“Potency?”
WiFu smirked. “Experience points, Alex. I’m exceedingly pleased to be able to tell you that if you actually do manage to survive long enough to hit Silver, you will find forging additional cables no more costly than the ridiculous price you already pay when forging each of your degenerate matter Bronze cords!”
Alex’s gaze widened with genuine awe. He could think of no more profound gift he could ask for, or sweeter prize he could savor taking from his enemy, than an edge that would allow him to advance the ranks of Silver without having to spend literally centuries cultivating or collecting an unfathomable number of beast cores, kills or, grimmest of all, Soul Stones.
That aside, he knew he’d still be earning each and every rank, having had to overcome so many perilous encounters and claim such dark prizes to accrue sufficient power to forge even one of his Bronze cords. But with this incredible boon, in addition to Yuci’s own Golden orb, Alex felt a surge of fiercest exhilaration.
Silver might actually be within his grasp!
For a few precious seconds, he allowed himself to savor the sweet fantasy of it. Superhuman strength, incredible resilience, better odds than ever of surviving the perils and twisted gambits of homicidal gods if he was really lucky, and most important of all, finally being able to give his heart to a certain special girl without the risk of destroying himself in the process. And if his dreams of forging another cultivation manual he was on the cusp of sensing how to put together like the pieces of a puzzle came to fruition… he might be in Hao Chan’s arms before the year was out.
He wanted to laugh at the sheer absurdity of his sweet fantasy, just knowing a dozen roadblocks would soon present themselves. But for a single brief moment, he couldn’t help grinning from ear to ear.
Then he froze, realizing his peril. “There are so many questions I want to ask you, WiFu.”
“No doubt.”
“But I guess the one that matters most at this point is... when does the month officially end?”
WiFu flashed his biggest smile yet. “Why I do believe it’s midnight tonight! And if I’m not mistaken, the Headmaster will be opening the gates to this month’s supplicants in about, oh... half a glass?”
Alex felt a cold jolt of apprehension. “Okay, where they hell is this temple exactly?”
“I’m afraid I can’t say a word on that, disciple.”
Alex’s eyes widened with alarm, before noting the napkin his mentor was presently dabbing his chocolate covered upper lip with, complete with a perfect map of Baidushi, and a green blinking dot exactly two miles northeast.
Alex smirked. “I guess it’s time I woke up and got going.”
WiFu chuckled silently, though Alex didn’t hear whatever he said next, already gasping awake on the lumpy mattress he had collapsed upon.
He didn’t waste a second, touching the shimmering golden portal before him and visualizing it opening roughly a mile or so from the Northern gate, at the outskirts of the forest. Just one of a dozen or so landmarks he had carefully visualized while scouting out the terrain earlier, just in case he needed another reference point for any future portals.
But first, to check up on a prize he feared too terrible now to take with him. A prize he only now remembered sequestering with WiFu’s help, like a strangely lucid dream. He closed his eyes, sensing the connection to not just one, but six of his portals.
Each of them were perfectly square, each of them serving as one side to an unbreakable cube holding a fangtian ji glowing with the same eerie shimmer as the River of Souls, now hidden in the very same Dark Qi-flooded caverns in the depths of the crater beside the ruins of Morning Dew Academy that had, for a time, been linked directly to the underworld.
Alex thought it the perfect hiding spot for a weapon he didn’t dare show anyone, surrounded by six golden doors no one below Jade rank should be able to sense, let alone break through. And thanks to his Fog of War card, the six doors tied directly to his realm should be invisible to WiFu’s divine family as well.
He felt a sudden chill. He almost thought he could sense the faint, far off splashing of troubled souls within the stygian river emanating from the shaft of his transformed artifact as he concentrated upon it.
A shaft no mortal dare touch, unless they could survive the River of Souls.
Even for him, there would be a risk, trying to wield that weapon once more.
Even for the gods.
