The center of the grand courtyard suddenly fell into total, respectful silence.
A crisp, metal ringing—like the chiming of an ancient temple bell cast from pure silver—echoed through the thin mountain air. Students from all seven delegations parted hurriedly, backing away toward the stone railings to clear a thirty-pace circle on the central plaza. Even the rowdy students from Roaring Thunder Valley lowered their voices to a hushed murmur, their loud manner vanishing in an instant.
Walking into the open space was Sword Prodigy Jian Chen.
He wore clean white sky silk, unbound by armor or leather girdles, his clothes flowing around his slender form with flawless grace. At his hip hung the Star-Shattering Sword. A slender blade forged from fallen meteor core, housed in a sword sheath of pale dragon bone inlaid with seven astral glyphs. Seven small astral magic charms floated in an orbit around his shoulders. It spun slowly like tiny planets caught in the gravity pull of a dying star. Each tiny magic charm radiated an icy, needle-sharp aura that caused the fine hairs on the arms of nearby onlookers to stand on end.
Before him on the black glass plaza stood a testing monolith. A box-shaped pillar of solid star-iron, ten feet tall and four feet thick, used by the tournament arbiters to measure striking power before major duels. The dark iron was dense, unbending. Then he rated to withstand the direct impacts of fourth-rank spiritual siege engines.
