Hearing what the two disciples said, Lin Mu perked his ears.
"Who can we look for that senior brother? I don't think we know any formation master of that level." The junior brother asked.
"Hmm… our options are indeed limited. Plus, with the time limit we have, I don't know if we will be able to find one in time either." The senior brother said.
"But I don't want to fail the very first task Master gave me. If I fail this, who knows how many decades will pass before he will allow me to leave the sect." The junior brother said, feeling a bit unwilling.
"Master will understand. This was supposed to be a relatively easy task, but the current situation has made it complex. The thousand year old Hong Lin wood has suddenly become high in demand in the past year or so.
Even the empire and several sects asked for it, if I remember correctly." The senior brother replied.
"No senior, I at least want to try till we can't. Going back like this is not something I want to be remembered as by the master." The junior brother said, his tone firm.
The senior brother looked at his junior brother's face and sighed to himself.
~Sigh~
"Fine… we shall try." The senior brother replied.
"YES! I have faith that we will be able to find a way." The Junior brother said.
The senior brother sank into deep thought while the junior brother kept his silence so as to not disturb. Lin Mu on the other hand, was intrigued to learn the fact that it wasn't just him and Jing Luo that were looking for the thousand year old Hong Lin trees.
'This thing seems to be in a far higher demand than I thought… but why?' Lin Mu wondered.
Jing Luo wanted the resin of the Hong Lin trees and to get the resin they would need the trees, which also meant that there would be the wood to accompany it. While Jing Luo himself didn't have any particular need for the wood, the resin could only be obtained from a live tree.
To verify this, Lin Mu decided to contact Jing Luo using the communication jade slip.
"I just learned that we aren't the only ones looking for thousand year old Hong Lin trees. In addition to these disciples, apparently the empire and several sects also bought the thousand year old Hong Lin tree wood." Lin Mu said.
"Oh? That's rather strange. Even though the Hong Lin tree wood is useful for spirit weapons and tools, they aren't something that can't be substituted for other materials. I can't tell why this is suddenly so much in demand that even the empire and other sects want it." Jing Luo replied.
"Perhaps if we know exactly which sects bought it, we might get a better idea of it." Lin Mu stated.
"Guess we will need to talk to these two in the end." Jing Luo spoke.
"Indeed. But first I have to find the right excuse. I'm listening to them and hopefully, we get something." Lin Mu said.
"I'll leave you to it then." Jing Luo said before stopping the connection.
Lin Mu turned his attention back to the two disciples and saw that the two were still not talking. About ten minutes passed like this before the senior brother finally spoke.
"I… may know someone that can possibly assist us." The senior brother suddenly said.
"You do? Who are they?" The junior brother questioned.
"It's someone I met a long time ago when I was still a body tempering realm warrior. Both of us were recruited by the top sect, I went to the Noon grass sect, but he went to the Long Cloud sect." The senior brother answered.
"The Long Cloud sect… but if we really do ask the Long Cloud sect for help, won't it be against the rules that our sect has set. We aren't supposed to have any contact or interaction with the two cultivation sect alliances unless we have concise instructions to do so." The junior brother said, feeling doubtful.
"I know… but we won't be talking to the Long Cloud sect itself, but rather one of the disciples on a private level. I think master should understand that might at least and forgive us." The senior brother said.
"Hmm… I don't know. It is risky, if master really takes offense to it, he will punish you, senior brother. I don't want to do this if you have to be punished." The Junior brother replied in a low voice.
"Foolish junior, this much punishment will be fine for me. Even if I have to stay in the sect for half a century, I don't mind. I prefer staying in seclusion any way." The Senior brother said with a chuckle.
"Senior brother…" The junior brother had a touched expression on his face upon hearing this.
"It is settled then. I'll try to contact the person I know and hopefully, they can help us out. While I haven't had much contact with them over the years, I do know that they became a core disciple a few years ago due to their talent in formations." The senior brother said.
Hearing all this, Lin Mu had an idea that he thought might just work.
"Let's see if showing a thirsty traveler in the desert an oasis would work or not. We don't have any better idea, anyway." Lin Mu muttered to himself and took out the communication jade slip.
"I have a plan…" Lin Mu said before explaining what they could do to pull the attention of the two disciples.
Jing Luo, who listened to the entire thing some distance away, furrowed his brows but found the plan to be relatively fine.
"I guess this could work. Though it will depend on how much they really 'want' this. If they are desperate enough, we can probably get through it." Jing Luo stated.
"It's worth a try. Let's get to it.." Lin Mu said before he blinked away.