Austin checked the fighters himself.
Most were weak and cramped. None had broken bones or shattered cores. Ling Yue’s group recovered first because they had released earliest. Wu Nian moved among his monks with water. Guang Ming sat beside his sword and did not touch it.
“You could have forced the grounding,” he said.
“Not safely.”
“You needed us to release you.”
“I needed you to release your own people.”
Guang Ming looked at Ling Yue and Wu Nian. “They chose before I did.”
Ling Yue sat across from him. “And you chose in the end. Remember that part too.”
