Ishin moved into the sun and raised his arms in preparation. A faint shadow moved across the courtyard. Ishin glanced up and saw a blue and orange parrot gliding through the sky above. He’d seen the same parrot flying across the school during his short time at the school and paid it no further heed.

  “Same rules as usual?”

  “Of course!”

  Ishin didn’t wait for anything further. He immediately advanced on Hou Lei, who remained as relaxed as always. Amusement shone in Hou Lei’s eyes at the sudden assault, but he gave no rebuke. Ishin curled the tips of his fingers until his hand became a sharp, tight claw and snapped out at his friend’s windpipe. Hou Lei stepped to the side, easily dodging the attack, and just as quickly swung his own heavy fist at Ishin’s right side. Ishin leaped forward to avoid the counterattack, the momentum forcing him into a somersault. He quickly stopped the motion and pulled himself up, arms prepared to block any follow-up attacks. Hou Lei only grinned merrily at him, not having bothered to pursue.

  Jumping lightly in place, Ishin commanded, “Come on, Hou Lei. Treat this seriously.”

  Hou Lei cracked both his wrists. “Always!”

  The Eight Oaths Resolve disciple ran at Ishin, moving at a speed that seemed unfair for a man of his stature. Hou Lei launched his heavy fist at Ishin’s chest. Ishin brought up both arms and cycled qi to his limbs, blocking the attack.

  Neither combatant was allowed to use any techniques during their sparring matches, but both could cycle qi to enhance their physical capabilities. It served as a way for Ishin to practice his qi control in real combat. While both Ishin and Hou Lei were in the Initial Realm, their physiques were mostly comparable—unlike when Ishin had fought Pan Feng. However, since Hou Lei was two stages above Ishin in cultivation, he had access to more qi. Worse still, the Eight Oaths Resolve disciple had been training as a cultivator for years, while Ishin had only been one for two months.

  This culminated with Hou Lei being able to cycle a greater quantity of qi to his fist faster than Ishin could cycle any qi to his arms. Ishin was knocked backward, the force of Hou Lei’s strike overwhelming his defenses. With great effort, Ishin managed to retain his footing, despite being forced back half a dozen feet.

  Ishin spared a glance at his arms. They tingled from the pain, but the damage was overall inconsequential. I was able to cycle enough qi to avoid any bruising this time, but by the Heavens, he’s strong. Looking over, Ishin saw Hou Lei give a quick shake of his own hand.

  “You’ve gotten faster,” Hou Lei complimented.

  “It’s thanks to those irons.” Ishin brought up his arms again, ready to execute his next attack. I can feint at his kidney and then target the heart instead. No, he’d see through that. What to do?

  As Ishin contemplated his next move, Hou Lei decided to choose for him. He once again approached Ishin, this time bringing both fists up in assault. Successive blows rained down upon Ishin like hail in a storm. He moved his arms to match the endless onslaught from Hou Lei, but it was a draining battle. Hou Lei seemed to never tire, landing blow after blow on Ishin. Ishin did his best to block each attack, and while his arms were fast enough to keep up with the speed of Hou Lei’s punches, his qi control could not. Each block required recycling his qi—a feat he could seamlessly execute three or four times, but not over a dozen.

  The first time Ishin failed to cycle his qi in time, the impact of Hou Lei’s punch felt like it doubled. Consequently, the flash of pain distracted him long enough that he failed to cycle his qi properly for the next blow. Once Ishin lost the proper tempo, it became impossible to recover. Welts and bruises quickly began to pepper his arms. The onslaught became so bad that Ishin even felt his legs begin to tremble.

  I have to do something.

  Ishin searched for any opening. Hou Lei’s ferocious attack was a defense in and of itself, trapping Ishin’s arms in place. Once again, he felt his legs start to bend from the effort of weathering Hou Lei’s attack. The sensation brought a grim tactic to mind—but it was one he he was reluctant to employ.

  All that matters on the battlefield is victory, his mother had once told him. Even the most noble combatants will forsake honor in the end.

  This isn’t a true battle, but I understand the moral.

  Reluctantly, Ishin focused his strength on his right leg so that it would be able to momentarily support his body. Then he immediately brought his leg up into a high kick, colliding squarely against Hou Lei’s head. The strength from the kick knocked Hou Lei to the ground, catching him completely off guard. However, the attack had also left Ishin completely unbalanced, causing him to fall backward onto the sandy ground.

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  Ishin landed with a hard thud, and sand blew into the air around him. He let out a moan, but the pain wasn’t from his back—it was from his arms. Now that they were no longer being constantly punched, he was able to process the damage.

  No time for that.

  “Move,” he told himself. Ishin rolled onto his stomach and proceeded to push himself up.

  “Solid counter,” Ishin heard the moment he was back on his feet, but still facing the ground. The words came from directly behind him, startling the Daihu warrior.

