Chapter 3614: A Curse?

The Saintess remained quiet for a brief moment before answering.

"World ascension is not simple," she said. "It is influenced by many factors. Time is one of them."

She turned her gaze slightly, as if observing something beyond immediate perception.

"This world feels... younger."

Lin Mu frowned slightly.

"Younger?"

"Yes," she said. "Its foundation is strong, but its history is not as long as other worlds that have ascended. It may simply not have existed long enough to reach that threshold."

Lin Mu nodded slowly.

"That would explain it."

The conversation settled.

Lin Mu then shifted his attention back to the matter at hand. He raised his hand slightly, causing several of the crystal containers to drift closer. The black crystals hovered among them, silent and unmoving.

"I called out to you for this," Lin Mu said. "I require your insight."

The Saintess turned her attention toward the crystals.

There was a brief pause.

Then, for the first time since her arrival, her presence shifted slightly.

"Did you separate these yourself?" she asked.

Lin Mu nodded.

"I did."

"How?" she asked.

Lin Mu gave a concise explanation, outlining the steps he had taken. He spoke of the Blood Essence Transmogrifying Art, of the refinement process, and finally of the Bloodline Unraveling Demonic Art.

As he spoke, the Saintess remained silent.

But there was a subtle change in her presence.

A faint ripple of surprise.

"The Bloodline Unraveling Demonic Art still exists..." she said quietly.

Lin Mu gave a small nod.

"It was preserved in the memories I obtained."

The Saintess remained still for a moment.

"That technique..." she said slowly. "It caused great calamity in the past."

"I am aware," Lin Mu replied.

There was no fear in his voice.

Only acknowledgment for he knew the Saintess would not judge him for this.

The Saintess seemed to consider this before speaking again.

"It is fortunate that it is in your hands," she said. "Others would not use it with such restraint."

Lin Mu did not respond to that.

Instead, he gestured toward the crystals.

"I require your insight on its properties or simply what it is," he said.

The Saintess finally moved.

Her attention focused entirely on the black crystals.

Though her face remained hidden beneath her veil, Lin Mu could sense the shift in her perception. Her awareness expanded, far beyond what his own could. The very space around the crystals seemed to still as her senses enveloped them.

Time passed.

A few seconds.

Then longer.

Lin Mu watched carefully.

At first, there was no reaction.

Then...

A subtle change.

The Saintess’s posture stiffened almost imperceptibly. Her head tilted slightly, as if adjusting her perspective. And then she frowned.

Lin Mu could not see her expression.

But after being with her for so long, he could feel it instinctively.

A faint unease.

It was not fear.

But it was something close.

Lin Mu’s eyes narrowed.

"You see something," he said.

The Saintess did not answer immediately.

Her attention remained fixed on the crystals, her senses probing deeper.

The silence in the chamber lingered for several breaths before the Saintess spoke, her attention still fixed upon the black crystal.

Lin Mu did not interrupt her immediately. He could sense that she was not merely observing it, but comparing it against something far deeper, something drawn from memory and experience that lay far beyond his own.

Finally, she spoke.

"I do not know exactly what this is," the Saintess said, her voice measured, yet carrying a subtle weight that had not been there before. "But I have seen something similar."

Lin Mu’s eyes sharpened instantly.

"What is it?" he asked.

The Saintess paused briefly, as if choosing her words carefully.

"It resembles a Bloodline Curse."

The words settled heavily in the chamber.

Lin Mu’s brows furrowed as he looked back at the black crystal floating before him.

A curse was not something he had considered in this form. Curses were typically elusive, intangible forces that latched onto a target and influenced it in subtle or devastating ways depending on their nature.

"This does not appear like a curse," Lin Mu said slowly.

"It is not the same," the Saintess replied. "The form is different. What I have seen before was formless, more akin to a mass of mist. It could not be grasped or isolated so easily."

Her gaze remained on the crystal.

"This... is solid," she continued. "Condensed, crystallized and yet... the feeling is similar. There is a certain inertness to it. A resistance to interaction. A presence that exists, yet does not respond."

Lin Mu considered her words carefully.

A similarity in nature, but not in structure.

That alone was significant.

"If it is a curse, then it must have been placed upon them," Lin Mu said. "Perhaps long ago."

The Saintess shook her head.

"No."

Her answer came without hesitation.

Lin Mu glanced at her.

"No?" he repeated.

"It cannot be a proper curse," she explained. "Curses do not develop gradually in this manner. They are imposed. Once placed, they exist from that point onward. They do not grow slowly across generations unless continuously reinforced."

Her attention shifted slightly toward the clusters of crystals surrounding them.

"You have observed that only certain tribes possess this," she continued. "And that others are beginning to develop it in smaller quantities."

Lin Mu nodded.

"That is correct."

"Then it is not a curse," the Saintess concluded. "It is something that has formed naturally. Something that emerges under specific conditions."

Lin Mu’s frown deepened slightly.

If it was not a curse, then what was it?

The Saintess had provided insight, but not an answer.

Lin Mu exhaled quietly.

"This is as far as your knowledge goes?" he asked.

"For this specific phenomenon... yes," she replied.

Lin Mu nodded slowly.

He had expected as much.

Even a Celestial could not know everything.

And yet, just as he began to reorganize his thoughts, another voice echoed within his mind.

"You’re overthinking it."

Lin Mu’s eyes widened slightly.

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