Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Redeemed: A LitRPG/Wuxian Novel - Book 5

by M. H. Johnson

  6

  You sense the flow of Qi within your opponent!

  You have successfully evaded Badger Strike!

  Spring Hip Throw sends opponent to the ground.

  You have successfully pinned your opponent.

  Match won!

  Experience earned.

  Alex was surprised to find himself with half a dozen friendly challengers that night, all of them agreeing to the same rules as Yan had, first testing each other with blunted spears. Alex would get the best of his opponents more often than not, though giving his competitors respectful nods when they scored glancing blows upon his shoulder and hip. Blows that caused him to wince, not with pain, but with the memory of Panheu’s glare. He could all too easily imagine the man castigating him to never lose focus, not even for a heartbeat, no matter that his opponents wouldn’t have done more than scratch naked flesh, let alone be any problem for his armor, were it a real fight.

  But that was hardly the point.

  It was a way for him to test himself, somewhat safely, against fresh opponents, doing his best to improve his basic combat savvy, without relying on the flow of Qi from White Crane or Silver Swan at all.

  Though he used the martial techniques best suited for deflecting or evading foes or scoring a match-ending blow, it was about perfecting his martial skills alone, without using any of his exotic talents. The latter he could practice independently, without risking the lives and well-being of what were mostly low-ranked cultivators and a handful of mortals who had trained well enough to survive years on the road without any special abilities. Save, of course, for being very, very skilled with their spears.

  When it came to the barehanded element of their contest, however, Alex had almost always won in seconds, his 25 Strength putting him leagues above almost everyone else, for all that he didn’t look like more than a well put together Ruidian whose powerful physique came from years of heavy labor.

  More often than not, it even turned into an impromptu training session, with whoever he had just sent crashing to the ground immediately conceding the match and anxiously asking Alex to teach them whatever one of the admittedly limited handful of throws Alex had used that Liu Jian had taught him well over a year ago. And it said something, he supposed, that he hadn’t learnt much about grappling since those first few intensive months with his mentor, that it was more due to Olympian degrees of Finesse and Speed and a Strength now well beyond a gold medal power lifter that had allowed him to wallop near every guard who had challenged him, earning more than a few surprised looks. And he couldn’t help smiling when he saw more than a few copper coins change hands.

  Of course, a competitive part of Alex wouldn’t have minded betting on himself, but he knew how tempting it would have been to maximize profit, even faking losses after inspiring an impromptu competition of the caravan’s strongest guards, until he could totally bleed the excited crowd with an upset win. But he was enjoying sparring in earnest, even without tapping into his personal Qi or the swirling storm of spiritual energy always just a heartbeat away. Besides, it was never a good idea to fleece well-armed people you planned to be traveling with for a good month’s time, all of whom knew exactly where you slept.

  Thus, Alex’s plans of a discreet, innocuous journey to the capital were already in complete disarray, earning him such a reputation that by the time the caravan’s first night drew to a close a pair of curious Ruidian gem masters deigned to approach, rubies flashing, hands raised in greeting.

  Alex winced, hoping they didn’t expect him to accept any challenges that involved him dodging fire.

  But the pair of friendly-looking men in their early thirties, if Alex had to guess, just smiled, nodding their approval, seeming to take pride in the idea of one of their own actually showing up native cultivators without saying a word to that effect, of course. But their grins said it all. One even quietly asked if Alex’s clan chieftain had finally found the lost secrets to harnessing the power of clear diamonds.

  When Alex grinned back and suggested that maybe he was actually a cultivator with meridian channels and all the rest, they just laughed and slapped his back, as if he had told the grandest of jokes, before drinking rice wine in his honor and heading back to their sleeping blankets.

  Alex smiled when the last of the gregarious and cheerful crowd and competitors left him to his sleeping spot besides the pair of young cultivators and their mentor, now favoring Alex with a rueful smile when he kitted himself back up in his armaments after wiping himself down with water and towel.

