On the eve of the finals, the moon shone bright over the rear slopes of Mount Longhu, with few stars in the sky.
Zhang Lingyu walked out of his room, gently closed the creaking wooden gate, descended the stairs, and followed the flagstone path toward the rear mountain.
He could not sleep. A sudden feeling had come over him, a persistent sense that something involving him was about to happen. He decided to take a walk and practice along the way.
Tomorrow was the final, and his opponent was Zhang Chulan...
Although he had considered the possibility, the other man had actually overcome every obstacle and made it to the end.
He really did find that quite admirable.
"Zhang Chulan... heh. Zhang Lingyu, oh, Zhang Lingyu, when did you become so timid that you no longer even had the courage to face your own heart?"
His mind was a tangled mess.
Moonlight spilled over the young man's jade-like features, illuminating his awkward, delicate face.
He knew that his seemingly baseless dislike stemmed entirely from jealousy.
The one who truly deserved that dislike was himself.
He had failed to hold firm to his own convictions, then taken it out on someone else.
Who could he blame for that one mistaken choice back then...
"Can I win... the way I am?"
He did not underestimate Zhang Chulan.
Although Zhang Chulan had seemed unremarkable when they first met, he could clearly see from the matches over this period that his opponent had grown much stronger.
Tomorrow's match would not be as easy as everyone imagined, even if he was confident.
"I'll win."
He stopped before an old pine tree, closed his eyes to settle his mind, regulated his breathing, and slowly began circulating his cultivation technique.
The night breeze blew down from the