59: First Day Matches

The Tournament's first day of matches opened at the second hour past dawn on the seventh day of the fifth month of the spring.

The format — by the kingdom of Beicang's standing arrangement — was a *single-elimination bracket of one hundred and twenty-eight*. Eight hundred noble youth had been preceding-time winnowed, by the kingdom's preceding two-month qualifications at the regional level, down to the one hundred and twenty-eight bracket entrants. Su Yan was the third seed, by the kingdom's preceding preceding seeding committee. The first seed was Crown Prince Cang Hao. The second was Han Yifeng. The fourth through eighth were the kingdom's senior prodigies. The four foreign guests sat at seeds nine through twelve.

The first day of matches comprised *thirty-two* contests — the bracket's first round and the second.

Su Yan's first opponent was an eighteen-year-old branch-family son of a minor southern clan. Foundation Establishment Early. By Cousin Su Lin's preceding file, *no preceding strategic value*. Su Yan ended the contest in three exchanges with the calibrated bearing of a Foundation Establishment Mid cultivator who had been instructed, by his clan's preceding standing preference, to *finish cleanly without humiliating his opponent*. The southern boy bowed at the contest's preceding closing. Su Yan returned the bow.

His second opponent was a twenty-year-old Northern Iron Cult body cultivator on the third seat of the kingdom's preceding seeding. Foundation Late. By Cousin Su Lin's preceding file, *a competent body cultivator with one preceding small private weakness at the inside of the right shoulder due to a preceding training injury two years ago*. Su Yan engaged the contest at the careful preceding hour of his preceding cold reading of Master Mu's first-form's third option. He used six exchanges. He won by exploiting the preceding small private weakness — not by striking it, but by forcing his opponent to overextend on his strong side, which compensated by overloading the careful preceding weak shoulder, which produced the careful preceding small private *yielding* of the body's preceding stance. The Northern Iron boy yielded at the careful preceding small private moment. Su Yan stepped back.

The kingdom's preceding senior judges scored the contest a clean win for Su Yan.

The plaza, by the careful preceding small private hour of the preceding two contests, had — by the careful preceding small private read of every senior cultivator and noble spectator paying attention — registered that *the third seed had, in his preceding two preceding rounds, displayed exactly the cultivation level his preceding seeding had calibrated*.

The kingdom, by the careful preceding small private hour, was *re-filing him* at the careful preceding small private *Foundation Establishment Mid* the preceding kingdom's preceding small private bookkeeping had been preceding-time calibrating for since the morning of the additional verification ten months ago.

Su Yan's preceding small private bookkeeping was *on schedule*.

He stepped down from the plaza's preceding contest dais.

He returned to the third-rank waiting area, where Cousin Su Lin had, by her preceding standing arrangement, brought him a small careful preceding clay cup of plain tea.

He drank it.

By the close of the first day's preceding thirty-two contests, the bracket had — by the careful preceding standing arrangement — *halved*. Sixty-four young clansmen and one of the four foreign guests had been eliminated. The kingdom's first-seed, second-seed, and third-seed cultivators had advanced. The remaining three foreign guests had advanced. The remaining seven kingdom prodigies had advanced.

The Tournament's second day of matches — the third round — was scheduled for the morning of the eighth day of the fifth month of the spring.

By the careful preceding small private hour of the close of the first day, Su Yan had — by his preceding preference — calibrated the kingdom's *acceptable next step*.

He returned to the embassy.

He met with Cousin Su Lin and Aluan in the small upstairs room.

He said, in his calm voice: "The bracket, by the careful preceding small private read of tomorrow's pairings, will — by the small precise hour of the third round — bring me into a contest with *Liang Zhi* of the Western Verdant Alliance. Cousin Su Wenfu has, by his preceding preference, arranged the small private courtesy meeting Cousin Su Lin recommended. The meeting is scheduled for tonight at the third hour past dusk, at a small careful preceding teahouse on the south corner of the noble district. Liang Zhi will attend by his own preceding preference. He has, by Cousin Su Wenfu's preceding read, agreed."

Cousin Su Lin inclined her head.

"By my preceding preference," Su Yan continued, "I would — at the meeting — *propose* to Liang Zhi the careful preceding small private mutual courtesy of *agreeing the third-round contest's outcome before the careful preceding small private contest is fought*. By my preceding preference, the agreed outcome would be — *Liang Zhi yields to me* in the third round, on the careful preceding small private precise small careful preceding hour of his own preceding preference, *in exchange for* my own preceding small private courtesy of *quietly recommending* his preceding small careful preceding scholarly correspondence to my Frost Lotus contact, Senior Elder Mu Bingyu, on the careful preceding small private mutual exchange. The careful preceding small private mutual exchange would, by Liang Zhi's preceding preference, *advance* his preceding scholarship by the careful preceding small private hour of perhaps *eight years* of trial-and-error."

He paused.

"It would, by my preceding preference, *also* save the kingdom of Beicang from one preceding contest in the third round that — by Cousin Su Lin's preceding read — would, if fought to the kingdom's preceding small private hour, *expose* the careful preceding small private depth of my own preceding small private foundation to a careful preceding small private read I prefer not to extend to the kingdom of Western Verdant Alliance at this preceding small private hour."

Cousin Su Lin inclined her head.

"Acceptable, Cousin. The arrangement is — by my own preceding read — *appropriate*. Liang Zhi will, by my read, accept. The contest will be — by the careful preceding small private agreement — *short, polite, and uncomplicated*. The plaza will, by its preceding read, file the contest under *predictable*."

Aluan signed: *And the careful preceding small private third hour past dusk meeting will not, by any of the preceding standing arrangements, be visible to the household.*

"It will not. Cousin Su Wenfu has arranged the careful preceding small private cover."

The three of them inclined their heads.

The Tournament's preceding small private private *strategic preceding small private maneuvering*, by the careful preceding small private hour of the first day of contests, *began*.