With those words, the shimmering cultivation manual sprung open, for all that it had moved not an inch when a straining Ning Jing had tried to pull the pages apart moments before.
Ning Jing wasn’t the only one gazing at Alex with disbelieving eyes.
“Did you see the way her arms flexed? His tome wouldn’t even open for her!” whispered an awed Hao Yin.
“Until he gave consent. How is that even possible? He’s no wujen, is he?” whispered one of her friends, fox ears quivering with curiosity.
To Alex’s surprise, Hao Yin just shrugged. “Honestly, I have no idea. I only know he’s my friend.”
5
For a time, the rooftop grew silent, everyone staring curiously at a now pale-faced and trembling Ning Jing, sweat beading upon her forehead as her disbelieving eyes danced upon the page.
“Love, what’s wrong?” whispered a concerned Jidihu. Alex flinched when she glanced his way. Her eyes were by no means hostile. Alex wasn’t sure he would survive at all if they were, but the warmth had cooled, though her question was polite enough. “Alex?”
Alex swallowed, heart skipping a beat. “I handed it to her in good faith. I swear it.”
“I know that, Alex, or you’d already be dead,” said Jidihu in a too calm voice. “I’m simply hoping that you can explain to me why my wife is lost in a trance with a look of panic upon her features?”
Alex winced. “I think… maybe my Rank 6 Spirit Teacher skill is in effect?”
Jidihu furrowed her elegant brow. “What the hell does that even mean?”
“Please don’t be mad, Mother!” pled a suddenly-worried Yinzi. “I think Alex uses strange words because he’s actually a transplanted spirit. I’m not sure his soul forgot his past life. I think he confuses them, sometimes.”
“I know that already, dear. That still doesn’t answer my question.”
Just then Ning Jing tore her eyes free with a gasp, slamming the tome shut. Her features were pale. She was gazing at Alex with a look frozen between awe and disbelief.
“Love, what’s wrong?” asked Jidihu.
“There is no way any newly-minted Bronze could have written this!” she snapped.
“Why do you say that?”
Ning Jing swallowed, hand reaching for a flask of strong spirits Jidihu wordlessly handed her from what looked like a priceless bit of storage jewelry in the form of a bracelet. Ning Jing drank deeply before putting down the flask and gathering her thoughts.
“Love, are you hurt?” asked a now-worried Jidihu.
The former assassin slowly shook her head. “I wasn’t hurt. It was more like I was… transported. For a time, I became a boy learning to forge his peripheral meridians, the same peripherals most of us have seared free of our bodies by the time we hit Silver, into a power network capable of healing any wound.” She glared at an increasingly discomfited Alex. “I swear, the secrets whispering in my ear promised me that no wound was beyond recovery, not even the kiss of an infernal weapon!”
“Lady Ning Jing, are you sure? Truly sure?” asked a suddenly desperate-looking Feng Huang.
Soul Sight skill check success! Alex’s eyes widened. All the hours spent gazing at his benefactors and noting Feng Huang’s own distress had crystallized into sudden insight. At that moment, he could sense the powerful flow of Qi circulating along her meridian network. And he could see the angry red-black taint of an infernal wound that had perforated her abdomen as well.
It was an injury her Water Qi had somehow walled off, yet Alex sensed as well how much of her strength was being used to maintain that protective Qi barrier, and that she was slowly losing ground, despite her best efforts.
It might be weeks. It might be months.
But eventually, Lady Feng Huang would perish to her infernal taint, her soul in all likelihood corrupted as well.
And for all that she had some of a healer’s capabilities, it obviously didn’t include the ability to treat infernal wounds, which Alex gathered very few could. Also, her peripheral meridians had been seared away, long ago. Alex sensed that the beneficent Qi circulating through her network of forged meridian channels radiated sufficient spiritual energy throughout her body to keep her flesh revitalized and whole, and perhaps, for most practitioners of hard disciplines, burning away the relatively weak, if left untrained, peripherals was the norm for Bronzes ascending to Silver.
Alex really wasn’t sure.
