From there, the cables were somehow pulled so as to squeeze tight the core of Gold, condensing it under terrible pressure until it was compressed like a neutron star, at last forming a Jade core. The ultimate ascension any mortal, no matter how potent or privileged, could hope to achieve. And if even one of those cables was less than perfect or snapped at any point, said cultivator would be utterly destroyed for his efforts.
But as to the particulars? Let alone how to advance beyond Jade? That was hopelessly beyond him right now. He knew only that he needed access to the best Silver and Gold tomes he could find, to cross reference it with his perfect copy of the very divine tome he had once given to a certain dying kitsune girl who had touched his heart. A copy he could never remove from his divine artifact, having given the only true physical copy to the girl he had come so close to falling in love with.
He could only pray that his divine tome hadn’t been utterly destroyed in his damaged ring that he desperately hoped his patron god was fixing. That tome, and the Silver and Gold tomes he hoped to either steal or borrow, were absolutely crucial to furthering his advancement and garnering the insights he needed as he forged and perfected his own Dual Path cultivation manual, daring to ascend to Silver and from there to Gold, following a divine path that he alone, save for some help from his mercurial patron god, was able to forge.
Alex sighed. Despite his mercenary edge, Yan really was a good man, especially for a cultivator. If he hadn’t also had just a touch of hunger for material wealth, Alex was almost certain his soul would have transcended to a heavenly realm by now, if there even was such a thing. As it was, Alex suspected he’d have to turn down the man’s admittedly generous offer.
Alex knew he was being an idiot, forgoing what amounted to a free academic ride at a school where he might be both appreciated and valued and, most importantly, have complete access to an extensive, if specialized, library. So whatever tomes of value they did have, would actually be within his reach, for the first time since he had set foot upon this precarious path.
And the thought of not just being tolerated but openly valued was a dream come true in comparison to trying to make his way within yet another school where he would probably be treated with cold indifference and have to fight just to get in, if all the contempt and hardships he had had to endure at Dragon Academy were anything to go by. Especially within a school that already thought itself the best, so had little reason to risk its reputation by allowing in some oddball Ruidian wildcard in the hopes he might provide some strange edge they hardly needed to keep on top.
But a royally-favored school was so favored for a reason, and had probably received many generous gifts as a result of that favor. And no matter how much crap Alex had to endure, or beast cores he had to harvest, he needed access to the best quality Silver and Gold tomes he could find. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, making his way straight to Royal Phoenix Academy the minute they reached Baidushi proper just might be the best path forward for him. Though certainly not the easiest.
Still, he hated the thought of disappointing a man who had both shown him kindness and, most importantly, actually been honest about his intentions toward him, and seemed like a genuinely good soul. Alex sighed and shook his head, putting all such troubling thoughts out of mind. It would be a good month before they reached Baidushi and he’d have to make a final decision, so no reason to stress it now. With those thoughts in mind, he quickly kitted himself back in his armor with his pair of oversized dao and the fangtian ji heavy enough to give even him a workout. And for all that a lighter weapon could be whipped around like a fencer’s jian, his weapon was nearly indestructible, perfect for strengthening his body as he mastered his form, and in actual combat would strike with enough force to blast through any guard, cleaving nearly anything in half.
He smiled and nodded a friendly goodnight to his friends. For all that he could already sense complications in his future, one thing he knew with ice cold certainty was that training was the one activity that would better his chances of success, and survival, with whatever lay in store for him in the weeks, months, and years ahead.
8
“So, the little Ruidian is off to play with his toys some more?”
Alex felt an icy chill with those words, turning back to regard the nighttime sentinel who seemed almost to blend in the inky shadows of the wagon he leaned upon, dressed in dark lamellar armor that made not a single sound as the man shifted his stance, flashing an oddly-approving smile when Alex caught his gaze. “And you’re not blind. Good. One who dares the night watch needs to be able to see as well as hear in the dark.”
Alex gave a respectful bow of his head. “It is this one’s intention to train, further down the road.”
The man shrugged with easy grace, cat-like grin never leaving his face. “Then by all means, train. Perhaps I will test you when you have finished.”
Alex winced at that, not quite sure how he felt about the man who managed to radiate such deadly peril while flashing the most innocuous of smiles. Still, if he wanted to be part of the night watch, and hopefully be free to train for hours every night that he’d otherwise be spending walking to no real benefit during the day, he needed to get on their good side. “I would be happy to, so long as standard cultivator’s oaths are in effect.”
The man raised a polite eyebrow. “And what would these be?”
Alex swallowed; throat suddenly dry. Were the man’s irises actually yellow? “That we don’t seek to cripple, kill, or otherwise cause each other lasting harm when we spar. We can fight hard, but it’s to better each other, really, not break each other.”
“Easy enough. Done,” said the man, cutting Alex off before he could say anything else. “Now go train as you will. Master all your forms. I’m eager to see just how good you are when sparring at your best.”
Alex swallowed, jerked a nod, and quickly headed down the road a way, a bit further than he had the night before, having found their interaction truly unnerving. But the promise of a new sparring partner and the chance to get on the good side of the night shift...
