Long Tianho closed his eyes.
Baki flickered forward with his fist already drawn back. Long Tianho's hand shot up and caught his wrist before the punch could land.
"Instincts," Long Tianho said, eyes still closed. "For a fighter, they are everything." He opened his eyes. "You only sharpen them by surviving countless death battles."
Long Tianho grinned and drove his knee into Baki's stomach. Baki doubled over and the elbow to the back of his head sent him face-first into the ground. Long Tianho grabbed his leg, started spinning, and released.
Baki's body hit a stone wall.
CRASH!
The wall exploded into rubble. Baki tumbled through into the next courtyard and left a trail of blood behind him.
He pushed himself up on trembling arms. The endorphin release was wearing off and his body was running out of road.
Long Tianho stepped through the hole in the wall. His grin was still there. "Those previous fights are catching up to you. You're slowing down."
Baki forced himself to stand. "Not yet."
Long Tianho rolled his shoulders. "Good. I'd be disappointed if you quit now." He cracked his neck. "What are you even after Wang Wei for? Did he actually do something to you or is this just business?"
Baki scoffed. "He pissed me off. That's all."
Long Tianho looked at him for a moment and then laughed. "That's all? You fought through this entire compound, half-dead, for that?" He shook his head with genuine amusement. "I like you."
He settled back into his stance. "I still have to kill you though. Nothing personal."
Baki smiled. "Try it."
They charged at each other.
Long Tianho's fist clipped Baki's temple and sent him spinning. A boot crashed into his ribs before he could recover and the crack echoed across the courtyard. Baki hit a stone pillar and it split down the middle.
He pushed off and Long Tianho's uppercut met him and lifted him off his feet. He crashed back down gasping.
Long Tianho grabbed him by the hair and lifted him. "This ends now." He drew his fist back for the finishing blow.
Baki's eyes snapped into focus.
He had made a promise a long time ago. He would not lose to anyone. Not here. Not like this.
He pulled his right arm back to his waist with his fingers pressed tight together, then drove his fist forward in a straight line. At the moment of impact he locked every joint and stiffened every muscle until his frame was rigid as iron.
Their fists met in the space between them.
Long Tianho's attack stopped dead. Baki's punch pushed through and hit his chest. Long Tianho stumbled backward three steps. He looked down at his chest, then back at Baki. His eyes were bright.
"You hardened your entire body at the point of contact," Long Tianho said. He was smiling. "You turned yourself into one single striking weapon. The control that takes is insane."
Baki settled into his karate stance with his fists chambered at his waist.
"One more time," Baki said.
He launched forward. His right fist drove out from his waist with his full body weight compressed into it. Long Tianho blocked and the impact drove him back. Before he could counter, Baki's left fist came from his waist, then his right again. Each punch landed with his whole mass behind it.
Long Tianho's guard started to break down. Red marks spread across his forearms. His footwork deteriorated. He tried to counter with a hook between Baki's strikes and his fist hit Baki like hitting stone. Baki's fist crashed into his jaw and Long Tianho's head snapped to the side. Blood sprayed from his mouth. He staggered backward for the first time in the fight.
They separated, both breathing hard. Long Tianho wiped blood from his mouth. The grim satisfaction on his face was unmistakable.
"You've bridged the gap," Long Tianho said. He sounded genuinely pleased.
Baki said nothing and assumed his stance again. Something had unlocked. Goutaijutsu flowed freely now, no longer forced, no longer costing him more than he could afford. He felt it move through him like it belonged there.
They came together one more time and this time it was equal. Long Tianho's power met Baki's technique and every exchange was brutal and clean. Their simultaneous strikes met in the middle and the shockwave cracked the ground beneath their feet. They stood there with fists pressed against each other and poured everything into that single point until they both stepped back.
Long Tianho's knuckles were bleeding. Baki's fist trembled from the strain.
Long Tianho let out a slow breath. He was grinning through the blood. "You're fighting me to a standstill right now. In the state you're in." He shook his head. "That's genuinely impressive."
"And you're not untouched anymore," Baki said. His voice was hoarse.
Footsteps approached from behind Long Tianho. Hou Qing stumbled into the courtyard barely able to walk, his face pale, his body still covered in blood from his earlier fight. He clutched a long wooden box against his chest.
"Brother," he said weakly.
Long Tianho turned. His expression shifted when he saw the box. "Qing. Put that away."
"No." Hou Qing's voice was rough. He slid the box across the ground and it stopped at Long Tianho's feet. "Look at yourself. He's matching you. If this keeps going I don't know what happens."
Long Tianho looked down at the box. His hand was steady when he reached for it but the look on his face was different now. Something had changed behind his eyes.
"I swore I wouldn't use this unless the opponent was truly worthy," he said quietly.
"He is," Hou Qing said.
Long Tianho looked at Baki, who could barely stand but whose eyes had not changed at all through the entire fight. He nodded slowly and picked up the box.
He slammed it against the ground and the wood splintered and fell away. A long spear lay inside. A dragon coiled around the shaft in metalwork so intricate it seemed alive. The weapon caught the moonlight.
Long Tianho gripped the spear and the moment he did, something about him changed. Not the grin of someone who loved a good fight, but something older and more focused and completely without warmth. He spun the spear once and pointed the tip at Baki.
"This weapon has never tasted defeat," he said. "I wanted to finish this with my fists. You earned that much. But you've pushed me too far." He leveled the tip. "It ends here."
Baki looked at the spear and then at Long Tianho. His body was screaming at him. His technique had pushed his already broken frame past its limits and he was running on will alone. Blood dripped from his knuckles and his legs shook. His eyes never moved.
He adjusted his stance. "Come on then."