Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior's Oath: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 4

by M. H. Johnson

“I understand,” she said. “Pain is something I’m not unaccustomed to.”

  Alex turned to Yinzi. “How much did you understand?”

  She furrowed her brow. “I’m really not sure. I thought, maybe, but probably not.” Her gaze turned apologetic. “I don’t think I’m going to pick this up in one try.”

  Alex grinned. “I’d be surprised if you picked it up on the hundredth. All the more reason to get back to practicing, shall we?” With that, he plucked a sharp steel dagger from storage, and before widened eyes, slowly ran the tip of the sharp blade over his forearm, clenching his jaw as he did so. He did not cut deep, the wound was shallow, but it bled profusely, and when he infused those damaged cells with Qi, so close to the surface, he hoped the flow of spiritual energy would be even easier to sense. Not to mention the more dramatic image of his flesh closing before their eyes, any impurities on the metal squeezed out with those final few drops of blood.

  Alex gazed back up at the half dozen pairs of intent eyes gazing back at him. “Alright. I’m going to repeat the technique a dozen or so times, then you’ll all pair up and practice the basics strikes I showed you.” He frowned, gazing at the dimensions of their training space, surprised and pleased to see that, so long as they were striking in a controlled sequence and not free sparring, there was actually more than enough room.

  “What are we going to practice them against, Master Alex?” asked one petite kitsune girl, gazing shyly up at Alex.

  Alex smiled as Feng Huang snorted. “He’s just Alex, Hu An.” Before gazing back at Alex and dipping her head. “Grateful as we are for his instruction.”

  “That’s a great question, Hu An,” Alex said, summoning a handful of pels, now fully restored, out of storage. The girls gasped at the display, for all that they were little more than wooden posts wrapped with one sort of padding or another from all the supplies he had pilfered from Hao Zei’s wagon, which were then encased in spirit beast hide or lamellar armor.

  Hu An winced. “Um… wouldn’t hitting those things hurt?”

  Alex gave a slow nod. “Until you toughen your strike points? Yes. But our goal here isn’t just to teach you the basics of Golden Realms Kung Fu. You need to learn how to hit correctly and with sufficient force to do maximum damage to your foe and minimal injury to yourself. This will help toughen your body while you’re taught a cultivation technique that will allow you to overcome almost any injury, given sufficient time, and perhaps reveal other benefits as well.”

  He caught the gazes of several girls looking askance at the training pels. “For those of you new to body training, you can stick with the pels covered in softer fur. For those of you used to toughening yourselves…”

  “That would be us.” Hao Chan and Hao Yin grinned, and how it lightened Alex’s heart to see their cheerful smiles.

  But it was only after inflicting and healing another dozen or so long, shallow cuts, that Yinzi gasped, eyes widening as if struck by sudden insight. Alex was relieved, but he didn’t let it pull him away from his slow, deliberate healing, doing his best to make sure everyone could see, and hopefully sense, the flow of Qi coursing through his cells.

  Of course he didn’t expect anyone to pick it up that first day, and for all that more than one pair of ears had wilted in pitiable expressions, a suddenly firm Feng Huang made it clear that none of the girls were getting a Water healing until they had spent at least an hour trying to coax their own bodies to mimic Alex’s technique.

  Which of course meant that Alex had to spend a considerable amount of time demonstrating the techniques upon his own flesh, painful as it was. He was grateful Hao Chan and Hao Yin, who already knew Eternal Fox to a degree that astounded him, were soon teaching by his side, neither flinching from doing what it took to demonstrate those same techniques, for all that they stuck to smashing the pels with bone-cracking force and healing whatever mild injuries came from those blows.

  Alex couldn’t help but wince every time Hao Chan’s deadly wheel kick would whip around with devastating force, lamellar plates warping or tearing completely free of armor as the whole carriage top rattled with the force of those blows, before turning back to Alex with an impish grin.

  If Alex had just met Hao Chan today as a Rank 1 Basic cultivator, any one of those strikes could have easily killed him.

