Or such was the tale so many told themselves, as a further handful broke off from the cluster remaining, now just a few of them left, including Alex and his friends.
All things considered, Alex suspected that was quite a remarkable number. He was surprised and pleased to see Yu among them, and he was the first to proceed for the far gold steps, the youth’s hawk-like gaze focused on nothing but their golden shimmer, for all that his body trembled with either exhaustion or determination.
Cheng Lei gazed at the boy with appraising eyes. “How far do you think he’ll get?”
Alex smiled. “I’d be surprised if he makes it to the next tier, with the way his body’s shaking. But no matter what happens, he’ll always be able to hold his head up high, knowing he had pushed himself to his absolute limit and let nothing stand in his way.”
Cheng Lie nodded in thoughtful agreement.
Zhu Bi sighed, gazing hungrily at the magnificent spread of gustatory delights before them. Alex could all but sense her hidden tail wagging with either excitement or hunger. “Are you sure we can’t have just a single bite?” Zhu Bi pled, her soft brown eyes with flecks of green imploring Alex’s own.
He chuckled softly. “I think you know the answer to that as well as I.”
Yingpei gave a forlorn sigh, shaking his head. “A pity… but I think our friend is right, Zhu Bi. Best we defer gratification for now, lest we find the path we dare infinitely harder with our belly full of good food and wine, and so many delicious-looking damsels and rakes clamoring for our attention.”
Zhu Bi flushed, but not before flashing a wicked smile. “Have a lot of experience with damsels and rakes, then?”
Yingpei winked. “A gentleman never tells. Shall we?”
Zhu Bi’s cute little button nose twitched once before she gave a determined nod. “Let’s.”
Cheng Lei laughed at that, the four quickly proceeding along with a trio of other determined-looking youth, and unlike the previous plateaus, all they received were nods of approval from the few servants or congratulatory Bronzes looking on, even as others were cheerfully sharing wine with the cluster of exhausted, beaming aspirants. Their relief was palpable, to have finally escaped the shoals of servitude and embrace the promise of being full-fledged and honored students of what was perhaps the grandest school in all of CuiJing Province, if not the entirety of ZhengTu kingdom, a nation with a surface area exceeding the entirety of the precious blue-green planet Alex had once called his own.
And that was just a tiny fraction of the Golden Empire, Alex thought in those moments as he took the first of the many golden steps leading to the next plateau and a sparkling midnight sky. He smiled in awe as he looked at the horizon all around him, just the tiniest piece in a world encompassing enough mysteries, magic, and wonder to occupy a restless soul with countless centuries of excitement and adventure.
Alex shivered at the thought, somehow utterly certain he was absolutely correct. After all, how else would very real, very sentient gods manage to pass countless eons? And here he was, taking his next fateful step along a journey that might, if he was just as lucky, clever, and determined as the fox god that was his patron, lead to his own ascension as well.
And how humbling it was that losing himself for a single precious moment in sweet reverie almost cost him absolutely everything.
Perception check made!
A screaming Yu, desperate claw-like hands flailing through the air, crashed into Zhu Bi, slamming her right into Alex, who in that instant knew the terrible choice he had to make.
Water Walking skill in effect! A soul that can brace himself in purgatory’s waters refuses to fear the crash of a single wave!
Yet he firmly refused to accept either option offered, instead choosing his own. Bracing his feet with a bleak smile as Yu’s backwash of wild spiritual energies, both propelling him and ultimately cushioning him, washed over all three of them. But Alex only had to lean into the roaring current as Zhu Bi shrieked and Yu howled, the water itself seemingly desperate to tear Alex’s charges free of his grip…
And then the storm of Water and havoc passed as quickly as it came. Alex braced a terrified-looking kitsune girl, whose tail had slipped free and wrapped about Alex’s leg, bonnet washed completely free to showcase wet strands of ebony hair and two very distinct fur-covered ears. She whimpered in surprised terror as wide frightened eyes immediately locked onto Alex’s own.
