Chapter 70 | Before His Name Is Struck Off

Xu reached the top of the stone steps as another cheer rolled out from the west platform.

The staging lane was narrower than the outer court, boxed in by gray walls and weapon racks. Disciples moved through it in both directions, some loose after winning, others with the tight faces of people trying not to think about what came next.

The clerk near the arch pointed toward the platform with his brush the moment Xu appeared. "West platform. You’re after this bout. Don’t wander. They’re turning them over fast today."

His brush dropped to the board and scratched a mark beside Xu’s name.

Xu stepped aside rather than answer. The folded objection notice pressed lightly against his inner robe when he moved.

Someone was already waiting near the arch.

The man wore Azure blue with the sleeves tied back. A plain spear rested upright beside him, its wooden shaft dark from use and its steel head free of ornament. He wasn’t much older than Xu. His stance looked ordinary until his hand settled on the spear, then the looseness disappeared from his shoulders.

His eyes moved to Xu’s sword.

"Saw your last bout," he said.

Xu looked at him.

The man’s mouth pulled slightly to one side. "That false body. The saber idiot chased it." He rolled the spear between his palms. "I won’t."

Xu said, "Then don’t."

"Hah."

The clerk by the arch barked, "If you’re both done making friends, west platform. Now."

The spear disciple snorted and picked up his weapon. "Come on, then."

They walked out beneath the arch.

Sunlight struck the platform hard enough to wash the pale scratches in the stone almost white. The previous fighters were already leaving by opposite lanes. A judge waited near the north side while an attendant dragged a broken strip of cloth away from the boundary.

Xu stepped onto the western side of the platform. His sword remained sheathed at his left hip.

The spear disciple stopped across from him and lowered the weapon into both hands. The spearhead pointed toward Xu’s chest, neither high nor low.

The judge looked between them and lifted his palm. "Set."

The spear disciple lowered his center behind the shaft. Xu rested his right hand on his sword hilt.

The judge’s palm dropped. "Begin."

The spear moved before the last word finished.

Its point snapped toward Xu’s chest.

Xu drew and turned the thrust aside.

clang!

The impact kicked through his sword hand. Before he could follow the spear outward, the disciple had already pulled it back.

The spear came low next.

Xu shifted his front foot and let the point pass his thigh. The shaft swept across immediately afterward and closed the open lane on his right.

He stepped back.

The spearhead was already waiting.

’Compact.’

No heavy swing. No long recovery. The man stayed behind his weapon and took ground a little at a time.

Xu tested the shaft with the flat of his sword.

Steel touched wood.

Qi pressed through the contact and bit into his wrist harder than he expected.

The spear disciple’s eyes narrowed. He drove forward again, ordinary qi running cleanly through both hands and into the weapon.

Xu caught the next thrust near the middle of his blade.

ting!

His forearm tightened under the pressure.

’About 1 layer above.’

The gap mattered. It didn’t decide the bout, but meeting the spear head-on would be stupid.

Xu let the weapon slide past and moved back another step.

The crowd beyond the rail blurred into noise. He watched the spear point, the man’s hands, and the feet behind them.

Another thrust came toward his collar. Xu angled it away. The spear returned before his sword had fully settled.

A low feint made him shift left.

The shaft cut across that lane.

Xu moved back instead.

Stone scraped beneath his heel.

The western boundary mark sat closer than it had a moment ago.

The spear disciple saw Xu glance down and smiled without showing teeth. "There you are."

Xu said nothing.

The next thrust came for his sternum. He knocked it aside and gave another small step.

The man followed, but never lunged farther than he could recover. Every attack left the spear between them. Every step took another piece of platform.

’He’s herding my feet.’

Xu stopped retreating.

The spear disciple noticed. His lead foot checked for half a beat.

Then he thrust again.

Xu stepped forward-left.

The spearhead flashed past the outside of his right shoulder. Xu’s sword met the shaft closer to the disciple’s hands than before. Ordinary qi ran through his arm and blade as he turned his wrist and pressed the spear line outward.

The disciple grunted.

For the first time, the shaft bowed slightly between their forces.

