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

by M. H. Johnson

  All of them were left speechless by the enormity of what Lady Chun An had just revealed. The Emperor himself, a man whose word was law in over a dozen kingdoms, actually had a vested interest in the newest princess within Cui Zhe’s court: Cui Li, her niece by blood, as well as the kitsune daughter of former general Cui Chan, a deadly alchemist only recently ascended to Gold, and the very first friend Alex had made after waking up to this world of exotic martial arts, fantastic Qi powers, and endless wonder with little more than the clothes on his back and a ring of copper upon his finger.

  He took a moment to glance at the tarnished brass ring he now wore in its place, the clothes on his back exactly identical to the ones he had been born into this world with. Alex chuckled softly, sensing so many things coming full circle. Zhu Bi trembled and shook, sobbing with tears of joy as Chun An gently clasped her hands, pulling her free of the waters, and he could only shake his head in admiration for the wondrous opportunity before her, Soul Sight already making it clear that his newly-met friend truly had transcended from Bronze to Silver, at least in potential, in just the short time he had met her.

  So too, he noticed how Yingpei Lin stood taller, his eyes sharper than they had ever been before, his somewhat scattered Bronze potential forged into finest Silver after daring to defy the earthly realm and quench his soul in spiritual waters anew, despite having been at risk of flying off like a shooting star, doomed to bear the burden of the gods' displeasure, had he failed to ascend those final three steps.

  Yet with Alex’s help and his own fierce determination, he had done it. Yingpei Lin had ascended. His Bronze cords would now be strong as any blade hammered in the crucible of rebirth and renewal that these Golden steps truly represented, for those with the wit to see and understand. And a rapid rise through the Bronze ranks was just the beginning. Deep Silver would also one day be within his friend's reach. Alex was almost certain of it. Though whether decades or centuries represented the chasm between Yingpei Lin and his potential all depended upon him.

  Yingpei flashed Alex an all-too-knowing smile, and Alex halfway fancied that his eyes blazed with the same flashes of insight Alex’s now did, at least for this magical night.

  “This one owes his Ruidian friend a greater debt of gratitude than words will ever be able to convey, Alex.”

  Alex smirked. “All you needed was a metaphoric kick in the butt. And that, you got in spades.”

  His friend chuckled. “That, among many other things.” Solemnly, he held out his hand.

  Just as solemnly, Alex reached out to take it, before remembering to grip Lin’s wrist, not his palm.

  Somberly, they shook, and Alex was humbled by the gift he had been given.

  A gesture of true friendship.

  An oath of alliance between one kung fu brother and another.

  Alex wiped the sting from his eyes and chuckled. “So, I guess you’ve had enough of step climbing tonight?”

  The spa rang with his friend’s baritone laughter. “For this night and every other, I’m sure!” He flashed a rueful smile. “But I sense your journey has only just begun.”

  His bow was dignified and low before he too took a silver talisman streaked with mother of pearl and marked with a single sigil of gold.

  The ebullition Alex felt for his friends was marred only slightly by the penetrating gaze Elder Ru favored him with, before actually inclining his head. “This one greets the emissary of one of our most mischievous patrons.”

  Alex blinked and swallowed, having no ready answer for that, pointedly ignoring the way Zhu Bi’s still uncovered ears perked in sudden alarm. Her awe-struck face twisted around, but Alex was already striding toward the golden steps shimmering in the distance.

  “Night’s not getting any younger, Cheng Lei. You coming?”

  Warm laughter met his back. “You know I am, friend Alex. I am, after all, eager to see if the rumors are true.”

  “Oh, they are,” Elder Ru called after them. “And you’d best hope you make it to Gold, boy, or I’ll be mightily disappointed in you. Because otherwise you will owe us not one, but two ranks, for taking out garbage you had no right to claim!”

  Cheng Lei gave an embarrassed chuckle as they met the golden stairs in tandem. “Dear Elder Ru obviously likes to have the last word, I see.”

