It was clear that he was goading Li Mu.

A blatant goading that bordered on undisguised humiliation.

Every pair of eyes panned from the arena to Li Mu.

But the silver faceless mask betrayed nothing of Li Mu’s expression, making it impossible for everyone else to look at him and no one could tell what he was thinking.

Everyone was sure that death was certain for Li Yidao.

The Heavenly Legends had heard enough of what had happened two days ago. A steward who had chosen to lean towards the favor of the Little Heavenly Devil was killed. Then both the Sixth and Eleventh Princes were fended off through varying, but no less ignominious methods. Apparently, there were rumors that the princes were so enraged that they had several of their maids beaten alive. Even the Emperor of the Baiyu Dynasty was alarmed by these incidents that he decreed to have Li Yidao punished for contempt of authority, although the notion was stopped by the emissary of the Heavenly Fox Clan.

“Li Yidao is in the contention of becoming a Heavenly Legend. He is not to be harmed before the contest begins. But if he survives the contest and he fails to qualify as the best ten, then you’re free to do what you will with him.”

Such were the words of the emissary of the Clan.

And as a result, Li Yidao’s fame blazed through every corner of the imperial palace like a bushfire.

The contest continued.

The sanguinary bloodiness of the Little Heavenly Devil in the first battle gave this tournament a fitting and savage prologue.

The next battle featured the Sacred Acolyte of the Destruction Temple who was placed second on the list of rankings. The Acolyte easily reduced his opponent into ashes with just a mouthful of incinerating flames.

In the third fight, the Saint of Blood Sea transfigured the blood of his opponent into a burgeoning aura of rancor and malice that ballooned and imploded, killing a General-realm bear monster directly.

It didn’t take long for blood to spatter all over the arena.

As a result, the tournament had to be paused after the tenth match so that the imperial guards could first wash away the blood and dispose of the corpses and carcasses.

None of the defeated from the first ten fights survived.

Finally, a surrender came in the eleventh match.

A Python Bull Clan member at the threshold of the General Realm gave up directly and withdrew from the tournament.

As the first Heavenly Legend contestant to surrender, one could imagine the many disdainful and contemptuous stares everyone gave him.

Even as he looked shocked, he appeared hardly ashamed at all. On the contrary, very placidly he proclaimed, “I’ve come to contest for marriage, not to die senselessly. I am not foolish enough to insist on fighting even when I am aware that I am no match to my opponent. Such senseless death is meaningless.”

The tall and burly young man strode away with a long, black staff with snake-like motifs engraved on its entire length hanging on its back and marched out of the imperial palace.

Peals of mocking laughter haunted his every step.

But Li Mu somehow felt that this young man’s remarkable bearing and composure might portend an extraordinary future for him.

The carnage in the fighting ring persisted.

The carcass of the defeated contestant of the twelfth round was kicked off the arena with his blood soaking through the slates between the tiles. The air was still reverberating with the final cries for mercy in the dead young man’s final moments, illustrating how cruel and brutal the fights were becoming.

Came the thirteenth round, the contestant whose ranking was lower immediately surrendered.

He was one of the many who had been hurling mockery and jeers at the young Python Bull Clan contestant who surrendered earlier and now, he understood what it meant to take a step back.

“This is a meaningless battle.”

He too turned and left.

With the two surrenders as precedents, more and more contestants chose to give up as soon as they realized that they could not match their opponents.

Then again, there was also no shortage of fools whose irrational bravado led to them giving away their lives in the ring.

Rules of this tournament dictated that defeated contestants would have been rounded up for another stage in this tournament. But now that the defeated contestants numbered next to zero, there would hardly be any need for any more contests.

Finally came Li Mu’s turn.

His opponent was Lin Buyan, the Manic Challenger.

Li Mu strode up the steps of the arena slowly.

Lin Buyan gazed at his opponent and said, “I’m not going to show any mercy.”

Saying nothing, Li Mu’s hand reached for the hilt of his saber hanging on his back.

Lin Buyan has yet to draw the sword still hanging from his waist.

The deadly glint of steel flashed suddenly.

The battle was over.

Lin Buyan was sent flying out of the ring and he crashed fell to the ground.