  “That was rather impressive, I have to admit, Alex,” said Yan.

  Alex grinned. “Thanks. Seriously, I mean that. Most cultivators I know would get so bitter at the thought of losing to a Ruidian that they wouldn’t be above stabbing me in the back, thinking they’re somehow justified, since I bruised their petty little egos.” Alex then winced. “Crap. Considering that almost everyone I fought was at least a basic cultivator with as many nodes cleared as your typical imperial soldier, maybe I should sleep lightly tonight.”

  Yan chuckled. “You surprised the hell out of me, Alex, I’m not going to lie.” He gazed fondly down at the pair of students that Alex could tell were only pretending to be sleeping. “But after all the lectures I give these two about never underestimating their competition, and acting with the decorum and grace to make sure they make no unnecessary enemies and encourage only allies in this life while never being afraid to project the strength that is their birthright... I’d be making a mockery of everything I stood for, had I dared to lose with anything but consummate grace.”

  He then dipped his head in a surprising show of humility. “And it is I who owe you, Alex, for condescending to mock you for daring to purchase weaponry I thought far beyond anyone who hadn’t achieved at least mid-Bronze. And performing forms and katas with those armaments would force even my muscles to remember the sweat and abuse of a hard-training young disciple, desperate for enlightenment.”

  He gave a rueful chuckle. “You see how useful a fellow you are, Alex? Even now, you force me to acknowledge my own lack, forced to face that I was so content to embrace the path of strength through transcendence that I was shying away, like the most craven of cowards, from the path all other mortals save us must follow.”

  Alex raised a polite eyebrow at that. “Other path?”

  Yan grinned. “Of course. Through the sweat of burning muscles and hard exertion. Through embracing the bitter, forging a body worthy of a girl’s smile through hard work alone.” The cultivator eyed the oversized dao now strapped to Alex’s weapon belt as well as the seemingly overbuilt fangtian ji that would look absurd to the eyes of any true mercenary, did the edge not radiate a keen deadly presence, and did Alex not know how exquisitely balanced it truly was.

  “And if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were going to head some distance past this part of the road where our wagons rest and where we lay our heads, and train for however long you dare before exhaustion hits you, for we will be breaking camp at first light. Though that, admittedly, will take a while.”

  Yan smirked at the score of wagons presently secured beside the road, their entire crew and the herds of livestock now kept in place by mobile warding pens, artifacts that acted very much like electrified fences and worth every silver talon they had cost, Alex bet. He sensed no trouble in the area, and evidently neither did whoever was on evening watch, everyone feeling comfortable enough to take their ease within the unusually wide space between the ley line acting as the road, and the forest some twenty paces back, that was now serving as their camp grounds. The occasional blackened stump, half submerged by the grassy field being happily chewed up by the livestock making it clear that the Deepwoods had once risen tall and proud here.

  And perhaps, Alex thought, this lip of land had once been covered in wood, before being cut down with fresh shoots kept from sprouting into new trees by the constant flood of sheep and cattle contentedly munching on the fast-growing grass that had taken
over instead. And perhaps it was one more example of man reaching a compromise of sorts with the forest, this little expanse a gift to the humans who troubled this stretch of forest no further, leaving a rich sacrifice of animal dung exactly where Alex could sense long questing roots from the nearby trees grown tall and proud the minute he closed his eyes and let his Forest Sense take in his surroundings in ways even Qi Perception could not.

  Yan chuckled, speaking on. “...And did we not have the benefit of so many able-bodied men, I’d think us all fools for sleeping so close to the trees, even if this shoulder beside the road is the widest we’ve seen all day.”

