Alex could just imagine Panheu nodding his approval. “And what better training could you ever ask for than that, disciple? Rejoice! For you now have an opportunity to hone the blade of your will to a killing edge, forced to refine yourself before a Silver who wants nothing more than to claim your head!” And Alex couldn’t help but agree. For all that his former master had nearly destroyed him twice over, Alex couldn’t deny that he had blossomed under the man’s ruthless tutelage.
Because nothing gave a man a killing edge quite like the crucible of combat, and nothing forced a warrior’s disciplined focus like keeping your cool before the killing gaze of another.
So he opened his eyes and embraced Xiao Shen’s hate-filled stare even as he choked back screams from reforging his peripherals in the flame of his own resolve.
Forged in fire indeed.
Willpower check made!
Eternal Fox skill check made!
Congratulations! You have restored all peripheral meridians to pristine condition!
Alex smiled, recalling the panicked look on Xiao Shen’s face when Bingwen had made his dire threat. For all that the fallen cultivator had roared promises of hideous punishment while Alex had been cultivating for countless hours, it was he that was glaring in desperation, and Alex who was smiling in perfect repose.
But Xiao Shen wouldn’t be Xiao Shen without trying to manipulate the situation. “It wears on you, doesn’t it, Ruidian? I heard your screams while you struggled to cultivate.” He chuckled coldly, nodding to himself, confident facade once more in place once Alex had slipped free of his meditative pose.
Thinking Alex hadn’t tasted his growing frustration, the cold hooks of fear clawing at the back of Xiao’s mind.
Xiao Shen chuckled coldly. “Very well, I will acknowledge it. You’re enough of a mongrel you can actually cultivate! That must be your secret. It would explain how you managed to best so many, tricking them into underestimating you before spitting rice wine in their faces and taking them unawares.”
Alex smirked. “A little rice wine and a strong right hook. That must be it. I guess you have me all figured out.” Of course it was absurd, and Xiao knew it, having witnessed Alex’s furious battle, a trial of skill and brutal endurance, and it was Alex, not Wu, who had survived the ordeal.
But Xiao only smirked, nodding his head. “Even so, Ruidian, you have damaged yourself. Severely. All but crippled your foundation, would be my guess, exposed to darkest shadow for so long. No matter your clever tricks, it has finally caught up with you. For you can no longer even cultivate without pain!” His eyes lit up with fierce satisfaction. “I know the signs, fool! Remember, I am the headmaster here, shepherding my own flock and all those self-righteous fools too stuck in their own pride to choose the wiser path. I know when a man’s foundation has cracked, and soon you will be unable to cultivate at all!”
It was everything Alex could do not to laugh in the man’s face, having only to look at the deadly cords of Fate and Shadow binding them to know that, for all his desperation, the man he faced could track him down effortlessly in the gloomy cavern before lacerating him with storms of steel and stone.
Still, something about his words...
Alex frowned, lowering his gaze.
Qi Perception check made!
Eyes widening when he truly began to sense what had before been only an ephemeral awareness, now seen with striking clarity, the complex weave of threads making up the dark fate curse linking Alex to the monster glaring such hate from beyond the barrier. A barrier that warded neither sound nor, it seemed, ongoing enchantments or spells, but Alex couldn’t help but feel a sudden surge of desperate hope. Because for all that the cord split off into a thousand different strands attaching to Alex like a fly caught in a web, he couldn’t help but notice areas where not a single strand bound him. Feet, hands, shins, and forearms.
Every piece of his body that he had successfully covered in Dark Qi was also free of that curse.
Insight check made!
And he couldn’t help but wonder just how far he could push a certain newly-learned skill. A skill he had put everything into bettering in the crucible of combat, having learned to fuse it in tandem with Light Qi strikes further powered by the force and fury of the storm. A deadly fusion of limitless possibility, and he felt almost as if he were on the cusp of something profound.
But with his enemy gazing at him so intensely...
Yet for all that Alex could feel his focus and ability to prosper under pressure growing, he thought he had revealed enough of himself to his enemy already.
