"Hmm… They certainly don't stand out much." Lin Mu muttered upon sensing the cultivation bases of the two.
Both the contestants, Song Fu and Feilei Zhang, were nearly the same in terms of cultivation. The others had commented that there were some other discrepancies between the two, but Lin Mu ignored them.
They were just speculation and not much could be said just by looking. Even for Lin Mu, who had used his immortal sense, there was only so much he could figure out without directly probing into their Dantians.
But doing that would be offensive and would count as interfering in the match. While the overseers of the tournament allowed people to observe the contestants in the starting rounds, there were still limited to how far they could go.
While Lin Mu was thinking about this, a referee appeared on the stage.
"The rules of this round are simple. The two contestants shall fight until either one of them is unable to continue, is pushed out of the ring or admits defeat. Killing the opponent is prohibited and so are crippling moves." The referee dictated.
The rules of the tournament were standard and Lin Mu had fought using them before too.
'It's been such a long time since then…' Lin Mu recalled the first and only tournament that he had fought in. Now that he compared the change in standard, he couldn't help but find it a bit surreal.
~huu~
Taking a deep breath, Lin Mu calmed himself and focused on the fight again.
The two contestants cupped their hands in greeting before the referee spoke again.
"FIGHT!" The referee announced.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.
Song Fu was the first to move and directly attacked with his fists. They glowed in a green light and took on a gauntlet like form around his hands.
"Evergreen Jaguar Fists!"
Song Fu pounced upon Feilei Zhang like a beast, his fists threatening to tear him apart.
"Humph!" But the man wasn't one to be outdone so easily.
He withdrew a pair of whips from his spatial storage tool and swung them toward the man.
~CRACK~
With the speed of the whips, Song Fu was caught off guard and was struck!
~THWACK~
~THWACK~
One of the whips struck the man's right hand while the other struck him on his left shoulder. While he wasn't injured visibly, he was certainly knocked off course, allowing Feilei Zhang to avoid his fists.
Song Fu quickly stepped to the wide and avoided the incoming whip before opening his fists like claws.
~WHOOSH~
They ripped through the air but were unable to hit Feilei Zhang.
"Ugh! You loach." Song Fu cursed before lunging at the man.
"You're the one pouncing like a beast." Feilei Zhang retorted, snapping back with his whips.
The two whips were nearly five meters long, giving the man plenty of range. That, combined with his footwork, Feilei Zhang was basically dancing around the ring. Song Fu, on the other hand, was like a bull that was being led around.
His end turned out to be the same too, as he miscalculated his charge. Just as Song Fu was about to reach Feilei Zhang, the man swung his right whip horizontally, while using his left whip to pull himself to the other side.
He spun around Song Fu like a pinwheel before anchoring his feet on the floor changing the momentum and throwing Song Fu away.
~THUD~
The man landed outside the ring with a dumbstruck expression.
"Feilei Zhang is the winner!" The referee promptly announced.
~WOOOO~
The audience was excited as they watched the first fight end.
"Now that wasn't so bad."
"Feilei Zhang played Song Fu around as if he were a monkey."
"Ahaha! He was simply a tamer with a whip disciplining an unruly beast!"
There was no lack of comments from the audience, with plenty of them mocking Song Fu. The man in question had a frustrated expression on his face when the realization of his loss dawned on him.
Unfortunately for him, his journey in the tournament would come to an end here.
"Not again…" Song Fu shook his head and let out a sigh before retreating to his seat.
Lin Mu who had watched the entire battle closely, only had a few points in his mind.
'Song Fu was too reckless, but the key to Feilei Zhang's victory was his footwork.' Lin Mu understood.
In the entire fight, Song Fu had gotten close to Feilei Zhang several times. If one compared their speeds, Song Fu was clearly the superior one. But Feilei Zhang had his footwork that allowed him to dodge and maneuver around Song Fu better.
The man had assessed his opponent quickly and knew what would be the best.
'The whips aren't his main weapons either.' Lin Mu could tell.
The way Feilei Zhang moved and his body was, Lin Mu could tell that he was actually a sword user. Him using whips was a decision he had made on the spot, and it had worked in his favor.
"Interesting…" In just the very first fight, Lin Mu had obtained small insights in combat.
It was even more clear to him, since he also recognized the techniques that the two men had used. The Evergreen Jaguar Fists was one of the common fist techniques that could be bought in most places.
Lin Mu had seen it in the Grand Sky Pavilion before and had read about it. Other than being aggressive and direct, the technique wasn't that special. It was as common as it could get.
But Feilei Zhang's footwork was different.
Lin Mu found it to be a mix of at least three different foot work techniques and they had been assimilated by the man before being molded according to his own understanding.
'He'll be an interesting opponent to face if he lasts till my turn.' Lin Mu thought. 'He is a swordsman, thus his footwork should be for swordplay too. But he applied it differently this time.'
Lin Mu reckoned the man's power should be greater if he was using a sword.