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

by M. H. Johnson

  He winced, gazing at her deathly pallor, suddenly fearing he was on the cusp of forcing her into an impossible oath, and what an ugly betrayal that would be. “I just mean, to the extent you choose to warn your students against playing the fool like I’m so good at, I would be grateful.” He swallowed. “Extremely grateful. What happens beyond that is no one’s fault or responsibility, save the reader’s own.”

  Jidihu closed her eyes and lowered her head. Alex could feel the tremble underneath her steely grip. When she looked up once more, the soft brown irises he had come to expect were replaced by pools of obsidian darkness.

  Alex gasped, suddenly feeling like he was drowning Shadow. Eternal, never-ending Shadow.

  But he didn’t dare pull away.

  Not when the heavens themselves might otherwise glimpse their conversation.

  “And if I poured all my arts, all my resources, into destroying this tome, knowing that the secrets of ultimate self-destruction as well as transcendent enlightenment are both trapped within?”

  Alex froze at those words.

  Jidihu’s smile was almost apologetic. “I would be destroying a portion of your own soul, wouldn’t I? Your immortal soul, which you’ve somehow sacrificed to yourself in your desperate bid to survive. To transcend all you ever were before.”

  Alex said nothing, though his heart was hammering as never before.

  “For all that it starts with the humblest of lessons, even I sense some of the secrets deep within the tome. It goes far beyond speedy recovery times and a Light Qi technique, doesn’t it, Alex?”

  Alex nodded.

  She tilted her head curiously. “You are gambling so much. It took me centuries just to reach Silver, and one truth I sense already is that your tome does not promise any sort of speedy ascension, for all that it implies I will discover a unified technique at its end. Alex, do you not fear old age claiming you before you ascend?”

  Alex chuckled softly. “I see you didn’t get as far in the tome as you think you have. And as perceptive as you are, haven’t you gleaned the secret Hao Chan, Hao Yin, and I already share?”

  “What secret is this?”

  Alex gazed thoughtfully at the wagon. “As wondrous an opportunity as this is for us to grow and ascend, there is a darker truth to our riding so close to the juxtaposition between the Heavenly Realms, the Earthly Realm, and the realm of Shadow, isn’t there?”

  Jidihu paled and looked away. “The girls under my care will learn and grow like never before during this trip, so long as they have the tools to do so. Which your tome, and dare I say it, the library you store for me even now, allows. But yes, there is a cost. And I pray they will forgive me for forcing them to pay it.”

  Alex nodded. “Gaining years’ worth of growth and insights in a carriage ride that lasts weeks. Months, in our case, if the capital is several times further from Yidushi than Erdushi was. But they will age an equal amount, won’t they? Heaven and Earth demanding their due.”

  He flashed a smile for the whistling boy he could somehow sense even through the deadly cloak of Shadow Jidihu was projecting, happily tending to his massive mounts, radiating an innocent contentment that seemed to soothe even the most savage beast. “Except for Hao Yin’s brother, who for all that he has the appearance of a fourteen-year-old boy, hasn’t aged a day since I met him, and I halfway think he has faerie blood flowing through his veins.”

  Jidihu nodded. “He does.”

  Alex blinked in surprise, but quickly collected himself. “How old do I look to you?”

  Jidihu frowned, then paled, suddenly getting it. “You look like a youth of eighteen summers. Hao Yin a girl of sixteen, and Hao Chan looks no older than you. But all three of you found yourselves trapped in a carriage ride very much like this one! Four weeks, at least three of them transcendent… Alex, you aren’t actually going to tell me that one of your secrets is...”

  Alex nodded. “Once your cells learn how to appropriately balance Dark and Light Qi, they will no longer age. The entropy of decay will be rechanneled into resilience and renewal. Or to put it another way, the heat generated from decaying organelles will be used to quickly generate fresh ones, your telomeres always making sure your cells replicate perfectly, tumor free.”

  He shuddered as ancient memories flooded his soul. “Believe me, no one knows just how ugly life can get when tumors take a hold of you. Any practitioner who achieves adept rank at this art will never have to worry about cancer or old age ever again.”