He pushed all such thoughts out of mind, losing himself in the flow of his forms once more, finding an odd sort of peace as everything seemed to click, just like it had the night before, his mind once more illuminated by odd flashes of insight, heart racing with the exhilarating sense of revelations he could all but taste…
As if he was on the cusp of the most marvelous of breakthroughs.
If his hunch was right, he might just have uncovered a way for Hao Chan to advance along a path that would allow her to achieve her wildest dreams.
A path that didn’t leave her a struggling Silver, never able to go beyond a single rank or two.
First one, then a second hour passed as Alex flowed from stance to stance, weapon to weapon, letting the blazingly fast series of weaves and dodges, parries and strikes, tell a tale of blood and steel and infinite possibility.
By the time he was done, he was panting like a bellows and feeling glorious, having pushed his muscles to the limit every moment he trained, Eternal Fox helping to replenish his reserves so he could always lash out at maximum strength, no matter how badly his muscles burned.
He was so close! So close to understanding!
But it wasn’t enough. He could somehow sense that empty katas, even when he allowed the storm of Light and Water Qi to roar through him, were not enough. He needed to incorporate more.
Even if it did threaten to strain his peripheral meridians. He knew that with his degree of mastery, pushing them would only make them stronger over time, no matter how agonizing the healing process was.
But before he dared any such thing... he closed his eyes, taking deep breaths, using not only Qi Perception, which spotted nothing, but his growing sense of the forest as well.
Forest Sense detects cloaked presence nearby. Forest Sense is now Rank 2!
Alex frowned despite the notification of his growing mastery, instead doing his best to focus
in on the presence he now realized was watching him from some distance off.
It made no move towards the camp. His fellow caravanners seemed to be safe. If anything, Alex got the sense that it was a part of their camp.
But it was easy enough to move further down the road, completely out of the watcher’s sight.
The presence didn’t bother advancing further.
And after a few minutes, Alex found exactly what he needed. As if guided by the murmuring rustle of the branches all around him, he found himself near a deadfall, the massive trunk as wide at the base as Alex was.
Alex smiled, thinking it the perfect target.
Adderstrike! Adderstrike! Black Swan!
He embraced his forms once more, this time enhancing his Golden Realms blows with internal Qi, and his Silver Swan attacks with the power and fury of a tidal wave, the deadfall exploding in a massive ring of shattered wood, and Alex, gratefully, none the worse for wear, save for strained meridians when the exercise was done, drained to his last handful of Qi.
He felt a fierce moment’s satisfaction, momentarily glorying in just how powerful his ultimate attack could be, for all that it was an agonizing hour fully healing his strained meridians, after stringing together so many attack patterns with dao, fangtian ji, shin strikes and spinning hook kicks, his legs now whipping around with such force and fury he was sure even Hao Chan would be proud.
He sighed, flooded with sudden memory of her strikingly beautiful smile, her lithe, graceful movements as she twisted and spun about whenever they sparred, as much a dance of sheer rapture as it was a deadly fusion of Golden Realms and Silver Swan.
When first they met, he had seen all the weaknesses in her technique. But after just a few weeks sparring together and connecting on so many levels, weeks that had seemed to stretch endlessly for them both, the lithe dancer he had fallen so hard for had been forged into a warrior so deadly her kicks could rupture organs and shatter bone, and even he had to respect her growing prowess.
And never were they happier than when they were sparring together, fearlessly accepting mutual bruises earned, forging each other into the deadliest fighters they could, no matter how they’d moan about it later before joking about the stupidest things, just savoring each other’s company and closeness, whenever their training was done. How he missed that teasing smirk she seemed to have just for him.
His mind then flashed to perilous moments they had shared together, and how close he had come to losing her forever, more than once. He would never forget how tightly she had squeezed him when he had managed to save her from the monsters that had been so eager to exploit her, the soft words she had whispered for his ears alone.
Alex swallowed the sudden lump in throat, praying she was safe, suddenly aching so much to hold her close, stroke her silky dark hair, kiss her so tenderly and do so much more, finally claiming her as his own. A girl whose finger he’d happily gift with a ring of jade.
And he feared he’d never see her ever again.
“Be safe, Hao Chan, wherever you are,” he whispered to the night, finally returning to camp.
And it said something about his mental state that when the same smiling sentinel radiating such a curious mix of threat and mystery made it clear he had lessons of his own he wished to teach the Ruidian who had bested so many guards and consequently piqued the night sentinel’s own curiosity, Alex didn’t hesitate to accept.
“Bring it on,” he said.
And the lethal killer did just that.
Your weakness has been found! You have been critically struck!
A suddenly dizzy Alex found himself collapsing to his knees and coughing at the feet of the smiling cultivator now stepping back and gazing down at Alex.
Both of them were unarmed and unarmored, their agreed upon contest being focused on empty handed combat. It wasn’t exactly starting from a distance and circling before unleashing a storm of kicks and punches, nor was it pure grappling where each sought to best the other.