“It’s okay,” he smiled. “I did naught but brace your footing. Perfectly permitted by the guardian’s own rules.”
“That was too close!” she sobbed. “I almost… almost!” Her gaze turned to pity as she beheld the howling Yu, gazing up the stairway with furious eyes.
“He kicked me. That bastard stomped on my hands and actually tried to kick me off the stairs entirely! He said… he said filth like me was fit only to serve the rulers of this school, or die for their pleasure!”
Cheng Lei’s solemn gaze hardened, lips tightening in a thin line. “And yet another madman thinks he will achieve Gold and the right to crush anyone underneath him with absolute impunity. Damned fool.”
He took a deep breath and sighed, coaxing a shaking Zhu Bi into his arms, gently stroking her ears and whispering soothing words as her hitched breath eased and she eventually transformed from panicked creature to focused young woman once more.
She then flushed a deep shade of red, realizing she was curled up against the obvious noble among them like a frightened puppy, before collecting herself and stepping forward once more. “I… thank you, Cheng Lei.” She flashed him a smile both rueful, embarrassed, and strangely hopeful.
Cheng Lei’s affectionate, relieved smile was that of a brother dearly concerned for his sister, whether by kung fu or blood. The warmth in his eyes was genuine, and with no bonnet, there was no hiding the sudden wilting of Zhu Bi’s ears, understanding so much with his gentle smile.
Then she turned to Alex, honoring him with a grateful smile. “I guess I should be thanking you for saving my rank and perhaps… my life as well.” She gazed behind her with a terrified shudder, and for a single dizzying instant, Alex could see how the entire golden stairway seemed to twist at an oddly steep angle for her, and how the trajectory of her fall might very well have ended in her crashing to the ground far below, far beyond the protective aura of any pool of Water Qi.
Alex frowned, quickly shaking the momentary dizziness away, standing up straight once more and smiling at the odd looks of awe which Zhu Bi and a speechless Yingpei Lin were giving him.
“I did nothing more than allow you to brace your body against my own; what any friend would do. Now, before we lose our momentum completely…” He turned to gaze at a whimpering Yu’s fingers, noting at least a couple splayed at awful angles, and felt a spark of fury well within his chest, glaring upwards once more. “I think a certain monster needs to be reminded about the rules of this contest, and the price he’ll be forced to pay if he breaks to many of them.”
“His death!” whimpered a bitter, furious Yu. “I’d tear that sneering smirk right off his face if I could!”
Biochemical Mastery skill check made!
Alex crouched down, solemnly handing the young cultivator one of the healing potions he had claimed from his enemies. “Here. Drink this.”
Yu’s eyes widened. “Is that…”
Alex solemnly nodded. “A very powerful healing potion. One calibrated to work even here, on a golden step-lined waterfall half a step away from oblivion.”
For some reason everyone paled at those words, though Yu quickly nodded, looking down at his shattered hands before pleading eyes met Alex’s own.
“I understand. Tilt up your head?”
Yu gulped it down as eagerly as Alex had known he would.
What he did not expect were the horrid screams, the youth twisting and thrashing and in dire peril of falling right off, were not Alex gripping him so tightly. Or bracing him, as Alex resolutely thought to himself, before a too-long minute passed, an
d Alex began to fear that he had been a fool to offer such potent brew to the peasant cultivator.
Until the young man collapsed in Alex’s arms, letting loose a single ragged sob. “Gods’ mercy, that was terrible. Beyond terrible!”
“What was it like?” Zhu Bi’s ears twitched with curiosity, jade-flecked eyes locked firmly with those of a wide-eyed Yu.
“You’re… you’re a kitsune!”
Alex sighed. Zhu Bi glared. “What, you’re just figuring that out now?”
Yu flushed and lowered his head. “It’s just that…” he swallowed. “Forgive me, it just caught me off guard.”
