Chapter 376 - Disappointment

"Please Guide me, Lord Xuanyuan Fei," Murong Ki spoke.

"I shall do my best Lord Murong Ki." Xuanyuan Fei replied.

This was the standard etiquette at the start of the fight and the two contestants would create sufficient space between them before fighting. 

Murong Ki took a fighting stance and let Xuanyuan Fei take the first attack.

"HAA!" A punch was executed by Xuanyuan Fei, which was dodged by Murong Ki.

Lin Mu could see that they were using some martial skills and the change in their spirit qi fluctuations that arose. Just from looking at them, Lin Mu estimated that Murong Ki was at the late stage of the QI refining realm while Xuanyuan Fei was the same.

But from the strength of his attack, Lin Mu was a bit disappointed. He had expected them to be much better than this.

The rest of the fight went rather quickly and was finished in five minutes with the winner being Murong Ki.

~Sigh~

"That was a bit boring…" Lin Mu muttered to himself.

But when he saw the rest of the audience, they were excited and were cheering the contestants on. Wu Hei also heard Lin Mu's words and gave a wry smile. When he had originally thought of choosing Lin Mu as his Representative he had also thought of him to be on this level or a bit above it.

Now that he had the personal experience and witnessed a simple demonstration, Wu Hei knew that the competition would be a joke for him. Only the core condensation realm cultivators would give him a challenge, but even then since it wasn't a full fledged fight, the results would be predictable.

This was why he had put Lin Mu's fight at the very last so that the audience could enjoy the fights. Though Lin Mu wasn't the only person that was bored here. Wu Teng seemed to be the same and had already given up on looking.

He was now busy stuffing his mouth with the snack that the servants had brought them. Zhen Sui was giving him a warning glare, but he seemed to be oblivious to it and Yi Zi Jin didn't seem to want to look at him either.

Meanwhile, the disciples of the Tri cauldron peony sect were still looking at the Tournament with interest. Lin Mu couldn't tell why, but it seemed strange as he thought that they would have seen much better fights than this.

Five more fights happened and they were rather boring as well. During all these fights Lin Mu realized that they were only using some physical skills and not any weapons.

"Are weapons against the rules?" Lin Mu questioned Wu Hei.

"Not really. But most people here are better at physical skills and would not use normal weapons as it would be detrimental to them. While the others that do have spirit weapons would not use them as they would not think it to be worth that." Wu Hei answered.

"Hah! That's all just excuses. They are afraid that they will injure and damage their precious faces." Wu Teng said while taking a bite of fruit. "Real men fight no matter what they got and give it their all." He added, this time with a fierce fight.

Lin Mu could feel the change in his aura for a moment there and understood that it was obtained from fighting in many battles.

"He is right. Look at the people here, while they are cultivators barely anyone has true experience of fighting with their lives on the line. That is why they only have appearance but not quality." Xukong agreed.

"Wu Teng! Mind your manners, you cannot speak like that about the guests." Zhen Sui chided.

"Humph! They know their worth and if they want to complain they can take it up with me." Wu Teng said not cowering, with core condensation realm cultivation at full display.

"Teng!" Zhen Sui said again, this time in a stronger tone.

Wu Teng rolled his eyes as he withdrew his spirit qi fluctuations. Lin Mu saw that now pretty much everyone in the stadium was looking at them as many of them had been shocked by the spirit qi fluctuations. Even the core condensation realm cultivator Enlai Lan was shocked by it.

"Seem like your brother is stubborn when it comes to battle, huh?" Lin Mu whispered to Wu Hei.

"That he is. While he does fear mother, there are things where he wouldn't back down no matter what. One of them being a battle. He's been through a lot of fights and has even been to the Northern frontier before to battle with the Northern tribes." Wu Hei said.

"Oh, he's been to the Pear's belt? So he was part of the vermilion legion as well?" Lin Mu questioned.

"He was yes… temporarily. He returned to the kingdom and was assigned his own battalion after that." Wu Hei answered.

This was new information to Lin Mu, as he hadn't expected Wu Teng to have such a past. Still, he gained a bit more respect in his heart for Wu Teng. There weren't many people who would willingly go to fight at the Pear's belt.

Not only the climate was harsh, but the northern tribes were said to be even more cruel. Most of the people in the vermilion legion were volunteers, yet not everyone was approved. This showed that Wu Teng actually had the experience and skill to back up his words.

'No wonder the other aristocrats seemed to tolerate him. Its not just his status but the strength that scares them.' Lin Mu thought to himself.

"We shall now draw the next two contestants." The referee announced.

He then shook a wooden cylinder a few times till a small stick fell out of it. On that stick a name was written. 

"The first contestant is… Gen Jou!" He announced, and the person named Gen Jou walked down from the seating area.

"The second contestant is… Enlai Lan!" Loud cheers were heard as soon as the name was spoken.

It was obvious that Enlai Lan was a popular choice for the tournament.