Alex shrugged. “The more I learn, the more I realize I’ve no right to judge anyone.” he said. Except the asshole below us, he thought.
22
Not a word was said about the night before when Alex awoke at first light, Hao Lin quickly tending to the horses, his soft whispers, pats, and encouraging apples obtained from the boon of ripe fruit rich in spiritual energy gathered the night before meant the oxen-sized work horses were trundling along the Trade Road before more than a few shafts of light had pierced the canopy overhead, the crunch of the steel-rimmed wheels against the ground an odd counterpoint to the smacking of shin against shin, flesh against bone.
Hao Chan was wincing before the first hour was over, her powerful legs showing the marks of repeated blows struck not just upon Alex’s equally sore flesh, but upon the pell tightly wrapped in rawhide that Alex had carefully fastened and secured in place just beyond the carriage rooftop training ring, artfully tying off the ropes so as to not interfere with straight line or angled kicks while still protecting them from tumbles off the wagon. He refused to answer the raised eyebrows of his friends, having only asked that they close their eyes before bringing it forth. He didn’t worry so much about Hao Zei or Sun Sun below. It had gotten to the point where the merchant refused even to leave the carriage save for an hour or so at night, and whether it was fear or for darker reasons, Alex hardly saw the man at all.
Hao Yin gazed wide-eyed at the pell when her cousin, wincing from her injuries, immediately began embracing the technique she had gained a sense of so quickly after her breakthrough moment.
While she simultaneously healed and continued to walk the path of the Eternal Fox, embracing the lessons so she never forgot that wonderful feeling of Qi flowing and nurturing her cells, Alex switched to instructing a fiercely intent Hao Yin how to strike with ever greater power and control.
He gave her a gentle nod of approval when the panting kitsune girl all but collapsed, before blinking and looking up at Hao Chan who had just spent the last half hour striking the pell, knuckles and shins already looking sore. And now she and Alex would train once more.
“Now it’s your turn, Hao Yin,” Alex softly said.
Hao Yin swallowed and blinked. “But, hitting that thing over and over again with my fists, forearms, and shins is...” she winced. “I’d rather spar with you.”
Alex nodded. “And you will. After you strike the pell, just like we taught you. After you then rest and regain your strength, learning to embrace the Eternal Fox body cultivation technique, your exhaustion and pain pushing your spirit to make the breakthrough necessary to restore your flesh and recover your Qi.”
The girl flashed an anxious smile. “But Alex, I still don’t get it!”
Alex breathed deep of air that was almost magical in its potency, gazing with renewed wonder at the sun shining brilliantly from between the rustling branches overhead. “For some reason, I think it’s going to click for you pretty fast,” he assured. “Challenging as it’s been, this is a special trip. I don’t think we’ll ever experience anything quite like this, ever again.”
He just smiled into the girl’s confused expressions, he and Hao Chan quickly picking up where they had left off. His smile only grew as he countered his friend’s increasingly graceful blows, sensing how the entire system of strikes and counters he had been taught was now being absorbed in turn by the girl before him.
He couldn’t help smiling with awe at how fast she was learning and growing.
How fast they all were, it turned out, as Alex slowly began to learn the spinning kicks and crane strikes that were so flashy, fluid, and deadly, and the heart of the Silver Swan style of fighting. Or dancing, Alex thought, taking in as well as he could his friend’s metaphor about flowing like water from one movement to the next as they continued to push themselves to their absolute limits.
When Hao Chan asked what he had meant by this being a special time for them later that day, it was only when he lay collapsed on the wagon rooftop, his thighs burning as he struggled to master the combination of low, middle, and high reverse roundhouse kicks before springing forward with an axe kick that had left him flat on his face and growling, his friend’s laughter washing over him, he smiling as well.
He had only laughed off her question, not quite sure how to put his profound insight into words.
For he could feel the gentle caress of the sun’s heavenly energy warming him from above.
And the dark, brooding, infernal taint below.
Three young cultivators flowing forward inexorably through space and time. Each moment precious, eternal, and forever lost.
Even as they sailed through the living dream that was the primal forest itself, all of them on the cusp of something incredibly profound.
Sailing seas between Heaven and Hell, pushing inexorably forward as they raced through their mortal lives.
Hours passing with the intensity of days.
And as one day flowed into another, Alex now defending himself in full earnest against the furious deadly girl who had learned his techniques so well in a week that her deadly fists struck with a power far beyond his of just months ago, her dancer’s grace and speed allowing her to flip him over with such ease, and kick with such power, that he couldn’t help laughing in rue and pride when she flipped him on his back once more, knowing he had met his match.
Congratulations, you have learned the fundaments of an advanced martial technique. Silver Swan Kung Fu is now Rank 1!
Your kung fu siblings have grown under your tutelage! The flow of spiritual energies both divine and corrupt have propelled your mortal coils through the seas of eternity far faster than the days passing by. Spiritual Teacher is now Rank 2.
Flashing a rueful grin, he bowed when she helped him back to his feet, all of them ignoring the furious curses from below that erupted whenever their falling bodies smacked against the carriage rooftop.
