To the others, the roots were impermeable, and their immortal senses were useless against it.
Ziran couldn't use his Eyes of the Underdark for it either, as it wasn't a skill that could look through solid objects in the first place. Crown Princess Shang did try to use her expertise of immortal herbs and plants to check what kind of roots these were, but was unable to feel anything.
But for Lin Mu, his Spatial Perception allowed him to look through the very void. As such even if something was trying to hide, it couldn't hide against the very background of spatial fabric. And when he did, he found the things he had suspected from the start.
'Chimeric Immortal Qi, Death Qi, and a mixture of Baleful energies.' Lin Mu could see the flow of the Qis against the spatial fabric.