The silence was overwhelming. Tai Buzhou simply stared at the side of the arena as Hua Lixin collapsed. There was a tearing sensation as the world simply shifted, and suddenly the Volcanic Sovereign stood over Hua Lixin, touching at his student's neck with one massive hand.
"He's fine," he announced a beat later. "Merely exhausted."
For the first time Wu Hao looked into the man's eyes. They were endlessly deep, immense pools of a murky green that revolved. He nearly felt himself be drawn in, deeper into it, and there was a feeling that an entire world lay behind those eyes -
Master Shu appeared before him, blocking his sight. Wu Hao blinked and rubbed at his eyes, feeling an odd kind of strain put on him. What the hell?
The men weren't looking at each other, though. Instead, master Shu turned to the audience.
"Fellow Daoist Tai," he said, in an unusually polite tone. "Get up here and announce the results."
Tai Buzhou scrambled up the steps almost like he'd forgotten he had a movement technique. The look on his face was lost, as if he'd just seen his fortunes reverse in the course of a single afternoon. Which Wu Hao supposed he had, even though he still had no clue why Tai Buzhou cared at all who won. The fights weren't even to the death.
"The winner," the announcer said, and it was clear from his face that he was still scrambling to get his thoughts in order. "The winner -"
He swallowed.
"The winner," Tai Buzhou finally managed, forgetting entirely to apply the techniques that caused his voice to reverberate, "is Wu Hao, the dark horse of the tournament."
The applause that followed was at first distant like thunder, but then it built and it built until Wu Hao had to brace himself. Master Shu clamped a hand on his shoulder and raised his hand up high in the sky, still holding the cracked saber with fingers that felt like jelly. It was good that the master did so because his legs wouldn't stop shaking from sheer relief.
"Our winner!" Master Shu shouted, as ink crawled up the side of his neck to enhance his voice. "My disciple, Wu Hao, a dragon among men!"
More clapping, cheering, and applause. Wu Hao felt dizzy. The Volcanic Sovereign flicked his wrist and picked up Hua Lixin, bringing him swiftly to waiting officials to administer healing and whatever else was necessary.
Master Shu surveyed the crowd and let go of Wu Hao's arm, the better to take all the attention for himself. Wu Hao let his arm drop and didn't know how to stand, so he just tried not to move.
"I am the Martial Alliance's newest Master," master Shu declared, his voice loud. "My name is Shu Renqing! I have mastered the principle of Absence; hence I will be the Absent Sovereign! We of the array master's guild will celebrate this once-in-a-hundred-years victory at the same time as we will celebrate my ascension, by giving a massive feast the likes of which has rarely ever been equaled!"
And, of course, that was where the crowd really erupted. Whispers became outright discussions about the new Master, cheering became hollering and hooting over the greatness of the Martial Alliance, and someone was bold enough to set off firecrackers that resounded loudly with cheerful pops.
"We expect our honored guests tomorrow evening, on the longest night of the year," master Shu declared. "First, let us finish the rest of the Winter Solstice Tournament!"
Master Shu led him into a bow. Wu Hao still felt awash in the sea of sheer delight and attention that he'd received, even as master Shu pulled him upright again.
Then, laying a single hand on Wu Hao's shoulder, Master Shu activated a movement technique and sent them hurtling away. Wu Hao blinked and suddenly found himself somewhere else, without having felt any movement whatsoever. Not even the wind had touched the hem of his robes.
They were standing in the wooden waiting area again.
"Come on," master Shu grunted, letting go of Wu Hao's shoulder. "They should've finished the area meant for me specifically, by now. Let's see what a mess they've made of the arrays."
Wu Hao nodded numbly. He looked backward, where he could still feel all that attention, tingling over his skin the way a plant might consider sunlight to feel. It felt good. It felt overwhelming, too, but... good. He liked it. He had felt appreciated.
But that was that, and this was this.
"I'm still considering whether becoming your apprentice is worth it," he told the master, who snorted.
"It is," he simply said. It probably was.
But he was still considering it all the same.
Wu Hao shook his head, then followed the old man and nearly collided with Tai Buzhou, who had come storming down the hallway in a rage.
He spotted Wu Hao at the same time as Wu Hao spotted him, and then his face colored red. It didn't Wu Hao's qi sense to know the man was angry beyond measure.
"Boy," Tai Buzhou hissed.
"Old goat," Wu Hao responded levelly.
"This is not over," Tai Buzhou growled under his breath. "Winner of the Winter Solstice Tournament or not, compared to the might of the Martial Alliance you are still nothing but an ant. We are the boot overhead, the -"
"Little friend Tai," master Shu's voice cut in. He had turned back from the hallway where he stood. "I see you are talking to my disciple. Sharing some tips for his future progress, no doubt."
