Chapter 164 — Round of Sixteen

CHAPTER 164

Round of Sixteen

“Begin,” Lu Yong said.

Lu Ting drew his sword with both hands. Late Foundation Establishment qi spread along the edge as Great Wu's Rapid Wind opening sent three attacks toward Shi Feng's throat, ribs, and leading knee.

Shi Feng turned the first aside with a short parry. He caught the second near the hilt and stepped past the low third cut. The three exchanges rang across the platform without either man losing the centre.

Lu Ting changed the rhythm immediately.

His fourth attack came from below. The fifth followed the retreating blade instead of its owner. Shi Feng blocked both, but the sixth carried a sudden shoulder turn that brought the edge toward his head from the opposite side.

He ducked and answered with a straight thrust.

Lu Ting's guard closed around it.

The seventh exchange became a contest at close range. Lu Ting pressed the trapped blade downward while moving his leading foot across Shi Feng's retreat. Shi Feng turned out of the lock before the eighth stroke could follow him.

The Great Wu swordsman didn't chase. He shortened his stance and used his third variation.

Shi Feng's expression sharpened. The man's qi was stronger than his own visible stage, but the changing sword rhythm was the more useful part. Each variation prepared a different return instead of simply adding force to the first opening.

On the ninth exchange, Lu Ting covered the obvious path to his wrist.

On the tenth, his blade swept back through the space Shi Feng expected it to leave.

Silver light cut across Shi Feng's left sleeve.

Cloth split from elbow to cuff, and a thin line of blood welled across his forearm where the edge grazed his skin. The hanging strip fell onto the stone between them.

The crowd cried out.

Lu Ting pressed forward before his opponent could reset the guard.

Shi Feng changed methods.

Piercing Current drove through the narrow opening beneath the advancing sword. Lu Ting twisted his guard across it, but Shi Feng's wrist was already turning into Turning Wave.

The twelfth exchange forced Great Wu's swordsman half a pace off line. He recovered with a heavy cross-cut, aiming to regain the centre before the next thrust.

Returning Tide drew Shi Feng's blade back an inch and hooked the crossguard wide.

Lu Ting's chest opened.

Shi Feng stepped inside on the fourteenth exchange and planted his palm against it. The Great Wu candidate flew backward over the boundary. His sword struck the outer flagstones beside him.

“Shi Feng wins,” Lu Yong declared.

The stands roared.

“Fourteen exchanges!”

“Lu Ting drew blood!”

“He made him change sword methods!”

“And that returning hook still broke the guard!”

Shi Feng checked the torn cloth before sheathing his weapon. The shallow cut along his forearm had already stopped bleeding against his golden bone, leaving a narrow red stain on the cuff. Lu Ting's final return had been worth taking seriously.

The defeated swordsman stood slowly and picked up his blade. He looked disappointed, but nobody could say he'd fallen without showing his skill.

Duan Yichen waited in the passage with two cups of water.

“All three variations,” Duan Yichen said. “I thought the first six strokes were his whole opening.”

“The return cut was good,” Shi Feng replied, accepting a cup.

Duan Yichen glanced at the bloodied sleeve and nodded.

Bai Chenxi and Sima Lan entered soon afterward.

The princess opened carefully. Her late Foundation Establishment qi settled around her feet before her sword moved. Moon Lake Sect's method gave her a light first step and a quick second cut.

Bai Chenxi met both without retreating.

Pale frost formed along the stone. Her sword crossed Sima Lan's guard and forced the princess to change direction before finishing the next strike.

Shi Feng watched from beneath the awning. Sima Lan understood the difference in their control. She wasn't wasting qi trying to overpower a stronger opponent in the first three exchanges.

She drew Bai Chenxi toward the edge, turned, and attacked from the narrow side.

For an instant, the opening looked good.

Then frost spread beneath her leading foot.

Sima Lan stopped herself from slipping, but the correction cost her the attack. Bai Chenxi's frost-edged sword grazed her already stiff shoulder, splitting the cloth with a shallow, freezing cut before halting against her collarbone.

