At the Teleportation gate of the Hong Lin Kingdom stood several guards. None of them were weak, with the lowest cultivation base among them being at the initial stage of the core condensation realm.

In any other kingdom or even sect, such cultivators would be strong enough to be inner court or even core disciples. And yet, they were being used as guards here.

But it was all for an important reason. After all, the existence of the teleportation gates was  as secret and the trump card that was allowing the alliance to go against Gu Yao and the northern tribes.

Thus it was important to keep them safe and such guards were normal.

But today, the guards had a slight scare.

~shua~

The Teleportation gate suddenly activated, startling them all.

"Huh? What?" one of the guards said in confusion.

"Was there anyone coming today? I don't think there was anything on the roster." Another one asked.

"No… pretty sure not. But it could be someone with direct access." Another Guard said.

Despite all this, they were all ready to act if it was someone not authorize to use the gate.

But when the person finally came out of the gate, they were not expecting it.

"A-alliance leader Lin Mu?!" The guards were startled.

Out of all people, Lin Mu was the last person they would have thought of since he had been in seclusion for so long. If not for the fact that these guards had themselves cultivated in the Kong Plane and quickly increased their cultivation base, perhaps they wouldn't even have recognized Lin Mu.

For the commoners, Lin Mu was still somewhat of a secret. 

"Where is King Hong?" Lin Mu asked.

He had already been informed by Elder Zhan that King Hong was out of seclusion, too. Or rather, he had been for a while. Instead of staying there all the time, he would go in and out of Kong Plane every once a week, allowing him to fulfill his duties as a king.

Though in recent times he's had to stay in his Kingdom due to the conditions changing, which was understandable.

"King Hong is in the throne room! I'll take you to him!" The guards hurriedly responded after remembering that they still needed to be disciplined.

"No need. I can find my way." Lin Mu nodded his head as he said that and directly blinked into the throne room.

"He— he's gone…" the guard said with slight disappointment.

In the Throne Room, King Hong was having a briefing with his ministers when a person suddenly appeared in the middle of the hall.

"And like we—" Their conversation was abruptly halted as they looked at the person who had appeared out of the blue there.

No one spoke for about ten seconds, after which an uproar happened.

"ELDER LIN MU!"

"Alliance Leader Lin Mu!"

"He's Back! He's finally back!" 

Several minsters exclaimed seeing Lin Mu. King Hong on the other hand stood up, joy clearly visible on his face.

He walked up to Lin Mu before hugging him without a care.

"AHAHAHA! You're finally here! Finally here!" King Hong said.

"Yes… sorry, it took so much time. I got late…" Lin Mu apologized.

"No, no… it's all good." King Hong replied.

"It's not… if I was here earlier, many wouldn't have had to die." Lin Mu stated.

"That is not on you, it is the Gu Legion who is to blame and the Northern Tribes that are behind it all." King Hong assured.

"See, I told you." Xukong chimed in as well.

King Hong then let got of Lin Mu and invited him to sit beside him.

"We have a lot to catch up on, but I have a few things I want to ask before that." Lin Mu said, feeling impatient.

"Of course! Ask away." King Hong replied.

"Jing Luo, where is he?" Lin Mu questioned.

"Elder Jing Luo should be supporting the Fenlong Kingdom against the Kingdom of Shu. I think he went there to reinforce their formations last week." King Hong answered.

Hearing this, Lin Mu felt relived.

'At least now I know where he is. And he's not that far either.' Lin Mu thought.

He could get to the Fenlong kingdom easily with the teleportation gate.

"What about communication jade slips? Do they work here or there?" Lin Mu asked.

"Thankfully, they still do. The Hong Lin kingdom has mostly kept up its defenses, and we didn't have any incidences with the Gu Legion yet. Though there is also the fact that the Fenlong Kingdom is the one who blocks them first." King Hong replied.

"Hmm… that's good. We should be able to contact Jing Luo then." Lin Mu spoke.

"It might or might nor work depending on his exact location. Some of the places north of the Fenlong kingdom are being jammed too. If Elder Jing Luo is there, you won't be able to reach him. 

Though we can still contact the others in the Fenlong kingdom and have a messenger sent there." King Hong explained.

"Hmm… no need to call him here. Just confirm his location. I'll head there myself." Lin Mu stated.

"As you wish. It's not really a problem." King Hong accepted.

Lin Mu nodded his head and looked at the excited faces of all the ministers.

"So then… what did I miss?" Lin Mu asked.

"Well for one… you missed my grand feast six months ago." King Hong replied.

"A grand feast? For what?" Lin Mu questioned.

"Why don't you see yourself?" King Hong said before a wave of energy came out of his body.

~shua~

Lin Mu felt the change in his aura and the spirit Qi fluctuations that came from him as well.

"You… You reached the Dao Shell realm too?" Lin Mu was surprised.

"I did indeed." King Hong acknowledged.

"How? From the estimate we got, I thought it would take you far longer than that." Lin Mu asked.

He had never expected King Hong to have reached the Dao Shell realm in such a small time either.

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