444 A Plan To End The Conflict

"The sects forming the alliances may not be totally bad, maybe they will have better preparation for the war with the northern tribes. But Gu Yao must be stopped." Lin Mu said with determination.

His eyes glowed with valor as he faded away.

A minute later he was already outside the Wu Lim city. He started flying towards Little Shrubby's location and Xukong spoke to him at this time.

"So what are you going to do now?" Xukong questioned.

"First, we head to the capital city of Shuang Qian Kingdom. I need to see what the mayor is up to and I can't leave Wu Hei like this either.

I'm pretty sure the mayor is an important trump card for Gu Yao and definitely has access to vital information. On the other hand, Wu Teng is the son-in-law of the Peak Master Yi Deng and will be the official link between kingdom and the Tri cauldron peony sect.

If we can gain control over them, we may have a chance at starting early. Besides, we also need to figure out where Gu Yao is currently. The most obvious location that I can think of is the Tri Cauldron peony sect, but that may be wrong too.

Like you said senior if he wants to control the higher ups of the sects he needs to have a higher cultivation base. And will be looking to increase it, for which he will need resources, tons of resources.

He may be getting them from the sects that are currently under his control, so that is where we need to start." Lin Mu explained.

"Of course, if you can figure out where the resources are being sent to, chances are Gu Yao will be there too. Also his mind was damaged by me too, so he probably is unstable even now." Xukong replied.

"Him? Unstable? Hmm… that will be a wild card as it will be hard to guess his actions. But… it may work in our favor too. If he is not thinking clearly, he will make mistakes and will be reckless." Lin Mu analyzed.

"You will need to find out how he is communicating with the northern tribes too though. Right now he is the main thorn in our path, but if more of his allies from the northern tribes come here, it will only become more difficult.

After all, we know some of them are already here in the kingdom, as little Shrubby told us." Xukong said.

~Sigh~

"It would have been good if we had Old man Jing Wei help us with this. He has lived long and knows more about the northern tribes. He also has experience with the sects and thus could have guided us." Lin Mu said feeling a bit sad.

"Don't worry. If I have grasped their character well, I'm pretty sure they will not let this happen either. As long as they have not been unaware of all these happenings, they are likely to intervene." Xukong assured.

"I hope so too senior. Plus, we still have the threat of the invader hanging on our head." Lin Mu added.

"Hmm… about the invader I think if you will be able to find out about them from the northern tribes too. If they are the ones who called that merchant here, they must have a way to let outsiders into this world.

There should be a teleportation formation for that. If we can find that, you may be able to trace the location of the invader by using that formation. I will guide you in formations till then, you will need to be proficient with them in order to do something like that." Xukong said.

"I will do it diligently, senior. Since we are heading to the capital, we may as well get some supplies to make formations there too." Lin Mu suggested.

"Or… since this is a difficult time, we can ignore certain rules." Xukong said after thinking for a bit.

"Oh? What kind of rules, senior?" Lin Mu questioned.

"Do you know what is the fastest way to gather a fortune?" Xukong asked.

"… you mean to say… we should just steal them?" Lin Mu replied.

"Yes, we do not have the liberty of time. We will need to act quick and this will be the best method. After all, this is forthe benefit of the people; you will be saving them." Xukong stated.

Lin Mu thought about it for a bit and found it to be reasonable. While thinking of the plan, Lin Mu eventually reached Little Shrubby, who as he had expected, was cooking some more meat. Though this time the beast was a common beast at the sixth stage of the body tempering realm.

"I'm back!" Lin Mu said.

"Master, come eat then cook more." Little Shrubby said.

"Alright, I guess a little rest is in order." Lin Mu said knowing that he needed to rest his mind, which had become distressed.

He reckoned that if he got some rest, a new solution may automatically pop up in his mind. After all, a chaotic mind will only give rise to disorder.

Little Shrubby went out to hunt a few more beasts while Lin Mu meditated and chanted the calming heart sutra. After that, they cooked some delicious food which helped Lin Mu unstress even more.

"What now, master?" Little Shrubby asked.

"Now? Now we head to the capital city. We have a lot of things to do now… and perhaps even you will get to participate." Lin Mu answered.

"Yay! I wanna fight someone that can actually fight back too. All the beasts I fight only run away now." Little Shrubby said, feeling happy.

Lin Mu raised his brows as he realized he was not without allies, either. Little Shrubby was formidable in his own way, and his speed was the key.

'Wait his speed… I can use it like that, can't I?…' Lin Mu thought as a better idea formulated in his mind.

It was on this day that the beast every cultivation sect would dread was born.