Ding Bo formally bowed. The second he did, Hui pointed a wind talisman at him. “Activate!”

A wave of wind rushed at Ding Bo.

From his bow, Ding Bo sliced upward, splitting the wind. He stood, frowning at Hui.

“Ah, you activated my trap card. Next, I’ll place two cards in the facedown condition and end my turn!” Hui said, throwing two talismans onto the field.

Ding Bo sliced at the talismans as they fell. His wooden sword cut through the paper, as sharp as finest steel. He ran at Hui, sword held low and close to his body.

Hui scowled. He isn’t falling into my pace at all. I guess a good, clean battle is my only option.

A good, clean battle? And how am I supposed to win that?

Hui leaped into the air as he thought, dodging Ding Bo’s attack. Ding Bo pivoted on a dime and chased him. He jumped back, counting the tiles until the edge, then flipped over Ding Bo again.

Ding Bo’s eyes flashed. He stabbed up at Hui’s gut. “You can’t dodge in midair.”

“Boulder-Cutting Wind!” Hui shouted.

Ding Bo ignored it, cutting through the wind at Hui, but Hui blasted away, lifted by the wind. He landed halfway across the arena square. Ding Bo charged at him immediately. Lifting his lip, Hui drew out another talisman and fired it at Ding Bo. Fire raged at his opponent.

With a casual backhand, Ding Bo blasted the fire out of the arena. Hui stared, then scowled. What happened to fighting opponents near our cultivation level? Is this some kind of punishment for this small cultivator?

He flicked his eyes upward to the box for the Sect Masters and other higher-ranked cultivators. Sect Masters Lan and Mu chatted casually, ignoring the fights.

Hui pressed his lips together. Not even paying attention?

A sword swept past his nose. Hui flinched back, barely dodging.

“If you don’t pay attention, you might die,” Ding Bo warned flatly.

Right, right. I’m fighting right now. We can worry about inter-sect intrigue later. Hui bounced to the rear of the arena and bowed to Ding Bo. “My apologies, elder brother.”

“You bow now?” Ding Bo asked, a note of confusion in his voice.

“Now I have something to bow for,” Hui replied. With a flourish, he drew out a handful of talismans.

Ding Bo ran at him. Where he stepped, vines appeared. They trailed from his sword as well, materializing out of his sword light. “Entangling Slash!”

Hui threw out a handful of talismans. Fiery tabby cats charged at Ding Bo, merging together into one larger cat. The flames ate the vines from Ding Bo’s sword, then surged at Ding Bo himself. Forced back, Ding Bo parried the fire, then slashed through it. This time, though, he breathed heavily, sweating.

If I combine multiple talismans, I can force him back. Hui flourished another handful, then paused, thinking. But I only have so many, and it’s only at the level of forcing him back. He hasn’t taken a serious blow yet. All that would do is force me into a stalemate.

Ding Bo jumped at him again, but instead of rushing headlong, he darted all around the battlefield, little more than a flash of green. Hui turned, trying to keep watch. His eyes blurred, unable to follow Ding Bo’s form.

Frustrated, he operated his own footwork to counteract Ding Bo, flitting from square to square. Ding Bo raced circles around him even so. The wooden sword chased after him. Time and time again, Hui flinched out of range a mere breath before the sword hit home. A light scratch opened on his shoulder, then a second, heavier cut at his waist. Hui staggered and nearly lost the pace of the movement technique. Annoyed, he threw a wind talisman at Ding Bo, but his opponent flitted away. A blast of wind flew off into the sky.

Wait, I have two dantians now. It’s not quite the Bai Clan’s illusory duo yin-yang cores, but it’s close, right? Maybe if I… He furrowed his brows and swapped from circulating qi to circulating death qi mid-step.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Rather than flickering, the world around him fell still. Hui looked around. Ding Bo hurtled at him, but only moved at a mortal’s running speed.

Everything accelerated back to its usual speed. Ding Bo blurred past again, slamming a heavy blow to Hui’s chest. Blood ran down his robes.

Hui stumbled, then swapped back. Even with his footwork slightly clumsy, the world slowed again.

So this is a step toward the true Pond-Reflecting-Moon Waltz. It’s a much more powerful technique than it looks to be at first!

In the slowed world, Hui threw a talisman at Ding Bo. He flinched, but couldn’t escape the blast of fire, or raise his sword fast enough to cut it. Fire raged over his form, singing his hair and robes. Soot stained his robes.

Not just my feet, but everything moves faster.

The world returned to normal. Uninjured, Ding Bo sliced at Hui’s legs. Hui jumped to avoid the blow, then swapped systems again, back to death qi.

