Lorel felt the weight of every eye in the Ironwood Grove. The silence was a physical pressure. She placed the heavy pouch of stones at Chubbs's feet, a silent instruction to guard it. Then she stepped forward, the gravel crunching under her boots.
As she passed Baili, his voice, low and devoid of warmth, stopped her for a second. "Do not disgrace the name you carry."
It wasn't encouragement. It was a threat. She didn't look at him.
Chubbs, however, was a one-man chorus of support. "You can do it, my lady! Show these silken bullies what a real cultivator looks like! Two against one is the tactic of cowards and thieves!" He aimed the last bit at the Hao brothers.
The green-robed supervisor's voice cut across the grove, cold and final. "Fairness is a story told by the weak to shame the strong. In a world of cultivation, there is only opportunity and consequence. The strong impose their 'fairness'. The strong survive. That is the only logic." His words were like stones dropped into a still pond—harsh, undeniable in their brutal simplicity. The crowd murmured, a low sound of agreement. They'd all seen it, lived it.
Chubbs opened his mouth, found no argument, and deflated.
"A code guides the will," a bright voice declared. All heads turned to Juxian, who stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his clay jar resting against his spine. His usual exuberance was gone, replaced by a serene certainty. "Without a code, a cultivator's will is just desire. It wavers in the face of death, or worse… corruption." His words, so at odds with the supervisor's, rang with a strange wisdom.
Baili's ice-chip voice followed. "A code is a weapon like any other. You choose the one that makes you strongest." It was an agreement in principle, but a perversion of the intent.
Even Ning, from where he stood observing, gave a single, slight nod. It was chilling.
The supervisor's jaw tightened. He had lost control of the narrative. "Enough philosophy. The match begins. Start."
Lorel walked to the center of the ring. She took a slow breath, and a soft, warm, gold-white light emanated from her skin—Jingdao reinforcement. It was smooth, controlled, and it made her already striking features seem etched in gentle light. The effect was breathtaking, and a few in the crowd caught their breath.
The Hao brothers exchanged a glance, their handsome faces cool. The older one, Hao, spoke. "We will not hold back because you are a woman. That would be the true disrespect."
From the sidelines, Baili's voice lashed out. "Beat her into the ground if she isn't up to your standard. Spare no pity."
A ripple of shock went through the onlookers. Whispers of "Is he truly her brother?" hissed through the air.
Chubbs stared, mouth agape. "Well. That's… new." Then his thief's mind, always analyzing angles, kicked in. "But why are they both using Jingdao? If they're fighting together, wouldn't it be smarter for one to use Shidow? Control the field?"
It was a good question. It went unanswered.
The older brother, Hao, charged first. His movement was direct, powerful, a straight line of reinforced intent. A fist like a piston shot towards Lorel's center.
Lorel's shy, hesitant expression vanished. Her face settled into a calm, focused mask. She didn't retreat. She stepped into the blow, her left hand coming up in a flowing, circular motion. She didn't block the fist; her palm slapped against his wrist, redirecting its force as she pivoted. With her right hand, she grabbed his forearm and pulled, using his own momentum to drag him forward, her own reinforced knee rising to meet his ribs.
Hao was no novice. Instead of resisting, he pushed off the ground with his leading foot. Jingdao energy discharged downward, not to propel him up, but to anchor. The reinforced earth beneath him didn't crack, but the air above it shimmered with a concussive ripple of pressure. It stabilized his core. He used her pull to flip, his body a taut arc over her head, landing behind her. His foot, carrying the momentum of the flip, lashed out in a whip-kick towards the back of her skull.
Lorel sensed the movement, the displacement of air. She dropped her grab, crossed her reinforced forearms behind her head in a guarding 'X'.
THUD.
The impact shuddered up her arms,rattling her teeth. She was shoved forward, stumbling.
The younger brother, Hoa, was already there. He hadn't charged with his brother; he had cut the angle, anticipating her stumble. A straight, brutal kick aimed to take her head off her shoulders as she reeled forward.