But there was one thing he was absolutely certain of. His Eternal Fox cultivation technique required intact peripheral meridian channels, acting as they did like a spiritual energy vascular system of sorts, synergizing with the human body’s own capillaries in such a way as to allow for the repair and regeneration of each and every cell within the practitioner’s body, to the point that even the wear and tear of aging could be reversed. Yet it absolutely required maintaining one’s peripheral network of meridian channels at peak condition to endure whatever trials the cultivator faced, and Alex knew already how agonizing it was to restore them. He didn’t wish that pain on anyone. But if Feng Huang was to have any chance at all...
“Alex?”
He turned to catch Hao Chan’s anxious gaze. “I’ll do what I can,” he promised.
Hao Chan’s smile was like the sun. “I know you will, hero.”
Ning Jing glared down at Alex’s tome. “This is no Bronze cultivation manual.”
“I never said it was.”
Her hard stare turned to a wry chuckle. “No. You didn’t, did you? I just assumed it had to be, considering that you claim to have written it yourself.” Her eyes grew haunted. “And you did. I could taste the soul of the young man who had forged it, forced to dive into that dream long enough to learn its most basic secrets. And the soul I tasted was your own. Your own soul is invested in this work, boy!”
Alex nodded, denying nothing. “It is. A portion of it, at least. The portion of my soul that Lai Leng’s terrible Doom Venom tore free of its moorings is fused to that tome. And my flesh and blood as well.” He flashed a bitter smile. “I guess you could say that tome really is a part of me.”
Ning Jing blinked. “Doom Venom is a forbidden art! It could kill even a Gold, if he lacked the skills to heal himself or get treatment in time. Any lesser cultivator would die the most horrific of deaths. And you’re saying you actually survived? A first tier Bronze?”
Alex flashed a humorless smile. “That was right before I ascended to Bronze, actually.”
Ning Jing shook her head. “You speak of impossibilities. And for anyone to use their own flesh and blood, their own soul in forging a tome? That’s beyond the province of any mortal work!”
“I know.”
The assassin paled. “You don’t even know what you’re saying!”
Alex shrugged. “Believe what you like.”
Jidihu brushed Ning Jing’s arm. “Do you think it’s safe?”
Haunted eyes locked with her former lover. “It is a terrifying thing finding yourself living the life of another, even for a few heartbeats of time. But did I feel like my soul was in peril of fading? No. Do I feel like my foundation was in danger of collapse?” She sighed, gazing thoughtfully at a hopeful-looking Yinzi. “No. No, it wasn’t. The flood of knowledge was… humbling. And I was free to embrace those lessons I sensed tickling my mind, or simply let the scenes flow through me like a play.” She paled. “I was not… brave enough to embrace the lessons wholeheartedly. If I had, I fear I would have undergone no small amount of pain, healing that which was lost long, long ago.”
Ning Jing flashed a bleak smile. “The techniques require a full set of peripheral meridian channels. Save for use in elite military units, I’ve never even heard of an advanced art that required such, and what use have I for a Basic cultivator’s techniques, no matter how skilled a soldier he might be?” She shook her head. “The more we grow in power, the more all those countless threads of potential seem utterly trivial compared to the rivers of Silver we strive to forge between our meridians. Th
us, few of us weep overmuch when we find our peripherals burnt to ash upon breaking through to Silver, the very few of us that can even ascend that far.”
Jidihu flashed a slight smile.
“Yes, I know yours are intact. And how many centuries were you striving for Silver, forced by dint of utterly substandard techniques to take the gentlest route to your eventual ascension?”
Jidihu turned what were now soft brown eyes to Alex, favoring him with the most gracious of nods. For all that Alex inferred she was centuries old, she looked, acted, and moved with the grace of an elite dancer in her mid-twenties.
“Alex?”
“Yes, Lady Jidihu?”
She grinned. “Jidihu is fine, dear.”
Alex grinned back. “Understood, Jidihu.”
“Do I have your permission to glean what insights I can from your most fascinating tome and make use of them as I see fit?”