But how delightful would it be if he could cloak his intentions in plain sight? Let his own reveal be the grandest deception of all?
He couldn’t help but imagine a certain mischief-minded inspector chuckling at the thought of him doing just that.
And it wasn’t like his enemy hadn’t already revealed what he most feared to be true.
“Impossible!” Alex roared. “My masters have already given me the key to overcoming any opponent, as Huang Kuong proved in the ring, as I proved here!”
He had taken a chance with those words, gambling on a certain former arena fighter’s popularity. And the look in Xiao Shen’s eyes made it clear his hunch was right.
“You speak of that bastard who dominated the ring, who destroyed several of my disciples before your true master lured so many of my chosen away with the promises of a quick path to power, as if alchemical cultivation could ever forge a true core!”
Xiao Shen’s face blotched with sudden fury. “That’s how you were able to break my disciples! That’s how you were able to prepare yourself for what awaited you! You’re Lai Leng’s creature, and you have been all along! He fed you his vile brews, just like he did Huang Kuong, and sent you here to destroy my disciples, didn’t he? I knew you were his creature! I knew you were his pawn!”
Alex’s laughter was mocking and cold. “How well everyone was fooled by Master Leng and Master Panheu’s antics. The whole world thought them foes, so none expected it when Lai Leng helped my master ascend to Gold!” Alex’s icy smile only grew at the look of horror on his enemy’s face. “That’s right, worm. Look into my eyes. Taste the truth in the air! Lai Leng proved to be the golden key we needed to defeat the stupid fool roaring his madness above, and has set me upon a path of power the likes of which you can’t even conceive! How else do you think I was able to butcher all your pawns so easily?”
Then Alex crashed to the ground, began shaking as if in palsy, biting through his own lip and spraying the ground with his blood.
Xiao’s look of horror became one of exultation. “That is why, fool! That is why I counseled my disciples and my students to ignore that mad alchemist’s enticements! The potions Lai Leng gives to force quick ascension are poison. Even his strongest concoctions have vital flaws only a fool would ignore, and the gruel he gives to Basic cultivators are as likely to burn open your channels and destroy your base as cleanse your meridians! He cares nothing for how many young idiots he breaks, so long as he can form his coterie of foolish lackeys who have forsaken cultivation texts entirely and rely on him alone for their advancement, limiting themselves for all time!”
With those words, Xiao Shen revealed a teacher’s genuine concern for his students, showcasing the noble mentor that perhaps he once had been.
Before becoming so entrapped by the dark intrigues and underhanded treachery at Dragon Academy that he had been forced to this hellish prison of a school, and so filled with rage and desperation that he had embraced the blackest of rites, just to avoid the steady decay of everything he had worked so hard to achieve.
For just a heartbeat, Alex felt sympathy for the man.
No one knew better than Alex the vile nature of the festering swamp of corruption rotting away in Yidushi’s most sacred institution. An infestation Alex could only hope his mentor would burn away with a cleansing, ruthless flame.
Had it not been for the desperate, collared Ruidians that Xiao h
ad cavalierly consigned to the most horrific of deaths, had it not been for the constant stream of adventurers this monster of a man had disarmed, deceived, and, for at least a few, ultimately enslaved... but no. Xiao Shen had made his choice. Dark and bitter as the path before him had been, Xiao and Xiao alone was responsible for his own horrific actions.
Responsible for Alex even being here. Responsible for whatever dire fate had claimed his newest companions.
And for those crimes, there could be only one outcome.
Alex groaned, curling into a ball.
“You’re dying, fool! Do you understand that? Whatever foul potion Lai Leng gave you, your superhuman strength is coming at the cost of your cultivation base! Surrounded by waste and shadow, your corrosion is inevitable! It is over, Alex! Do you understand? Your death, your utter destruction, is inevitable!”
And then, of all things, Xiao’s furious countenance transformed to one of icy calm.
“I can save you.”
