The Cao Chang that Chen Bo knew was a practioner of Tiger Descends the Mountain and he wanted to overwhelm his opponents with superior cultivation and clan resources, then declare victory and leave.

  This was not that same Cao Chang.

  Cao Chang moved like water, flowing between styles Chen Bo had read about in the library. One moment he'd be executing what looked like Flowing River Palm, the next he'd shift with footwork that resembled Phantom Step. His strikes came from angles that didn't fit into a singular style or school of martial arts, and his transitions violated the rigid forms most outer sect disciples learned.

  Chen Bo held his ground with Foundation Fist, the reliable basics he'd drilled for years. Block, counter, and maintain center. The fundamentals worked because they covered everything and left no gaps if executed properly.

  A circular strike came from the left. Chen Bo blocked it solidly, grounded in Mountain Root principles. His counter-punch landed clean on Cao Chang's shoulder, forcing him back a step. Chen Bo pressed forward, throwing a combination that should have overwhelmed the young master's defenses.

  But Cao Chang flowed around the attacks rather than blocking them, that strange footwork carrying him to angles Chen Bo hadn't anticipated. A palm strike slipped through Chen Bo's guard and caught him in the ribs. Pain bloomed there but he pushed through it, launching another assault.

  They separated after that exchange and began circling one another. Both were breathing hard now.

  Chen Bo feinted high and struck low, Foundation Fist's basic deception strike. His fist connected with Cao Chang's side, a solid impact that made the young master wince. Chen Bo followed up immediately, his straight punch catching Cao Chang square in the chest before a second strike glanced off his jaw.

  Blood trickled from the corner of Cao Chang's mouth but he kept moving. His counter came with clawed fingers raking across Chen Bo's forearm, tearing his skin. Chen Bo ignored the blood welling up there and threw another combination, forcing Cao Chang to give ground.

  But something was changing. Every exchange taught Cao Chang something and he adjusted his approach. His amalgamated style shifted patterns as the fight drew on.

  Chen Bo's Foundation Fist was solid and reliable, but reliability meant consistency, and consistency meant Cao Chang could analyze it.

  A palm strike caught Chen Bo in the shoulder. A sweeping kick forced him to adjust his stance. Another clawed swipe tore fabric on his thigh, leaving shallow cuts that stung.

  Chen Bo's breathing grew heavier. His blocks still arrived but required more effort now. The constant adaptation demanded mental energy that simple repetition didn't, and Cao Chang sensed the fatigue building.

  Chen Bo threw a straight punch, his most practiced technique. Cao Chang moved past it with explosive speed, suddenly appearing inside of Chen Bo's guard. Claws raked across his side with brutal force, tearing through his outer robe and raking his flesh.

  Pain exploded hot across Chen Bo's stomach as blood began seeping through the torn fabric. He stumbled back, hand going to the wound. The scratch wasn't devastatingly deep but the pain was enough to give Chen Bo pause.

  Chen Bo thought of Lu Ming, of that impossible golden aura that had led him to defeat Liu Wei. If Lu Ming could do it, maybe he could too.

  Chen Bo settled deeper into his stance, gathering everything he had. Something stirred inside him, warmth spreading through his meridians. A faint golden glow traced around his body.

  Cao Chang stopped advancing and was watching with sharp attention. He wasn't like Liu Wei, he wasn't rushing forward yet.

  Chen Bo had seen Lu Ming use the Coiling Dragon Strike. Sheer desperation drove him to try to copy a technique that he had seen only once, but the golden aura pulsed around him, making everything feel possible.

  He dropped into that impossibly low stance, spreading his weight, chambering his hands at his sides. Cao Chang moved forward, apparently committing to an attack.

  Chen Bo exploded upward, both palms thrusting forward in the spiraling motion he'd seen Lu Ming use. All his power, all that golden energy, everything focused into one devastating strike aimed at where Cao Chang should be.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  But Cao Chang wasn't there.

  That strange footwork combined with a spinning retreat carried him around Chen Bo's flank faster than the eye could track. Chen Bo's palms struck empty air, his momentum carrying him forward off-balance.

  "Slithering Serpent's Fang!"

  The voice came from behind. Chen Bo tried to turn but he was committed to the failed technique and it left him completely exposed. Cao Chang's palm struck his chest near his heart. His meridians seized, and the golden aura flickered out of existence.

  Darkness took him before he hit the ground.

  Cao Qian emerged from the treeline with Yao Mei's unconscious form draped over her shoulder, ready to dump the stubborn girl and continue searching for her cousin. The report from Liu Wei had been concerning enough that she'd come out here personally to check on Cao Chang.

