My dissatisfaction with Bing Hei as a person could not be kept secret from Teacher Guo. She allowed me to go on a mail-run mission starting the same day that he was due to test to enter the Inner Court, a test neither of us doubted he'd pass. By the time I returned, he was well into Pagoda seclusion, learning the Astral Absorbing Aura.
That wasn't the only news Teacher Guo had for me, either. "Shokoya has challenged you to a sword against sword spar. Grand Elder Sheng believes that now is the time for him to test the limits of his ability to analyze and counter an opponent's style."
My reception to the news was mixed. On the one hand, I was excited to test myself against him in that way too. On the other, I couldn't help but worry that in the event I won, it would turn into another Jong situation.