All in all, he was more than happy sacrificing six of his ten mystical doors if it kept that mixed blessing safely sequestered. Just as he had sacrificed the use of a seventh door that his friends alone could see in the palatial courtyard, should they need to make a quick escape to his realm, as well as a final golden door in his own palatial bedroom, should his friends wish to return to the world of their birth. It would open a safe distance away from all points of civilization, yet be close enough to a major ley line that they could safely walk along it, or join up with any caravan traveling the trade roads.
Which meant that Alex now only had two out of his original ten gates at his disposal, which he could remove or link to himself at will.
He smiled at the Golden portal before him. Spending a Gold tier Soul Stone on the Chamber of Doors had been one of the best investments he had ever made.
And after a few brief moments kitting himself once more in the clothes his mentor had first gifted him countless lifetimes ago, Alex and his golden door seemed to vanish as the late afternoon sun momentarily sparkled across the warped glass pane window, the otherworldly contents of that room now gone as if a mirage, or the final flickers of a fading dream.
Epilogue
Lively birds chirped and cawed from the thick, lush undergrowth of the primeval woodlands abutting the clearing just beside a vast chasm overlooking a mighty waterfall. A majestic mountain soared towards the heavens just beyond, and the sparkle of bronze domes and magnificent pagodas could just be seen as glittering jewels of transcendence from the mountaintop city high above, housing perhaps the grandest cultivation academy within all of Cuijing Principality. And for the cluster of awed-looking supplicants gazing with hungry eyes at the arching bridge connecting the clearing to the mountain beyond, presently guarded by a smiling white-haired man in silver-threaded cultivator’s robes, it just might be the answer to all their hopes and prayers.
The twenty or so cultivators eager for admittance wore everything from the threadbare robes of a struggling aspirant, to the finely-tailored changshan jackets of highest quality silk being worn by the offspring of powerful merchants and minor nobles, to several examples of exquisitely tailored cultivator’s robes shimmering with enchantments, worn by a pair of smiling youths that might very well be of royal blood.
The ancient cultivator who didn’t look nearly his age, though his eyes told the tale of a man who had been breathing in spiritual energy for centuries, bowed his head just as the crimson rays of the setting sun seemed to set all the far-off buildings of Royal Phoenix Academy ablaze with light and, for those who could sense it, Fire Qi.
“Do all of you understand why you are assembled here, the significance of this bridge, the cost of ascension?” asked the silver-haired instructor with a voice clearly used to command, for all that his smile was benevolent, his gaze almost fatherly.
As one, the would-be students bowed low before the ancient cultivator.
“Twenty supplicants by the light of the setting sun and the full moon, from all walks of life, choosing to enter the one academy where your previous rank means nothing. Where every privilege you would claim you must earn, and where every achievement is your own.”
To these words, one of the well-dressed youths raised his hand. The master cultivator flashed an indulgent smile, tilting his head. “This eve alone, I will entertain your questions as a mentor instructing favored students. You will have to sweat and bleed and prove yourselves exceptionally worthy to ever earn such a privilege again.”
More than a few supplicants blanched at thi
s, several immediately flowing into dogeza, as if to emphasize that the last thing they wanted to do was offend the master who could so easily decide their fate.
The young man wearing luxurious robes and a topknot secured with loops of silver and jade who had raised his hand was unperturbed. “Forgive me, elder. Are you saying there is no way for those of means, potential sponsors of your school, to facilitate for themselves a path focused purely on diligent scholarly study and disciplined cultivation, leaving the menial elements of running a mountain city to the hands of those more experienced in embracing such roles?” He said that last with a raised eyebrow and a nod for a handful of the supplicants in the most threadbare robes who winced or lowered their heads in shame. Not a one dared glare back at the questioning youth.
The youth flashed his most gracious smile for the silver-robed elder before him. “What I mean to say is, there is no Noble’s Path, Merchant’s Path, or Scholar’s Path one can embrace at this school?”
