The patriarch's angry shouts and attack had already pulled the attention of almost everyone in the sect.
"Who is the patriarch fighting?" An outer court disciple asked.
"Heavens! I've never seen the patriarch this angry before." A frightened disciple said.
"That should be the intruder they were shouting about earlier." One of the more informed disciples spoke.
The elders of the sect had also noticed it and were gathering around, ready to mount an offense against Lin Mu in support of their patriarch.
"WHOA!" someone exclaimed. "The patriarch took out the Shark Punishing whip! Isn't that our sects best spirit weapon?"
"Indeed. It's a peak grade spirit weapon, that was made by combining the tendons of ten nascent soul realm beasts. The patriarch had made it when there was a Dao Shell realm shark beast attacking the sect hundreds of years ago.
He had used that very whip to kill the beast and then used the teeth of the sharks to reinforce the whip. That is how it got its name." One of the more informed disciples explained.
"That intruder is dead. No one can go against the Shark Punishing whip." The disciples were feeling very confident.
And understandably so since the patriarch was at the Dao Treading realm and was the strongest expert of their sect. Not only that, but he was also using a peak grade spirit weapon to attack, thus his power was great.
The shark punishing whip glowed in a deadly light as the sharp shark teeth embedded in it threatened to cut apart everything.
~BOOM~
The whip finally struck Lin Mu and an explosion happened with the spirit Qi from the whip blasting out.
"HAHA! THAT'S WHAT HE DESERVES!" An elder laughed.
Everyone could see the power of the attack and the explosion that happened after that was enough for even a Dao Shell realm cultivator to be greatly injured.
"Patriarch Ma Jun is indeed the greatest in our sect." The disciples praised.
"No way… how?" But just as they were rejoicing, someone noticed something.
~whoosh~
The winds blew away the smoke and dust, revealing the true situation.
And what they saw left them with wide open mouths. Even Patriarch Ma Yun was stunned.
"How? IMPOSSIBLE!" in front of Ma Yun's eyes stood Lin Mu.
The Shark Punishing Whip was firmly grasped within his hands that shone in a golden light. It was as if a golden deity's statue was floating in the air; untainted by the mortal air.
"Thats all you have?" Lin Mu scoffed. "Perhaps I should have let go of my concerns earlier and culled the sects at the very start. Perhaps then the others would not have suffered this much." He added.
"What even—?" Before the patriarch could speak anything through, he felt a great force tugging at the whip.
Lin Mu's hand wrapped around the Shark pushing whip as faint grinding sounds could be heard from the shark teeth rubbing against his skin. The armor of the mortal strengthening scripture was not going to bear this attack, thus Lin Mu had withdrawn it at the very start, letting his own body bear it.
It was a test for himself and he wanted to see how far his body could go alone. In the previous fight against the Dao Treading realm experts of the Gu legion, Lin Mu had basically overwhelmed them before they could attack him.
Not to mention, they were not proper experts who had cultivated normally. They had been boosted to their state and had unstable foundations, not being able to use their strength properly.
The opponent this time was not like that though. Patriarch Ma Yun was an authentic cultivator who had reached the Dao Treading realm by cultivating steadily stage by stage, realm by realm.
While there was still the Human Controlling Blood curse on him, there was no actual effect or corruption of his cultivation base. Thus, the power he exerted was true and pure.
And it was this very power Lin Mu wanted to feel.
The Patriarch pulled back the Shark Punishing Whip but found it impossible to do so. It was as if there was a mountain attached to the whip and he could not pull it back.
~HUU~
He took a deep breath and amplified his strength with his spirit Qi before pulling hard.
~CLANG~
This time, he managed to do better and actually made Lin Mu move a few meters.
"Flashy tricks! You won't survive long!" The patriarch said as he used a skill.
~SPLASH~ SPLASH~ SPLASH~
Three pillars of water rose up from the sea before swiveling in the air and turning into a bull shark that attacked Lin Mu.
Lin Mu's eyes glanced at the attack coming from the corner of his eye and lifted his left hand. His right hand was still wrapped around the whip and prevented it from moving.
"Boulder Collapsing fist: First Form- Impact!" Lin Mu punched out with his left hand as vital essence surged within his hand.
~WOOOO~
The Bull Shark let out a cry as it fiercely bit Lin Mu. And just as it did, the inside of its mouth was hit with Lin Mu's fist.
~KABOOM~
The impact of the punch traveled through the Bull Shark's body, compressing the water within it and directly exploding it into a burst of water.
"Impossible!" the people watching were stunned.
They knew what the Bull Shark made from water was. It was one of their sect's top Qi skills!
And yet it was destroyed by a single punch.
The patriarch gritted his teeth, seeing that his attack was destroyed, and readied another one. He understood that the opponent this time was not simple. Even though the spirit Qi fluctuations coming from Lin Mu were merely at the Dao Shell realm, his power was almost equal to his own.
The patriarch used the skill again, this time creating three such water Bull Sharks.
"This will waste too much time… best end it quick." Lin Mu stated.
Since he knew where he stood against the others in a direct conflict, he didn't need to hold back anymore.
