Sword Intent was something that was considered as a talent. Whether it was acquired talent or naturally present, didn't matter. Any cultivator that had comprehend sword intent would get respect for the most part.
There were often many that could reach the immortal realm but still be unable to comprehend sword intent. As a lord of a county, Huyun Chuan knew what having sword intent meant.
Even in his land, there weren't many that had comprehended it.
He knew of the power that an expert with sword intent had as well as the danger that they could pose.
'He not only has access to spirit weapons, and spatial storage tool but also sword intent… how is someone like this in the Land of Exile. They wouldn't send someone like that here…' Huyun Chuan was both confused and concerned now.
"Don't worry, as long as you surrender I won't kill you. I've got plenty to ask of you anyway." Lin Mu said before swinging his sword.
He clearly stated his intentions, wondering if the man would understand.
~SHUA~
A clear sword light shot out from Lin Mu's short sword tearing the air. Huyun Chuan's eyes narrowed and he waved his palm again creating five sabers.
~CRACK~ CRACK~ CRACK~
This time though, the sabers were barely able to hold on before being cut apart by the sword intent infused slash. It was also now that Huyun Chuan detected Lin Mu's cultivation base.
Lin Mu's spirit Qi fluctuations were highly contained thus it was almost impossible for others to detect his cultivation base if he didn't reveal it. Plus the restrain on the spirit sense also meant that most couldn't probe him directly.
When Huyun Chuan had appeared, Lin Mu had ensured that there was no spirit sense near him to avoid his abilities being revealed. Even if he had confidence in being able to hide his cultivation base, it was best for him to be cautious in an immortal world.
There were always new and mysterious abilities that he might not know of and get caught off guard.
"Even if you have sword intent, you are merely at the Dao Treading realm. You think you can go against me?" Huyun Chuan felt a little more confident seeing that Lin Mu was still below his cultivation base.
While he was a little worried about the sword intent, which could technically allow Lin Mu to fight above his level, it was unknown to him just what level of comprehension Lin Mu had.
'As long as its only at the novice level, he won't be able to last long.' Huyun Chuan thought.
He dodged another one of Lin Mu's slashes and raised his palm high, creating a large saber imprint in the air.
"Huyun Five Saber! Air render!" Huyun Chuan chanted.
The image of the saber turned solid, looking like it was truly made out of iron. It was about three meters long and stood proudly in the air. Then in the next moment, it fell like the blade of an executioner!
The air in front of it tore apart, forming a razor sharp air blade. It came towards Lin Mu and seemed to be following him.
'It can track?' Lin Mu was surprised.
But his surprise didn't last as he simply used Blink and appeared behind the path of the air blade.
"He's fast…" Huyun Chuan muttered in surprise and clenched his other fist.
Lin Mu's sharp ears picked up on the man's words, giving him a little more information.
'He didn't recognize me teleporting… his senses aren't that good.' Lin Mu reckoned.
Unknowingly Huyun Chuan had given Lin Mu another advantage.
The two of them continued fighting and Lin Mu kept his attacks the same. At this point, he realized that the man in front of him wasn't as big of a threat as he had originally thought. In just five minutes, Lin Mu could recognize several flaws in the man's fighting style.
'He's certainly not that experienced in fighting like this. Either that or he's lacking a weapon to use? Perhaps he's specialized in using sabers?' Lin Mu continued to analyze.
His past few months of experience in learning about the condition of the Haima tribe people and making formations had put his brain in an analytical mode. He couldn't help but feel curious about the Immortal world and its people.
Huyun Chuan was his first proper subject in that way. And considering that he was not willing to talk peacefully, this was the next best way to get information from it.
For example, just in this fight Lin Mu could tell that Huyun Chuan had truly come from a position of comfort and wealth. If the man could reach the Immortal Ascension realm and yet have such a lack of battle experience, he was likely to have reached his current level simply due to the higher rank of the world.
'Either that or he simply gorged on cultivation resources…' Lin Mu guessed.
While Lin Mu was observing and analyzing Huyun Chuan, the man was doing the same to him. Albeit not on the same level.
To Huyun Chuan, Lin Mu seemed like an enigma. By all conditions, he should not be in the Land of exile. He even wondered if Lin Mu was an exile or not.
'Is he perhaps one of their officers?' Huyun Chuan wondered. 'No, that can't be… they would never fraternize with subhumans like those four legged things.' He rejected his thoughts.
~HONG~
Fifteen minutes passed since their battle had started when Lin Mu suddenly changed his behavior.
"Alright, that's it. You don't have anything more to show." Lin Mu said as he put away the short sword.
"What are you doing?" Huyun Chuan was taken aback by this. "Are you surrendering?" a smirk appeared on his face.
"No," Lin Mu said before disappearing into thin air.
"Wh-what—" then in the next moment, Huyun Chuan felt an impact on his back,
~COUGH~
He felt like wind had been squeezed out of his lungs while blood sprayed out of his mouth.
