Chapter 287: Suspicion Arises

"Ping Ping Ping!"

The two people's weapons collided with each other repeatedly. Also, two blade-shadows — one red and one black — mixed together, and issued waves of shrill metal-clanging sound.

The black blade in Shi Mu's hand was dancing in the air in a swift and convenient manner. Each of his gestures was displaying the Gale Force Blade Art. He hadn't displayed many different blade-shadows so far. However, his Blade Art continued to change in an irregular manner. Sometimes it was swift and fierce, and sometimes it was flexible but strong. This could make a person feel like giving up.

Shi Mu continued to receive every single attack of his opponent with ease regardless of how fierce it was. Yu Yi and his friends were left stunned when they saw this situation.

Shi Mu gradually figured out the pattern that his black blade was following to devour the Real Qi of his opponent's attacks as their weapons continued to clash for some time.

His black blade had the ability to engulf the Real Qi of his opponent's weapon the instant it made contact with it. In fact, his black blade could gobble-up the Real Qi contained in his opponent's attacks as well as his opponent's weapon. It couldn't be denied that the rate of engulfing was slow. However, it could quickly deplete his opponent's strength during the battle. So, the result couldn't be denied either.

After all, the slightest difference could sometimes affect the outcome of the battle when two experts vied against each other!

The red-robed man continued to launch attacks in a fierce manner for a while. But, his Real Qi was accordingly depleting at a very fast pace. And so, his attacks failed to be as strong as he wished them to be. Consequently, his Blade Art gradually started to become more and more disorganized. And, he began to curse himself in his heart.

Shi Mu had almost obtained the desired result by now. Therefore, he had no intention to continue struggling with this person. He stimulated the Real Qi in his hand and his blade sped-up all at once.

Clang Clang Clang!

Shi Mu displayed Thirteen Series of Gale Force Blade Art three times in a short time. Simultaneously, he also launched three ten-feet-long black blade-lights. They intertwined and hacked towards his opponent with an imposing aura.

The red-robed man was startled to see this scene, and waved his long red blade to receive the blow. However, his body received a profound jolt, and he was forced to retreat by the impact once again. He felt as if a wave of numbness had gripped his entire arm even though he was in his zombie form right now.

The fact was that Shi Mu was concerned about the competition's rules. Therefore, he hadn't been using his full strength in this battle.

Shi Mu took advantage of the blade-lights that he had just shot, and arrived close to his opponent's body - like a shadow following his body. Then, the blade-light changed its direction. It then transformed into a regiment of blade-shadows, and wrapped around the red blade in the red-robed man's hands.

The red-robed man's arm was already numb. So, there was no way he could continue to hold the blade. Consequently, the blade left his hand, and was sent out flying in the air.

Shi Mu seized this opportunity, and landed a punch on the man's chest with a loud "Ping" sound. The man was sent flying in the air by the impact.

The strength of this punch was barely enough to defeat his opponent. It had sent his opponent flying in the air. But, it hadn't inflicted any severe injuries on the red-robed man who was currently in his zombie form.

The red-robed man hadn't even touched the ground when a white chain darted out, and bundled his body.

The red-robed man crashed heavily to the ground with a loud "Thump" sound. After that, the black hair on his body started to recede at a fast speed. At the same time, his bulging green body also returned to its original state.

Hou Sai Lei had been waiting on the sidelines for some time now. He saw this situation, and his eyes sparkled with an exhilarated look. He took a few quick steps forward, and snatched away the hat from the man's head. After that, he retreated at a lightning speed.

The red-robed man's eyes were smeared with a resentful look. But, he couldn't stop his enemy from preying on him since he had lost more than fifty percent of his Real Qi during this battle. In addition, his body was tied-up with the white Qi Chain. So, he couldn't budge.

"Well, let's go."

Shi Mu received his blade and retreated when he saw that Hou Sai Lei had taken hold of his target-hat. He then waved his hand to untie the White Qi Chain.

The red-robed man stood up afterwards. His body had returned to its original state by now. He threw a glance at Shi Mu, and let out a sigh of helplessness. After that, he picked up his blade, and walked away.

The companions of the red-robed man were then released from the firm clutch of Earth Prison Technique. But, they didn't dare to jump into a battle with Shi Mu since they had witnessed the entire battle between him and the red-robed man. So, they withdrew, and went far from Shi Mu and his team.

