It wasn't often that a king would allow such an oath to be taken, not to mention taking it himself. This went against all that was considered usual for the royalty and kings. One could count on one hand the number of kings who had ever done this.
There were oaths taken by kings sure, but they were taken among others of equal or higher status. And thus, the court members were left speechless. Only after a minute of silence did someone speak.
"I volunteer too!" one of the generals spoke.
"I do too!" A junior minister spoke.
"I shall take the oath as well!" Another minister joined in.
One by one, hands rose up as more and more people joined. In the end, each and every person was ready to take the oath and this put a smile on the face of the King and even Lin Mu, who had not expected this.
'I thought there would be at least some resistance among them, but looks like the new people that were chosen were perfect for it and the ones that were not corrupted were good from the start.' Lin Mu thought to himself.
"Excellent! With our unity, we shall either rise through the calamities or die trying!" The king exclaimed, sending waves of excitement across the hall.
He then looked at Lin Mu, prompting him to turn a bit serious.
"Senior Lin Mu, since times immemorial when oaths as big as these were taken, the eldest or the strongest person would act as the officiator. Would you please grant us the honor of being one?" King Hong asked.
Lin Mu was a bit stunned and didn't speak when suddenly Xukong's voice rang in his mind.
"Do it," Xukong spoke.
"You sure, senior? But I'm not the oldest here?" Lin Mu asked.
"That is just a formality. In reality, anyone can act as the officiator, but the strength of the officiator does decide how strong the oath will be as well. While most people think oaths are unbreakable, it is not so.
There are certain methods that can be used to nullify them, and one can break them. Then there are also some methods that allow one to bypass them while keeping an oath intact.
We do not know of Gu Yao or the powers backing them have such means, but it would be better to be cautious." Xukong replied.
"Then how do I prevent that senior?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Well, the easiest method is to change the oath terms. Most people give blood oaths or take an oath against their cultivation. These are the easiest ones to bypass and break. Oaths can also be given to the heavens which are far more stronger but that also requires one to be a cultivator and have a certain cultivation base.
In here, only the Nascent soul realm cultivators would be able to do that and others won't.
But right now they have you here… you have something that others don't and it will help overcome that flaw." Xukong answered.
"I see… then what do I do?" Lin Mu asked.
"Just follow my words," Xukong replied.
"Okay senior," Lin Mu replied and nodded his head, giving affirmation to King Hong as well.
"Thank you senior Lin Mu," King Hong said.
Lin Mu then closed his eyes for a couple of seconds and took a deep breath.
~huu~
The next moment when his eyes opened, they had a completely different aura. Everyone that looked at him felt their hearts shudder. They couldn't look into Lin Mu's eyes and felt like their hearts would jump out of their chests if they did so.
"Repeat after my words," Lin Mu said in a calm voice.
"YES SENIOR!" They all replied.
"I, Lin Mu…"
"I, Hong Qiqiang…"
"I, Hong Liu…"
"I, Xian Po…"
They all repeated.
"Shall not harm the interest of the alliance, my allies, and humanity as a whole. And if I do so, I shall be struck down by the world, erased by the bloodline, extinguished by the heavens, and have my soul removed from the cycle of reincarnation." Lin Mu completed.
The oath was a harsh one, but this was not the time to hesitate and thus they all repeated properly.
Once everyone was done saying it, Lin Mu added the final part.
"So mote it be!"
~SHUA~
~HONG~
The moment the oath was completed, a heavy presence descend in the hall. Everyone felt like boulders were pressing down on their heads and that they would collapse at any moment.
Then a glowing character appeared on the forehead of Lin Mu. It was visible to everyone and was in fact, hard to not notice with the intensity of light it was casting.
'What… is that…?' Everyone wondered while simultaneously struggling under the presence.
The character on Lin Mu's forehead glowed even brighter and shot out several tiny motes of light. Their number was equal to the number of people that were in the hall at this moment.
The motes of light flew to each person and entered their foreheads.
Then…. A character appeared on their foreheads too. This character read 'Oath'.
It lingered on their forehead for about three seconds before it faded away. The pressure on their bodies also disappeared and they could take breaths of relief. But while this was all happening, Lin Mu did not see it.
Rather than that, the moment the character had appeared on Lin Mu's forehead, his vision had gone white. He appeared in a white space and could see a character floating there as well. It was the same one that had appeared on his forehead.
"Isn't that… the mark of the Ordained?" Lin Mu recognized.
~boom~
Then it was as if an explosion happened and Lin Mu was sent hurtling across the empty skies. He kept on going higher and higher until he could see the entire world below him.
It was a bit hard for him to see things, but after a couple of seconds, his vision adjusted.
"What?…. What is this….?" Lin Mu couldn't help but question.