  Alex just smiled back and continued his lessons, and by the time that endless afternoon slowly transcended to the warm golden glow presaging day’s end, they had come to a stop before the perfect woodland glade just off the road, Ning Jing and Feng Huang organizing the girls into quickly making camp and preparing what Alex had to admit was some of the best stew he had ever tasted, when he snuck a taste while the cauldron was boiling away.

  Before drawing his hand back with a hiss when Ning Jing glared at him. “Stew’s not ready. Best you get back to training the girls.”

  Alex blinked at that, on the one hand grateful that Ning Jing seemed to be accepting him. On the other hand…

  Ning Jing sighed, looking around the clearing. “What’s one thing we have here that we don’t have while riding?”

  Alex blinked, suddenly getting it. “Room.”

  The Silver nodded. “So why don’t you spar with your future wife, and show our girls what it really means to fight? I’ll keep watch.”

  Alex nodded. Ning Jing had a point. When it came to free sparring and incorporating throws and grappling, the clearing was definitely the best choice.

  Hao Chan flashed an impish smile when he approached where she and the other girls were sharing gossip and giggles and giving him the strangest looks before darting away.

  “Hi,” she said, her hand reaching out to squeeze his own.

  Alex grinned. “Hi yourself. Want to show these girls what it really means to fight?”

  The beautiful girl’s grin turned positively mischievous, and Alex couldn’t help but note how elegantly her form-fitting outfit hugged her curves, expertly designed to flatter, while hindering her powerful frame not in the least.

  As she quickly demonstrated with a twist and lurch that sent him crashing to the ground.

  Your opponent has taken you by surprise! Hane Goshi successfully executed! You are momentarily stunned! Your would-be lover now has control of your wrist! Contest of strength at 2-point penalty needed to break free!

  Hao Chan beamed at her friends. “That’s what we call a Spring Hip Throw followed by a wrist lock. See how easy this big lug was to toss? If you can take your opponent by surprise and compromise his balance, you can send him crashing to the ground. And if you apply pressure here...”

  Alex winced.

  “You can dislocate his wrist pretty easily, assuming he doesn’t have...”

  You have successfully twisted free of Hao Chan’s grip! Your sweep sends her crashing on top of you! Contest of grappling now in effect! You have out-leveraged your opponent!

  You are now kissing your opponent…

  With a twist and jerk he never would have been capable of in such an awkward position before he had achieved nearly superhuman Bronze strength, Alex leveraged free of Hao Chan’s grip, winding against her thumb even as he spun around and swept her off her feet, more than happy to catch her surprised gasp when she landed on top of him, and perhaps his attempts at pinning her seemed an awful lot like him squeezing her close to him. How his lips had ended up caressing her neck he had no idea, but then she gave a delighted gasp and her soft lips were suddenly on his own and what they were doing was the farthest thing from fighting, but the minute Alex felt a guttural growl slip from his throat and Chan sighed and melted in his powerful grip, Alex found himself flying through the air.

  Finesse check made! You are oriented!

  Adept Bullrush successfully executed! Lightness in effect! You are now balancing upon a single leaf in the tree Feng Huang threw you at!

  Alex took a deep breath, careful to shift his balance not at all, gazing down upon a glaring Feng Huang and half a dozen girls gazing back at him with wide, unbli
nking eyes as tree branches rustled all around Alex, now some forty feet off the ground.

  “And there you see before you proof like nothing else that WiFu’s disciples are just as foolish as he is! Learn well the lessons this boy has to teach you, for he has indeed stumbled upon enlightenment of one sort or another. But do try to avoid acting like an idiot and jeopardizing your entire cultivation base like a pair of cats in heat!”

  Her glare then included all the suddenly blushing girls. “Learning Golden Realms or White Crane is fine. But before you even think of asking for guidance in learning Silver Swan, best ask yourselves if you honestly have the discipline to wait for Silver before surrendering your heart to another?”

  She sighed at a couple of furiously blushing girls. “And several of you already know what it means to be a woman, so that art is closed to you in any case, and who is to say that’s not for the best? Focus on this Eternal Fox technique and Golden Realms. When it is time for you to ascend further, perhaps when you have all achieved Bronze, then we can speak of advanced martial arts techniques.” She flashed a gentle smile. “And I will gladly take any of you on as disciples, should you continue to show the discipline and focus that you have for the entirety of this absurdly long day.”

