Young Master Du Long found it somewhat strange.
Why was this little ant wasting his efforts for nothing?
The others found it strange as well.
Anyone who was not an idiot could see that Mu Yuan's swordsmanship simply could not break through Young Master Du Long's spiritual energy defense.
Clearly, Mu Yuan was no idiot.
"Could it be that he was competing with Young Master Du Long in spiritual energy consumption?"
Mu Yuan had drawn his sword no fewer than several hundred times, yet his breathing remained steady and he had expended very little spiritual energy.
Maintaining a spiritual energy barrier was different; on the contrary, it consumed an enormous amount of spiritual energy.
Mm.
That had to be it.
Mu Yuan and Young Master Du Long were fighting a war of attrition.
Whoever lasted until the end would be the final victor.
The others could think of it, and Young Master Du Long had thought of it too. A vicious look immediately appeared on his face as powerful spiritual energy surged from his body and gathered around his arm.
"Dragon Roaming Blade: Phantom Unrivaled!"
His chilling voice brimmed with brutality.
With a single slash, his blade instantly transformed into hundreds upon thousands of blade shadows that filled the entire sky before all slashing toward Mu Yuan.
Compared to it, Nie Daoqun's Nine Blade Art was simply insignificant.
The blade shadows scattered in every direction, covering the skies before contracting like a net around Mu Yuan.
If Mu Yuan could still dodge Dragon Roaming Slash, it was only because it was merely one strand of Blade Qi, and he could evade it by timing his movement correctly.
But now... it was an inescapable net cast from heaven.
Liu Wan'er and Li Lang's expressions grew grave to the extreme at the sight.
Mu Yuan stopped dodging as well, because he truly could not evade it anymore.
He had not cultivated any defensive spiritual arts. He only had one move: Sword Drawing Art, drawing his sword at incredible speed.
He needed to slash open a gap with his sword.
Seeing this, a cruel curve appeared at the corner of Young Master Du Long's lips.
Yet in the next instant, his expression suddenly changed slightly.
Because he discovered that the white wall of light was trembling.
That meant it was under attack.
But Mu Yuan was clearly dealing with his attack.
It was far too strange!
Back then, Nie Daoqun had also died with his eyes open, his face full of confusion.
Thinking of this, Young Master Du Long's eyes darkened. Only then did he notice that Mu Yuan had remained calm from beginning to end.
He was far too calm, so calm that he did not look at all like someone being suppressed by him.
"It really was him!"
"But how exactly did he do it?"
Young Master Du Long raised his guard to the utmost, but it was useless.
Whoosh!
Another sword strike had already arrived, so sudden that it caught him completely off guard.
Driven by years of combat instinct, Young Master Du Long instinctively retreated at top speed as the lightning-fast sword gleam swept past him!
It had nearly sliced across his neck.
Pfft!
An arm flew into the air.
"My arm!"
Young Master Du Long's eyes reddened. Though his experience had allowed him to escape that terrifying sword strike, Mu Yuan had still taken advantage of the opening to sever one of his arms.
Heaven have mercy, Mu Yuan had drawn his sword no fewer than four or five hundred times, yet frustratingly, Steel Cutting had not triggered even once.
He was no longer as lucky as the previous two times, when it triggered with a single slash.
A 0.5 percent chance?
Heh heh...
To Mu Yuan, it was either a hundred percent or zero percent.
Still, the chance was there. Even if cursed with terrible luck, there would eventually be a lucky moment. Mu Yuan was not anxious; he had already gotten used to it, so he simply continued.
Heaven did not disappoint those who persevered. The Steel Cutting effect finally appeared.
And it even came two-for-one, catching Young Master Du Long off guard and severing one of his arms.
"You... how did you do that?"
Young Master Du Long's face was filled with utter disbelief.
Not only him; everyone else was stunned as well.
Just a moment ago, Young Master Du Long had clearly held the upper hand. Who would have thought that in the next instant, he would inexplicably lose an arm?
