I woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside my window and Rocky's unmistakable rumbling snores coming from one of the numerous gardens in the Wei compound.

  "Good morning, Master," said Azure's voice in my mind. "How are you feeling?"

  "Ready," I replied as I sat up and began my morning stretching exercises.

  "Are you going to go over the details again, Master?"

  "Knowledge is power," I replied as I recalled Wei Lin's briefing from two days ago.

  Wei Lin had been true to his word about gathering intelligence, for he had appeared at my door less than an hour after I woke up, almost vibrating with the amount of information he’d gathered.

  Chen Wu cultivated the Stone Mountain Heart Method, an Earth rank technique that stressed stability and an overwhelming force. While not as extravagant as some of the higher rank methods, it was remarkably successful, as Chen Wu was taught the advantages of stability and no showiness at the Qi Condensation rank where most cultivators were still learning the training necessary to train their power properly.

  "The method has three principal features," Wei Lin told me, pacing back and forth in my room while he referred to the documents. "First, it gives the body an increase in durability by virtue of an increase in Earth attributed qi. Second, it enables the user to derive the strength from the ground itself, increasing their strength the longer they remain in contact with the ground. " Lastly, this gives them limited control over rock and dirt — not flashy like some Earth-element techniques, but enough to be dangerous in close combat.”

  He'd gone on to describe Chen Wu's fighting style in detail: ”He likes to start on defense, allowing his opponent to tire themselves against his body which is reinforced with stone. As soon they show any signs of fatigue, he switches to overwhelming offense. This has been particularly effective against young disciples, who tend to go all out right from the start."

  The specifics had been impressive. Chen Wu preferred to attack leading with his left foot. He tended to overextend a little bit on the third power strike in any combination. His earth-control powers had a range of some twenty meters. He could keep up his stone reinforcement power for some thirty minutes before his qi reserves began to give way.

  “How did you get all this information?” I had asked, a little astonished at the matter of detail.

  Wei Lin had smiled. “Father has Chen Wu test all the possible recruits for our security forces. I have been watching those bouts since I was old enough to understand cultivation. And…” he had added with a little smirk, “having access to the family records helps.”

  With the info at hand, I had spent a good part of the last two days developing various plans of campaign, but I knew better than to get too strongly attached to any particular plan of campaign. Flexibility was the thing, especially against an opponent that specialized in defense.

  A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. "Brother Ke Yin!" Liu Chen's shrill voice called. "Are you up? Rocky wants to show you something before breakfast!"

  I opened the door to find Liu Chen practically bouncing in excitement, his previous caution completely wiped out by two days of being spoliled by Wei Ting's motherly attention. His robes were new, given to him by Wei Lin's mother, and much more suitable for a young practitioner than the ones he had worn out or even the ones we had bought for him.

  "Rocky's been learning!" he cried proudly. "Come and see!"

  I followed him out into the garden where Rocky stood amid what had apparently once been a very neat rock garden. The stone giant was laboriously placing boulders in what seemed to be...

  "Is that supposed to be a face?"

  "It is art!" Liu Chen declared. "Rocky's been learning from watching the gardener placing the rocks. See, that is supposed to be you!"

  I craned my head around and examined the rough array of stones. If I squinted and used my imagination largely, I supposed the upright rock in the center was a nose.

  "That is very artistic," I said cautiously.

  Rocky made a sound that was like a pleased rumble and carefully adjusted a little stone that apparently represented an eyebrow.

  "Ah, so you are admiring Rocky's artistic endeavors," came Wei Guang's amused voice from behind us. "Mother is quite taken with his artistic and mental vision." "Even though the father nearly had a fit when he saw what he had done to the imported arrangement of spirit stones."

  "Rocky put them back!" said Liu Chen hastily. "Mostly. There were only three we had to replace. And Auntie Wei said it gives the garden life."

  "She did," laughed Wei Guang. "But I fancy she enjoys it because it makes the father all the more bothered. Come on, breakfast is ready, and the mother insisted that we all eat together."

  The dining-room of the Wei family was in a bustle when we arrived. Wei Ting was fussing over Lin Mei, who had apparently done nothing but reorganize the family herb garden for the past two days. Wei Ye sat at the top of the table, reading reports and engaging in simultaneously three different business conversations through a transmitting jade.

