Chapter 105 — The Tenth Name
CHAPTER 105
The Tenth Name
“Shi Feng challenges Gao Zhen,” Wen Shou announced.
Laughter spread around the stone arena. Several people stood to see whether the name belonged to the same cripple they remembered. When Shi Feng walked through the gate, the laughter grew louder.
Gao Zhen waited beneath the tenth name on the ranking board. He wore a bright green robe, his refined artifact sword hanging at his waist as early Foundation Establishment qi flowed around his shoulders without restraint.
“Did you get lost?” Gao Zhen asked.
Shi Feng stepped onto the platform.
“Your name's tenth,” Shi Feng said. “I'm in the right place.”
Gao Zhen looked toward the official, expecting him to remove the fool. Wen Shou checked the challenge token against his register and nodded.
“The application is valid,” Wen Shou said. “The challenger accepts the risk. Intentional killing after surrender is forbidden.”
“Then I surrender on his behalf,” Gao Zhen said, drawing another burst of laughter.
Wen Shou didn't smile.
“Only he can do that,” Wen Shou said.
At the edge of the audience, a seller lowered his tray of sunflower seeds. His neighbour leaned forward so far that the bench creaked.
The capital's famous cripple actually intended to fight!
Shi Feng glanced at the ranking board. Three places qualified for the Great Kingdom Tournament. The tenth place was only a step toward what he wanted.
There was no reason to stand here arguing all morning.
“Begin whenever you're ready,” Shi Feng said.
Gao Zhen's expression darkened. Being treated casually by a cripple wasn't amusing when the entire audience could see it.
“You've learned a few tricks from your wife?” Gao Zhen sneered. “I'll teach you how far tricks go against Foundation Establishment!”
Across the arena, Ling Qingzhu stood beside the second-ranked candidates' waiting area. Her fingers tightened around the rail. She couldn't understand Shi Feng's calm. He'd refused her warning that morning without even giving her a convincing explanation.
Now Gao Zhen was drawing his refined artifact.
Ling Qingzhu shifted forward. She could stop a fatal blow if the official failed, but intervening would humiliate Shi Feng before the capital. Her heart was filled with anger and worry.
Why couldn't he have told her what he was planning?
Wen Shou raised his hand. “Realm verification on the first exchange. Begin!”
Gao Zhen lunged immediately, intending to sweep the cripple off the stone before Wen Shou could call a halt. Green light flared along his blade as he slashed toward Shi Feng's shoulder.
Shi Feng didn't draw his sword.
He raised one hand, caught the flat of the incoming blade between two bare fingers, and let his early Foundation Establishment aura roll cleanly across the platform.
The green blade stopped dead.
Around the arena, the laughter died in a single breath. Beside the waiting rail, Ling Qingzhu's hand froze on the stone balustrade—he wasn't crippled; he had broken through to Foundation Establishment!
Gao Zhen jerked his arm. The steel didn't budge. His expression twisted from contempt to stunned disbelief.
“Let go!” Gao Zhen shouted.
Wen Shou's eyes widened slightly before he gave the verification nod. Genuine early Foundation Establishment qi—and dense enough to stop a refined artifact between two fingers!
Gao Zhen's heart trembled. He pulled harder, but the sword remained trapped. Shi Feng stepped inside the reach of the broad blade and pressed his free palm against Gao Zhen's chest.
He pushed.
The green-robed candidate flew backward, crossed the boundary, and landed on his backside outside the platform. His sword left his grip and stayed between Shi Feng's fingers.
For a moment, Gao Zhen sat with both hands raised. He couldn't understand why he was no longer standing.
Wen Shou lowered his arm slowly.
“Gao Zhen is outside the boundary,” Wen Shou declared. “Shi Feng wins.”
The whole fight took less time than Gao Zhen's boast.
“He caught a refined artifact!”
“Foundation Establishment! That's real Foundation Establishment!”
“Wasn't he crippled?”
“Then what does that make Gao Zhen?”
