The Judge tore the shaft free and dragged his left leg half a step back. Blue fluid dripped from the knee onto the glass. It left yellow spots where it dried.
“Recalibrating,” Qi Shenxiao said. The words broke up in the air. “Solar confinement.”
Six disks began to turn one way and six the other. Their light ran together into a solid ring. The heat reached Pei Jing’s pack on the slab. A little smoke rose from the wood of the frame. The next note made the iron pot rattle. The field would close over him as soon as all twelve disks found the same pace.
Pei Jing dropped into the Rootless Step. His foot caught the glass and drove him forward before the ring could close. He passed behind the Judge’s right shoulder.
Qi Shenxiao tried to turn. His bad knee answered too late.
Pei Jing took the Astral Bone Blade in both hands and brought it up through the gold haze. The disks were joined to a support behind the shoulder. He struck the third disk where it met that support.
The silver marks flashed violet. One by one they tried to keep the note they had held while the ring was whole. Pei Jing felt the edge take and lose its grip as the marks passed over it. They had turned away blades made with ordinary spirit qi. The uneven weight of the star iron made them miss their note. The third disk broke apart. Most of…
