Lán and Shú left the room and stared out the balcony into the hall below. 

“Say that again!” Batu had stood up loudly and knocked over the table he was sitting in.

“I said, that your mother is surely some kind of mutt, a proper Chinese woman would never willingly wed a Mongolian brute” A young swordsman said, he was wearing clothes that identified him as a Plum Blossom Swordsman from Mount Hua, but he wore a patch on his shoulder from a faction Lán did not recognize.

“That’s Zhou Yefeng, he’s the leader of a new group within the Mount Hua sect called Steel Sword” Shu said “They are mostly made up of the younger members of the sect and they want the sect to take a more active approach to China's politics instead of their usual policy of isolation”

“Go back where you came from” Yefeng heckled, a group of about ten Steel Sword members backed him up, each a talented martial artist in their own right.

“Your scabbard seems heavy” a woman said from across the room “It must tire from carrying your sword around all day, since you seem to prefer cutting with words instead of steel”

The room erupted in laughter, and Yefeng turned back enraged. The young woman was sitting calmly and drinking a small cup of tea, she didn’t even bother to look back at the man. She seemed of a small stature, perhaps a bit smaller than Lán, but she had the well built body of a martial artist.

Yefeng walked angrily towards the woman “Do you want a fight as well?!” he said.

The woman stood up and turned to face him, a slight grin on her face.

“Leave her alone!” Batu said. He tried to get closer, but the other members of Steel Sword surrounded him.

“Then a fight you shall have” Yenfeng said as he tried to unsheath his sword.

But the woman was faster, with one hand she struck at the hand reaching for his blade, and with the other, she pulled at the string tying the scabbard to Yenfeng’s waist. The string untied with ease and the sword fell, clattering on the ground.

“See. Heavy” the woman replied.

Yenfeng’s face filled with rage as he launched into a flurry of palm strikes. Each one was deftly parried by the woman. She practiced a strange style, keeping all of her movements close to her body, slightly shifting her body to avoid incoming attacks without giving ground.

A palm strike infused with internal energy launched at her face, she deflected it sideways, delivering a straight punch to the stomach at the same time, then, with the same hand she had defended, she landed a punch to the side of Yenfeng’s face, quickly followed by a second punch that made him stumble backwards.

The members of Steel Sword attempted to go to their leader's aid, but as soon as they turned their backs, Batu grabbed one of them by the waist with both arms. Batu pivoted on his back foot as he raised the man from the ground, the poor man went flying, crashing into one of his allies before the rest turned around. 

Batu grabbed another man by the arm and neck, pulling him sideways into another one of his allies before sweeping his legs from under him. Both men hit the ground before one of them was grabbed by the foot. Batu proceeded to drag the man along the floor, sending him rolling until he stopped by crashing into a pillar.

It was a full on brawl now, Yenfeng and the woman continued exchanging blows but he could not seem to find his target. Yenfeng threw a kick at the woman but she raised her leg and pushed on his thigh, stopping the kick before it had a chance to gain any power. She ducked a palm strike aimed at her head, and as she went low, she struck at the side of Yenfeng's knee.

Once again Yenfeng was sent stumbling backwards, he picked his sword from the ground angrily and unsheathed it, this time with a killing intent.

“Now now children, that's enough” a powerful voice rang through the room, it was filled with internal energy. 

Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at the entrance of the inn. There stood a man in beautiful robes, the hat he wore indicated he was a high ranking member of the government, but the royal symbol in the back of his robe made everyone recognize him immediately. 

This was Jiang Xuance also known as “The Living Scroll” not only was he a Peak Martial Artist, he was also the head strategist of the Empire, he was renowned all over China for having developed and memorised countless Martial Arts.

“What a wonderful display of might from all of you” Xuance continued “Although I’m afraid that you’ll have to keep that the pent up energy waiting until the Rising Dragon Tournament, lest we risk destroying this fine establishment”

Xuance’s words seemed kind and whimsical, but everyone knew he was not a man to be defied. The Seel Sword group picked up their things and left in a huff.

“Now that things have calmed down, I propose a challenge to the young men and women gathered here” Xuance said as he pulled out a Go board “To whoever beats me in a single game out of five, I shall give a personal training session and gift them with a technique that fits them the most”

The room filled with cheers, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, being trained by a Peak Martial Artist was essentially considered a miracle in the Murim as their apprentices usually ended up being Peak Martial Artists themselves.

The mysterious woman was the first to step up. Xuance grinned “You practice a style I've never seen before young lady, may I ask for you and your master’s name”

“My name is Yim Wing Chun, my master’s name does not concern you, but I can assure you I am her only disciple” Wing Chun replied. Xuance giggled in delight as he placed the first stone. 

Some time passed as Wing Chun put up a valiant fight but was quickly defeated five games in a row. “Who is next?” Xuance asked the crowd.

The challenge continued for 3 hours, with the inn filling with all kinds of challengers hearing about the unique opportunity inside. Xuance bested them all with ease, even Batu stepped up, not before sheepishly asking Lán about the rules of Go since he “seemed the type” to know them.

The challenge was just about over before Lán rolled over to the board.

“Oh, and who might you be?” Xuance said intrigued, staring at the boy in the wheelchair.

“My name is Lúse Lán, I am the head of the Lúse family, protectors of the city of Húchéng” Lán replied confidently. The crowd whispered, it was rare to see a family head directly, much less one that was so young.

“My my, a lord at such a young age, you must be quite talented.” Xuance frowned as he stared at the boy, he could instantly tell that he was crippled by an attack at a young age. “Im not sure I can teach you much about martial arts, but o well, you might as well surprise me.”

Lán placed the first stone, accepting the challenge. 

A few minutes had passed before Xuance noticed a strange feeling, he had come here to survey the young martial artists and see if any of them had the raw talent to serve the Emperor directly, after all, through a game of Go you can tell much about a person, their personality, likes, dislikes, fear, and even their martial talent.

But the boy in front of him was a stone wall, every move was strange, not bad nor good, just right. Never revealing even a shred of information about himself.

The game continued on and Xuance began to worry, he was losing, the board might not look like so, but the strange feeling persisted, the finely honed sense that came from decades of battle experience told him he was in a bad situation.

“Ha” Xuance scoffed dryly as he realized the game was lost, the boy had made every correct play, he had quickly snuffed every single move and attempt at victory Xuance had tried, as every move Lán played was the perfect counter to his. 

“I concede. May I have another game?” Xuance asked, the crowd erupted into cheers that quickly turned into hushed whispers and then absolute shocked silence as Xuance lost every single game in a row, each game finishing faster than the last.

“Huh, interesting.” Xuance said, he himself was shocked as well, even If this boy had spent every single waking second from the moment he was born till now practicing Go, he couldn’t fathom how he had that much mastery over the game, it was as if Lán had played thousands upon thousands of games.

“Very well, a promise is a promise.” Xuance said as he finally stood up “I will see you tomorrow in the Royal Pavilion at dawn.”

Xuance left and Lán returned to a stunned Batu and Shú, their mouths wide open.

“He was a wonderful opponent, it took me several days to best him.” Lán said, leaving Shú and Batu a little confused.

“It looks like I have something to look forward to tomorrow.” Lán said. He looked on as his new master left the building.