He received only three words in reply:
Sword Drawing Art!
Sword gleam had already flashed forth.
"Run, run, run! Save my life!"
At the sight, Young Master Du Long immediately buried his hatred deep within his heart. Without hesitation, he unleashed his spiritual energy to its limit and fled out of the valley.
Having lost an arm, his combat strength had fallen drastically. He was no longer Mu Yuan's match.
For a moment, his speed rose by a great deal.
"Trying to run?"
Mu Yuan chased after him from behind, then smiled faintly.
"Whoosh!"
His speed increased explosively once more.
"What?"
Young Master Du Long nearly went mad when he discovered that Mu Yuan behind him had suddenly accelerated.
"How could this be!!!"
"He had been holding back before?!"
What a joke.
After his body and mind became one with the sword, Sword Drawing Art could not be used for teleportation in combat, but when used in place of a movement technique, even Young Master Du Long was far inferior to him.
Mu Yuan rapidly closed in, moving so quickly that his body blurred.
Young Master Du Long could only vaguely see a figure stop ahead of him. Then his pupils contracted as he saw a sword gleam, like a meteor streaking across the night sky.
Pfft!
The sword gleam flashed.
It effortlessly pierced through Young Master Du Long's forehead.
With Young Master Du Long's death, the entire valley once again fell into deathly silence.
Whether it was Liu Wan'er and Liu Tairong's group, or Wang Kangping, Yuan Xueyang, and the others from the Western Spiritual Territory, all stared at Mu Yuan with the utmost reverence.
The shock and awe in their hearts had reached an indescribable level.
With mid-stage Spiritual Movement Realm cultivation, he had slain Nie Daoqun with one sword strike and easily crushed Young Master Du Long after he took a Crimson Blood Pill. What kind of terrifying achievement was this!!!?
They had always considered themselves geniuses, but compared to Mu Yuan, they were nothing but laughable.
But this silence lasted less than half a second before Mu Yuan spoke.
"There is no need to hold the challenge tournament."
Everyone froze upon hearing this.
What did he mean?
"Qing Fu, the Earth Spirit Fruit you reserved belongs to me as well!"
This time, Mu Yuan did not ask. Instead, he directly and domineeringly declared ownership of the Earth Spirit Fruit.
Qing Fu's face shifted between green and red.
He had originally believed that he could at least stand on equal footing with Mu Yuan!
But after personally witnessing Mu Yuan easily crush even Young Master Du Long, whom he himself feared, he became terrified.
Since Mu Yuan could kill Young Master Du Long, he naturally had the ability to kill him as well.
"I... have no objections!"
Qing Fu gritted his teeth and said.
His heart was filled with boundless hatred and resentment.
Yet he was helpless! He could only endure it!
At that moment, the entire scene was deathly silent.
Even the Earth Spirit Fruit reserved by Qing Fu had been given to Mu Yuan.
Together with the other six, that meant all ten Earth Spirit Fruits belonged to Mu Yuan!
No wonder he had just said there was no need to hold the challenge tournament. So that was what he meant.
No one had expected Mu Yuan to be so domineering either, refusing to share even the slightest bit with anyone else.
"Young Master Mu, leave some room for others."
"Young Master Mu, we came all this way too, after all."
Liu Tairong, Wang Kangping, and Yuan Xueyang cautiously spoke up. Naturally, they were extremely dissatisfied, but their tone remained one of negotiation.
After all, Mu Yuan seemed somewhat easier to talk to than Young Master Du Long.
"H-how about sharing some with us?"
Liu Wan'er also spoke softly. Even now, she still felt as though she were floating in a dream.
Everything felt unreal.
Huff! Huff!
Li Lang was even unable to suppress his heavy breathing.
This was simply too shocking, too domineering!
PS: Thanks to reader 1355353225 for the 3,921 book coin reward! Thanks to reader A Sheet of White Clothes for the 100 book coin reward!
Today is Monday, and the new week urgently needs recommendation votes to climb the rankings, so this third update was posted at midnight.
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