Lin Mu didn't want to admit, but today his anger had made him lose control again. He gazed at the scene of slaughter below, but couldn't feel regret.

'What was I supposed to do?' Lin Mu questioned himself.

But when he looked at the faces of the villagers, he knew that this might have been for the best.

"There's more of them, so you don't need to worry about missing any information. You can probably find more go Gu Legion members later on." Xukong consoled Lin Mu.

"I know…" Lin Mu said and descended onto the ground.

The villagers looked a bit afraid at first, but then recognized Lin Mu to be the one who had saved them before. They had a lot of questions for him, and Lin Mu slowly answered them while tending to those that were injured.

He first freed them all, then used some of the pills and healing items he had to fix the injured villagers.

By the time Lin Mu was done, the detachment of Black Dune sect disciples that were heading towards the village had arrived, too.

"A-alliance leader Lin Mu!" the disciples were surprised.

"Take care of the villagers and get them settled. I have to go ahead… also, see if you can gather any information from the dead bodies too." Lin Mu said. "At least the ones that are still intact."

He had already scanned the dead bodies when he had killed them, but couldn't find much on them. He also got to see how they were liquefied first hand. After he killed them, they started to melt just after five minutes.

They turned into a red puddle that was soaked up by the soil and the rest of it evaporated into the air, leaving behind almost no traces. Lin Mu had to admit, whatever this was, it was definitely some kind of a poison.

Though he could also sense the same strange aura among those that were killed. All rights © .

'They were using the cultivation boosting pills made from the failed Reborn too.' Lin Mu noted.

~shua~

He left the villagers and the disciples behind while making a circle around the area. He didn't know if there was anyone left and wanted to check, just in case. With his wide range of spirit sense, it didn't take Lin Mu long and he was quickly done.

"Nothing… guess I'll just have to continue on for now." Lin Mu muttered to himself.

~huu~

He took a deep breath and activated the anchoring runes on his back. A faint white glow appeared under his robes and a couple of seconds later, Lin Mu disappeared into the light. When he reappeared, he was in the nexus of the Kong plane.

Lin Mu took a moment to assess the area and realized that there were now twenty six different teleportation gates.

"That's… certainly a lot more than when we started." Lin Mu muttered.

He read the labels for them and saw that they covered most of the southern part of the Great Zhou Empire, a significant part of the central part and some areas in the northern lands as well.

The ones that covered the northern lands were three, with one being the main teleportation gate in the Light Harmony sect, one that was located near the capital of the Eastern Ming Dynasty and another one located at a merchant outpost.

So far there were no such teleportation gates in the Shuang Qian kingdom or even the Black dawn kingdom since those two places had become strong hold of the Gu Legion and the Northern Tribes' spies.

The Eastern Ming Dynasty was still hard for the Northern Tribes to tread into due to the presence of the Light harmony sect. Additionally, the Eastern Ming Dynasty's royal family actually took the threat of the Northern Tribes far more seriously than the empire of the top three sects.

While they couldn't outright show it, the warnings of the Light Harmony sect were enough for them to take some precautions. Additionally, with the Light Harmony sect's members checking things regularly, their activity there had been less.

Though if the Rainbow pill sect also joined them, things would have been far easier.

'They won't be swayed easily without the use of benefits, though.' Lin Mu thought to himself as he looked at the teleportation gate marked for the Eastern Ming Dynasty.

It was a place he had heard quite a lot about, and even wanted to visit it at least once.

The Eastern Ming Dynasty was said to be the most beautiful kingdom in the empire if one considered architecture and colors. It was also one of the richest kingdom among the Empire and definitely the richest out of the Northern Lands.

Plus, it was the only kingdom that had two top ten sects located within its borders, making it very high in its reputation. A lot of cultivators went to the Eastern Ming dynasty with the hope of getting recruited into either the Light Harmony sect or the second ranked Rainbow pill sect.

Lin Mu also didn't forget the fact that the Eastern Ming Dynasty was one of the losing parties in the rise of the Great Zhou empire. They had suffered both injustice and humiliation in order to survive.

This was despite the fact that they had contributed in resistance against the Northern Tribes and even had their troops dispatched at the frontier at all times. It was even said that over a quarter of the Vermillion Legion soldiers were from the Eastern Ming Dynasty that guarded the frontier.

'Though the frontier is pretty much a joke right now. Who knows if its all just a facade that the Northern Tribes have let be so that Gu Yao can continue his growth.' Lin Mu thought.

With this thoughts passing, Lin Mu turned toward the teleportation gate he actually wanted to go to.

"Here we go…" Lin Mu muttered and walked into the teleportation gate that led to the Hong Lin Kingdom.

~shua~

When Lin Mu's vision returned, he saw a familiar scene in front of him.