Xukong's explanation was enough to make Lin Mu take this with grave seriousness.
Enough that he was even willing to use his spatial skills if push came to shove.
'But before that, I can still use something… It'll definitely injure me too, but I can still handle that.' Lin Mu thought to himself with determination.
~SHAU~SHUA~SHUA~
Yao Changying hadn't stopped her attacks either and swung her sword nonstop. Her expression looked a mix of anger and confusion though, which intrigued Lin Mu a bit.
~BOOM~ BOOM~
Of course, Lin Mu didn't dare take the attacks directly with his body. While he could somewhat stall the effects of the Withering Dao, he didn't wish to let it affect him more. Instead, he let the True Earth Heart Dao Embryo's shield take care of it.
~CRACK~
Of course, this led to the shield cracking several times and rocks falling off it. Lin Mu removed the limits on the Dao Embryo and let it absorb as much of his Immortal Qi as it could. He wasn't rationing his Qi anymore and was letting it flow as it wished.
Because of this, the regeneration speed of the great shield increased and was able to recover before the next flurry of attacks.
"Stop running and face your end!" Yao Changying shouted gathering a large cloud of the slate grey aura and thrusting out with it.
The aura transformed into a strange worm that had no eyes but only a mouth. Its body had open wounds on it that were festering and oozing with pus.
It looked disgusting, and the audience started to realize that something was wrong here.
"What is Yao Changying doing?"
"What kind of skill is that? It is certainly not of the Flourishing Flower Sword Sect." The people in the audience wondered.
Though a few experienced elders in the audience could tell that what Yao Changying was using might not necessarily be of the Orthodox path.
And it wasn't just them thinking this, the Elder of the temple overseeing this felt the same.
As such, he secretly held a communication jade slip and sent a message.
'Yao Changying is using lethal attacks using an unorthodox technique. Should I stop the fight?' The elder asked while trying to keep a neutral expression on his face.
It wouldn't do anyone good for him to show anxiety or uncertainty on his face. There were millions of people watching at this time from several worlds. If he showed that things were going wrong, it could lead to a loss of face for the temple.
If they hastily stopped the fight, and things turned out to still be appropriate, the temple could be blamed for incorrect decisions.
'It isn't the first time someone is using unorthodox techniques… And contestants do tend to get agitated when fighting, perhaps Yao Changying is just too angered but won't take the drastic path.' The overseeing elder hoped.
Though he also wondered what exactly was the skill that Yao Changying was using. In all his thousands of years of experience, he had never seen an aura of that sort.
'Formation masters, do we have data on Yao Changying's technique?' The overseeing elder asked while watching Lin Mu retreating high up into the sky.
"None of us can tell what it is just from looking, but we're analyzing it, overseer." The formation masters quickly replied.
Being the ones in charge of controlling and moderating the arrays of the Spatial plane, they needed to be careful about what techniques the contestants were using. Some techniques could very well damage the array after all.
While there hadn't been any in this tournament, they have had several experiences in the past which had taught them enough. They tried to plan for as many contingencies as they could, but there was always something unexpected that could happen.
As the elder and the others watched for updates on Yao Changying, Lin Mu was busy dodging her and trying to rise as far as he could in the sky.
'More… I need to be higher!' Lin Mu thought to himself, continuing to fly upwards.
The move that he had planned needed a lot of distance and height to work. The True Earth Dao heart Dao Embryo's great shield was able to block Yao Changying's attacks, but they were only getting worse with each passing second.
"That illusory festering worm… it's actually corroding the Shield." Lin Mu felt an ache coming from his Dao Embryo, making him look down.
The shield was wrapped by the illusory worm, which seemed to be spreading slate grey energy from its body. This caused the rocks covering the shield to turn to dust and fall off.
It was astounding, as they weren't just any rocks, but one's condensed from Earth Dao and were highly compressed. Even an inch of rock was compressed from a boulder sized rock. This increased the density of the shield and made it tougher.
And yet, it was being eroded away like it was chalk.
"I don't have much time… This'll have to work!" Lin Mu gritted his teeth. "Return!" he dismissed the Great shield, making it fade away.
~KUAAAA~
That caused the illusory festering worm that was wrapped around the shield to lose a target. It then rushed towards Lin Mu, sensing him as a foe. But that wasn't all, as Yao Changying had readied for more attacks.
"Seems like you're finally hitting your limit, Humph!" She scowled before gathering three more clouds of the slate grey aura and thrusting them with her sword.
~KUAAAA~KUAAAA~KUAAAA~
Three more illusory festering worms were created from them and rushed towards Lin Mu. The man's troubles had just multiplied four fold, and he had little to defend with.
Lin Mu noticed this, but couldn't care less. He was already prepared to get injured from this.
Gritting his teeth, Lin Mu released as much of his Qi and immortal essence as he could.
"AHHHHHHHH!" The immortal essence strengthened his body with the Tyrannical Aura as Lin Mu began his descent!