  Alex smiled. “No worries there, Yan. The spirit beasts know better than to attack a caravan radiating this much power, and the energies so very like Fire Qi crackling from our Ruidian friends’ gems, is not so alien as to go unnoticed by the lords of this forest either. No, I think the trees are content with the healthy gift of dung given, more than a fair exchange for a fresh bit of grass. And we get to sleep off the road, which does radiate a fair amount of Dark Qi, though only a few inches above the road. Just fine to walk on, but it wouldn’t really be a good idea to sleep right on the road for too many nights. Not unless you want to worry about tumors if you’re a mortal, or straining your foundation, trying to cultivate right on it. Unless, of course, you have an affinity for Dark Qi.”

  Yan blinked, giving Alex the strangest look. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you one of those wild cultivators one sometimes hears about.”

  Alex smirked at that, pretending he hadn’t said far more than he should have, giving his traveling companion a polite wave as he did just what Yan had suspected he would, walking a good hundred paces beyond the encampment, though sharing nods with the pair of quiet cultivators on night duty who said not a word as he strolled on by.

  Dark hair, dark eyes, faces expressionless masks, they looked almost like twins, keeping watch with the stillness of hawks.

  Alex couldn’t get a single inkling of their potential or karma with Soul Sight, and he couldn’t help wondering if they had already ascended to Silver or made some other profound achievement, perhaps having stumbled upon some Shadow technique that let them hide their true selves. But that they were cultivators, he had not a doubt.

  They had the quiet look of hardened men, like a pair of bodyguards Jidihu, the beautiful kitsune shadow head of Yidushi’s Jianghu sect, would have no doubt had by her side if she had been traveling openly through the city.

  Then he put all thought of nighttime security out of mind, just glad the caravan had it in case of raiders, even if the forest itself saw them all as a useful nutrient source.

  Alex held back his excited grin no longer, gazing fondly at the proud, weighty fangtian ji in his hands before putting that weapon through its paces, luxuriating in the feel of truly using his muscles to full effect, like he had while wrestling with the two Bronze cultivators he had faced amongst all the caravanners that night, only increasing the intensity of his grip as his opponents did. And how odd it was, how mutually cautious Yan, Alex, and the other Bronze had been when sparring with each other, none of them daring to put their all into their exertions until they knew their opponents could endure it, lest they accidentally break joints or snap necks and end up killing their fellow guards. So utterly different from Dragon Academy, and Alex was profoundly grateful for that.

  But here and now, in the comforting bosom of the forest with no one to judge, he reveled in the exertion of first slowly weaving his halberd-like polearm through Golden Realm, White Crane, and Silver Swan katas, savoring the feel of perfect balance and control, before increasing his pace, the weapon flowing ever faster in his hands, now whistling through the air as he whipped it around his head with what would have been violent speed, if not so well controlled, weaving and dancing about the empty road. His Qi Perception made it clear that not a single stumbling, half-sleepy soul taking a late-night stroll by the camp was at risk of getting cleaved instantly in half by his weapon’s wickedly sharp crescent blades, so he thought nothing of going all out.

  He flashed an exultant grin, panting like a bellows when he finally stopped a good while later, reveling in the feel of muscles throbbing with the intensity of his workout. And it was the glorious burn of lactic acid buildup alone that he felt. He sensed no sign of tendon injury or joint strain, his Eternal Fox cultivation technique assuring that his entire body would be perpetually free of the injuries and micro tears to ligaments and muscles that mortals had to spend time stretching and warming up to avoid inflicting or exacerbating upon themselves.

  With a few deep breaths and a moment to rest, the burn in his muscles almost immediately faded. At this point, Alex could fight at near maximum strength at all times without having to pace himself, since recuperating from lactic acid buildup, which the human body was naturally good at doing anyway, had been boosted to a superhuman degree that allowed his Rank 2 Strength to act closer to Rank 3, he was sure, when put to grueling endurance tests like the slow build-up cautious grappling he had embraced earlier that evening.

  His ability to near instantly replenish his glucose stores was probably the real reason why he had beaten both Bronze cultivators, whom he could tell were far more experienced wrestlers, and no doubt had years of grappling experience and expertise he completely lacked. And considering the disdain with which schools like Dragon Academy treated holds and pins that lasted more than a short handful of seconds, Alex had the feeling he’d learn far more about the grappling arts on the road than at any prestigious cultivation school.

