Lai Leng’s gaze hardened. “Win it all back at those absurd odds? The last aspirant was a half-step away from Bronze. You could almost taste the fire, and that bizarre Ruidian actually bested him!”
“Using nothing more than martial techniques,” Panheu reminded. “Like any skilled barbarian our soldiers might one day face, and his opponent was both a swordsman and a fool, thinking his limited unarmed techniques and a cultivator’s physique would see him past a Ruidian forged in fire far hotter than any Qi technique!”
He chuckled softly at his own jest, shaking his head. “The aspirant should never have expected his opponent to give him time to focus barely-glimpsed aspects of Fire. Whatever success he had, keeping gentle masters at bay at the point of his sword when he focused, proved to be worthless when forced to fight before he could summon a trickle of fire, with nothing but his naked fist to keep his foe at bay.”
Panheu gazed down reflectively at the broken boy being carried away. “Far better for the aspirant to be humbled with a shattered jaw, ruined face, and a wrenched neck here, healers just feet away more than capable of healing him, than of a broken neck on the battlefield. Here, he has the luxury of learning from the bitter cost of failure, to appreciate the folly of relying only on cultivation, and ignoring all tactics and technique. Lessons so many fools learn only in time for the next life, which they forget yet again as soon as they are reborn, crying out their final soon-to-be-forgotten humiliations from between their mother’s legs.”
He gave an almost-approving nod. “I believe our students and aspirants are learning many fine lessons this afternoon, and if the fire-swordsman learns to relish the bitter, he might actually have a shot at surviving the next ten years of his life.”
“Double or nothing!” the alchemist snarled, seated once more, to the relieved sighs of his fellow judges, and the animated speculations of the crowd.
Alex blinked, realizing he was still standing there like a fool, and quickly sat down and began embracing his Eternal Fox technique with his lidded eyes half-open, embracing the bitter as he focused his healing, ears tingling with all the whispers he heard.
“Fourfold or nothing!” Panheu countered, eyes alight with sudden heat. “You’ve done everything you can to break that boy. He’s endured five battles already! And don’t think I don’t know about the whip your pawn used on him either.”
The alchemist paled at those words.
Panheu smiled. “But of course, all misunderstandings can and should be forgiven after totals are tallied and ledgers cleared. There should be no outstanding balance...”
“And no grudge suffered,” hissed the alchemist. “Fine! Four to one on twenty. If I win, we’re clear.”
Panheu grinned. “And if I win, you’re out a clean hundred, plus our earlier side bet.” His pale blue gaze hardened. “Make sure you don’t over extend, Lai Leng. I desire neither your clan’s debt, nor your personal animosity. I will not blood-duel our school’s favored alchemist over something so petty as a bet.”
“I can cover it. Many times over!” the outraged alchemist hissed.
Panheu chuckled softly. “That’s what I like to hear.”
Hot angry eyes glared out into the crowd. “Five hundred gold. Five hundred gold and my personal sponsorship for the strongest among you, only the strongest, to take down that Ruidian bastard!” Lai Leng’s fists clenched so tightly Alex’s oddly-enhanced perception could see the veins pop. “But only the strongest! Should you prove weak, you will gain my animosity. But to the victor go the spoils! You will find my favor no small thing within the halls of the greatest cultivation academy in all of Cuijing! The entire principality reveres our might, and the strongest among you, with my patronage, will reach the stars!”
Yet even with such a bold declaration, the crowd was utterly silent. No one took the offer.
“A thousand gold crowns and my personal sponsorship!”
Alex could sense just a hint of desperation in the man’s gaze before Alex closed his eyes and slumped over, spitting out a gob of waste and bile that his Eternal Fox technique had brought to the fore.
For all intents and purposes, spitting up blood.
The crowd’s deathly silence broke out in excited murmurs.
“He’s collapsed.”
“Did he really just faint? He looked fine, a minute ago. Well, except for the broken nose, teeth, and all the blood.”
“Well, he did survive five fights in less than two days, three of them back to back, right? Probably bleeding like hell inside.”
