Walker Of The Worlds

Chapter 3969: Taking On A New Identity

Lin Mu ignored the beasts as he needed a way to investigate the sect without revealing that Little Bull was alive and without immediately turning the entire situation into a battle.

He was already strong enough to force his way through many obstacles, yet strength was not always the best answer. The more he revealed, the more attention he would attract. He needed information first.

Then Ashy spoke again. "Master?"

"What?"

"What’s stopping you from taking another identity?"

Lin Mu paused as the question was so simple that it took him a moment to consider it.

"I can do that," he said slowly. "Though it would have to be legitimate. Pretending to be another disciple won’t work for long. Someone will eventually recognize that I’m not supposed to be there."

"Why a disciple?"

Lin Mu blinked and Ashy’s voice became cheerful. "You already have something much better."

Lin Mu’s eyes widened slightly as he realized a possibility that had been sitting right in front of him. He looked down at the jade token in his hand. The token that had belonged to Junior Elder Zhenyu, and it had the registered identity of an ancient Wild Peak elder.

This was a man who had entered the Mad Demon Depths more than a hundred thousand years ago. A man who had left behind records, techniques, memories and information. And a man who had apparently been trapped here for thousands of years.

Lin Mu slowly smiled. "Zhenyu."

Ashy laughed. "Exactly."

Lin Mu’s eyes gleamed as he realized this might be really good. After all Zhenyu had actually existed and Lin Mu was not creating a fictional identity from nothing.

He had the man’s records, he had his jade token, he knew his cultivation technique, he knew his history, he knew about the Wild Peak and he knew secrets that very few people in the current sect could possibly remember.

More importantly, he now knew that Zhenyu had been a Junior Elder of the Wild Peak.

Lin Mu slowly turned the jade token in his hand. "With this, I might be able to walk into the sect as Junior Elder Zhenyu."

He paused and then his smile widened. "And perhaps I can finally find out what happened to the Hopeful Star Pavilion."

There was another matter as well. If Deng Siqi really was the same person as the Heavenly Stream Immortal Daoist, Lin Mu wanted to know how deep that connection went. Perhaps the current records of the sect would contain information Zhenyu never had access to.

Lin Mu stood up as the decision had been made. He would leave the Mad Demon Depths and return to the Heavenly Stream Guardian Sect. But this time, Little Bull would remain behind and Junior Elder Zhenyu would walk out instead.

Lin Mu remained in the white compressed space for a long while, staring at the jade token in his hand while the idea continued to take shape in his mind. The more he considered it, the more practical the plan became.

There were certainly risks involved, and the greatest one was obvious enough that even Ashy had probably thought of it.

Junior Elder Zhenyu had disappeared more than a hundred thousand years ago. For an ordinary immortal, that amount of time was enough to make their continued existence seem absurd.

Even experts with extraordinary longevity would eventually face the limits of their lifespan, and anyone who suddenly appeared after such an enormous span of time would immediately become the subject of suspicion.

Lin Mu gently turned the jade token between his fingers. "This is going to be troublesome."

He already possessed the most convincing evidence possible.

The token had belonged to Zhenyu, and the information contained within it included countless details about the Wild Peak, the sect, cultivation techniques, people, events and secrets from an era so old that most of them had probably vanished from the current records.

Anyone who inspected it carefully would have difficulty claiming that it was an ordinary treasure Lin Mu had simply picked up somewhere. Still, that alone would not prove that he was Zhenyu.

Someone could have discovered the token. Someone could have killed Zhenyu and taken it. Or someone could have found the hidden space and obtained everything inside. There were countless explanations.

If Lin Mu simply walked into the Heavenly Stream Guardian Sect and announced that he was Junior Elder Zhenyu, the first reaction would probably be disbelief. The second would involve investigations. The third could involve someone trying to test him.

Lin Mu smiled. "Then I’ll have to make the act convincing."

Thankfully, he had experience with acting.

He remembered the training he had undergone before, particularly the lessons Cattaleya and Lady Kang had given him. At the time, he had treated much of it as something useful for disguises and deception. Now those lessons had suddenly become extremely valuable.

Lin Mu had to admit that the identity he had chosen suited him rather well. ’An old expert.’

Or rather a mysterious elder who had disappeared for an extraordinarily long time.

Someone who possessed immense experience and rarely explained himself. Someone who could answer questions with a few words and leave everyone wondering what he really meant.

Lin Mu’s lips curled upward. "I can work with that."

He had already spent several days listening to Zhenyu’s recording.

He had heard the man’s voice, observed his mannerisms and understood the way his thoughts moved. Zhenyu had been arrogant when he was young, and age had eventually tempered that arrogance into something stranger.

He complained constantly, remembered ridiculous details, held grudges over debts that had been owed for centuries and possessed enough knowledge to casually reveal secrets that most people would consider priceless.

Lin Mu could imitate that personality.

In fact, there were certain aspects of Zhenyu’s character that would be extremely easy to reproduce. He could imagine himself standing in front of the current elders and complaining about sect policies that had been changed thousands of years ago.

He could mention people who were long dead and complain about debts they had never repaid. He could casually refer to ancient formations and forgotten customs while refusing to explain how he knew them.

The more mysterious he appeared, the easier the identity would become.