Alex flashed a cold smile, winding his arms. “That toss earlier definitely winded me, and your bitch-kick while I was down will definitely having me pissing a bit of blood later tonight. But other than that? Nope, nothing broken. For a Bronze cultivator, you hit like a frightened bitch. Just like your friend.”
Hao Hai snarled his hate. “This time I’m not dropping you, Ruidian! This time I’m going to tear your arms clean off. Let’s see you get up from that!”
Alex flashed a cold smile. “Sure. Go for it. But you have to catch me, first!”
Roaring and shaking away the pain, his foe lurched forward, attempting just that, as Alex had known he would. Just like he knew how Hao Hai would try to guard his leg, a clever cross-step before lurching forward, fainting a hook but intending a grab.
Alex sensed it all, spinning away before his opponent could lay a finger on him, leaving only cold laughter in his wake.
Because he had finally achieved what he had been desperate for.
A connection to the cultivator before him.
Sensing his moves and the flow of Qi so perfectly, it was as if Alex had orchestrated Hao Hai’s lurching steps himself, counterpoint to the deadly dance he unleashed upon his foe.
Familiarity bonus in effect! Soul Sight skill check made! Find Weakness skill check made! Opponent’s combat rankings reduced a modified six ranks! You sense the flow of Qi circulating through your opponent! You sense all your opponent’s weaknesses!
So that when Hao Hai lashed out with cautious fists, Alex had already ducked back, face just a mocking couple of inches away.
And when goading smiles awakened a killing rage and his foe lunged forward, Alex’s foot was lashing out at an already-injured knee at the peak of its arc, and although it didn’t shatter the Bronze-reinforced patella, it did force it back, tearing through ligaments, forcing his joint to flex backwards, Alex having struck in the instant his limping foe was utterly vulnerable, all his massive weight on a joint now strained to the breaking point.
Hao Hai’s scream was a shriek, eyes wide with inconceivable pain.
And that’s when Alex struck.
Palm strike slams jaw! Opponent’s teeth save versus cracking! Tongue is cleaved in half!
Spear hand thrust to opponent’s trachea! Opponent is stunned!
Ridge hand thrust to opponent’s trachea! Opponent is collapsing!
Palm strike to nose! Nose shatters! Bone splinters fail to penetrate brain case.
Thumb gouge to left eye! Eye has been successfully gouged!
Thumb gouge to right eye! Opponent’s hand counters!
Strength versus skill check: you have managed to wind free of your opponent’s grip, one finger broken!
And Alex spun away from his collapsing foe, just managing to twist fingers free of a still inhumanly strong grip, knowing it was only sweat and blood that had allowed him that, leaping back and smiling with grim satisfaction as he looked down upon his writhing, screeching foe.
Hao Hai’s larynx was bruised, his nose shattered, blood spurting from his mouth, the tip of his severed tongue now twitching on the ground by his feet, left eye bursting under Alex’s furious assault, the one area no Bronze cultivation technique could protect.
Only then noticing the referee roaring threats and commands his way.
“You will back away, Ruidian! You will back away now! I will see you thrown out of this school for your vicious assault, see if I don’t!”
Alex glared coldly at the referee but said nothing, merely doing what was expected, giving him no further grounds for his ridiculous threats.
“So that’s how it is, is it?” Qie Qie snapped. “Alex nearly gets killed, repeatedly, while you say and do nothing! Even when he’s being kicked on the ground! But the minute Alex looks like he might actually win, you cry foul!”
The referee gazed at Qie Qie with bug-eyed outrage. “You stupid bitch! Can you not see that monstrous Ruidian tore out poor Hao Hai’s eye? To say nothing of his knee and numerous other injuries!”
“Don’t forget his tongue!” Alex chimed in cheerfully. “I think he’s going to be slurring his words pretty much forever, now. Shame his unbreakable teeth didn’t clip off even more!”
Hao Hai’s one-eyed glare promised eternal pain and suffering.
Alex just smiled coldly in turn and gave him the finger. Which meant nothing in this culture, but if his enemy’s pale fury was anything to go by, he got the gist.
