Having heard Lin Mu's words, Hua San and Hua Wu couldn't really reject them. They were reasonable requests and besides, if Lin Mu and Jing Luo were to go to the royal palace, they would be willingly given an audience with a king.
Their cultivation base gave them the authority to ask for such a thing. Though the only reason why Lin Mu hadn't done, that was because he was unsure if Gu Yao had his spies here as well.
But now that he knew about the situation of the Noon Grass sect and how they have been careful since the start, they reckoned it would be fine. Plus, Lin Mu himself had spied on their records and could tell that the Hong Lin kingdom was still relatively safe.
Even though Lin Mu had some doubts, he felt a bit more confident in himself that he would be able to resolve any problem that came with his cultivation base. He was no longer the weak Qi refining realm cultivator that had barely been able to stand against Gu Yao; he was now an Adolescent Soul stage Nascent Soul realm cultivator.
Lin Mu also had the confidence that he would be able to fight Gu Yao in an open fight and even defeat them. But that was the very problem; Gu Yao would never do this unless it was the final option he had.
The old man liked to scheme and control others, as could be seen from the skills he used. This was why he was someone even more dangerous than someone who was at the Dao Treading realm.
After all, Gu Yao himself had at least one cultivator that was at the Dao Treading realm in his control and multiple Dao shell realm and Nascent soul realm cultivators.
So far, Lin Mu hadn't felt the presence of anyone being controlled in this kingdom. He had felt the full aura of Gu Yao and the effect his human controlling blood curse had. At first, Lin Mu couldn't really differentiate them.
But now that he had reached the Nascent Soul realm, his sensitivity had increased and he was able to tell the difference. In fact, any Nascent Soul realm cultivator would be able to do the same for granted they had felt the aura of Gu Yao himself.
This was also the reason why he hid himself somewhere and refused to come out, using others to do his bidding instead. This way, no one would see him and sense his aura, thus making it close to impossible for others to figure out others were being controlled.
Lin Mu reckoned other than him, only Wu Hei should be able to do this. After all, the man was also under the control of Gu Yao temporarily, but had managed to break free due to his bloodline and the cultivation technique.
"Hmm… if senior Lin Mu wants a meeting with the King we can ask him right away. After all, Senior Jing Luo is setting up the tribulation attenuation platform and this would be something the king and his adviser would be happy to hear." Hua San stated.
"Very well then. I guess we can head out now." Lin Mu spoke.
"Sure senior." Hua San replied.
"Contact me if anything happens. I'll get to work in the meantime." Jing Luo added.
"Alright." Lin Mu said and the three men flew away.
~shua~
The two men had a bit of a hard time catching up to Lin Mu's speed, thus Lin Mu had to intentionally slow down.
'If I really went at my full speed using blink, they won't even be able to see me at that point…' Lin Mu thought to himself.
The comparison was enough to make him a bit happy, as it meant that he would be able to stand his ground against even stronger cultivators or multiple weaker cultivators with ease.
The three men flew for about an hour before they finally reached the Hong Lin Kingdom's capital.
"Let's walk from here. Better to not attract extra attention." Hua San said.
"Is that fine with you, senior?" Hua Wu asked.
Some cultivators would find it offensive that they needed to walk like commoners and thus they thought it was appropriate to ask.
"Oh yes. I am of the same thought as you. It's better to be low key for now." Lin Mu replied.
Hua San found Lin Mu to be even better now that he heard this, and Lin Mu's image in his heart rose up by a bit. The three men made their way through the city, weaving through crowds of people.
"Is it just me or are there a lot more people out today?" Lin Mu questioned.
Hua San furrowed his brows and looked around, finding it to be really more crowded.
"It does seem to be more crowded than before…" Hua San replied.
"AH! I remember, it's nearly the time for the Autumn festival!" Hua Wu suddenly spoke.
"It is?" Lin Mu asked.
"Yes. While many kingdoms have the Autumn festival, it is especially more important in the Hong Lin kingdom. Since Autumn signifies the end of summer and the change in weather to winter, it also signifies the fall of the fire element.
Since the Hong Lin kingdom reveres Hong Lin trees, they bid farewell to fire at the end of Autumn. Plus the leaves of Hong Lin trees that are naturally red become even more vibrant in Autumn before they start to fall." Hua Wu explained.
"I see…" Lin Mu nodded his head. "Looks like you researched quite a bit before coming here." Lin Mu added.
"Indeed, it is my first time leaving the sect in thirty years. Master prohibited me from leaving the sect unless I reached the Nascent Soul realm." Hua Wu explained.
Hearing the stringent requirement, Lin Mu was a bit astounded.
'Huh… didn't know sect would put such restrictions on their disciples.' Lin Mu thought to himself.
"Oh, there are far more than just these. You will see many peculiar conditions later on." Xukong chimed in.
