The hollow spine of the twenty-eight-pound cleaver shrieked as high-pressure dragon-vein animal fat flooded its internal veins.
Through the carved iron channels, the animal fat met the ninety-degree heat of Lu Chen’s palm and ignited within the sealed pool.
In less than two heartbeats, the heat of the notched cutting edge spiked from room heat to four hundred point zero degrees.
The heavy blade turned a deep, blazing bright orange.
Waves of heat distortion rippled outward from the steel. It bent the silhouettes of the surrounding pavilions into wavering, liquid mirages.
The surrounding frost on the courtyard flat stone slabs didn’t melt into water.
It flashed directly into plumes of dry, hissing steam that rose toward the roof edges in curling white ribbons.
Above, the mantis swarm leaped.