  As I walked across towards my seat, I felt an odd feeling wash over me. It had been a month since I had seen them, at least from my view point in the Two Suns, yet here barely any time had passed.

  They had not changed; how could they? But I had gone through a month of experiences; I had faced death, worse than death, I had found secret things out about my cultivation which I had not yet fully realized.

  The feeling of uneasiness was unpleasant.

  As I sat down at the table Wei Lin caught my eye, raised his eyebrows in a silent question. I nodded slightly to indicate that I was all right and was as ready as I ever could be.

  "Everyone eat up!" Wei Ting declared, somehow managing to load more food onto Liu Chen's already full plate. "Especially you, Ke Yin. You'll need your strength today."

  "Thank you, Aunty," I said, accepting a bowl of congee which sparkled ever so slightly with a hint of spiritual energy.

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  "Rocky said the arrangement of stones is a portrait of Brother Ke Yin," Liu Chen announced sillily to the table at large, making Wei Guan choke slightly on his tea.

  "Did he now?" Wei Ye raised his eyebrows and looked up from the reports he was going through. "And here I had thought it was meant to be an abstract representation of the fluctuations in the market for spirit stones,"

  "My dear," Wei Ting said reproachfully, though her eyes twinkled with amusement, "you know very well that Rocky has been working hard these last few days."

  "Well, of course, of course," Wei Ye said waving a hand. "Far be it from me to criticize the artistic vision of a stone giant. Though perhaps at the next show he could express himself in materials a little less expensive."

  "Father," Wei Lin interposed smoothly, "about the wind essence..."

  "Ah yes. The duel will take place at midday. That should give everybody time to get over their morning business." He looked at me. "Unless you would prefer to get it over with sooner?"

  I shook my head and took another spoonful of the qi-filled congee.

  "It's all right."

  "Quite so, quite so." Wei Ye went back to his reports, but I noticed that his eyes were no longer really running over the pages of writing. From time to time, he would turn his head and look at me, seemingly appraising every movement of mine.

  "About the duel," said Wei Guang after shifting slightly in his chair. "I have been looking over the records of previous fights of Chen Wu. His percentage of success against cultivators of the fourth stage is—" and he stopped for dramatic emphasis.

  "One hundred per cent," I said, finishing for him. "Wei Lin already told me."

  After this there was a tension of silence, during which Wei Ye slowly lowered his tea cup, and transferred that searching gaze of his over to his younger son.

  "He did, did he?" asked Wei Ye, his voice was carefully controlled. "And how did you get hold of those records, Lin'er?"

  Wei Lin looked straight in his father's face. "The same way you told me to get hold of all the information of other people's business methods, dad, by a thorough study and research, by close observation and—" he smiled faintly, "and strategic use of available resources."

  For a moment, Wei Ye kept the grim expression on his face. The corners of his lips twitched. "I see." He picked his teacup up again, but I could not help noticing the little gleam of pleasure which had come into his eyes. "Then I suppose you also shared your analysis of Chen Wu’s fighting style?"

  "Of course," said Wei Lin. "It seemed like relevant information for an important business transaction.”

  Wei Ye gave an actual chuckle at this. "Using my own lessons against me? Well played, son." Then he shook his head and addressed me again. "However, I can say this much, that those were not merely random cultivators of the fourth stage. Some of them were genuine prodigies from prestigious families.”

  "Good thing I'm just a tailor's son then," I replied mildly, taking another spoonful of congee. "Less pressure."

  Wei Guang stared at me for a moment, then burst out laughing. "I like you," he declared. "You remind me of Lin'er when he was younger; before he got obsessed with business."

  "I was never that calm," Wei Lin protested.

  The rest of breakfast passed by in a blur of casual conversation. Wei Ting kept insisting that we all eat more, while Liu Chen entertained us with one story after another about Rocky’s latest adventures.

  Apparently, the stone giant had developed a particular fondness for arranging pebbles in spiral patterns when he thought no one was watching.

  "He's very artistic," Lin Mei agreed. "Though perhaps we could redirect his talents toward something less... structurally integral to the garden?"

  "Oh! And I've been teaching him to write characters!" Liu Chen announced proudly. He turned toward the open doors, where Rocky was sitting cross-legged on the ground, munching on a particular large stone for breakfast.

  "Rocky! Show them what we practiced!"

  We all watched as Rocky carefully used one massive finger to scratch something into the earth of the garden. Wei Ye's eye twitched slightly at the deep grooves being carved into his manicured lawn.