Lorel didn't try to stop her momentum. She went with it, ducking into a forward roll. The kick whistled over her braided hair. She came up, but they were on her. They didn't attack in unison; they attacked in sequence, a relentless barrage. Hao from the left with a hammering fist she partially paried, the shock numbing her shoulder. Hoa from the right with a low sweep she leapt over, only to land into a sharp elbow from Hao that cracked against her reinforced ribs, knocking the wind from her. She blocked, evaded, retreated, a leaf in a storm of precise, coordinated violence. Each parry sent fresh jolts of pain through her arms. Each dodge burned precious energy. Step by step, they drove her back towards the shimmering energy barrier at the ring's edge.
"Don't let them set the rhythm!" Chubbs screamed, his voice raw. "Take out one! Break the pattern!"
I know! Lorel thought, frustration a hot spike in her chest. But seeing the opening and creating it were different worlds. The brothers moved in a blur of blue silk, zig-zagging, exchanging positions seamlessly as they closed the final distance for a decisive rush.
There was no more room.
Lorel made a decision.
The warm gold-white light of her Jingdao winked out.
From the empty space between her hands, a soft, spectral pink light bloomed. It wove itself from nothing, threads of luminescence spinning into a perfect, miniature Lantern. It hovered above her palm, casting a gentle, eerie glow that made the harsh shadows of the grove seem deeper. The Unbound Lantern. Her secret. Her Zhidow.
The Hao brothers skidded to a halt, their disciplined advance broken by the sudden, unknown phenomenon.
Lorel didn't give them time to think. She focused her will, and the Lantern's core brightened violently. A thick, compressed beam of vibrant pink light, no wider than a finger, lanced out towards the older brother, Hao.
He didn't dodge. Instinct and training took over. "Hoa, behind!" he barked, shoving his younger brother back with a blast of displaced air from his palm. He planted his feet wide, crossed his arms before him, and roared.
His Jingdao didn't just glow; it congealed. The energy around him didn't just reinforce; it layered, folded, compressed into a visible, translucent shell—scales of shimmering force forming over his arms, chest, and head. It was the General's Shield. He wasn't wearing armor; he had become a bastion.
The pink beam struck the center of the luminous shield.
The impact made no sound at first. Then a deep, subsonic THRUMMMM rolled out, a physical wave of force that hit the spectators like a wall. Robes and hair whipped back. Dust and gravel lifted from the ground in a ring. The green-robed supervisor's eyes flashed, and he made a sharp gesture. The faint barrier around the arena flared to life, a dome of shimmering green energy containing the violent discharge.
When the light and dust cleared, Lorel was panting, the Lantern flickering weakly. Hao stood, his shield shattered, arms smoking, his fine blue silks scorched. But he was standing. Behind him, Hoa had a cold sweat beading on his temple. They both stared at Lorel with entirely new eyes—not at a beautiful girl, but at a dangerous opponent.
"We… underestimated you," Hao said, his voice rough but respectful.
A wave of excited chatter broke through the crowd.
"She's not just decoration!"
"What was that light?That wasn't Jingdao!"
"I thought she was just following her brother…"
Juxian beamed, bouncing on his toes again. "I knew it! I told you! My Mastery Eyes saw the depth! She shines from within!"
This prompted scoffing from those around him. "Mastery Eyes? Please. Only prodigies and those who've truly grasped Shidow can use that trick. You expect us to believe you're on par with him?" A jerk of a thumb towards Baili.
On the platform, the Hao brothers shifted their stance. Hao stepped forward, once again crossing his arms. The General's Shield began to reform, slower this time, but just as dense. Hoa, the younger brother, did not mirror him. He fell into a deep, rooted stance behind Hao's left shoulder. He raised his right arm, fingers extended and pressed together like a blade. His Jingdao energy, instead of spreading over his body, surged down that one arm. It concentrated, focused, elongating into a gleaming, solid-looking spear of pure golden force that extended three feet beyond his fingertips. The General's Spear.
Below them, the Third Wheel supervisor allowed himself a small, satisfied smile. Finally, the scions of the Kang Kingdom were showing their famous tandem technique.
The air grew heavy. Hao's shield distorted the light around it. Hoa's spear-tip hummed, a vibration that made the gravel on the ground tremble. They were a fortress and a cannon, united.
Lorel, alone with her flickering pink Lantern at the edge of the ring, faced them.