But the judge wasn’t through. “You’re coming with me to the headmaster’s at once! I’m getting you thrown out right now. See if I don’t!”
Alex nodded gamely. “Sure. And we’ll be sure to give him a complete rendition of what went down, everything we each saw and experienced, and you can tell him point blank whether or not you deliberately let a Bronze repeatedly break the rules when I was being beaten half to death after crying yield and helpless on the ground, and we’ll each give our cultivator’s oath, shall we? Then you can go on about the travesty of a basic cultivator taking out a Bronze. I’m sure he’ll be the first to shake his head about the injustice of it all.”
Qie Qie was looking at Alex aghast, as if he was signing his own death warrant.
Alex suddenly froze, goading the judge no longer, wondering if he had just made a terrible misstep.
For all he knew, the headmaster was as powerful as any ancient dragon in the tales, and would turn Alex to ash simply for the displeasure of a tainted Ruidian having dared to intrude upon his presence. A doom Qie Qie’s desperate gaze all but promised.
But fortunately for a suddenly-relieved Alex, the referee seemed to find the idea just as distasteful.
Perhaps they’d both be seared to ash on the spot.
“You’re getting no credits for this match, treacherous Ruidian! And all honor points go to Hao Hai!”
Alex smirked. “Sure. Whatever. Like I expected an honest fight with any of you.” Alex turned to Qie Qie. “Shall we?”
Qie Qie gave a relieved nod. “Let’s get out of here.”
“You’re not going anywhere! You’re fighting me here and now, Ruidian, until one of us drops and can fight no longer!” snapped Lai Wei, glaring daggers of hate Alex’s way. His lips curled in a snarl, and Alex could all but feel waves of Fire Qi radiating from the man. Heat that radiated through his meridians and caressed the training blade he held. Sly, deadly waves of fiery Qi that would sear Alex’s flesh, even though Lai’s blade looked as innocent as every other training weapon secured in the weapon racks available to all those sparring within the vast amphitheater.
And that alone was all Alex needed to see, feeling a sudden cold exultation in his heart.
But first, to reel the monster in.
Alex flashed a bleak smile. “Your bought and paid for judge has made it clear I would earn nothing of the supposedly inviolate secured credits I risked my life fighting your murderous friend for. We both know that no matter what I do, you or one of your corrupt cronies will sabotage my efforts so I get no credit at all. So why the hell should I bother fighting you?”
He gazed coldly at the supposedly dispassionate judge who didn’t bother hiding his disdain for the Ruidian in their midst. “You and I both know this sad sack of shit will just declare the fight foul, even if I did win, and we both know he’ll do nothing but smile if you manage to kill me.”
Alex could feel the waves of outraged hostility from the referee, the man’s guttural snarl clear to all. “You will suffer for those words, you insolent Ruidian barbarian!”
Alex smirked. “See what I mean?”
Lai Wai’s hot glare twisted into a furious smile, the rasp to his voice conveying so much fiery hatred even as he tried to cajole Alex forward. “Then let me make it worth your while, Ruidian.” He yanked off a belt pouch, tossing it on the ground. “Three pristine white purification pills, worth more than all the credits you need to pay your fees twice over!”
Alex blinked, momentarily stunned, the arena suddenly filling with his enemy’s c
old laughter. “But you and I will fight, Ruidian. Fight until I say we’ve had enough!”
Qie Qie hissed. “Alex. It’s a trap. Don’t be stupid!”
Lai Wei’s fierce grin suddenly included Qie Qie. “And I won’t even come for this bitch when we’re done. Not that you’ll be in any shape to notice anything but your own unending pain, but there you go. Hell, I’ll even let her referee!”
He glared his contempt for a suddenly shaking Qie Qie. “Not that she needs to do anything but stand there and look pretty, grateful with every fiber of her soul that I’m not destroying her for daring to cross me! Because the only rule is we don’t stop until I say the fight is done!”
Alex locked gazes with the man, before flashing a cold smile. “You’re a Bronze. No doubt you already have access to all sorts of Qi powers already. Are you saying it will be a fair fight, a lowly basic against you pulling out all the stops? Because that’s what this fight is, isn’t it? Permission for each of us to use all the tools at our disposal, all the abilities under our command, to destroy the other?”
