Rustpen

Chapter 66: WHAT SHE WARNS

CHAPTER

66

WHAT SHE WARNS

JIEYUAN

—∞—

Caoluan was waiting for him on the seventh step down, leaning with her back against the wall. She had her head down, not looking at him. The stairwell had no dedicated lights, but it was evenly, perfectly lit all the same, given it was all brightgold.

“So,” Jieyuan said as he reached the same step, set...

Chapter 65: A HELD BREATH

CHAPTER

65

A HELD BREATH

JIEYUAN

—∞—

Gleaming End drove deep into Xianjun’s throat.

Xianjun’s body jerked, blood spewing from his lips. His face flushed crimson, his body sagging, limp from the neck—or what was left of it, with the blade lodged there.

The strike was so clean, so precise, that though blood bubbled and swelled around...

Chapter 64: DARE TO KILL

CHAPTER

64

DARE TO KILL

JIEYUAN

—∞—

Or it should have been.

Daojue was quick. He had hardly finished the swing that knocked off Xianjun’s halberd, before he redirected Gleaming End and charged at the now-unarmed Xianjun.

But Xianjun was faster. He didn’t retreat—he advanced, weaving out of the way of Gleaming End, letting it stab t...

Chapter 63: TO GIVE UP

CHAPTER

63

TO GIVE UP

JIEYUAN

—∞—

As the call echoed throughout the venue, the proctor got off the stage in a blur of movement.

Daojue broke into a run, Gleaming End held straight to the side, flat against the length of his right arm. Across the stage, Xianjun exploded into motion—only to drop low and stay rooted, thrusting his halberd in ra...

Chapter 62: TO PRELUDE

CHAPTER

62

TO PRELUDE

JIEYUAN

—∞—

Jieyuan leaned against the brightgold balustrade, arms folded over the guardrail, staring down at the arena floor. Waiting.

Hours had passed since his duel with Meiyao, but the thrill of victory still lingered—dulled, yes, but not gone. Now it simmered low, a hazy warmth beneath the skin, no longer the trium...

Chapter 61: TO PREDICT

CHAPTER

61

TO PREDICT

JIEYUAN

—∞—

It was Jieyuan’s seventh time on the arena floor—and if he had his way, he’d be back again tomorrow.

He was on the center stage, standing on one end of it. His opponent had already taken up position all the way across from him, though they’d arrived together. The proctor was between them, droning on. T...

Chapter 60: TRUST YOUR BLOOD

CHAPTER

60

TRUST YOUR BLOOD

JIEYUAN

—∞—

Meiyao’s duel against Yongyi was the last one of the day. All that was left was for the delegations to leave. Some elders would be hanging behind to arrange the next day’s matches and whatever else it was that they did, while the other elders would escort the disciples back to their respective palaces.

Chapter 59: DISABUSE

CHAPTER

59

DISABUSE

JIEYUAN

—∞—

This should be interesting. Jieyuan followed Xianjun’s approach.

The Xiyunfeng Clan’s scion might have won his match, but he hadn’t gotten out of it entirely unscathed. His robes, much like Jieyuan’s own, had been swapped out after his duel. There’d have been a large, bloody tear in the cloth around th...

Chapter 58: NOT MUNDANE

CHAPTER

58

NOT MUNDANE

JIEYUAN

—∞—

“What is it with you,” Meiyao said, as Jieyuan reached her side on the viewing floor, “and throwing yourself into stab attacks?”

Jieyuan leaned against the railing. The stage below was empty. There’d be a break before the next duel, an hour or so.

He was in clean, pristine robes, the cuts he�...

Chapter 57: LET HIM DOWN

CHAPTER

57

LET HIM DOWN

JIEYUAN

—∞—

Jieyuan didn’t hesitate, didn’t pause to consider it. As Yongyi came at him again, still sandbagging, he didn’t parry but went for a riskier dodge. Yongyi’s blade cut into him—another line across his ribs to match the one on his right—but it freed up his right hand, which he swung at Yongyi’s sword.<...

