Now that the first fight of the quarter finals was over, it was time for Lin Mu's fight.
"Will you head over now Brother Mu Lin?" Ming Aolian asked. "There is still an hour till the fight."
"I may as well. No use in waiting." Lin Mu shook his head. "And perhaps I'll be able to understand more from watching Dugu Shanhe in person." He said before standing up.
"Good luck, Brother Mu Lin." Lu Xu wished him.
"We'll be looking forward to your win." Ming Dandan said with confidence.
Having seen Lin Mu so far, they all felt like there was no chance Lin Mu could lose now.
"How are the odds looking?" Lin Mu asked Luo Liqin.
"Just as expected." Luo Liqin chuckled. "While people have been impressed by your earlier fights, they still seemed to favor Dugu Shanhe more. Probably because of his mysterious techniques." He answered.
"Is that so…" Lin Mu smiled lightly. "But that just works in our favor."
"Indeed. I've already prepared the bet." Luo Liqin replied. "Now you just have to win and the betting amount will be multiplied."
"Perfect." Lin Mu said before leaving the room.
He went down the stairwell getting several curious looks from the waiters and other staff that worked in the restaurant. There was low whispering between them as well, and Lin Mu's ears easily picked up on them.
'Makes sense that they are interested in the fight's results too…' Lin Mu thought.
The main point of discussion was whether Lin Mu would defeat his opponent quickly or not too.
Dugu Shanhe had been defeating his opponents quickly too, thus the people were quite interested when two people like this faced off.
Lin Mu even heard that several of them talk about whom they had bet on. And surprisingly enough, he heard from the staff that the Countess had actually bet a significant amount on Lin Mu winning.
'No wonder she sends several complimentary snacks and drinks to us all the time… she's been making a profit too.' Lin Mu thought to himself.
It was evident that the Countess had figured out Lin Mu had been winning all his matches, thus she simply decided to bet large amounts on him every time he fought. It was also because of this that she was pleased with him, allowing him to stay and eat as he wished.
Lin Mu had unknowingly become a cash cow for her.
And watching their owner win such a great amount, the servants also bet whatever money they had on Lin Mu.
Some of them were hesitant, but the ones who had won big due to Lin Mu, inspired confidence in them. Though the inspiration was tinged with a layer of greed as expected.
Lin Mu left the Spring Valley restaurant and started walking toward the Tournament grounds. Though a similar situation happened outside as well with the people recognizing Lin Mu.
It was evident that Lin Mu's reputation had become quite wide spread by now. And by the time Lin Mu reached the Tournament grounds, he had gathered a large crowd behind him as well. They had simply followed after him, with a few daring ones even cheering on before the fight had started.
Lin Mu simply ignored them though and simply went up the Platform.
There were about fifteen minutes before the match would start, and the people were waiting eagerly.
"Guess he hasn't arrived yet either…" Lin Mu muttered to himself looking for Dugu Shanhe.
His immortal sense was scanning the crowd, wondering if he was hidden amongst them. And while Lin Mu was watching the crowd, the Elder overseeing the tournament was also watching him.
'So this is the the junior who had caught the interest of High elder… he certainly seems different than most I suppose. While his cultivation base is lower than others, he's managed to come rather far.' The elder thought to himself.
A few minutes passed and the time of the match approached.
~shua~
Lin Mu could already feel the spatial fluctuations, letting him know that the spatial plane had finished resetting.
This was also the reason why there was a gap of one hour between each match. The Spatial plane needed that time to reset and restore itself to its original state.
"Look, Dugu Shanhe's there!" The crowd exclaimed.
"When did he arrive?"
"He wasn't there a few seconds earlier."
The crowd was astounded by this sudden appearance of the man.
Lin Mu too found it surprising as the man was certainly not there on the platform earlier.
'A stealth immortal tool that can hide his presence…' Lin Mu guessed. 'My Immortal sense was covering the platform, so I should have known if he was hiding here. Looks like he was hiding in the crowd while keeping the tool active.'
Though Lin Mu was also sure that it wasn't a tool that could be used in battle as it needed the person to be away from the perceptions of others at the start to work.
If others were looking at them from the start, the tool wouldn't work as well.
'Though they can also combine it with another immortal tool that can disguise them to hide.' Lin Mu thought.
~HUMM~
A couple of seconds later, the sound of the formations being activated was heard. The elder also moved, raising his hand.
"Step into the gate!" The elder ordered.
Lin Mu and Dugu Shanhe walked towards the two circles on the ground, when the teleportation finally began.
~SHUA~
As soon as Lin Mu was in the Teleportation Channel, he took out Wonder Seeker and charged up an attack like before.
But much to his surprise, when he actually arrived in the Spatial plane, he was unable to move.
'What?' Lin Mu didn't know why but his body seemed fixed in place.
He could only look straight ahead, where Dugu Shanhe was standing.
The man was staring at him and had a smirk on his face.
"Another one to add to my collection… this will be fun." Dugu Shanhe spoke with amusement.
