Chapter 426: Aftermath

Little Shrubby looked curiously at the bowl as Lin Mu put a large amount of beast cores in there. There were almost a hundred beast cores in it, that would be worth a fortune if he were to sell them.

"You can eat them when you want. These should be enough to last you a long time." Lin Mu said.

He didn't know how long he would be sleeping and thus wanted to prepare some things for little Shrubby. They had estimated that a year was the shortest time seeing as the great slumber bear they killed was juvenile and thus his bloodline ability was not fully developed. Lin Mu was betting on this and thus had prepared all the beast meat enough to last a year.

He then started to take them out and triggered the nameless technique of the lost immortal, stimulating his hunger again. Lin Mu knew he had to force himself to eat this. Even if he had a large amount of vitality from the Great Slumber bear's meat, there was still a chance it may extend beyond a year's time.

The drowsiness was being surprised by his intense hunger and thus he was able to power through. It took Lin Mu two hours before he was able to finish all the beast meat. Thankfully, he had prepared beforehand and only had cooked meat with him that had no bones left. This made it easy to eat, or he would have been unable to finish it on time.

~Thud~

Just a minute after he had finished eating them all, he collapsed on the ground. 

Little Shrubby came running and nuzzled against his body, concerned for him. But when he saw that he was just sleeping and what he had spoken to him, he felt a bit better.

"I will wait." Little Shrubby said as it laid beside Lin Mu and started cultivating itself.

Rhythmic breaths came from Lin Mu's mouth as they eventually slowed down. It reached a point where he was only taking a single breath in a minute and even his heartbeats became slow.

And just like this, silence descended in the cave, just like the northern forest outside.

***

Back in the Wu Lin City, chaos was ensuing. 

Thousand of disciples of the Tri Cauldron peony sect were moving around, some flying on spirit tools, some just running. The hugest number of them were gathered around a large hole that was located at the ancestral temple.

There, a pair of disciples that were wearing slightly different robes than others were standing. The others looked at them with respect and while they had an expression of seriousness. They came to stand beside the hole and one of them spoke.

"Is it really true? Did an Invader really come to our world?" The disciple who was shorted questioned.

~Sigh~

"As much as I want it to not be, it really is. We have thousands of eyewitness testimonies, both from commoners and cultivators. There is no doubt that it has really happed." The taller disciple replied.

The shorter disciple erroneously rubbed his fingers as he looked around at his junior disciples that were going around helping others. Some were healing the injuries of the injured people, while some were fixing the damage.

"And what did the elder say about this invader?" The shorter disciple asked.

"We've been ordered to be on high alert and to keep an eye out for any suspicious people. The top sects have already been alerted and so has been the Shuang Qian kingdom's king. By tomorrow the emperor should know about this too. They will be sending more reinforcement and will help us determine the true identity of the culprit behind this." The tall disciple answered.

The short disciple nodded and looked at the sky.

~Sigh~

"Thankfully, the supreme elder informed us quickly and the sect patriarch issued the alarm, or the culprit may have succeeded I his plan." The shorter disciple said.

The taller disciple nodded and looked to the side upon hearing someone approach them.

"Seniors! We have the portrait of the culprit!" A disciple who had approached them spoke.

"Show us then," they replied.

The junior disciple opened the painting scroll and revealed the portrait of the culprit.

"Who would have thought that someone like him could have been the culprit and behind all that happened in the recent days. Collaborating with the invaders, he has dishonored his ancestors." The shorter disciple said with spite.

"Hmm… so his name is Lin Mu, and he has been disguising his identity as a common peasant in the northern town." The taller disciple revealed.

"How did he manage to hide for so long? Even the townsmen didn't belive this, seeing as how his supposed parents had lived there for so long." The shorter disciple asked.

"He has been backed by the northern tribes apparently and was sneaked in here a long time ago. They controlled two peasants and made them act as his parents while killing their real son. This way he was able to hide for so long. He may look young, but he is an old cultivator who used forbidden arts to hide his age." The taller disciple explained.

"Truly dangerous… I just hope the top sects are able to handle this." The shorter disciple muttered.

***

At the Sky precepts sect, a similar scene of chaos could be seen.

At the grand palace of the sect, the patriarch was sitting on his throne while the two supreme elders sat beside him. The entire hall was filled with people and they all had nervous expressions on their faces.

The patriarch stood up, causing the hall to quiet down.

"As you may all have learned by now, the spatial disturbances were indeed caused by an invader trying to enter our world. This was all a conspiracy hatched by the northern tribes and has been in motion for a long time.

The main culprit that we know of is a boy called Lin Mu who we suspect is an old cultivator that may have been in hiding for a few hundred years. You all have already received the details and thus should be able to learn more on your own." The patriarch spoke and looked at the faces of everyone.

"Now hear my decree;

An official hunt of the utmost importance is to be launched for the person called Lin Mu. He is to be brought to the sects, either alive or dead. Any person found associating him will be considered guilty and killed without hesitation." The patriarch declared.

Discussions started among the people in the hall, and they all agreed with the contents of the decree.

A black robed elder walked forward, who was none other than Head elder Han.

"I'll be taking over the star catching peak for the time being and will resume the repairing process. The star catching formation is greatly damaged and the elders of the peak have borne the backlash in the stead of the disciples.

I hope that you all will give your all and find this culprit who has caused this great upheaval in our lives." Head elder Han said in an emotional tone.

Flames of determination ignited in the eyes of everyone as they all agreed.

"YES!"