The White Fang shot forward.
Chen Ba stepped aside.
Shun turned the thrust into a sweep.
Chen Ba retreated.
Another thrust followed.
Then another.
Chen Ba did not attack.
He watched.
Shun was faster than him without a movement technique, and his Qi was cleaner.
Three weeks of cultivation had not been wasted.
But his spearwork was basic.
Direct thrusts.
Sweeps.
Forward pressure.
Technically clean.
Easy to read.
Shun pressed harder.
Darkness Qi gathered around the White Fang.
"Nether Emperor Lance."
The thrust came faster.
Chen Ba used First Step.
Lightning burst through his legs.
He cleared the spear and appeared several paces to Shun's right.
Shun turned and attacked again.
Chen Ba avoided it.
Outside the ring, Gao frowned.
"Why isn't he fighting back?"
Xueyin watched Chen Ba's feet.
"He's reading him."
Zhaowu remained silent.
The missions had changed Chen Ba's movement.
He no longer reacted to every weapon twitch.
He watched the shoulders.
Hips.
Feet.
He moved when the attack became real.
Shun noticed.
"Stop running."
Chen Ba avoided another thrust.
"It's a spear."
"So?"
"Why would I stand in front of it?"
Gao laughed.
Shun ignored him.
He stopped chasing and lowered the spear.
Darkness Qi gathered again.
"Nether Emperor Lance!"
He drove forward.
Chen Ba could have dodged.
Instead, the Black Pole rose.
The weapons collided.
A heavy crack crossed the training ground.
Shun's expression changed.
The Black Pole barely moved.
He had put his body and Qi into the thrust.
Chen Ba gave only half a step.
Shun pulled back.
Now he understood.
The Black Pole was far heavier than it looked.
And Chen Ba was strong enough to carry that weight as if it were normal.
Shun attacked again.
This time he changed his rhythm.
A high thrust became a low sweep.
Chen Ba jumped over it.
The spear reversed toward his ribs.
The Black Pole blocked.
Better.
Shun was adjusting.
But adjustment could not replace experience.
He still committed too early.
Still revealed too much.
Still attacked where Chen Ba was instead of where he would move.
Chen Ba waited.
Shun stepped forward again.
There.
First Step.
Chen Ba did not retreat.
He entered the spear's range.
The Black Pole struck the White Fang's shaft.
Shun's hands jolted.
Before he could reset, Chen Ba stepped in.
The lower end of the Black Pole pressed against the spear shaft.
Shun resisted.
His arms gave first.
Chen Ba forced the White Fang down, hooked beneath it and lifted.
The spear flew from Shun's hands.
It landed several paces away.
The Black Pole stopped against Shun's chest.
The instructor spoke.
"Enough."
Chen Ba lowered it.
No injury.
No ambiguity.
The fight was over.
Shun looked at the fallen White Fang, then at Chen Ba.
His Qi had been cleaner.
His natural speed better.
It had not mattered.
Chen Ba had spent most of the fight reading him.
Once he attacked, the spar ended.
Shun retrieved his spear.
"You didn't use the Second Step."
"No."
"Why?"
"Didn't need it."
The answer irritated Shun.
Mostly because it was true.
Zhaowu finally spoke.
"Your problem isn't cultivation."
Shun looked over.
"You spent three weeks improving your Qi."
His gaze shifted to Chen Ba.
"He spent them learning what happens when something tries to kill him."
Shun said nothing.
"You're faster. Your Qi control is cleaner. Your technique has potential."
Zhaowu's eyes hardened.
"But you announce almost every attack before you make it."
Shun looked back at Chen Ba.
The loss was clear now.
Not cultivation.
Combat.
His grip tightened around the White Fang.
Frustration remained.
So did respect.
Chen Ba had learned something too.
Shun's speed and Qi were real advantages. His weakness was experience, not potential.
The next fight would not necessarily look the same.
Chen Gao stepped forward.
"My turn."
The instructor looked at him.
"I want to fight him too."
"No."
Gao blinked.
"Why?"
"Lesson is over."
"I'll be quick."
"No."
The instructor turned away.
"Go take a mission if you have that much energy."
Yiru laughed.
The sparring ground began to empty.