Chapter 677: Nine Measures

Chapter 677: Nine Measures

Ira reached him first.

She had been standing beyond the hall entrance when the door opened. Now she stopped in front of the bench and looked from his face to the blood on his robe.

"Is any of that still bleeding?"

"No." Leon lifted one hand. "I’ve closed everything."

Loriel arrived beside her and took the offered hand before he could lower it.

"May we use somewhere private?" she asked the steward.

He opened a screened consultation alcove off the public hall. Leon was grateful for the shorter distance even before he stood.

Inside, Seraphine closed the screen while Loriel examined him. Vyra set a cup of water within reach and waited until he drank before asking anything.

"How far?"

"Eleven."

Ira let out a breath.

"We saw it change. I thought the wall had made a mistake."

"You were there for the result?" Leon asked.

"We came after lunch," Seraphine said. "You’d already begun the last stage."

Her attention stayed on the ruined fabric beneath his collar. He looked down and realized how much blood had dried there.

"I know it looks bad."

"It looks as though you were hurt," she said. "Were you?"

"Yes."

She accepted the direct answer more easily than she would have accepted reassurance. Leon could see that in the way she stopped studying the robe and finally met his eyes.

"Badly?"

"A few times. The recovery worked."

Loriel’s fingers tightened around his wrist.

"And you kept asking it to work."

She finished the examination before explaining what she had found.

"There’s no open wound, and the bones have set properly. You don’t need me to close anything." Loriel released his hand. "You do need to stop spending yourself for a while."

"How long?"

"Give yourself a full day. Sleep, eat, and let your reserves recover without immediately using them again."

Leon leaned back against the bench.

He had expected that. Hearing it from her still made him think of the sealed marrow case he had not yet collected and all the work it might save him.

Loriel noticed his expression.

"Buying your supplies is fine," she added. "Starting another cultivation session is not."

"I wasn’t going to start one here."

"Good. Don’t start one at home either."

Ira sat beside him and touched an undamaged section of his sleeve.

"The last signal went amber," she said. "Then it stayed there."

"I was still fighting."

"We worked that part out." Her thumb moved once across the cloth. "There wasn’t much else to do."

Leon turned his hand and caught hers.

He had spent those minutes watching a blade, judging openings, deciding whether another repair would cost too much. He had not thought about the people outside watching a color refuse to change.

"I’m sorry you had to wait through it."

Ira looked down at their hands, then nodded.

Seraphine moved his cup closer when he reached for it. She did not tell him off. Somehow that made him want to explain the fight more carefully when they had time.

Ji arrived while he was replacing the worst of his clothing.

The hall elder admitted her to the alcove, then left them alone. Leon started to rise, but Ji motioned him back down.

"Stay there. I’ve already seen the result."

"Eleven," he said, unable to keep some satisfaction out of his voice.

"Yes." Her expression softened slightly. "You may look pleased. It was an extraordinary clear."

He had heard disciples whispering beyond the screen. This mattered more.

"Thank you, Master."

"I expected you to stop earlier. Apparently I underestimated what you could bring to a private trial." She glanced toward Loriel. "His condition?"

"The injuries are repaired. He needs roughly a day without serious exertion."

Ji nodded and returned her attention to Leon.

"Then take the day."

"I will."

"Did the Earth transition hold?"

That question brought back the shattered barrier and the Lightning strike that had bought him time to repair his leg.

"It did. Seraphine helped me get the timing right this morning."

"Good." Ji looked pleased with that answer too. "You can tell me more about the transition when you’re rested. The rest of the trial is yours to discuss or keep private."

Leon nodded. She had not asked about the techniques that took him through an Earth Immortal defense, or how he had stayed standing for more than two hours.

He found himself wanting to tell her more precisely because she had left the choice with him.

For now, he said, "I earned enough for the marrow."

"Then collect it before the vault clerks finish for the day." Ji stepped away from the screen. "And let someone else carry the case if you’re still shaking."

Leon looked at his hand. It had almost stopped.

The requisition clerk counted the allocation in front of him.

Nine pale cylinders rested in separate compartments within a fitted case. Each bore a thin inspection seal, and beneath them lay a slip identifying the batch and approved quantity.

"Five thousand four hundred contribution," the clerk said. "Please confirm."

Leon placed his token against the plate.

[Restricted requisition approved]

[Unaspected Spirit Marrow: Nine measures]

[Contribution remaining: 1,800]

The clerk let him examine one measure before closing the case.

It was heavier than he expected. Beneath the inspection seal, the condensed qi felt unusually even. He found none of the foreign rhythm he had spent so long removing from the cores.

Leon turned it between his fingers, careful not to disturb the seal.

Vyra watched his expression.

"Worth the price?"

"The material?" He looked up. "Yes."

"And the fight?"

He considered that separately.

"I’d like to be better prepared before I do it again."

"That sounds sensible." She held out her hand for the preparation list. "Which of these have you already checked?"

They purchased the array consumables and preparation stock next. Nine hundred contribution covered the intake fittings, replacement supplies, and materials he had selected from the schedule.

Loriel and Vyra chose two medicine-court items from the copied list for another six hundred. Both discussed the quantities before approving the purchase, leaving Leon with three hundred contribution unspent.

He liked that last number more than he expected.

There would be something waiting in the account when he next found a useful entry in a Palace ledger. For once, obtaining what he wanted had not emptied everything he possessed.

Ira carried the marrow case back to the residence.

Leon could have managed it. She picked it up before he reached for the handle, and after the afternoon he had given her, he decided against arguing.

The walk home was slow enough that he noticed things he had passed that morning without seeing: a repaired section of railing, laundry moving above a lower courtyard, two students trying to carry an overfilled basket between them without spilling its contents down the steps.

He would have offered to help on another day.

Today he watched one of them rescue a falling bundle with a desperate grab and quietly hoped they made it.

At home, they checked the purchases against the receipts. Leon placed the marrow in secure storage beside the supplies for his next session.

Three cores still held recoverable energy. The reservoir retained prepared supply. The new marrow would give him a much cleaner source to work with, but he would prepare it properly before admitting any of it to his cultivation cycle.

He closed the storage compartment without opening an inspection seal.

Seraphine watched him put the key away.

"Finished?"

"For today."

"Then come and sit down."

Leon followed her to the sitting room. Ira had already claimed one end of the couch and left enough room beside her for him.

He sat, accepted the fresh cup Vyra handed him, and listened while Loriel described what she intended to do with their medicine-court purchases.

For the first time since entering the Hall, he had no reason to watch the door.