“I surrender,” Sima Lan said.

Bai Chenxi withdrew at once.

The princess bowed stiffly and left the platform. She was angry at losing, but not foolish enough to mistake the result for an injustice.

Her chance at recruitment now depended on the placement bracket.

She passed Shi Feng in the corridor and noticed him watching the next match.

“You won't offer comfort?” Sima Lan asked.

“You'd charge for listening,” Shi Feng replied.

Her mouth curved briefly.

“Only if the advice was poor,” Sima Lan said.

“Then win the next ones,” Shi Feng replied.

She nodded once and continued toward the treatment rooms. The frost-stiffened cut on her shoulder wasn't the part of the defeat that troubled her.

The remaining matches moved quickly.

Xiahou Lie battered Han Zhuo's shield aside and carried the Great Han prince over the boundary with one shoulder strike. The body cultivator laughed while his opponent complained that the shield was bent.

Gongsun Ce's first puppet pinned Cen Ruchen's sword. The second stopped a wooden fist beside the swordsman's temple. The replacement candidate surrendered before discovering how hard that fist could hit.

Cao Zhenyu defeated Chu Ning after a long exchange near the boundary. Tan He caught Qi Yuan's wrist with the flat of his blade and forced a surrender. Yuan Kuang swept Zhou Yan's weapon from his hands, then stood waiting until the defeated man admitted what everyone could see.

Six places among the final eight were settled.

Shi Feng kept his attention on the last pair.

Duan Yichen rolled his wrist and walked onto the platform. Gu Zhan came from the opposite passage carrying his spear across both shoulders.

“Use the heavy cut!” Gu Zhan called. “The one you practised before the draw!”

Duan Yichen stopped.

“You watched that?” Duan Yichen asked.

“It looked good,” Gu Zhan replied. “Don't make it worse now!”

The sabre user laughed despite his tension. He drew the blade and lowered his stance.

Lu Yong announced the start.

Duan Yichen attacked immediately. His sabre descended with a heavy arc of qi meant to close the space on both sides. Gu Zhan didn't retreat. The spear slid beneath the descending blade and lifted at the exact point where the force thinned.

The sabre passed over his shoulder.

Duan Yichen turned the failed cut into a second strike. Gu Zhan grinned and stepped inside it.

A short blow from the spear shaft struck Duan Yichen's ribs. He staggered, caught himself, and raised his sabre again.

“Good!” Gu Zhan shouted.

His next thrust stopped beneath Duan Yichen's chin.

The sabre user looked down at the point and slowly lowered his weapon.

“I surrender,” Duan Yichen said.

Gu Zhan withdrew the spear with obvious disappointment.

“The second cut was better,” Gu Zhan said. “Why don't you start with that?”

“Because I wanted a second cut,” Duan Yichen replied.

Gu Zhan considered that seriously, then nodded as though receiving useful advice.

Shi Feng smiled beneath the awning. The spear user wasn't mocking his opponent. He really wanted the fight to last longer.

Duan Yichen walked back holding his side. Shi Feng offered the water this time, and the sabre user accepted without pretending the blow didn't hurt.

“That was fast,” Duan Yichen said.

“Yes,” Shi Feng replied.

“You could lie a little,” Duan Yichen said.

“You could duck a little,” Shi Feng answered.

Duan Yichen laughed, then winced and pressed a hand against his ribs.

Shi Feng took out an ordinary recovery pill from his own stock. It wasn't a failed pill or a secret medicine. He put it in the sabre user's hand.

“Take it,” Shi Feng said. “You'll need your ribs for the placement matches.”

Duan Yichen looked at the pill, then at him.

“I'll pay you back,” Duan Yichen said.

“Fight properly first,” Shi Feng replied.

The sabre user swallowed it and sat beneath the awning. His respect had become something easier than another discussion of rank or profit.

Shi Feng didn't mind that.

Above the passage, attendants changed the board. Eight names remained in the main bracket, and eight moved to the lower placement list.

Gu Zhan stood beneath both boards, practising the thrust that ended his match.

He looked delighted with the whole morning.