“You’ve taken everything I had to teach in just two weeks, and made it your own. I’m impressed. More than impressed. I’m amazed. At this point, any drills you want to practice, just use the training dummy. All I can offer you now is the benefit of sparring against a live opponent.”
Hao Chan flashed an impish smile, her graceful bow only highlighting her elegance and supernatural grace. “The student thanks her master. I mean it, Alex, you’ve taught me a lot.” Her delicate brows furrowed. “And don’t think you’re getting out of Silver Swan practice. Those kicks are finally flowing naturally for you, and you’ve finally gotten the reach, now that you’re combining Eternal Fox technique with stretches.”
Alex winced, remembering all too well how painful it had been, spending hours each evening stretching joints and ligaments as far as they would go, then using his Eternal Fox technique to heal micro tears and push himself harder and harder, all of them learning the trick of not just speedy recovery, but rapidly enhanced growth, as long as they were willing to work with frightful intensity, every hour of every day.
But the rewards of learning to flex and stretch his legs had been worth it, even if it was still a far cry from what the beautiful girl before him could accomplish, Alex never having found kicking as fluid and natural as he did now. And what he had felt the other day…
He bowed a second time. “I think I owe you an apology,” he solemnly said. “To be honest, I feared your style of fighting was overly flashy. No jerking movements, no quick thrusts or darting. Rather, everything is so circular, one movement flowing into the other like, well, a dance.”
Hao Chan smirked at that.
“But earlier today, for just a moment, I felt it.”
Hao Yin stopped training on the pell, tilting her head curiously, her adorable foxlike ears pivoting their way. “Felt what?”
Alex grinned back at the kitsune girl, already impressed by how her muscles had gained definition, her strikes now smacking the pell with surprising power, for all that it had only been a week.
A week that had raced through their live
s like a solid month, maybe an entire season, the intensity of their golden cultivation as profound as if they had trained upon the wagon roof for an entire year.
Alex tilted his head, trying to describe the awesome flow of power surging through him, as if his legs had been lashing out with the force and fury of the waves themselves. Fluid and yet utterly resilient. Impossibly deadly.
Water and Steel joined in one deadly package.
“I think I felt it,” he said. “I think I felt, for just a heartbeat, the flow of Qi racing down my spine, through my legs. In those moments my legs weren’t striking with the power of my muscles alone. Rather, it was my Qi.” He frowned. “If that makes sense.”
Hao Chan smiled. “I think you’re finally beginning to understand.” She sighed. “Not that we can access more than a trickle of Silver Swan’s true potential yet, but tapping into the power of the crashing sea, flowing past our opponent’s strikes as we coordinate all our blows, yes, that’s the heart of it.”
Alex and Chan gave satisfied nods when the carriage came to a stop beneath yet another grove of wild apple trees with fruit tasting more tart, sweet, and crunchy than any cultivated apple Alex had ever savored in his previous life, young Hao Lin having developed the incredible knack of always knowing just where to stop for the night, as if the clearings themselves called out to him with all their delicious secrets, horses never happier, it seemed, than when under his care.
“Your brother really has a gift,” Alex commended Hao Yin, who blushed and nodded.
“I know. I’m just amazed. Every day he seems to understand the horses a bit better, push them a bit harder.” she frowned, shaking her head. “But it goes deeper. He now seems to have a sense of the forest itself.”
Hao Chan nodded. “Ever since we reduced ourselves to this single carriage and left all wagoneering and camp sites in your brother’s hands, no spirit beast has troubled us.” She flashed a beatific smile. “It’s like he’s more connected to these lands than ever.” She peered thoughtfully at her now sleekly-muscled cousin. “And as much as you hate pell-work, training with that dummy and Alex’s secret technique afterwards has definitely been good for you, cousin.”
Hao Yin flushed and lowered her head. “I guess it has made a difference,” she admitted. “And Alex? I think, I think I finally understand at least some of what you’re trying to teach me every day. It’s like a flow of white light, but on the inside. And when I let it tickle through me, my hands and feet start to feel so much better.”
Alex raised an eyebrow. “Tickle through you?”
The young woman nodded, pointing to her side. “Mostly right there,” she said, pointing to a spot just under one of her ribs.
Soul Sight in use.
Alex’s eyes widened. “Hao Yin?”
“Yes?”
“You do know that’s where your second meridian channel is, right?” He frowned. “At least, on you.”
Her eyes widened. “I… wait, you’re right. Could your technique actually be affecting my meridian blockages? But this is a body cultivation technique! How could that possibly be?”
Alex blinked as it all clicked. “This technique was derived from a meridian rejuvenation technique called Golden Realms Meridian Restoration. I’d better teach that to you as well. Just to keep things balanced. And... well… just consider the name of the technique.”
“The Eternal Fox. And my cousin’s a kitsune!” Hao Chan’s eyes widened. She peered intently at Alex. “And our teacher’s a Ruidian.”
Alex smirked, refusing to meet their gazes. “Alright, that settles it. After your cousin and I spar, we’re going over the rejuvenation technique I know. It’s normally used for repairing damaged meridians, rare as that hopefully is, but maybe combined with the Eternal Fox...”
