Three days passed in the blink of an eye. The banquet was done with great pomp and glamor, making the entire capital city light up with joy.

Shirong was the guest of honor and thus celebrated for his merits. Lin Wu though took this opportunity to steal a ton of food. His task was made even easier because the king actually ended up giving some food to the commoners, too.

He had been forced as the rumors about the king gifting food to the commoners had spread so much that if he denied it right now, the public outcry would be bad. While he would be able to suppress this rather easily, doing so would be bad for him in the long term.

Lin Wu took advantage of this very fact and took a lot of food, while the people in the royal court simply thought that it was the commoners taking advantage of freebies. Still, there wasn't much they could do and thus let it happen.

In reality, it was Lin Wu who was stealing the food from the large kitchens that had been set up. His main body was also cultivating during this time and had progressed a bit with the Immortal Sky Shaker art.

But he had hit a snag with the Undaunted Sapphire Body Art. He didn't know why, but more meridians were even more difficult for him to develop. He had even asked the system for the solution but did not get one.

The system merely told him that it was the normal progression and that it depended greatly on his body itself. He would just have to continue practicing and he would eventually progress further with the Undaunted Sapphire Body art.

~Sigh~

"I guess this is what they mean by a bottleneck. I never truly experienced one before due to the system's help but now that I have, it feels a bit bad." Lin Wu muttered to himself.

While Lin Wu was spending time dealing with his problem in the ring, a knock was heard on the gate of Shirong's courtyard. Shirong himself was sitting inside the bedroom busy in cultivation, thus a servant had answered it for him.

An old man was standing out and he passed a letter to the servant. The moment the old man arrived, Shirong's eyes opened.

"Seems like they finally responded…" Shirong said before standing up.

He was just about to walk to the door when a voice spoke out.

"Young master, there is a letter for you." The servant spoke.

~slide~

The door was opened by Shirong, and he took the letter from the hands of the servant. The servant bowed his head and returned to his work while Shirong sat down to open it.

~shua~

Shirong waved his hand and set up an isolating formation before he opened the letter. Then tapping his finger on the wax seal, another formation appeared. This one was shaped like a lock which then opened, allowing Shirong to unfold the letter.

'First of all, I would like to congratulate you on breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm. You did not disappoint me and even went beyond managing to trigger a dual layered heavenly tribulation. This is an ode to your talent.

Now for the second part, we looked over the actions of this 'Shadow Dagger pavilion' and you are right, they need to be eliminated. They tried to target the heir of the Ji clan! For this, they and their seven generations will pay the price!

The clan will be sending an extermination squad, so you need not worry about them anymore. We are also sending an envoy to talk with King Huo about his administrative actions in the kingdom. While the Lu Clan will also be getting an envoy but for their official induction as an ally of the Ji clan.

There are no more instructions from me and you can proceed as was directed in the previous letter.

—Patriarch of the Ji clan'

The letter was relatively short than the previous one but conveyed the message very well. Lin Wu also read the content of the letter and knew that perhaps it was the end for the Shadow Dagger Pavilion now.

'Even that king will probably be grilled by the envoy,' Lin Wu thought to himself.

He then observed Shirong, who was still silent while staring at the letter.

~spark~

A small arc of lighting appeared on his hand and turned the letter into dust.

"Finally… I can head on." Shirong said in a relieved tone.

"SERVANTS!" Shirong called out.

~thud~thud~thud~

The sound of footsteps hurriedly approaching could be heard.

"What are your orders, young master?" The servant asked.

"Tell King Huo I'll be leaving as of now," Shirong said.

"Now? But young master…"

~whoosh~

Before the servant could even complete his sentence Shirong flew away, leaving behind a whirlwind. The speed of his flight was so strong that Gales spread in the capital city, knocking up dust and dead leaves from trees.

The people of the city were confused and didn't know why such a strong wind had suddenly appeared. They looked up but did not spot anything in the air either. Shirong was simply too fast.

Wind attribute spirit Qi wrapped around his body, boosting his speed even further as he soared into the sky.

"Dread Coil Marsh, here I come!" Shirong said with a smile on his face.

He was finally enjoying himself after a month of boredom. Battling to his heart's content and finding the cause behind his uncle's death should keep him entertained for a while.

Lin Wu also watched on and checked the map which was rapidly moving.

"Hmm… if I didn't know it, I'd say that he's even faster than me. But my digging speed is still greater…" Lin Wu compared.

Lin Wu then closed his eyes before leaving the instructions for his avatar to cultivate while Shirong was still traveling. He knew that his avatar would soon be able to break through to the Nascent Soul realm as well.

~Ding~

——

AVATAR CULTIVATION BASE: Peak stage of the core condensation realm

-Spirit Qi required to upgrade = [45,698/48,000] units (liquid spirit qi)

——