Chapter 374 - Start Of The Tournament
Lin Mu looked at the earthen qi pill for a bit and deliberated on it before finally consuming it. As soon as the pill touched his tongue, it released its medicinal properties and melted. Lin Mu swallowed the medicinal liquid and felt it spreading in his stomach.
The earth elemental spirit qi traveled through his meridians before reaching the surface of his skin and settling there. Lin Mu then saw it forming a thin brown layer of light before it faded away.
"Is that it?" Lin Mu said feeling the same as before.
"The armor will activate when you take an attack." Xukong explained.
"Oh, I understand Senior." Lin Mu said before leaving the room.
Today was going to be a big day, and it was better if he was at the manor earlier than the reported time. Lin Mu saw that there was already a carriage waiting for him outside the courtyard.
"Lord Mu Lin, please." The carriage driver was standing beside the door of the carriage waiting for him.
Lin Mu entered the carriage and it started moving. He peeked out of the window and could see fewer people on the streets. But the number of guards had increased instead.
"Hmm, did Wu Hei do this or is this just the normal procedure?" Lin Mu muttered to himself.
Thankfully, because the streets were rather vacant, the carriage was able to reach the manor rather swiftly. Lin Mu alighted from the carriage and saw the other carriages that were parked there. More of them were also arriving and he could see the neatly dressed aristocrats.
Some of the people looked at him for a bit before going on their way. Because of how simply Lin Mu was dressed compared to others, the aristocrats didn’t pay much attention to him. Lin Mu was thankful for this and liked it better than being stared at all the time.
"Lord Mu Lin!" Someone suddenly spoke.
Lin Mu looked at the source of the voice and found that it was the steward old Lao.
"Young master Wu Hei is waiting for you inside." The steward spoke.
"Alright, take me to him." Lin Mu said.
The two of them entered the manor and this time Lin Mu could see the changes in the decorations. Everything was much more opulent than before and there were more servants than before as well.
"Where is the martial competition going to be held?" Lin Mu asked seeing that it was unsuitable to hold it inside the house as it could be easily damaged.
"We have set up the stage in the grounds behind the manor and the seating arrangements have been made as well." Old Lao answered.
Lin Mu nodded his head as that did seem to be more appropriate. The two of them reached a room that Lin Mu had not been to before.The roots of this story extend from novell bìn origin.
"I guess we’ll just see to it when it comes to it." Wu Hei said seeing that Lin Mu was fine with it.
"Oh yes, what’s are their cultivation bases?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Enlai Lan is at the early stage of the core condensation realm while I do not know exactly about Qing Yuan Tiu. There was no mention of it in the letter and neither could we ask her directly as it would go against the etiquette.
But I’ve seen her and she shouldn’t be that strong, at most at the mid stage of the core condensation realm." Wu Hei answered.
"I see." Lin Mu responded. "And how is the tournament going to happen?"
"There will be random lots drawn and match sets will be made. The winner of every match will move up to the next set and it will continue till we have our final winner. As of now, we have sixteen match sets and thirty three contestants." Wu Hei explained.
"Thirty three contestants? Is there one person less or extra?" Lin Mu curiously asked.
"Actually, it’s three people more than we expected. They came four days ago and joined at the last moment. Qing Yuan Tiu is one of them and the other two are some cultivators from nearby clans of the neighboring cities. They are not really on good terms with the mayor, yet they chose to come so as to pay respects to the Tri cauldron peony sect." Wu Hei stated.
"So Qing Yuan Tiu is alone here?" Lin Mu picked up.
"Yeah, she’s come here alone." Wu Hei stated.
Lin Mu was now feeling even more suspicious of Qing Yuan Tiu and wondered what was going on with the Autumn valley sect. Still, he thought that it would just be better to wait and see how everything progresses.
"What match am I in?" Lin Mu questioned.
"You are in the last one, oh and you will also be fighting with one of the two aristocrats that came at the last moment." Wu Hei answered.
"Alright, let’s go there then if you are done." Lin Mu said.
And just as he said this, a knock on the door was heard.
"Brother! What are you doing here all cooped up? Let’s go the tournament is gonna start anytime now." The door suddenly opened and in walked Wu Teng.
~Sigh~
A sigh escaped Wu Hei’s lips as he saw that his brother was already a bit drunk. It was only ten am in the morning and this was never good for him, as Wu Hei knew that his elder brother would be causing problems soon.
"May as well leave now." Wu Hei agreed.
"Ah! I see brother Mu Lin is here too!" Wu Teng greeted.
"Good morning Lord Wu Teng." Lin Mu greeted as well.
The three of them then left the room and walked towards the backyard of the manor. The distance was rather large, and it took them about five minutes to reach the stage area.