No one could believe what just happened.

The stroke was just so lightning quick that some even thought they imagined it.

No one could see how Li Mu had attacked.

Some even wondered if Li Mu had ever drawn his weapon at all.

At any rate, Lin Buyan himself was still perplexed and dazed when he returned to his senses.

He did not even see it coming. One bright flash and there he was, already out of the ring.

He clambered to his feet and examined himself, finding no wounds at all. Then he opened his mouth as if to speak.

Bang!

The sword still hanging from his belt burst into powdery filings with a loud bang and scattered in the wind.

Lin Buyan’s face fell at once.

Only now did he realize the gap between his and Li Yidao’s strength.

“You…” he nearly snarled at Li Mu, although he cupped his hands in salute and muttered bitterly, “Thank you for showing mercy.

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With that, he swiveled around and left with a dismal look on his face.

Lin Buyan was the first defeated contestant to leave the arena alive.

His earlier statement of how he would never show mercy served only as a mockery to himself.

With his faceless mask, Li Mu evinced zero forms of emotion as he retreated back down the steps wordlessly and drifted back to his seat.

“Heavens, you’re incredible, Master Li.

Bi Yan, the little fox girl was clenching her fists with exhilaration. She trotted over to give Li Mu some massage on his shoulders.

Her petite face was flushed red with excitement.

She had been nervous and anxious for him when he first stepped into the arena.

Much has changed since that night for the former head housemaid of the imperial household.

Gone were the blind obedience and reticent demureness honed after years of training and the quiet and reserved little girl was replaced with the vim and vigor inherent to a little child whose innocence had been unearthed, the purest and most pristine form of natural innocence.

Li Mu closed his eyes to rest.

On the outside, he appeared as calm as a lake. The refined demeanor befitting that of a respected savant only made him more outstanding.

Deep inside, Li Mu was careening with shock and amazement.

Evidently, it was his display of skills that had earned him such treatment. He had never been served and taken care of by a beautiful lady before.

The next battle was about to begin.

The clamorous din of battle echoed from atop the arena.

Yet still, many were still head over heels over Li Mu’s stroke in the last fight.

No one understood what happened.

No one knew what happened.

No one even saw what happened.

What on earth was that?!

A number of other contestants grew so awed and fearful of Li Mu that they were beginning to wonder what should they do if they were to face off against him in the future rounds.

Yet there were also other favorites who merely scoffed at his display of skills, hardly taking him seriously at all.

The first round of the tournament finally came to an end at sundown that day.

Such was the difference between the contestants who were fighting in this round that even the longest battle lasted barely more than fifteen minutes.

Out of the sixty Heavenly Legend aspirants, eight gave up and surrendered while only one defeated contestant survived with the rest of the twenty-one defeated killed in the ring.

The contestant who lost his fight but managed to survive was none other than Lin Buyan.

Hence, with the notable exception of the Manic Challenger, every other contestant who had lost his fight had also lost their lives in the cruelest and most painful of ways.

Li Mu was the only victor who – quite literally – stayed his blade.

Night befell the city, signifying the end of the first round.

The thirty Heavenly Legend contestants who qualified for the next round returned to their respective stone chambers to recuperate and rest to prepare for another day of more brutal and more savage fights to come.

Li Mu came back to his stone chamber and spent some time in the bubbling spring of spiritual energies with the Bi Yan attending to him before he retreated to a private alcove to train.

Bi Yan did some housekeeping and when her work was done, she sat on the cold and hard steps of the chamber. There she sat, pondering quietly with her chin resting on her hands.

The silvery orb of the moon outside gradually rose up. She knelt in the shaft of moonlight that entered the room and she clasped her hands to pray.

“O mighty Goddess of the Moon, please watch over Master Li Mu. May he win his battle tomorrow. But even if he loses, please keep him safe… Just keep safe, Goddess. I promise I’ll do anything!”

The pale glow from the moon up high fell on the petite face of the little fox girl as she prayed reverently, the light casting a soft sheen as if the Goddess was indeed giving her her very own blessing.

The next day.

The tournament continued.