Chapter 56: NOT TO WASTE

CHAPTER

56

NOT TO WASTE

JIEYUAN

—∞—

For once, Jieyuan neither rushed out nor stood his ground against an incoming rush. Rather, after the proctor called the duel and got off the stage, he began walking toward the center, in no particular hurry. And as if they’d agreed upon it beforehand, Yongyi did the same, coming from the opposite direction.

Chapter 55: TO MATCH-UP

CHAPTER

55

TO MATCH-UP

JIEYUAN

—∞—

Jieyuan poked at the rough, jagged line to the left of his stomach. He was sitting on a large, white bed, his back against the wall. He’d undone the upper half of his robes—he’d woken in a new set of inner disciple robes, outer robes topaz, inner robes white—baring his chest and abdomen.

A gemstone li...

Chapter 54: A CLEAN WIN

CHAPTER

54

A CLEAN WIN

JIEYUAN

—∞—

“BEGIN!” the proctor announced before getting off the stage.

Jieyuan set off running forward. Caoluan similarly bounded forward, long legs eating up the distance in swallowing strides, pushing her fifth-sign speed to the limit.

This exact sight was one Jieyuan had seen before. Many, many times.

Chapter 53: THE FIFTH DAY

CHAPTER

53

THE FIFTH DAY

JIEYUAN

—∞—

For how set the Gleaming Nobles had been on killing him, they seemed to have laid off altogether since the tournament began. Or at least put their business with him on hold.

Four days had passed since his first duel, and there hadn’t been any assassination attempts since. The Xiyunfeng Clan also hadn’t...

Chapter 52: DRIVE AWAY

CHAPTER

52

DRIVE AWAY

JIEYUAN

—∞—

Jieyuan froze at the sight of the pair. Before he even knew it he was closing his palms around the shafts of the Shifting Feathers, starting to draw them, and he stopped himself before he could pull them out, killing the instinct.

On the other end of the corridor, Sovereign Aoxin similarly came to an abrupt st...

Chapter 51: A BAD HAND

CHAPTER

51

A BAD HAND

JIEYUAN

—∞—

Jieyuan only really got a proper sense for the size of the stages as he stepped out into the arena floor. The raised platforms were much taller than he’d thought—taller than his chest—and as he stared across the floor, all the way over to the opposite side, all he could tell about the Radiant Gold Sect discipl...

Chapter 50: FOUNDING CLAN

CHAPTER

50

FOUNDING CLAN

JIEYUAN

—∞—

From the second floor, Jieyuan watched the first couple of duels closely. Watched how the competitors fought, what powers they used. Each cabal had its own schools of martial arts for each weapon, as well as its own set of signature realmskills. Jieyuan was really only familiar with the Gleaming Stone Sect’s. T...

Chapter 49: IN FOR GOLD

CHAPTER

49

IN FOR GOLD

JIEYUAN

—∞—

Now, Jieyuan loved gold as much as the next man. He was a merchant’s son. In fact, he’d even say gold was the color he liked the most.

But as he stepped inside the Radiant Gold Palace, he was reminded both that you could have too much of a good thing, and that just because you ...

Chapter 48: SUMMIT START

CHAPTER

48

SUMMIT START

JIEYUAN

—∞—

The Radiant Gold Palace was an impressive sight. A sprawl of seven-story-tall spires surrounding a hulking slab of a building. Blocky, almost like a square pyramid, upper floors progressively smaller, blocks placed on top of each other. All sharp edges and angles. All brightgold. Under the glare of the midday sun,...

Chapter 47: FEATHER SHIFT

CHAPTER

47

FEATHER SHIFT

JIEYUAN

—∞—

“And here we are,” Wanxin said, coming to a stop in four wide, squat, building three stories tall.

It was an angular, blocky constructions Blocky, in the style favored by the Radiant Gold Palace, but there was not a hint of brightgold—or gold, period—on it. Rather, it was white. And not the...

