Hao raised his hand. "Begin."
He had no idea what emotions brewed beneath the surface for the two old n. No clue of the vows, regrets, or sentints weighing quietly in their hearts.
But he knew one thing.
This match was about to be a banger!
Elder Bai Qingshui stepped into position.
His hands rested lightly on the cue stick, as if he were just stretching before a walk.
Then his eyes opened.
Not the usual half-lidded gaze he always wore. This ti, his eyes were fully awake. Clear, alert, and unblinking.
Xiao Lianfeng, watching from the sidelines, leaned in and gave Lin Yijun an elbow tap.
’Hey, look. You rember that expression, Brother Yijun?’
Lin Yijun nodded, eyes sharpening.
"Yeah. That’s the sa look Elder Bai had when he fought that giant fish monster at the Foggy Sea."
Xiao Lianfeng grinned.
’Elder Bai’s not giving away a loss. Not today.’
’Still not sure on that one.’ Lin Yijun replied.
He squinted toward the table.
’Our Sect Master’s weird. Sotis he plays like he’s bored, then suddenly flips the board upside down and wins anyway.’
But if Lin Yijun had to really lean sowhere, it was toward Elder Bai.
After all, Elder Bai Qingshui was the one who had defeated him.
There was sothing comforting about watching your own defeat walk confidently toward victory.
Made it sting a little less.
And then it happened.
Elder Bai Qingshui moved.
Or rather, he vanished.
The crowd blinked.
So leaned in. Others rubbed their eyes.
"Wait... where did he -"
"Did Elder Bai just disappear?"
"Is the old man under the table?"
"No, no, he’s back again!"
Gasps spread as Elder Bai Qingshui eappeared on the other side of the table, cue in hand, already lining up his shot.
He hadn’t used teleportation.
He hadn’t used any movent technique that people could sense.
He had simply... moved.
So fast, so quiet, that even though he was right in front of them, his presence had briefly vanished.
It wasn’t spiritual concealnt.
It wasn’t light distortion.
It was control.
As if even space itself had been asked politely to step aside for a mont.
In the center of the room, surrounded by regulars, Elder Bai Qingshui had vanished.
And it had felt real.
Even Sect Master Jiang Xianwei paused.
Sect Master Bing Xuan sat nearby. Though her face was hidden beneath the mask, the way her fingers squeezed the stead bun said enough. Her brow twitched with visible frustration.
’Aa... this old man really held back on in round one.’
She bit into her stead bun harder than necessary.
"I only lost by one point." she quietly murmured.
Little Liz was not watching the match.
Not even a little.
Its eyes were fixed squarely on Sect Master Bing Xuan’s face.
More specifically - on the stead bun.
To Little Liz, the bun would rise slowly toward the mask... vanish entirely... then co back slightly smaller, as if bitten by invisible jaws.
No mouth. No opening. No chewing.
Just bun... disappear... bun... bitten.
The lizard beast tilted its head sideways, tail slowly swinging in confusion.
Yushou Ya’er, noticed her pet beast llizard wasn’t paying attention to the intense, world-shaking match about to begin.
Instead, it was just... staring.
She followed its gaze. "..."
Then blinked. And blinked again.
There sat Sect Master Bing Xuan, as graceful as ever, wearing her usual white blank mask.
And in her hand?
A stead bun. Slowly moving toward that mask.
It disappeared.
Then ca back. Bitten.
Yushou Ya’er’s brain short-circuited for a second.
Her lips parted slightly.
"...Huh?"
She looked at Little Liz.
Little Liz looked at her.
The two of them shared the sa expression: pure, wordless confusion.
Yushou Ya’er leaned back a little.
Nahhh, how’s she doing that? Is this so high-level cultivator technique?
Mask-phase munching?
’Wait. Is this a flex?’
She tilted her head.
Is she... actually using a spatial technique? Just to eat?
The thought slapped her brain sideways.
That wasn’t sword intent. That wasn’t divine fla control. That wasn’t a defensive art.
That was pure, shaless convenience cultivation.
Yushou Ya’er was seconds away from doing sothing reckless.
Like walking over and bowing ninety degrees to this mysterious senior.
Maybe even asking, very politely, if she could learn that secret technique.
Just imagine eating hotpot in public without fear. Corn-on-the-cob during a duel. Dango while mid-air. This was next-level stuff.
But just as she took a breath -
Klak! Klak! Klak!
The sharp sound of clacking balls echoed through the store.
Her head snapped around.
Elder Bai Qingshui had made his break.
And it wasn’t just strong. It was graceful.
The cue ball shot forward, not as a missile, but as a drifting leaf carried by a perfect breeze.
It struck the triangle of racked balls with exact off-center precision.
No brute force. Only angled energy.
The balls scattered across the table. Not wildly, but in a beautiful ripple, petals falling into place with quiet intention.
Three balls dropped in cleanly. A solid red into the corner pocket. A striped yellow into the side. A solid green into the top.
And the cue ball? It slowed. Brushed the rail with a delicate touch. Then ca to a gentle stop near the center.
Perfect position. Perfect control.
The air held its breath.
It wasn’t flashy. But it was terrifying.
"What kind of break is that...?" soone whispered.
Hua Feixue adjusted her sleeves and sniffed softly.
"That’s clearly a variation of my Spiral Petal Drift Shot."
"A technique I crafted during my fourth billiard ga. The spiral flow and precise cue control... no doubt about it."
Before anyone could respond, Dou Xinshi’s voice rose from behind her.
"Hah? Spiral Petal? No no no, you’ve got it all wrong, Senior Hua."
He stepped forward, tapping his forehead twice as if unlocking deep, forgotten mories.
"That was clearly inspired by my Side-Spin Vector Dragon Fang Release. I invented it days ago in the middle of a thunderstorm."
"The balls back then didn’t just scatter. They wept."
Hua Feixue gave him a flat look.
"You called it a Dragon Fang because you chipped the table."
"A battle scar of innovation." Dou Xinshi said solemnly.
"You hit your own foot with the cue ball."
"A necessary sacrifice."
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