"How's it your injuries?

" Lin Mu asked the Elder.

"I'll be fine. Just need to expel it.

" Elder Hu answered.

"Let Monk Hushu do it then, it should work.

" Lin Mu answered as he looked at the bald man at work.

In the group, only Daoist Chu and Elder Hu had managed to get injured by the Withering Dao Energy among which Daoist Chu had the worse injury.

Elder Hu had only gotten it because he had jumped into defend Lady Kang when they were ambushed. The maggots that had attacked them did so without even a single sign of them. Even Lin Mu was unable to sense them and only Little Shrubby did because of his sense of smell.

~SHUA~

Monk Hushu's chanting finally ended, as the foul energy was purified from Daoist Chu's shoulder.

"How does it feel?

" Monk Hushu asked, his breath a bit uneven.

"A lot better than before.

" Daoist Chu answered.

"Though it definitely corrupted a part of my Qi stores that I'll had to burn away too.

" He added.

"Likewise.

" Elder Hu spoke up.

"The linger Withering Dao energy is doing the same right now too, so I have to keep on suppressing it with more Qi.

" He added.

"Sit down, I'll purge it.

" Monk Hushu asked.

"Thank you.

" Elder Hu said and did as told.

The group watched as Monk Hushu began chanting again, his body glowing with a faint Buddhist light.

The light covered his palm and was being transferred into Elder Hu's back which had been bit by one of the maggots. Bit by bit, the grey patch was being cleared out and about thirty minutes later, it was completely cleared out.

~huu~

"Amithabha… this is certainly not easy to purify.

" Monk Hushu muttered.

"We'll have to be a lot more careful than before. Looks like they're using stealthy methods to attack us.

" Crown Prince Feng Shun spoke.

"We'll especially have to be careful about those maggots… they're smaller but faster and sneakier.

" He added.

"Indeed. We didn't sense them at all.

" Lady Kang stated.

"I think they're using the ambient Death Qi and other baleful energies to mask their presence here.

" Lin Mu guessed.

"Though they can be smelled by Little Shrubby.

" He said looking at the beast.

"I only smelled them when they were close to the surface.

" Little Shrubby informed him.

"If they're below, I don't think their smell is spreading. Plus the stench of Death Qi and baleful energies also mixes well with their smell due to being quite similar.

" He added.

"I think they're using the ambient Death Qi and other baleful energies to mask their presence here.

" Lin Mu guessed.

"Though they can be smelled by Little Shrubby.

" He said looking at the beast.

"I only smelled them when they were close to the surface.

" Little Shrubby informed him.

"If they're below, I don't think their smell is spreading. Plus the stench of Death Qi and baleful energies also mixes well with their smell due to being quite similar.

" He added.

"Is that so…

" Lin Mu furrowed his brows, finding it quite complex to deal with.

"Can Daoist Chu's radar work on them?

" Qiao De asked.

"I don't think so.

" Daoist Chu shook his head.

"They're not Chimeric beasts but I will try. Though we'll need a proper sample from it.

" He added.

"And what about the Black Fin Island members? How were they hiding their presence?

" Min Ju inquired.

"They're from a long line of assassins so that is part of their skill.

" Crown Prince Feng Shun spoke this time.

"Plus, they're definitely not how they were before… they've learned some new skills.

" He added.

"That grey energy… they learned skills and techniques based on the Withering Dao.

" Elder Hu responded.

"But that is not something that can be learned easily.

"

"Indeed… to comprehend the Withering Dao is a herculean task full of suffering.

" Ziran said having heard of it before.

"Plus it is not something that can be learned in a short time at all.

" He added.

"Yao Changying has certainly assisted in it.

" Crown Princess Shang said with contempt.

"That bitch will go to any lengths for power.

" She added.

Hearing that Lin Mu couldn't help but look at the Crown Princess thinking of something.

"Your enmity with her… it's not new is it?

" Lin Mu asked.

"I mean not from the previous world expedition either.

" He added.

"It's not…

" Crown Princess Shang replied after taking a deep breath.

"It goes back about… when we were children?

" she revealed.

"Children?

" Lin Mu hadn't expected it to be that old.

"Oh yeah, you two used to be playmates before, weren't you?

" Crown Prince Feng Shun asked.

"Please… We were simply being tutored together.

