A dull metallic clang rang out across the stone amphitheater.
Lucan Morvane kicked the bronze release pedal of the Sun-Flame Crucible. Heavy white steam hissed from the open jaws of the four sculpted dragons, billowing over the flagstones in thick, choking clouds.
With twenty minutes remaining on the tribunal incense stick, Lucan plunged long iron tongs into the crucible’s blazing belly.
His hands shook with violent tremors, but he forced his spine straight. He lifted a small porcelain dish high above his head, presenting it toward the four hundred disciples packed into the stone bleachers.
Upon the white glaze rested a single jade-colored pill.
Two faint green rings circled its perimeter, pulsing with steady spiritual light.
“Seventy-eight percent purity!” Lucan screamed, his voice hoarse and cracked from two days of sleepless screaming. “Tier 3 Jade-Marrow Pill, certified two-ringed grade! No freshman in the history of the White-Lotus Academy has ever produced such medicine!”
He dropped to his knees, his forehead striking the cold flagstones as his exhausted Qi finally gave out. His ten deacons rushed forward, cheering and weeping as they shielded their young master with silk blankets.
