The private training hall was deeper in the mountain. Stone walls, iron training equipment, and better lighting from ore veins than any of the outer disciple areas.
Master Ren was waiting. He held two short wooden rods.
He tossed one to Wen Dao.
'Hit me,' he said.
Wen Dao stood still.
'Hit me,' Ren said again.
'What are you testing?' Wen Dao asked. 'My willingness to attack someone stronger than me, my technique form, or my hesitation threshold?'
Master Ren's eyes narrowed. 'You're stalling.'
'I'm asking. There's a difference. If you want to test technique, I should come at medium force with deliberate form. If you want to test raw instinct, you should surprise me instead of asking.'
A pause.
'Attack on instinct,' Ren said. 'Surprise me if you can.'
Wen Dao waited. One heartbeat. Two.
Then he moved — not a straight attack. He moved to the right first, drew Ren's attention that direction, then cut back left and went in low.
The rod hit Master Ren's thigh.
It was not a clean win. Ren had been moving already — he'd seen the feint — but the thigh hit landed because the feint had pulled his guard one inch out of position.
Master Ren stepped back. He looked at his thigh. Then at Wen Dao.
'Again,' he said.
They went for an hour.
Wen Dao landed three clean strikes. He took nine. But each time he landed one, it was by reading something — a shoulder dip, a foot angle, a brief over-commitment of weight.
At the end, Master Ren sat down on a training block and looked at Wen Dao for a long time.
'The Question Fist requires the fighter to observe during combat. Most fighters can't. Their instincts take over.' He tapped the rod against his palm. 'You observe during combat because your instincts are not fully martial yet. Your body hasn't been trained long enough to dominate your thinking.'
'You're saying my weakness is temporarily an advantage,' Wen Dao said.
'I'm saying it won't stay an advantage for long. Once you have real experience, real instincts — you'll either integrate the observation or lose it.'
'And if I integrate it?'
Master Ren was quiet for a moment.
'Then you'll be something unusual,' he said.
He reached into his robe and produced a small token. A training authorization. It bore his personal seal.
'This gets you access to the Level One restricted library. Twice per week.' He held it out. 'Don't tell the Grey Peak clique. They'll make an issue of it.'
Wen Dao took it.
'Why are you helping me?' he asked.
'Because I am a teacher,' Ren said simply. 'Helping students develop is my function. You are a student who may actually be worth developing.' He paused. 'And because the Question Fist was created by a man who died before he could fully demonstrate it. I would like to see it demonstrated before I die.'
Wen Dao left the private hall and walked back through the mountain corridor.
At the intersection, Pei Tao was waiting. Not alone this time — four Grey Peak disciples with him. Their expressions were carefully blank.
'Long session,' Pei Tao said. 'What did the old man want?'
'He wanted to see if the Question Fist was worth teaching,' Wen Dao said.
'And?'
'He decided it was.'
Pei Tao stepped closer. 'You're collecting favors fast. Library access. Private training. Careful, number sixty-seven. Favors attract attention.'
'Is that advice or another threat?' Wen Dao said.
Pei Tao smiled. Not pleasantly. 'Call it a promise.'
He walked away with his group.
Wen Dao continued toward his room.
Something was happening. The Grey Peak clique was paying attention to him at an organized level now. Fang Lie must have given an order.
He needed to train faster.
He needed Level Four before whatever was coming arrived.