Lin Mu looked at the cultivators blocking him and was a bit surprised. His own cultivation base was on full display as a way to make them aware that this might not be a fight they would like to pick, but they were certainly bent on doing it.

~shua~

Lin Mu's spirit sense spread like a tide and quickly enveloped every person within a ten kilometer radius. The barrier blocked his spirit sense, but Lin Mu could already feel some of the formation nodes that were present on the barrier's array.

If he wanted to, Lin Mu realized he could dismantle the barrier, but that was not his goal anyway. His goal was to get to the Black Dune sect's team as soon as possible. 

"Do not block me." Lin Mu said to all.

They could feel his voice clearly, and yet they seemed to not listen.

"How dare you try to leave after being warned!" The cultivator at the front said before making a hand seal.

~Clang~

The chain that was floating in the air moved like a snake and headed towards Lin Mu. Its speed was fast, as if a whip had been cracked!

"Restrain him! Mayor Tie Niu will judge him," The cultivators said.

"You are making a mistake. I'll give you one last warning. Do not block my way and no one will get hurt." Lin Mu replied.

"Humph! Even if you are a sect elder, you will have to listen to our commands! How can you even think of coming within ten-kilometer of Iron Bull city while flying?" The leading cultivator scoffed.

Lin Mu knew right there that there was no use in talking to them. They would not listen and only stop him, regardless. Besides, his spirit sense had picked up some suspicious things in the city below.

'No normal cultivator will offend another Dao Shell cultivator. Even if the rules are broken, at most a certain level of fine would have to be paid as long as no crime was committed.

The way they are acting is strange… what gives them the confidence?' Lin Mu thought to himself.

And while thinking all this, the chain kept on flying towards him and Lin Mu dodged it every time. With blink there was no way the chain would ever be able to catch him.

"You dare struggle even now!? Give up and come with us quietly! You will have to serve a proper punishment!" The cultivators said.

But while they were talking, Lin Mu sensed a different aura for a moment there.

'No wonder…' Lin Mu realized.

His eyes gazed at the city below and spatial perception was activated. The buildings and houses in the city below disappeared and the flow of spirit Qi could be seen by Lin Mu. It was faint, but Lin Mu could see the strangeness in it.

There was a strange kind of aura mixed in with the spirit Qi that swirled in the city below. He turned to look at the cultivators blocking his way and realized that a similar aura was present on them as well.

"It can actually hide from spirit sense?" Lin Mu was surprised.

"No, it's not hiding. More like it appears as normal spirit Qi to your spirit sense." Xukong suddenly spoke.

"Hmm… must be some kind of a spirit tool or a talisman." Lin Mu replied as he dodged the chain once more.

~WHOOSH~

The chain streaked by the top of his head, merely being an inch away. 

"Enough!" Lin Mu said, as he didn't dodge this time.

~CLANG~

The chain hit him and Lin Mu simply caught it in his hands. Surprisingly, a few cracks could actually be seen on the armor of the mortal strengthening scripture. Though the armor had already started to repair itself instantly.

"He caught it?" The cultivators controlling the chain were surprised.

"How is this possible? Even a Peak Dao Shell cultivator will take damage from the Bull Whip Chain Formation." Another cultivator said.

Lin Mu could feel the chain's energy stirring. It was trying to break free from his grasp, but there was no way he was going to allow that. The runes that made up the chain were all flickering as more spirit Qi started being poured into it.

'Its spirit Qi consumption is certainly quite high. No wonder it needs these many people to control it.' Lin Mu understood.

This piqued his curiosity, as he knew that a offensive formation like this was not easy to make and neither was it easy to maintain on top of the other barrier formation that was protecting the city.

Lin Mu tried to remember information about the city below and realized that he was at the very edge of the main territory of the empire. Just like how the kingdoms were all divided and yet were under the empire, the same way the Great Zhou Empire had its own private territory as well.

This private territory was nothing but the old Zhou Kingdom that had been expanded. And the city that Lin Mu was near right now, the Iron Bull city, was located at the very northern tip of the Empire's territory.

But that was not all that made it special, it was also a city that was a military base and had a lot of strong cultivators guarding it.

~Sigh~

"Perhaps I should have taken a different route… but at the same time, this place is not normal either." Lin Mu muttered as he dragged the chain.

At first Lin Mu had suspicion that these people were under the influence of the Human Controlling Blood Curse too, but Lin Mu couldn't sense its aura. Rather than that, he could feel a different aura here.

It was unknown to him, and he didn't know what it actually did. But seeing the actions of the cultivators, he could tell that there was more than met the eyes here.

'It might have been an area we would have needed to investigate later anyway..' Lin Mu thought as his eyes narrowed.

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