The time for Lin Mu's fight with Yao Changying approached, but the audience was still continually talking about the previous battle.
To them, the fight between Childe Wildfire and Feng Baxing was possibly the most exciting fight in the tournament so far. So much so that they didn't take much interest in Lin Mu's fight.
It was somewhat understandable too, as they simply thought that the winner was already decided. Only a few in the audience even thought that Lin Mu might even give Yao Changying a proper fight. To the majority, the match was predictable and Yao Changying would be the inevitable winner.
In fact, there were people betting on how long it would take for Yao Changying to defeat Lin Mu instead of who would be winning.
Luo Liqin saw this and spent no time in taking advantage of the bets. He quickly placed a significant amount of fortune on Lin Mu's win while waiting for the fight to start.
~humm~
The token in Lin Mu's waist hummed again as a reminder, waking him up.
"Time for me to head out." Lin Mu said as he stood up.
His expression was calm, and it didn't seem like he was bothered about the fight at all. This inspired confidence in the minds of his companions, who all spoke up.
"Good luck brother Mu Lin!"
"You are bound to win this fight."
"We'll be waiting for you eagerly!"
"Mmhmm, I'll see you guys in a bit." Lin Mu said before taking his leave.
But as he was walking down the stairs, he saw a familiar woman.
"Daoist Mu Lin has come rather far. I can't help but feel pleased." The elegantly dressed woman spoke.
"Countess… I hope that you'll continue to like my performance." Lin Mu replied as a courtesy.
"Of course. I hope that you win all the way to the end." The Countess laughed. "And if you win in the end, I'll even throw you a large banquet, haha!"
"I'll look forward to it. But for now, I have to take my leave." Lin Mu replied.
"Go on, show that woman tricks can only bring one so far." The Countess smiled before leaving.
Lin Mu went down and got a few more looks from the staff of the restaurant, but they were a bit more reserved this time. No one talked to him or tried to stop him the rest of the way, and Lin Mu quickly reached the tournament grounds.
"Oh? She's already waiting." Lin Mu hadn't expected for Yao Changying to have been there beforehand.
The woman had her eyes closed and stood with a still expression. Her hand was still resting on the handle of her sword though, and Lin Mu could sense a faint aura of sharpness around her.
'Looks like she's ready for a battle too…' Lin Mu could tell that from just a look.
He got onto the platform and waited for the arrays to get ready.
The audience was talking about them as they watched him appear.
Some talked about the winning chances, while others wondered just how much power would Yao Changying would be showing them today.
Lin Mu spread his immortal sense and was ready to observe any changes that might be happening to Yao Changying's demeanor. He was checking whether she had any defensive tools active, or if there was anything else going on with her.
'Will I be able to get her with a surprise attack again?' Lin Mu wondered as he lightly glanced at the bracelet on his wrist.
The bracelet had been strengthened by Crown Princess Shang and should be a lot more effective than before, which should make things easier for Lin Mu. Though at the same time, Lin Mu somewhat felt like he wanted to fight the woman at her full potential.
It was his curiosity to see just how strong she was and also whether he could stand up against her when his Spatial Skills were restrained.
~Sigh~
'I shouldn't think beyond what's necessary for now. It'll only distract me in the fight. I cannot take my opponent lightly.' Lin Mu reminded himself.
He recalled his experience with Dugu Shanhe and knew that underestimating an opponent could be very dangerous. His previous fight was a wakeup call and made Lin Mu be a lot more cautious about it all.
"The gate is now ready. Both contestants shall enter it!" The Elder overseeing the tournament finally announced.
~huu~
Lin Mu took a deep breath and walked towards the teleportation gate. His Spatial Perception was also activated, as he wished to strike the woman as soon as he stepped into the Spatial Plane. At the same time, he wanted to know what action she would be taking.
~SHUA~
Lin Mu and Yao Changying both stepped into the gate and were soon teleported away, their bodies turning into a blur.
In the teleportation Channel, Lin Mu spread his immortal sense and used his Spatial Perception to quickly narrow down the spot where he and Yao Changying would be arriving at.
'I need to take the initiative,' Lin Mu thought and manipulated his arrival location to be just behind Yao Changying.
Normally the contestants should appear facing each other, but Lin Mu's improved understanding of the space as well as the array allowed him to manipulate it just enough to change the normal orientation.
~SHUA~
~THUD~
A few moments later, the two finally appeared inside the Spatial Plane, and the formation screen focused on them. But the people in the audience noticed the strangeness.
"Where's Daoist Mu Lin?" to them, only Yao Changying seemed to have arrived.
The spot where Lin Mu was supposed to arrive was empty and the fomentation screen was focusing there.
"LOOK!" One of the people pointed to another formation screen that was pointing at the back of Yao Changying.
"He's behind her!" someone shouted.
"How did he get there?" they couldn't believe it.
Lin Mu had appeared right behind Yao Changying just as he had planned, and was just a meter away from her. His hand was already extended and was about to touch the woman's back.
"You dare?" But much to Lin Mu's surprise, Yao Changying moved.
~CLANG~
She extended her left hand and blocked Lin Mu's hand, preventing it from touching her back. He was stopped just an inch away from her!
He had intentionally come from the left so that Yao Changying wouldn't be able to draw her sword in time. And yet, she had blocked it with her free hand!
Lin Mu widened his eyes as he felt the energy covering Yao Changying's hand. The energy was preventing him from making direct contact with her, and thus the bracelet hadn't activated.
"You thought I wouldn't know your tricks?" Yao Changying said with a hint of anger in her voice. "I've seen your fights. You like to ambush others. But it won't work on me." She said before pushing back with her hand.
~WHOOSH~
A palm imprint flew out of Yao Changying's left palm, forcing Lin Mu back at least five meters before he stopped.
"You've caught me." Lin Mu lightly replied, "But I have more than that." He said before directly stomping on the ground.
~CRACK~
The ground shattered under the force, as Lin Mu shot towards Yao Changying at a great speed.
"Not so easily," Yao Changying frowned and drew out her sword.
~SHING~
The longsword hummed with energy as Sword Intent poured into it. She drew it in one stroke and slashed it out in the same movement.
~SLASH~
The sword slash reached Lin Mu almost immediately, threatening to cut him down. But that wasn't what happened, as Lin Mu met it with his own sword.
~CLANG~
Afternoon pine struck the sword slash, blocking it.
"That's not enough." Yao Changying smirked, as the Sword intent imbued slash split apart.
While it was blocked in the middle, the slash continued onwards and struck Lin Mu's body!
The people watching it widened their eyes in shock.
"He's done for…"
~DENG~
But unlike what they had thought, a shocking thing happened.
The two parts of the sword slash did hit Lin Mu, and even damaged his robes but they didn't manage to actually injure him.
~RIP~
Lin Mu's robes were cut, revealing his body underneath. A faint line was left where the Sword Slash had hit him.
"What is that… why's he glowing?" the audience noticed his peculiar skin.
"He… he's not injured at all?" They saw. "How's that possible?"
"Not even a cut! Is that an armor?" they wondered.
Yao Changying also noticed that her attack hadn't worked and furrowed her brows.
Lin Mu, on the other hand, looked at his robes that weren't regenerating. In fact, he could feel the formation of the robes simply dying out in an instant.
~Sigh~
"I'll have to buy more self repairing robes… guess Sword intent can damage them permanently." Lin Mu muttered to himself, much to Yao Changying's surprise.
"You… you're bothered about your clothes in all this?"
