Silver Fox & the Western Hero: Warrior's Path: A LitRPG/Cultivation Novel - Book 6

by M. H. Johnson

  More than a few pairs of eyes widened at that jibe, the pristine blue waters abruptly tainted by spewed mouthfuls of wine and angry glares as the music ground to a discordant halt.

  “Drinking the wine will not be counted as a sin. My word on it,” said a stiffly furious Puren. “You may eat and drink and enjoy company in good faith. All except for the trouble-making Ruidian!”

  Alex smirked. “Fine, fine! Today alone, you will ‘forgive’ those who actually taste your honey trap. Now, are you also willing to give your cultivator’s oath that no soporiphic, euphoric, or aphrodisiac enhancement is in the food or wine? Nothing that would leave an aspirant waking up in the arms of a handsome or lovely companion, remembering a wonderful night with only a few minute’s regret for not having dared go further? Nothing to detain them before you give them their first pep talk and light duty until they learn the ropes of whatever assignments you have in store for them?”

  Alex’s smile faded to a killing glare. “Or this is just another one of the school’s ‘tests?’ How many actually make it to the school proper each month, I wonder?”

  This time, Puren didn’t flinch or look away, revealing a bit of his own deadly potency with a glare equally as hostile. “Anyone who wishes to stay and partake of the revels that are your right, that is fine. Those who wish to leave, may. I have nothing further to say.”

  With a curt nod, the cultivator left the grand chamber. The water visibly chilled, much as did the mood, with his departure.

  To their credit, at least a few servitors offered their prospective partners apologetic smiles as over half the indignant supplicants quickly made their way for the exit.

  Cheng Lei laughed into the stiff silence. “My dear Alex, you certainly do have a way with words, don’t you? And your people skills. Unmatched,” he said with a wink.

  Alex felt a cold shiver with the observation, but he couldn’t help but smile when his Qi Perception pinged with an unexpected, but most definitely welcome, arrival.

  “People skills like you wouldn’t believe!” Alex declared, flourishing a bow at the massive tidal wave of water crashing down upon them and drenching half the chamber, though fortunately it was water alone and not mystic effluvia that soused them all as a howling, sobbing, spasming wreck of a man crashed into their midst.

  The room went speechless with awe and horror at the sight of the thrashing giant. Cheng Lei’s gaze widened, blue eyes twinkling with mad delight. “Is that dear fellow who I think it is?”

  Alex grinned. “It is indeed! We had a chat. I even tried to share wine with him, but he left in a hurry. Which was quite odd, all things considered.” Alex had to raise his voice to be heard over the furious bleats and howls of their newest arrival.

  Zhu Bi paled, but she flashed a game smile nonetheless. “You mean, because of the dagger stuck in his butt?”

  Alex grinned. “I do indeed mean the tendon-severing implement now stuck in his gluteus maximus. That blade’s now wedged so badly in his hip socket, it’s amazing he can move his leg at all, even with his 40 strength!”

  Zhu Bi blinked. “That didn’t quite make sense.”

  Cheng Lei roared with laughter. “Well done, friend Alex. Well done!”

  Alex winced, both at the volume and at the potential to affect his standing. “I seriously hope this doesn’t count against me.”

  Cheng Lei tilted his head thoughtfully. “Assuming you were here the whole time, then he ascended not just one, but many steps since your… altercation. A strong case could certainly be made that he alone should bear the burden of his fall. Then again…”

  “… You did stick a dagger up his butt. How can that not count against you?” Zhu Bi smirked.

  “Friend Alex. You’ve made it this far!” enthused a flustered and gratefully smiling Yingpei Lin, who hurriedly wiped traces of red wine from his finely trimmed features. “And yet again you have saved my brash self from certain disaster.” He gave a rueful chuckle. “I fear my debt to you is only growing.”

  Alex shot the man a genuine grin. “It’s good to see you too, Yingpei. Glad you’ve made it this far.”

  Cheng Lei gave an approving nod, the splashed water flowing swiftly off his shimmering cultivator’s robes. “A merchant with a sense of gratitude and honor both. Will wonders never cease?”

