1913 A Cordial Welcome

The cordial greeting from the Head Elder felt pleasant to Lin Mu.

"Firstly, I must congratulate you on your win." Head Elder said with a smile. "As such, I would like to hold a banquet in your honor." He added.

"Oh? But would that be appropriate Head Elder?" Lin Mu asked. "Considering the current situation with the Great Meteorite Wall." He said, showing some concern.

Lin Mu had been the one behind it. As such, he still held a bit of guilt and did not want to inconvenience his hosts.

"Oh, that is fine." Head Elder chuckled. "The Patriarch is the one who has to deal with that anyways. I believe you've already met him earlier." He spoke.

"The one in the Twin Crowns Peak?" Lin Mu asked.

"Indeed. That's my second son, Shuijing Lanzhou." Head Elder replied.

"Oh? That's Shuijing Mingzhu's Grandfather?" Lin Mu asked in curiosity.

"No, he's my Granduncle. My Grandfather is here in the clan." Shuijing Mingzhu replied.

"I see…" Lin Mu said, finding the clan structure to be a bit different from what he was used to. 

"You don't have to worry about inconveniencing us. Our authority structure is split into two. There is the council of the valley and then the individual clan authority. For clan matters, the Head Elders are in charge, while the patriarchs and a few other elders are part of the council." The Head Elder explained.

"I understand… but if you are the oldest, why aren't you in that position?" Lin Mu asked, feeling a bit interested in their workings.

"I was in the past." The Head Elder replied. "But I decided to retire and just take care of the clan. Plus, I wished to focus fully on formations again. My eldest son, Mingzhu's Grandfather was the same. He had no interest in administrative matters and was focused on formations as well.

As such, he let his younger brother take the position as the clan patriarch instead." The Head Elder answered.

'Guess they are really dedicated to the craft.' Lin Mu thought to himself. "I can respect that." He spoke.

"We'll go ahead with the banquet, then. Don't worry, it won't take long to set up. Besides, the juniors will probably like to meet you. It's not every day we get to see a winner of the Tournament after all. Haha." The Head Elder laughed. 

It was now that Shuijing Ju spoke up.

"Head Elder, Daoist Mu Lin also has a request." 

"Oh? If it is within my power, I'll gladly fulfill it." The Head Elder replied.

"Great Grandfather, he wishes to meet Elder Pear and see the Snow Glass Pear Orchard." Shuijing Mingzhu stated.

Hearing this, the head elder titled his head. 

"That isn't a problem at all. But if you wish to also meet Elder Pear, you'll have to wait a bit. He is currently asleep." The Head Elder replied.

"He's asleep, I see." Lin Mu didn't know why the Elder was asleep but didn't mind waiting.

As if knowing that Lin Mu had doubts, Shuijing Mingzhu took it upon herself to explain.

"Elder Peach is the oldest member in the entire Serene Glass Valley, and as such, needs his rest. He sleeps for a few weeks to months at a time and as such, we avoid disturbing him." Shuijing Mingzhu explained.

"I understand." Lin Mu replied. "Though… how old is he? Since he's a tree, he's probably lived longer than most immortals right?" he asked.

"You're correct. In fact, there is a high chance Elder Pear might be one of the oldest living beings in the entire Rust Sky World. Him being a tree provides him with a very long lifespan, and the restrictions of normal immortals don't exactly apply to him.

We've asked Elder Pear his age, but he doesn't exactly know it. By the time he gained consciousness, the Serene Glass Valley didn't even exist. And that was over seventy thousand years ago." Head elder revealed.

"That is certainly old." Lin Mu nodded, feeling impressed. "He must know a lot of things then. Having lived that long." 

"Indeed. All of the elders and patriarchs respect him. And if he has a suggestion, it is considered with the utmost seriousness. His seniority exceeds all of us, after all." Head elder added.

"It is actually Elder Pear who permitted the ancestors to settle here. If not for him, perhaps the Serene Glass Valley might have never come into existence." Shuijing Ju also added.

"Seems like I absolutely have to meet Elder Pear now. I can't wait to listen to his plethora of knowledge." Lin Mu was greatly interested in the tree.

The tree was the oldest person Lin Mu would have met if he excluded Xukong and Lanbao. As for the Saintess, Lin Mu had no idea how old she was, and something told him, asking that would be very terrifying.

'I wonder if he knows more about the Demonic Tribes and maybe even the Haima Tribe.' Lin Mu thought of what things he would ask the tree.

He added more things to his list, in addition to his interest in a sentient plant.

'Of course, there's no way I can take Elder Peach with me. But I wonder if other Snow Glass Pear trees can be the same.' Lin Mu thought.

As far as he could tell, Elder Pear was probably the farthest stage of a plant, gaining sentience. The Wood Spirit Tulip, the Purple Sickle Amaranth and the Immortal Apple tree all were sentient, but couldn't exactly communicate directly.

The Violet Mystic Life Tree was the strongest among them all, and was definitely stronger than Elder Pear, but it didn't have the same level of sentience either. 

It was clear that Elder Pear had gone on a different path than these plants. 

Whether it was his cultivation base or something else, that was yet to be seen. 

"I've also heard…" The Head Elder brought Lin Mu out of his thoughts. "You have a Formation Dao Embryo?" he asked, his eyes shining with great interest.