“You don’t hate me on sight for being a kitsune?”
Yu flushed. “I fear it’s you that should hate me on sight, for nearly knocking you off the golden staircase of our ascension!”
Zhu Bi grinned. “Well, since our hero here managed to halt our fall, I’m more than willing to forgive. My name’s Zhu Bi, by the way. And how are your hands?”
“An honor to meet you. My full name is Yu Xin.” Yu looked down at his hands with no small amount of wonder. “And by the gods’ own grace…”
“Hardly,” smirked Alex.
“My hands are completely healed!”
Yingpei whistled, the young merchant flashing Alex an admiring grin. “Those potions would be worth a fortune on the market, friend Alex.”
Alex grinned back. “I know, right? Question is, would I make more selling them for spirit pearls here in the college, or selling them on the market for gold or platinum? Depends on the spirit pearl-to-platinum conversion ratio here in Baidushi.”
“Fifteen platinum per pearl, same as Yidushi standard,” said Yingpei, almost automatically, favoring Alex with a thoughtful eye. “Merchant stock?”
Alex grinned. “It feels like a lifetime ago, but yeah. Close enough. What’s the platinum-to-beast core ratio, by the way?”
“Depends… what grade beast core are we talking about?” said Yingpei, eyes positively twinkling. “It just so happens my family is one of the few consortiums trusted by hunters and wild cultivators enough to trade beast cores with directly.”
Alex frowned. “One can only hope such a consortium hasn’t flooded the market.”
Yin smirked shrewdly. “You should know me better than that already, friend, Alex. My clan would never do anything so foolish.”
“Are you guys serious?” Zhu Bi glared at them both. “Half of us are hanging on for dear life after getting the wind knocked out of us, and unless Alex wants me and Yu dangling off him for the rest of this conversation, I suggest we get going!”
Yu chuckled softly. “Merchants,” was all he said, his grateful smile taking the sting out of his comment as he began scrabbling forward once more.
Alex winced. “Were we that bad?”
Yingpei sighed, frowning at his own trembling hands as he pushed forward. “You weren’t, but me? I almost lost my grip there.” He then flashed an unapologetic smile. “And a grade A lesser beast core will net you four platinum if you trade with us, especially when I put in a good word for you.”
Alex grinned at that, effortlessly proceeding to the next step. “How about 4.4 Platinum per core for bulk lots of 20 prime cores or more?”
Lin’s eyes widened. “Yes. Of course! But do you truly have so many beast cores to sell?”
Alex shrugged. “Never hurts to have a solid buy order in place, should I happen to stumble upon such a cache… one way or another.”
Cheng Lei chuckled. “True merchants, there can be no doubt.”
6
For a time they proceeded at a steady pace, Alex happy to see that Zhu Bi and Lin, far from falling, seemed to be gaining steam as they found their rhythm. Alex could tell the trial was wearing on them, but their own fierce determination shone in full force as they pushed themselves for all they were worth.
It was Yu that Alex found himself wincing at the sight of, the peasant cultivator taking rapid, gasping breaths, his entire body spasming as he pushed himself forward, step by golden step.
“We’re almost there, Yu. Just a few more steps!” Zhu Bi cheered, her gaze one of warmth and gentle sympathy, and an exhausted Yu, who looked close to sobbing, still managed to crack a smile. “That’s what you said fifteen steps ago!”
“That’s right,” she replied with an incorrigible smile. “And now it’s fifteen steps less than it was before!”
Yu gasped and wheezed with his chuckle. And just when Alex feared he’d have to catch the aspirant again, hoping that Yu would find the strength not to collapse at a height that Alex feared would doom anyone, Yu managed to surprise even him.
The very air reverberated with a roar as Yu’s entire body shook, seeming almost to explode forward, clearing two final golden steps before collapsing at last with triumphant cry, sinking into the soothing waters of the mid-grade Bronze Plateau.
