Duan Ke's heart shook as she watched Lin Mu step past the barrier. She fully expected him to burn up. She had not gotten the chance to know his cultivation base and didn't even have that in her mind.
After all, according to common sense, there was no way Lin Mu would be at the Dao Treading realm which would be needed to resist the heat. Which in reality, he wasn't. But Lin Mu had other ways to resist this heat with the great defenses of his body.
"How?" Duan Ke was at a loss for words, seeing Lin Mu fine.
Not even his robes were burning as a brown light armor could be seen appearing around it. It was effortlessly resisting the heat.
'The earth element?' Duan Ke could at least recognize that Lin Mu was using some kind of a skill.
Lin Mu continued to walk forward until he was merely a meter behind Old Man Jing.
"Old man Jing, I'm here." Lin Mu spoke lightly and extended his hand.
The hand lightly tapped on the old man's rugged back, causing a bigger reaction than expected.
~BOOM~
The light tap had interrupted Jing Wei's hammer strike, and made him use inadequate force. This ended up with him slamming the hammer with extreme force and it completely warped the metal sheet.
"DAMMIT! WHO?" Old Man Jing was infuriated.
But when he turned around, he saw Lin Mu who was not the person he was expecting to see there.
"Ke'er? When did you become a man?" Jing Wei said with confusion.
"AHAHAHAHHAHAHA!" Jing Luo who heard it, burst out laughing.
"GRANDFATHER! HOW CAN YOU EVEN THINK THAT!?" Duan Ke shouted.
With his attention off from the forging, Jing Wei finally heard the voice of the other two. He looked at them and then back at Lin Mu.
"What is happening here? Why are there two more people than there should be? Am I finally going senile?" Old Man Jing muttered to himself. "Even Luo'er seems to be here. I should really be going insane."
Lin Mu who heard this, understood the man was really a bit too confused. He had been working non stop for a little too long and was disoriented to say the least.
"You aren't going senile old man… you can't go insane either, at least not now when we need you." Lin Mu spoke.
"Who are you?" Old Man Jing asked, not feeling threatened with the appearance of a random person at all.
"Why don't you tell me?" Lin Mu replied before withdrawing the Short sword from his ring.
~shing~
When the short sword appeared in front of him, it vibrated lightly and let out resonating sound. It felt like the sword was feeling happy seeing its old owner again.
The old man too locked his eyes onto the short sword and narrowed them.
"It's this?" Jing Wei said as he looked back at Lin Mu. "And you… that boy… Lin Mu?!" Old Man Jing finally recognized.
"You got that right." Lin Mu said with a smile.
"Then…" Old Man Jing seemed shook for a second as he turned towards Jing Luo stiffly.
"Who are…" Jing Wei couldn't believe his eyes.
"It's me, grandfather…. Jing Luo, your grandson." Jing Luo said, as his eyes reddened slightly.
"But… how?" Jing Luo seemed to be truly confused right now.
His hands trembled while his fingers twitched, holding the peak grade spirit tool hammer in his hand.
"We have a lot to catch up on. Why don't we go somewhere more comfortable to talk." Lin Mu suggested.
Old Man Jing simply nodded and was still lost in his thoughts.
Duan Ke brought them all to the upper lounge, where Old Man Jing sat silently as Jing Luo narrated what had happened to him. Lin Mu didn't say much during this time either, as he knew the shock of Jing Luo being alive was the greatest for old man Jing.
On some level, Jing Wei had always blamed himself for his grandson's death and wished that time could turn around so that he could save him. But he also knew that it would never happen. He could only regret for years to come.
And thus when Jing Luo finally appeared in front of him again, he was at a loss. He had fully accepted that Jing Luo was dead and knew that the only time he might see his grandson in the future would be when he was dead.
This combined with his bottleneck made him think that he had Qi deviation or some other problem which killed him swiftly and that he was now in the afterlife.
Only after the detailed explanation by Jing Luo and several proofs did he believe them.
"This… Heavens have blessed me again…" Jing Wei muttered.
He brought his hands to his face and pressed it hard while taking a deep breath.
~huu~
A minute later, he put down his hands and looked at a particular person.
"Seems like the debt that we owe you will never decrease." Jing Wei spoke with great emotion in his voice.
"Not only did you give us new insights, but you even saved my grandson and returned him to us. This grace… the Jing clan shall never forget." Jing Wei said with a firm voice.
~shua~
All of a sudden, a dagger appeared in front of Jing Wei, surprising everyone. The dagger had a short handle but a sharp, almost needle like blade. Old Man Jing firmly grasped it and before anyone could respond, thrust it toward his heart.
~SHING~
"GRANDFATHER!!!" Duan Ke and Jing Luo screamed.
But much to their shock, the dagger turned ethereal before it touched Jing Wei. He pulled it back out and there was only a small drop of blood on it that glowed lightly with a white shimmer.
"I Jing Wei, the patriarch of the Jing clan hereby declares Lin Mu, the eternal saviour of the Jing clan. For the coming one thousand and one generations, the Jing clan shall be under his grace!" He declared.
