Su Meng spat blood onto the sand. His Obsidian Bones vibrated so hard his vision blurred. "I took nothing. Your laws say the strong get the resources. I am taking the air in this room. Stop me."
Iron-Cloud pointed a finger.
A beam of pure, white Qi shot out. It was a concentrated stream of energy. It hit Su Meng in the center of the chest.
Su Meng did not fly backward. He planted his feet and forced the Celestial Forge in his abdomen to its maximum capacity.
"Now... it is my turn," Su Meng said through clenched teeth.
He did not block the beam. He attempted to pull the energy into his body.
The white light hit his skin and began to spiral, moving into the vortex behind his navel. The power was excessive. Su Meng's ribs groaned under the force. His skin began to split, glowing white from the internal pressure.
"Stop!" the Old Man's voice shouted in his mind. "The volume is too high. You will explode. Redirect the flow. Use the ground."
Su Meng let out a guttural sound. He grabbed the beam with his bare hands. The friction burned the skin away, revealing the dark Obsidian Bone underneath. He slammed the energy into the arena floor.
BOOM.
The explosion was immense. A pillar of white and black energy shot into the sky, blinding the spectators. Su Meng used the chaos. He turned and ran.
THE BRUTAL ESCAPE
He did not run like a normal person. He used the remaining energy to launch his body over the arena walls, traveling a hundred feet into the air.
When the energy ran out, gravity pulled him down. He hit the jagged rocks of the outer mountain with high impact.
CRUNCH.
His left leg snapped. His ribs were fractured. He rolled down the cliffside. Thorns tore at his Iron Skin. He landed in a mud ditch at the edge of the Weeping Mist Forest.
He lay there, his breath coming in wet, ragged gasps. He was alive, but the cost was high. His Dantian flickered. Every movement caused a sensation of sharp metal dragging across his spine.
"Stand up," the Old Man said. "The Qi is leaking from your meridians. If the Enforcers find you, they will not need weapons to finish you."
Su Meng dragged his body out of the mud. He looked at his hand. The skin was gone, showing the matte-black bone underneath.
"I am alive," Su Meng said, a bloody grin appearing on his face. "That is enough."
THE OUTCAST IN THE DARK
He crawled into the silver fog of the forest, moving North toward the Calamity-Iron Cave. He needed a location to hide and repair his damaged body.
An hour into the forest, he saw a light. He balled his fist, preparing to fight an Enforcer. But it was not a soldier.
It was a girl. she was covered in soot and wore rags. She held a lantern that produced a ghostly white flame.
"You are in bad condition," she said, looking at Su Meng's mangled limbs.
"I noticed," Su Meng said. "Who are you?"
"I am Han Yue," she said. "I live in the places they do not discuss. You are the one they seek. The boy who survived the Sect Leader."
She looked at his black bones and her silver eyes widened. "There is a high metal content in your body. Follow me. The magnetism in the cave will mask your scent, but it will cause intense pain. Are you ready?"
Su Meng looked back at the mountain. He heard the hunting horns of the Sect Enforcers.
"The pain has been constant since I arrived," Su Meng said, dragging his broken leg. "Move."