1830: 'Natural' State

'Natural' State

The clash of the two sword intents was both dangerous and beautiful at the same time, making the audience marvel at it.1

A cloud of Dust and debris covered the area of the clash, hiding both Lin Mu and Yao Changying in it. But inside this, a mix of yellow and pink swirled. The yellow color was from Lin Mu's sword attacks while the pink was from Yao Changying's Sword slashes.

"Dammit, we can't see shit!" The audience was bothered by the blocked screen.

~WHOOSH~

Thankfully, just a few seconds later, another attack from the two contestants blew all the dust away. It revealed the scene of the fight that had greatly changed from before.

Deep craters mixed with long gullies were left on the ground. The rocks that composed the ground had been thoroughly ground to dust due to the thousands of petals from Yao Changying's attacks while the Metal Pine trees of Lin Mu had fissured it to no end.

"You're certainly improving…" Lin Mu muttered, looking at the tens of small dents that were left on his skin.

Yao Changying's petals had hit him several times, which were a lot stronger than her previous sword slashes. It was clear that she had been holding back this entire time. As for what reason, Lin Mu didn't know.

All he knew was that she probably had a lot more to show, and he needed to match up to it as well.

Through this clash, Lin Mu also realized that just his own Sword skills alone won't be enough to go up against Yao Changying. He had gotten damaged from the woman's attacks, albeit it was still not on the same level as Tian Ning.

'But then again, Tian Ning was using all his power and also had the advantage of lightning bypassing my defenses.' Lin Mu thought to himself. 'Yao Changying will surely be using more and more of her power as the fight goes on. It'll eventually reach a point where my defenses won't hold up either.' He realized.

Lin Mu glanced at Yao Changying who was dancing around with her sword, creating more and more petals. It was clear that her attacks were about to get stronger than earlier.

'I had thought about this beforehand too, but guess this just confirms it all.' Lin Mu thought before taking a deep breath. "Holding back all this time had been getting a bit annoying, but I guess this much is enough." He said, confusing Yao Changying.

~HUALA~

In the next moment, a surge of aura rose from Lin Mu's body, revealing his endless vitality.

~HONG~

The vitality continued to rise until it became almost palpable. A red aura surrounded Lin Mu, which was built from pure vitality.

"Heavens… what even is that?" The body cultivators in the audience stood up, seeing the scene. "What is his body cultivation base for his vitality to be that strong?" 

"Have you seen any other body cultivator like that?" they couldn't help but ask amongst themselves.

"Not many… some can replicate that, but what Daoist Mu Lin is showing isn't even his body cultivation aura… that is pure vitality." One of the body cultivators replied.

"What does that mean exactly?" A child with a Dao Treading realm cultivation base asked.

"It means… he hasn't even started to use his body cultivation yet…" The body cultivator answered. 

"That Vitality is something that is something normal to his being. If it is only appearing now it only means that he had been sealing it within him all this time." The body cultivator explained. "This is his 'natural' state," he added, stunning the people that were hearing him. 

"Natural state? Do you even know what you're saying right now?" Another Body cultivator protested. "If this is his natural state, do you intend to say he's the same as the Steel Horned General?" 

The general's mention aroused the memories about the tournament in which he had fought, as well as his many exploits. He was well known in the Rust Sky world as one of the strongest Body cultivators and also as one of the winners of the Tournament of the Four Guardian beasts.

"He might as well be… I don't have to say much. We'll see soon enough." The first body cultivator said with a frown while pointing at the formation screen.

~HONGLONG~

And sure enough, the audience didn't need to guess for long as the truth revealed itself to them. Lin Mu's body seemingly grew in size, while a couple of patterns appeared on his body. The first one was on his chest, which was that of an inverted triangle from which multiple bands extended.

These bands reached his shoulder and wrapped around his back where another pattern was present.

But this pattern was different and a lot more detailed than the one on his chest. 

"Wait! That totem… Isn't that…" Someone recognized the totem on Lin Mu's back.

But before they could speak more, a loud roar was heard. The roar seemingly came out of Lin Mu's body, as the pattern on his chest glowed in a red light. A second later, the form of a large beast materialized behind him. 

~ROAR~

The large beast was a giant bear that had horns on its head as well as long claws that reached nearly a foot in length. Its own height was about five meters tall and looked massive compared to Lin Mu.

~MOOO~

But another loud cry was heard, this time coming from the totem on Lin Mu's back. The totem was that of a legless bull and gleamed in a yellow and red light.

The totem's cry caused another beast's form to appear. This form appeared above Lin Mu's head and was even bigger than the bear behind him. Similar to the totem on his back, it was that of a legless bull. The bull only had a body and horns on its head.

It looked to be furious and puffed out red steam from its nostrils.

"No way… that… it can't be…" the body cultivators trembled upon seeing the bull.

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