The battles in the arena seemed to have heated up to a great extent while Shi Mu had been occupied in capturing the magic hat for Hou Sai Lei. There were many people in the arena who had lost their patience and rationality with the passage of time. And, their anxiety had made them ruthless.

After all, not everyone could tolerate such a bizarre rule.

So, the eruption of such conflicts had led to mass casualties. Simultaneously, an increasingly high number of people had been disqualified from the competition, and had been taken away by the managing disciples. On the other hand, many people had been directly promoted to the next round owing to this chaos.

There were barely three-thousand people left in the arena at this time even though less than an hour had passed since the beginning of this round.

"Only my hat is left to be seized now. Everyone, wait for a few moments!"

Shi Mu looked at the hats in Yu Yi and the other three people's hands and said. After that, he sneaked into the crowd at the front in a horizontal position like a swimming fish.

Yu Yi and the others hadn't even responded when they noticed that Shi Mu had already disappeared from their sight.

In the distance...

Shi Mu's whole body was shrouded by a thin layer of green light, and he seemed to be flying at this time. He arrived at a particular place in the arena in a matter of few seconds. Then, he appeared in front of a four-man squad, and stood in their way.

He directed his gaze at a lanky man among them. He gazed at that man in an unrestrained and fearless manner. The magic hat on top of that man's head contained the number that Shi Mu was looking for — "430"

The four members of the squad hadn't been able to see Shi Mu coming over. A silhouette had flashed in front of their eyes, and Shi Mu had suddenly appeared in front of them.

Shi Mu's eyes seemed cold and piercing like that of a falcon. However, the lanky man immediately thought of something, and a cold and stern look emerged on his face too. He took a step back and then wielded his green-jade scepter in front of his body in a horizontal position.

"I'll offer Your Excellency a bit of advice... Run away! Your Excellency will be killed if he were to target one of the four people in my squad!" There was a long-faced middle-aged man among the four people. He seemed to be the leader of this squad. He moved half-a-step ahead, and shouted in a vicious manner. He held a one-foot-long green iron ruler in his hand. A few magic characters were winding around the surface of that ruler.

The remaining three people spread out and took their positions while the long-faced man was speaking. Then, they pointed their wooden sticks and other magic tools at Shi Mu, and started to mumble something.

All four of them were Star-ranked magicians. It could be said that the combined strength of these four people was both offensive and defensive in nature. In fact, their integrated strength was far beyond the strength of any person present on the scene. The other people had already obtained their target-hats by this time. They had to seize only one hat now. So, they drew back as they saw Shi Mu.

Moreover, the sudden appearance of Shi Mu had made them think that it was nothing but an act of overestimating one's ability. Therefore, the four planned to knock the magic hat off Shi Mu's head with joint forces. This would kick him out of this competition as well as teach him a lesson.

But, Shi Mu didn't utter even a single word in response. Instead, his silhouette suddenly turned fuzzy.

At the same time, the ground under Shi Mu's feet burst open. Then, several green vines rolled out and tied his feet. These vines were as thick as an adult's arm. After that, a wave of several ice cones, wind blades, and fireballs departed from the other three magicians' magic tools, and they stormed toward Shi Mu from three different directions to knock off his hat.

But then, Shi Mu's silhouette suddenly dispersed. It was only his remnant shadow!

Shi Mu appeared behind the four people the next moment. The black blade in his hand flashed, and changed into four blade-lights which then darted toward the four people.

The four people were alarmed. They quickly whirled around and stimulated their magic tools in an attempt to display some magic techniques.

"Bang" an intense chaotic sound was heard.

The four men were thrown into a panic, but they were able to block all four blade-lights in the end.

They were surprised to see that Shi Mu had withdrawn a few feet away from them. But then, they noticed that there was a magic hat in Shi Mu's hand!

The lanky young man was thunderstruck. He touched his head, and found that his hat was gone. His complexion profoundly changed as a result.

Shi Mu had attacked the four people, and compelled them to resist his attack. All of this had happened in an instant. Surprisingly, he had still gotten the time to snatch away the hat from the lanky young man.

So, it was evident that there was a huge disparity in their strengths.

