Qi Perception check made!
Yet Alex knew, with a shiver of awe, that any fragile mortal lacking the strength to form a core of Gold and compress it to Jade would instantly perish, should they dare step forward, crushed to shimmering motes of light underneath those roaring falls, no matter how they might have otherwise gotten this far.
And he wasn’t just thinking of stepping through these terrible waters to claim his fortune.
The sacred prizes he had been aiming for all this time.
Not now, not after confirming that there were realms even higher than this one, his enemies’ distress at his continued ascension all he needed for the fires of ambition to blaze anew.
Alex gave a rueful chuckle, finding himself more eager than ever to achieve that which was utterly forbidden, even knowing that if he fell, it wouldn’t be into a gentle basin, but rather a whirlpool that would do anything to claim his soul.
Every inch of his body tingled, Alex bracing himself as his heart pounded in his chest, feeling so like he had when he had taken that first step into a vast, yawning chasm of nothing back when it was do or die time with Liu Jian and Liu Li. Because if he hadn’t had what it took to walk the High Road, his first fateful step would have sent him crashing to the ground below.
“Time to embrace the madness,” he whispered to himself.
For just a heartbeat, he thought he caught sight of Liu Li’s startled gaze as he took that first crucial step, no longer striding steps of Jade or Gold, but the living river of spiritual energy itself, pouring directly from the heavens above.
“Alex?”
The word jolted Alex with such wonder that he forgot to be startled by the impossibility of his own actions. He raced up those steps of Wu Wei and dream, laughing with exhilaration and triumph as he ascended the heavenly river, while howling winds flew past him and a heavenly sun caressed his back with gentle energies that warmed his very soul.
When the Phoenix cried out its triumph, Alex echoed its cry, now racing up the impossible ascent with wings of fire and gold.
“Alex?”
Suddenly, it was Hao Chan’s brilliant amber eyes widening with awe as she gazed upon Alex’s spirit, lost between transcendance and dream. His sky-blue eyes were alight with perilous insights that sent Chan’s soul quaking with fear for the man she loved as she watched him ascend beyond the mortal realm.
Her heart quailed with wonder and loss, deathly afraid she would never see him again, save in fairy tales and dream.
“Is this where your tale ends, disciple?”
The words sent shivers through Alex’s spine. He gasped and opened his eyes, no longer feeling like a bird in glorious flight as he reached for the heavens. Rather, he felt on the cusp of absolute exhaustion, legs throbbing with fierce, inconceivable pain as the river roared through his very soul. The spiritual rapids pounded through his channels, forcing them wide and filling them with Qi so rich and potent, he felt like he would explode or scream with the torment that bordered between bliss and absolute oblivion.
He howled with agony and fury, focusing all his pain into one furious step forward as brilliant spray splashed his eyes. His naked feet trembled with every step; even his sacred clothes had been torn away by the force of the currents he dared.
Step by step.
Breath by ragged breath.
He would not stop, no matter how much his legs burned.
Not until he had reached the final step, heaving and trembling, exhausted legs so weak, he crashed to the brilliant tiles of marble and gold with a pained gasp. He was surprised to find himself in no basin at all, but at the entrance to an unspeakably vast cathedral-like chamber covered in massive murals and artwork, all of it possessing an unearthly beauty and elegance that left him absolutely speechless. A thousand exquisitely rendered scenes from countless epochs of Golden Realms history… triumphant battles, savage campaigns of brutality and destruction, magnificent palaces… all were silhouetted by the light of the setting sun.
Countless wonders he glimpsed in that instant as his stunned gaze took in the scope of the incredible chamber.
As shocked as he was, it was nothing compared to what his eyes beheld when he dared to lower his gaze once more.
A massive table of luminescent jade that was both the length and breadth of an imperial dining table, and simultaneously the size of an entire plane of existence.
Around that table sat countless beings of pristine shape and form, players of the great game radiating spiritual energies so potent that Alex sensed any mortal should have been fried to ash. Of those terrible beings, Alex recognized only a handful.
