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

by M. H. Johnson

  2 Ranks (Silver requirement) Your doors may pierce any Spiritual, Qi, or physical barriers of Silver Rank or lower, or ward against the same.

  3 Ranks (Gold requirement) Your doors may pierce any Spiritual, Qi, or physical barriers of Gold Rank or lower, or ward against the same.

  4 Ranks (Jade requirement) Your doors may pierce any Spiritual, Qi, or physical barriers of Jade Rank or lower, or ward against the same.

  Note. For one additional Rank, you may enjoy the benefits of both Resilience and Penetration.

  Alex’s eyes widened at the prompts; his inner gamer awed by the potential of those doors. Still, no one knew better than he just how precious his Soul Stones were. For a gamer, or any cultivator trying to survive, really, Rank was everything. And his Rank 7 Bronze and Rank 6 Silver Soul Stones, together, would be just enough to allow him to forge yet another divine cord. And that was on top of the breakthrough he was now on the cusp of. Yet, at present, he was forced to delay the weeks of deep meditation he’d need to forge his fifth and possibly sixth cord and rank up, simply because of the time limits and pressure he was under. Which no doubt pleased his enemies to no end, forcing him to fight at a disadvantage.

  And what he could do with his Gold Soul Stone, should he invest it in his Chamber of Doors, was nothing short of incredible. Yet that stone just might provide the key to facilitate his eventual transcendence to Silver. And the power and security promised by that transformation was beyond priceless.

  He’d be an absolute fool to give up a tool all but guaranteeing flawless advancement.

  His jaw clenched at the very thought of having to surrender that precious prize.

  But there was absolutely no point in worrying about it now. Not until he saw what awaited him in Baidushi.

  For all he knew, thanks to Master Yan’s anti-scrying device and Alex’s own Fog of War card, they might just catch their foes completely flat-footed, and how sweet it would be to see the Red Prince’s surprise when his niece was announced before Cuijing’s ruling clan, noble guest rights then preventing her uncle from doing anything at all from that point forward.

  Alex couldn’t help grinning at the thought.

  If everything went according to plan, he wouldn’t have to waste a single Soul Stone at all.

  25

  The view was breathtaking. The massive city wall, at least fifty feet high and nearly as thick, surrounded a magnificent city of twenty million souls filled with lush green parks incorporating majestic boulders, flowing water, and brilliant, blossoming gardens; all of which soothed the eye and helped to break up the exquisitely precise grid design of the city whose countless buildings included massive bronze-domed amphitheaters, magnificent halls, and temples with sloping two-tiered rooftops, to say nothing of the magnificent towering pagodas piercing the evening sky, or the striking marble palaces shimmering in the crimson rays of the setting sun.

  In some ways, the entire city showcased an almost perfect bilateral symmetry, the most glorious gardens that would have done even Alex’s home city proud had been duplicated perfectly on opposing ends of Baidushi, implying two noble quarters, or perhaps one quarter for nobles and the other for the richest and most powerful of merchants, which must have been significant in a city so vast. Even the aqueducts, copper water pipes, and telltale signs of a well-designed and maintained sewage system were mirrored perfectly on all sides of the magnificent metropolis.

  And the crowning jewel of it all was no doubt the magnificent palace in the rearmost quarter of the city, the city walls there even higher than everywhere else, with no entrances or exits that Alex could see. No matter that every other wall had multiple massive gatehouses overseeing the flow of traffic that remained largely unimpeded, despite the inspections Alex could just barely make out below, people looking like ants as he soared above from a safe distance, just two miles from the city proper. He was well aware that if he hovered any closer, his Qi Pool reserves would begin to plummet.

  But even from that distance, Alex was awed by what he saw. The major trade roads all leading to Baidushi were filled with massive wagons, herds of livestock, and lone travelers for miles along those thoroughfares as wide as most highways were in the world Alex had left behind so long ago. And it said something to the remarkable efficiency of the city and its guardsmen that there were no holdups or disturbances, that the flow of people and caravans entering and leaving a city so massive it would have rivaled the grandest cities of 21st century Earth all proceeded without a hitch.