The roars of applause that greeted the wheezing young man in tattered robes were enough to send Yu falling to his knees in sobs of relief and gratitude, and even Alex found himself blinking back a certain hot sting he refused to call tears as he helped his newfound friend back to his feet.
“We did it, Yu!” Zhu Bi squealed. “We did it!”
“You have indeed!” said none other than the beaming ivory-haired cultivator who had greeted them at the first plateau. “Eight out of the original score, with the strength of Mid-grade Bronze the least of their potential. Well done, aspirants. Well done indeed!”
This earned approving nods from yet another dozen servants, though there were only two other bronze cultivators present at this level. Alex wasn’t so foolish as to discount the savvy in their gazes, the grace with which they held themselves, projecting a whole-body awareness that made it clear these two were veterans of far more than college duels.
Alex bowed low before them. “This lowly aspirant greets honored servants of the empire.”
The powerfully built pair exchanged approving nods. “It’s good to see this month’s crop is void of fools,” said one.
“With a military brat among them who bears his mother’s features without shame,” concurred the other, his words free of all animosity. Alex got the feeling that any number of soldiers considered the legion their father more than any absentee sire, and perhaps mixed-bloods with odd gifts weren’t exactly unheard of amongst a force that might total hundreds of millions of men when at full strength, if the entire empire were to muster, however many years that might take in all.
Alex smiled and dipped his head. “Though my father’s life was not that of a soldier’s, my mother certainly had eyes as blue as the sky and hair as brilliant as golden flax, much like my own. Still, my mentor cared not for my background, only that he found me to be a worthy disciple, instilling in my thick skull what it meant to be a soldier, and to serve a cause higher than himself.”
The rightmost cultivator nodded. “Well said, aspirant. My men call me Double Xu, as you too, no doubt, will, should you choose to join the legion. We’re always on the lookout for future officers with the potential you all have shown, who believe that there is more to a cultivator’s life than his own ascension.”
“Men and women looking for a brotherhood that transcends the petty squabbles and selfish pursuits that destroy so many cultivators often find a lifelong home in the house of our Emperor, soldiers honored all their days, their rank and accords assuring that they are above the trivial, fractious disputes that leave most prey to the whims of petty bureaucrats and despotic lordlings,” said Double Xu’s associate. “And for men and women of your potential, that means a fast track to officer’s training, which most definitely includes access to the best quality body cultivation tomes for any single or double element you’ll find anywhere in the empire, outside a college’s inner sanctum.”
Yu, in his threadbare robes, was gazing at the pair of sturdy cultivators with something akin to awe. “Truly? We could serve the empire as officers? We’d really have access to the best cultivation techniques? Even
if we’re of…” the young cultivator’s cheeks reddened. “Of common stock?”
Double Xu solemnly nodded. “Yes, lad. Exactly so. Because unlike most of these schools, with rare exceptions,” he said with a nod to the ivory-haired cultivator hosting them, “the legion is a brotherhood, where we care for our own. For those with true potential, able to ascend the shores of Bronze, our scholars will do their utmost to secure them with the cultivation techniques best suited to their strengths and proclivities. It’s in our own best interest to make sure our elite soldiers and officerial candidates blossom into the best soldiers they possibly can become. It benefits the legion, and it benefits the empire as well. And there are few better, wiser, or more meaningful paths of growth than walking a cultivation path beside a hundred million of your brothers and sisters who will always have your back, through thick and thin.”
Yu’s hands were clenched tightly to his sides, eyes wide with wonder, doing all he could to control his breathing. “So, if we joined… we wouldn’t be shunned or scorned for being kitsune, commoner, or Ruidian. We wouldn’t be despised and have to fight for every scrap of knowledge. Instead, we’d join a brotherhood of men and women who would fight for the empire by our sides, the army’s scholars giving us access to the best… or some of the best cultivation tomes to be found anywhere.”
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior’s Path Page 7