But it was enough.
Long Wang’s furious glare would have struck him dead on the spot, except that the unspeakably massive titan with his deadly Warhammer was simultaneously a man of six feet five, kitted in the same armor so reminiscent of samurais in the heights of their glory that he had worn when Alex had first caught a glimpse of him what seemed like just a handful of seasons back, but might have been as long as a thousand years ago.
Slack-jawed in furious disbelief for a brief moment, the god was rendered speechless by Alex’s unexpected and utterly unwelcome presence.
Lord Zheng Yi, dressed in an emperor’s robes with a square crimson cap upon his bald pate, lightning crackling from his mustache and goatee, transfixed Alex with his killing gaze. He was both so large and potent that Alex feared being squashed like a bug… and yet he was also a vigorous seventy-year-old man no taller than Alex himself was.
He too, was gawking at Alex with slack-jawed disbelief.
Then Alex caught sight of the massively bloated figure that could only be General Shalu, wearing the armor of a warring states commander. Shalu lurched back in wide-eyed terror, ugly rolls of fat spilling over his seat as he gazed at Alex in horrified rage. He alone did not hesitate to act.
“I told you what would happen if we didn’t intervene! I told you!”
The General’s voice was still a broken wheeze, Alex was surprised to note, as he felt the weight of utter oblivion come crashing down for his soul. He became sharply aware that, whatever the twists and vagaries that had allowed him to score a telling blow on his foe, his life force was naught but a sputtering candle, compared to the wrath and fury of a god.
Abruptly, the entire chamber rang like a gong.
General Shalu clenched his fist and glared at the tiny old woman standing just beyond the table, who was solemnly shaking her head.
“That abomination must die!” Shalu roared. “He dared to mar divine flesh! There can be no forgiveness for his crimes!”
Grandmother Yi Wang solemnly shook her head. “Such is forbidden by the rules of our game.”
The world-sized chamber rang with the laughter Alex knew best, and he instinctively turned to see his patron’s mischievous grin, the god wearing his favored inspector’s uniform once more. He tipped his tricorn hat in Alex’s direction, tapping the empty seat of a magnificent padded chair beside his own, which flashed with such a quantity of priceless gems and spirit pearls that not even a king would be ashamed of claiming such an artifact as his throne.
A match for every other chair in that chamber.
“Well done, disciple. I knew you had it in you!” He positively beamed at his irate relatives. “Didn’t I tell you our Alex could do it? And here he is, daring heavenly steps, and he’s still just a Bronze!”
He flashed a wicked smile the General’s way. “Sure, you could obliterate him in the blink of an eye. But that, brother, would be cheating.” His amusement grew. “And result in automatic forfeiture of the game you pride yourself on having mastered.”
“No! I refuse to believe it! He’s an abomination! No mortal is allowed in the halls of the divine! This worm shouldn’t even be here!” Long Wang roared.
Zheng Yi nodded his agreement. “The laws that bind gods grant no immunity to mortals, and WiFu’s piece has left mundus. Therefore, we are free to strike at will!”
Long Wang fl
ashed a fierce smile of agreement, powerful hands squeezing the long shaft of his massive war hammer, a polearm perfectly designed for pounding in the armor of even the most well-armed warriors. And right now, Alex wasn’t wearing anything at all.
The realization filled him with acute embarrassment, until he sensed WiFu’s sacred attire covering his body once more.
“I see the way you gaze at my hammer, how you hunger for the secrets I scribed for my son alone, cur! If you are so anxious to learn its mysteries, I would be happy to demonstrate them upon your flesh right now!” He lurched to his feet, thrown off by WiFu’s laughter.
“You’re forgetting something very important, brother.”
“And what would that be, you damned fox?” snarled Long Wang.
But WiFu only winked, waving Alex his way. “Come, disciple. Have a seat; make yourself comfortable.”