  Despite everything he had been through, despite the gravity of his mission, Alex still felt a shiver of wonder and awe upon beholding that magnificent city. And how tempting it was to entertain the fantasy of flying high above and zipping down right into the heart of it. But he could only imagine how massive the Qi Pool drain would be, once he left the tree cover that ended almost exactly two miles from the city’s periphery, most of the treeless land relegated to crops or livestock, and that was just the tiniest source of the city’s needed food supply, utterly dependent as it was upon all the produce brought in by all the countless farming communes and settlements that dotted the land in the thousand or so miles between major cities.

  And were it not for the fact that spiritual energy kept produce fresher than even the best refrigeration unit might have, save for the moment it was buried in the ground or devoured, spiritual energy then becoming one with the land or grazer, there was no way such cities would ever have come into being. But it did, and they had, and that was a wonder like nothing else, Alex thought, even as he made his final preparations, sinking to the ground a short distance away from one of the major trade roads all coalescing about this natural nexus point that had become the grandest of all cities in Cuijing Principality, Alex knowing better than to fly right over the ley lines, even if the energy released could hold him up indefinitely, knowing he would then catch the interest of countless thousands, and very possibly the attention of powerful Silvers tasked with guarding their noble or even royal charges now visiting this comparatively tiny province in an empire so vast it defied belief. And Alex did not doubt that those wary guards wouldn’t think twice about blasting down to the ground, with who knew what deadly Qi powers, anything so unorthodox and unexpected as a Ruidian that could somehow fly.

  After all, Alex was the farthest thing from a noble, so was technically free game, as was every other commoner that caught the interest or ire of visiting dignitaries.

  So Alex decided to play it safe, taking advantage of dusk to walk alongside the slower moving caravans without attracting too many eyes, especially since he had the foresight to hop back into his ring and make a careful inspection of the enemy cultivators he had taken down, his crinkling nose making it clear that this realm, unlike his former mystic storage ring, wouldn’t keep meat indefinitely, especially when half covered in dirt already. His was very much a living realm.

  A realm filled with what seemed increasingly like real people as well, his devoted guards gazing with wide eyes but saying nothing when he stripped his enemies of all their gear, Alex feeling a certain satisfaction in recovering not one but two modest-sized storage containers.

  One was a belt pouch, the other a wrist band.

  “Have someone bury the bodies and store these goods,” he said to the wide-eyed guards looking on as he separated bodies from valuables in the palace courtyard where it seemed all his claimed items automatically transported themselves.

  His men immediately slammed fists to breast plates. “At once, Your Grace!” the four powerfully-built men had said in unison.

  Alex gave an approving nod and left as fast as he had come, still finding it incredibly surreal that he seemed to have actually inherited a magnificent palace of his own, full of devoted servants. And even if none of the wealth and prizes within his sanctuary could be taken with him, he could still enjoy an occasional break from the madness of the outer world, savoring luxury equal to the grandest of hotels to be found anywhere.

  Too bad he had no
time to savor any more of that delicious fare, pleased as he was to still be benefiting from the buffs his breakfast had provided, spending a few final moments perfecting his disguise before discretely porting back outside and joining the train of traders and travelers headed along the trade road to the city just a couple miles ahead.

  Biochemical skill check: success. You have generated Pungent Ointment. You have generated Spirit Beast Repellent.

  You have successfully shredded one cotton shirt!

  Alex kept his head down, benefiting from the wide-brimmed hat and cloak one of the cultivators had kept in his storage pouch, hoping that between the dim light and his hunched over posture, no one would think he was a Ruidian out of hand. So too, he walked beside but not along the road. Fortunately, his Bronze-ranked Strength and Vitality meant that the added fatigue of treading through soft loamy earth versus a stone road was no hindrance to him at all. And why would countless traders and travelers, weary after endless miles on the road, care about a lone figure foolish enough to tread through the nearby muck, too impatient to travel at the leisurely pace everyone else was?

