Lin Mu sighed.
"... You've adapted quickly."
By now, the king had noticed their arrival.
Huli Qian stood up imdiately.
The entire court followed.
Then, in a move that made Lin Mu's discomfort deepen further, the king bowed.
"I welco the holder of the Guardian Beast Decree."
The ministers did not stop there.
They stepped forward.
THUD THUD THUD
And knelt.
"We pay our respects to the holder of the decree and the Guardian Beasts!"
The synchronized voices echoed through the hall.
Lin Mu closed his eyes briefly.
"...This is too much."
But there was no stopping it now.
He stepped forward, raising a hand slightly.
"You may rise."
His voice was calm, carrying just enough authority to be heard clearly. The court responded instantly and everyone stood, though their postures remained respectful.
The king gestured toward the grand throne beside him.
"Please."
Lin Mu hesitated for a fraction of a second.
Then walked forward and sat. The mont he did, the symbolic weight of the situation beca undeniable. The others were guided to prominent seats at the front of the court.
Once everyone had settled, the king spoke again.
"I cannot express how honored I am," Huli Qian said sincerely, "that my kingdom has been blessed by your presence."
His tone was respectful, but not overly exaggerated.
"And I have been inford of the sacred mission entrusted to you by the Guardian Beasts."
Lin Mu nodded slightly.
"I will do what I can."
The king inclined his head.
"That alone is more than enough."
He paused before continuing.
"I vow that the Huli Kingdom will provide full support in any way possible."
Lin Mu responded simply.
"I hope I can et your expectations."
The king shook his head lightly.
"You already have."
There was no doubt in his voice.
He then added, "The entry token and missive for the Mother Forest will be ready by tomorrow. Preparations for your departure have already begun."
Lin Mu considered this briefly before speaking.
"It will be faster if I travel using Little Shrubby."
The king blinked once.
Then nodded imdiately.
"If that is your wish, then it shall be so."
There was no hesitation.
At this point, even suggesting an alternative would feel inappropriate.
Lin Mu leaned back slightly in the oversized throne, his expression calm, though inwardly he still felt sowhat out of place.
Things had escalated far beyond what he had expected. But there was no turning back now. Not when the entire world seed ready to move at his word.
The court session continued with a steady rhythm after Lin Mu had taken his seat beside the king.
One by one, ministers stepped forward, presenting reports that ranged from minor administrative updates to matters of regional importance. What struck Lin Mu the most was not the content itself, but the manner in which it was
being presented.
Nothing was hidden.
There were no veiled words, no guarded phrasing, no attempts to obscure sensitive details. Matters that would normally be restricted to only the highest levels of authority were being discussed openly, in full clarity, right in front of
him.
Lin Mu found that... strange.
In most worlds, even powerful cultivators were not given access to such internal affairs unless they held official positions. Yet here, he was being treated as if he had always been a part of the ruling body.
Of course, he understood the reason.
The Guardian Beast Decree.
With that in his possession, there was no distinction between him and the
highest authority of the land. If anything, his authority surpassed them. Hiding information from him would not only be pointless, it could even be seen as
disrespectful.
So instead, they chose transparency.
Lin Mu decided to simply listen.
While most of the reports did not interest him deeply, he did not dismiss them outright. Understanding the structure of a world often provided insights that could not be gained through cultivation alone.
Still, much of it felt... distant.
Administrative allocations. City disputes. Resource balancing. Agricultural yields. Trade agreents between minor regions.
To him, these were necessary, but not particularly aningful. However, there were monts when sothing truly caught his attention.
One such mont ca when a minister from the coastal division stepped
forward.
"Your Majesty," the foxkin said respectfully, bowing before continuing. "A report has arrived from the Western Shore of the Central Continent."
The king nodded.
"Proceed."
The minister unrolled a jade slip, his expression slightly more serious than the
others before him.
"A large corpse has washed ashore."
The statent alone was not unusual.
But what followed was.
"It does not appear to be an aquatic beast."
That imdiately drew attention.
Lin Mu's gaze shifted.
The minister continued.
"The body is massive, and its anatomy suggests it is a land-based creature.
However, it does not match any known records within our archives."
A faint murmur passed through the court.
The king leaned slightly forward.
"Origin?"
"Unknown," the minister replied. "However, based on its unusual structure, it is
suspected to have co from the Western Beast Lands."
At this, Lin Mu spoke.
"Do you have a visual record?"
The minister turned imdiately toward him, bowing again.
"Yes, Honorable Disciple."
He activated the jade slip.
SHUA
A mont later, an illusory image appeared above his hands and the creature's
form beca visible.
Lin Mu narrowed his eyes slightly.
It was... bizarre. The body resembled that of a large lizard, elongated and thick, with a powerful
tail trailing behind it. The scales covering its body were uneven, layered like hardened plates, giving it a rugged, almost armored appearance.
But then... The legs.
They ended in hooves and not claws or talons as one might have expected.
And the hooves were not the slender kind seen in grazing animals, but thick,
heavy ones that looked capable of bearing trendous weight and delivering crushing force.
Then there was the head.
It was long and narrow, resembling that of an anteater, with an extended snout that suggested a specialized feeding chanism.
It looked unnatural, as if it had been pieced together from entirely different
beasts.
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