Forty granite pillars held up the slate roof of the gallery between the Disciplinary Hall and the Inner Court. Four elders stood under the arches. They had seen Yan’s cleaver stop against bare bone. They had heard the rings break. Now they could see Yan lying beside the empty eyelets.
Elder Ge Yan of the Array Pavilion held a brass compass with both hands. Hu, the pill maker, still wore his marten furs. Elder Xiao of the Talisman Hall carried an iron case. Elder Meng of Internal Enforcement held a six-foot bronze spear with a broad boar point.
All four were at Early Golden Core. They had spent years taking pills and keeping clear of fights they could send other people to win. They stepped from under the gallery roof into the open Inner Court and spread out, putting twenty paces between themselves and Pei Jing. The court was square, with a narrow alcove in the south wall behind Hu.
“Four-Quadrant Heaven-Lock Array,” Ge Yan called. “Keep him from closing in. Treat him like a mountain beast.”
To the east, Xiao unrolled his silk talismans. The Thousand-Thunder Net spread from them in white arcs. To the south, Hu smashed a flask on the stone. The Corrosive Bone-Melting Mist rose green from the pieces and drifted along the floor.