Lai Wei chuckled coldly. “Don’t worry, worm. I won’t use whips of flame upon your flesh. Only my fists and my blade.” His mocking smile took Alex for a fool. Alex could already sense the dark fiery Qi flowing through it. “Use all the tricks you can. All of them! I’ll even let you enjoy your… rest, every time I send you crashing to the ground! But don’t think that ends the fight. When your reprieve passes, I will destroy you!”
Alex nodded, and now he no longer held back his wolf-like grin, his heart racing with fiercest exultation. “You will try. And they will be five-minute breaks.”
His enemy snarled and spat, before chuckling coldly. “Fine. Fine! I will enjoy stretching the fight out, seeing you squirm as I break you in ways you can’t even imagine! Why not allow you a few moments rest to contemplate your own folly?”
Alex smirked. “And Qie Qie will hold the sandglasses.”
Qie Qie paled but nodded, girding herself and facing the still furious-looking judge. “Your sandglasses, if you please.”
The judge glared at the girl daring to give him orders, but a single nod from Lai Wei and he passed several sandglasses to Qie Qie who was now, for all intense and purposes, the referee of their match.
Alex wasted no time, quickly kitting up in his regulation armor, Qie Qie herself doublechecking all his straps, giving him a final anxious nod.
“You’re set to go, Alex. But you do know this is madness, right?”
She swallowed the lump in her throat, and Alex could see the unshed tears glistening in her eyes. “He’s going to break you, Alex. Destroy you so bad, you weill have no hope of recovery.” Her gaze turned desperate. “Let’s run. You and me. Right now, back to your master’s compound. We wait for him to return, and we explain everything to him.”
To that Alex only smiled and shook his head. “Come on, Qie Qie. You know my master, the one who forged Zhao Doushi into a brilliant Silver, better than that. He would expect me to rise to the challenge, to be forged into the brightest steel blade in the crucible of my enemy’s hate. Or fall to the wayside as broken slag, no longer worthy of his time. And perhaps he could forgive me being shattered by this Bronze, working with my ravaged body to forge me anew, one more time. But the one thing he would not forgive?”
“Is if you ran like a coward,” Qie Qie softly said, this time not bothering to hide the tears in her eyes, kissing him softly on the cheek. “Fight well, kung fu brother.”
Delaying no further, Qie Qie solemnly rung the gong beside their twenty-foot circle of sand, and the match officially began.
18
Opponent wins contest of skills!
Opponent’s blade flows past your bind!
Dao hits plates for zero damage.
You have been struck by Dark Flame! Qi Absorption mitigates damage! You have suffered one Light Wound! Newly-resilient meridians resist damage and scarring from direct Qi attack!
Alex grunted with the sudden flash of pain as Lai Wei darted back with a cruel chuckle after having struck as fast as lightning, mocking Alex with his lazy moulinets and vicious smile.
“Can you feel it, Ruidian? The screams building as you slowly burn from within?”
Alex said nothing even as he hissed with exquisite pain.
For all that he was chilled by his foe’s speed, and knew this would be a nightmare battle, he felt one brief flicker of exultation.
An instant before his foe’s latest attack, he had seen just a flash of what he had been desperately searching for.
The telltale flicker of fiery-crimson Qi flashing through his enemy.
But before he could blink, his enemy was racing forward once more, and it was all Alex could do to parry the furious onslaught of blows, darting back just in time to avoid fists that would crack against his armor with devastating force. But that blade, twisting in the air with deadly feints and lighting fast slashes and thrusts, was all but unavoidable.
Alex’s wrist, forearm, and ribs were screaming with hot searing pain that blazed through his armor. All without leaving a mark, charring his flesh and tormenting him from within as he desperately fought off his foe.
Were it not for his ever-improving Qi Absorption, along with peripheral meridian channels increasingly adept at absorbing punishing assaults of destructive Qi, he could only imagine the crippling agony he would be suffering. As it was, he was hissing and cursing under his breath with every failed parry, each broken bind.
