Hearing this information, the King didn't know what to think of.

"How can this even be?" King Hong said before looking towards his uncle.

"When you checked it was it the same?" He asked.

"No… I… when I checked it I just did a visual check with my spirit sense. I didn't actually touch them physically." Adviser Liu said in a sorrowful voice.

"I should have checked it dammit! If I did, then perhaps we would have found all of this earlier." Adviser Liu cursed himself.

"It is not your fault Adviser Liu. If they were able to set up a formation that could fool even your spirit sense, then there was nothing you could do. They may have even taken a harsher approach if they were outed back then.

At least now, we have several excuses for the discovery of the corrupt officials. Even if Gu Yao finds out that his plan has been derailed, he wouldn't know that we know of him. All that he will know is that some investigations were done, and the truth came out." Lin Mu consoled the man.

But he knew that no matter how much he did, the adviser would likely blame himself for a while.

"Senior Lin Mu is right. There is nothing you could have done, Uncle Liu." The king said a bit more affectionately. "You cannot blame yourself. We need you to be in the right place in these tough times." 

~huu~

Adviser Liu took a deep breath and closed his eyes before looking up.

"That is right… I can't be like this. Rather than moping about it, it's better to focus my energy on making things right." Adviser Liu said with determination.

"Indeed." Hua Wu chimed in.

Hearing him, the king looked at him and sighed.

"I'm afraid we won't be able to give you a payment for the help you've provided us," King Hong said to the two disciples.

To this Hua San just smiled and spoke, "there is little we can do now. Besides, the Hong Lin wood matters less now as we are in a more complex situation. While we do really need it in the sect, I'm sure the sect master will be able to figure out something else." 

The reserve storage being emptied out also meant that there was no Hong Lin wood that was promised to the two disciples.

"What exactly is it that you need the Hong Lin wood for?" Lin Mu questioned.

He wondered what could be so important to them that they would need it.

Hua Wu looked at Hua San before seeing the approval in his eyes.

"Our supreme elder… he experienced Qi deviation and is now injured. To heal that we need to make a pill which needs the Thousand year old Hong Lin wood as one of the ingredients." Hua Wu answered.

"Master is looking for other options while we are here, and we aren't the only ones looking for resources. There are some others that we need and my fellow disciples are looking for them.

Thankfully, our sect is located near the edge of the Grand Southern Forest and most of the spirit herbs can be found there along with other beast materials. It's just some special herbs and minerals that can't be found there." Hua San added.

Hearing this, Lin Mu nodded his head and understood their situation.

"If you are willing to wait a month or a bit more, I may be able to help you with the thousand year old Hong Lin wood." Lin Mu said, much to the surprise of the two brothers.

Lin Mu then looked towards the King and asked, "King Hong you must know if there is still the possibility of thousand year old Hong Lin trees in the forest right? Your clan has been revering them for centuries now."

"Hmm… there are two locations where there are definitely thousand year old Hong Lin trees." King Hong spoke after thinking for a bit.

"There are?" Lin Mu asked.

"Indeed… one of them in the home of the first king. It is also the sacred land of our Hong clan. But going there is prohibited and the Thousand year old Hong Lin trees there are not to be touched.

They are the trees that keep the entire Hong Lin forest alive and even if one of them is damaged, the entire forest away suffer." King Hong revealed.

"I understand… that is indeed a very important location. But what about the second one?" Lin Mu questioned.

Even the two Hua brothers were surprised as they were not told this information when they came to ask them for help. They could understand about the sacred lands as that was something they could definitely not ask for.

"The second location… that is a difficult and dangerous one. Over the many years, many rumors have sprung up about that location. It is called as the wandering sinkhole." King Hong spoke.

"The Wandering Sinkhole?" Lin Mu questioned.

"I think I've heard of this before." Hua Wu suddenly spoke. "It is said to be a mystical location that is rarely stumbled upon by travelers and woodcutters. It has no fixed coordinates and has been reported to be in multiple locations. But whoever truly enters it either doesn't return or dies." He explained.

Lin Mu was intrigued by this and wondered what could be the reason.

"What you said is correct. We do have confirmation that the location is real, but it is also filled with a myriad of dangers. The only problem is that we have no method to enter it. The location is filled with treasures through and thousand year old Hong Lin trees aren't the only spirit plants there." King Hong answered.

"Huh? If you don't know its exact location, then how do you know what things it has? Someone must have seen and returned to tell the tale, right?" Lin Mu questioned.

"Yes… someone has indeed seen it and recorded his experience." King Hong answered.

"Can't we just ask them for more information, then? Perhaps we'll get some clues.." Lin Mu suggested.

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