In the stilled world, something quacked.

The world jumped back to normal speed immediately. Hui’s death qi stopped circulating at all, and he stumbled and fell. He circulated his normal qi, but before he could get up, Ding Bo landed a flurry of blows on his body. Hui flinched, expecting blood, but the blows barely stung.

Hui stood. “Is that all?”

“It’s all,” Ding Bo said, his expression wooden.

Hui started to laugh, then stopped. Intense pain bit into his body where Ding Bo’s sword had landed. He staggered to the side, clutching the slashes Ding Bo had inflicted on him. Strange lumps rose up where Ding Bo had cut. Concerned, Hui immediately sent qi to investigate them.

Plants twisted into his body. The strange lumps erupted. Firm stems unfurled, reshaping his clothes. Blue leaves pressed up against the inside of his robes. Roots sought out his qi passages. They dug deep, sinking through his flesh.

As his qi probe grew close, the roots surged at it, rushing for his qi. Hui abruptly killed the probe, then his qi, choking it back to almost nothing. Only then did the roots slow, crawling into his body rather than surging.

“You aren’t the only one who can attack their opponent’s qi,” Ding Bo said. His expressionless face and emotionless way of speaking made it worse, somehow.

“I didn’t harm Zhenmao!” Hui protested. But these plants are harming my qi passages!

Ding Bo snorted. He lifted his sword and pointed it at Hui. Quietly, he said, “Your choice. Fight on here, as the qi-seed plants dig out your qi passages and twist into your dantian. Fight on, without qi, hopelessly weak, and allow me to beat a good-for-nothing like you to my satisfaction. Or give up now and spare yourself the pain.”

Another quack sounded from his death-qi dantian. The dantian rustled, as if a hundred birds adjusted their wings for flight.

“You… What happened to a good, clean fight?” Hui hissed, clamping down on his death qi dantian as well. Now? Now you come back, Fatty?

“Now that you’re on the receiving end, do you feel the horror and hopelessness? Learn this lesson well. Ingrain it into your veins. You aren’t the only one who can act underhandedly.” Ding Bo turned his sword and drew it back, readying to attack. “This is your last chance. Give up.”

Hui staggered, hugging himself. His head drooped. Leaves pressed against the inside of his robes. Branches uncurled. The roots twisted deeper, reaching into his internal organs. “N—never.”

Ding Bo’s expression hardened. “Then die.”

He darted at Hui, swinging his sword at Hui’s neck.

A second before his sword landed, Hui looked up. He grinned at Ding Bo, brandishing a thick stack of talismans. “Fell for it.”

Ice raged out from Hui’s talismans, encapsulating Ding Bo. It grew to the sky, a huge ice pillar, clear as glass except for Ding Bo, trapped inside.

It only took every ice talisman I had, but I did it!

Opponent contained, Hui put the ice between him and the Sect Masters’ box and plopped down into a lotus pose. Carefully, he drained the last of the qi from his passages, mindful to keep the roots from seeking after it toward his dantian. Once his passages were clean, he circulated his death qi through his qi passages, guiding it to the qi-seed plant’s roots. Tiny ducks lunged out of his death qi to gobble up the roots. They fought and kicked one another for the right to the roots, scrambling up the holes where the roots had been. Without any roots, the plants shriveled up and fell off his skin, nothing but withered husks.

Guiding the death qi back into its own dantian, Hui let his qi back out. It circulated readily. He waited a few seconds, watching for any new growth from the plants. When nothing happened, he stood and stretched.

Inside the ice, Ding Bo struggled imperceptibly, except for the fluctuations from his cultivation base. Small fractures radiated from immediately around him, but none pierced the ice.

“Did you think I’ve never encountered qi poisons before? I was the first one Zhubi bit. Your ploy was a good one, but you forgot: talismans can be activated with almost no qi expenditure. And I suppose you couldn’t know it, but I’m fully immune to qi-eating attacks, particularly plant-based ones!” Hui boasted. Not really, but with death qi, it might as well be true. He patted the ice with a friendly smile. “My friend, it was simply a case of the wrong opponent.”

Drawing another talisman, Hui pointed it just below where Ding Bo sat. “Boulder-Cutting Wind!”

Wind cut through the ice. It began to slide, falling off the larger ice pillar.

Hui jumped up and kicked the ice block. It flew through the air and crashed to the ground, outside of the ring.

This time, cheers went up from the arena. Hui raised his hands, basking in the victory. Does a hero have to struggle a little to get this kind of recognition? Ah, but this small disciple doesn’t like pain. At the end of the day, I’d rather have a flawless victory with no recognition!