Chapter 170 — Semi-final: The Third Prince

CHAPTER 170

Semi-final: The Third Prince

“Don't mistake the puppets for separate opponents,” Gongsun Ce said.

Shi Feng stood across from three wooden figures and their controller. The third prince's late Foundation Establishment qi moved along thin visible lines between the puppet cores.

“I won't,” Shi Feng replied.

“Good,” Gongsun Ce said. “People usually keep hitting the first one.”

The prince opened a narrow case and placed two small refined artifacts beside his feet. Each carried a simple feeding channel connected to the puppet lines.

Shi Feng watched carefully. Mo Tianheng's alchemy knowledge didn't make every artifact in the world familiar. But qi moving from a supply point toward a working core followed rules he understood.

Xu Changhe's modest diagrams taught him where ordinary connections needed protection. His own furnace practice taught him to notice when a supply weakened during a change.

That was enough to begin.

He didn't need to become a grandmaster refiner in the time it took Lu Yong to raise his hand.

“Begin,” Lu Yong said.

The first puppet charged.

Its wooden fist struck where Shi Feng stood a breath earlier. The second figure turned across the first one's side, closing the space his retreat opened.

The third waited behind them with both hands raised.

Shi Feng stepped left and touched the first puppet's elbow with his sword. The joint held. It was reinforced more carefully than the exposed wood suggested.

Gongsun Ce smiled faintly.

“Not there,” Gongsun Ce said.

“I noticed,” Shi Feng replied.

A small artifact beneath the prince's feet lit up. The third puppet released a short burst of qi through its palms, forcing an ordinary opponent to retreat into the first two figures.

Shi Feng moved through the gap before it closed.

The blast passed behind him. His robe fluttered, but the force didn't threaten his body. He could've destroyed the nearest puppet with a much stronger blow.

He chose not to.

Breaking everything by brute force would tell the delegates more than he wanted them to know. Cutting the exposed supply would end the match just as clearly.

He needed the right moment.

The first puppet struck again. Shi Feng met the wrist with the flat of his sword and turned the arm outward. The second figure moved to cover it, just as before.

This time, he watched the line between their cores.

It brightened before the third puppet fired.

There.

Shi Feng stepped forward and used Piercing Current through the narrow opening. His sword didn't attack a wooden chest. It cut the unprotected copper connector beneath the first puppet's rear shoulder.

The figure stopped.

Its raised fist remained hanging in the air.

Gongsun Ce's expression changed.

“He cut the feed,” He Zhen said beneath the sect awning.

Wei Chengyuan looked at the stopped puppet, then at the thin connection hanging beneath its shoulder.

“An exposed point,” Wei Chengyuan said.

“Yes,” He Zhen replied. “After he forced the turn.”

Mu Shuyun leaned forward slightly. She didn't know the puppet's entire design, but the reasoning was clear. Shi Feng watched a repeated movement, created the same opening, and cut the part that carried qi through it.

He didn't need to understand every artifact on the platform.

Gongsun Ce moved the remaining two puppets apart and changed their rhythm.

The third prince wasn't finished.

A metal ring on Gongsun Ce's wrist glowed. The second puppet stopped covering the first and drove straight toward Shi Feng.

The third moved behind it.

Shi Feng caught the change and retreated one step. His sword turned a heavy wooden fist aside. The impact made the inexpensive blade ring more sharply than he liked.

Still usable. Don't meet another one there.

He lowered the sword and changed his target.

Gongsun Ce's small feeding artifact stood only a few paces behind the moving figures. When the third puppet fired, a visible pulse passed from the artifact into its core.

The line ran close to the stone.

Shi Feng drew the second puppet toward him, stepped across its leading foot, and struck its knee from the side with his palm.

The figure stumbled.

It didn't break. It didn't need to.

For one breath, its own body blocked the prince's view of the low feeding line.

Turning Wave swept beneath the wooden hip and cut the narrow connector near the ground.

The third puppet's hands dimmed before the next blast formed.

Gongsun Ce pulled his wrist back sharply. Shi Feng was already moving past the stumbling figure.

Returning Tide brought the blade back toward the prince's hand.

The point stopped against the glowing metal ring.

Gongsun Ce looked at the blade, then at his two disabled puppets. The third stood between them, active but badly placed to stop a sword already within the controller's guard.

The prince sighed.

“I surrender,” Gongsun Ce said.

Shi Feng withdrew at once.

The audience erupted when Lu Yong confirmed the result.

“He didn't break the puppets!”

“He cut two little pieces!”

“That last figure was still moving!”

“It couldn't reach him!”

Gongsun Ce crouched beside the first damaged connection. He examined the clean cut and shook his head.

“I should've covered that,” Gongsun Ce said.

“It needed room to turn,” Shi Feng replied.

“Then a wider cover,” Gongsun Ce said.

“Then slower turning,” Shi Feng replied.

The prince considered the problem seriously. Losing the match apparently hadn't damaged his interest in the puppets.

“You've given me work,” Gongsun Ce said, running a thumb over the severed copper feed. “Artificer Hall holds an inner-court mechanism trial every autumn. If we both end up on that mountain, don't expect the next return channel to sit where your sword can reach it.”

“You brought three people to hit me today,” Shi Feng replied. “Bring four in the autumn.”

Gongsun Ce laughed for the first time that afternoon.

Shi Feng helped him lift the stopped figure clear of the passage. The damage was limited to ordinary fittings. Repairing it would cost time, not the whole puppet.

That suited both men.

At the entrance, Duan Yichen waited with the next official notice.

“The final,” Duan Yichen said.

“One opponent left to decide,” Shi Feng replied.

“Gu Zhan's been smiling since your match began,” Duan Yichen said.

Shi Feng looked toward the other passage.

The one-eyed spear user raised his weapon in greeting, then pointed eagerly toward Bai Chenxi's platform.

He clearly intended to settle that last question quickly.