while gazing at the Four Faceted Nebula.
~shua~
He deactivated it, causing it to close the portal and revert to its formless state. It floated in front of Lin Mu like a dark cloud with stars shining within it.
'This is just the first of the four Dao Skills… I still need to learn the other three facets.' Lin Mu thought to himself.
He had understood the reason why he hadn't been able to use the Dao Embryo so far. It was simply because his understanding of space was lacking. But after having touched the core of the Spiral Flake Crystal, it had increased rapidly and had reached the threshold that was needed for the Dao Embryo to work.
'If the first facet is the Freedom of Movement, what other kinds of freedoms will it show me?' Lin Mu couldn't help but wonder.
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