~huu~
Lin Mu let out a long breath as he finished his work.
The cycle of matches was over, and he had netted a decent profit through the bets.
"What are we to do now, Brother Mu Lin?" Luo Liqin asked.
With the sudden defeat of Ming Dandan, the atmosphere had become a bit tense and he could tell that Lin Mu was thinking deeply about it too.
"We'll just have to intensify our efforts." Lin Mu said. "I'll also try to improve and see if I can enter the Spatial Planes faster." He added, knowing that on some level it was also his fault.
If Lin Mu had been able to enter the Spatial plane faster, Ming Dandan might have had a chance to use the bracelet on Yao Changying.
"Can you still do that? You are already very fast, Brother Mu Lin." Luo Liqin didn't know if it was even possible at this point.
"I have to try." Lin Mu replied, not knowing whether it was possible or not.
He had already improved a lot from before and had a speed that was astonishing to most if they knew. But he still wanted to push the limits and see just how far it could be taken.
Luo Liqin gave a nod and returned to his work while Lin Mu simply focused on the arrays. Even if the spatial planes were closed down right now, Lin Mu could still observe the arrays and find out faster ways of entering it.
If he didn't try that, he wouldn't know if he could improve or not. Every minute counted and Lin Mu had quite some time to go till the next set cycle of matches tomorrow.
And while he was doing this, Ming Aolian, Qian Wen and Lu Xu were out with Ming Dandan. She was still unconscious at the healing pavilion. Though from the report that Lin Mu had gotten, her injuries had already been healed for the most part.
The Mulch Crawl Eater beast was the one who was injured the most and had dampened the force for Ming Dandan. Though being a robust beast, it would be recovering without any lingering injuries. Though on some level, the Beast Qi that Lin Mu had given it had also been helping.
Lin Mu's immortal sense constantly scanned the Formation arrays high up in the sky and the links they had with the spatial plane. He continued to test the methods of entering it as well as any vulnerabilities that he could continue to exploit.
And just like that, it was the next day.
It was Lu Xu's turn to fight today, and Lin Mu was extra attentive for it. His effort in improving the infiltration speed had shown some effects as Lin Mu managed to cut down the time by a few seconds. The improvement might be minor, but it was still an improvement.
Though for Lu Xu, there wasn't as much of an hurry as he managed to hold up for five minutes against his opponent. Chances of his win would be slim though as his opponent was still at the Fifth Tribulation Stage of the Immortal realm.
Only by Lin Mu's interference did he finally manage to win.
After that, Lin Mu did the same for Ming Aolian the next day, securing her win as well. In this cycle though, there was another acquaintance of Lin Mu that had a match.
This was none other than Chang Fa and he was up against a Fifth Tribulation Stage immortal, too. He was unable to overcome this disparity in strength and ended up losing in this match. Though there was no hint of sorry on Chang Fa's face, as he had already secured a reputation for his clan.
In fact, even his opponent seemed a bit scared of him, showing respect.
With that, this stage came to an end as well and there were only 16 contestants left which meant that it would only take two days to finish this stage.
It made Lin Mu and his companions a bit stressed as they knew, Lin Mu might not be able to help them much this time as there was a high chance they would have fights at the same time.
All of them were gathered in the Spring Valley Restaurant, when the fights were announced.
~Sigh~
And upon looking at the match ups, Lin Mu couldn't help but let out a sigh.
Ming Aolian looked at Lin Mu with a hint of disappointed on her face.
"Looks like I won't be of help to you brother Mu Lin." She spoke. "I'm up against Su Zian."
"It's fine. We can't do much here." Lin Mu replied, trying to pacify them.
Lin Mu had mostly understood what the Temple was trying to do now. Looking at the match ups, he observed that they were trying to really finish off the weaker contestants.
And among all of them, Ming Aolian easily ranked the lowest.
Her being matched up with Su Zian was simply a game of luck. Though at the same time, it made Lin Mu a bit relieved as he knew she wouldn't be affected too much from the fight.
Unlike Yao Changying, Su Zian was of the honorable orthodox path and would fight openly. Ming Aolian's defeat was confirmed, but it would not be a troublesome one.
Other than her, Feng Baxing, Yao Changying and Childe Wildfire all had fights in the first cycle. And just as Lin Mu had hypothesized, their opponents were all those at the Fifth tribulation stage and were lower ranked.
This left, Lin Mu, Lu Xu, and Dugu Shanhe for the next cycle's matches.
"We all expected that the plans might not go our way after a certain point. We were simply hoping that we would be able to take advantage." Lu Xu spoke after a minute of silence. "We simply have to accept it that we've come this far."
"Indeed. Lu Xu is right. There is no use in over thinking about it now." Qian Wen chimed in.
"We just have to give it our best." Lin Mu agreed.