Tai Buzhou's back went ramrod straight and he spun around, barely mastering his expression in time.
"Yes, Sovereign," he squeaked. "I wouldn't dare to give him advice on the Dao, but I hoped to give him some pointers when it came to... to social niceties."
"I see," master Shu said deceptively mildly. "Yes, you're indeed not qualified to talk to him about the Dao. What rank did you attain in the previous tournaments?"
"Well," Tai Buzhou said awkwardly. "I - I never participated, Sovereign. I was too busy -"
Wu Hao grinned, though he also felt surprise. Was this what it felt like to bully someone through having better connections? It didn't feel half bad.
"Busy sucking up and licking boots, no doubt," master Shu said, still in that sunny tone. "As you still continue to do. You realize that any attack or offense delivered to my personal disciple is no less than an attack on my person?"
With every word Tai Buzhou winced and his back bent further, as if he was hit by repeated hammer blows.
"No, Sovereign," Tai Buzhou whispered. "I did not."
"A shame," Master Shu. "Learn, then, a few of these 'social niceties' you prize so dearly. Do not let there be another time we must have this conversation, little friend Tai. It will not end as well as this one has."
"Yes, Sovereign."
"Come," Master Shu said. "Let's retire to my personal area, apprentice. This hallway stinks of failure."
He swept away and Wu Hao followed, grinning. They left Tai Buzhou standing there, ashen-faced and shaking.
"Can you really ruin his career?" Wu Hao asked, not even waiting to be out of earshot.
"If I want to," master Shu said casually. "Frankly, though, he's below you. This was ridiculous. Don't get me involved in such childish things again."
But Wu Hao caught the faint glimmer of amusement in the master's eyes as he turned and walked off again. He stood there for a while, swaying, trying to make sense of everything that had just happened.
Then he realized he was alone and some impulse made him hurry to catch up.
The woman he saw as he moved around the corner was small and lacking a hand, but all the same she was utterly impossible to ignore.
"I cannot send the Jade Orchid right away," the Flower Sovereign said quietly as Wu Hao stepped into view. Both sovereigns ignored him, though. It was the first time Wu Hao had heard the Flower Sovereign's voice, and it was oddly soft considering the power the woman wielded. "It must be plucked at the right moment for maximum effectiveness. And it must be consumed with the proper ritual, as well. It might be wasted, otherwise, and that would be a true pity, after all the effort young friend Wu has put in."
"I am here," master Shu responded, equally quietly. "As a master, as a teacher, I have my own rituals for my disciple to perform. Please rest assured, I will not waste any of his effort."
The Flower Sovereign said nothing, letting the silence stretch, before she exhaled.
"Very well," she said, and inclined her head slightly. "Such is your privilege. We will see each other more the coming days, Absent Sovereign. I look forward to the feast."
"Yes," Master Shu said. He stepped back, allowing the Flower Sovereign to pass. "Of course, Flower Sovereign. Your presence will be very much welcome."
Master Shu watched the Flower Sovereign walk off, eyebrows drawn into a small frown.
"She's not as disappointed as I thought," master Shu said to himself. "Perhaps - but no. We will see when the Orchid arrives. A shame, though."
"What's that all about?" Wu Hao asked.
"Don't worry about it," the master said. Wu Hao took a glance at the man's qi, but he was still veiled, like he had been every single moment had seen him today. His emotions had been obvious yesterday, but some gossip had clearly told master Shu that Wu Hao could sense qi, because otherwise he wouldn't be veiling himself like this.
"I do worry about it."
"Well, don't. You just take your time basking in your glory, or whatever it was you were doing up there grinning like a slack-jawed yokel seeing a city for the first time."
Wu Hao's cheeks flamed with a sudden heat.
"Was not," he mumbled. "And I'm still not agreeing to be your disciple."
The master rolled his eyes and opened the door. The area that had been laid out for them had been made by shrinking the space offered to the other Sovereigns slightly. Wu Hao presumed complex negotiations had preceded that particular decision, though he didn't really care. It had been lavishly but hurriedly decorated. A few trays bore warm food, and even as they stood there a servant brought in a few pitchers of mulled wine, tea, and water.
With a few steps forward, the master claimed the largest chair, to which the table with food and drink was attached. He inspected the food with a critical eye, picking out a few prize bits that vanished quicker than Wu Hao's eyes could track.
Then he leaned back in his chair, at which point he released a small sigh of contentment.
Wu Hao eyed the man.
"More sitting?" Wu Hao asked. The master's eyes narrowed. "I would have thought you'd have enough time in a chair -"
One of the pillars bent down quickly, and with a groan of wood Wu Hao was smacked on the top of his head. He refused to acknowledge it, though, and with another wave of the master's hand the wood regrew itself before the roof could sag any further.
