Qian Daoliu's practice sword stopped just short of Qian Renxue's left shoulder. She stood her ground.
Before they began, her grandfather had set the Wooden Box beside the training ground, leaving the Golden Fragment inside. He would not add another brand today. He would only use his practice sword to test the pale golden line already left on her leg. Thin cloth wrapped Qian Renxue's injured ankle. Bai Jin sat nearby watching, his sunglasses hanging from his collar.
"If I used the full Soul Power of a Peerless Douluo, you wouldn't survive a single strike," Qian Daoliu said. "For these seven steps, I'll use only the force you need to withstand against a powerful opponent of your own level. If you can't bear it, withdraw on your own."
"I know you can go faster."
"Then don't use your injured leg to prove it."
Qian Renxue drew her practice sword. She heard the concern in her grandfather's words, but merely shifted her left foot behind the stone line and waited for his first strike. Bai Jin did not count for her. Today, she had to keep track of the seven steps herself.
After that three-breath test of the brand, the golden line had remained from below her knee to the outside of her ankle, but it had never formed complete Leg Armor. She could walk steadily now, yet whenever her left leg bore her weight for more than seven steps while she wielded a sword, the golden markings on her ankle burned red. Qian Daoliu had not taken out the Golden Fragment again. Today, he only wanted her to complete seven steps under an unbroken assault.
"Your first step was already slow," the old man said.
Qian Renxue let the blade brush past her wings and retreated diagonally on her left