At the bottom of his vision, Shao could see a thin line of black etched into his chest and bicep. He wondered for a moment what had caused this strange striation, then he realized that his iron staff was no longer in his hand. After a moment of searching around the battlefield, Shao noticed several large jagged pieces of iron scattered across the ground.

He had been holding the iron staff when Wei Fenhua hit him. Some instinctive sense for direction and velocity in Shao’s head informed him immediately that her blow struck the iron staff, shattering it completely. The larger fragments scattered across the battlefield, and the smaller fragments were embedded into his chest so deeply that not even the healing pill could remove them.

At least the healing pill removed most of the pain, thought Shao. The only pain remaining in his body was a dull all-encompassing ache that served to sharpen his mind rather than debilitate him completely.

Prepare.

Shao hesitated to do as the voice said for a moment. Considering what Pluto said, he realized the voice might not have been a mere manifestation of his instinctual sense for combat. It might have been the last vestige of some long-dead War God, but Shao did not have time in that moment to consider the wide-ranging implications of that possibility. There was still a battle to be won. Wei Fenhua still blocked their path, and it seemed to Shao that he was not pulling her strikes.

He took a deep breath and unleashed the Howl of the Black Wolf once more. The brief clash between Xiahou Ren and Wei Fenhua as they turned to look at Yang Shao in shock.

As strength filled his muscles once more, Shao was amazed. Even after the shattering blow he received from Wei Fenhua a moment before, he had never felt stronger in his life. Pluto’s gift had infused Shao with an efficiency of movement and a clarity of thought far beyond anything Shao had felt before.

With two bounding steps and a powerful leap, Shao crossed the distance between himself and the ongoing fight. He landed between Gao Long and Xiahou Ren. Facing Wei Fenhua, Shao took up a fighting stance that felt natural in his recently enhanced body. Realizing that she had been drawn several paces away from the Great Torii Gate, Wei Fenhua held her sheathed blade forward and stepped back to better defend her charge.

“Are you okay, Yang Shao?” Xiahou Ren asked.

“I’ve never felt stronger,” Shao answered truthfully, but Ren chuckled darkly at the perceived joke.

“One last push, and we should be able to get through,” Ren said, nodding to the two men.

With no further words necessary, Gao Long and Xiahou Ren charged. Though the two men attacked simultaneously, Wei Fenhua decided to attack Ren first. The scholar seemed to foresee the attack half a second before it occurred, and he was barely able to dodge her blow.

In an instant, Shao realized that he could sense the flow of ki much more accurately now. He could feel that ki began to flow through Wei Fenhua’s arm a moment before she struck at Xiahou Ren. In fact, Shao could sense precisely where she was going to strike milliseconds before the strike landed. As his body was at that particular moment, that skill wouldn’t help him. Even if he could see the strike coming, there was no way his body would move fast enough to dodge such a fast strike.

As Xiahou Ren successfully baited Wei Fenhua’s attack, Gao Long charged into close-range with his arms up in a defensive stance. Wei Fenhua’s missed attack put her off balance, so she had to readjust and swing at Gao Long from an awkward position.

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The sheathed blade struck Gao Long’s chest, and the sound of shattering iron echoed across the plateau. Blood was ejected out of Gao Long’s mouth, and a single drop landed on Wei Fenhua’s face. Across five Rites of Initiation, this was the first time a participant had ever made contact with Wei Fenhua.

Gao Long’s hands shot forward, and he grabbed her sword arm firmly with both hands. Wei Fenhua tried to wrench her arm away, but Gao Long’s grip was unbreakable. She could kill him where he stood, and his hands would remain where they were. The inner disciple punched Gao Long with her free hand. The Gao man’s jaw fractured, and several of his teeth went flying, but his grip did not loosen.

Yang Shao would not let Gao Long’s pain be in vain. He crouched down, and, as soon as his hands touched the ground, he unleashed the Leap of the White Wolf. Wei Fenhua attempted to jump and intercept Shao’s leap like before, but Gao Long drove his feet deep into the ground and prevented her from moving.

Shao’s arc through the air ended, and he landed uneventfully on the other side of Wei Fenhua. The Great Torii gate was only two steps ahead of him, but he still had a job to do.

“Light!” Yang Shao shouted this word and struck his match against the matchbook a moment later. The match lit, and a miniscule fire appeared in Shao’s hand.

“Li-!” Gao Long gurgled. His damaged jaw must have prevented him from enunciating properly.

“Oiseau jaune, crapaud vert, taupe brune,” Xiahou Ren chanted in the unmistakable language of Franconian.

“Wha-?” Wei Fenhua began to say. Her voice caught in her throat as Ren finished the binding ritual and she was trapped firmly in place.

Shao wanted to cheer. They actually managed to do it. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xiahou Ren and the three-tailed fox sprint past him through the Great Torii Gate.

“Run, Shao!” Xiahou Ren called over his shoulder.

That was the plan the entire time, Shao realized. He was an idiot for not realizing it earlier. Ren said many times that they would never be able to physically incapacitate Wei Fenhua. From the very beginning, Gao Long was the stooge that would have to get left behind.

Shao wished he had time to consider his next action. He wished he had time to consider the many ethical and practical aspects of his decision. Would Gao Long be honor-bound to attack him for what he did to the demonic cultivators? Would Gao Long attack Xiahou Ren for this? What precisely is betrayal?

In that moment, however, he only had ten seconds. The only thought in his mind as his body moved was, “This is wrong.”

Shao placed his half-burnt match in his mouth and placed two fists forward. He took two steps toward Wei Fenhua’s stationary body, and the third step brought his body low to the ground.

His fists came up, and he unleashed the Charging Bull technique at full power. A moment before ki shot out of his hands, however, a blur of movement interposed itself between his fists and Wei Fenhua’s undefended back. Something unyielding struck his wrists and pushed them high into the air. A flowing river of ki shot out of Yang Shao’s hands straight up and struck the bottom of the Great Torii Gate. Red wood splintered, and a circular groove was carved out of the gate’s midsection.

Shao looked up and saw the interposing figure clearly. Standing directly in front of him was the wrathful visage of Elder Minghao.

Blinking in confusion, Shao could only think to say, “Greetings, Elder Minghao.”

As Shao spoke, two things happened simultaneously. The power enhancement from Howl of the Black Wolf ended, and the exhaustion from using Charging Bull hit him.

Without warning, Yang Shao fell backward and landed in the dirt. He looked up to see the Great Torii Gate in the center of his vision. A faint smile appeared on his face as he realized that he had passed through the gate, and then the darkness overtook him.

End of Arc 2 - The Rite of Initiation.