Alex blinked, noting the instant silence that had come over not only WiFu’s bickering family, so filled with animosity, but a cluster of other beings Alex had never seen before. Their features were quite pale, though the majority displayed the silky dark hair, high cheekbones, and epicanthic folds possessed by most Golden Realms citizens.
Alex felt the weight of their gazes as he made his way toward his patron, only then taking in the strikingly beautiful woman sitting by his side.
Shocked, he knew that he beheld Qing Bai herself, a vision of exquisite beauty whose lush red lips, flawless skin, and hauntingly beautiful jade green eyes could send a thousand ships sailing in her honor. She graced him with a gentle smile.
“Greetings, son-in-law. It has been a very long time.”
Alex gazed at her speechlessly; visions of a singularly beautiful kitsune, so like her mother in feature and temperament, flashed across his mind’s eye for an endless poignant moment before fading away. The recollection left him with a nameless ache, like a half-forgotten dream he would do anything to remember, no matter the bittersweet agony of the ephemeral longing left behind.
Only for it to disappear entirely, between one heartbeat and the next.
Qing Bai’s eyes were filled with gentlest sympathy. “My second-born, and the ultimate mother of so many of our tribe, mourned for you for a very long time before she finally returned to the wheel. When next she awakens in my garden, it will fill her heart with joy when I tell her how far you’ve come.”
There was so much Alex wanted to say. So many questions he had. But never had he felt so self-conscious as when feeling the weight of a dozen gods gazing upon him. In that moment, he knew without a sliver of a doubt that, should he make the wrong move, or say the wrong thing, he would be consigning himself to oblivion.
He took a deep breath as he gazed down upon the chair which his smiling patron had gestured for him to take.
Saving throw versus oblivion made!
Alex’s eyes widened at the message, in truth barely registering the odd tingle he felt in the base of his spine, sensing only the slightest pressure from the chair he now found himself in.
It was absolutely nothing, compared to the terrible pressure of the river below.
But what really caught him off guard were the wide-eyed stares he was uniformly receiving.
“Impossible,” Long Wang hissed. “This is just another one of his tricks. It has to be!”
Silver Fox laughed into the sudden deathly silence. “No trick at all, dear brother, and now you all know exactly where our Alex stands in the scheme of things.” He gave a considering tilt of his head. “Or should I say… sits.”
Alex blinked, wide-eyed at his patron’s mischievous grin, before turning to gaze at the diminutive old lady clearing her throat, so reminiscent of Lady Dudu, though her eyes held the weight of eternity in their gaze.
“Alex Hammer, Disciple of my Youngest, why are you here? Do you seek council with your patron?” She glared at the scowling gods so eager for Alex’s destruction. “For the sake of the gauntlet you have endured, I will permit you three questions and three answers. So long as you return to the realms below before the third question is answered, no harm will come to you within these halls.”
Alex took a deep shuddering breath, gazing for one endless moment upon the board that revealed itself instantly to be a map of the world entire, and wished with all his might that he could imprint this moment forevermore in his psyche.
No matter what happened, he had dared to stride amongst Titans, and nothing would ever take that away.
Until, blinking, he received an internal message that would change the game utterly.
Interface has now imprinted multiple divine entrance points over multiple lifetimes. Do you wish to triangulate location: Hall of the Gods? This will cost one Potency Point.
You have chosen Yes!
Congratulations! You have successfully triangulated interface point: Hall of the Gods.
And in an eyeblink, he understood.
He could feel the flow of the forces and fields that allowed this divine echo of the realm below to exist, how it simultaneously overlooked and interwove with the fabric of reality itself. And in that instant, he understood another truth both wondrous and profound.
The Golden Realms below didn’t represent the only place his Hall of Doors could force an opening.
He smiled wide at the scowls and glares of bloated deities filled with hate, beings that had despised him from the moment he had first walked upon this world. He sensed they had always been eager to crush him with loss and despair, hoping to drown him out of existence entirely.
Just like they had attempted with their brother, countless years before.