  Alex was all too aware of how much he still had to learn about so many elements of what it truly meant to be both a cultivator and a warrior. But when it came to blending his three favorite martial styles into one deadly, smooth whole... his pulse quickened, once again feeling on the verge of a magnificent breakthrough. He could almost taste it like a sought-for word on the tip of his tongue. A transcendent awareness that would somehow incorporate his understanding into a greater framework, a wonderful paradigm of insight.

  Then he sighed and shook his head, knowing he wasn’t ready for that quite yet, no matter how impatient he was.

  But then he began flowing through his katas once more, this time incorporating the storm of Light Qi around him, then minutes later the fierce, powerful surge of Water and Steel Qi that was the salty tang of the sea or a roaring river pounding through dams, fjords, and riverbanks alike, his fangtian ji now streaking through the air with the force of a charging steed, without Alex tapping into any of his external or internal Qi abilities at all.

  You have properly harmonized your three primary arts! You will now enjoy fully synergized modifiers on top of all Strength, Quickness, and Finesse modifiers while using fangtian ji!

  Alex shook his head while noting his interface’s numeric breakdown of just how powerful he now was. Showcasing stats that would have blown his old self back on Earth completely away.

  For a guy who had lost pretty much every possession he had ever owned more than once, he had improved to an incredible degree the things he cared most about. Personal improvement and advancement. It was one of the reasons he never stuck around in MMOs after hitting the level cap, unless he really enjoyed the PvP scene. He never was one for struggling endlessly for a few end game purple or gold-ranked artifacts. For him, it was all about the personal advancement.

  “Not that any of my old favorite games even exist, in this world or Earth, a thousand years after I left for good,” he whispered softly to himself, feeling an odd bit of bittersweet nostalgia for a life he could never go back to, friends he could never laugh and joke with again, glimpsing in his mind’s eye his teary-eyed mother smiling down at his body as he was frozen in liquid nitrogen. And what he would give to be with her right now, sharing all his experiences and adventures, teaching her all the secrets of Eternal Fox, so she could live forever as a beautiful young woman looking just like she had as a newlywed, starting life over with a loving family Alex would make
sure would never sicken or die on her, and they could all live happily ever after.

  “And maybe I’ll become a god, change the flow of time, and do just that,” he sighed, dispelling the bittersweet fantasy for what it was, furrowing his brow as he focused on dual wielding his dao, which came so much slower to him than his adept mastery of his fangtian ji.

  Yet for all that his skill with those slightly curved, saber-like swords was listed as adept on his internal character sheet, he knew he was lacking, and that he had to get better. The movements had to flow from one to another effortlessly when wielding one or both dao if he was going to do either White Crane or Silver Swan credit.

  It didn’t matter that Golden Realms was indifferent to the dao. It was a soldier’s art, designed to incorporate any and all weapons a soldier might need to master. And mastering the dao, at least to the degree needed to harmonize the flow of Qi through Silver Swan and White Crane both, was the next step Alex needed to take if he was truly to unify his understanding of these three arts.

  So he did his best to lose himself in the flow of whirling swords, scowling but refusing to overreact when he made a mistake, simply starting over again and again until at last his movements felt near flawless, and only then did he release the hold on the Qi he now allowed to flow so effortlessly through the blades, doing his best to forge his styles into one unified whole, incorporating the dao just as well as his fangtian ji, fists, and feet.

  A panting Alex, grinning with a certain sense of accomplishment, knew it was late when he finally stopped his training, sheathing his blades and allowing his Eternal Fox body cultivation and a mouthful or two of generated ethanol to wipe over his body, washing away all traces of stink, sweat, and grime; now feeling almost as refreshed as if he had taken a quick shower, though of course he would have greatly preferred an actual shower.