Chapter 3426: Retreat And Ning’s Fight

Now the crowd whispered seriously among themselves.

"He is going to break Cattaleya’s record."

"He is unstoppable."

"He is not even tired."

"Who will stand against him?"

But then something happened no one expected.

A clear voice rang from the audience.

"Master!"

Lin Mu paused.

It was Meng Bai.

Meng Bai shouted again, waving from the stands, "Dongxu Ning’s match starts in an hour. We should go watch."

For a moment there was absolute silence.

The crowd whispered in shock.

"He is leaving?"

"Is he insane?"

"His streak will be over if he does this."

But Lin Mu simply nodded.

"Alright. Let us go."

He turned and walked off the stage without hesitation.

The referee blinked.

The audience stared blankly.

The Martial Fist King sect elders exchanged looks that ranged from confusion to terror.

Lin Mu did not care.

He could always start another streak later.

What mattered to him more was watching his student’s friend’s match.

To him, loyalty held more weight than numbers.

And to everyone watching, his decision only made him more frightening.

Because a man who cared so little about victory streaks was a man confident enough to win regardless of circumstances.

A man whose true strength had yet to be shown.

Lin Mu stepped off the ring with the same relaxed expression he always wore, though everyone around him looked as if they had witnessed a calamity disguised as a man. Patriarch Wang and the Dongxu clan elders followed behind him like a silent procession, still trying to reconcile what they had just seen.

The patriarch in particular looked dazed.

Until now he had thought Cattaleya was the most frightening member of Lin Mu’s group. But after watching Lin Mu casually punch through thousands of opponents and then choosing to walk away the moment Meng Bai called him, he finally understood.

Lin Mu was not merely strong.

He was in a completely different realm of strength.

As the group descended the stairs from the Middle Knuckle Stadium, Patriarch Wang leaned toward Daoist Chu and whispered, "I thought your group was extraordinary... but this... this is something beyond what our clan has ever imagined."

"Lin Mu is still holding back." Daoist Chu simply chuckled. "A lot." he added silently at the end.

That single sentence nearly made the patriarch trip on his own foot.

’Holding back?’

’If that was Lin Mu holding back, then what would he look like when he actually fought seriously?’ A chilling excitement ran down the patriarch’s spine.

Somewhere deep inside him a strange desire arose.

He wanted to see Lin Mu in an actual fight. A real fight between equals.

But that dream would have to wait. For now, the priority was his daughter’s first match.

They crossed the bustling pathways of the Great Fist City’s grounds, heading to one of the junior stadiums. These were smaller, less grand arenas but still massive in their own right, capable of hosting thousands of spectators.

Dongxu Ning’s match was scheduled in the East Rising Stadium, named for the rising sun carved into its stone pillars.

As they approached, the crowd parted respectfully. Cattaleya walked ahead, humming happily while munching on roasted beast skewers she bought on the way. Meng Bai walked beside Lin Mu, still buzzing with excitement from his master’s earlier performance.

When they reached the seating area, Dongxu Ning left them and headed into the competitor’s waiting zone. The junior fights were run tightly, each match lasting only a short while unless two true prodigies clashed.

Soon enough, a bell chimed and the announcer declared her match.

"Next, Dongxu Ning of the Dongxu Clan versus Luo Xiang of the Eastwind Valley!"

Dongxu Ning walked out with calm confidence. Her jade bone aura shimmered faintly, creating a protective sheen around her. Her opponent, a young Dao Shell realm cultivator, seemed competent but also visibly nervous.

One minute later, Dongxu Ning stood victorious.

Her jade finger Dao Embryo danced around her like a fragment of crystal light. Her physical strikes were elegant yet lethal, each move clean enough to be studied by any junior hoping to improve.

She did not stop after one match.

She continued and racked up ten victories within the span of an hour, stopping only when her Qi reserves dipped to nearly half.

"She needs to conserve her energy," Lin Mu commented. "The Dao Treading realm prodigies will appear later. Better she fights fresh."

Patriarch Wang nodded in agreement. "She has done well. I am proud of her."

Meng Bai smiled at that, and Dongxu Ning, who had returned to the seating area, shot him a quick glance that made him look away awkwardly.

Daoist Chu raised an eyebrow. Elyon smirked. Cattaleya laughed outright.

"You two are cute," she declared, elbowing Meng Bai in the ribs hard enough to make him cough.

After Dongxu Ning’s run ended, they stayed to watch the rest of the junior matches as Meng Bai’s turn might come in the next couple hours. The next rounds came quickly, showcasing a range of talents and quirky fighting styles.

Lin Mu watched each fight with sharp eyes. Even though he was silent, the Dongxu elders noticed him observing carefully, as if studying the juniors’ footwork, breathing, and ways they manipulated Qi.

At one point, Lin Mu suddenly leaned forward.

There was a youth on the stage, perhaps appearing twenty in mortal years, though likely several hundred in truth. He carried a massive hammer that looked too heavy even for immortals and fought with a strange mixture of direct brutality and illusions.

His cultivation rested at the absolute peak of the Dao Treading realm. His presence filled the arena like thunder waiting to fall.

Two Dao Embryos floated above him.

One was a heavy, iron colored hammer shaped embryo that pulsed with raw Hammer Dao traces.

The other was a flower. A delicate, translucent bloom that opened and closed with shimmering petals. Yet every petal that drifted formed an illusion. it might look to be a Wood Dao Embryo but it was an Illusion Dao Embryo.

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