Alex blinked, unable to believe what he was hearing. “What?”
“I can save you, Alex. Save you from Lai Leng’s poisons, save you from the darkness even now saturating your pores, tainting your soul.” Xiao’s gaze hardened. “Your masters care nothing for you. They sent you on a suicide mission to taunt and hinder me. Which, admittedly, you have. They knew you couldn’t actually succeed. They knew that whatever happened, their poisons would destroy you in the end, no matter how glorious your temporary ascension.”
His gaze turned thoughtful. “Yet still, did you not have potential, considerable potential, there is no other way you could have ever bested multiple Bronzes just a half-step from transcendence, all of my favored disciples doomed to wilt by my side.” His jaw clenched. “Disciples you killed. Yet still, nothing proves worth more than the crucible of combat. And to survive as you have... yes. This has merit. This alone permits forgiveness.”
Xiao Shen gave a stern nod with a certain warmth in his eye, like a headmaster finally giving his approval to a wayward student who had proven himself at last.
“I will consent to allowing you to live. In fact, should you surrender your ring immediately, I will do more than just allow you to leave with your broken body and the clothes on your back. I will show you a true path to power that will never betray you like Lai Leng’s has. I will show you a path of pristine clarity that will lead to power you can scarce comprehend! Power to blossom in the darkness, to crush your enemies with a core that only grows stronger with exposure to corruption, never weaker! A path that will lead to dark glories none of the fools back at the academy who consigned us both to death could even dream of! And that will be just the first step. You and I, together, will find Lai Leng’s other broken students, his other victims, and together we will forge the heart of a dark academy of loyal disciples who will one day challenge Dragon Academy itself for greatness!”
Alex blinked, surprised to see such zealous sincerity in the man’s gaze.
In that moment, despite their deadly dance of words, Alex knew the man wasn’t lying. Knew, in fact, that Xiao Shen meant every word he said.
In the darkest, most twisted fashion imaginable, this madman thought to redeem all of Dragon Academy’s cast-off pawns and forge something new, something their enemies could never touch, no matter how dark their path might be.
And Alex would be lying if he didn’t admit that a tiny part of his soul, embittered by his own trials, couldn’t sympathize with the mad dream of it, rebelling against the callous world that had treated them both so poorly.
But the cost in lives was a price Alex would never be willing to pay.
Yet Xiao had seen the momentary flicker in Alex’s eyes. “Yes. You know exactly what I mean, don’t you, Alex? A Ruidian with the impossible gift of cultivation, and how they must have made you suffer for it in Headmaster Bingwen’s accursed academy! Forever pushing you to the brink of destruction, until the very man who promises you salvation gives you a poison that is even now killing you!”
Alex lowered his gaze. Had things gone just a little bit differently... “No!” Alex clenched his fists. “I can still cultivate. I can still heal this. Lai Leng has taught me more than you could possibly...”
He then screamed, pushing himself like he never had before, under the hawk-like gaze of the man peering so closely for weakness, for vulnerability, only to see Alex immediately crumpling to the ground after being coated entirely by inky darkness, now huddled in a sobbing broken ball.
“It’s not too late,” urged the one-time teacher. “It’s not too late to heal the damage done. But soon it will be. You do understand that, don’t you, Alex?”
Alex said nothing, but did nothing to hide the shakes he endured, after straining his meridians to the breaking point yet again.
“I can save you, Alex. If you’ll let me.”
Alex swallowed, forcing his gaze to meet Xiao’s own. “You’re tricking me. You have to be. I... I killed your men.” Alex squeezed his eyes shut. “Strong men. Good men. Men who might have been my friends, had I met them in any world save this one.”
Xiao gave a sad nod of his head, which Alex could now sense once more, even with his eyes closed. “It’s true. They were good men. At least you can sense that much. And though you might not believe it right now, redemption is possible. There are dozens of damaged young cultivators out there, broken cast-offs of the mad policies at Dragon Academy. Young men and women with shattered hearts crowned in bitter tears of their own despair that could be forged into soldiers worthy of their cast-off dreams. Soldiers worthy of the men you yourself brought low.”