“The poor fool’s burned his reserves. Now’s the time to claim the prize!”
But it still took time. Time for the crowd to build up their nerve after what Alex had done to the last man who faced him.
A current was now in the air. A charge Alex could have diffused almost effortlessly, had he forced himself back to his feet and smiled coldly at the wide-eyed students.
But he just lay there, breathing shallowly, pouring all his focus into healing what he could, as fast as he could, knowing he had only minutes at best.
Counting on it.
And then the inevitable happened, a voice rang clearly through the crowd.
“I’ll take that bet! I’m one of the strongest contestants this year, Master Alchemist!”
“Excellent, lad!” crowed Lai Leng. “One of the few not striped the yellow of cowardice! What is your name, boy?”
“Peng Qiang, sir!”
Lai Leng chuckled coldly. Alex could feel his glare even as he forced his eyes open, slowly rising back to his feet to face the powerfully-built young man with the youthful features and a hungry smile. “Then break this wounded fox! Snap his legs and throttle him for the mockery he has made of this college! Beat him until he sobs like the mewling wretch he is, and show no mercy until he is dead by your hands!”
Peng Qiang swallowed, jerking a nod. “I will secure the win, sir!” The gaze that was directed at Alex was determined, but free of malice as he limbered his body, stretching arms back and rotating his head.
Alex kept his head tilted slightly down, breathing ragged, refusing even to meet the youth’s gaze as one of the judges raised a bell. “The fight will now commence!” he said, the match proceeding with a gong.
The crowd was silent, breathless with anticipation. The youth before Alex was a cautious fighter, despite his bulky frame, arms raised and feet separated in the Muay Thai-like style that was Golden Realms kung fu, and Alex knew he faced a serious contender.
Alex hid his smile even as he coughed and spat more blood, recalling all the rueful chuckles he had shared with Hao Chan when she had exploited the weaknesses of his fighting stance only after she had incorporated the best elements with her own Silver-ranked style.
“Well, finish him!” roared the hot-eyed alchemist, glaring down at the circling Peng Qiang who tried to shake away the words and just focus on getting the measure of a barely-moving Alex, whose back leg seemed almost to be dragging as he just barely kept pace with the slowly-circling cultivator.
Lai Leng looked less than pleased. “The fool is injured. Don’t play the coward! Don’t wait for him to recover like he has every time before. Kill him now and secure your fortune!”
Peng Qian shot an exasperated glare at the elevated seating shared by three hungry-looking judges and one strangely concerned-looking Panheu. “I need to take his measure! I don’t trust...”
Find Weakness skill check made! Finesse check made: critical success!
And that was when Alex struck.
Throwing off his aura of exhausted stupor like the cloak it was, back leg carefully cocked and tingling with the intense buildup of Qi-infused energy his cultivation technique had been focusing on, leaving the surface injuries alone to aid in his disguise.
But the subtle injuries to torn ligament and sinew he had suffered earlier had been pristinely repaired by the time he twisted and spun around with a whipping grace that was such a poor imitation of Hao Chan’s Silver Swan, for all the
hours he had diligently practiced. Yet it was executed skillfully enough for his extended leg to whip out with all its deadly momentum, catching Peng Qiang in his blind spot, just as he turned his focus for a mere half-second on the infuriating alchemist.
And the crack of Alex’s instep against flesh could be heard through the arena. Different from the shin strikes he favored, but one of the strike points Hao Chan’s deadly whipping attacks worked so well with.
But his opponent was no fool, for all that he stumbled, suddenly off balance, having raised his forearm to ward just in time to protect his neck.
And the agonized rictus of a grin plastered on the challenger’s face conveyed what Alex already knew. Whether it was radius or ulna, he had cracked bone with the blow.
His opponent sent a rueful chuckle Alex’s way while hissing with pain. “I thought you might be bluffing!”