"I would like to thank Your Excellency for his hat, and for letting me win this match!" Shi Mu clasped his hands across his chest and said. Then, his stature flickered and swept far away from them. He had quickly disappeared from the four people's field of view.

The other three men cast a sympathetic look at the lanky young man. They thought that he ought to have bad luck today since he had to deal with such a dreadful enemy in this match.

Meanwhile, Yu Yi and the other three people had retreated to the corner of the arena, and stood firm there. They were watching around in a vigilant manner.

"I made you wait for so long." A person's silhouette appeared. It was Shi Mu who had hurried over from afar.

"This... Dear friend Mu seems to be joking. You have obtained the hat in only a few minutes. It's truly admirable." Yu Yi looked at the hat in Shi Mu's hands, and said in a praising manner.

"I hadn't expected that Dear Friend Mu could be such a splendid martial warrior as well as a magician at the same time. And, that too at such a young age!"

"We might not have passed through this round in such an effortless manner if Dear Friend Mu hadn't been by our side!"

The young man surnamed Luo and the young woman surnamed Yi also sighed with overwhelming emotions.

Hou Sai Lei was silently looking at Yu Yi and his two friends. He was pleased in his heart. He was glad that he had followed the right man.

"You guys are over-praising me. We should go down the arena since everybody has taken hold of their respective hats. This will also save us from long delay and unnecessary troubles." Shi Mu said.

The other four people naturally didn't have any objection to this. So, the five people walked down the arena. They were led by one of the managing disciples to a small palace near the arena.

"Congratulations on forcing your way through the second round of the competition. Please come along with me," A middle-aged man walked out of the palace, and welcomed them. Then, he walked into the palace along with the five people.

These people arrived at the side hall in a few moments. More than one hundred disciples of the Dark Moon Cult were already standing in the Palace. These people were obviously the winners of the second round.

"You wait a moment here. Someone will lead you to the venue for the third round of the competition," the middle-aged man said to the five people.

"The third round is going to start right away?" Yu Yi looked shocked as he asked.

"Yes, but I'm unsuitable to disclose the specific details. Many other people have also been waiting here for a while. Someone will naturally give you a proper explanation about this matter later." The middle-aged man performed a ritual to greet them. Then, he turned around and walk out of the side hall.

"Then, let's wait here," Shi Mu said while sweeping his gaze around.

It seemed that the winners of the second round were being led off in batches as it was highly unlikely that only a hundred or so people had made it through the second round.

A lot of seats had been arranged in this hall for these people. Therefore, Shi Mu and the four people had immediately found a place to sit.

A stream of people continued to arrive at the side hall with the passage of time.

Almost two hundred people had assembled in the side hall in less than ten minutes.

A side door creaked open at this time, and a young woman walked in. She wore a grey skirt.

This person was seemingly in her early twenties. Her facial features and appearance looked rather beautiful. However, there resided an ice-cold expression on her face that faintly revealed a kind of malignant feeling.

Shi Mu sensed this woman's aura, and was astounded to find that she was an Earth-ranked powerhouse. It seemed that she was either one of the elders... or one of the Palace Lord of the Dark Moon Cult.

The other people in the hall had also seen this woman. So, they quieted down.

"You people will come with me," the young woman said while sweeping her gaze over these people.

After that, she walked to the corner of the hall, and patted the wall twice.

A ten-feet-high arched entrance split open in the wall with a burst of dull "Ka ka". It was pitch-dark inside. It couldn't be said where the path inside was leading to.

"Everyone... follow me. I will lead you to the venue for the third round," the grey-skirted woman said and walked into the entrance first.

The people in the side hall gazed at each other for a moment. Then, they stepped forward and followed her.

"I feel that this selection round is rather mysterious. I wonder what our objective in this round will be." Yu Yi whispered.

"Stay calm and observe the change." Shi Mu nodded. His mind was also clouded by similar kind of doubts. In fact, he had always felt at the back of his mind that something fishy was going on here.

Shi Mu didn't enter the entrance immediately. But, he looked toward the entrance of the side hall.

A small multi-colored figure flew over from the entrance of the side hall and landed on Shi Mu's shoulder at this moment. It was Cai.

Yu Yi and the other people looked at Shi Mu in astonishment.

"Let's go." Shi Mu didn't explain anything. He simply lifted his foot, and stepped into the entrance first.