Pei Ye smiled. "Platform Master Li and I have only met a few times. We aren't particularly close."
Shi Zanxue smiled. "Platform Master Li is an heir to the former Astronomical Bureau. The bureau traditionally oversaw astronomy and calendrical calculations, delving into the Book of Changes, Yin-Yang, Celestial Phenomena... none of these are prominent disciplines in either the Jianghu or the imperial court, hence his modest description."
"Mm." Pei Ye nodded slowly. "But the platform master is very formidable."
"If great clans draw the Jianghu's attention through their sheer size, the Astronomical Bureau truly has made little stir over the past few centuries. Zanxue knows little of it either."
"Miss Shi, please don't refer to yourself that way again."
Shi Zanxue gave a gentle smile.
The voice of an Immortal Platform Feather Inspector rose into the sky. "First arena: ranked third, Cloud Lang Mountain, [Gushe] Ming Qitian, against ranked fourth, White Deer Palace, [Blade Ghost] He Hongzhu."
The vast crowd stirred slightly at those two names, like wind-raised ripples across a still lake. A figure in white and a figure in red ascended the Sword Platform from opposite sides.
One saber, one sword, they stood facing each other. The morning breeze lifted their hems. Ming Qitian was like a softly drifting cloud, He Hongzhu like a burning flame.
He Hongzhu lowered her head and drew her saber inch by inch, as though drawing out three years of bitter training.
"Ming Qitian. I'm about to strike."
"Please."
A streak of cold, clear light sliced across the entire Sword Platform in an instant!
A clang rang out, jade shattering and metal ringing. Both women's long hair flew into disarray at once. He Hongzhu pressed her saber hard against Glaze, barely two inches from Ming Qitian's throat.
Ming Qitian twisted, deflecting it and