Kapitel 76: Fifty Moves

Noon came at last. Xie Lun and I made our way to the center of the field, and one of the judges—a senior disciple that I recognized with some struggle—came to examine our weapons and make sure we both understood the rules.

"Since this is a match between different experience levels," the judge said to me, "you'll be given a few advantages to make up for the gap. The first three moves are yours, which your opponent is only allowed to defend. You can use the talismans assigned to you, whereas your opponent isn't allowed to use anything other than his sword."

When I nodded, he turned to Xie Lun. "No other restrictions, and you are free to use any advanced techniques. But as long as your opponent can last more than fifty moves against you, she wins."