With slightly better understanding of the ring and a new method to battle the Dao Treading realm experts, Lin Mu returned to the real world.
"You're back!" Elder Sun spoke, seeing Lin Mu.
Lin Mu gazed at the injured old man. Elder Sun was someone he didn't have as much of an interaction with before and only had a few sentences exchanged. Lin Mu looked around and saw that only Elder Sun was waiting here for him.
Lin Mu sensed Little Shrubby as well and found him to be near some disciples, helping them. Little Shrubby had easily killed the Dao Treading realm Gu Legion member that it had tackled.
"The others went to check up on the disciples and nurse their injuries." Elder Sun informed, guessing what Lin Mu must be thinking of.
"I see… what are the… casualties?" Lin Mu asked with difficulty.
~Sigh~
Hearing this, Elder Sun let out a tired sigh, but still spoke.
"Most of our disciples are still alive, with less than two hundred actually perishing. This is all due to the better formation arrays and upgrades we did in the last two years. But despite that, we have lost our elders.
Elder Ni, Elder Jala, Elder Wedian and Elder Pigu being the more prominent ones we lost." Elder Sun answered.
"Elder Pigu died?!" Lin Mu was shocked.
He recalled the portly elder who had helped him a lot before.
"Yes… he made the greatest sacrifice… using his life in exchange to kill a Dao Treading realm Gu Legion member, as well as hundreds of weaker members." Elder Sun stated.
Hearing this, Lin Mu felt his heart getting heavier. He knew that this was the cost of a battle, but losing even one person was significant. To him it meant, that he was still weak and needed to grow stronger.
~Crack~
Lin Mu clenched his fists, his knuckles popping in the process. A new drive appeared in him, this time like a searing fire. It made him feel an itch, a discomfort, an urge… to get stronger.
"Come, let's go see the others." Elder Sun spoke, knowing that it will take a while for Lin Mu to get on terms with it all.
Lin Mu silently followed behind the man and they reached the peak where the disciples of the Noon Grass sect had held back the assault. There, he saw the scene of devastation and death.
Even if it was mostly the bodies of the Gu Legion members, there were still the bodies of Noon Grass disciples mixed in it. Due to the collateral damage to the area, most of the bodies had been crushed and damaged beyond recognition.
Only from the shredded fabric pieces that were left behind from the robes of the disciples could it be made out that they were indeed here. Otherwise, the flesh and blood of all mixed together, making it seem like a slaughterhouse.
~huu~
Lin Mu breathed in the slightly salty air, filled with the scent of blood and felt an anger sparking within him again.
Silently chanting the calming heart sutra, he stabilized his mind and focused on the task at hand.
"Look! It's alliance Leader Lin Mu!" The disciples of the Noon Grass sect spotted him.
Elder Sun and Lin Mu landed and were soon surrounded by the disciples. Lin Mu also felt Little Shrubby appear there. The beast took off several disciples from his back and dropped them off in the care of others before going to get more.
There was a lot of excited chatter going around, and a lot of words spoken to Lin Mu. He answered them almost mechanically, not knowing he even did it. His mind was elsewhere and he couldn't bring himself to speak to them fully.
"Disciples, let us leave for now. Alliance Leader has more things to attend to. You all should also rest for now. We shall have an announcement for a meeting later on." Elder Sun stated.
The disciples calmed down after that and let Lin Mu and elder sun proceed. The two of them went up the peak and reached the main building that was at its top. Lin Mu could feel the spirit Qi fluctuation of the remaining elders there along with the high elders and Daoist Hua.
The people inside too felt Lin Mu.
~Creak~
The door of the hall opened automatically and the people inside saw Lin Mu. Everyone could tell the change in Lin Mu. It was subtle, yet it was enough for these experienced elders to sense.
'Its like the soldier who returns home from his first war…' Daoist Hua could tell that change.
He was after all in the same position once upon a time and had gone through it several times since then.
"We are greatly indebted to you, Alliance leader Lin Mu." Supreme elder Hua Langya spoke.
"Indeed, if it were not for you, we all would have possibly perished." The other elders joined.
Lin Mu kept his silence and didn't know what to say to it. He felt like he could not accept these words. He had missed out on helping them in the correct moment that they needed him in.
Several thoughts came to him at that moment.
'What if he had delayed going to the Ancestral ground for just a couple of more days?'
'What if he had waited longer?'
These questions echoed in his head, and the answer to that was both known and unknown to him.
After thinking over it, Lin Mu realized that it all came down to one fact; the fact that he was lacking power. It was power for which he went to the ancestral land of the JI clan so that he could have more allies.
The elders went silent too, seeing that Lin Mu was not responding to them.
"Is there something wrong?" Daoist Hua asked.
"I've made a decision." Lin Mu said, his voice rather calm.
"What?" they all asked.
"I've realized I can no longer wait… I need to grow stronger faster… many times faster than I am right now." He replied, his tone growing heavier.