Chapter 46: SIGHT IN GRAY

CHAPTER

46

SIGHT IN GRAY

JIEYUAN

—∞—

Jieyuan opened his eyes, blinking wildly, his body jerking back. He desperately drew for breath. And as the cool air flew in through his nose and settled in his lungs, filling it, he came into awareness.

He was in a well-lit room. Large, square, luxuriously furnished. He was… He was sitting on a meditatio...

Chapter 45: AND SHE BITES

CHAPTER

45

AND SHE BITES

JIEYUAN

—∞—

Meiyao gave a sigh. A deep, long exhale of air, as profound as any Jieyuan had ever heard. “Ten years ago… Ten years ago, my mother mysteriously disappeared in a mission outside the sect.” Meiyao had her brows furrowed. She wasn’t looking at him. Rather she seemed fully concentrated on a particular s...

Chapter 44: SO HE BAITS

CHAPTER

44

SO HE BAITS

JIEYUAN

—∞—

Jieyuan’s feet were moving, making the decision to go after Meiyao even before he got around to thinking whether to stay or follow. He was still caught up with this latest little revelation. The revelation of Meiyao’s engagement. The way that little tidbit weighed on him, occupying his though...

Chapter 43: TO ENGAGE

CHAPTER

43

TO ENGAGE

MEIYAO

—∞—

Meiyao was in a mood for murder. She’d already killed two today, and she felt like adding to the tally.

Meeting her father’s gaze, she stifled the urge to reach for her saber. She’d just stepped inside the palace’s underground conference room. It was a large chamber under the main building. Its existence...

Chapter 42: THROUGH THE HEART

CHAPTER

42

THROUGH THE HEART

JIEYUAN

—∞—

“And you’re dead.” The smugness in Meiyao’s voice was just short of palpable.

The tip of Meiyao’s saber hung just in front of Jieyuan’s right eye, like a blurry little dot. Close enough that if he blinked, his eyelashes might brush against it. He was on the floor, half-sitting, half-sprawled...

Chapter 41: HAVE A DEAL

CHAPTER

41

HAVE A DEAL

JIEYUAN

—∞—

Yongyi and Yiming fought in the middle stage. Both, it turned out, were swordsmen—and skilled ones, at that.

Jieyuan stood some ways off the stage, looking up, watching the two. The palace’s training room was empty save for them, the other, smaller stages unused. The rings of their swords meeting rang lou...

Chapter 40: BETTING MAN

CHAPTER

40

BETTING MAN

JIEYUAN

—∞—

Jieyuan’s house back in the Outer Court was small and devoid of everything beyond the barest basics. The same couldn’t be said for the suite he was assigned in the Gleaming Stone Palace. It was on the topmost floor of the palace’s residential wing, and it came with three rooms. One for meditatio...

Chapter 39: PALACE HEAD

CHAPTER

39

PALACE HEAD

JIEYUAN

—∞—

Chief Protector Zhaoyong was the first to step off the cloud. Sect Leader Junjie was just behind him, flanked by the amethyst-robed high protectors.

“We’re perfectly on schedule, Yiming,” Junjie said. He sounded unamused.

The other disciples started getting off, including Meiyao and Daojue. Jieyua...

Chapter 38: TO FORBODE

CHAPTER

38

TO FORBODE

JIEYUAN

—∞—

Radiant Gold City. You’d be hard-pressed to miss it, what with the massive, hundred-foot-tall wall of gold that enclosed it.

Jieyuan was high in the sky, on a composite cloudcraft, one much smaller than the one that had been used to transport the disciples to the Gleamstone Forest for the Hunt, but still big...

Chapter 37: TO BE RID

CHAPTER

37

TO BE RID

JIEYUAN

—∞—

Early the following morning, Jieyuan got an alert from the inscribed field around his residence of the presence of three people nearby and getting nearer.

The next thing he knew, Daojue was batting his thrust aside, and stabbing his spear through his gut. Jieyuan felt the spear dig into him, saw i...