Bai Guo and Chun De spent some time exploring the sect. To avoid exposing herself, the nun spoke either in whispers or not at all.


    After traversing the mountain for a while, they came across some privacy by a steep cliff. Chun De boldly sat right on the edge, kicking her feet. Bai Guo joined her. They watched the orange glow of the setting sun.


    Bai Guo broke the silence. "You know, I''ve been meaning to ask... How old are you, Chun De?"


    "I''m sixteen."


    "Really?" Bai Guo suspiciously quirked an eyebrow.


    Chun De frowned at him. "What does that mean?"


    "Well... You''re kind of short..." His explanation visibly riled her up. "And your evaluation said you were twelve." He promptly added, preempting her complaints.


    "So you should have just started with that!" Chun De turned back towards the sun. "Obviously I gave them a fake age. What kinda sixteen year old boy looks like me? Nobody''d believe that."


    "Why go through all this trouble? Girls are allowed to join this tournament, you know."


    "It''s got nothing to do with this tournament...Officially, I really am a monk for at least a few more years, until I finally mature into a beautiful woman and can''t be mistaken for a boy anymore."


    Bai Guo snorted.


    "What are you laughing at?" Chun De barked. His smirk became impossible to restrain at her outburst. She started punching him in the shoulder. "I dare you to say it!"


    "I just think you have a talent for disguise, that''s all!" Bai Guo burst into laughter as he struggled to defend himself. "If they haven''t caught on by now, they definitely never will, so don''t you worry about that!"


    "You...!" Chun De pursed her lips to hide her grin and struck harder.


    Their rowdiness sent them both teetering off the cliff. They clung to each other and just barely rolled away from the perilous edge. Their mutual shock had them freeze in each other''s arms. They stared in dumb shock, well aware of just how closely they had brushed with death.


    Chun De was the first to regain a semblance of wits. She exploded with laughter.


    "You''re crazy!" Bai Guo exclaimed, still terrified.


    "You should have seen the look on your face!" Chun De scraped herself off of him, but remained on the ground, clutching her stomach.


    "Crazy monk!" Bai Guo kept berating her. "We nearly died!"


    It had taken some time for the two of them to calm down. They sat farther from the edge of the cliff and watched the last rays of the sun go out.


    "Don''t lose your match tomorrow." Chun De suddenly said.


    "I wasn''t planning on it."


    "I want to fight you real bad..." The nun muttered, her face in her knees.


    Something about the way she said it had agitated the young man. He quickly replied, "You''ve really got nothing else going through that bald head of yours! You know, you kind of remind me of someone..."


    "Who?"


    "Another meathead like you." Bai Guo stood up. "Let''s go back before we miss a meal."


    They headed back to the dorm, ate and rested.


    The contest of the sword resumed the next day. Despite the disappointing conclusion to yesterday''s events, the crowd was no less numerous than before.


    Chun De and Mao Xiang stepped forward and bowed to each other. Above the young man''s brow several crude stitches kept his wound closed. The injury was certain to heal into a gruesome scar. When the fight began, Mao Xiang drew his sword with practiced swiftness, having learned from the monk''s previous bout that the distance between them might as well have been nonexistent.


    Just like before, the monk rushed forward with blinding speed. But her opponent was ready. Mao Xiang thrust his sword out at Chun De''s bald head to turn her momentum against her with a deadly counter. Chun De leaned her neck and the tip of the blade missed her cheek by just a hair.


    Mao Xiang''s eyes widened. Chun De had already gotten within half an arm''s reach of him. Her sword pointed towards the ground; she thrust up with just the handle, ramming it into the young man''s chin from below.


    Her opponent''s feet flew off the ground. Mao Xiang was out cold before he landed back down.


    "Stop!" The referee called the match. Once again the monk''s success was met with a mixture of cheers and disappointment over the hasty finish.


    Bai Guo shook his head as he mulled over what he had witnessed. "This girl is seriously unhinged! If her reaction had been even a little slower, she would have been killed. There was no reason to gamble it all on such a risky exchange. Surely there are better ways to use your skills."


    But as she returned, Bai Guo gave her a thumbs up. "No way am I going to try to lecture her. A crummy martial artist like me, why, even I wouldn''t listen to my own advice."


    Chun De stood next to him with a cocky smile and gave him a strong pat on the back, silently encouraging him for his next match. Bai Guo buckled under the strength of her palm.


    Zhu Da''s voice boomed across the hall. "I''ve been waiting for this! Show me what that character you bragged about is truly worth, brother Guo!"


    The young man in question was a lot less enthused for what was about to take place than the two people around him. The two competitors were led into the arena.


    Zhu Da roared at the crowd, and they chanted his name. Bai Guo refused to get swept up in the theatrics, and upon his introduction, cordially bowed before his opponent.


    "Begin!" Han Gen called out.


    When the fighters drew their swords, neither seemed willing to approach. They took careful measure of each other and made small steps back and forth. The mere threat of drawing closer had them twitching into preemptive defense.


    Whether Zhu Da had finally lost his patience or witnessed an opportunity, he was the first to engage in earnest. He performed a strike that was an almost exact replica of the one he had won his previous fight with. Bai Guo responded appropriately, intending to guide the sword away from its path with his own, just like Tian Zian had tried to do. And although Bai Guo was well aware of how it ended for the other young man, his body moved before his wits, prompting him to inadvertently retrace the loser''s steps.


    But Bai Guo''s blade ended up at the wrong angle. He had instead blocked the attack head on.