  Far from being offended, Yingpei actually paled, appearing ready to flow into dogeza, before remembering that he was standing in a foot’s worth of warm water. His gestures were stopped further by Cheng Lei’s brotherly clap of his shoulders. “Always good to find worthy boon companions on what is all too often a lonely cultivator’s path. Come, walk with us a ways, won’t you?”

  Yingpei, eyes still wide with something suspiciously close to awe, quickly nodded. “It would be an honor, my—Cheng Lei. I will gladly accompany companions as noble and upright as any man could ever hope to have by his side.”

  Zhu Bi smirked. “I love that you can say that with a straight face, after we all saw Erlengzi crash all the way down from Bronze because…”

  “Please don’t say it,” Alex sighed.

  “… our dear Ruidian friend stuck a dagger up his butt!”

  “Okay, that’s not technically correct…”

  “Close enough!” she chimed as Cheng Lei and Yingpei Lin howled with laughter while Erlengzi shrieked and sobbed at their feet. The crippled cultivator continued desperately scrabbling for the stairs once more, before weakened, exhausted hands slipped completely off and he seemed to be in actual danger of drowning.

  “Why is it always the biggest ones?” snorted one of a pair of servitors as they dragged the giant back from the stairs. His assistant, a giant himself, gave an abashed grin as they brought him over to a woman in white robes who had rushed in. The snowy-garbed cultivator somehow knew to glare at Alex while whispering strangely haunting syllables that caused spiritual energy to swirl briefly around her arms before it entered Erlengzi’s thick skull and put him mercifully to sleep.

  Zhu Bi chuckled throatily. “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Shall we, gentlemen?”

  With a final wave farewell to the chaos below, the four continued their journey up the mountain, eager to see how far they could ascend the golden steps that would measure just how strong their potential truly was.

  5

  “Not quite so easy as the steps below, it seems,” admitted a grimacing Yingpei Lin as the quartet rested between steps. He and Zhu Bi both looking tired but strong, much as Alex and his friends might have after a good jog, back in a life that now seemed more dream than real.

  Zhu Bi gave a solemn nod. “I think this is why every plateau is a miniature pool or lake, so that tumbling supplicants aren’t falling to their death; a surge of Water Qi keeps even the biggest idiots alive, falling into water that doesn’t even reach our knees,” she said, soft gaze looking sadly on as yet another aspirant lost his grip and went tumbling down to the plateau below. Alex caught just a glimpse of desperate eyes filled with terror and bitterest sorrow. He couldn’t help but wince in sympathy, for all that the spiritual water still brushed against him with no more force than a trickling stream.

  “What I can’t figure out is why they slipped right off,” Alex confided. “I mean, the way they scrabbled for the steps, it was as if the stairs were at some horrible vertical angle, rather than so flat, they could just lie down and rest for as long as they needed to.”

  Such a comment earned him two wide-eyed stares and one measuring gaze.

  “What are you talking about?” Zhu Bi snapped, glaring at him amidst the backdrop of the starry night sky, the brilliant blue moon shining brightly enough to match a cloudy winter day. Save for the fact that the crescent moon and every single constellation above was inverted, it was exactly the sky they all expected to see.

  Alex only then registered how tightly her fingers gripped the smooth gold surface, her feet braced more like a spider’s than someone taking her ease. “The water’s constantly trying to push us free, and the stairs
really are steepening their tilt. Can’t you feel it?”

  “She’s right, friend Alex. The current went from a gentle push to a forceful contender for our purchases, and pretty soon, I fear we will be stepping over slippery ridges, not proper steps at all!” Yinpei said with a bitter chuckle. “I think this was why the guardian advised we never slow our pace. To dawdle is to risk stiffened grips and draining strength. Far better to alternate our grips and keep our blood flowing, and of course, get as far up as we possibly can before exhaustion makes us lose our perch at last.”

  Zhu Bi gave a solemn nod before widened eyes took a closer look at Alex, and Cheng Lei as well.

  “Yingpei, look at how they’re standing!”

  The young merchant frowned, but took a moment to do just that, furrowed brow rising with wonder. “Brother Cheng Lei barely even leans into the current, and Alex—why, he’s standing like he doesn’t even feel gravity trying to tear him free!”

