The Long cloud sect was located a thousand kilometer away from the Hong Lin Kingdom and it would take a Nascent soul realm cultivator two to four days to reach it. Of course, if someone had faster speed or greater spirit Qi stores they could reach it far quicker.
In the case of Lin Mu and his entourage, everyone was at least at the Adult Soul stage of the nascent soul realm. Thus a journey this long was easy for them to cover without much strain.
They were a day in with their search when the elders realized that they had gone half way to the sect already.
"We are near the sect?" Lin Mu questioned.
"We are about half way there." Elder Boqin spoke and pointed to a set of hills in the distance. "Those are the four sister hills, a half way marker to the sect."
"Hmm… little Shrubby, how much father is it?" Lin Mu questioned.
"The strength of the scent is about the same, so it should be farther." Little Shrubby answered.
The others looked on, wanting to get the answer from Lin Mu as well.
"The intensity of the scent is still the same so we are definitely not close." Lin Mu stated.
"If it really is like that and seeing as we are half way to the sect… perhaps the infected being is really near the Long Cloud Sect?" Jing Luo analyzed.
"Impossible. If it were really anywhere close to the sect, our people would have long since detected it. Our formation arrays can detect each and every being that is within a hundred kilometers from the borders." Elder Boqin stated.
"While that might be true, there is a chance that the beast is still out of that range. Plus, we don't know if it has some other abilities that hide it from the perception of a formation array. Remember, the invader can enhance their abilities depending on what they had originally." Lin Mu reminded.
These words tensed the three elders, and they couldn't help but think negatively.
"Let's continue onwards then." Elder Boqin spoke.
"I'll inform the sect to keep an eye out for someone suspicious as well." Elder Peizhi added.
He took out the communication jade slip and contacted the people at the sect in a few seconds.
"They are sending out disciples to increase the patrol radius." Elder Peizhi informed.
Lin Mu nodded in approval and they continued flying. This time they sped up even more, knowing that the situation might not be as good.
While they were flying, Lin Mu was having some thoughts.
'How could the Invader appear after all this time, if its traces were removed?' Lin Mu wondered.
"The most obvious reason should be the Northern Tribes. Perhaps they found some traces of the invader and released them back here? Or they might have even gotten more of them." Senior Xukong suggested.
"Hmm… but if they really got some new sources of the invader, then it means they have a way to interact with other worlds. That merchant who was killed by Gu Yao was the original one who brought the invader along with the Great Slumber Bear.
But he was forced to release the invader during the fight and even lost the beast storage treasure that broke and released the Great Slumber bear, which then lead to the subsequent events.
They might have really gotten someone else to arrive in this world if they are really serious." Lin Mu understood.
"Another thing we can take note of is that they only did it after so many years passed, which means they have a restriction on using the teleportation formation that connects to other worlds.
They probably can't activate it as they want and needed to wait this long." Xukong analyzed.
Lin Mu furrowed his brows as a few scenarios formed in his mind.
"If they intentionally spread the invader, it would mean they are intensifying their efforts and are bringing their final gambit out soon." Lin Mu said.
"Possibly. And… it would also mean that they have some means to restrain the invader. Otherwise they won't be safe from being infected either." Xukong inferred.
"Hang on… if they really have something that can prevent the invader from controlling and infecting someone… then doesn't that mean it could also be used to break people out from Gu Yao's control?" Lin Mu guessed with excitement.
"Hmm… it might be possible. Not right away of course, and we might need to modify it, but it would be a good point to start from." Xukong said after thinking for a bit.
"That's it! We will definitely seize whatever they have that they used to protect themselves." Lin Mu declared.
The people that were traveling with him didn't know that Lin Mu just had such a revelation, nor that a big decision had been made in his mind already. If they did, they would be rather taken aback seeing the train of thought that led to the decision.
It was made from a lot of assumptions and derivations, but it was still significantly important and was not easy to come up with.
Eight more hours passed, during which the team didn't find anything. But just a few minutes after that, they heard something shocking.
"No!" Elder Wenyan suddenly yelled.
"What happened?" Everyone looked at him with concern.
"The disciples are under attack!" Elder Wenyan said, holding the communication jade slip.
"What?!" Elder Boqin and Peizhi said in shock.
"The ones who were patrolling met someones that was suspicious and didn't respond to them when they talked with them. When they tried to get close, they were attacked and some of them were killed.
More disciples are gathering there, but they cannot hold back." Elder Wenyan informed.
"Little Shrubby!" Lin Mu shouted as the beast quickly turned and the harness appeared on his back.
"I'll head on first!" Lin Mu said before he strapped in and shot ahead at a blinding speed.
~WHOOSH~
The three elders could only watch on with grave expressions and muttered, "heavens save our sect…"