" Crown Princess Shang corrected him.

"Does the Shang Dynasty and the Flourishing Flower Sword Sword sect have that close of a relationship?

" Lin Mu hadn't expected that.

"It did once.

" Crown Princess Shang replied.

"The diplomatic relations between the two were strained before we were born but the change in condition caused both parties to try to foster a better relation and perhaps even create an alliance. As such, they decided to train the disciples of the Flourishing Flower Sword Sect and a few members of the Shang Dynasty together. The Sword Masters of the Flourishing Flower Sword Sect and the Alchemists of our Shang Dynasty both taught them various skills.

I learned swordsmanship along with Yao Changying. But even back then she was highly competitive and couldn't help but bash others if they were the slightest bit weaker than her.

" She explained.

"Hmm… and I'm guessing you were lacking in that too?

" Lin Mu asked seeing that the Crown Princess didn't really use swordsmanship.

"Yes.

" Crown Princess Shang replied.

"I didn't particularly have talent in swordsmanship and thus dropped it after a few years after I learned the basics. But that was not the end of it.

" She added.

"What happened?

" Lin Mu asked, while the others listened on too.

Qiao De raised his ears to the peak, highly interested in it. After all, such information was not something that could be easily bought and who knows where it could come in handy to him as a merchant. Meanwhile, the others paid attention since this was information about their enemy.

"After our training periods together, about thirty years passed before a small tournament was held to test the youth of both powers.

Yao Changying had been focused on swordsmanship purely and was lacking in cultivation thus she lost to me.

" Hearing the Crown Princess's words, Lin Mu could now understand how the enmity could have been grown. He didn't particularity mind what happened in childhood, as that was a very common thing for children to go through and could simply be considered as some rivalry.

"How weak was she?

" Daoist Chu inquired.

"We were all at the Nascent Soul realm while she was still at the Core Condensation realm back then.

" Crown Princess Shang revealed.

"Hmm. No wonder.

" Lin Mu replied.

"Even with pure swordsmanship of great level, defeating someone in the Nascent Soul realm isn't easy.

" He added.

"She held a grudge from there and every time we had a competition, tournament or any gathering where both of us were present, we'd end up in conflict.

" Crown Princess Shang stated and continued to narrate.

The group learned that the conflict between Yao Changying and Crown princess Shang was quite literally a thousand years long. Though in the last thousand years, they hadn't been in conflict for a long time since the Flourishing Flower Sword Sect and the Shang Dynasty had grown apart.

But the expedition of an uncharted world that happened, ended up igniting it all and the enmity grew deep enough that Crown Princess Shang wanted Yao Changying to loose in the Tournament of the Guardian beasts.

~Sigh~

"The fate does not allow certain individuals to have peace among them.

" Monk Hushu said deeply.

"Indeed.

" Elder Hu agreed.

"Though in all this… Yao Changying has certainly changed a lot.

" Crown Princess Shang suddenly said.

"While she was known to be cold, she still showed a lot more emotion… but now she's been acting quite different.

" She added.

"Could her acquisition of an inheritance done that?

" Ziran asked.

"That's hard to say.

" Crown Princess Shang replied.

"All those that were present as witnesses during that expedition are now dead.

"

"That's tough.

" Ziran said with a sigh.

"Guess we'll just have to unearth it from these people. I'm sure there'll be more clues now.

" Lin Mu said as he looked at the remains of the Black Fin island members.

"Xiao Yin, Xiao Yang I need your help.

" He called out the twins.

~HISS~ HISS~

The twins appeared in front of him and instantly smelled the new smells.

"Its similar to the previous one.

" Xiao Yin stated.

"But human smell is there too.

" Xiao Yang added.

"Indeed. Can you find more of these?

" Lin Mu asked hoping that the grey energy might make it possible.

"We'll try.

" The twins said in unison.

But it was now that Qiao De suddenly spoke up.

"Uhh… have you all checked your credits?

" he asked.

"Why?

" Daoist Chu asked in interest.

"You all should, right away.

" Qiao De said looking at the number on his wrist.

Lin Mu furrowed his brows wondering what it was about but still checked.

~SHUA~SHUA~SHUA~

The numbers popped up above everyone's wrists, showing their credits.

"What the… how did they increase like this?

"