The Sun-Fire Spear crossed the first hundred paces in a flash. The domain took half the heat as soon as the spear left Gu’s hand. Even so, gravel melted in its wake. For three hundred years, the Valley had sent that spear through the walls of mountain forts and the hulls of flying ships. Now Gu Tianjiao had put his own blood into it.
The field kept drawing off heat and slowing the spear as it came on. The flame kept shrinking. It drew in from forty feet to ten, then to three. The last flame went out in gray smoke. Pei Jing felt the old Yin-Bone and Heavy Earth currents carry the heat down into the bedrock.
The air fought the spear for every foot it traveled. By the time it came within ten paces of him, it had slowed to sixty paces a second. He could see the red glow along the dragon tooth at its tip. It was still coming straight at his chest.
The Astral Bone Blade stayed in its sheath. Pei Jing watched the shaft come through the smoke and reached out with his left hand.
He caught the shaft behind the point. Sparks flew through his fingers. The brass slid a little and came to a dead stop.