  Alex smirked. “Doesn’t matter. One way or another, those bastards had to go. And since you and I were the only ones willing to take out the trash…” Alex shrugged. “This makes things much simpler. The rest of the school will be spared their obnoxious presence if they… how did the other elder put it? Conveniently ran away.”

  Cheng Lei smirked. “Very pragmatic of you, friend Alex. It’s always good to find people who don’t use precedent or pretext to hide from their own cowardice or avoid doing what needs to be done.”

  Alex chuckled. “Sometimes it makes perfect sense to hide if the threat’s more than you can handle. And who doesn’t like avoiding trouble when they can? Still, there are some stains that can’t be ignored, and some blights that need to be dealt with sooner, rather than later.”

  Cheng Lei sighed. “Perfect words to share a toast by…”

  “If we dared mortal wines while scaling the divine?”

  “More or less.” The young aristocrat shot him a contagious smile. “Now that we’ve done what we can for our friends, time for us to stop holding back, don’t you think? Come! I’ll race you to the next plateau!”

  And without another word, he was off in a flash, leaping up the steps far faster than any basic cultivator, or even any Bronze, had a right to. Alex couldn’t help but laugh at the thrill of it, racing just as fast as his own superhuman stats would allow, the steps practically flying under their feet.

  Then, just before they hit the next plateau, Cheng Lei’s smile making it all too clear he had been holding back to keep Alex engaged and was now about to pull ahead, Alex laughed like the madman he knew he was, daring that which risked oblivion along this staircase soaring between worlds, Bullrushing forward for all he was worth.

  But even as a madman, he was no fool, zigzagging his jumps so he never skipped a single one, but blinked up almost a dozen before soaring through the air, landing in the basin pool with a gigantic splash.

  Only to find that his dramatic arrival had a bit more impact than he had intended, Elder Ru and Chun An looked both looking less than pleased, the mystic waters having soaked right through the shimmering wards they had both instinctively brought to bear.

  Soul Sight skill check made! You sense the flow of Qi along this pillar of creation! You sense the cost of daring to skip a single step!

  You have successfully chained Bullrush ten times! You have paid tenfold standard cost! You now have experience leaping between worlds!

  Congratulations! Bullrush is now Rank 7!

  Alex winced in apology as he gazed at the pair of drenched elders, for long moments too exhausted to move as he shuddered and did his best to regain his Qi reserves. He had lost a hundred Qi in a handful of seconds, while somehow skipping between worlds and avoiding oblivion by a hairsbreadth. Had he missed even a single step… he shuddered. It didn’t bear thinking about.

  The chamber rang with laughter. “Well done, Alex! I truly thought I had you there. Skipping up those steps like a madman... I admit it, the race is yours!”

  Alex grinned at that, for all that his limbs were still trembling slightly as he finally caught his breath and restored at least some of his Qi, now beholding his grinning companion and a pair of still very wet cultivators. He bowed low from the waist, his soaking wet hair actually touching the once-more still waters. “This one formally apologizes for his unexpected… entrance.”

  Elder Ru’s hot gaze transformed to a forbearing chuckle. “Truly we are in the deeps now, are we not, Chun An? The mystic effluvia isn’t even pretending to be water anymore.”

  Chun An continued to glare at them for several more moments, and Alex felt his guts tying up in knots before she finally relented. “
All things considered, perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised.” Her gentle words turned hard as steel once once more as she regarded the pair of impishly grinning youths.

  “Well? I don’t recall instructing either of you young fools to take your ease here. Get going! Let’s see just how far you two can ascend before the gods themselves tear you free!”

  Alex blinked at that, but his friend only laughed.

  “Well said, my lady. Come, Alex. The night is still young, and we have a mountain to climb!”

  9

  Cheng Lei flashed Alex a bleak smile as they raced up towards the third and final tier of Silver, and Alex was surprised to find the pressure against him no greater than it had been for Bronze. Yet the striking view of the heavens before them, illuminated by so many thousands of prismatic stars scattered across the brilliant purple-gold sky, was so glorious that he felt his heart swell with awe at the sheer spectacular beauty they dared to race under even now.