The guardian of the bridge maintained his benevolent smile, as if he judged neither the youth for his question nor his fellow supplicants for being too cowed, or perhaps too prudent, to say anything rash in turn. “There is no path for you save the Path of Perseverance, supplicant. The virtue of your talents, combined with the fires of your resolve, are all that will allow you to advance at this school.”
The elder’s gaze hardened, staring down one noble youth after another, all suddenly paling before the man’s gaze. “Make no mistake, supplicants, this Academy is unlike any you have trained in before. Excellence alone will propel you forward, and the conflicts you find yourself in cannot be absolved by temporal influences that have no place here. But, should you find it within yourself to overcome adversity and excel, you will be able to embrace the singular pride that you alone are responsible for your successes and triumphs, that you alone will decide how far you will go along the cultivator’s path.”
With those words, a well-dressed girl wearing a fine qipao tentatively raised her hand, earning an indulgent nod, the master’s hard gaze easing into benevolent warmth once more. “Yes, child?”
“Is it true that Royal Phoenix Academy now lets anyone enter its halls? Even foreigners?” The girl swallowed nervously. “Even kitsune?”
The elder smiled. “Indeed it is. Of course, all supplicants are to take Cultivator’s Oaths that they mean no harm to Royal Phoenix Academy, Cuijing Principality, or the royal family. But for that stricture alone, no restriction is made on who may enter. Whether you were born with kitsune blood in your veins, or sired by a Yantu noble, is utterly irrelevant to the masters of this academy. All that matters is that you have the capacity to cultivate, the willingness to train, and loyalty to your kung fu brothers and sisters.”
The girl smiled in relief, though the youth who had asked the first question snorted. “Kitsune are really allowed to cultivate openly now?”
The older man raised a single eyebrow, locking gazes with the youth before him.
“I would think that the answer would be obvious, considering the heritage of the newest acknowledged member of Cuijing’s royal clan, don’t you?”
The young man blanched, crashing to his knees and kowtowing before the silver-haired cultivator as if he had just glimpsed the killing intent of a Gold.
“Yes, yes, you are right of course, master cultivator. Please forgive this lowly one’s foolish question.”
This earned a warm chuckle. “There are no foolish questions here, lad. Merely the gaining of a bit of wisdom and humility which will serve you in as good steed as anything else you might learn here.” His gentle gaze hardened. “Before we cross this bridge, I will ask one final time. Do you all truly know the cost of entering this school?”
Twenty heads nodded solemnly at those words, though a few blanched and looked away.
Or perhaps their attention had been pulled toward the agitated rustle of the foliage nearby as an unexpected stranger burst into the clearing, taking big ragged gasps that quickly subsided, earning curious stares and a few cautious scowls as the figure approached.
Not surprising, as he was a powerfully-built youth with golden hair and piercing blue eyes, dressed in an ancient style of changshan jacket and slacks, complete with bone buttons, even on his leather boots. At his hips he wore two oversized dao with exotic hilts of sharkskin and bronze. Eccentric as he appeared, he had the manner and bearing of someone who had seen battle. Perhaps as a soldier, despite his lack of armor. Perhaps it was just the weight of his gaze, looking nothing like what one would expect of a youth of perhaps nineteen summers.
But of course, what was most striking was the fact that the young man was clearly Ruidian, with no gem upon his brow.
Despite the openmouthed stares he received, Alex flashed a rueful smile and raised his hand in greeting.
The guardian was the first to collect himself, gazing curiously at the Ruidian before him. “How may we help you, lad?”
Alex flowed into the politest of bows. “Thank you for acknowledging me, esteemed elder. I just wanted to make absolutely sure that there truly were no restrictions on who may enter Royal Phoenix Academy.”
Dead silence. All twenty students immediately stopped their soft whispers to gaze at him in wide-eyed surprise, even the elder flashing a bemused smile.
