Morning light had yet to pierce the thin haze above Chang'an City's walls, but the Martial Arts Training Ground was already roaring with voices. Tens of thousands of gazes seemed almost tangible, weighing heavily on the broadest Main Arena at its center. Traces of the semifinals from the previous days remained-the bluestone paving was covered in cobweb cracks, and stone dust that had not been swept clean lingered in several deep craters, swirling in the cool morning breeze. The air smelled of dust mingled with rust, with a faint trace of blood that had yet to dissipate.
When Lü Bu stepped into the arena, Red Hare did not accompany him. He came on foot, dragging Sky Piercer behind him. Its tip scraped across the obsidian floor with a teeth-grating screech, leaving a shallow white line. Each step was utterly steady, his scarlet cloak hanging motionless behind him. Yet his eyes, like the bronze wine cup crushed the night before, were filled with cold fractures. Deep within them burned a suppressed fire that threatened to consume everything. Guo Jia's casual remark, "A brute's courage," had lodged in his heart like a poisonous thorn. The torment of a sleepless night had done nothing to ease it, instead tempering that fury into something purer and more violent. His gaze passed over Dian Wei, who stood like a mountain across the arena, and fixed directly on the proud figure in green upon the viewing platform.
Dian Wei was already standing at the center of the arena. Bare-chested as before, his knotted muscles looked cast from ancient bronze, gleaming like metal in the faint morning light. Two massive dark iron halberds, broad as door panels, stood casually embedded in the ground beside him, their blades' cold gleam subdued. He looked at Lü Bu and grinned,