Testing Moves

Xue Lingyun walked out of the cave, and sunlight fell across his face, somewhat dazzling.

He narrowed his eyes and flexed the five fingers of his right hand.

The dark-gold metacarpal bone lay quietly dormant beneath his flesh, not aching, not swollen, like a bone that had always been there, one that had slept for a long time and had only just awakened.

He walked to the foot of the scree slope.

At the bottom lay several massive granite boulders. The largest was taller than he was, its surface covered in moss and lichen, and it had to weigh at least tens of thousands of jin.

He raised his right hand, and with a thought, he activated it.

Five dark-gold blades sprang out from the joints of his finger bones, two feet long, as thin as cicada wings, their edges gleaming with a chilling cold light.

The instant the blades shot out, the air gave off a faint hiss, as though something had torn a slit through it.

He moved his fingers.

The blades trembled slightly with the motion of his fingers, each one under precise and effortless control, like extensions growing out of his bones rather than external weapons.

He waved his hand casually.

Five dark-gold blades tore through the air, carving an arc before slashing into the boulder.

There was no deafening boom, no spray of shattered stone.

The boulder was split in two down the middle, its upper half sliding slowly along a mirror-smooth cut before crashing to the ground with a dull rumble.

The cut was so even it looked as if something had polished it, without so much as a single burr.

The falling rubble crumbled into powder the instant it hit the ground, crushed to dust by the force of tearing.

Xue Lingyun looked