Chapter 175 — Third Place

CHAPTER 175

Third Place

“You repaired the connectors,” Bai Chenxi said.

Gongsun Ce opened the puppet case and lifted the first wooden figure onto the platform. A narrow metal cover now protected the shoulder point Shi Feng cut in the semi-final.

“I didn't enjoy the first repair,” Gongsun Ce replied. “I'm avoiding a second.”

Bai Chenxi drew her sword. Her peak Foundation Establishment qi spread in a pale layer along the edge.

“Then I'll find something else,” Bai Chenxi said.

The prince smiled and set the other figures beside the first. His late Foundation Establishment cultivation was lower than hers, but the puppets gave him more than one place to apply it.

Lu Yong checked both candidates and announced the start.

Frost spread across the platform immediately.

Bai Chenxi didn't waste time trying the same direct approach Shi Feng used. She couldn't copy his speed and strength simply because she watched the match.

She chose the puppets' feet instead.

The first figure advanced. Ice gathered beneath its leading sole and made the step shorter than Gongsun Ce intended.

Bai Chenxi moved past its shoulder.

The second puppet turned to intercept. She struck its wrist, pushed the arm low, and thrust toward the controller behind it.

Gongsun Ce raised one hand. The third figure stepped across the opening with both wooden arms folded.

Her sword hit its reinforced guard and rang sharply.

Bai Chenxi retreated before the first puppet's fist reached her back.

Shi Feng watched from the finalists' passage.

Duan Yichen stood beside him, still looking pleased whenever the attendants called him ninth instead of referring to his defeat by Gu Zhan.

“She can't reach him,” Duan Yichen said.

“She reached him once,” Shi Feng replied. “He used the third puppet to close it.”

“Can she freeze all three?” Duan Yichen asked.

“She'd spend too much qi keeping them still,” Shi Feng said. “The controller only needs one opening while she does it.”

On the platform, Bai Chenxi changed her method.

She drove a narrow line of frost along the first puppet's knee rather than spreading it across the whole floor. The joint slowed. Her next cut struck beneath its arm and exposed a dark seam.

Gongsun Ce pulled that figure back at once.

The second came forward while the third moved to his left. Their positions changed too quickly for the swordswoman to finish the damaged knee.

She frowned and gathered more qi.

The prince's repaired covers did what he wanted. They weren't impossible to break, but each extra cut gave the other two figures time to move.

That was enough.

The match continued through several strong exchanges.

Bai Chenxi's frost forced Gongsun Ce to keep changing the paths he used. Gongsun Ce's puppets forced her to spend more qi moving between them than striking the controller.

Neither method dominated immediately.

The crowd enjoyed that. After Gu Zhan's quick victory and Shi Feng's clean cuts through the feeds, a long struggle made them feel they finally had time to understand what they were watching.

“She's slowed the first one again!”

“The other two are covering him!”

“Watch her sword!”

“He moved before she finished!”

Gongsun Ce stepped sideways and let the second puppet take a glancing cut. The blade tore a strip of wood from its shoulder.

Bai Chenxi saw the opening and thrust.

This time, the third puppet didn't move in front of the prince.

It moved behind her.

She noticed the shadow and turned before its fist landed. That saved her from the heavy blow, but it carried her sword out of line with Gongsun Ce.

The prince lifted the wrist ring.

The first puppet, slowed but not stopped, struck the flat of her blade with both hands.

Her injured wrist trembled.

A second figure stepped into the space beside her elbow. Its wooden fist stopped an inch from her ribs.

Bai Chenxi looked at it, then at the controller beyond her sword's reach.

“I surrender,” Bai Chenxi said.

The puppets stopped immediately.

“Gongsun Ce wins,” Lu Yong declared. “Third place, Gongsun Ce. Fourth place, Bai Chenxi.”

The prince recalled the figures and checked the new shoulder damage. Bai Chenxi cleaned a few splinters from her sword edge.

“You left the third one's path open deliberately,” Bai Chenxi said.

“Yes,” Gongsun Ce replied.

“You waited until I watched your hand,” Bai Chenxi added.

“You were the dangerous part,” Gongsun Ce said. “I couldn't ignore your sword to worry about the floor.”

She accepted that without becoming pleased by a compliment. The answer described the match honestly enough.

“Next time, the wrist ring first,” Bai Chenxi said.

Gongsun Ce covered it with his other hand and smiled.

“Please don't tell everyone,” Gongsun Ce replied.

They bowed and left opposite sides of the platform. Neither needed to turn the result into a personal grudge.

Sima Lan watched the prince pack the damaged puppet. She examined the movement of the repaired shoulder, clearly interested in what changed after Shi Feng's match.

Gongsun Ce noticed her gaze.

“The cover held,” Gongsun Ce said.

“The other shoulder didn't,” Sima Lan replied.

He looked at the loose strip of wood and sighed.

“There's always another repair,” Gongsun Ce said.

Shi Feng heard the exchange as he passed and almost smiled. Artificer Hall would probably have plenty of work for a prince who disliked leaving a broken joint alone.

The attendants cleared the platform and checked the protection again. Two final name plates were carried beneath the central banner.

Shi Feng. Gu Zhan.

Gu Zhan stood so close to the entrance that Zhou Ke had to wave him back twice.

“Not yet,” Zhou Ke said.

“I know,” Gu Zhan replied.

He took one step back and continued staring at the platform.

Shi Feng adjusted the binding on his sword and watched the last repair crew leave. His body was rested and his qi steady. He had watched the spear throughout the gathering, but watching it was no substitute for meeting it. He checked the new grip once more and walked toward the passage.

Above them, the final bell began to ring.

For the first time all morning, even Gu Zhan stopped talking.