  Ishin immediately spun around and brought his arms up reflexively. Hou Lei pressed an open palm powerfully against Ishin’s defense. The attack shoved Ishin a couple feet back, its strength too great to resist—but minimal damage was wrought upon Ishin’s injured arms.

  Panting heavily, sweat dripped from Ishin’s brow. The heat of the sun bore down upon him, and his heart was racing from the exhaustion of the fight. He held back with that last one, no doubt. Ishin considered the new distance between them. To show such restraint while still demonstrating his strength… it’s impressive.

  “You alright?” Hou Lei called out, his palm still outstretched. Ishin looked at his opponent and saw a shallow gash along the right side of Hou Lei’s skull.

  Ishin moved to an offensive stance. “Just getting warmed up. You?”

  “The same,” Hou Lei beamed.

  Not wasting any further energy on words, Ishin decided to set the tempo for this next round. He was upon Hou Lei in moments and swung a fist downward at his opponent’s chest. As he hoped, Hou Lei brought up his arm in defense. When Ishin’s fist met Hou Lei’s forearm, it felt like he was punching a brick wall. That was fine, since Ishin hadn’t bothered to cycle any qi into the attack.

  He followed up with an uppercut using his spare arm. Hou Lei shifted his right arm to intercept the strike, which again was not enforced with qi. Ishin saw a look of confusion spread across Hou Lei’s face. He could tell that Ishin hadn’t used qi with either attack, but didn’t understand why. When Ishin’s qi-enhanced leg struck Hou Lei’s now-exposed and unenhanced left ribcage, Hou Lei understood.

  Hou Lei was once again knocked to the ground, landing harshly. Ishin grinned as he lowered his leg. The first punch had caused Hou Lei to obstruct his vision with his arms. The second had distracted him from watching Ishin’s legs. Over the course of their continuous bouts, Ishin had learned something about Hou Lei’s martial style. He almost entirely relied on his arms and fists to fight—and as a consequence, overlooked his opponent’s legs as well.

  Ishin had fought opponents like him back when he had been a junior disciple at the Daihu Tribe Martial Hall. It was easy to concentrate on one’s strength and neglect other facets of their training. Due to being spiritually crippled, Ishin had been forced to train himself to use his legs in combat, even if Ka-Tai didn’t utilize them. He’d needed every additional edge he could to ever have a chance against cultivators. Clearly, that training had not gone to waste.

  “Well struck,” Hou Lei grimaced as he stood back up, a hand pressed to his side. “I didn’t realize your punches were a distraction—or that you were so adept with using your legs. Where’d you learn that?”

  “Back home,” Ishin allowed. He still retained a guarded stance, not trusting that the fight was over until one of them admitted surrender.

  “They teach some ferocious styles amongst the hills, apparently.” Hou Lei removed his hand from his side. “I think you cracked a rib.”

  That was more damage than Ishin had intended. He lowered his arms. “Do you want to stop?”

  Hou Lei shook his head. “No need. Now that I’ve seen some of your true skill, I’ll kick things up a notch.”

  Ishin resumed his earlier fighting stance. “If you insist.” He wasn’t sure how Hou Lei intended to do that without using techniques, but he wouldn’t lower his guard.

  Hou Lei opened and closed his fingers, preparing. In a flash, he suddenly ran at Ishin. Ishin wasn’t sure if he was seeing it right, but Hou Lei appeared to be moving faster than before. A large open palm came from the left, moving toward Ishin’s head. Ishin didn’t have time to think—only react. He brought up his left arm to block the palm strike, cycling qi. His arm met Hou Lei’s palm, successfully stopping the attack. Ishin didn’t lower his guard, watching Hou Lei’s other arm. He saw a fist advance toward his head.

  Ishin moved his head to the side, intending to dodge it so that he could counter with his own free arm. He formed it into a claw, preparing to aim it at Hou Lei’s throat. A powerful strike there would end the fight. But before Hou Lei’s fist even reached Ishin’s head, Ishin felt a powerful force impact his stomach, sending him a foot into the air.

  Ishin felt the wind knocked out of his lungs as he tried to comprehend what happened. Black dots began to spot his vision, but he did his best to find the source of the attack. He tilted his head down and saw Hou Lei’s knee still angled into the air.

  His leg?

  While Ishin still lingered in the air, Hou Lei extended his arms, grabbing the side of Ishin’s robes. He twisted Ishin around and slammed him onto the ground. The impact caused a violent vibration to echo through Ishin’s body, now limp.

  On his back, Ishin stared at his victorious opponent. Hou Lei looked down upon him, not with pride or arrogance—but respect.

  “You fought well, Ro Ishin.” Hou Lei squatted down beside him. “But I can fight with my legs too.”

  “Duly noted,” Ishin managed. “I surrender.”