"Remind me never to sit beside you during a match again." Elyon rubbed his chest with a pained expression. "Besides, when did he become your student? At most he's Daoist Chu and Lin Mu's student." He added with a raise of his brow.

"I've trained and beaten him into shape. It counts." Cattaleya added with pride.

Little Shrubby trembled on Lin Mu's lap, tail puffed up in excitement. "Master, Master! Meng Bai was amazing! Can I fight him when he wakes up? Can I? Please?"

"Us too!" Xiao Yin and Xiao Yang buzzed with excitement.

Lin Mu just smiled faintly.

He had been impressed. Not because Meng Bai won. He knew the boy had talent. But because he won in such a way. Meng Bai had not relied on some trick, not on brute force, and not on outside help.

He had achieved the breakthrough himself.

Even Lin Mu had not expected the Dao Embryo's awakening to manifest like that.

He had known the boy's cultivation had been progressing at a monstrous pace, but the Dao Embryo was always a mystery. The twins had taken decades to summon theirs. Meng Bai, however, had done it while fighting someone hundreds of years older, two stages stronger and with a fully cultivated Dao.

Lin Mu whispered under his breath, "Interesting technique you manifested, Meng Bai."

In his mind, he began analyzing what he had seen.The ink had tainted Dongxu Ning's Dao function.It had altered her Dao's guiding property.It had swallowed the connection between her Dao Embryo and her movements.It had even weakened the jade barrier.

'A Dao Skill that altered the essence of other Dao techniques?' That was something he had not expected.

Lin Mu made a small mental note.

He would have to train Meng Bai thoroughly in understanding this Dao Skill. There was more to it than brute force. It had subtlety. It had depth. And it had the potential to develop into something terrifying.

But those thoughts were for later.

Because right now, Meng Bai collapsed.

It was not dramatic. He simply slumped forward onto one knee, then toppled sideways like a puppet whose strings had been cut. The healers rushed forward, lifting him carefully and laying him on a stretcher.

A moment later, Dongxu Ning, who had barely regained her footing after being blasted out of the ring, collapsed herself. Though she tried to stand, one of her jade coated legs buckled under her. So she was carried away as well.

The announcer declared the results again, and the cheers continued echoing as Lin Mu rose from his seat.

Daoist Chu and Cattaleya were about to stand as well, but Lin Mu lifted a hand.

"I will go alone. They will not allow more than one visitor in the recovery ward."

Daoist Chu nodded immediately. "Makes sense."

Cattaleya puffed out her cheeks. "Fine. But tell Meng Bai that he fought well, or I will punch him myself when he wakes up."

Elyon shrugged. "Tell him I said he should not struggle. Would be too much trouble."

Little Shrubby pawed Lin Mu's shoulder. "Tell him I want a rematch later."

Lin Mu nodded, suppressing a small chuckle, and left the viewing stands.

Through the corridors of the arena, he moved quickly, but calmly.

The medical ward was located deep inside the complex, protected by formations that kept spiritual energies regulated. Outside the entrance, two guards stood at attention and let him pass without a word once they sensed his aura.

Plus the barrier on the ward didn't let anyone other than the family or those related to the contestants in. Meng Bai was Lin Mu's disciple and was registered too, thus Lin Mu entered with ease.

Inside, a row of doors led to different healing chambers.

Meng Bai and Dongxu Ning had been taken to the same chamber, one that handled critical injuries. Lin Mu stepped forward and entered.

The scent of medicinal herbs and antiseptic pastes filled the air. He could hear the soft crackling of healing formations at work, the soothing rhythm of spirit Qi circulating through the stabilizing array.

Dongxu Ning lay on one bed, propped slightly upright, several strips of wooden rests placed around her limbs. Her body was covered in a thin layer of medicinal paste. Deep, dark wound marks could be seen all along her arms and torso, where the inky water had splashed.

Meng Bai was on the opposite bed, lying flat. His entire body was wrapped in shimmering bandages that pulsed with healing energy. His spear leaned against the wall near him.

Dongxu Ning's eyes were open, though slightly unfocused from the lingering pain. She watched the healers work, but her attention kept drifting back to Meng Bai.

She should have been upset about losing.

She should have felt frustration at being defeated after hundreds of years of hard work.

But instead, she felt excited.

Truly, honestly excited.

"It was... Fun..." She muttered.

Someone younger. Someone at a lower cultivation stage. Someone with such frightening potential that even she had been forced to go all out.

She looked at his unconscious face and smiled faintly.

Then she sensed a presence.

An aura that swept into the room with quiet dominance. An aura so controlled that even in its gentleness, she felt her heartbeat skip.

She turned her head.

A tall man had entered the chamber.

He wore simple black robes, but there was nothing simple about him. He stood over six feet tall, his shoulders broad, his posture relaxed. His eyes held a calm depth, like still water over a bottomless well. His beard framed a face that was too handsome for someone so intimidating.

Dongxu Ning blinked.

The healers bowed subtly. Not out of fear, but out of instinctive respect.

She looked at him again.

He reminded her of a sword at rest. Polished. Silent. Beautiful.

And terrifying.

He walked past her without a word, moving toward the unconscious Meng Bai.

Dongxu Ning swallowed.

"Who… is he?" she whispered internally.

The man stood beside Meng Bai.

And Dongxu Ning's heart thumped once, sharply.

Because for the first time, she realized something.

Meng Bai was not the most frightening member of his group.

This man was.

Lin Mu had arrived.

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