Two weeks of recovery brought my foundation damage down to twenty-three percent.
Not perfect. Not even close. But Medical Disciple Wen grudgingly cleared me for "light combat", which in cultivation world terms meant "try not to die immediately."
[FOUNDATION DAMAGE: 23%]
[COMBAT EFFECTIVENESS: 71% OF NORMAL]
[STAGE 8 POWER: PRESENT BUT UNSTABLE]
[TOURNAMENT PARTICIPATION: INADVISABLE]
[DOING IT ANYWAY: OBVIOUSLY]
The Inter-Sect Tournament was held at Neutral Peak, a mountain claimed by no sect, maintained by all five as common ground. The journey took three days by flying vessel, giving me time to observe the other sect delegations.
Crimson Peak Sect brought fifteen disciples, all Stage 7 minimum. Their representative, a scarred man named Feng Zhou, radiated Stage 9 cultivation and barely-concealed hostility toward Azure Peak.