  “Alex! You hold the secrets to eternal life within your tome! No cultivator is capable of that, do you understand? Even the most powerful cultivator within this realm with the most prized cultivation manuals at his disposal knows that no matter how fierce and potent his Qi foundation, old age will eventually take its due. Even if pushed off for many thousands of years.”

  Alex nodded. “I know.”

  “Heavens above,” she whispered. “This is no Jade artifact that would be coveted by the greatest of kings or even the Emperor himself, to whom we all owe fealty, who could field a billion men or strike any Silver dead with a single thought.”

  Alex slowly shook his head.

  “Alex, did you actually manage to forge a Divine tome?”

  Alex held back a hiss as the entire world seemed to hold its breath. Even the trees had stopped rustling beyond the kitsune’s Cloak of Shadow. He could all but feel a crushing weight suddenly upon his shoulders even as Jidihu’s obsidian orbs widened with horror.

  And then the dreadful weight eased, the terror of being on a precipice where the slightest untoward shift could send them all hurtling to oblivion passing as quickly as it had come.

  The trees began to rustle once more. The sharp cry of a hunting hawk could be heard in the distance, and the soft hoots of owls broke up the serenade of crickets all around.

  But Alex was not fooled. And neither was Jidihu.

  “Alex...”

  He nodded. “We leave immediately. And we never speak of this again.” His stomach lurched, somehow certain it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.

  But it was all they could do.

  8

  “Hey Hao Lin,” said Alex with a smile, approaching his young friend as Jidihu dashed off to ready everyone for immediate departure, the Shadow Cloak held as fiercely in place as ever.

  Hao Lin was taking his ease just as Alex had, minutes ago, hands behind his head, eyes closed with a smile on innocent features that need never fear the hooves of massive beasts of burden that would likely crush anyone else’s skull, happily dozing just beneath his mounts. Of course, the boy had a certain way with horses and most other animals that bordered on the mystical.

  Hao Lin’s eyes popped open, his gentle features lighting up with a smile as he sprang to his feet, the massive mount that had been hovering so protectively over him, glaring at Alex, seeming to choose that very moment to shift its bulk away. “Hey, Alex, it’s good to see you in one piece! Sorry I didn’t get a chance to say hi the other day, what with you being near death after somehow falling out of the heavens and all.”

  Alex smirked. “Yeah, that was interesting. I hope not to have to repeat that any time soon, since it burned out over half my peripherals and it was torture every second I had to spend healing them back.”

  Hao Lin winced. “Sounds painful. Though not as painful as the arena fights I watched with my sister and cousin, and boy am I glad you made it through that in one piece!”

  Alex blinked, having no recollection of seeing the boy at the fights at all, but just one look into those fey, guileless eyes, and Alex didn’t doubt it for a second. He gave an awkward shrug. “I’m just glad I got through that in one piece.”

  His friend nodded before taking a deep breath, spreading his arms wide with a grin and looking all around him. “I did love the excitement of the city, and Master Qiu was so kind, always smiling with approval whenever I tended to the horses and letting me come along for all the rides into the heart of Yidushi as a reward for be
ing such a good student. He even treated me to sticky dumplings or red bean buns whenever we went near the market! But as exciting as all the people and energy of the city was? Nothing beats the thrill of traveling through the wilderness with the heavens above and nature all around, imagining you and your trade caravan are drifting between endless forest and living dream.”

  Hao Lin sighed, a look of perfect contentment on his features. “It’s just such a perfect feeling. Almost like, I don’t know, transcendence. Or the same joy you get listening to a bard’s tale filled with excitement and adventure, yet somehow knowing we’re living that adventure, becoming one with the world all around. Do you know what I mean, Alex?”

  Alex smiled. “I can imagine.” His gazed turned serious. “Hao Lin? Could we possibly coax the horses into pushing a bit longer tonight? I wouldn’t normally ask, but it’s kind of important.”

  The young man frowned, standing up to pat one of the resting horses’ flanks. “I don’t think they’d like that, to be honest, Alex.”

