Peak master Yi Deng's expression turned serious as he heard the words of the supreme elder.
"I had guessed that it could have been something like that, but now this…" Yi Deng said and trailed off.
"Indeed… this is much worse than we thought. Seems like the disciples offended a power that has a nascent soul realm cultivator backing it. And not only that but one that has a spatial treasure." The supreme elder acknowledged.
Yi Deng looked around and tried to sense the spatial disturbance on his own, but barely could.
"Supreme elder, can you pinpoint where the spatial disturbance came from? Perhaps we can track it?" Yi Deng questioned.
Just as this question was asked, Lin Mu and the others had also reached the area and heard these words. Lin Mu tensed up slightly and was ready to use Fade at any moment. The others also listened on with sharp ears, not willing to miss even a single word.
"Unfortunately, the traces are far too faint for me to tell where they existed from. They could be from right where I'm standing at, the stage, the audience, the manor or even someplace outside the city. The degree of its accuracy is too low." The supreme elder shook his head.
"I understand. But if they were able to do something like this then they must have some reason, right? I mean kidnapping a core condensation realm cultivator right under the noses of us all, wouldn't it have been better to do it someplace else?" Yi Deng questioned.
"Hmm… this is not what they intend, I think. Rather, this was a warning to us." The supreme elder replied.
"A warning? To the Tri cauldron peony sect? What kind of power do they have that they think they can do this? Even the top sects wouldn't do something like this sneakily." Yi Deng scoffed.
"Whoever they are, one thing is sure; Fa Shiu saw something he should not have and survived. You should know this, didn't you speak with him?" The supreme elder asked with his brows raised.
"He told me everything, how they were looking for a gift for Yi Zi Jin and obtained a beast core. Then they were discovered by some cultivators who wanted to rob them, but then when they resisted they were attacked instead and the juniors were killed.
Fa Shiu said that it was a group of five core condensation realm cultivators." The supreme elder spoke.
The supreme elder scratched his beard and thought for a minute before speaking.
"Then that must be it. He saw their faces." The supreme leader concluded.
"He said that he didn't know them, and this was the first time he was seeing them. But if they were core condensation realm cultivators, then they should have been well known. Even wandering core condensation realm cultivators have a reputation." Yi Deng replied.
"Hmm… We'll know once we investigate these culprits you were speaking of, you said they're here in the city, right?" The supreme elder asked.
"Yes, Lord Wu Hei and Mu Lin informed us about their suspicions. I compared the incidents they described and they seem to match rather well." Yi Deng answered.
"And who is Lord Wu Hei and Mu Lin?" The supreme elder asked as he turned his gaze towards the people who had been staring at them all this time.
"This is my future son-in-law's brother, Lord Wu Hei." Yi Deng said as he gestured.
"Greetings Supreme elder, this junior hopes for your grace." Wu Hei said in a respectful tone.
The supreme elder looked at Wu Hei for a few seconds and nodded.
"Low cultivation but the demeanor is good." He said in a straightforward manner. "And who's Mu Lin?"
"I am supreme elder," Lin Mu stepped forwards and greeted with cupped hands.
Looking at Lin Mu, the supreme elder's expression went from straight, to that of interest, to slight surprise and then back to calm.
"Oh? Interesting… reaching the peak stage of the qi refining realm at the young age of sixteen, good talent. Also… a rather unique cultivation technique you have there. If it weren't for my years of experience I would have thought of you to be a commoner." The supreme elder said with a slight smile.
'He could see my cultivation, huh? So they need to be at the Adult stage of nascent soul realm to be able to detect mine, that's good to know.' Lin Mu thought to himself.
"It's likely that he just guessed it. He could perceive your bone age and the faint spirit qi fluctuations coming from you, even though hidden to most are still visible to a person like him. It is likely that he is pretty close to the Dao Shell realm, thus the heightened sensitivity." Xukong explained.
Lin Mu was happy that this happened right now as he would now have an estimate for the future and would be able to plan accordingly. Thankfully, there weren't that many cultivators who were at the adult stage of the Nascent Soul realm and him meeting them would be very rare too.
Lin Mu couldn't think of many places where he would have the chance to encounter them either, except for the cultivation sects.
"I thank the supreme elder for his praise, but I cannot claim it completely as it is the grace of my master." Lin Mu replied.
"Oh? You have a master? That's a shame… I would have accepted you otherwise." The supreme elder said in a nonchalant tone.
As soon as these words dropped, the jaws of the people who were listening in fell wide open as well. Even Peak master Yi Deng was rather surprised and took another look at the boy who he had won the tournament. He had not paid much attention to him even if he had defeated a core condensation realm cultivator while being lower than that because he had seen plenty of disciples in his sect that could do the same.
But since even the supreme elder expressed his desire in taking him in, the peak master couldn't help but think again.