Alex solemnly nodded. “So long as you have no intentions of striking out at myself or those I care about, I consider you a friend, and would love for you to get whatever benefit you can from my tome.”
Jidihu’s smile was radiant. “Thank you, Alex. I’ll try to be worthy of your friendship.” She flashed a playful wink. “And I’ll do my best not to kill anyone you know.”
“Um… thanks?”
“In the meantime, if you would be so gracious as to instruct my Yinzi in the basics of your art in the same way you instructed Hao Chan and Hao Yin? I would be extremely grateful.”
Alex bowed his head. “With pleasure.”
Jidihu turned to the others. “And I have no doubt my other students and fellow instructors would be all too happy to watch quietly, allowing you as much room as you need.”
Alex blinked, surprised by how quickly everyone gathered in two respectful rows at one end of the de-facto training ring, Jidihu herself expertly flowing to the front wagon to sit beside a cheerfully grinning Hao Lin who seemed at that moment more fae than mortal as he led the massive beasts through a realm as much spirit as real, infused with potent Heaven and Earth energy that Alex somehow knew would touch the boy so lightly he wouldn’t age a day, even if their carriage ride lasted for years.
Hao Chan grinned and whispered reassuring words into Yinzi’s human ear, though her shadow ears quivered with nervous excitement when she turned hopeful ruby eyes Alex’s way.
Alex smiled, sensing her sudden anxiety, at that moment as shy as any other student facing a course they weren’t sure they could handle.
“So, um… I guess it’s time to start?”
Alex smiled and nodded. “It is. And the core of our technique involves healing, learning to understand the flow of Light and Dark Qi through our bodies, and how we can channel both to heal and energize our cells.”
“Cells?”
Alex nodded. “The smallest pieces of flesh within our body that can exist independently of one another, at least for a short period of time. All the cells in our body connect to form the whole, like thousands of copper pipes connecting to form Yidushi’s water supply, or like all the individual pigments in a painter’s brush linking together to form a picture.”
Yinzi nodded. “I think I understand. But how will I practice healing myself if I’m uninjured?”
“First, you will watch me as I train body strengthening by pounding my limbs against wood and stone training pels. I will then heal the damage while inviting you to look closely and observe the flow of Qi through my body while doing so. It might take time, but eventually I think you will pick up the rudiments of this skill. But you won’t just observe, you will do. I will begin teaching you the basics of Golden Realms kung fu, and you will use Eternal Fox cultivation to restore weary muscles and repair the damage you suffer to fists, shins, and feet, before we continue our lessons.”
He flashed a smile more ruthless than gentle. “And we will continue in that vein until you’ve enjoyed several breakthroughs, or collapse in exhaustion, unable to continue.”
Alarmed eyes gazed her mother’s way.
Strangely, Ning Jing gave a nod of approval. “He will forge you in fire, daughter mine, and you can ask for no better path of instruction, so long as your instructor is truly concerned for your well-being, and not a closet sadist. And only a fool would doubt that Alex cares for you.”
Yinzi’s cheeks flushed at that.
“But Mom, I don’t know the first thing about...”
“Yes, you do, Yinzi. The kung fu we practice is quite similar to Alex’s own.”
Yinzi furrowed her brows when Alex slowly went through the basic forms Hao Yin had taught him, what now felt like a million years ago.
“That was Golden Realm kung fu?” Yinzi asked while Alex pulled a training pel out of storage, one of the very few he had made that had survived his breakthrough. Made out of twisted metal covered in toughened rawhide armor, it had been easy enough to bend back into the ideal shape in the ring where he could manipulate most inanimate objects to his whim, adding or subtracting heat and light as he saw fit. The one golden rule of his ring being he couldn’t take out more than he put in.
He had stretched that edict to the utmost, having grown an entire magnificent garden in his divine storage treasure, now filled with fruit and seeds and Qi-infused blossoms he could take out at will, so long as he continuously supplied bulk matter in the form of cold river water, soil, and the corpses of spirit beasts equal to the mass of the plants now growing within his ring.