Lai Wei’s grin turned savage as Alex was forced into a steady, desperate retreat around the ring, dripping blood from half a dozen pricks through chinks in his armor, his foe’s supposedly blunt dao hardly curved at all, and possessing a very rigid, if off-center, clip-back point.
“You begin to feel it, don’t you, worm? Your flesh, your meridians, your very soul, burning from within!”
You have failed to counter Bodyslam! Opponent’s Fire Fist bursts 3 lamellar plates! You have taken 1 Serious Wound!
Alex cried out with a groan as he was sent flying, feeling the now familiar agony of a rib cracking under the strain of the awful blow intended to send fatal shockwaves of fiery heat straight into his heart.
Qi Absorption successful!
The dangerous Qi surge was successfully diffused into his peripheral meridian channels, but at the cost of suffering numerous internal burns. For all that his meridian gateways might hint at huge channels, once he forged his own upon finding the Dao, or true path, of his meridian network, his peripheral channels could not endure endless abuse suffered by illegal techniques without breaking down under the strain. Were it not for his Qi Absorption techniques having mitigated so many deadly blows during those endless minutes he endured his enemy’s onslaught, the damage would have been perilous. As it was, that final strike had been aimed straight for his heart.
A fatal blow just barely avoided.
Alex couldn’t help crying out when he crashed to the ground.
“Alex yields! Five-minute time out in effect!” Qie Qie desperately cried to Lai Wei’s mocking laughter.
“Sure. Let that fool groan for five minutes on the ground. I’m surprised to find he’s still breathing!” Lai Wei flashed a cruel grin as Alex curled into a ball and groaned.
“That’s right, worm! Lie there and suffer, burning from the inside out! You were no match for me before, and now you’ll never be a match for anyone again! That is assuming you survive this day, maggot, and we have just begun!”
Alex said nothing, just desperate to focus on repairing some of the horrific damage suffered, both inside and out.
Concentration check failed!
The pain was endless and all consuming. The exquisite agony of being burned alive.
“Breathe, Alex. You have to breathe!” a desperate Qie Qie cried.
And that Alex did.
In and out.
Feeling the flow of air and Qi and life circulate through his lungs.
Feeling the glorious storm of Light Qi
swirling eternally around him.
Extending himself just a tiny bit to embrace and ride that power, to drink deep of its strength and promise, like cool water found in the middle of a desert, giving him that catalyzing strength to take the next painful step forward.
Power Healing accessed! You have begun healing meridian channels!
Damage 50% repaired.
75% repaired.
95% repaired.
Before forcing himself to heal cracked ribs and vital organs.
And even with the intensity of the healing done in four minutes, he was not completely restored. The minute he had wasted, focused upon his own pain, had cost him dearly. But it was enough, he told himself, as he forced himself to his feet once more, his enemy charging forward with a gleeful bark.
It would have to be enough.
And as Lai Wei renewed his assault with a furious snarl, lightning-fast dao whipping through the air in a dizzying series of high-low cross-cuts, Alex found himself successfully countering the blows, even with limbs still throbbing from his earlier injuries.
Though not without a cost in pain and searing burns.
But for every strike that slipped through, two were successfully countered, Alex finally sensing the pattern of his enemy’s furious assault.
So very like the chaotic hot flames he emulated.
And just as one could sense when a flame would settle down to embers or roar to renewed life, Alex found he could judge the intensity of his enemy’s assaults by the brilliant flashes of Qi now shimmering so clearly in his mind’s eye.
Your opponent has pierced your defenses! Rib cage bruised! You have saved versus Stunning Blow!
Soul Sight skill check successful! You have begun to understand the attack patterns of your foe!
And perhaps it said something that instead of collapsing in a ball of agony yet again, Alex was still upright, having rolled with the blow as best he could, almost as if he had known his enemy was going to smash through.
Lai Wei glared at Alex. “Your master is giving you alchemicals. Admit it! He is giving you my uncle’s prized tinctures, and you are forbidden from imbibing anything my uncle makes!”
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Forsworn: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 3 Page 30