Chapter 199: The Spar

Lin Mu unsheathed the short sword that was hanging from his waist and entered an attacking stance. Duan Ke similarly extended her hand and her spirit sword appeared in her hand. She let go of the sword and it kept floating in the air.

Duan Ke then extended her index finger and middle finger together as if it were a sword and pointed forward. Her spirit sword that was floating in front of her changed direction and the point of the sword was now pointing towards Lin Mu.

The spirit sword Duan Ke was using was longer than Lin Mu's and was a normal sized sword. It was about sixty centimeters long and was decorated with a tassel at its handle. Its hilt was made in the shape of two leaves curling around the base of the blade while there was the pattern of a lily on its handle.

Compared to Duan Ke's sword, Lin Mu's was shorter and its design was also rather mundane. If not for the visible good craftsmanship that could be felt from the aura that the blade exuded, one would think that it was any common short sword that could be found at a blacksmith.

Lin Mu looked at Duan Ke and saw that she was using her spirit sense to control the spirit sword instead of using it to fight directly. Lin Mu had also learned how to do it by now but barely had any opportunities to do so. In most of the fights, he had been in, he had finished it rather quickly using his skills in tandem with his sword.

Senior Xukong had taught him that the best way to fight was to end it as quickly as possible. No matter who the opponent was, it was better to use your full potential. Even a lion used all his strength to hunt a rabbit.

Lin Mu had taken this to heart and thus had finished all fights quickly and efficiently. The only fight that had lasted long was when he was battling the pack of the steel back wolves. But even then, that was only due to there being too many opponents. Otherwise, Lin Mu was still killing the individual steel back wolves at a quick pace.

Duan Ke stared at Lin Mu and their eyes met. She decided to make the first move and gestured in a slashing manner, putting her fingers to her chest and then slashing outward. Her spirit sword followed the same gesture and went flying forward.

Lin Mu kept his eyes trained on the sword's path and skillfully dodged it while moving forward. Duan Ke gestured again and the sword turned back, going towards Lin Mu's back now. Lin Mu himself was running towards Duan Ke and knew that if he defeated her first, the fight would end.

Still, he was able to sense that the sword was coming towards his back with his spirit sense and used his short sword to block it.

~Clang~

Metal clashed against metal as a sharp sound spread in the hall. Lin Mu felt the impact of the swords and was pushed back.

"That was strong… its better if I just dodge her strikes, otherwise the impact will knock me off the path." Lin Mu muttered to himself.

Maneuvering under the spirit sword that was still trying to pierce him, Lin Mu deflected it to the opposite direction. Duan Ke gestured upwards, and the sword turned to face Lin Mu again, but he was ready this time. Channeling spirit qi into the short sword he slashed at the very moment that it was about to clash with him.

~Deng~

~Swish~

A different sound was heard this time as the force contained within Lin Mu's short sword was greater. Duan Ke's spirit sword was knocked back and got slammed into the back of the wall.

Duan Ke's eyes went wide as she saw this.

'What! How much spirit qi did he amplify the short sword with? Nearly half of the spirit qi I stored in my spirit sword is already depleted from this. Ugh, seems like I'll need to take this more seriously.' Duan Ke thought to herself with shock.

Jing Wei was looking at this and nodded his head.

'Seems like my old sword has accepted him and is now attenuated with him.' Jing Wei thought.

After knocking the sword away Lin Mu kept on running towards Duan Ke. Before he was halted midway and even had to take a few steps back, but now he was gaining on her again. This time though, Duan Ke moved herself. She started moving towards Lin Mu and gestured in a calling manner.

Her spirit sword that had fallen on to the ground shot back and returned to her hand at a blinding speed. The speed was even fast for Lin Mu to see clearly and he only observed it due to his spirit sense. 

Although Lin Mu's spirit sense was about eighty meters long now, it still couldn't cover the entirety of the hall that was about a hundred meters in length and breadth. Still with his spirit sense, a majority of the area of the hall was covered and he was able to observe most things within it.

Lin Mu's eyes went back to Duan Ke, and he found that she was at a mere hand's distance from him and was about to slash at him.

"What the!" Lin Mu uttered as he quickly brought his short sword forward to block the blow.

~Clang~

The force this time was even more great as Lin Mu nearly lost hold of his short sword.

"You need to do better than that, I won't hold back anymore." Duan Ke declared with a sharp gaze.

~Huu~

Lin Mu took a deep breath as he tightened the grip on his short sword. A smile appeared on his face as his eyes light up with fervor.

"Alright, this will be my first time fighting like this as well. I never get the opportunity before…" Lin Mu spoke in a calm tone before quickly taking a back step while strengthening his legs with spirit qi and vital energy.

This amplified the force generated by his leg muscles and he shot backward five meters away. 

Duan Ke withdrew her stance and was now pointing the spirit sword diagonally towards the ground.

Lin Mu closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them. His lips started to move and strange chants started to come out of his mouth.