When Lin Mu spoke about there being more people interfering in the tournament, the expression of everyone changed.
"So you heard about it too…" Crown Prince Feng Shun said with a straight face.
"Yes." Lin Mu nodded his head.
It was now that another person spoke.
"And how did you find out about it? This information is highly restricted." The man in the armor spoke in a stern tone, making Lin Mu look at him.
"No need to be like that, commander Dui. Daoist Mu Lin is a well trusted individual for me." Crown Prince Feng Shun replied. "Though I am curious as to how you learned this too." He added.
"I learned it at the rewards pavilion. The High Elder told me himself." Lin Mu clarified.
"The high elder?" Commander Dui said in a surprised tone.
"Which high elder?" Crown Prince Feng Shun inquired.
"High Elder Juxue." Lin Mu answered.
Hearing that, the expressions of the Crown Prince and Commander Dui changed. Commander Dui seemed surprised while the Crown Prince was intrigued instead.
Lin Mu saw their reactions and wondered why they were like this. Crown Prince Feng Shun's companions were also wondering the same. All of them had trained in the immortal court, and thus knew about the high elders of the temple.
After all, the Immortal Court was in a way the extension of the temple of the four guardian beasts in the first place. Thus, the people who worked there were fully aware of the positions and the workings of the temple.
"Seems like Grand Uncle took an interest in you too." Crown Prince Feng Shun said, much to their surprise.
"Grand Uncle?" Daoist Chu said in confusion. "The High Elder is your Grand uncle?" he asked in surprise.
"Indeed… Of course, being a part of the Temple of the Four Guardian beasts means he had to let go of his Imperial rank thus many don't know about him." Crown Prince Feng Shun replied.
"High Elder Juxue is your grand uncle?" Lin Mu hadn't expected that.
But once he thought about it, he realized that there were indeed some clues to it.
'The Wind Dao Traces… whatever technique that the High Elder used is similar to the signature techniques of the Imperial Family.' Lin Mu realized.
It was a well known fact that the Imperial Family was one that was expert in the Wind Dao. Most of their members were born with an innate affinity to the Wind Element, and their signature technique was also based on it. In fact, the name of the empire was a testament to the affinity of the Imperial Family and their expertise in the wind Dao.
The Emperor of the Dao Wind Empire was also considered as the strongest cultivator with a Wind Elemental Affinity in the Rust Sky world. As well as the only Transcendent Immortal who had furthered his Wind Dao to the point where he could freely use Dao Insights!
Even among Immortals, there was a lack of cultivators that could utilize Dao Insights. Most would still be reliant on Dao Traces through the use of their Dao Embryo. Only a few could improve to the point where they could start utilizing Dao Insights. But even that use was restricted.
And reaching a point where one could freely use the Dao insights was incredibly difficult. It not only needed high comprehension but also took hard work and time.
All those that could do so would inevitably become great experts. Even Lin Mu had yet to grasp the Dao Insights, not to mention being able to use them at all.
"Grand Uncle Juxue left the Imperial Family a long time ago. This was even before the era of the former emperor." Crown Prince Feng Shun spoke. "As far as I know, he's one of the oldest members of the Imperial Family that is not among the ancestors." He added.
"Crown Prince's family is certainly impressive." Daoist Chu couldn't help but say.
He himself was from a clan and not a ruling empire, thus he felt impressed. Crown Princess Shang on the other hand, simply smiled and was more occupied with feeding Little Shrubby. To her this wasn't much as she was used to people like this.
The Shang Empire had a lot of such experts too that were part of the temple.
As for the Monk Hushu, he didn't care about it.
All he cared was about the prayer beads in his hand that were still wanting to run away from him.
'If it weren't for the fact I need to keep praying with them, I would have sealed them away.' Monk Hushu thought.
For Buddhist cultivators like Monk Hushu, their cultivation needed several other things than just accumulating Qi. They needed to chant Buddhist scriptures and pray in order to further their cultivation base and comprehend the Dao.
"I see… no wonder the High Elder's skill with the Wind Dao was good." Lin Mu muttered.
"He actually showed them to you?" The Crown Prince was genuinely surprised this time.
"Well, he used them to isolate sound and move us in an instant." Lin Mu answered.
"Seems like Daoist Mu Lin got to benefit from it too. Many people yearn to learn from Grand Uncle but he barely ever teaches anyone." Crown Prince Feng Shun replied. "Even I got rejected in the past." He revealed.
"Oh?" Lin Mu hadn't expected that. 'Did the high elder do it intentionally or was it just in the passing?' Lin Mu didn't have a concrete way of knowing and could only guess.
As far as he knew, High Elder Juxue might have just done it all in passing and wasn't particularly thinking about showing him all that.
"He did… give me some advice and pointers." Lin Mu finally said.
"HE DID?!" Commander Dui almost exclaimed. "Crown Prince this…"
"Let it be…" Crown Prince Feng Shun waved his hand. "Father shouldn't be bothered at this time. Besides, I doubt Grand Uncle will like us interfering." He spoke.
"I understand." The Commander calmed down.
"Is there an issue?" Lin Mu couldn't help but ask. "Something wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong Daoist Mu Lin. There is no fault of yours." Crown Prince Feng Shun replied. "It's just that… Grand Uncle rarely does things like this. Thus, if he does, it is informed to the Emperor. But the situation isn't an opportune one right now." He explained.
"I see… if it is like that, I shall desist." Lin Mu guessed that it was probably some imperial family politics in play.
He was someone who tried to stay away from things like this, as he didn't really like it. Even back in Xiaofan world, Lin Mu only went ahead with all things, since he absolutely needed to do it.
"If it's anything, we can now consider Daoist Mu Lin further vetted by the Temple." Crown Prince Feng Shun suddenly said before looking at the commander. "I hope that satisfied you, Commander Dui."
"Of course, Crown Prince." The man cupped his hands and bowed his head.
"Now then… since that is over. Let's get to the crux of the issue," Crown Prince Feng Shun said before taking out a jade slip.
~shua~
He tapped on it, making a formation screen appear in the air. Lin Mu read the information being presented on it, finding some of it familiar.
"I'm guessing you've learned some of this already?" Crown Prince Feng Shun inquired.
"Indeed… we did know that Yao Changying was involved in the participation of the Black Fin Island members." Lin Mu nodded his head. "But the rest of it…"
"This is something we discovered recently too." Crown Prince Feng Shun said with a straight face. "There seem to be people looking into our world. They're searching for something…" he added.
"What is it?" Lin Mu questioned. "And even if it is so, why would they think of interfering in the tournament?" he asked in confusion.
"I think whatever it is, Yao Changying probably knows more." Crown Prince Feng Shun replied. "As for their reasons behind interfering in the Tournament, I do not know."
"Even if it is something that can get them benefits, I don't think getting enmity from the Temple of the Guardian beasts is worth it, is it?" Lin Mu stated.
"Unless the benefits brought by it are big enough for them to ignore the temple." Crown Princess Shang said after a few minutes of silence. "I still think it is Yao Changying pulling the strings. She's already tricked a world. I don't think it is beyond her to trick more people into doing all this."
"Even going so far as to risk offending the temple?" Lin Mu asked.
"She's already offended an entire world, the temple might just be her next step up." Crown princess Shang scoffed.
"I see… if it is really like this, then the Diviners getting involved in this might be her work too." Lin Mu muttered. "But the cost of it shouldn't be low. If so… how is she affording all this?" he laid forth his suspicions.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om