"Th-thank you," Fang Lin said, stumbling slightly when he reached out to receive the parchment. Already the power Su Yao had gathered had begun to disperse from the parchment itself. Without awakening, even if she managed to gather power, binding it in a lasting way was all but impossible. Had she simply presented the calligraphy itself, Fang Lin might have found her a promising Artist but he wouldn't have been moved the way he'd been moved by her demonstration. Seeing her capabilities in person, his mind whirled as he tried to figure out what he should do to ensure she remained captivated by him.
"Lin'er," Fang Muchen said from the side, his mind rapidly calculating through various options before landing on a secure path forward that would regain momentum for the Fang family. "You brought several of your strong Brawler friends with you today. Perhaps you could follow young lady Su Yao's performance with one of your own. Showcase the strength of your defensive formations and let her see how well you could protect her," the elder man suggested.
"Of course," Fang Lin replied, turning to look at his friends before he turned back to Su Yao. "Young Lady Su," he said, changing the way he addressed her even though she had yet to awaken. At this point, he would only look foolish if he treated her like a promising mortal. Instead, he gestured to his row of assembled guests. "Which of these young lords would you like to see test their might against my formations?"
"Y-you want me to pick?" Su Yao said with a blush. She was still riding high on the feeling of power she'd touched while preparing her gift and hadn't noticed the change in the way the eyes of the Fang family regarded her. "Um, I'm afraid I'm not acquainted with any of Young Lord Fang's companions, but your friend with the beard feels very powerful. If your barrier can resist his attacks it would be most impressive," she said, attempting to flatter both Fang Lin and his friend.
"Ha ha, you hear that brothers," Zhang Buyan boomed in a deep, jovial tone as he stood, flexing his powerful muscles. "Young Lady Su recognizes true strength the instant she sees it! Fear not young lady," he added with an exaggerated bow. "Even if Brother Fang's barrier fails to my strength, I will not harm him."
"Big words, Brother Zhang," Fang Lin said, setting down the parchment he'd been given and taking up a handful of formation flags from his spacial ring. "Young Lady Su should return to her seat. While Brother Zhang will not defeat my formation, I wouldn't want his energies to cause any harm if you were to be too close."
"I'll see to it that everyone gathered here is safe from any unintended consequences of your demonstration," Fang Muchen added, pulling out a set of golden flags of his own and sending them to the corners of the area between the two families with graceful flicks of his fingers. "Unless someone has the strength of a late-stage Soldier, you need not fear anything breaching the barrier," he declared confidently.
Stepping close to Zhang Buyan, Fang Lin wrapped an arm around his shoulders and spoke quietly as he walked the larger man to the center of the banquet hall. "Look, I have to impress her tonight. Don't hold back."
"Brother Fang, are you sure?" Zhang Buyan said, giving the slender Scholar a questioning look. "You know I can crack your barrier in three strikes."
"Only if it's a normal barrier," Fang Lin responded. "Look, just make sure you aim at the center of my chest with every strike. As long as you do that, my barrier will hold."
"I understand," Zhang Buyan said, giving his friend a wink and a thumbs up. "I won't make you look bad in front of your intended."
Moving slowly, Fang Lin placed each of the six golden formation flags at the corners of a hexagon, each one a meter away from the adjacent flags. Carefully checking their placement and ensuring that it was correct he then adjusted the angle of each flag, subtly redirecting the energy of the barrier towards a single face of the hexagon.
Normally, the formation he'd established was one of the most conventional barriers a student of formations learned, carefully designed to ensure equal protection on all sides. What Fang Lin had done, however, was to redirect the energy of five sides to the one that Zhang Buyan would attack him from. The result was a barrier that was paper thin on five faces and couldn't resist the impact of a fruit thrown by a mortal but the front of the barrier had three times the strength it would otherwise have had.
In the real world, such a move would be foolish nine times in ten, but today, it would let him appear much stronger than he really was in front of an audience that didn't understand how formations worked.
"Brother Zhang, show us your might," Fang Lin said, standing within his formation and preparing to receive Zhang Buyan's attack.
"Brother Fang, I won't hold back!" Zhang Buyan said. Placing his lead foot within a few centimeters of the barrier, Zhang Buyan drew back his right foot and settled into a wide stance as he drew deeply on the well of martial energy that circulated within his body. In an eye blink, golden energy spilled from his body like water, pouring to the floor before following his meaty hands as he chambered a fist by his right hip.
"Endless Tide!" Zhang Buyan called, sending a fist hurtling toward Fang Lin's barrier along with a cresting wave of golden energy.
When the fist landed explosively against the barrier, energy surged and the flags of the formation trembled but the attack ultimately did nothing to harm Fang Lin or the barrier he stood behind. Both Zhang Buyan and Fang Lin seemed to expect the result, however, and Zhang Buyan had already begun to spill more energy from his body as he chambered his fist once again.
This time, however, he also regathered a portion of the energy that had been dispersed from his first punch and added it to the next strike he unleashed. Unlike the first strike, the second crashed against the barrier like a wave breaking on the shore and a spider web of cracks appeared in the barrier for a moment before the barrier managed to restore itself.
"What's happening?" Su Yao asked, a hint of concern flickering across her face as she watched Zhang Buyan prepare his next attack.
"It looks like Young Lord Zhang is using a cultivation technique that allows him to build momentum," Su Xiang said, paying close attention to the burly man's technique. The Shining Blade Hall emphasized speed and precision over brute force and she'd rarely encountered techniques like the one Zhang Buyan displayed. The stationary nature of the demonstration lent itself well to his technique but even if he had been moving she imagined that he'd still be able to regather almost as much energy for each successive strike.
"His efficiency might look poor," she continued to explain, "but he's regathering one part in five of each attack's spent energy and adding it to the next one."
While Su Xiang was explaining, the third strike had landed solidly on the barrier, leaving cracks behind that lingered even while Zhang Buyan prepared his next strike. "This is the last one Brother Fang, brace yourself!"
"If I can't resist you at your strongest, how can I protect my Su Yao?" Fang Lin said, taking the opportunity to posture and make clear his claim to Su Yao. "Do your best!"
With a roar like the ocean, Zhang Buyan let loose his final technique, unleashing power that rivaled a late-stage Brawler even though he stood solidly in the middle stage. The golden wave of power accompanying his fist surged against Fang Lin's barrier sending cracks to the furthest edges of the side of the hexagon he'd struck but no further. The barrier looked brittle and fragile, flickering as though it would collapse at any moment but in the end, Fang Lin stood calmly behind it, refusing to give any sign of how terrified he'd been to see Zhang Buyan's final punch thundering toward his chest. His barrier had held, all he had to do now was return to his seat without embarrassing himself and it would be his victory.
"Magnificent!" Fang Muchen called, standing from his seat to applaud his son and drawing attention from his son who looked like he'd blow away in a stiff breeze. "For an early-stage Scholar to resist power approaching that of a late-stage brawler, truly spectacular my son," he added, striding out to wrap an arm around his son and guide him back to his seat. "And Brawler Zhang, your technique truly lives up to the reputation of your Golden Tide Martial Sect. I expect we'll see great things from you in the future!"
"Thank you, Scholar Fang," Zhang Buyan replied with a grateful bow. "Perhaps it's as Brother Wu suggested. When I next undertake an expedition to hunt Spirit Beasts, I may benefit greatly from the company of Brother Fang to ensure our safety. Young Lady Su is fortunate to have such a capable protector," he added, ensuring that the halo of the moment was displayed clearly to the intended audience. Zhang Buyan had done his part to make his friend look good, the rest was up to Fang Lin!