Lu Chen walked down the platform steps into the arena.
The crowd noise shifted from amusement to confusion.
A few people laughed.
Most just stared.
The Lu Family’s crippled young master was stepping into the ring against the strongest junior in Cloudmist City, and everyone in the square was trying to decide whether it was bravery or stupidity.
Han Yuze lowered his saber and tilted his head.
Are you serious?
Lu Chen stopped ten paces away and folded his hands behind his back.
You called my name.
I called you a cripple.
That too.
Han Yuze’s eyes narrowed.
The crowd laughed again, but the laughter was thinner this time, edged with something that might have been unease.
There was something wrong with the way Lu Chen stood.
He was relaxed.
Completely, unnervingly relaxed, with his weight evenly distributed and his breathing slow and steady, like a man standing in his own courtyard rather than facing an opponent who outranked him by three cultivation stages.
At least, that was what the crowd believed.
[Emergency task issued.]
[Objective: Survive the martial exchange without revealing true cultivation realm.]
[Constraint: Public aura must remain at Body Tempering Stage 3.]
[Reward: Hundred-Beast Body Tempering technique.]
[Failure penalty: –20 Family Luck Points.]
Lu Chen read the notification and suppressed a sigh.
Survive without revealing his true realm.
That meant he could not use his full Body Tempering Stage 6 power openly.
He had to fight at a level that looked plausible for a Stage 3 cultivator while still avoiding a beating that would put him in the medicine hall for a week.
The Cloudmist Jade Pendant pulsed against his chest, maintaining the suppression.
Han Yuze attacked without warning.
His saber swept in a horizontal arc aimed at Lu Chen’s ribs, fast and sharp, the blade humming with qi reinforcement.
It was a killing strike disguised as a sparring move.
Lu Chen saw the attack coming before Han Yuze’s shoulder had finished rotating.
The System’s fighter analysis flashed at the edge of his vision.
[Incoming: Horizontal saber slash.
Speed: 14 meters/second.
Trajectory: mid-torso.
Left flank exposure: 0.3 breaths post-strike.]
Lu Chen stepped inside the arc.
He did not dodge backward, which was what any normal Body Tempering Stage 3 cultivator would have done.
He stepped forward, into the gap between Han Yuze’s extended arm and his exposed left side.
The saber blade hissed past Lu Chen’s back, close enough to cut a thread from his robe.
Lu Chen’s right fist drove into Han Yuze’s ribs.
He pulled the punch.
He had to.
A full-power Body Tempering Stage 6 strike would have shattered Han Yuze’s ribcage and blown his cover instantly.
So he dialed the force down to what a particularly strong Stage 3 might produce, channeling just enough qi into his knuckles to make the hit sting without breaking bone.
The impact still lifted Han Yuze off his feet.
The Han heir stumbled backward three full steps, his eyes wide with shock, his saber dipping as his balance shattered.
The crowd gasped.
The sound was sharp and sudden, like a collective intake of breath from six thousand throats.
Lu Chen stood in the center of the arena with his fist still extended, his expression mild, his breathing unchanged.
Han Yuze stared at him.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth where he had bitten his tongue on impact.
His ribs ached.
His pride ached worse.
How?
Han Yuze whispered.
Lu Chen lowered his fist and tilted his head.
You overcommit on downward strikes, he said quietly.
Your left flank opens for a third of a breath after every combo.
I counted.
The silence in the square was absolute.
On the Han Family platform, the Han Patriarch leaned forward in his seat, his eyes locked on Lu Chen with an intensity that made the air feel heavier.
On the Lu Family platform, Lu Qinghe’s mouth was hanging open.
Elder Lu Wei’s hands were trembling.
And on the City Lord’s platform, Shen Rong watched with an expression that was carefully, deliberately blank.
Han Yuze’s face turned red.
Then white.
Then red again.
He gripped his saber with both hands and the qi around the blade flared, shifting from the dull gray of Body Tempering reinforcement to the sharp crimson of a spirit-forged weapon activating its core array.
The blade hummed louder.
The air around it rippled with heat.
Lu Chen’s eyes dropped to the saber.
[Warning: Opponent weapon grade exceeds host’s defensive capability.]
[Spirit-forged saber: Low-grade mortal artifact.
Edge sharpness: capable of cutting Body Tempering Stage 7 flesh.]
[Recommendation: Maintain distance.
Do not block directly.]
Han Yuze raised the glowing saber above his head.
His qi surged to the peak of Body Tempering Stage 6, and the killing intent rolling off his body was thick enough to make the front-row spectators flinch.
No more holding back, Han Yuze snarled.
I’m going to cut you in half, cripple.
Lu Chen looked at the blazing saber.
Then he looked at the crowd.
Then he smiled his small, quiet, infuriating smile.
The saber came down.
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