“No restrictions, save that they’re able to cultivate, lad. And by that, I mean harness the sacred flow of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy. For as much as talented Ruidians are to be admired for their faculty with the elements, jewel magics have little to do with the Cultivator’s Path, I’m afraid.”
Alex smiled. “I’m glad to hear it. And a follow-up question, master cultivator. What exactly is the cost of entering this school?”
Each and every student’s eyes widened. The guardian’s stare hardened. “You truly don’t know?”
Alex bowed his head. “I’m afraid I don’t, revered elder.”
The man’s gaze washed over them all. More than a few supplicants looked away, for all that they clearly knew.
“Any man or woman may enter, should they dare. But once they take their first steps upon the golden staircase leading to Royal Phoenix Academy, they will either ascend or die.”
Alex blinked, furrowing his brow. “What do you mean by ascend or die?”
“What it means is that one’s ability to ascend up the golden steps to the most sacred academy in Cuijing Province depends entirely upon one’s cultivation base.” His gaze turned solemn. “Men and women who lack seven perfect meridian channels, and thus will never be able to ascend to Bronze, yet who still have the perseverance to ascend to at least the first plateau, will have the honor of becoming servants of Royal Phoenix Academy. From that moment on, their lives will be a mixture of cultivation, study, and service, earning rank and prestige through their ability to care for the glorious city that is our home.”
The outspoken noble youth of before blanched at these words. “Wait, master, you’re saying those who can only make it to the first plateau will be servants for the rest of their lives?”
Cold eyes met his own. “Yes, it does, with very few exceptions. And they are far more honored within these halls than any backstabbing noble or conniving merchant who never had the courage to take even those first steps to greatness. And here alone is where your coin will avail you any sort of clemency, supplicant. Those who would decline the Servant’s Path to ascendance may give service to our school in other ways, including their family’s patronage. And even to them is afforded a certain amount of honor, having had the courage to take those first few steps, at least, which is far rarer than you might think.” The man chuckled softly. “After all, for all that we are but a handful of miles from a city of twenty million, only twenty… make that twenty-one supplicants dare to stand before me today.”
The girl who had spoken before raised a tentative hand.
“Yes, child?”
“What happens if, well, what happens if someone can’t make it all the way up to the servant
’s plateau?”
Cold eyes met her own. “They die.”
The girl blinked. “They... die?”
The elder nodded. “And even a perfect set of fully intact meridian channels will not guarantee you a safe ascent. Your perseverance, your hunger to excel, your drive to succeed all play a role in your journey up those steps.”
“But isn’t it also true that the higher you ascend, the more honors and accolades you can earn?” asked a tentative adolescent wearing threadbare robes.
The elder gave a pleased nod. “Indeed, it is.”
The boy’s eyes widened with wonder. He flashed an excited grin. “What privileges will each plateau give us? How many are there in all?”
The young noble snorted. “As if you’ll make it past the Servant’s Plateau.”
Several other richly-attired men and women laughed at that, the boy lowering his head in shame.
“Strange that you wish to make enemies so quickly,” said the guardian by way of warning. “If the lad is destined to be a servant, wouldn’t it behoove you to make a friend of him? You’d be surprised how useful a dependable helper can be, or the chaos that can be wrought when bitter spite is always at your back.”
The chucklers froze, gazes turning thoughtful.
“And who knows? Perhaps your derision will inspire this youth to excel like never before, such that his eventual plateau is higher even than yours. After all, you and your friends have lives of comfort to look forward to, should the Path of Perseverance be more than you can bear. This poor boy in threadbare robes? He has nothing else at all.”
All the students were now gazing consideringly at the furiously blushing boy, and at each other.
And as much as Alex was touched by the silver-haired cultivator’s words, he had been through too much to take anything for granted. The man before him could be just as good-natured as he seemed.
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Redeemed: A LitRPG/Wuxian Novel - Book 5 Page 60