The first one to step into the ring was the same contestant as the day before: the Little Heavenly Devil.

Only this time, his opponent, a young fledgling of the Green Snake Clan, immediately chose to forfeit the fight.

Fortunate enough to survive the first round, the young man was hoping that he would not be matched against anyone strong and powerful. With more luck, he wanted to see if he could go further. Yet to his dismay, the Little Heavenly Devil was assigned as his next opponent. Knowing better than to gamble his life away, he admitted defeat readily.

The Little Heavenly Devil stood atop the arena and crooked a finger at Li Mu. “You can surrender if we meet, Li Mu. But don’t you ever think I’ll let you go.”

Li Mu remained in his seat and said not a word as if he hardly heard a word.

In the following matches, the opponents of both the Sacred Acolyte and the Saint of Blood Sea immediately yielded when they learned who were they facing off against.

Next came Li Mu’s acquaintances.

Ming Yue might have participated in this tournament in hopes of finding a sweetheart, but at the sordid flirting of her opponent, she fell into a frenzied rage that ended in her reducing her opponents into bloody strips of flesh and viscera. She returned to the arena today, looking more irascible and angered than yesterday. The opponent today had only just flashed her a grin and in her manic state of mind, she gravely wounded the young scion of the Snow Wolf Clan, forcing him to leap out of the ring to save his dear life.

Even the youth in robes of black defeated the scion of the Xingwan Family in just three moves.

That surprised Li Mu enough.

The last time he encountered these two, they were no stronger than the Saint of the Blood Sea in power and level of cultivation. What have they experienced in the past few years that they have now become so powerful?!

The speed of their growth was comparable to Li Mu himself, who has had the luck of benefiting much through his many adventures.

They must have either stumbled upon fortuitous encounters that greatly benefited them, or they have found powerful and influential factions to latch themselves to.

When it was finally Li Mu’s turn to fight, Bi Yan balled her fists tightly with anticipation, her fingernails digging deep into her flesh, although she did not quite feel the pain in the throes of her anxiety.

Li Mu’s opponent this round was the son of the chieftain of the Golden Condor Clan.

In his battle yesterday, this young prince had ripped his opponent apart with his bare talons. That was no duel. That was a slaughter.

“You will die a horrible death,” growled the chieftain’s son with a scathing look as he licked his lips. “You’ll die on this day for what happened to the Heavenly Devil Master.”

“Oh?” Li Mu responded placidly, “So you’re another lackey of the Little Heavenly Devil?”

“What did you say? We are allies of the same cause! Colleagues pursuing a common goal! How dare you!” the young chieftain lashed out with rage. It was true that he intended to build a friendship with the Heavenly Devil Sect. His clan has long had dealings with the Heavenly Devil Sect but Li Mu’s teasing angered him enough to discombobulate the flow of his internal energies enough to cause an internal injury.

“Well, I guess birds of a feather flock together. No matter how filthy and foul you both are,” muttered Li Mu indifferently.

Li Mu’s faceless mask only seemed to substantiate the ridicule and mockery to no end.

So much that the junior chieftain decided that no amount of words would accomplish anything.

“I’ll tear you to shreds!” he shrieked, his eyes flaring with livid rage as he channeled his magic. His arms turned into a pair of steely talons of gold with motifs of glyphs and runes convoluting and twisting around his golden appendages. The talons glowed with a majestic sheen as the junior’s chieftains’ General-realm powers radiated across every corner of the arena, shrouding the whole fighting ring into a veil of full gold.

As a rare alien species, members of the Golden Condor Clan were all born with incredible magic that could potentially distort even the fabric of Time and Space.

The audience around the ring reeled with silence and awe.

Such was the power of the young chieftain of the Golden Condor Clan that he could very well be placed within the ten greatest contestants of this tournament.

Without any doubt, he had been hiding some of his strength in yesterday’s fight.

Unbelievably nervous, Bi Yan watched quietly amongst the crowd, so anxious that she could hardly breathe. Her hands balled into fists as she murmured a quiet prayer for Li Mu’s safety.

Inside the arena, Li Mu’s hand slowly moved to the top of his left shoulder to grope for the handle of his saber hanging from his back.