Chapter 262 - The Excited Jing Wei

While walking towards the mansion at the end, Lin Mu was wondering where the pair of Grandfather and Granddaughter would be. The mansion was far too large on the inside and it would talker him a while to find them.

But just as he thought of this he spotted them sitting at a pergola in the garden that was near the mansion. 

Duan Ke and Jing Wei were sitting at the table in the pergola and were chatting about something when they felt the formation array letting someone inside.

"Seems like he's back." Duan Ke spoke.

"Indeed, I wonder what he's here for this time. It's been a while since we saw him." Jing Wei responded as he turned to look in the distance from where Lin Mu was walking.

Lin Mu soon reached the two of them and came to stand at the side of the table.

"Oh? Seems like you've gotten better since the last time," Jing Wei said as he sensed some changes in Lin Mu.

"What brings you here today? I thought you were going to stay in seclusion and cultivate for longer?" Duan Ke asked. 

"I was indeed in seclusion all this while but had to stop it for a bit as I had some matters to deal with." Li NM replied as he nodded.

"What kind of matters? Do they involve the invader?" Jing Wei questioned in a more serious tone.

Lin Mu's expression straightened as he nodded gently.

"Yes, and not only that… I may have even found the source of the invader, perhaps." Lin Mu revealed much to the shock of the two.

"What! Then we must hurry, let's talk further in the mansion." Jing Wei replied.

Lin Mu went with the flow and followed the two of them to the library, which was a bit surprising to him as he had expected them to be heading to the meeting hall. Upon arriving there, Jing Wei waved his hand and the formation array lit up for a few seconds before disappearing.

"What was that for?" Lin Mu curiously asked.

"It's an isolating formation, it will prevent the contents of our conversation from being heard." Duan Ke answered first.

Lin Mu tilted his head in confusion as he could not understand why they would require something like that now, as there was no one else other than them in this entire space.

Jing Wei saw the confusion on Lin Mu's face and could guess what he must have been thinking about.

"There are certain abilities that we need to protect ourselves from. There are a few pesky and meddlesome sects that love to pry in matters that they have no business in. Even with the courtyard being in a different space, some of them can still discover us, though it's unlikely." Jing Wei said, "but… I still do not want to take any chances." He added.

"But you didn't activate this before? We have even more sensitive discussions back then." Lin Mu asked further.

"It was activated back then as well. But not just this, all the defensive formations were activated last time, which is why you did not notice it." Jing Wei explained.

"Ahh, I see." Lin Mu responded.

"Well then, what did you discover?" Jing Wei questioned.

Lin Mu withdrew the skeleton of the dead cultivator and put it on the ground for the two to see.

As soon as the pair saw it, their eyes went wide.

"Is this…" Duan Ke uttered.

"A Nascent Soul Realm cultivator's remains, there is no doubt. I can sense it." Jing Wei confirmed.

The two then lifted their gaze from the skeleton and looked at Lin Mu. 

"This is the source behind the invader, I estimate. I found a bewildering formation array in the forest, and inside there I found this skeleton. It had some items which I believe do not belong in this world. Linking that with the Beast storage treasure and the incidents that happened, led me to believe that they were related." Lin Mu stated his theory.

Jing Wei heard his words and stayed silent for a moment before speaking.

"And what are these items that you found on him?" Jing Wei questioned.

In response to this, Lin Mu withdrew the Damaged Spatial storage ring, the stone badge, and the depleted Peak grade spirit stones.

"Peak grade spirit stones!" Duan Ke exclaimed.

Jing Wei's attention particularly went towards the ring that Lin Mu was holding in his hand.

"… and a spatial storage ring, that too of an unknown design." Jing Wei added.

Lin Mu handed the ring to Jing Wei on cue and let him observe it. Jing Wei held it in his hand and observed it with his spirit sense. With every minute that he held it in his hand, his expression kept on changing. At the start it was calm, which then turned to surprise, then confused, and finally excited.

Lin Mu could understand his emotions but did not know why he had now become so exacted.

"Hahaha! This is a masterpiece! Such craftsmanship… such innovation… something like this had never been seen before!" Jing Wei shouted in praises.

Duan Ke and Lin Mu both had perplexed faces, seeing the usually calm Jing Wei acting like this.

"Of course I should have expected this. In a low leveled world such as this, even a spatial storage treasure such as that ring is of the highest quilt." Xukong spoke with a sigh.

Lin Mu slightly chuckled which Duan Ke heard and her face became a bit red.

"Grandfather, have some decorum." Duan Ke chided.

"This is no time for decorum, Ke'er. This little ring… it may potentially be the solution to our problems." Jing Wei replied in an excited tone, same as before.

Now even Duan Ke's expression turned shocked upon hearing her grandfather's words.

"Is it really that good?" Lin Mu asked out loud, "I mean, that spatial storage ring is damaged and broken." 

Duan Ke's excitement instantly died down after hearing Lin Mu's revelation, but Jing Wei did not even flinch and acted the same.

~Sigh~