  All the girls gave grateful bows before the now-smiling instructor.

  “We thank you, Lady Feng Huang,” they all said in breathless concert.

  “Good.” Her smile then turned to a frown. “Hao Chan?”

  “Yes, Mistress Feng Huang?”

  “Quit kowtowing, girl, and follow me. We’re going to train. Hard. So that by the time you fall asleep tonight, thoughts of the foolish boy presently balancing on a tree leaf will be the last thing on your mind.”

  7

  It wasn’t until after Alex was leaning back, hands behind his head on the surprisingly soft, grassy ground outside the carriage, taking his ease as he gazed up at the brilliant starry sky, that Jidihu finally made herself known.

  Alex suppressed a shiver when a fey countenance suddenly blocked his view, the kitsune noble and secret head of Yidushi’s deadly underground Jianghu sect gazing down at him with an almost impish smile. It didn’t seem to matter that he had been practicing mindfulness, doing his best to sense everyone’s presence without using his sight as they made themselves comfortable and prepared for sleep.

  His Qi Perception hadn’t pinged her at all.

  A soft warm hand squeezed his own.

  She slowly drew him to his feet, and Alex couldn’t help but be captivated by the woman’s almost surreal beauty, a striking combination of lethality, grace, and winsome sensuality.

  To his surprise, she bowed low before him.

  Alex blanched, feeling his cheeks redden. “Lady Jidihu...”

  “Just Jidihu between friends and equals, Alex.”

  Alex paled. “I am the farthest thing from your equal.”

  She gazed up at him, Alex only appreciating at that moment how much taller he was than her. Yet the instant she flexed her aura, she seemed to soar in height like a queen.

  Not so, now. Now it was a woman paying him, a novice Bronze, the greatest respect, just shy of kowtowing, before she solemnly placed the shimmering tome that was neither inky blackness nor brilliant starlight, yet somehow comprised of both in equal measure, back in his hands.

  He didn’t hesitate to transfer it back into storage, surprised by her relieved smile once the deed was done.

  “Thank you, Alex. I can never repay you for the boons you have gifted my tribe. Even after just a single day...” She chuckled ruefully. “To see such physical evidence of my father’s divine inspiration...” She swallowed. “I am beyond humbled, disciple.”

  Alex blinked, somewhat at a loss for words. “So, did you like it?” He winced, realizing how stupid that sounded. “I mean… did you find it useful?”

  She flashed a brilliant smile. “I did indeed, Alex. And I do most sincerely hope I may continue perusing its mysteries on the morrow?”

  Alex swallowed and nodded. “I mean… yes, of course!” His brows furrowed. “But Lady Jidihu, there are some things you really need to know about my cultivation manual.”

  She raised a curious brow.

  “It’s not till later in the book, but there are several meridian configurations listed.”

  Her smile grew. “Really! You deduced so much when you have only just risen to Bronze? I must confess to being more intrigued than ever.”

  “But there is risk. A terrible risk!”

  Jidihu stepped back and tilted her head curiously, soft fingers still touching his forearm.

  “What is the nature of this risk, Alex?”

  Alex took a deep breath, focused, and forced himself to admit the terrible secret of his tome.

  “I think, somehow, I intuited a perfect meridian configuration. At least for me,” he hastened to explain, before she could laugh in his face.

  But she wasn’t laughing at all.

  “If another were to imprint it, I think, no, I’m certain, that if another were to follow it with whatever elemental weave matched their strengths, they would have the potential for Gold. Assuming they have seven fully intact meridian gateways, of course.”

  Jidihu paled, her soft grip suddenly so hard Alex gasped as he felt the sickening crack of breaking bone.

  His own.

  “Alex! Are you serious? A treasure so potent it could carry anyone with the potential for Bronze all the way to Gold?”

  Alex gasped and fell to his knees as sudden pain and the incredible pressure of an utterly focused Silver bored into his mind, though her look was one of incredulous wonder. The vindication of seeing this fearsome being Alex both admired and resented for having played him utterly getting put in her place did fill him with a certain pleasure, though it didn’t make up for the agony now shooting up and down his arm.

