"...After all, you're family. If something happened to the Zhang Family, I imagine Junxue wouldn't be happy either?"
"Thank you for the reminder, Young Hero Pei. I had no idea my family was about to be wiped out."
"..."
It was the evening of the eighth day of the ninth month. The second day of the Golden Autumn Martial Contest had ended, and the final thirty-two had been decided. If the Martial Competition were to be divided into an upper and lower half, the line ought to be drawn tonight.
Starting tomorrow, the fighting would abruptly intensify. Second Life competitors would all but disappear, and Third Growth would become the level at which large numbers were weeded out. Even Fourth Growth could hardly be called safe this year-three cautionary examples had already appeared over the past two days.
But likewise, the rewards would rise to another level.
This was no coincidence; the Prefectural Office had set its rewards along precisely this dividing line.
"The sixty-four who win one round: one tael of silver."
"The thirty-two who win two rounds: five taels of silver."
"The sixteen who win three rounds: ten taels of silver and an Iron Fish Tally."
Amid those paltry few taels of silver, something one could rely on for a lifetime suddenly appeared. In many martial artists' eyes, this was the ultimate destination of the competition. Of course, to obtain that tally, winning tomorrow would not be enough. They would need another victory afterward-either advancing from the final sixteen to the final eight, or holding off the challenges of the losers behind them.
On just such an eve, after once again dining at Willow-Watching Tower, Li Piaoqing leaned against the window and asked Pei Ye whether he wanted to meet her master.
Pei Ye had, of course, met