Chapter 75: Day of the Duel
I woke to the sound of birds chirping outside my window and Rocky's unmistakable rumbling snores from one of the many gardens in the Wei compound.
"Good morning, Master," Azure's familiar voice echoed in my mind. "How are you feeling?"
"Ready," I replied, sitting up and beginning my morning stretches.
"Are you going to go over the details again, Master?"
"Knowledge is power," I replied as I recalled Wei Lin's briefing from two days ago.
Wei Lin had been true to his word about gathering intelligence – he'd shown up at my door barely an hour after I had woken up, practically vibrating with information.
Chen Wu practiced the Stone Mountain Heart Method, an Earth-rank technique that focused on stability and overwhelming force. It wasn't flashy like some of the higher-ranked methods, but it was extremely effective, especially at the Qi Condensation realm where most cultivators were still learning to control their power.
"The method has three main aspects," Wei Lin had explained, pacing back and forth in my room while referring to a stack of notes. "First, it reinforces the body with earth-attributed qi, making the user extremely durable. Second, it allows them to draw strength from the ground itself, increasing their power the longer they maintain contact. And third, it gives them limited control over stone and earth – nothing fancy like some Earth-element techniques, but enough to be dangerous in close combat."
He'd gone on to detail Chen Wu's typical fighting style: "He likes to start defensive, letting his opponent wear themselves out against his stone-reinforced body. Once they start showing signs of fatigue, he switches to overwhelming offense. It's particularly effective against younger disciples who tend to go all-out from the beginning."