Watching Little Shrubby's work, Lin Mu couldn't help but feel happy.
"Looks like you'll be a great help then." Lin Mu held Little Shrubby who had jumped into his arms.
Stroking the beast's head for a bit, he saw the twins seemingly glaring at him.
~SASASA~
In the next second, they too jumped into his hands, wanting to be pet.
"Alright, alright, you two did good too." Lin Mu petted their heads as well.
After a minute, the beasts were satisfied and got down from Lin Mu's arms allowing him to turn to the Saintess.
"I'll head out for today. Hopefully I get the Tyrant Bull Marrow." Lin Mu spoke.
"Hmm… be careful of whoever you are getting that from." The Saintess warned. "Obtaining Tyrant Bull Marrow isn't easy, and if they have managed to do so, they have quietly likely killed the beast themselves. It is certainly not an easy beast to kill." She explained.
"I know…" Lin Mu nodded his head, feeling touched by the Saintess's concern. "I'll take Little Shrubby with me just in case." He added.
"Mmhmm, that'll be good." The Saintess replied. "Let the Twins stay here too." She added.
"Yes, Xiao Yang and Xiao Yin should stay here." Lin Mu agreed as he did not want a potential hunter of rare beasts to get a look at the twins.
While it was still unknown as to what kind of person the seller was, Lin Mu still didn't want to take a chance. Or at the very least, he knew that if they tried to harm the twins, he would not be taking it calmly.
With that done, Lin Mu sent Little Shrubby into the Sleepscape and walked out. It was still early till the decided meeting time, but Lin Mu also had a long way to go. After all, they couldn't exactly fly in the Capital Region without permission and there was a limit to how fast one could walk or run without it becoming a nuisance.
'Can I still use Phase here?' Lin Mu wondered.
Phase didn't work if something was guarded used Formation arrays and with the expansive arrays covering the entire capital region, Lin Mu was suspicious of it.
"Hmm, may as well try it," Lin Mu muttered and used Phase.
~SHUA~
He actually started sinking into the ground, but after a meter's depth Lin Mu was blocked.
"Huh… So that's the depth at which the array works… This'll be a bit of a problem." Lin Mu furrowed his brows.
While he hoped that he could still use his Spatial skills and wouldn't have to get into a conflict, it was still better to be prepared.
"At least Flicker, Blink and Fade work the same." Lin Mu was relieved.
Fade was his main skill in an escape situation and had saved his life several times before. Thus having it was the greatest assurance. All he needed to do was use Fade several times in a row, before calling out Little Shrubby and running away.
Lin Mu continued towards the location of the Palace Grounds and took nearly an hour and half to reach it.
"The foot traffic seems a bit high today." Lin Mu noticed.
The day he had arrived it wasn't this much and even the day after that, it seemed to be the same. But today there were a lot of people walking around.
Lin Mu paid attention to their conversations, wondering if there was anything special going on and quickly learned the reason.
"Huh… Demonstrations by the participants?" Lin Mu finally learned of the reason. "Looks like in addition to the banquets by the nobles, the other participants are also doing this."
It did seem like a good way to help increase their betting odds when it was time for the tournament. If anything, it was basically the same as marketing and advertising for the tournament which was probably why it wasn't exactly prohibited.
Lin Mu continued to listen to the conversations of the people and learned that there were several venues where the participants will be doing demonstrations of this skills. They were in places like taverns, pleasure pavilions, large restaurants as well as some private locations.
Lin Mu took note of them and thought of checking them out as well. While it didn't seem as good to him to show off ones skills before a competition, it was a viable option for those that were intending to earn a lot from this.
After all, for the mid to low leveled competitors, the fortune from the gambling would be a lot higher than what they might get from the tournament rewards themselves. Thus advertising their skills seemed a good way to do so.
But the true experts that were intending to participate just for the competitive opportunity were not like that. They would rather bide their time and keep this skills hidden, only to unleash them on the battle ring.
Lin Mu was the same and would restrict himself even more. Certain skills of his would be simply out of the question to be shown.
This included the Burning Heart Sutra and The Murdering Heart Sutra.
The effects of both would be a troublesome if witnessed by the others.
'Though… that's only the effects on myself. I haven't used the Burning Heart Sutra on others for a while and I haven't tested the Murdering Heart Sutra on others at all.' Lin Mu thought to himself. 'I should at least test out the effects of the Murdering Heart Sutra on others later.' He reckoned.
While Lin Mu could somewhat guess what the effects would be like, it was still needed for him to know just how long they would last and if someone could resist them. Plus there were other aspects such as the aura of the Devil Path.
Lin Mu didn't know whether it would appear for the others too, and if it had an effect on their souls too.
The more Lin Mu thought about it, the more he realized he had missed a great part of the Murdering Heart Sutra.
'In my original shock, I've forgotten that the technique has more facets to it.' Lin Mu realized his mistake.
Even if it was an unorthodox technique, it was still part of his strength and it would be unwise to keep it restrained.
~huu~
Letting out a breath, Lin Mu decided to test it out as soon as he was done dealing with the person with the Tyrant Bull Marrow.
"Not long now…" Lin Mu muttered as he stood at the gate of the Palace Grounds.
There was a line here with several tens of people waiting to be granted an entry. Some were granted entry after checking their credentials but there were also some that were rejected and had to leave.
The guards were extremely strict and wouldn't just let them enter.
Lin Mu was a little doubtful of his entry too and watched until it was his turn.
"Reason for entry and any documents for your support." The Guard stated mechanically.
"I've been asked to come to the External Greeting Pavilion. I am Mu Lin." Lin Mu informed the guards.
Hearing that, the guard seemed to have recalled something.
"So you're today's guest for him, huh… go on then." The guard permitted him rather easily.
Lin Mu was surprised by this but then he heard the guard speak again.
"Just make sure you don't make any commotion once you fail. I don't want to come over there to throw you out." He warned before opening the gate for Lin Mu.
Lin Mu didn't respond to the guard, but took note of his words.
'Seems like I'm not the only one to have come to meet that man.' Lin Mu could grasp this much.
It did make sense that there would be a lot more people looking for something as valuable as the Tyrant Bull Marrow. Especially when one could get it for free, as long as they answered some inquiries from the person owning it.
"This isn't going to be simple, is it?" Lin Mu shook his head.
~Sigh~
Letting out a sigh, Lin Mu prepared himself and walked in the direction of the External Greeting pavilion.
It was one of the smaller buildings that were located in the outer periphery of the Palace Grounds and was made to meet with guests of 'lower' value. Of course, the one meeting them would also be lower ranked people in the Palace Grounds and possibly might just be some servants too.
Lin Mu didn't care for that though and just wanted the Tyrant Bull Marrow.
Or rather, he would prefer it if he didn't have to deal with anyone of a high rank. Things would just be simple that way.
Eventually he found himself in front of the External Greeting Pavilion's doors.
"Here for the Tyrant Bull Marrow?" A man dressed in the robes of a servant questioned seeing Lin Mu.
"Yes. I was called here." Lin Mu replied.
"Go in there. He'll be here shortly." The servant said before allowing Lin Mu inside.