  “No, don’t pull away, Alex. My gift is all that’s keeping so many precious secrets safe, and I now wonder if yours is perhaps the greatest gift of all.”

  Her blazing eyes filled with sudden chagrin as she gently changed grips, now holding his right hand with the lightest of touches. “Forgive me for the injury, though. It was not intended.”

  Alex winced, but didn’t even bother healing it at that moment, desperate to say what he had to, hopefully before it was too late. “But there is a deeper secret hidden within that tome. One that would allow anyone to forge within themselves an absolutely flawless meridian configuration.”

  She paled upon hearing those words, gaze widening to the point Alex feared he would fall helplessly into those vast, beautiful eyes and never return.

  “Alex! Do you know what you are saying?”

  He paled at the fierceness of her words, forcing himself to speak on. “I’m not telling you anything that you and your students won’t eventually figure out. But darkest peril waits for whoever would dare to do so. Your own soul will be pulled into the forging. Do you understand what I’m saying, Jidihu? Your own soul!”

  He did not hesitate to meet her fierce gaze then. “If you dare take that path, there will be no limit to how far you can go. Not even Gold will stop you. But one misstep, should you perish as we all eventually do...”

  Soft fingers covered his mouth. “Don’t say it,” she whispered.

  He gently pulled her hand away. “Your soul will be torn free of the cycle of life and rebirth forevermore. You will never again return to your ultimate mother’s garden, your tribe’s sanctuary, for all that it was made by the grandfather responsible for the deaths of so many of your kind.”

  Jidihu paled, stricken to know that he knew of her tribe’s most sacred truths, so many secrets had he gleaned while in the extremis of agony as the gods conversed over his writhing form.

  Alex squeezed her hand with his intact one, and now it was she who winced and paled. “You will forever be denied the path of rebirth and renewal. Immortality or Oblivion will be your only paths forward. Your soul, should it echo eternal potential, will be
far too potent and deadly for the gods to ever allow rebirth again.”

  He flashed a bitter smile. “That damned Lai Leng left me no choice. His soul-searing poison was destroying me in ways I sense are utterly forbidden. Yet that perilous wound also gave me salvation, in return for countless lifetimes-worth of ruin. But I am paying a terrible price for it. When I die...”

  “You’re never coming back.”

  Alex nodded. “Then next time I am injured so badly that I kiss death and find myself on the River of Souls, if I lack the strength to pull myself back into the living world, if I allow my awareness to drift to slumber for even a moment… I am gone forever.”

  His gaze grew oddly intent. “Please, Jidihu. Don’t allow anyone to make the same awful choice I did. Not when reincarnation effectively gives everyone immortality anyway! Even the most depraved of souls will one day be reborn an innocent babe, after who knows how many lifetimes as a demon or hungry ghost. But should any cultivator be foolish enough to walk the path I was forced onto, to forge their soul in what will be, for them, a divinely perfect meridian pattern, then they will be embracing the last life they will ever live.”

  Jidihu paled at his words. “You speak of terrible things, disciple. And your metaphor is redundant, I’m afraid. No one awakens upon the River of Souls. It is only when they open fresh eyes in the next life...” Her eyes widened. “Alex! Don’t tell me...”

  “Several times,” he admitted with a bitter smile. “Once, after saving a noble family about to be sacrificed by diabolists, and again, though just for a second, when I was fighting to ascend and survive after being struck by Lai Leng’s Doom Venom Qi Blast.” He shivered. “I know all too well the feel of those cold, clammy waters upon my skin.”

  Yet Jidihu’s pallor had only grown, her gaze one of unreserved awe. “To have felt the waters of Life and Death caress your feet and survive to tell the tale…”

  Alex grimaced, struck by the direness of his own fate, even as he forced himself to say the words. “Please, Jidihu. No matter how hungry they are to advance themselves, don’t ever let this knowledge that I’m sharing with you fall into a foolish kitsune’s hands. The knowledge that utter oblivion with no chance of rebirth will be their fate, should they dare this path and stumble even once in their quest for ascension, and perhaps earn the condemnation of the heavens themselves, will be a constant fear in the back of their mind that will hound their every footstep as they strive for immortality, until they finally fall.”