From what Lin Mu had seen so far, he had to admit that it was beyond his expectations.
"Hahaha!" Lin Mu suddenly laughed, surprising the audience.
"Has he lost it?"
"Maybe. He does have a weaker cultivation base than his opponent after all."
"He might have been able to dodge all this time, but now he's in a tough spot."
"You're right. That Hair guy is certainly something. I don't think I've ever seen a body cultivation technique like that."
"Dual cultivating Qi and body isn't easy and considering his Qi cultivation is at the second tribulation stage, he might have balanced his body with it too."
The people in the audience had a lot to say about it all. There were already people wondering just who Chang Fa was and what his background was.
The bookies and their informants were hard at work, trying to learn about the Iron Pillar Mane clan.
They reckoned since Chang Fa was the 13th heir, there should certainly be more information about them. If not in the Dao Wind Empire, they reckoned they should find it in the other continents.
After all, the informants that were present for the tournament knew about all empires and kingdoms and had their reach spread there too.
~CLANG~CLANG~CLANG~
Chang Fa paid no attention to the talks and simply focused on spinning as he approached Lin Mu. The distance between the two was just five meters when Lin Mu made his move.
"You've certainly caught my interest now. I'd like to see what else does your technique hold." Lin Mu said before a doubled edged sword appeared in his hand.
It was none other than Afternoon Pine!
~HUMM~
As soon as Lin Mu held the sword, his demeanor changed and a wave of oppression spread on the field. The experienced immortals sitting in the audience didn't fail to notice either and those that were swordsmen themselves narrowed their eyes.
"A Sword Cultivator?" The referee said in a low voice.
~SLASH~
In the next moment, a glint of light was seen before a wave of energy covered the ring.
~DENG~DENG~DENG~DENG~
Only a single swing of the sword was needed for a large sword imprint to clash against the spinning form of Chang Fa. His hundreds of spikes were now hitting the sword imprint, unable to progress ahead.
"Huh? WHAT!?" Some of the people in the audience finally realized what was happening.
"Sword Intent! SWORD INTENT!"
"Mu Lin is a Sword cultivator!"
The sharp feeling of Sword intent was unmistakable and with the amount that Lin Mu was exuding showed them that he was no beginner either. This sword intent had been tempered over a long time and had been in several battles.
"Show me more. I'd like to see your clan's skills." Lin Mu asked as he casually stepped to the side.
Chang Fa was unable to change the direction of his movement either, as the incoming sword imprint was pressing upon him too. If he stopped his spinning, he would certainly be struck by it and pushed back.
Though a few seconds later, the Sword imprint disappeared as Lin Mu had already moved away to the side.
"You are certainly a worthy opponent for my clan's techniques. Very well!" Chang Fa finally responded upon stopping.
He had felt the power from Lin Mu's casual swing and knew that even if his own cultivation base was higher, Lin Mu's sword intent was not easy to overcome.
"Iron Pillar Mane Arts! Third Art, Cascading Cowl!" The man shouted, his hair moving in response.
Lin Mu could have easily attacked and defeated the man in this time, but he let him finish.
'Using Hair like this is certainly interesting… It can certainly serve as a surprise move if used at the right time.' To Lin Mu, this was just a learning opportunity.
He had already determined that the abilities of Chang Fa belonged to the body cultivation type. The man was also a dual body and Qi cultivator, but his body cultivation was just equivalent to the first tribulation stage of the immortal realm.
From what Lin Mu could analyze by now, the man was using Qi cultivation to power his hair while his body cultivation was so that he was strong enough to bear it as well as endure the attacks.
'His clan is certainly unique to have balanced both Qi and body cultivation to come up with a technique like this. If there is no balance of both, it simply wouldn't work.' Lin Mu reckoned.
It was quite rare for someone to focus on both paths intentionally, after all. Most that did so were those that needed to compensate for some weakness that was brought upon by following a single one. But even then, they wouldn't follow both paths to the extreme.
After all, they wouldn't have the needed time nor resources for that.
But for a clan to make a technique that necessitated both paths was different. It meant they had the confidence for one to be able to achieve with both paths.
"You will be the first person to witness the true glory of the Iron Pillar mane clan!" Chang Fa said as his form grew.
Lin Mu watched with hawk like eyes as the man's hair softened and started to wrap around his body. It covered every inch of his body and started weaving around it. A few seconds later, it had fully covered his body and made it look twice as bulky.
Chang Fa had grown to a height of 250 centimeters due to the hair enhancing him, while his arms had grown to a thickness of thirty centimeters!
It was as if he had grown into a buff man.
But all of the muscles that he had were composed of hair!
"Now this… is intriguing." Lin Mu couldn't help but say.
~CLACK~ CLACK~
Chang Fa clenched his fists as a crushing sound was heard.
"Now… take my fist!" The man punched towards Lin Mu!
~WHOOSH~
A gust of wind was whipped up because of his punch, but Lin Mu was unfazed. The only thing that moved were his robes, while he only lifted his sword in response.
~CLANG~
Lin Mu's sword blocked the incoming fist while Chang Fa kept on pushing.
"A mere sword isn't enough to harm me, even if you are a sword cultivator." Chang Fa said as his hair muscles rippled.
~WIGGLE~
In the next moment, the hair on his shoulders moved and a tendril shot towards Lin Mu. It quickly wrapped around the sword, and pulled at it.
"You'll need to try harder." Lin Mu said as he directly pulled his hand back.
~SCREECH~
As if metal was being shorn, a loud screeching sound was heard.
Afternoon Pine was ripped out of the man's grasp while Lin Mu used his legs to pivot to the right, avoiding the man's other first.
~DENG~
Chang Fa's fist hit the ground, missing Lin Mu while he twirled around to stab him from the back.
~CLANG~
But Afternoon Pine was stopped from slicing into the man's back. The Hair was dense as if woven from steel, preventing the sword from going deeper than a couple of centimeters.
"My hair is not so weak as to be cut by your sword!" Chang Fa shouted while waving his fist around.
Lin Mu flicked his sword as a sword imprint shot from it, deflecting Chang Fa's attack.
~SLASH~SLASH~SLASH~
Lin Mu didn't stop there either and slashed out several times. Each of his attacks targeted one of the man's parts. Some slashes held back his limbs, while some targeted his torso. There was even a slash going directly for his head, but much to Lin Mu's surprised a hair tentacle formed into a palm and stopped it as well.
"That's quite nice. Your control over hair is still maintained." Lin Mu praised honestly.
"Oh? Is that you mocking my technique?" Chang Fa responded.
"No… I can appreciate the benefits of a technique. It is certainly good." Lin Mu replied without prejudice. "Unfortunately, I don't think you will be able to continue after this round." He added.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.
"We'll see about that!' Chang Fa said before letting out a roar.
~HAAAH!~
All the hair on his body rippled as a powerful aura surged from it. The hair suddenly blew out like a balloon and deflected all the sword imprints that were holding Chang Fa back.
~BOOM~
Without missing a beat, Chang Fa charged after Lin Mu, his fist rippling with power.
"A stronger attack, for sure." Lin Mu muttered as his eyes scanned the power contained in the fist.
The hair was channeling and amplifying all the Qi within his arm, while also toughening it.
Lin Mu reckoned if this were a third tribulation immortal facing it, he would get injured too. But unfortunately, it was him here.
~Sigh~
"Time to finish it." Lin Mu said before activating the skill of Afternoon Pine.
~Hong~
A pillar of yellow light rose up!