This was something altogether different. It was facing off at close range against a deadly artist eager to paint the canvas of Alex’s flesh in crippling pain and crimson agony.
He was taking his first bloody footsteps along a path of pain so reminiscent of Panheu’s own methods, but far more brutal, alongside an all too eager instructor. And Alex was too stubborn, or perhaps just too much of a fool, to simply turn tail and run. He already understood that his enrollment was not elective, but required, assuming he ever wanted to return to camp in one piece again.
So Alex endured lessons just as illuminating as they were savage, his sadistic mentor carefully explaining each stunning strike to a vulnerable point on skull or neck as he struck Alex with knuckle fist or spear hand almost as fast as Alex could blink, only teaching Alex appropriate counters after punishing his body repeatedly, which often just amounted to Alex blocking deadly attacks by guarding his vital points as best he could, most especially his neck.
False dawn had already touched the sky when Sha Shou next crouched down, eyes twinkling with a mad sort of mirth. It was a look that a bruised and wheezing Alex was coming to know painfully well, having found himself crashing to the ground countless times that night, and too stubborn to do other than jerk a nod when his sadistic mentor asked if he was ready to continue his lesson.
“That was a knuckle strike to your carotid artery. The neck clamp that bested you before had temporarily cut off blood flow to your brain.” He didn’t help Alex back to his feet so much as place a knuckle in his back that sent such agony shooting through Alex’s spine that he was jolted to his feet just to escape it.
“And that,” said the sibilant voice whispering in his ear, “is a prime vulnerability, even in a cultivator’s spine. Mark well the source of pain in your mind’s eye, Alex. Mark them all. I expect you to be able to repeat these very same attacks, when next we train together.”
And before Alex could even respond, he was shoved forward, stumbling into camp, shuffling with pain and exhaustion when his head finally hit his soft, welcoming sleeping mat, and he was out like a light.
“Rise and shine, Alex!” chirped a too cheerful Fangsu as Alex forced himself awake, now definitely feeling the effects of minimal sleep without needing to read the tiny interface message blinking in his mind’s eye.
You are suffering the effects of Mild Sleep Deprivation. Effects are minimized due to Bronze cultivation status and Rank 10 Eternal Fox. You suffer -1 to all cognitive skill checks until you have achieved 5 hours of continuous sleep or 8 hours of Eternal Fox cultivation.
Alex winced. He thought he had been getting at least four hours of sleep per night, and with an internal clock he could access, if he wasn’t scared to actually look at the time, meant he had no excuse for his present state. Mostly, he just felt a bit wool-headed, wondering what had possessed him to stay up quite so late.
A heartbeat later and the memory of the night guard’s vicious idea of a practice bout came crashing back to him. Alex winced at the painful recollection, earning a concerned glance from Fangsu before he forced a pleasant morning smile upon his features.
“Thank you, Fangsu,” he said.
She tilted her head. “Are you sure you’re okay, Alex? Are all our fights catching up with you? You look a little... pale.”
“No, I’m fine,” he assured. “I just need to freshen up.” And it was true, he was fine, for the most part, thanks to Eternal Fox. But even with the constant subtle healing, serving as the pressure point and choke hold test dummy for Sha Shou had been agonizing.
And the man expected him to be game for another round tonight.
Alex groaned, a part of him wondering if this madness was even worth it, if perhaps early to bed and early to rise was the way to go.
But as agonizing as it had been, it had also been an education in learning the weak points that pretty much everyone, save the mightiest of body cultivators, would fall victim to.
Even if the lessons learned had been lessons in agon
y happily given by the most sadistic of teachers.
As much as a part of him hated to admit it, if there was any chance these lessons could synergize with his own Find Weakness skill, he’d be a fool not to endure just as much pain as that man was willing to give.
And the chilling fact that Alex had been able to get absolutely no read on Sha Shou at all, Soul Sight worthless on the man, meant that Alex would have to rely on his battlefield insights and visual tells more keenly than ever.
In short, for him, it was the perfect training.
Even if he was only getting a half-night’s sleep or less.
And it said something for his wool-headedness that he only thought of the consequences for last night’s hyper-focus when he caught Ehuang’s hurt gaze after finally stumbling to the back of the now moving caravan to his normal spot as they got on their way.
“Listen, Ehuang, I...”
She gave him no chance to speak, lowering her gaze and turning her back to him as she caught Tung performing some egregious error in his livestock handling that required her immediate care, her gentle scolding causing Tung’s cheeks and ears to flush. But from that moment on, his gaze was following her like a lost puppy, and she seemed all too happy to take him under her wing that morning.
Alex frowned, glaring at sheep now far more rambunctious, flighty, and bad-tempered than they had been the day before, almost as if they shared their mistress’s mood.
And it was only when the panicked flock suddenly darted forward, slamming into other herds with panicked bleats, that Alex realized his killing aura was leaking a bit. And all he had done was glare at the stupid creatures.
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Redeemed: A LitRPG/Wuxian Novel - Book 5 Page 15
