Walker Of The Worlds

Chapter 3755: Immortal Ashy!

Ashy chirped as Shadow tendrils burst from her body.

HISS HISS HISS

They wrapped around the burning dagger and bound it tightly, .

Then with all her strength and courage, she opened her beak.

GULP!

She swallowed it!

The dagger disappeared.

But Ashy immediately cried out in pain. Flames spread beneath her feathers as her tiny body shook.

Lin Mu almost moved.

Yet he restrained himself for he knew she had to finish it.

The heavens finally weakened as the scarlet clouds dispersed and their power faded.

At that moment, Ashy began falling and Lin Mu flashed forward instantly catching her. The little bird rested in his hands. Her feathers were disheveled and several were burnt. Her breathing was uneven and her Qi had become chaotic.

Lin Mu gently held her.

”Ashy...”

The little bird weakly opened her eyes.

”I won...”

Lin Mu smiled.

”You did.”

The twins arrived immediately.

Little Shrubby rubbed against Ashy carefully.

Then the heavens changed again as a vortex formed and the Immortal Qi gathered. It was dense and utterly pure, covering a vast area of nearly two kilometers.

The Baptism of Immortal Qi had begun!

Ashy slowly floated upward from Lin Mu’s hands as the Immortal Qi rushed toward her. Her body absorbed it greedily as the transformation began.

Lin Mu sensed it clearly.

Within Ashy’s dantian... Her Nascent Soul changed.

The tiny figure floating there gained a halo that was red, brilliant and utterly radiant. It formed behind the Nascent Soul like a burning ring. Immortal power spread outward as Ashy’s aura transformed and the pressure changed completely.

She had crossed the boundary!

She was no longer Dao Treading, no longer mortal... The little bird had stepped into immortality!

First Tribulation Stage of the Immortal Realm.

Lin Mu watched quietly as a strange feeling rose in him.

Pride.

He remembered finding Ashy.

The tiny bird.

The timid yet chatty little creature.

And now she had become immortal.

Xukong chuckled softly from within the ring.

”Your children grow fast.”

Lin Mu smiled faintly.

”They do.”

The Immortal Qi continued entering Ashy. Her burnt feathers slowly recovered. New shadowy patterns appeared among them. A while later, the lingering flames within her body gradually calmed down and her aura stabilized.

The night slowly returned as the scarlet heavens disappeared and only the stars remained.

Lin Mu carefully examined Ashy after the Immortal Qi Baptism had fully settled. The little bird sat comfortably on his forearm while the last traces of Immortal Qi circulated through her body.

Her aura had stabilized completely and now possessed a level of depth that was absent before. It was subtle enough that ordinary cultivators would miss it, but to Lin Mu the difference was obvious.

She had crossed a fundamental boundary.

The change was far greater than simply moving from the Dao Treading Realm into the First Tribulation Stage of the Immortal Realm.

Lin Mu extended his immortal sense and observed her closely. At first everything appeared normal. Her cultivation base had become more stable, her meridians were wider, and her dantian had expanded.

The newly formed immortal foundation within her body was functioning smoothly.

Then Lin Mu noticed something unusual, there were patterns on her feathers. They appeared for only a brief moment before disappearing again.

Lin Mu narrowed his eyes as the patterns returned.

Shadowy markings flowed across her black feathers like ink spreading through water. The markings shifted constantly and seemed to possess a life of their own. Against her pitch black plumage they were nearly impossible to perceive.

A mortal would never notice them.

Even immortals would need to pay close attention. The patterns emerged only when her Qi circulated. The moment she stopped, they faded away once more. Lin Mu continued observing.

The marks appeared connected to her bloodline rather than her cultivation technique.

That realization made him curious.

”Ashy,” Lin Mu called softly.

The little bird tilted her head.

”How do you feel?”

Ashy thought for a moment.

”Different.” She paused. ”Stronger too.”

The bird stretched her wings as a faint ripple of shadow energy spread outward.

”It feels like I can do things easier now.”

Lin Mu nodded. ”Try them.”

Ashy immediately became excited. The little bird hopped off his arm and landed nearby. A shadow lay beneath a large rock several meters away. Ashy sank into it instantly and a moment later she emerged from another shadow.

Lin Mu was unsurprised.

She had possessed similar abilities before.

Then Ashy froze.

”Wait.”

The bird seemed confused.

She immediately tested again. This time she disappeared into a shadow near Lin Mu. A moment later she emerged from a completely different shadow several hundred meters away.

The shadows were not connected.

Lin Mu’s eyes widened slightly.

Ashy looked equally surprised.

She disappeared again.

Then reappeared elsewhere.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Each time the distance increased.

The bird became more excited with every attempt. Lin Mu began helping her test the limits. Eventually they discovered the range. Approximately three kilometers. The exact limit fluctuated slightly depending on her focus and the amount of shadows present in the area.

It roughly matched the range of her spirit sense.

Ashy could now enter one shadow and emerge from another without requiring a connected pathway. The ability had transformed entirely. Previously she moved through shadows, now she moved between shadows.

The difference sounded small but its implications were enormous.

For infiltration.

Reconnaissance.

Escaping.

Assassination.

Stealth.

Every aspect of her abilities had become more dangerous.

Ashy realized it too and her eyes sparkled.

”I like this.”

Lin Mu laughed.

”I had a feeling you would.”

The twins were staring with open admiration. Xiao Yin immediately began calculating all the mischief such an ability would allow. Xiao Yang seemed equally impressed. Little Shrubby simply nodded proudly as if Ashy’s breakthrough had somehow been his achievement.

After several more tests, Lin Mu confirmed that her bloodline had indeed changed slightly during the breakthrough.

It was not a complete evolution. The change felt more like an awakening as if some dormant aspect had emerged. Exactly what it meant would require time to understand. For now, Ashy had gained enough benefits already.