Saturday morning, Chen Ba reported to the training ground.
Chen Zhaowu was already waiting.
No other disciples were present.
"You missed yesterday's Combat Lesson."
"I was still returning from Willowbank."
"I know."
Zhaowu tied a small bell to his waist.
"So you make it up today."
Chen Ba looked at the bell.
"Same exercise?"
"Similar."
Zhaowu stepped onto the training ground.
"I'll suppress myself to Qi Initiate Level Six."
Chen Ba removed the Black Pole from his back.
"And I take the bell?"
"Take it."
Zhaowu lowered one hand.
"Begin."
Chen Ba moved immediately.
Lightning Qi compressed through his legs.
First Step.
He burst forward.
Zhaowu shifted half a step.
Chen Ba passed him.
The Black Pole swung around, forcing Zhaowu to move again, but by then the bell was already out of reach.
Chen Ba landed and turned.
Zhaowu watched him.
"Again."
Chen Ba attacked from another angle.
First Step.
This time he shortened the burst.
Less distance.
Less wasted Qi.
The change was small, but Zhaowu saw it.
Chen Ba had improved.
Not only in speed.
His timing was better.
He no longer used the technique simply because he could. He waited until movement gave him something.
The missions had taught him that.
Chen Ba attacked again.
Zhaowu blocked the Black Pole with one forearm reinforced by Qi and turned his body away from Chen Ba's reaching hand.
The bell rang once.
Still attached.
Chen Ba retreated.
Again.
The exchange repeated.
Chen Ba changed distance, angle and timing.
Zhaowu answered every attempt.
"You're thinking too much about the bell," Zhaowu said.
Chen Ba stopped.
"It's the objective."
"And I'm the one wearing it."
Chen Ba understood.
The next time he moved, he attacked Zhaowu instead.
The Black Pole came down.
Zhaowu stepped aside.
Chen Ba followed with another strike, forcing him to give ground.
Then First Step.
Chen Ba closed the gap.
His fingers almost reached the bell.
Zhaowu turned.
Missed.
Chen Ba landed several paces away.
Better.
He went again.
Zhaowu began increasing the pressure.
A palm struck toward Chen Ba's shoulder.
Chen Ba avoided it.
A leg swept low.
He jumped back.
Zhaowu followed.
Chen Ba used First Step to retreat—
then something changed.
The first burst had not finished.
Lightning Qi surged again.
His body redirected midway.
Second Step.
Chen Ba vanished from Zhaowu's front and appeared at his side.
Neither had expected it.
Chen Ba reacted first.
His hand closed around the bell.
The cord snapped.
Silence.
Chen Ba looked down at it.
Zhaowu looked at him.
"Do that again."
Chen Ba returned the bell.
He tried.
First Step.
Then—
nothing.
He tried again.
The second burst came too late.
No redirection.
A third attempt failed completely.
Zhaowu folded his arms.
"So you still don't control it."
"No."
"But it has happened more than once."
Chen Ba nodded.
That was progress.
Not mastery.
Zhaowu reached for the bell.
Then stopped.
His eyes narrowed.
"Your arm."
Chen Ba looked down.
Thin reddish-purple lines had appeared beneath his skin.
More were spreading toward his elbow.
Zhaowu grabbed his wrist.
"What happened yesterday?"
Chen Ba's expression changed.
"Numbroot."
"You were poisoned?"
"Yes."
"And treated?"
"The symptoms stopped."
"That wasn't my question."
Chen Ba fell silent.
Zhaowu released him.
"Recovery Hall. Now."
...
The healer took one look at Chen Ba's arm and pulled him onto a treatment bed.
"Numbroot."
Chen Ba nodded.
"How long?"
"Since yesterday."
The healer looked up sharply.
"You cultivated after that?"
"Yes."
"And fought?"
"Yes."
"For how long?"
Chen Ba did not answer immediately.
The healer understood enough.
"Idiot."
Needles entered several meridian points.
A medicinal paste followed.
The dark lines began slowing.
"The poison didn't disappear," the healer said. "Your body suppressed the symptoms."
Chen Ba watched the lines beneath his skin.
"Why did it return?"
"You started pushing Qi through your body again."
The healer adjusted another needle.
"Circulation spread what was still inside you."
Across the Recovery Hall, Chen Miao looked over from another bed.
She had been recovering from the same poison.
Her eyes moved from the healer to Chen Ba.
"You fought with Numbroot still inside you?"
Chen Ba looked at her.
"I didn't know it was still there."
Miao said nothing after that.
The healer continued working.
"Strong constitution, shallow exposure, unusual resistance. Could be any of them."
Another trace of poison surfaced beneath Chen Ba's skin.
"But resistance is not immunity."
Chen Ba nodded.
Zhaowu stood beside the doorway, arms folded.
The Combat Lesson was over.
The bell no longer mattered.