The next day, when Qian Renxue entered the Angel Temple, her left foot crossed the Gate first.
She had been able to get out of bed on her own last night, but the moment she stepped onto the Stone Steps, it felt as though fine needles were scraping inside her knee. She stopped and slowly shifted her weight onto it. The pain moved from her knee to her ankle, the very two places the golden brand had struck yesterday.
Bai Jin followed behind her, carrying breakfast.
"I told you to sleep a little longer, but you insisted on coming as soon as you'd eaten. Does this count as finishing breakfast?"
"You're still carrying the portion I haven't eaten."
"That's mine."
"Then don't hold me up."
Qian Renxue crossed the Gate. Rather than pick up the golden plate before the holy statue again, she released her Six-Winged Angel in the open space ten paces away. Silver spatial patterns lit up along her left leg bone. She activated Silverwing Skystep and shifted three feet to the left.
Before her next step landed, a faint crack came from her left knee.
Bai Jin set down the food box and swept his Six Eyes over her leg bone. Yesterday's injury had knit together, and the Silverwing Power still ran through its original channels, but it detoured around a small section inside her knee. Now, using her own Soul Power, she had touched the place the Golden Fragment had pressed against.
"Try the ankle too?" he asked.
"First, let me try."
Qian Renxue raised a hand and released Rift-Splitting Feather Blades. The silver blade light traveled only a foot before a pulling sensation struck above her ankle. The feather blade's edge veered off course and cut into the stone floor before the hall. She withdrew