A minute after Lin Mu and Little Shrubby had left the hall, Crown Prince Feng Shun looked at his male companions.
"So… what do you two think?" He asked.
The two men, who had mostly stayed silent throughout the entire meeting opened their eyes and looked at the Crown Prince. Daoist Chu had a straight expression while the monk seemed to be a bit perplexed.
"It is hard to say… He's certainly interesting." Daoist Chu said first.
"That's true. He seems to know quite a bit seeing as how he can translate the Shamanic Script of the Demonic Tribes. That's something even the scripture experts of the Immortal Court seem to struggle with." Princess Shang Yingtai stated.
"That is what got me intrigued with him. A person like him being a body cultivator was the last thing I thought." Crown Prince Feng Shun said while tapping his chair.
"Don't forget he's also a qi cultivator." Shang Yingtai added.
"Yeah, but he doesn't seem to be focusing on it much. He's just at the First Tribulation Stage of the Immortal realm." Crown Prince Feng Shun said but then saw the monk's expression change. "What is it Monk Hushu?"
The monk kept his perplexed expression and fiddled with some prayer beads in his hand.
"I don't know how to say this…" The monk said slowly. "I don't think he's really a body cultivator, nor is he a qi cultivator…" he uttered.
"What? How does that make sense?" Princess Shang Yingtai asked feeling confused to now.
"You are the most perceptive out of all of us. What did you sense? Speak freely." Crown Prince Feng Shun urged, his expression turning serious once more.
"That Daoist Mu Lin… He feels… Holy." Monk Hushu said much to the shock of everyone. "He feels more of a monk than me."
"What?" Everyone said in unison.
"How's that possible?" Daoist Chu wondered finding it strange.
"I don't know either. But this… this cannot lie." Monk Hushu lifted the prayer beads and gently rolled them.
~HONG~
In the next moment, the prayer beads floated up in the air, letting out a gentle yellow glow. The glow covered the entire room, filling it with a peaceful aura.
"The Prayer Beads that abbot gave me are infused with Five thousand years of joss offerings. Other than me only those who have cultivated the path of Buddha can make it react like this." Monk Hushu explained. "I had to restrain it all this time, or I fear it might have flow straight to Daoist Mu Lin."
Hearing the words of Monk Hushu as well as seeing the reaction of the prayer beads, Crown Prince Feng Shun and the others knew it was true. But at the same time it only made it even more unbelievable.
"Just how can he be like that?" Princess Shang Yingtai wondered. "Though… now that I think about it, his reaction upon seeing me was utterly calm. Most men can't do that… at least not those his age." She muttered.
Crown Prince Feng Shun was now deep in thought. He had trust in Monk Hushu's words and even more trust in the prayer beads. After all the prayer beads were made by the Abbot of the temple that Monk Hushu was part of.
It was not a simple power.
"If even the prayer beads of Outer Ksitigarbha Island are showing this, then it has to be true." Crown Prince Feng Shun said before standing up. "Looks like we'll have to change the evaluation of Daoist Mu Lin."
"Do you think he is from another Buddhist power?" Daoist Chu couldn't help but ask.
"That is another thing that confuses me. The holy aura of his is hidden. As if he has never received the grace… or it might even be that he has an innate link to the Buddhist path that even he might not be aware about." Monk Hushu said after thinking for a bit.
"What does that entail?" Princess Shang Yingtai asked. "If even your prayer beads wanted to escape… just how does he compare to you?"
"He may as well be above me in terms of Buddhist aura… that is if he developed it. If he is introduced to The Outer Ksitigarbha Island, there is no doubt the Head Abbot would take him right away." Monk Hushu answered.
~PHEW~
Daoist Chu let out a breath and shook his head.
"At the very least we know he is 'good'." Daoist Chu spoke. "Doubt anyone with innate Buddhist characteristics like that would be associated with the Demons." He added.
"Indeed. Seems like my suspicions turned out to be wrong." Crown Prince Feng Shun agreed. "Which might be better."
"You thought he was associated with the demons?" Princess Shang Yingtai was a bit surprised.
"Indeed… while I didn't see it outright, his fluency with the Shamanic Script of the Demonic tribe was simply too much. Then I looked into him and found out that he was in the Desolate Blood Battlefield at the time when the demon had appeared.
But that's not all… he was right at the location of the Violet Mystic Life Tree when the demon had appeared. There are records of it all." Crown Prince Feng Shun explained.
"That is indeed a little too close to be a coincidence." Princess Shang Yingtai agreed. "Though I guess we can throw that out. Plus he has a cute kitten as a tamed beast. He can't be all that bad." She laughed.
"That was no kitten." Crown Prince Feng Shun suddenly said. "Could you not tell? You scanned it closely."
"No… it seemed normal. Even the Wood Elemental qi was absorbed steadily." Princess Shang Yingtai replied.
"That beast seemed to be at the spirit realm and yet consumed immortal fruits with ease. What do you think?" Feng Shun raised a brow.
"I couldn't tell. Its body was absorbing it really well, so I thought it had to do with its talent." Shang Yingtai said, but then realized that she had indeed missed it.