"Mind your manners," the master said, though without real heat. "Don't get a big head just because you won a tournament."
A servant appeared from somewhere, some small pathway closing behind him that allowed him to get inside the little room.
"There are visitors," the servant announced. "Beg pardon, sir. Shall I let them in?"
Master Shu waved a hand, though the other hand waved through his beard to make it neat again. He sat up slightly and cleared his throat.
"Let them in," he said. The servant bowed, and moments later the door opened quietly.
"Absent Sovereign," a deep voice said. "I, Deng Xuan of the Wudang Sect, have come to pay my respects. I have brought a few disciples along."
The master smiled and nodded. "Come in."
The fact that this, if Wu Hao recalled correctly, had largely once been their own area of the stands, didn't seem to be worthy of mention.
Deng Xuan had left his two swords somewhere else, but he was still an enormous bear of a man. Wu Hao wasn't the tallest - though he'd grow, hopefully soon - but this man would loom even over the tallest boys he'd known effortlessly. In fact, Deng Xuan was as wide as Wu Hao was tall.
Behind him, like little ducklings after their mother duck, two disciples trailed. Wu Hao recognized one of them as the second-grade disciple who had lost his round already, despite making it to the quarter finals; the other was Ye Yue, whose eyes were shining.
All three bowed. It felt utterly unnatural to receive the bow - or any sign of respect, really - from a Sovereign.
"Congratulations, little friend Wu," Deng Xuan rumbled. "You have achieved a feat unequalled by any in history since the Seven Gods Sword Sovereign's meteoric rise, a hundred years ago."
Wu Hao felt a chill down his neck. "I - yes, sir. Thank you, sir."
The conversation ended there. Deng Xuan, perhaps sensing that Wu Hao had no idea how to go on, pushed Ye Yue forward slightly.
"This disciple of my Sect has words he would like to say to you," he intoned. "Go on, little Yue."
Ye Yue nodded seriously. Once again, he bowed deeply, and then with none of the unwillingness that might be expected from a martial artist speaking to someone who'd beaten him, he said:
"Congratulations, Wu Hao!"
"Er," Wu Hao said. "Thank you."
"But I wish not merely to congratulate you," Ye Yue said. He still maintained his bowed posture. "I wish also to apologize for my hasty words!"
Before Wu Hao had decided how he felt about this happening - he was leaning towards a sort of grateful embarrassment - Ye Yue continued.
"I belittled your technique, when it is clear that your proficiency far surpasses mine! I truly did have eyes but failed to see Mt. Tai. My seniors assure me I brought no dishonor upon the Sect, but my heart would not be settled until I spoke to you again!"
Wu Hao blinked, unsure what to say. "Okay. You can rise, if you want to..."
But Ye Yue's head remained ducked down. It was fortunate that he didn't make a greater show of regret like beating his chest, because that would have been very messy.
"What my disciple is trying to say," master Shu cut in, "is that it was his honor to face the new crop of the Wudang Sect. Your realization fills him with gratitude and he hopes from hereon out that no friendship has been lost by the match happening as it did."
He made a small gesture at Wu Hao, urging him to continue on this theme.
"What the master said," Wu Hao mumbled. "Please stand up."
Ye Yue seemed to find this satisfactory. He raised his head, and his eyes were shining. "Of course! Of course no friendship has been lost. We of the Wudang Sect are sworn to remain humble in victory and honest in defeat. It is one of our principal vows."
Deng Xuan stroked his beard, nodding proudly.
"I only have a few more questions, however," Ye Yue said, inching closer. "I was unable to contend with your saber technique. I merely wish to ask, however, how it feels to wield a Heaven-tier saber art. If you could help me along even a little bit along the Way..."
Wu Hao threw a glance at master Shu, who inclined his head. "You have my permission to tell him."
No getting out of it, then. It did rankle a little that the old goat presumed to tell Wu Hao if he could share his own techniques, but that was something they would discuss later.
"It felt..." Wu Hao began, and then had to think about how to word it. "To put it in a few words, it felt... natural. Things just... connected."
Deng Xuan nodded thoughtfully. He did a lot of nodding, Wu Hao noticed. He hoped it was a good sign.
"Connected," Ye Yue repeated. His eyes gleamed. "I will have to take this to heart carefully. When we return I shall throw myself into closed-door training for a hundred days, that I may attempt to master our sect's Divine Gate Sword Art."
"Okay," Wu Hao said, not quite comfortable with the thought that his words were being taken that seriously. "Good for you."
The same servant had popped up again, tactfully waiting until a small lull in the conversation. Clearing his throat, he announced: "Another visitor, sir."
"Who is it?" Wu Hao asked.
"The young master of the Jin clan, sir," the servant said.