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    The collision of their steel was deafening. Their swords remained crossed, and the giant Zhu Da tried to shove the young man off his feet. To his surprise, Bai Guo simply wouldn''t budge. He soon relented and withdrew, and the two returned to their stalemate.


    The audience, knowing full well just how much power was behind that strike, cried out in shock.


    Bai Guo breathed out, trying to calm his racing nerves. Emboldened by his previous success, he took the initiative and stepped forward.


    His father''s sword lunged out like a snake as he performed the First Step. Zhu Da''s eyes widened as he scrambled to defend himself. The giant had managed to just barely parry the attack, but the impact sent him stumbling back, his braid waving about. He promptly retaliated with a quick swing solely to make sure that Bai Guo would neither have a chance to capitalize upon his shaken stance nor perform that technique again.


    The crowd watched with stilled breaths as the two youths continued to trade wary strikes.


    Zhu Da could defend himself easily enough. Not only did he have the superior reach owing to his greater stature, but his opponent seemed incapable of performing any other techniques, rendering him far too predictable. But Bai Guo was slippery like an eel, and none of Zhu Da''s varied sword strikes were able to touch a single hair on his body.


    Their hesitant exchanges went on and on. This single fight had soon exceeded the length of all of yesterday''s battles combined. It then became able to make that same claim while also including all the lengthy delays between the battles.


    Finally, when the match had taken considerably longer than an hour and still showed no signs of coming to an end, the spectators began to lose their patience.


    In sharp contrast to his composed opponent, Zhu Da was sweating like a pig. And on top of being the crowd''s favorite, he initiated more exchanges and performed more strikes. So as the onlookers hurled abuse, most of it was directed at Bai Guo.


    The young man heard them loud and clear. But over the course of their match, he had gotten used to the anxiety of a real battle, and their heckling failed to provoke him.


    The fight continued at the same sluggish pace. Already, the sun began to approach the horizon. Things had gotten so dire for Zhu Da that he could barely move his sword arm anymore. He switched his weapon to his left hand.


    Bai Guo carried through with the First Step yet again. Zhu Da gritted his teeth as he rushed to parry, but when the swords had collided, his weapon flew right out of his hand.


    Bai Guo performed the technique one last time. It stopped just short of the giant''s neck. As the referee declared the match over, Zhu Da fell on his rear, panting for breath.


    The winner extended a hand to his foe. The big man stared at it as if he was confused. With great hesitation he grabbed it and allowed himself to get helped up to his feet.


    "I admit my defeat," Zhu Da said, "and take back my words. The things you said about me must have been right, and I was wrong to speak ill of you. I apologize."


    As Zhu Da bowed, Bai Guo raised him up by his broad shoulders.


    "You should have paid a little more attention to what I said, brother Da." Bai Guo said. "Right or wrong isn''t determined by strength. Weigh my words by the merit of their meaning, not by the outcome of our match."


    Zhu Da pondered what the young man had told him in gruff silence.


    The crowd celebrated, relieved that the match was finally over.


    Up in the stands above, Tan Huan shook his head in wonder as the match concluded.


    "Simply incredible!" He praised. "Such talent!"


    He Yong remained impassive. Interpreting his superior''s unflappable demeanor as displeasure, Tan Huan quickly ceased with his praises.


    "Sect master, Zhu Da still has a chance in the other two tournaments." He tried to placate the man.


    "Talent, you said..." He Yong rubbed his beard, muttering. "That kid has such a peculiar fighting style. Just like you wrote in his evaluation, it''s unrefined..."


    As He Yong trailed off, Tan Huan attempted to contribute to the sect master''s musings. "It seems that contestant Guo has dedicated most of his time to cultivating his internal energy at the expense of skill with arms. A clumsy style would be inevitable in that case."


    "...But it goes further than that." He Yong said. "It''s as if the boy is discovering what he can do for the first time as he''s going along."


    "What do you mean, sect master?" Tan Huan asked. But the bearded man did not elaborate, leaving Tan Huan to his own thoughts. He suddenly recalled that he at one point had also formed a similar impression of Bai Guo''s skills.


    He Yong''s gaze bored into the young man below.


    ...


    The second day of the tournament had ended. As Bai Guo returned to the area reserved for the contestants, he found Chun De waiting for him, grinning ear to ear. Though the young man was not at all thrilled at the prospect of facing off against this peculiar girl tomorrow, her enthusiasm was infectious. Bai Guo couldn''t help but smile a little himself.


    They hurried back to the dormitory, where Chun De could speak freely.


    "I''m so excited!" She exclaimed. "You''re not even a little tired after all that! How am I gonna sleep today?"


    "You''re really not worried about this at all?" Bai Guo asked. "These are real swords we''ll be fighting with. We could seriously kill each other."


    "There you go with that whining again!" Chun De scoffed. "I don''t care one bit! If I die fighting a strong foe, I''ll die without regrets! And besides, aren''t you letting my praise get to your head? Killing me? How about you get your head out of the clouds?"


    Bai Guo was so baffled that he couldn''t muster up a response before the girl went for the door.


    "Let''s go on a walk! The winter air should cool that hot head of yours!"


    But as she opened the door, her eyes widened as she stared at what awaited beyond. Her cheeky demeanor was gone without a trace.


    Bai Guo''s heart nearly leaped to his throat. There stood a person in white robes, so tall that the head wasn''t even visible past the doorway, only the golden locks of hair flowing down her shoulders.