  What she found made her pause.

  Chen Bo lay unconscious on the ground. Cao Chang was standing over him.

  Her cousin looked like he'd been through a war. His robes were torn and stained with blood. There were claw marks traced across his shoulder and back. Fresh bruises were already forming on his chest and jaw where Chen Bo had landed clean hits. His lip was split open, and there were multiple shallow cuts across his arms and legs.

  Yet he seemed pleased with himself.

  Cao Qian walked forward and dropped Yao Mei next to Chen Bo without ceremony. The girl would wake soon enough with nothing worse than wounded pride and a lesson about refusing demands from inner disciples.

  "So you eliminated the fat one?" Cao Qian kept her tone neutral. "Good. I had heard that you'd grown soft."

  Cao Chang looked up at her with genuine confusion. "Cousin? What are you doing here?"

  She studied him carefully, noting the alertness in his eyes despite obvious fatigue, the complete lack of shame about his current state. This wasn't the Cao Chang she'd grown up with.

  "Checking on you. Making sure the rumors about you becoming a scroll cultivator weren't as bad as they sounded." She gestured at Chen Bo. "At least you still know how to fight."

  Cao Chang bent down and gathered Chen Bo's wolf pelts, adding them to his own pack. Then he picked up Chen Bo's spirit stone and tucked it into his pouch without a second glance at the unconscious boy.

  Cao Qian watched him. "You're taking everything."

  "That's how it works."

  "He's from a minor family. That stone is probably his cultivation savings for the month."

  Cao Chang didn't answer immediately. He was already thinking about the mission completion, the sect points, the next training session. Chen Bo had fought well. Better than expected. That golden flicker at the end had been interesting, whatever it was, and worth thinking about later.

  He'd taken the stone because that was what you did. Winners took. Losers learned. That was cultivation.

  Isn't it?

  Cao Qian's voice had carried an edge he recognized. Not anger exactly. Something closer to the way she used to look at him when he'd done something that confused her as a child.

  "You knocked out the girl too," he said, nodding toward Yao Mei.

  "She refused to comply."

  "Right." He looked at Yao Mei's crumpled form, then at Chen Bo's torn robes and the blood still drying on his own hands. From the outside, looking at this scene, someone might think—

  Is this who I am now?

  Being in this world meant operating by its rules, and its rules were written in blood and spirit stones.

  He looked at Cao Qian.

  "Does it bother you?" she asked. "Taking from someone weaker than you?"

  The honest answer was that it hadn't, until she'd pointed at it directly. And now he wasn't sure what that said about him.

  You play the role or the role plays you.

  Cao Chang looked at her steadily. "I'm just doing what you would do. Right?"

  Cao Qian held his gaze for a moment, then looked away first. She didn't answer, which was an answer.

  He started walking toward the forest path.

  "Wait, where are you going?" Cao Qian called out.

  "Back to the sect to complete my mission. Thanks for checking on me, cousin. But I'm fine. Better than fine, actually."

  Cao Qian stood there with two unconscious disciples at her feet, watching her cousin disappear into the forest.

  Whatever Cao Chang had been doing in that library hadn't diminished him in the slightest. If anything, he seemed more focused and more capable than she'd ever seen him.

  She'd come here to assess a potential problem. Instead she'd found something she didn't have words for yet.

  Cao Chang had created his own technique and defeated an opponent that was just as capable as himself while using an approach she'd never seen him take. The Cao Chang she knew wouldn't want to fight someone on his level. He'd only want a sure path to victory, a way to save face and keep his pride intact.

  But that wasn't what unsettled her most.

  It was the spirit stone. The way he'd pocketed it without thinking, the same way she would have, the same way any inner sect disciple would have. And when she'd pushed back on it, he hadn't gotten defensive or apologetic. He'd just looked at her and held up a mirror.

  I'm just doing what you would do. Right?

  She hadn't answered because she couldn't decide if he was justifying himself or accusing her.

  Cao Qian looked down at the two unconscious disciples. They'd need to be carried back to the sect to have their wounds tended to.

  She gave an exasperated sigh and thought about the fact that she would need to find a way to report to Cao Yen that Cao Chang was clearly not as soft as he appeared to be.

  In any event, she contemplated leaving the outer sect disciples unconscious by the river, but then thought better of it. The sign of an inner sect disciple candidate was leadership, so if she could prove that she could look after the well-being of other outer sect disciples, then it should raise her status.

  And I really don't want to have to carry the fat one.