“…”
Gao Zhen scrambled to his feet. Shame burned across his face. Losing would've been bad enough. Losing without making the opponent draw a weapon was unbearable.
“You hid your cultivation!” Gao Zhen shouted.
“I didn't ask you to announce yours,” Shi Feng replied.
A few people laughed before covering their mouths. Shi Feng turned the broad sword around and held it by the blade. Gao Zhen stared at the offered hilt, then at the fingers holding the metal.
“You want it?” Shi Feng asked.
Gao Zhen snatched it and stepped away. He had no desire to test the strength of those fingers again.
Wen Shou inspected the platform and the defeated candidate. Gao Zhen wasn't badly injured. His pride suffered far more than his body.
That made the result harder to dispute.
“Your name will replace the tenth position,” Wen Shou told Shi Feng. “You can wait for the next challenge period.”
“How long?” Shi Feng asked.
“Until the next bell,” Wen Shou said.
Shi Feng nodded and stepped off the platform. He didn't bow toward every section of the audience or explain how his meridians recovered. He'd come to qualify, not tell his life story.
Ling Qingzhu waited near the passage. The moment Shi Feng approached, she caught his sleeve.
“Foundation Establishment?” Ling Qingzhu asked.
“Yes,” Shi Feng said.
“How long?” Ling Qingzhu demanded.
“Not long,” Shi Feng replied.
Her eyes stayed fixed on his face. She thought of the medicine jars, the late nights, and his refusal to abandon the qualification. None of those things looked quite the same now.
“Why didn't you tell me?” Ling Qingzhu asked.
“You told me not to get myself killed,” Shi Feng said. “I haven't.”
“That isn't an answer!” Ling Qingzhu snapped.
“It was your main concern,” Shi Feng replied.
She wanted to hit him. She also wanted to smile. The two feelings made her grip tighten on his sleeve instead.
At least he was safe. At least he wasn't forcing himself into a fight he couldn't survive. Then she remembered how easily he'd caught Gao Zhen's sword.
That wasn't just being safe.
Wen Shou approached with a wooden ranking token. Ling Qingzhu released the sleeve before he reached them, but her expression remained troubled.
“Keep this,” Wen Shou told Shi Feng. “Anyone challenging the tenth rank must challenge you now.”
Shi Feng accepted it and looked toward the higher names on the board.
First, Sima Yu. Second, Ling Qingzhu. Third, Han Zong.
His gaze stopped at the third name.
A familiar face hurried toward the passage before Wen Shou could speak. Kou Liang stopped several steps away, his expensive belt buckle shining beneath the sun.
He looked at Shi Feng's token and swallowed. The riverside encounter was still fresh in his mind. He remembered offering Ling Qingzhu a better place to eat while treating her husband as an annoyance.
“Young Master Shi,” Kou Liang said stiffly. “Congratulations.”
Shi Feng glanced at him.
“Your pavilion was comfortable?” Shi Feng asked.
Kou Liang's face reddened immediately.
“Very comfortable,” Kou Liang replied.
“Good,” Shi Feng said.
There was no threat in the answer. Kou Liang still hurried away. He didn't want another question about that evening.
Ling Qingzhu watched him leave, then looked at her husband, her eyes smiling above the veil. At the river, she dismissed Kou Liang because she wanted Shi Feng beside her. Now everyone would call that decision wise.
She suddenly disliked the difference.
Shi Feng didn't bother following the youth with his eyes. A rich fool wasn't worth interrupting his plans.
He thought, Third place, then I can go home. He wasn’t interested in standing beneath a ranking board all day while strangers guessed at his meridians. There's still a batch waiting for collection.
Wen Shou noticed.
“Don't rush,” Wen Shou advised. “Gao Zhen only recently entered Foundation Establishment. Han Zong is already at mid Foundation Establishment.”
Shi Feng considered that for a breath.
“Does the third place qualify?” Shi Feng asked.
“Yes,” Wen Shou replied.
“Then I'll challenge him next,” Shi Feng said.