Soft, inviting words caressed Alex’s ears. “Don’t you see, Alex? Redemption, salvation, neither is beyond your grasp. All you need to do is surrender whatever cursed ring Panheu gave you to steal our library. Surrender it, and let me put all back in its place. We’ll placate the bastard of a headmaster who will claim whatever tomes he needs to heal his damaged core and be all too happy to leave us to our fates, never to return, terrified of spending a second longer than he has to in the taint that will become our home! And then, Alex, that library will serve as the cornerstone of our own great work as we bring all the world’s lost sheep into the fold, forging our disciples into cultivators beyond compare!”
Alex swallowed, no longer shying away from the man’s gaze. “Are you serious? But I thought... I thought you hated my kind.”
The man sighed, shaking his head. “In truth, I regret the callous shortsightedness that had possessed me earlier. Your kind has powerful talents, and you yourself have proven that even cultivation is not outside the realm of what your tribe is capable of. So, let me offer you this gesture of good faith. No more adventurers will we collar, and we collared far fewer than you might think. And from now on, we shall split the jewels they harvest on an even basis with each and every one of them, and none will leave with anything but sheer joy at serving our temple. Most importantly, any cultivators so desperate and without contacts or resources as to actually dare the taint itself we will seek to persuade to join our coven, so that they never need fear taint or darkness in the warm bosom of their new family. Of course, they can then harvest to their heart’s content!”
Alex dared to nod. “That... that’s not a terrible offer. But don’t we need sacrifices if we’re going to make fresh pacts with the dark?”
Xiao chuckled at that, flashing a warm smile. “No need to worry about that, my friend. The world is filled with countless billions of peasants and farmers. It will be nothing to harvest handfuls when needed, while causing no real harm to the natural order of things. They do breed like rabbits, after all, and we will hunt with the understanding that no Ruidian village need fear the taste of our scythes at harvest ever again. From this day forward, your kind will experience only sweetest satisfaction at this academy, savoring pleasure maidens and wealth as they adventure at our behest, harvesting prizes we will share in an alliance those fools in Yidushi would be loath to even contemplate!”
Alex si
ghed, flashing a pained smile. “I so want to believe you. You cannot believe how much I would love to put this fierce, bloody year behind me...”
“I can imagine, friend Alex. I truly can. And you can believe me. In fact, I will, without reservation, give you my Cultivator’s Oath that I have spoken only the truth. Should you surrender without reservation whatever vessel you used to steal away our library, should it in fact still contain that sacred repository of knowledge, and should it slake Headmaster Bingwen’s spiteful wrath... I will welcome you as a Brother of the Mountain, and together we will find and forge new recruits as we walk a path of dark glory in honor of all those we have so tragically lost.”
Alex nodded. “I believe you. In this moment, tasting the sincerity of your words, I believe you.”
Xiao flashed the warmest of smiled. “Well then, friend Alex...”
“But you already fooled me once before, gatekeeper, and I am loath to play the fool yet again.”
The warm gaze hardened.
“How do I know this—Shadow Pact, is it?—doesn’t permit you to break your Cultivator’s Oath? How do I know you will suffer any penalty at all?”
Xiao demeanor instantly cooled. “If you’ll recall, Alex, even then, even when I had no idea of your power, your potential, even when all I wanted was to claim the bounty upon your head, I still kept my word. For all that we goaded you into multiple fights that should have spelled your end... you prospered. And we neither poisoned your food, tainted your water, or trapped you in your quarters.”
He flashed an oddly approving smile. “You played the game as well as any Dragon Academy disciple. I am almost not surprised you managed to survive this long, despite your unfortunate heritage. In fact, Alex, despite the bounty, had you seen through my trap and not been so eager to steal the prizes that you have, you would be adventuring with your friends in the caverns even now, recovering shadow cores and making a hefty profit while doing so!”
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior's Oath: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 4 Page 42
