Lin Mu felt pleased at the discovery and the confirmation of their theory.

"Indeed… I can sense the traces of the curse on him, but they are rapidly fading. And his cultivation base is also at the peak stage of the core condensation realm. He fits all the requirements." Lin Mu replied.

Lu Gao watched the two of them talk amongst themselves and felt confused.

"What're are you two doing? Give me the ledgers now! You are supposed to bring them every three days." Lu Gao demanded.

"What is he asking about, though?" Lin Mu asked Wu Hei, ignoring Lu Gao.

"Oh… Lu Gao used to get his business ledgers from his workers. Telling him the updates and how the businesses are operating. All that stopped after Gu Yao took control of him though, as he got Lu Gao to pass on the authority of business to another member of Gu Legion." Wu Hei answered.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ALL TALKING ABOUT AND WHY ARE YOU IGNORING ME!?" Lu Gao shouted, unable to bear it.

"Oh yeah? What do we do with him?" Lin Mu asked Wu Hei.

"He doesn't really have any uses left. All his businesses and gambling dens were transfered over to the Gu Legion anyway. I think the alliance should be taking care of them, too." Wu Hei replied.

"So he's just broke now?" Lin Mu chuckled.

"Certainly." Wu Hei agreed.

"DAMN YOU! YOU INSULT ME TO MY FACE?!" Lu Gao couldn't take it anymore and swung his fist at Lin Mu.

The poor man couldn't sense Lin Mu and Wu Hei's cultivation base since they were suppressed and made the mistake of thinking that they were just some mortals.

Lin Mu's eyes tracked the man's fist with ease, finding it to be slow. He was far too used to fighting way stronger cultivators now, and Lu Gao's attack was like a baby's punch.

~SHUA~

Spirit Qi waves spread out from Lin Mu at that moment, filling the entire hall and turning it turbulent. Lu Gao's eyes widened at that before closing.

~THUD~

The man fell face first onto the ground and passed out, unable to bear the pressure.

"Can't believe someone as rich as he was unable to reach the Nascent soul realm." Lin Mu said.

"It was intentional on his part. If he needed to breakthrough, he could do it easily. But if he did that it would attract attention. He was actually going to wait for a hundred years or so before leaving the prison. By then, most of his enemies should have given up on him and another emperor would have taken the throne as well." Wu Hei explained.

"I see…" Lin Mu nodded his head.

Having confirmed their theory, Lin Mu and Wu Hei had no reason to stay here, thus they left and swirly returned to the Shuang Qian capital via the Kong plane.

"I'll get Little Shrubby and go back to the Kong Plane. Got some things to do." Lin Mu spoke.

"I'll begin the rest of the windup as well. Now that we know the core condensation realm cultivators can survive, we need to get them in order. There were many good people that were controlled by Gu Yao, so we need to sort them out." Wu Hei said.

"Alright, I'll leave that to you then." Lin Mu said before disappearing.

Little Shrubby was still with Jing Luo and the others. Lin Mu had left him behind just in case something happened. It wasn't that the people there weren't strong, but rather that Little Shrubby would be able to sense and react to any disturbance faster than anyone there.

It was better to be cautious since they were dealing with the northern tribes and there was no telling what they would do. There was after all, a chance that the people of the tribes might find out and attack them.

The ambush might be resisted but at the cost of a few people, which was not what they wanted at all.

~shua~

A red blur could be seen coming over the horizon, which was none other than Little Shrubby.

Lin Mu had simply called him over rather than travel all the way to the border. After all, the teleportation gate wasn't built there yet.

"Come on, time to head to the Kong plane. I'll need you there." Lin Mu spoke.

"Okay~" Little Shrubby growled in reply.

Placing a hand on Little Shrubby's back, the two of them disappeared from the Xiaofan world.

While Lin Mu went to try his own plan in the Kong plane, the rest of the alliance was also hard at work. holds © this.

Day after day went by as the alliance prepared for the incoming war. The sects also seemed to have been jolted alert by this time, and were cooperating, albeit a bit slowly. It was not known what had convinced them as the Patriarchs of the alliance were sure that they had failed before.

In the northern tribe's capital, similar scenes were seen and people were moving around, carrying goods, armors and many weapons.

Every man, woman and child was involved in it, with nobody slacking behind.

The council members were currently in meeting as well.

"All the preparations are close to done." One of the elders spoke.

"And how is the search for traitors going, Elder Ku Mi?" Elder Gunkao asked.

"No sign of them yet, elder Gunkao. Either they are really biding their time or there is no one. They should have appeared by now, since the formal invasion will start soon enough." Elder Ku Mi replied.

"Hmm… let's hope that stays." Elder Gunkan nodded his head before looking at another elder.

"What about our little guest from the south?" Elder Gunkao asked.

"My clansmen brought them to the capital just last night, Elder Gunkao. And the prince certainly has a lot of news to tell us." Elder Chiu replied.

"Oh? What kind of news?" Elder Niu questioned.

"Seems like we will be facing some opposition and the southerners won't be as broken as we wanted them to be." The Elder answered.