  Alex’s gaze grew intent. “It’s really important, Hao Lin.”

  The young man’s scowl deepened before he relented with a sigh and put his forehead against a gently nickering horse. The mare turned to the young man, exhaling a soft, rumbling puff of air before licking Hao Lin’s face.

  Hao Lin nodded, a bemused smile on his features. “I think they’re game, especially if you bribe them with some spirit fruit.” He sighed. “Too bad I didn’t think to pluck any from the trees we passed by. It’s just that when I’m driving the carriage, I get so lost in that endless moment.” He shook his head ruefully. “Sometimes, I feel like I’m only waking up in the evening, that I’m only really here when talking to Chan or Yin over dinner, right before it’s time to go to sleep. Strange, isn’t it? I’ve never felt so at peace, so connected to the world all around me, as I do when I’m travelling with you, Alex. But at the same time, I’m not entirely sure if I’m awake or, well, dreaming.” He gave a thoughtful frown. “Then again, sometimes I feel like my whole life is a dream, one of countless dreams my spirit has embraced since time began.” He shrugged. “Anyway, spirit fruit would be best.”

  Hao Lin’s eyes widened when Alex pulled a dozen lush ripe apples filled with Heaven and Earth spiritual energy from his ring, plucked free of the grove of apple trees growing happily by the light of his saintly artifact in the garden at the heart of his divine treasure. For all that Alex sometimes wondered if he’d ever be sufficiently pure or in a transcendent enough state to ever hold that fangtian ji again, it was nice that it still consented to supply his garden with a constant stream of light and heavenly Qi.

  Hao Lin’s apologetic smile widened to a truly pleased grin when he handed each of the now awake and, if Alex was any judge, cheerful horses not one but three of the ripe red-gold apples.

  Hao Lin turned back with an approving smile. “With this, they’ll happily ride all night long. But we better spoil them with extra rest and more apples tomorrow.”

  Alex dipped his head. “Deal.”

  His smile faded the instant he caught Jidihu’s anxious gaze. “We’re good.”

  “Good. We have no time. Hop on, we’re going!”

  And for all that the clearing was as inviting and peaceful as one could hope, Alex couldn’t help but feel the awful pressure of an oncoming storm, his stomach tied up in anxious knots until they were well and truly on their way, breathing a sigh of relief only when the clearing was utterly out of sight.

  “Alex, what’s wrong?” asked a concerned Hao Chan, who had been sleeping on the rooftop along with Hao Yin, most of the other girls electing to rest in the carriage proper. Which, fortunately, was perfectly safe, this time around.

  Alex squeezed Hao Chan’s hand with his now fully healed arm. “We just had a gut feeling that it would be a good idea to find another campsite. With any luck, we left trouble far behind.”

  The strikingly beautiful dancer who had quite unexpectedly captured his heart furrowed her brow. “And that’s all there is to it?”

  He flashed a winning smile, gently kissing her cheek. “All that matters, anyway. And the less said on it, the better.”

  She paled, sensing the intensity behind his warm gaze.

  “Are you okay?” A soft hand with a surprisingly strong grip squeezed his own.

  Alex lay down beside her, nodding his head. “I am now.” He flashed an arch smile.

  A sultry chuckle caressed his ear, sending shivers down his spine. “Rest, hero. I’ll keep you safe and warm in my arms. And no, you’re not allowed to do anything but sleep. Is that okay?”

  He swallowed, nodding, ignoring his suddenly pounding heart. “Thank you, Hao Chan.”

  He shivered as her warm breath caressed his neck with laughter, gasping at the feel of soft lips nibbling his neck, wrapping herself against him. “Goodnight, Alex. Dream sweet dreams of us both achieving Silver. I know I will.”

  Alex smiled. He doubted he’d sleep a wink with Hao Chan’s lush, powerful physique holding him so tenderly.

  Then, much to his surprise, he did.

