The cloud of golden herbal vapor drifted slowly across the central platform, settling over the shattered remains of the quartz testing column.
Elder Gu remained on his knees among the sharp glass shards, his heavy scarlet robes soaked through with cold sweat. His hands shook so violently that the lacquered wooden gavel slipped from his fingers, clattering uselessly against the jade floorboards.
Above the arena, in the high gallery of the Sword Pavilion, Lin Xi stood motionless with her hands clasped inside her white silk sleeves, her cold dark eyes pinning the judge to the stone.
Beside her, Grand Elder Wu leaned forward on his carved sandalwood chair, his white eyebrows drawn together in a heavy line of judgment. The old master did not speak, but the sheer weight of his spiritual prese
