The time given by Hua San passed quickly and it was already the day for the Noon Grass sect's arrival. Scouts were already in place and ready to inform the Kingdom as soon as they spotted the entourage of the Noon Grass sect.
Lin Mu, Jing Luo, and King Hong had already returned to the palace and were in the royal court going over the points they needed to discuss with the Noon Grass sect. These not only involved the things about Gu Yao and the alliance, but also smaller matters such as what to do in case of disagreement and conflicts.
They were important too, and it was best if they got them out of the way as soon as possible. This way, they would have the least number of obstacles in the way.
~CREAK~
It was at this point that the door of the Hall opened abruptly and in came a man who seemed to be looking anxious.
"My King! The Noon Grass sect is here!" A messenger said quickly.
Lin Mu and the rest stood up immediately and flew out of the place and stood in the sky.
"There they are…" Lin Mu said, spotting the people approaching from the distance.
King Hong and Jing Luo also watched them and narrowed their eyes.
"What… is that thing?" King Hong questioned.
"Oh? They have a Spirit vehicle too," Jing Luo replied.
"Mmhmm… and it's rather powerful, too. I can sense its spirit Qi fluctuations… it's nearly at the peak grade." Lin Mu spoke.
Hearing this, Jing Luo focused on the flying object and tried to see if he could analyze it.
The object in question was a long rectangular ruler. It was made out of a plain-looking stone but there were many runes carved into its surface. Plus the spirit Qi fluctuation coming from it were also rather strong when combined with the people that were riding it.
~shua~
And while Lin Mu and the rest were observing this, a red blur arrived and floated beside them.
"Danger?" Little Shrubby questioned, his ears perked up.
"No, just some new friends." Lin Mu answered.
"Okay~" Little Shrubby said and observed the flying ruler as well.
Lin Mu could see at least twenty people sitting on the ruler. At the front sat two old men, one of which was controlling the formations of the flying ruler. The spirit Qi fluctuations coming from him showed Lin Mu that he was at the Dao Shell realm as well.
Sitting beside him was another old man that looked to be at least a hundred years old when compared to a mortal. This meant that he was really old in the case of cultivators. Unlike the first man, Lin Mu could not perceive any proper spirit Qi fluctuations from him.
He was wearing a long robe that had fine designs embroidered on them. The robes themselves were a plain white color like the rest, and only the designs made them stand out. It was evident that whoever he was, he had the highest position among them.
"That's Daoist Hua, the patriarch of the Noon Grass sect. I've seen his portrait before." Jing Luo informed.
"So that's the master go Hua San and Hua Wu. They're sitting in the middle." Lin Mu replied.
Behind the two old men, Lin Mu could see five younger elders sitting. But even if they were younger compared to the two old men, they were by no means youngsters. They looked to be in their sixties instead.
Four of them were men and one of them was an old woman. Behind these five elders sat the disciples that were accompanying them. Lin Mu could see Hua Wu and Hua San sitting with five other disciples in a group.
Behind them sat more disciples, that had weaker cultivation bases. But even the weakest of them was at the peak stage of the core condensation realm. While the strongest was at the pseudo Nascent soul stage.
"Your sensing capabilities have certainly gotten stronger." Xukong suddenly spoke.
"Mmmhmm… the more time I spend pondering on the Dao Shell, the finer my control becomes. I didn't realize it at first, but I'm seeing improvements in things I didn't know about before." Lin Mu replied.
"That's a good sign. Improvements like this usually happen if you are going on the right path with comprehending your Dao Shell's shape. An optimum shape will increase the quality of your cultivation base and allow you to grasp better control over it." Xukong stated.
"Yes, senior. Though I wonder why I can't sense the cultivation base of Daoist Hua, even if he is at the Dao Treading realm, I should have been able to do it." Lin Mu said in a slightly confused tone.
"He is probably at the very peak of it and has some skills that prevent others from sensing his cultivation base. You'll have to be a bit careful when interacting with so many cultivators at such cultivation bases.
There are six Dao Shell realm and one Dao Treading realm cultivator. This is the strongest group of cultivators you are facing." Xukong informed.
"I'll keep it in mind, senior." Lin Mu responded.
Xukong then went silent and let Lin Mu handle the rest. They watched as the Noon Grass sect reached their position in a minute's time.
"Welcome, Patriarch Hua! Welcome fellow elders!" Lin Mu greeted with his fists cupped.
Since Daoist Hua was the only one at the Dao Treading realm, this was the etiquette Lin Mu had to follow. The other elders were all at the Dao Shell realm, though their stages varied.
"We pay our respects to the Noon Grass sect!" One by one, the others also greeted the people from the Noon Grass sect.
"Ohoho! Seems like our disciples grossly underestimated you, junior Lin Mu." Daoist Hua said in a jovial tone.
His eyes sparkled and Lin Mu could feel a very swift sweep of spirit sense going along his body. Of course, it was blocked by him, but that was more than enough for Daoist Hua to grasp what Lin Mu's cultivation base was at.