  9

  “He has dared the forbidden!” declared a powerful voice that echoed like a dragon’s roar as a titan-sized deity smashed his hammer against the marble tiles of an impossibly vast royal chamber bejeweled by flashing diamonds and the brilliant sparkle of silver and gold, the enormous space filled with priceless treasures and grand works of art hinting at divine forms and transcendent perfection that would have sent even the most inspired grandmasters crashing to their knees with sobs of wonder as they gazed upon a panoply of artistic splendor that did not cease as the grand arched chamber soared up and up, impossibly high overhead, so vast and airy that wispy clouds could be seen floating between living murals of magnificent landscapes and tragic battles. All of them pristine moments in time that a transcendent cultivator could transport himself to, with a single act of will.

  And somehow, though he was no more than a wisp of shadow behind a trickster god dressed just like an inspector of a thousand years ago, Alex knew that if he could look outside this vast palace, he’d see a magnificent vista of endless snowcapped mountains just as the morning sun crested the horizon, setting the clouds ablaze in a wash of crimson and gold.

  “And what exactly has he dared that is forbidden?” inquired a bemused WiFu as he gazed down upon what looked to Alex like an impossibly vast game board complete with cities and roads and the weight of billions of souls trapped within the game.

  “He soul-forged a tome! He put his own divine essence into a work forged of his own transcendence!”

  WiFu scoffed, giving a dismissive wave of his hand. “It’s only Rank 9. It hasn’t even reached double digits. That hardly counts as a divine cultivation manual at all!”

  Long Wang clenched powerful fists that could shatter mountains. He shook with outraged disbelief. “He was a mortal! Less than a mortal. Just a quantized algorithm living a perfectly predictable existence in a world without any spiritual energy at all! They achieved only an echo of sentience through complexity! Yet somehow, this shadow of a soul, who was conveniently overlooked by Grandmother Yi Wang and allowed to keep his memories, gains such transcendence that he can forge a divine tome? Blasphemous!”

  WiFu raised a single brow, lips quirked in a bemused smile. “Blasphemous? What could that boy possibly do that was blasphemous? It was your piece, if you recall, that embraced a forbidden art, seeking not just to poison Alex’s body, but his very soul. And don’t tell me for a second you hadn’t arranged for Lai Wang to learn that forbidden art so you could remove my piece from the board forever!”

  Long Wang actually had the grace to look offended.

  “I had arranged for it,” snapped an older figure with snow-white hair and goatee, eyes crackling with the fury of the storm. “After that boy dared to forsake my gift, seven lifetimes worth of luck and the fortune and favor of being reborn as a ruling prince, he deserves to be wiped from the board!”

  WiFu’s g
rin only grew. “It really was a fine trade you had offered, Grandfather Zheng Yi. I can’t say I wouldn’t have taken it up myself!” He chuckled softly, savoring the nonplussed expressions of his opponents. “But the boy has a hunger, a fire within his soul that won’t be denied. When he finally awoke, it was as a young man fresh to the world, eager for adventure, hungry to make something of the divine path he had forged!”

  WiFu shook his head with a tsk. “Yet you both have done all you could to destroy my piece over how many lifetimes? Assuring all avenues of study were closed off to him, all resources denied, all hands turned against him.” He chuckled softly, flipping an ivory white card upon the massive world display, over top a card of black, red, and silver. “And when you dared your mad little gambit, using that foolish alchemist to destroy my favorite piece completely, you also left yourself open, Grandfather; allowing me to capture your piece, or at least his Golden potential. And now your precious Silver alchemist, once so close to being one in a billion, is now just another mortal ant scurrying around the board. Good luck making use of him again!”

  WiFu’s smirk grew as the pair of gods before him glared down at the massive display of the world, radiating a deadly cold fury.

  “If anything, I should thank your sacrificed piece. Flaying half of Alex’s soul free of its moorings was all that was needed for him to forge yet another divine tome, and one that has the potential to allow anyone with seven intact meridians, even my daughters, to achieve transcendence.”

  This earned a cold snort from a grotesquely-bloated figure wearing a commander’s regalia who was presently leaning forward, glaring down at the board. “Only if they have the patience to wait several thousand years.”