Ability Test, Familiarizing with the Power of New Moves

Chen Wuya's fingers slowly relaxed. The scorching sensation in his palm faded, and the Misaligned Force within him finally ceased its agitation. He opened his eyes, his breathing even and his gaze clear, as though he had just surfaced from a dive through deep water.

"It's back," he said quietly. "This time, it listens to me."

Bai Zhi stood half a step behind him, her fingertips still resting on the sword hilt. Only upon hearing that did her shoulders ease slightly. "That just now was steadier than last night."

"Last night, it was just crashing around on its own." Chen Wuya raised his hand, spreading and then clenching his fingers as he sensed the lingering current in his meridians. "Now I know how to call it out, and I know how to pull it back."

After saying this, he sat cross-legged, placed both palms over his knees, and closed his eyes in concentration. This time, he was not passively waiting, but actively drawing it forth. The Misaligned Force from a branch of the Shaoyang Meridian moved first, slipping toward the Shanzhong Acupoint like a fine thread. Then the reverse-flowing force of the Jueyin Meridian slowly followed, its speed pressed extremely low. Like two streams of smoke traveling against the wind, they cautiously tested their way toward each other.

Bai Zhi took out a sheet of coarse paper she carried with her and used a charcoal pencil to record the time, her eyes fixed on the faint movements of his shoulder and neck muscles.

The first fusion attempt collapsed in less than half a breath. The two forces violently repelled each other at the point where they met at the Shanzhong Acupoint. The backlash jolted his right arm, and scorched-black cracks spread across his fingertips.

"Stop." Bai Zhi reached out and