  "That's... very good," Wei Ting said encouragingly, squinting at the marks. "Is it supposed to be 'tree'?"

  “It’s ‘friend’!” Liu Chen beamed. “See? This part here is the person, and this is . . . um . . .” He tilted his head. “Well, it was ‘friend’ yesterday.”

  “Fascinating,” said Wei Ye, making a note of something in his ledger that no doubt consisted of replacing some more of the garden tiles.

  ***

  After breakfast I made my way to the private training ground behind my guest room. Not for practice, since I had had enough of it during the previous two days, and to push myself now would only leave me tired for the actual fight.

  Instead, I settled down to a meditation mat and sank back in the shade of a gnarled tree, which was as old as some of the cultivators.

  When I opened my eyes, about an hour after my eyes had been shut, I heard the sound of stone scraping against stone, followed closely by the lighter footfalls of a person.

  “Brother Ke Yin!” called Liu Chen. “Are you doing that sleeping-while-sitting-business that the cultivators do?”

  I had finished meditating, and opened my eyes to see Liu Chen peering at me with mild curiosity while Rocky loomed behind him in the guise of a particularly interested mountain.

  “It’s called meditation,” I said, fighting to help smiling at his description of it, “and it helps to focus the qi and calm the mind of the cultivator. You should try it sometimes.”

  “Really?” Liu Chen’s eyes shone with excitement. “Can you teach us? Rocky too?”

  I glanced at the stone giant, who had somehow or other been induced to arrange himself into something like the pose I adopted in meditation, although he was entirely made of stone.

  “Well, I suppose the principles would apply to any form of qi cultivation.”

  The next half-hour went in the effort to teach the principles of meditation to an excitable eleven-year-old boy and a fifteen-foot-high friend of stone. Liu Chen could not keep still for more than thirty seconds at a time, and Rocky’s attempts at controlled breathing seemed to be like small avalanches.

  "This makes no sense," Liu Chen muttered after fumbling another five attempts at the proper posture. "How can you just... sit there? And think about nothing?"

  "You don't think about nothing," I explained patiently. "You think about the flow of qi through your own body, or in your case breathing..."

  "Boring!" He flopped backwards on the grass before changing the subject. "I played with Chen Wu yesterday, he seems nice. For a person whose job it is to beat you up."

  "Liu Chen," came Lin Mei's voice from behind Rocky, as she entered the training ground. "That's not... I mean, it's a formal contest, not..."

  "But that is what Father said," Wei Lin had appeared beside her, grinning. "Only it was more elaborate, about 'testing resolve' and 'valuable learning experiences.'"

  I had to laugh at his imitation of Wei Ye's merchant-speak. "Your father has a way with words."

  The time passed quickly as we spoke, my friends doing their best to keep up a bright frame of mind against the fearful prospect of the coming duel.

  At last Wei Ye himself appeared at the entrance to the courtyard.

  "It is time," he announced straightforwardly. "Are you still sure you wish this, young man?"

  I nodded, standing up and brushing my robes in place. The black gloves were now comfortable and seemed natural.

  We sauntered to the training ground as a party. The others of the family were already there. Wei Ting was looking worried but encouraging, Wei Guang wore his usual air of amusement, though his eyes were keen.

  The training ground itself was impressive. A large open space surrounded by stone pillars inscribed with protective formations. The ground was natural stone, specially treated, so that cultivation contests could be held there without too much damage, while providing excellent qi conducting. Perfect for Chen Wu's earth-based techniques.

  Chen Wu was at one end of the field, his usual plain robes having been replaced with proper fighting attire. His qi was calm and controlled, there were no signs of nervousness or aggression that I could detect.

  As I took my position opposite him, he spoke softly. "I'm not deluded. I can see your talent. In a year or a few months even, I am sure that I would not be a match for you." His eyes turned serious. "But right now, you will lose. It doesn’t bring me an pleasure to make others suffer. So, I will give you the chance now to surrender."

  I couldn’t help but smile faintly. At least he was not one of those arrogant young master types.

  This was pure professionalism. One cultivator respecting the latent talent of another, and also being practical and honest about the present situation.

  "Because I like you," I shot back, "I will give you the same chance."

  He gave no reply, but turned his head to Wei Ye, who smiled and said one simple word.

  "Begin."

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