  And that was to say nothing of the acrid stench he was giving off, thanks to mixing up two rather pungent concoctions he used to make up in batches for Master Liu Jian that had been quite popular with beast hunters. Though they wouldn’t do much against fully sentient spirit beasts that had a grudge against a specific hunter, the average hungry bear or lesser spirit beast wouldn’t bother with any hunter camps marked by those pungent aromas. Pungent aromas that made any frowning caravanner who would otherwise be angry with the lone traveler striding right past them instead of waiting in line like everyone else, all too happy to see him push ahead and take his stench with him.

  So, all in all, Alex was no worse than motorcycles weaving past traffic in a different time and place, he thought. Momentarily annoying to some, perhaps, but not worth a second thought.

  Until Alex finally got to the massive arched gate, warded by not one but three portcullises, all presently raised, of course, though he had no doubt that they could be sent crashing down at the slightest hint of trouble. It was here that the leisurely pace became somewhat frantic as each wagon was given a brief, thorough inspection by hard-eyed guards looking for only the most blatant contraband, which seemed to be polearms, bows, crossbows, or anyone being smuggled in grain carts or produce wagons.

  The hard-eyed guards wearing the same bronze lamellar armor that the imperial legions did were quick and efficient, giving a shouted warning to all caravans to surrender any contraband and reveal the faces of any travelers within, and suffer no worse penalty than the loss of whatever illegal goods they carried.

  Every caravan of course had guards armed with spears, naginata, and fangtian ji, and it seemed that registered guards alone were permitted to keep their armaments, though they were reminded that said polearms must be stored in their guildhall immediately, and that any guard caught carrying said polearms beyond their hour grace period would suffer severe penalties, or so said the city soldier in a bored monotone voice lecturing the rapidly-nodding and smiling caravan master who Alex had maneuvered himself just behind.

  “Of course, honored sir,” said the man now crinkling his nose, but knowing better than to turn away from the inspector he faced. “My caravan’s guards are all properly bonded, and shall rush to comply immediately.”

  These simpering words earned the rotund merchant a single curt nod as his wagon train began to pass under the massive portcullis accompanying the braying and bleating of what seemed a thousand sheep, the soldier’s eyes then instantly honing on Alex, as did the pair of guards beside him.

  “Who the hell are you, and why do you smell like the dead?” snapped one soldier with a frown.

  Alex kept his bandaged face lowered, coated as his skin now was with sticky ointment that allowed him to cover his features almost perfectly, that, along with his wide-brimmed hat, had managed to completely disguise his appearance. Save, of course, for his deep blue eyes he kept hidden below the brim. “Just a soldier paying the price for being on the wrong side of a battle between wujen.”

  A bandaged hand opened to reveal the flash of gold. The closest soldier’s eyes immediately fastened on the coin in Alex’s hand. “Fortunate I am that my commander took pity on me in the form of coin. There was no cure in our unit, but he said I might find one here. No one knows the ins and outs of a city better than the men who patrol it. If you could point me to the best healer in the city, I’d be in your debt.”

  The guard frowned before pulling out a silken handkerchief from somewhere, his now-covered hand darting down and plucking the golden coin free of Alex’s bandaged hand so fast the man could have been a street magician. “You know map-sign?” the man curtly asked.

  Alex solemnly nodded. “As any good soldier should.”

  The man snorted. “Most fools don’t.” He quickly dropped into Alex’s still open hand what seemed to be a ready-made slip of parchment covered in the symbolic scrawl Alex immediately understood led to a temple in the northwest corner of the city.

  “You’d be surprised how many cultivators or soldiers with coin come here looking for cure-alls. Your best bet is Yellow Flower Academy. Best healers in all of Baidushi, unless you have a noble’s coin. Tell them Chong sent you.”

  Alex immediately bowed his head. “Thank you, honored sir. I shall do that at once.”

  The man snorted. “Good luck on finding a cure. Now move. You stink.”

  A still-hunched over Alex gave a final bow before doing just that, his heart pounding in his chest as he quickly walked under first one, then a second, and finally a third steel-tipped portcullis that could come crashing down on him in an instant, smashing him to a pulp.

  But not one did.