To say nothing of the bitter grandfather who had done absolutely nothing to intervene.
Alex ignored the handful of other deities looking on, eyes transfixed upon the trio who had tormented him and his loved ones mercilessly through the centuries. He felt a shiver of white-hot rage turn into the fiercest of insights, his laughter at that moment eerily like WiFu’s own as darkest epiphanies clicked into place, Alex now sensing so clearly the profound connections between himself, this divine hall, and the tragedy below, and knowing exactly what steps he could take, so that his enemies could never strike him down again.
But this time, there would be a cost to forging a marker that could twist fate itself.
Transcendent epiphany allows for the forging of a Second Card of Fate!
Seas of Titan
Category: Catastrophe.
Specifics - Hidden by you!
Cost to forge: Unearthly insight + A portion of your infinite potential (one Potency Point)
Will you invest in this Card of Catastrophe?
You have chosen YES!
You now have Six Potency Points remaining!
You have forged a Divine artifact! Artificer is now Rank 6!
A price he willingly paid as that flawless moment of forbidden insight condensed like a snapshot into a card of shadow and blood.
As captivated as Alex was by the card before him, it was nothing compared to the roars and hollers of dismay overtaking the gaming hall entire.
“Blasphemous! A violation of all that is righteous and just!” Zheng Yi roared over the crowd, as brooding storm clouds gave a steel-grey tint to the billions of tiny figures that were pieces upon the board Alex now inspected.
“This abomination must be struck down at once!” Long Wang snarled, the butt of his hammer smashing the ground, and Alex could feel the massive earthquakes rocking through the game board that was the world Alex now called home. “First you steal my wife, then you have the gall to flaunt her and your abomination before us? You will pay dearly for these transgressions, WiFu! You think you suffered before? It will be nothing compared to what is to come!”
WiFu’s bemused features froze before twisting into something inconceivably hard and cold that glared back at Long Wang with chilling malice. “Ware your words, brother, or it will be just as you say.”
But at that moment, Long Wang only had eyes for his wife. “Qing Bai, I beg of yo
u, leave that silver-tongued serpent and come back to my side at once!” His brutish face all but begged. “Please, my blossom. It is not too late for you to forsake that beast. Not too late to come back to my side! You know how I yearn for you. You know that we were meant to be together!”
Qing Bai slowly shook her head, tears streaming freely down her cheeks. “You say that, even after you and Grandfather hunted down my daughters and granddaughters!”
“But what about our beautiful son?” Long Wang implored.
Qing Bai lowered her head. “A son I haven’t seen in countless years, after you drove him away.”
“Because he married a Ruidian harlot!”
“Enough!” Zheng Yi roared. “You fools will not embarrass us in front of our guests!” Hot eyes turned to glare at WiFu. “Answer your damned disciple’s questions, give him a token for his feat of madness, and get him out of here, Fox!” His killing gaze then settled upon Alex. “So long as he leaves that damned abomination of a card he forged behind… I will permit him to live. For now.”
Until now, the blue-tinged visiting gods had held their peace, yet with those words alone, the tallest among them, a stunningly beautiful woman wearing a crown of eyes, gazed curiously at Alex. “You are a strange one, Zheng Yi. At odds with your own party, seeking to cast off the first Risen I have seen in centuries. And after he forged a Card of Catastrophe?” Her gaze hardened. “You never were one for direct confrontation, Zheng. You scheme just as cleverly as your grandson. What game are you playing at, Storm-King?”
Zheng’s face mottled with rage.
WiFu raised a golden chalice in mock salute. “Well done, Grandfather! Your reputation for playing the clever fool now exceeds even my own!”
“Hardly that,” smirked the goddess who had spoken, having the gall to raise her own crystal flute in turn. “Still, it’s been ages since you last visited our palaces, WiFu. When can we expect to see you again?”
WiFu gave an indulgent shrug. “Perhaps when we’re not at war, dearest queen of all things snowy and cold.”
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior’s Path Page 19