Lu Xu couldn't help but take a breath of relief the moment he was within the four walls of the Spring Valley Restaurant.
After all, he knew the risk he had taken earlier in the match was quite great.
"Brother Lu Xu that was great!" Ming Aolian greeted the main enthusiastically.
"That slap was amazing. We all couldn't believe our eyes." Luo Liqin was very impressed as well.
No one among them had thought that Lu Xu would be able to do this. His task was just to use the bracelet on Yao Changying and retreat. And yet, he had managed to do a lot more.
"It was nothing. I just did what I could at that time." Lu Xu replied. "Since you couldn't go after him, it was only natural that I should deliver some 'justice' on behalf of you." He explained.
"We'll be grateful to you, Brother Lu Xu. Our master will be as well, once we tell her." Ming Dandan replied.
"Though without Brother Mu Lin's help this wouldn't be possible at all." Qian Wen chimed in.
"Lu Xu's actions were a lot more useful than we think." Lin Mu suddenly spoke up. "I could tell Yao Changying's mental state was disturbed due to it and she didn't notice the bracelet being used on her at all.
"Indeed. I don't think she'll be able to live this down for a long time." Luo Liqin agreed.
"Hopefully its in her mind all the time and she is distracted in her next fight. Perhaps then she can suffer more injuries." Ming Aolian said with a scowl on her face.
Everyone here wished for Yao Changying to suffer and Ming Aolian wanted it the most.
"Anyway, since Lu Xu has succeeded in it our task is mostly done." Lin Mu stated. "How are things on the betting pavilion side, Luo Liqin?" he asked.
"Just as we guessed, the bets spiked but then tabled out. Your win against Dugu Shanhe did shuffle it, but it only improved your odds. So we can't bet on you anymore," Luo Liqin answered.
"Hmm… guess we had a good run." Lin Mu nodded.
"There is still the fight against Feng Baxing though. Even if your odds have increased, they are still significantly less than Feng Baxing. For the finals, we can still bet on you." Luo Liqin replied.
"Hmm, that we can do." Lin Mu nodded his head.
"What about against Yao Changying?" Ming Aolian asked.
"Unfortunately, brother Mu Lin's win against Dugu Shanhe was enough to make them equal. We won't be having much profit and the chance of being suspected is also high now. We need a little break." Luo Liqin answered.
"That's right. We can wait now till the final. The temple is also going to be investigating things thus it is best to avoid it." Lin Mu replied, having talked to High Elder Juxue.
Now that things had been sorted out and Lu Xu's fight had ended, things became a bit more released for everyone. After all, they didn't need to fight anymore, and all they needed to do was wait.
The rest was all left up to Lin Mu and his 2 fights in the future.
The lessons that Lin Mu was teaching them also came to an end for the time being, as they had already learned quite a lot. Now they needed to focus on analyzing the information they had been taught and internalize it.
Self-refection was necessary for their further growth and cultivation was something only they could further through their effort.
The next match was now between Childe Wildfire and Daoist Broken Dust.
Lin Mu and the rest watched it and found it to be a bit pitiful.
Daoist Broken Dust was actually decently strong, but his fifth Tribulation Stage Cultivation base didn't hold up against Childe Wildfire.
Childe Wildfire seemed to be rather violent this time around and directly filled the Spatial Plane with a sea of fire, leaving Daoist Broken Dust little space to fight. Even flying in the sky was useless with Childe Wildfire shooting down a flurry of fireballs from there.
If a mortal were to see the scene of the fight, they would simply think that it was hell on earth. An apocalyptic scene that would terrify them to no end.
Still, Daoist Broken Dust wasn't someone who'd give up when he was against a tough adversary. He had his face to keep and still fought till the end.
Their fight ended up being the longest in this round and took nearly two hours to finish.
Though Lin Mu could tell that Childe Wildfire was actually going easy on the man. He knew that Childe Wildfire had already reached the Sixth Tribulation Stage of the Immortal realm and had even improved his Dao Embryo and skills.
If he wished, he could have easily ended the fight within the first half an hour or so.
But perhaps the man respected Daoist Broken Dust on some level, thus giving him an honorable fight.
A fight that he would surely lose, but he wouldn't be losing his face.
And that is exactly what happened as Childe Wildfire won in the end.
"Childe Wildfire has defeated Daoist Broken Dust!" the elder announced, confirming it for all.
With that done, the two contestants appeared on the platform. Daoist Broken Dust looked rather haggard. His robes had been burned in multiple places and his sleeves were entirely gone.
His beard was also singed along with his eyebrows, which would probably take a while to grow back.
~Sigh~
The man just let out a sigh before taking his leave. It was clear that he didn't wish to stay there anymore.
Childe Wildfire was the same, as he left almost immediately after the results were announced.
"The Quarter finals have come to an end. The Semi Finals will start tomorrow!" The elder announced.
But unlike before, he didn't stop speaking there.
"As for the matches, they are already decided!" The elder said, much to their surprise.
"WHOA!" the audience seemed eager to see it.
~SHUA~
The elder waved his hand and the formation screen changed accordingly. There four images appeared.
On the top there was none other than the Third Prince, Feng Baxing and he was matched up against the person who had just left.
"THE PRINCE IS AGAINST CHILDE!"
"This is gonna be exciting! I can't wait!"
And the second match of the semifinals was Lin Mu against Yao Changying
"Who do you think will win?" the people were already discussing.
"It'll be Feng Baxing of course."
"Nah, it could also be Childe Wildfire. Didn't you see this fight? He was so much stronger!"
"What about Mu Lin and Yao Changying?"
"Hard to tell. They seem almost equal."
"Don't both of them also use Sword Intent?"
"OH YEAH! Guess it'll be a fight of sword masters."
"Unless Daoist Mu Lin also uses his bow."
The speculation among the audience would likely not stop until the match actually happened.
Lin Mu and his companions who saw the catchups were not as surprised though.
"Just as we thought, the temple is matching up those with similar strength." Luo Liqin spoke.
"So they estimate Brother Mu Lin to be on the same level as Yao Changying?" Ming Dandan asked.
"Yes. Though at this point, it wouldn't matter as much. It's good for us, since Yao Changying is our target." Lu Xu spoke.
Lin Mu stayed silent though, as he was still thinking about the match. He knew he needed to have a few plans in his mind against Yao Changying.
'We don't know how much she is weakened after all…' Lin Mu thought to himself.
But while he was thinking all this, he suddenly felt his Communication Jade Slip hum.
"Huh?" Lin Mu held the jade slip and checked the message that had arrived. 'It's the Crown Prince?' he was a bit surprised.
The message was short and just said a few words.
'We need to meet.'
Lin Mu replied to it with an agreement, and the crown prince told him where to meet and what time.
'It's not at the palace grounds… they want to meet near the Tournament grounds huh… guess they want to keep it private.' Lin Mu reckoned.
Since the message had arrived, Lin Mu decided to head out. The message said to meet them an hour later, which would pass by the time Lin Mu arrived.
"I'll head out for a bit." Lin Mu said to his companions.
"Sure. You have time till tomorrow anyways, Brother." Lu Xu said while the others bid him goodbye.
Lin Mu left the restaurant and headed to the place that the Crown Prince had mentioned. Surprisingly, it was a small bookshop that was at the very edge of the area.
It took Lin Mu forty minutes just to get there, due to the sheer amount of crowd there was right now.
Still, he arrived early and simply needed to wait for the others to be there.
