Lin Mu heard the Saintess's words and was a bit confused.
"Different? Have you been here before?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Yes… this is the place where I arrived first in the Rust Sky World." The Saintess answered.
"Oh, I didn't know that." Lin Mu realized he had never asked, how the Saintess had arrived. "Do others know that you are here? I mean if you used the teleportation array they should have a record right?" he inquired.
"Other than the people of my sect, no one should know. They wouldn't have sensed me here either, even if the array was used." The Saintess answered.
Lin Mu was once again impressed by the Saintess's skills wondering when he'll reach the same level.
"Why does it seem different to you though, Saintess?" Lin Mu questioned recalling her earlier words.
"Hmm… it is hard to tell. There is a strange aura cast over the entire region." The Saintess answered.
"Strange aura?" Lin Mu thought over it and replied, "is it due to the tournament perhaps?"
"It might be so." The Saintess replied.
"Is the aura dangerous or threatening?" Lin Mu asked, just in case.
"No. It is mostly neutral. Though it also tends to flare up from time to time." The Saintess replied.
Lin Mu furrowed his brows, wondering if the Tournament was really behind this.
"Can you sense it too Senior Xukong?" Lin Mu questioned, hoping to get more.
"I can't sense it, but I have an idea of what it might be." Xukong answered. "It should be the presence of the Four Guardian beasts. They should be awakening for the Tournament." He reveled.
"Their awakening?!" Lin Mu was surprised, "just their awakening can cause this kind of aura to spread?" he asked.
"This should just be the start. As time passes, it will increase until finally they will awaken. The presences of the Four Guardians will be watching the tournament too after all." Xukong explained.
"Hmm… I guess it's not that bad." Lin Mu nodded his head. "But why is the Saintess unable to tell this?" he asked in doubt.
"It is exceptional that she can sense it right now in the first place. One shouldn't be able to tell this even when they have fully awakened. After all, the temple has such strong arrays that they can easily hide their presence.
The aura that is spread around should be due to the Rust Sky World itself reacting to the awakening of the Guardians." Xukong explained.
Lin Mu finally understood and felt a bit relieved that it wasn't anything bad. He also conveyed this information to the Saintess making her content too.
"So they have already started to awaken by now." The Saintess seemed a bit surprised. "Usually they awaken just a short time before a tournament." She added.
"Have you been to such tournaments of the Four Guardian beasts before Saintess?" Lin Mu asked curiously.
"I have in the past, yes." The Saintess replied.
"Did you participate in them too?" Lin Mu asked further.
"No… I've only been there to watch them." The Saintess shook her head.
Though after thinking for a bit, Lin Mu reckoned it was probably due to the unique status of the Saintess that she did not participate in them.
With that done, Lin Mu reckoned he should take a look at the formation arrays of the courtyard. He found them to be good, but still added a few of his on top of them, just to be extra sure.
And once that was done, he checked the rest of the features of the courtyard including the Formation Pavilion and the Pill Refinement hall.
"The pill refinement hall is good, but the Formation Pavilion is a bit inferior to the one I built in the Sleepscape." Lin Mu assessed. "If I make the Diamond Mountain Talismans here, the Formation Pavilion might not be able to bear the same level of damage." He muttered.
Though it made sense, since this formation pavilion was built according to the general use purpose and was not meant to be a specialized one. But for making normal talismans and formations that did not have any strong backlashes, it would be perfectly fine.
Having checked all the rooms, Lin Mu decided to wait till Little Shrubby was done cooking.
The beast had already picked the fruits, and was making something in the kitchen. Lin Mu could smell the scents coming from the distance and just decided to wait for it.
The Saintess on the other hand, had set up her solid Immortal Stone table and chairs in the garden and was seemingly sitting still.
Due to her veil, Lin Mu didn't know if she was gazing at something or was just sitting with her eyes closed. But Lin Mu knew someone of her level didn't really need to 'look' at something to know what was happening.
He reckoned she was probably getting a sense of the capital city. After all, it was massive and there were far too many things happening in it.
Shortly after, the meal was ready and Little Shrubby brought it out.
~SHUA~SHUA~SHUA~
Several prosthetic hands flew out carrying the trays and platters, before placing them on the table.
"Looks good!" Lin Mu said seeing the dishes that were utilizing the various fruits of the garden.
They didn't spend wait any longer and quickly got to eating.
Even the Saintess tried some of the dishes, finding them to be good. Little Shrubby had also prepared some fruit juices as accompaniments for their meal.
While drinking this though, the Saintess spoke lightly. "Some fruit wine might be good too."
"Wine huh?" Lin Mu took note of it and thought over it a bit.
He knew that there were many kinds of Immortal wines that were the same as elixirs in strength.
'I wonder if I can use the Immortal Apples for making some wine? I do have a lot of them.' Lin Mu pondered.
He had other cultivation resources so he didn't necessarily need to rely on the apples to cultivate, allowing them to hoard in his ring.
