The attendants carried the bronze bells out and brought marked stone tiles into the ring. Qinghe checked their weight and arrangement against the arena diagram. Thousand Thorn Pulse required a close-range blast. The tiles would show the force’s direction without putting a person in its path.
Yan reviewed the last sequence and closed the manual before entering the ring. He had read the complete instructions and understood the required turn. He did not practice yet. The test plan needed to be ready first.
Qiu explained the method to the audience. “The art tears the practitioner’s internal channels to produce an outward burst. Yan has enough cultivation for it. That does not make it safe for an ordinary practitioner.”
“I know the distinction,” Yan said. “The harm belongs to my own method. The force that leaves my palm still moves the stones.”
Dr. Shen asked for a second target arrangement behind the audience ward. Small markers would show whether the force traveled farther than expected. Qiu agreed. The attendants placed the markers while Wei checked the ward boundary.
Qinghe asked the physicians to record where each tile and marker stood. The clerk drew a simple diagram on the public slate. Yan looked at the rows of stones and asked whether he could direct the pulse at a single marked point.