Alex nodded, giving a grin of satisfaction as he carefully secured his once more intact training pel to the carriage. “I showed you the basic strikes and stances we’ll be using. Now you’ll see me practice the techniques on this pel.”
“But Alex, I already know this form!” Yinzi declared. “Well, the stance is slightly different, but the kicks and punches are what Mother and I practice almost daily! Though to be honest, I prefer keeping my targets at range. Pounding pels with my knees and shins like you and Mother do gets very painful after a while.”
“Which is why I’m teaching you my art,” said Alex. “Consider your desire to alleviate bruised muscles and abraded skin as extra motivation to learn just as diligently as you can, as fast as you can. Pain really does bring focus, especially in the highly controlled training sessions we’ll be embracing.” He flashed a smile meant to be reassuring before going back to slamming his shins against his training pel with such speed and force that the air seemed to crack like a whip with his blows.
And for all that he was pushing himself in the hopes that Yinzi would gain something from watching his powerful strikes and recovery, he couldn’t deny the fierce sense of exultation he felt while whipping his shin against the pel with bone-shattering force again and again, hitting faster, smoother, and far harder than he ever had before his breakthrough to Bronze.
He breathed deep, feeling air and spiritual energy both infusing his powerfully built frame, reveling, for just a moment, in how far he had come in a single year. So very different from the frightened, scrawny young man who had washed ashore either a handful of seasons or a thousand years ago.
He paused for just a few minutes to pull up his full character sheet, the last surviving remnant of his AI interface. It had proven incredibly useful in plotting his own future growth, allowing him to find solace in just how much he had achieved since awakening naked and alone in the bowels of a ship full of raiders intent on poisoning an entire city just seasons ago, or perhaps countless centuries before.
______________________________________________________
Alex Hammer
Class – Cultivator: Disciple of the Dual Path (Unlimited potential. This is a Divine path.)
Rank 1 Pristine Bronze Cultivation Achieved
Physical Characteristics
Strength - Bronze Rank 1 (20) (Relentless Resolve is now recognized as a core element of your path.)
Vitality - Bronze Rank 1 (21) (Eternal Resilience is now recognized as a core element of your path.)
Quickness - Bronze R
ank 1 (20) (Chaotic Unpredictability is now recognized as a core element of your path.)
Finesse - Bronze Rank 1 (20) (Mastery of Oneself is now recognized as a core element of your path.)
Spiritual Characteristics
Scholarship - 11 (Exceeds 62% of Population.)
Perception - 15 (Exceeds 95% of Population.)
Willpower - 16 (Exceeds 98% of Population.)
Qi Pool - 16 (All meridian gateways are open.)
Health Points: 310
Perks
Insightful – Rank 2
Charismatic – Rank 2
Favored Skills
Poison Spitting – Rank 4
Golden Realms Kung Fu – Rank 5: Adept status achieved! (This is a Tier 1 Basic martial art.)
White Crane Kung Fu – Rank 6: Adept status achieved! (This is a Tier 2 Bronze martial art.)
Silver Swan Kung Fu – Rank 5: Adept status achieved! (This is a Tier 3 Silver martial art.)
Qi Disciplines
Adderstrike – Rank 6 (Expanded Comprehension / Impact Invulnerability / Efficient Strike)
Bullrush – Rank 4 (6) (Instantly move 5-50 feet in any direction / Lightness / Maneuverability)
Wind Running – Rank 2 (Now you can race through the storm of Qi flowing all around you! Qi drain: significant, unless accessing a spirit pearl, beast core, or you are in the middle of an actual storm!)
Water Walking – Rank 2 (Now you can race upon waves, or ride the very raindrops in the air! Qi drain: minimal. Synergizes with Wind Running during stormy weather.)
Storm Flight – Rank 2 (You can now race across the heavens as fast as a phoenix, so long as the air is heavy with moisture, actual precipitation, or you can see storm clouds on the horizon! You are immune to all lightning strikes or adverse weather phenomena while embracing this discipline. Beware the sudden absence of humidity and precipitation or a cloudless sky, or your running might come to an unexpected conclusion!)
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior's Oath: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 4 Page 8
