"You lost," Agudamu said plainly, a trace of exhaustion flickering in his eyes.
Evidently, Xu Mu's defeat of Ai Yan had placed immense pressure on him. Fortunately, their Royal Court still had Wulan, and that sacred, noble red glow in the sky, which had defeated Xu Mu.
The Wine Immortal Daoist's expression was grave, his eyes fixed intently on Xu Mu. He simply could not believe Xu Mu would lose and had been waiting for him to stand up.
Aside from him, Gongsun Jingming of the Medicine King Valley, Zhou Yuan of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and countless other powerful individuals who had witnessed Xu Mu's might were also unwilling to believe Xu Mu could be defeated so easily, their gazes never leaving him.
But as time ticked by, miracles simply did not happen.
Xu Mu's eyes became unfocused, and he fell straight onto the clouds, his limbs stiff like a puppet's. No matter how loud the surrounding noise, he remained motionless.
Five breaths, ten breaths, twenty breaths... Time passed slowly, yet Xu Mu showed no signs of movement. The sacred red glow gradually receded, and Wulan opened her eyes before descending from the sky to stand before Xu Mu.
Seeing this, countless people in the Hundred Races' Land fell silent, then a chorus of gasps of astonishment erupted.
"Alas, seeing the arrogance of these Royal Court fiends, I expected Mu Xu would fall, but I never imagined he would be defeated so quickly, not even lasting sixty breaths."
A middle-aged man with a sword at his waist and a weathered gaze shook his head and sighed.
"Indeed, Mu Xu first killed Zhou Jie, then defeated Zuo Mingqiu, and then won against Ai Yan of the Royal Court. Although his condition was somewhat depleted, I never expected him to be defeated like this, almost instantly."
Beside the man, a spirit-eyed woman in a green robe, whose age was indiscernible, looked on with shock. As a lord-level power who had watched the entire Myriad Races Assembly, she could confirm that after Ji Chang, Xu Mu was the most powerful genius to appear at the Myriad Races Assembly. Neither Zuo Mingqiu, Chen Changkong, nor Nan Gong Huaitian could compare to him.
And under such circumstances, the Golden Tent Royal Court had still produced two prodigies who were not inferior to Xu Mu.
Although Ai Yan had lost, it was evident his strength was at the peak level. Neither Zuo Mingqiu nor Chen Changkong would have been his match; that ability called "Long March" was too terrifying.
And after Ai Yan, another Wulan appeared. I thought this would be a momentous battle of equal footing, but I never expected her to instantly kill Xu Mu the moment she acted!
"This is good."
Xu Mu's fall was not met with shame by everyone. For instance, the Ye family and Qi family, who had previously formed grievances with him, and some powerful individuals who disliked his closeness with Nan Gong Huaitian, let out hearty laughter.
Nan Gong Mao watched those people, his face darkening considerably.
"A bunch of shameless wretches, cheering for outsiders. How is this any different from treason!"
Hearing this, the Wine Immortal Daoist's face also grew frosty. He gazed at Xu Mu, who lay fallen on the clouds, wanting to rush forward and save him countless times, but was stopped by a telepathic message from the Heavenly Daoist.
The reason was simple: fairness. He had stopped Agudamu before, and now he had to stop himself.
Besides, Xu Mu might not have truly lost.
Qiongqi lifted its furry paw and placed it on the Wine Immortal's shoulder, whispering, "If she tries to kill him later, you block everyone else, and I'll grab him back."
"Then, just like in Xishan back then, we'll escape again!"
The Wine Immortal Daoist couldn't help but sigh and nod. "Alas, this is the only way."
"I just don't know what Xu Mu's situation is now. I can't even see through that ability of hers. I fear he might already be..."
"He won't die," Agudamu seemed to have heard the Wine Immortal's words and said with a faint smile.
"He won't die yet. His self-awareness is simply lost in a real illusion. So now, he's like a puppet controlled by someone else. Whatever we want him to do, he will do."