  Alex frowned, not quite sure what his friends meant. The golden stairs were flat with decent traction, the same as always. Though now that he looked for it, he noted how Yingpei and the girl he was almost certain was kitsune were both leaning sharply forward, as if against currents Alex hardly felt, or shifting gravity that didn’t affect him at all.

  Even Cheng Lei was favoring Alex with the strangest smile. “Interesting.”

  Alex shook his head. “I’m not quite sure what you all are talking about, but the guardian below had the right idea. If your grip is weakening, best we get going while we still can.”

  Zhu Bi and Yingpei gave sharp, hurried nods, doing their best to scurry up the golden stairs while Alex and Cheng Lei took measured steps behind them, ready to brace their newfound companions if necessary, as that help alone was permitted, so long as they didn’t actually pull anyone up a step with their hands.

  “What an interesting evening this is turning out to be,” said the smiling youth, whom Alex was increasingly sure was far more important than any minor nobility.

  “Isn’t it?” Alex agreed with a matching grin. Then he frowned. “I don’t suppose you came across Yuren or Yumeng on your journey up? I was hoping they wouldn’t be in any position to cause anyone else undue trouble, but now I halfway wonder if their injuries only made them more dangerous to cross.”

  Alex’s ears rang with Cheng Lei’s cold laughter. “Oh, trust me, you need not worry about that pair, my friend. Somehow, I’m almost certain they won’t be troubling anyone, ever again.”

  Alex forced a smile despite the chills racing down his spine. Of course, when he thought about who those men represented, and the fate of a certain scion upon a certain silver bridge… “I guess turnabout’s fair play, then. Two reds for a blue. But I fear there are far more of the former pieces on the board than the latter.”

  And now it was Cheng Lei who abruptly stopped, then chuckled softly. “Careful, Alex, or one might begin to suspect you’re far more than an eccentric Ruidian with a knack for Water Qi.” He gazed pointedly at Alex’s feet. “A knack that goes far beyond dodging the blows of slavering jackals in a shallow pool.”

  Alex smirked. “It looks like neither of us are going to manage a perfect ascension without at least a few indiscretions coming back to bite us in the rear.”

  “You mean like Erlengzi?”

  Alex winked. “Exactly like Erlengzi. Minus the dagger, of course.”

  Cheng Lei cracked his knuckles and flashed a knowing smile. “I wouldn’t worry about that overmuch, friend Alex.”

  “Really.”

  The young lord nodded. “I have it on excellent authority that, should anyone actually have the temerity to dare not just Silver, but ascend to Gold, all transgressions are instantly wiped away. For that is a ruler’s rank, unquestionably, and no ruler is to be judged by lesser men for whatever path he took to ascension.” He shrugged. “Of course, more than a few savage fools used such a justification when daring the ascension in years gone by.”

  Alex’s eyes widened. “Don’t tell me we have cutthroat Golds running around Royal Phoenix Academy?”

  Cheng Lei roared with laughter. “Hardly! Or perhaps I should say, no more than at any other college. Rather, those fools who allowed savagery to supersede their common sense all ended up relegated to the lowest rank of serfdom, even if they had ascended to Bronze, or, in one case, Silver. A bitter, bitter loss, for them, but a significant gain for the school, I’m sure.”

  Alex felt a certain chill, remembering the cold, bitter expressions of several of the servitors he had seen at the lowest plateaus. “That explains a few things.”

  “Indeed, it does.”

  Alex chuckled ruefully. “Well then, it’s Gold or higher, and no more knocking people off the stairs.”

  Cheng Lei grinned. “Gold or beyond... what moxie you have, my young friend. I heartily approve.”

  Alex couldn’t help grinning back, wondering if he had found a kindred spirit of sorts. At the very least, he admired the young noble’s charisma, wit, warmth, and yes, ruthlessness. If he were honest with himself, the youth was pretty much his mirror image. Save for the charisma. He still needed to work on that, whatever his character sheet said.