“I can use it!” Hao Yin whispered. “Even though the purification techniques my former masters tried to teach me caused me nothing but pain, maybe this will help!”
Alex blinked, thinking of Liu Li. “Wait, your techniques caused you pain?”
The kitsune girl nodded. “Even if you haven’t broken through to Bronze, it’s best to only cleanse your meridians using techniques aligned to your elements, otherwise, odd pressures develop that slow down your cultivation growth and might even injure you.” She sighed, ears flattening. “And every technique my teachers had me embrace caused me nothing but pain. They let me go not out of cruelty, but concern. If I had forced myself any harder, I might have become a broken cultivator.”
Her crestfallen expression flowed into a grateful smile. “But your body cultivation technique doesn’t hurt at all. It actually feels good! But like, well, like an itchy scab I desperately want to peel off. But it doesn’t hurt at all!”
Alex forced a smile. “I’m glad to hear that. But why didn’t you just use the Cleansing Breath purification technique? That’s a general technique, a Light Qi technique, right? Forgive me if I’m missing the obvious, but aren’t white techniques non-specialized? They can be used with anyone with any type of Qi?”
Hao Yin frowned. “I’ve never heard of that one.”
For some reason, Hao Chan was looking at him strangely. “During the four years I apprenticed under my master, we had students come in with all sorts of backgrounds, with many different strengths, for all that master’s techniques will do you no good if Water is not your affinity, or at least one of your affinities. And I’ve never heard of that technique. Not once.”
Alex blinked. “Never? How strange. The way my master spoke of it...” He shrugged. “Never mind.” He chuckled ruefully. “Too bad I barely know it myself! I don’t think I’d make a very good teacher for it. But fortunately, my meridian restoration technique is also non-specialized, and I know it well.”
They smiled happily when Hao Lin brought up a half-full kettle of spirit beast meat stew he had prepared for them, all of them happily digging in before Alex and Chan shared a nod, headed out into the clearing, and sparred in absolute earnest, refining their techniques and reinforcing clean, perfect flips and throws now that they weren’t subconsciously fearing flipping each other off the wagon like they had to during the day. Fortunately, they were disturbed by neither spirit beast nor merchant that night, the rotund man now avoiding them as much as he could, wasting time neither on breakfast nor lunch, and if he thought he was somehow punishing the wards under his care, no doubt eating his own stores in private, he couldn’t be more wrong.
Alex and his friends flourished on one large evening meal a day, knowing better than to question the ever-full pitcher of clean clear water Alex always had on hand, thanks to sleight of hand and his divine artifact, nor did they ever dare speak of the backpack ever-full of apples and whatever else he needed, his friends guessing some of his secrets while remaining completely oblivious to his most vital ones, just as he had hoped would be the case.
And the way Hao Chan smiled into his eyes that night when a stunned Alex found himself breathless and straddled quite took his breath away.
But what froze him to the quick when she held his amber eyes with his own was the sense of impending doom he felt, the longer she held his gaze, her breath now mingling with his own.
Heart hammering, he squeezed his eyes shut, sensing her sad little sigh.
The choice was his, he knew that.
Just as he knew that if they surrendered to each other in that heartbeat in time, their dance would be over before it had even begun.
He swallowed, hating the bitter truth of it, but there it was.
Fate had revealed its card the second her lips touched his own.
Potential surrendered, the sweetest prize claimed.
And a part of him wanted to take it. Wanted to take this beautiful girl in his arms and dash off for the woods and savor all of her secrets.
But he knew, somehow, she wasn’t ready.
That it would shatter something sacred and precious.
Something that should never be broken until she had reached Silver in truth.
/> An impossible goal less than 1 in 100,000 or perhaps 1 in a million could reach.
But there it was.
And as much as he hungered for her, there was another girl whose brilliant silver-green eyes called to his heart, for all that WiFu himself had warned their union would be the most unlikely of destinies. Still, it gave him just enough strength to pull back, to understand the choice before him.
Though his gut clenched, he forced his eyes open, gazing into the soft amber eyes of a girl he did cherish, and even with a piece of is heart already claimed, could easily grow to love.
But he knew it would cost her.
“You can’t before Silver,” he softly said.
She blinked, stiffened and paled, abruptly lurching back.
Embarrassment was written all over her features. “How did you know?”
Alex winced, swallowed, turning around to spare her dignity, dealing with his own hungers as well as he could. “A skill called Soul Sight. It sometimes helps me see flashes of a creature’s weakness. What makes them tick. It’s how I was able to take down that spirit bull. But it’s only at the first rank, so it only works, well, once in a blue moon.” He couldn’t help smiling at the very blue moon shining down on them that night.
The girl behind him sighed. “So I’m a beast to you now? Granted, what we almost did… gods, I’m a fool.”
Alex adamantly shook his head. “You’re the farthest thing from a beast. You’re a beautiful woman who I cherish. Even adore. But if I truly care, the last thing I would want to do is break you before you can truly blossom. And sometimes my odd little skill lets me read people I’m close to, spend a lot of time with, complex and intricate as the Qi flows in a cultivator are. But honestly, it’s just a gut hunch I’m working with right now.”
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Reforged: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 2 Page 29