His rear hand slid forward. The spear shortened in an instant, its reach collapsing into close quarters. He twisted the shaft under Xu’s blade and drove the butt end toward Xu’s ribs.

Xu saw the turn too late to clear it.

thud!

Wood slammed into his left lower ribs.

Pain punched sideways through his torso. His breath caught, sharp and involuntary, but his feet stayed under him.

The spear disciple tried to use the hit to shove space back between them.

Xu didn’t give it to him.

Warmth stirred beneath the bruised skin, quiet and steady as Regeneration took hold. The ache remained, but its sharpest edge began to soften instead of spreading.

Xu kept his right hand on the sword and drove the spear shaft farther off center.

The disciple planted his rear foot. "Tch."

He tried to wrench the weapon free.

Xu was already inside the useful reach of the spearhead.

His left hand closed.

Ordinary qi sank into his fist and forearm. The skin over his knuckles tightened as Iron Bone Fist hardened the striking surface.

The disciple’s eyes dropped.

Too late.

Xu punched him beneath the sternum.

thud!

Air burst from the man’s mouth.

"Hkh—!"

His torso folded around the blow. The pressure on the spear vanished for an instant, and his lead foot skidded across the stone.

Xu didn’t admire the opening.

His sword slid along the outside of the displaced shaft and stopped at the line of the man’s throat.

"Stop!"

Xu stopped.

The spear disciple froze, still trying to recover his grip. His breath came back in a rough pull. He looked at the blade near his neck, then at Xu.

Then.

[Ding!]

[Combat Amplification Detected]

[Amplification x2 Applied]

[Cultivation Progress Accelerated]

For a heartbeat, neither moved.

Then he lowered the spear.

"...Enough."

The judge lifted a hand. "Bout. Xu Tianlong."

The crowd surged back into his hearing.

Shouts rolled over the west rail. Someone laughed. Someone else cursed the spear disciple for letting Xu inside, which earned an angry answer from somewhere farther up the seats.

Xu stepped away and lowered his sword.

The spear disciple straightened slowly and pressed his upper abdomen. His breathing was still rough.

He looked at Xu, then gave a short, unwilling laugh. "Damn. Thought you’d try that false body again."

Xu glanced at the spear in his hands. "You didn’t leave much room for it."

"Yeah." The man coughed. "That was the idea."

He gave Xu a short nod, turned, and carried his spear toward the eastern return lane.

The blade was clean. Xu slid it back into the sheath at his left hip.

His ribs ached when he turned. Warmth still pulsed quietly beneath the bruise. His breathing remained even and his legs felt fresh. His qi reserve felt thinner after the hard binds and the punch.

He left through the west return lane.

The noise thinned under the stone arch again. An attendant passed him carrying a bucket and a rag. Entrants waiting farther down the lane moved aside when they recognized him, then immediately started whispering once he had gone by.

Xu ignored them.

He had nearly reached the recovery side when hurried footsteps slapped against the stone behind him.

"Xu Tianlong! Wait—Xu Tianlong!"

Xu turned.

A young tournament runner came around the arch too quickly, caught himself against the wall, and breathed out through his teeth.

"Office message," the runner said. "For you."

Xu waited.

The runner looked as if he’d expected a question and now had nowhere to put the breath he’d saved for answering it.

"Your eligibility review," he said. "It closes before your recovery time is up."

Xu’s gaze hardened. "How much before?"

The runner shook his head. "Didn’t give me a number. Just said not to count on the full rest."

"Anything else?"

"No. That’s all they gave me." He hesitated, then added, "Sorry."

Xu looked at him for a moment.

"Go."

The young man nodded quickly and disappeared back toward the office passage.

Xu adjusted the sheath at his left hip. The folded objection notice shifted against his inner robe.

Beyond the open side of the recovery lane, the road toward the lower guest grounds could be seen between roofs and trees. It curved downhill before disappearing behind a stone wall.

Lin wasn’t on the road. Neither was Shun.

That was all Xu knew.

His ribs pulsed with quiet warmth.

Behind him, a judge called the next names. Sandals struck the platform. The crowd rose again.

Xu stayed beside the west lane with his sword at his hip and the notice inside his robe.

The next bout began before anyone appeared on the lower road.