  “Guys, look, I think we’re going to make it!” squealed an excited Zhu Bi, eyes alight with excitement and no small amount of desperation, squirreling up the final steps as if her life, or at least her ascension, depended upon it.

  Alex felt an anxious lurch in his gut when panicked movements seemed a hair’s breadth away from causing Zhu Bi a catastrophic fall. He and a smirking Yingpei Lin most definitely did not see Cheng Lei’s forehead bump her rear at just the right moment to prevent catastrophe, since certainly no hands were involved, and then she was over the lip and into the basin with an excited squeal. Yingpei scrabbled over the lip to splash gratefully beside her a second later, Alex and Cheng Lei exchanging bemused smiles before taking that final step themselves.

  Alex couldn’t help whistling at the sight of the magnificent spa before them, the grandest one so far, with over a dozen strikingly attractive servitors and no less than half a dozen men and women radiating the potency of Bronze clapping in applause as each of the aspirants made their ascension. The magnificent gold-lined pool shimmered against the backdrop of scores of paper lanterns and magical lights, giving the entire spa a festive air. The aromas from the feast of roasted pig, poached pheasant, braised duck, and a dozen other delicacies before them, along with a score of delectable sauces, soups, and stews, mounds of rice, fresh baked bread, and crocks of cream and butter laid out on the fine brass tables, all served to tantalize Alex’s senses and torment his taste buds.

  Yet his eyes were inevitably drawn to the powerfully built cultivator now standing before them all, dressed in shimmering white cultivator’s robes and radiating the strength of a newly forged Silver at the very least, to Alex's Qi perception.

  The man exuded an ageless vitality, his face unlined despite his shock of ivory hair, and if he said he was 30 or 300, Alex wouldn’t have been surprised by either one. Except the 30 part. He doubted few cultivators, save the truly exceptional, could achieve even the first rank of Silver so quickly. But then again, considering at least one of the companions he now traveled alongside, anything was possible.

  “Welcome, initiates, for I declare you all welcome additions to the academy, supplicants no longer!” The onlookers applauded at the words, and of the handful that had made it that far, their faces shone with grins and heartfelt laughter. “What you have accomplished is no small feat, and something you can be proud of for all your days. You have shown yourselves the recipients of both power and wisdom, for had you none of the former, you would have fallen with your first steps, and had you none of the latter, you would be in the arms of one of Puren’s boys or girls, even now.”

  The speaker flashed a knowing smile. This time, the chuckles amongst the supplicants were far more strained.

  “But you have passed both tests, and proven yourselves, save for the few amongs
t you who dared shirk strictures and must ascend at least one rung further, should you wish to avoid the caustic whip that is my dear friend’s tongue for the next half-year, at least.”

  Somehow, Alex wasn’t surprised to see everyone gazing his way. Some with mocking smirks, others with nods that spoke of debts acknowledged and favors that would be paid. If nothing else, gentle masters for the Ruidian, should he end up serving them one day.

  Alex winced and looked away. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” he muttered.

  “Told you that dagger would count against you,” Zhu Bi smirked. “Though it was funny seeing that monster bouncing down the steps, squealing the whole time like a donkey caught in the brambles.”

  Alex’s flush deepened when Zhu Bi’s too-loud words were met with laughter all around, even the speaker deigning to crack a smile. “As you were no doubt warned from the beginning, there is a price to be paid for breaking the rules. But only a fool fails to recognize an act for what it truly signifies, and a cultivator who fails to acknowledge his debts soon finds himself living a very lonely life indeed.” His bemused smile turned hard as steel.

  “But whatever lessons you have learned here, you will keep one lesson close to your heart. You will neither transcribe, nor speak, of what you have experienced during these trials, for good or ill, to anyone who hasn’t endured them. And all of you here will be swearing cultivator’s oaths to that effect before you leave the Circle of Bronze.”

  More than one exhausted initiate crashed to his knees and trembled before the man’s killing glare, Zhu Bi amongst them, before the Silver’s deadly gaze warmed to an indulgent uncle’s once more. “That being said, you have all accomplished a great feat this day! You are all free to ascend further, if you dare, or take your ease and enjoy three days and nights of revels before your true life at this academy begins on the morrow.”