Upon hearing this, the Wine Immortal and the others' expressions immediately changed. If Xu Mu was being controlled, wouldn't the secrets of his identity and the sacred relic be exposed?
Agudamu smiled slightly and ordered, "Wulan, make him stand up."
Wulan nodded, a hint of red threads appearing in her clear, lake-like eyes, connecting her to Xu Mu's body. She then suddenly pulled upwards.
"Rise."
This was Wulan's first spoken word. The young girl's expression was serious, and with some difficulty, she uttered a single word, meaning simply to make Xu Mu stand up from the ground.
But Xu Mu did not.
As the red threads pulled, Xu Mu's body trembled, and then he collapsed back onto the ground, as if Wulan's strength was too small to move him.
Seeing this, Agudamu's smile froze on his face, because he knew the red threads were not attached to Xu Mu's physical body, but to his brain and spirit. Therefore, there was no such thing as being too weak.
The only possibility was that Xu Mu had woken up.
But if he had woken up, the threads should have snapped. Yet, the threads were clearly intact, and Wulan could not control him. What was going on?
Agudamu couldn't figure it out, and even less could the others in the Hundred Races' Land. However, they knew that the battle seemed to have taken a turn for the better, and the crowd instantly fell silent, all eyes fixed on Xu Mu's body, not wanting to miss any detail of what was about to happen.
A hint of confusion flashed in Wulan's eyes. Then, countless more red threads appeared, weaving into Xu Mu's brain like a silkworm spinning a cocoon.
After that, she tried to control Xu Mu to stand up.
After a series of violent tremors, Xu Mu's body was lifted half a finger's width from the ground, but in the end, he could not stand up and fell back to the ground.
Then, Wulan tried many more times, even turning the space into sacred red again, but she could not control Xu Mu to stand.
In fact, as time went on, she could no longer make Xu Mu's body tremble, not even an inch.
Seeing this, Agudamu finally realized something was wrong and quickly sent a telepathic message:
"Wulan, kill him quickly!"
Wulan did not hesitate. A dagger immediately appeared in her hand, and like a nimble wildcat, she prepared to stab Xu Mu's heart.
But at that moment, Xu Mu suddenly stood up from the ground. He stood up instantly, his entire body entwined with those red threads, emitting a faint glow.
Agudamu, seeing this, mistakenly thought Wulan's ability had suddenly taken effect and quickly commanded, "Stop!"
Wulan immediately stopped.
Her dagger was only an inch away from Xu Mu's heart.
Qiongqi's claws retracted from the spatial rift.
"Hoo... that was close." Looking at the successfully controlled Xu Mu, Agudamu breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Wulan hadn't killed him; otherwise, their Royal Court would have lost a future great general.
Agudamu looked at the dazed Xu Mu standing in place, then at Wulan, and asked with a frown, "What happened? Why couldn't you control him earlier, and now you suddenly can?"
Wulan blinked and turned her head, asking confusedly:
"I wasn't controlling him."
"He wanted to stand up himself."
Hearing this, a look of astonishment flashed in Agudamu's eyes, and then he suddenly roared, "Quick, then kill him! Stab the dagger into his heart!!!"
Wulan heard this, gripped the dagger, and thrust it towards Xu Mu's heart. The sharp aura pierced Xu Mu's thick clothing, damaging the soft armor beneath.
But in the next second, a hand, disregarding the sharpness of the blade, firmly seized the dagger.
"Don't move."
Xu Mu spoke, his voice dry and hoarse, like that of a sun-scorched traveler lost in the desert, extremely weak.
But no matter how weak, he still held the knife that was about to pierce his chest.
Without Agudamu's reminder, the sacred red light, like holy light, erupted in Wulan's eyes once more.
But in that very instant, Xu Mu had already drawn his bow. The Great Dao's arrow condensed with boundless red light, hovering at Wulan's brow.
"I told you not to move."
"Why don't you listen?"
...