Peng Qiang tried to back away, but a roaring Alex refused to give up the initiative, refused to let up for even a moment, lashing out with tiger fists and knife hand strikes and repeated shin kicks just above the hip of an increasingly-flustered Peng Qiang’s injured side, forcing his opponent to defend at least in part with his broken forearm before the now-snarling cultivator was forced to drastically shift his stance almost like a fencer, leading with left jabs and snapping kicks, presenting only his side to his opponent.
Perfect for fencing with jian or rapier, but it left the back of his knees wide open to the powerful sweep kick that sent Alex’s foe crashing to his knees. And before Peng Qiang could turn and pivot, before he could even cry out for mercy, Alex was already whipping around with a spinning hook kick that slammed into the man’s neck with deadly force.
It would have broken the neck of any mortal, and Peng Qiang collapsed with a wheeze.
Alex glared down at the young man gazing up at him with terrified eyes, his foot raised for a fatal heel stomp. “Yield and surrender your purse, or die.”
“No!” roared Lai Leng. “I cry foul. I cry foul! He struck when the boy was taking counsel. The Ruidian loses by default. The Ruidian loses by default!”
The crowd gazed up breathlessly at the judges’ podium where the silver-haired Panheu had made himself welcome, chuckling even now. “He loses by default you say? As if this were a typical match, where no free man would be forced to fight past his endurance, where our young disciple has already fought three times in a row without rest? A disciple to whom no grace or courtesy was extended when he lay collapsed on the ground, spitting blood? A disciple you counseled your own champion to kill with extreme prejudice?”
Gentle laughter became cold and mocking. “No, Lai Leng. This was no match. No friendly sportsmanlike contest. This was a death match, a trial of war! Your words were meaningless and pointless and served only as a distraction. There could be only one outcome, and you know it! Death to Alex or the death or surrender of his opponent. There was no middle ground. No tie or draw that can be used as an excuse to whip a Ruidian you despise to within an inch of his life. Before us on the sands below, there is only the purity of the battlefield where the arts of war can be honed to a killing edge, where the crucible of battle forges the only techniques that matter, those that keep you alive to wage another battle, another war!”
He flashed a smile down at Alex who had claimed his opponent’s purse only after kicking out both his arms, leaving his foe splayed and helpless before him. “And the Ruidian has done a remarkable job, hiding his strength in feigned weakness before striking in the very instant his opponent was least prepared, as all the best generals aspire to do!”
Almost as if on cue, Alex caught the furious alchemist’s eyes and smiled, holding his prized jade chip worth a thousand golden crowns up high.
Panheu gave an approving chuckle as the furious alchemist snarled. “Resourceful, isn’t he? He managed to turn this farce of a contest where his death was the only expected outcome into a profitable venture where he has just made, what is it now… Thirteen-hundred gold from the man who sought his death? Quite the resourceful sweep-boy I’ll soon have.”
Then Panheu’s mask of elder geniality instantly transformed to something hard and cold as he gazed at the alchemist who suddenly blanched before him. And for all that Alex roared with jubilation alongside the crowd that was now actually cheering for him, he too could feel the deadly aura Panheu was suddenly radiating. “My jade slip, if you please,” he said.
Lai Leng looked physically pained as he handed over the jade slip the elder cultivator only needed to glance at once before slipping within his robe, only then letting the pale-faced alchemist free of the terrible gaze that wasn’t so terrible after all, just an elderly man beaming happily down at the athlete who had just made him a pretty penny indeed.
And this time when an incensed Lai Leng screamed for yet another aspirant to dare challenge the Ruidian, Alex feigned weakness no longer, gazing coldly into the crowd, daring one and all to take him on.
There were no takers, it seemed, no matter how much gold was offered.
“Fine, you weak-willed fools! I’ll offer whichever one of you bests that Ruidian a meridian cleansing pill just to fight him. Seven if you manage to beat him!”