  Yet when they leaped past the final golden step and splashed in unison into yet another basin, the utter lack of any reception to celebrate their accomplishment, or just the sheer miracle of being able to glimpse the heavens from this location under any pretext, struck Alex as more than a bit odd.

  But his companion only smiled. “The night’s not getting any younger, Alex.”

  Alex smirked in response, walking alongside his companion, though he couldn’t help admiring how beautiful this particular plateau was. Numerous basins, not made of precious metals, but rather a bright pink marble, were scattered around the perimeter, and Alex’s eyes widened at the sight of what appeared to be perfectly kept sleeping quarters, no doubt aired once or twice daily to deal with the humidity, along with a table absolutely overflowing with all the tempting delicacies of the Bronze tiers below.

  “Quite a remarkable sight, isn’t it?”

  Alex nodded dumbly.

  “And it’s been like this for centuries, Silver alone possessing a hidden fourth tier.”

  Alex frowned. “But why…”

  “Rumor has it, this one was a gift by a sympathetic god to a devoted servant whose daughter was slipping free of the steps, at risk of becoming a shooting star herself. Instead, she fell gently into this basin that was closer to paradise than not, attended to by servants and benefactors and permitted to bathe in the spiritual energy-laden waters every day for a year and one night, before she finally dared the steps once more to emerge at last as pristine silver and became a devoted concubine of the gods.”

  Alex blinked. “Really.” He took a closer look at the shadow-laden mists, chilled to realize he could discern the wavering outlines of what could almost be… yes… servants standing at silent attention, as if awaiting a master long absent for countless years.

  Alex shivered before being dragged along by his friend. “Come, Alex. Best not to linger here, of all places.”

  Alex smirked, seeing no need to argue as the pair took the first of countless hundreds of golden steps with shared sighs of relief.

  “I have a confession for you, friend Alex.”

  “That you were holding back, the last race? I knew that already.”

  Cheng Lei chuckled. “There’s more than one reason why I’ve been holding back, and not just for the sake of our friends.”

  Alex frowned, gazing carefully at his friend for long moments as they continued to race up the shimmering stairs of gold, only now taking on the sheen of mother-of-pearl. “You didn’t look surprised at all when we entered that last strange basin, utterly free of servant, cultivator, or any sort of host whatsoever.” Alex suppressed a shudder. “Except for wispy echoes of what might have once been servitors that just made the entire chamber seem… haunted. And if Silver has four plateaus, does that mean Gold has what, five?”

  Solemn blue eyes turned to meet Alex’s own. “No, Alex. Gold has three. As does every other band, including Silver. Or at least, such is the case for nearly everyone, aside from those who are either divinely blessed or forced to live in interesting times.” He flashed an odd smile. “And how strange it is that we both stumbled into a chamber noted only in legends. Legends well over a thousand years old.”

  He sighed and shook his head. “Speaking of interesting times, things are very… complicated at my end, with all too many pieces to keep track of. Pieces working on my behalf, and far more pieces working for those who have no love for me.” A jaded smile curved his lips. “But I suspect you know that already.”

  Alex said nothing, just gazed at his friend.

  “Anyway, sometimes it behooves one to act with discretion, no matter the awards or accolades one would pass, chasing after glory.”

  Alex furrowed his brow before his eyes lit up with something close to awe. He chucked, shaking his head incredulously. “You never intended to enter this school as a supplicant at all.”

  His friend had the cheek to grin. “Would you believe I left basic cultivation some time ago?”

  Insight check made!

  Alex smirked, having already pinned his friend as just a half-step away from Silver, if not far beyond that already, remembering all too well the cloaking disguises worn by a pair of friends he could only hope were safely ensconced in the palace at that very moment. No matter that Cheng Lei looked no older than Alex did; his vibrant vitality and magnetic charisma, as if the fates themselves enjoyed gazing upon the story of his life, made it clear to Alex that he was ascending beside a prodigy.

