Chapter 178 — The Extreme

CHAPTER 178

The Extreme

“Begin,” Lu Yong said.

Gu Zhan's spear crossed the platform before the echo faded.

Early Golden Core qi gathered along the head, sharper and denser than the force he used before the tribulation. Shi Feng caught it on the flat of his sword and felt the change through his wrist.

The inexpensive blade cracked.

Its outer half spun away, struck the protective boundary, and fell onto the stone. The shock tore the skin between Shi Feng's right knuckles. He stepped aside before the continuing thrust reached his chest.

Gu Zhan pulled back immediately.

“Take another sword from the rack!” Gu Zhan called.

Shi Feng glanced at the ordinary weapons beyond the passage. None would withstand repeated contact with this spear. Changing one weak blade for another would only postpone the same problem.

He still had half his own sword. He knew its weight.

“No need,” Shi Feng said.

He flexed his left fingers. The golden radius bone cracked before the tribulation still ached beneath the sleeve. His qi had eased the numbness during the pause, but the fracture hadn't healed.

One hard blow there would matter.

Across from him, Gu Zhan settled the spear into both hands. The burns along his sleeve remained, but his new Golden Core qi was steady.

“Then come on!” Gu Zhan said.

Shi Feng raised the jagged half-blade.

The next thrust drove him backward.

Shi Feng turned the point aside near his remaining guard. Gu Zhan changed his grip before the broken blade could reach the forward wrist. The shaft swept across Shi Feng's chest and forced him to duck.

He tried to advance under it.

The spearhead returned faster than before.

A thin line of blood opened across Shi Feng's ribs. He twisted clear before the cut deepened, but the sudden pain broke his next step. Gu Zhan drove forward and took the centre from him.

Shi Feng retreated twice.

The boundary lay three paces behind his heel.

Duan Yichen gripped the passage rail. Sima Lan stopped breathing for a moment as the next spear flash crossed the space in front of Shi Feng's throat.

“He's losing ground!”

“The sword can't reach!”

“One more retreat and he's out!”

Shi Feng heard them. They weren't wrong.

Gu Zhan wasn't an ordinary opponent whose cultivation alone explained his strength. Years of spear practice gave him a clean answer to every attempt to shorten the distance. The breakthrough made those answers faster and heavier.

Shi Feng needed to change how he entered.

Meeting the point again wouldn't do it.

He planted his rear foot and struck the shaft from below with Piercing Current. Gu Zhan lifted his forward hand, letting the shortened blade pass beneath the weapon.

Then the rear end came around.

Shi Feng caught it on his left forearm.

Pain shot to his shoulder.

The hairline fracture in the golden radius opened wider. His left fingers went numb, and the impact drove his heel across the stone until it stopped a hand's width inside the boundary.

Gu Zhan didn't pause.

The spear turned toward his heart.

Shi Feng dropped his left shoulder and drove his right foot inward.

The point tore through loose cloth instead of his chest. He struck toward Gu Zhan's wrist with Turning Wave, forcing the spear user to move the forward hand back.

For the first time since the sword broke, the gap shortened.

Gu Zhan stepped away immediately. His other hand pulled the shaft through, and the spearhead turned back toward Shi Feng before the sword could follow.

Shi Feng tried Returning Tide.

The jagged blade hooked the inner guard, but Gu Zhan turned his wrist and broke the contact. A burst of early Golden Core qi threw Shi Feng's weapon arm wide.

The next thrust grazed his shoulder.

Blood darkened the robe.

Shi Feng staggered, caught his footing, and dragged the half-blade back between them. The spear point stopped against the remaining steel with a shrill ring.

He couldn't keep paying for each failed entry with another cut.

He thought, The shaft. Stop the shaft before he can change its reach.

His left hand was the only free one.

He forced qi through the numb fingers and felt them answer, slowly at first. The cracked bone hurt with every movement. It still held his arm together.

The First Extreme wasn't an excuse to ignore damage. It gave him one chance an ordinary body couldn't take.

He had to use it properly.

Gu Zhan watched him recover and grinned with fierce excitement. His own breathing was rough now. The resumed match had demanded more than the earlier victories combined.

“Still coming?” Gu Zhan asked.

Shi Feng set the broken blade close to his chest.

“Yes,” Shi Feng replied.

Shi Feng watched the forward hand rather than the spearhead. Each time Gu Zhan shortened his grip, the rear foot followed before the next thrust. Catching the shaft while both hands were close would only let him pull the weapon free.

He needed the longer attack.

Shi Feng lowered the half-blade enough to expose the line beside his shoulder. It wasn't a harmless invitation. If his turn came late, the Golden Core point would enter before his injured hand reached the shaft.

He took one steady breath and waited.

In the stands, Nie Wufeng's fingers closed around his knee.

“He's leaving the centre open,” Nie Wufeng said quietly.

Li Changyuan watched the blood running from the young man's left sleeve.

“He needs the spear closer,” Li Changyuan replied.

Neither old man moved. The choice belonged to the two fighters, and the match wasn't finished.

Gu Zhan saw the opening and drove the spear straight through it.

Shi Feng moved toward it.

He didn't try to outrun the point. He turned just far enough that the spear aura sliced across his injured forearm rather than entering his ribs.

Then his bare left hand closed around the shaft behind the head.

The impact nearly tore the grip open.

Blood ran between his fingers. The fractured radius rang with pain, and his left knee bent under the force. He drove qi through all three hundred and sixty-five meridians and pulled his body into one braced line.

The two hundred and six golden bones answered together.

His hand held.

The spearhead stopped short of his heart.

Gu Zhan's eye widened. He twisted the shaft, trying to break the blood-slick grip before the half-blade could reach him.

Shi Feng turned with it instead of resisting the whole wrench through the cracked arm. His feet crossed inside Gu Zhan's forward step.

Piercing Current carried the jagged blade toward the inner wrist.

Gu Zhan released that hand and reached to strike.

Turning Wave changed the short thrust into a cut across the guard. The released hand jerked aside. Before it could return, Returning Tide brought the broken point beneath Gu Zhan's jaw.

Steel touched skin.

A bead of blood appeared.

Shi Feng stopped the blade there.

Gu Zhan's countering palm was still above the champion's shoulder. His spear remained trapped in Shi Feng's left fist, unable to finish its thrust.

The point had arrived first.

One more inch would've ended the fight permanently.

Gu Zhan looked down at the blade. His raised hand slowly lowered.

“I yield,” Gu Zhan said.

Shi Feng released the shaft only after Lu Yong stepped between them. His left arm shook as the pressure left it. The half-blade lowered in his right hand, and he drew a long, ragged breath.

“Shi Feng wins!” Lu Yong declared. “Champion of the Great Kingdom Tournament—Shi Feng of Great Liang!”

The stands exploded.

Gu Zhan sat down among the broken stones, breathing hard. Then he laughed, delighted and disappointed at once.

“You caught it,” Gu Zhan said.

“My sword broke,” Shi Feng replied.

“That last step,” Gu Zhan said. “I was late.”

Shi Feng nodded. He couldn't have afforded another failed entry either. The blood on his robe and the shaking arm made that clear enough.

“Again,” Gu Zhan said. “Someday. Soon?”

“When I have a better sword,” Shi Feng replied.

Lu Yong called the physicians forward. One began supporting Shi Feng's injured forearm while another examined Gu Zhan's burns and the shallow cut beneath his jaw.

Gu Zhan rose when the physician finished and retrieved the broken sword tip from the boundary. He gave it to Shi Feng without another challenge.

Above them, attendants lifted the final name plate.

Only Shi Feng's name stood at the top.