The crowd went dead silent, awed by the offer. For there truly was no greater prize for any cultivator than pills or magical treasures that would help them advance, though only a fool would use them more than rarely, generating breakthroughs they would then spend weeks or, if wise, months solidifying before trying to advance further. And even if the pills offered would only be of use to basic cultivators, less than one in a hundred of those who could cultivate actually made it to Bronze, and Alex doubted a true Bronze was even among the aspirants.
And the excited murmurs made it clear that if he didn’t do something fast, he would be forced to duel and suffer ever greater injuries, until eventually he was a dead man.
“The next aspirant who faces me in the ring, I will show now mercy. I will fight to kill you as ruthlessly as the alchemist who so clearly wants me dead!”
The entire audience when silent at those words.
“How dare you make such an accusation, you insolent rat!” snarled the alchemist. Alex ignored him, his focus entirely on the audience.
“So before your hungry claws grasp for unearned prizes, make certain, very, very certain, that you can defeat me. For if you can’t?” Alex flashed a hungry smile. “I will take your purse, and your life.”
Alex gazed into the sea of faces staring so intently back at him, knowing he was making a terrible gamble, forcing himself into a position from which there could be no backing down.
But exhaustion was growing beneath his cocky smile, a bone-deep weariness of the spirit as much as the body, and he wanted this farce of a contest to be over.
Needed it to be over.
His time of profiteering was done. The last thing he wanted to claim as a prize were any pills that his enemy might make for him, and he doubted they would do much for his unique situation in any case. And he wouldn’t dare sell that alchemist’s tainted poison hate to any third party who would surely be broken in some subtle way that only a master poisoner and alchemist could pull off.
And despite his earlier promise to himself, he was no longer willing to hold back the trump cards he had kept in check for so very long, with hundreds of cultivating eyes peering so intently at him.
The odd sense of tension only grew, young aspirants quickly bowing their heads before they were forced to meet Lai Leng’s oddly desperate gaze.
Panheu’s measured smile only grew. “The hour is growing late, Lai Leng. Best we continue the trials tomorrow. I fear any mock battles will only hinder the valuable lessons I expect all our aspirants to meditate upon this evening, gaining what breakthroughs they may.”
Alex blinked in stunned disbelief as the crowd of now murmuring and gossiping youth and older cultivators began to leave the arena, more than a few gazing back at Alex, some of them actually flashing smiles or nods his way.
And
Alex just stood there, too numb to fully take in what was happening, just grateful to be alive. Grateful it was finally over.
Surprisingly, the judges to either side of a still-fuming Lai Leng nodded their heads in agreement. The leftmost one rang his silver gong. “The trials are adjourned for the day!” he said. “All aspirants are to return to their quarters and reflect upon what they have learned this day.”
But a desperate Lai Leng wasn’t quite through, glancing wildly about the crowd of cultivators all readying themselves to leave before turning back to the man who had beaten him so thoroughly. “Wait!” Panheu blinked at the desperation in the man’s voice as he flashed a placating smile. “One more match. Just one more, and double your money if you win!”
The judge who had called the fight frowned. “Master Alchemist...”
“Leave. Now.”
Both judges paled before the ice-cold words of a cultivator no longer hiding his killing aura. Aura Alex could sense even from here. And no few students too, gazing anxiously at the box seats before making their way ever more hurriedly from the arena.
Panheu gave a sad rueful chuckle. “I fear perhaps the hunger is getting the best of you, old friend. Best, I think, if we call an end to an exciting day and approach tomorrow with fresh eyes.”
The alchemist spun back around, killing aura gone as if it had never been. “Double your money if the Ruidian wins just one more fight. Even if no one accepts the challenge!”
Panheu frowned. “Do you realize what you’re saying?” he said, gazing at the crowd that was slowly thinning out before their eyes. “Many of our prospective challengers have already chosen to leave for the day, and your pool grows smaller every second.”
“Triple!” Lai Leng all but begged, instantly earning Panheu’s serpentine smile. “With the understanding that if the Ruidian loses against anyone still willing to challenge him tonight, you lose your cultivation spot as well.”
Panheu furrowed his brow at this, rubbing his chin.
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Reforged: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 2 Page 46