  “You’re here to use the river to your advantage. You’re hoping it will further strengthen your foundation, widening and aligning your meridian channels like it did for Zhu Bi!”

  And now it was Cheng Lei who nearly stumbled, save for Alex’s lightning-fast steadying hand.

  “Careful. First drop’s a doozy!”

  “Alex?”

  “What’s up?”

  “How did you know?”

  “Know what?”

  Cheng Lei quirked an eyebrow. “Know that Zhu Bi wasn’t just exhausted, but was actually thriving under her ordeal? Know that her meridian channels had not only grown but had realigned themselves closer to heavenly perfection?”

  Alex whistled, gazing up at the glorious heavens once more. “Let’s call it a lucky guess?”

  Cheng Lei furrowed his brow. “Alex…”

  “Well, I certainly know one thing for sure.”

  “And what’s that?”

  Quickness check made! Your opponent is caught off guard.

  “I’m gonna beat you to the next plateau!” Alex shouted at the air behind him, dashing forward so fast that the steps seemed to blur before his eyes. He couldn’t help roaring with sheer exultation, never having felt such a glorious rush, even when a laughing Cheng Lei matched him stride for stride, the pair breaking past that last step and crashing into the basin as one, laughing for the sheer joy of just being alive.

  Qi Perception check failed!

  Cheng Lei’s eyes widened in stunned surprise, blood spurting out of his mouth as he gazed down in stupefaction at the blade of twisted black metal that had pierced his chest, just inches from his heart.

  Alex’s eyes widened in horror as the air pulsed with the sickly green stench of Poison Qi, Cheng Lei’s enchanted robes effortlessly punctured by whatever dark artifact had run him through.

  Before Alex could do more than blink, he found himself cartwheeling through the air, wanting to cry out in sudden agony as a second blade of black steel blasted into his kidney, filling him with sulfuric poison that stunk with all the bitter hatred of hell.

  You have suffered 1 Severe Wound. 75 Health lost! You are temporarily stunned!

  Infernal Blackroot poison does 10 health per second and will not abate till hunter or prey have perished.

  Immunity to Infernal taint infers automatic 60% resistance.

  Pristine Form reduces damage to 0 Health per second.

  Alex struggled to breathe, so stunned by the explosion of pain in his side that he couldn’t move, eyes bulging in panicked horror when he c
ould only suck in water tainted by the faintest trickle of divine Water Qi and the Dark Qi that resonated so well with the River of Souls.

  You have accessed Dark Qi Metabolism!

  You have accessed Power Healing!

  His kidney quickly clamped around the deadly dagger in his side, muscles knotting and spasming as they forced the blade free. Alex strove desperately to move, feeling as trapped as he used to as a child when struck by sleep paralysis, as the wondrous waking dream of ascension that he and Cheng Lei had savored turned to the darkest of nightmares.

  Alex's ears burned with the mocking voices of their enemies, all their attention now on the true target of their ambush.

  “Foolish boy. Did you truly think Yuren was all you had to fear?”

  Choking gurgles from a dying Cheng Lei made one of the would-be killers roar with laughter. “That fool and his henchmen, dressed so blatantly in the prince’s own colors, were the ruse, the feint you over-extended to meet, never seeing the true dagger aimed for your spine. And with the known animosity between you and he, both of you missing and presumed dead upon the golden steps of your damnation, all fingers will point to the corpse you already disposed of so discreetly, so perfectly, like digging out your own grave. All we need to do now is throw you in!”

  You have achieved 75% immunity to Infernal Blackroot.

  You have achieved 90% Immunity to Infernal Blackroot.

  You have achieved 100% Immunity to Infernal Blackroot! You have mastered this poison and may generate antidote at will! Note. Beast core, experience points, or spirit pearls will be needed to generate cure. You have no infernal allegiances. This poison cannot be generated, only countered.