  Then he felt it, the wait of a doom so vast, so terrible, it could come crashing down upon Baidushi like a meteor from the heavens above.

  The Pariah card itself suddenly in play, Alex remembering all too well Long Wang’s cards, should Alex elicit the help of any ally in entering Baidushi.

  “And that includes any Ruidian who dares to enter as well, WiFu!” Alex could all but imagine a gloating Long Wang roaring. “For all that he is hidden by Fog of War, the catalyzation of another card reveals his presence at last! Your pawn is about to enter the city, sealing the doom he so hoped to avoid!”

  Alex stumbled as the ground pitched and rolled, several caravanners nearby screaming and stumbling, the portcullises rattling above, the entire world, or divine game board, as it were, sent shaking as the gods roared with laughter at sweetest triumph, just a heartbeat away.

  Yet WiFu seemed strangely undisturbed as he lounged back in what was now a throne of jade, sipping from a golden chalice, smirking at both Long Wang and the bloated general who were glaring down at the board. “Ah, but you are forgetting something crucial, dearest brothers.”

  Shalu frowned. “Slipping right past my pawns. And he arrives too soon, even with the doom he would trigger. There’s no way he should be able to travel that fast!”

  Long Wang glared. “We forget nothing, Fox! Your pawn was doomed from the start, and not even your single damned card can avert the price you will pay when we purge your kind from the board entirely!”

  WiFu smirked. “Really? Then why has your Pariah card just flipped over in his favor?”

  Alex’s interface then blared with a message that, along with the shaking earth, sent him crashing to his knees.

  You have successfully arrived at Baidushi independent of all outside aid! No Ruidian or kitsune aware of your plans has arrived before you! Pariah Card has been neutralized! You may now access all alliances and resources without fear of repercussion! Divine Oath is in effect! Ruidian and kitsune clans are now Off Limits to all divine repercussions!

  Long Wang’s eyes bulged. “How is this possible, Silver Fox? That fool actually dared to enter the one city his kind was forbidden from, for so long as Pariah was in play. He himself triggered the doom of hi
s people!”

  The magnificent hall of the gods rang with WiFu’s laughter. “Do you still not get it, brother?”

  “Get what, you damned fox?”

  “What race is Alex?”

  The hall suddenly went dead silent. Long Wang, General Shalu, and their Grandfather, Lord Zheng Yi himself, glared daggers at the smirking god of chaos and change.

  “What trickery is this?” A now furious Zheng Yi snapped.

  “No trickery at all, Grandfather. Your doom applied only to Ruidians. And Alex, despite his dashing good looks and piercing blue eyes that have set so many young cultivators’ hearts a flutter, isn’t Ruidian at all. He’s just as much a Terran hybrid as he was the moment he hopped between worlds. And not once in all these centuries past, no matter how you tried to tempt him, did he ever choose the path of rebirth and renewal.

  “Always, he embraced the bitter. Always, he took my tarnished copper ring, and always, he emerged whole-cloth just as he had been the day he died back on Earth, minus those annoying tumors. A glorious mutt of mixed Terran and Jordian genetics. Sadly, not as resilient as dear Doctor Petrovsky’s other experiments proved to be, and thus, unfortunately, predisposed to cancerous growths.”

  The smirking fox god raised his chalice in mocking toast. “But that is neither here nor there. All that matters is that he has passed the threshold you yourself set without a single drop of Ruidian blood in his veins.”

  Alex was immediately jolted out of his strange vision when a panicked sheep careened into him, knocking him out of his stupor. And he was glad it was dark, so none of the panicked caravanners could see the bloody mess his Dark Qi-covered fist had instantly made of the wooly beast.

  Alex wasted no more time, quickly darting past the mass of still-panicked herders and livestock once the worst of the earth tremors had passed, reemerging from the tunnel-like entrance with a gasp of relief, now just one more pedestrian walking along a crowded boulevard filled with braying animals, whickering horses, and more merchants, guards, and men hawking their wares than he had ever seen before, even with true night finally upon them. Yet lamps were lit everywhere, and no few of those lights were so steady that Alex suspected spiritual energy was responsible for their golden hue.