The serpentine head flashed a wicked grin. “And you will be feeding me soon enough, I think, presumptuous Ruidian. The Horns of Calamity have trumpeted your name across all the heavens and the deepest pits of Hell! Are you curious as to how precisely it will feel to perish, perpetually drowning within my waters, your soul providing me with sustenance for eternity? If you ask, I shall tell.”
But Alex knew when he was being distracted. Knew when death approached, even while glaring down at his foe from the cavern entrance he had just managed to dart into.
So when his Qi Perception pinged, far fainter than it should have, so faint that it was more a tingle than anything else, a lurch in his gut he had almost missed completely, so good the river guardian had been at distracting him, Alex was already turning and pivoting, lunging with his fangtian ji as a massive shadow puma leaped through the air, feline eyes widening with surprise when Alex’s desperate thrust tore out the back of its throat, and Alex didn’t hesitate to lurch up and past the puma as the massive roaring dragon head shoved itself into the tunnel, gulping down puma and lodged fangtian ji with a single snap of its terrible jaws before its head slid back into the roaring river that was now filling the tunnel with a final glare.
“You will be drowning in my waters soon enough, mortal!”
But Alex didn’t bother with a reply, already racing up the tunnel as fast as his legs could take him, pausing only to draw the spear from within his storage belt, the only other polearm he had, eyes wide with terror and fury, on the lookout for any other spirit beasts looking for an easy kill. And perhaps the residents of those tunnels sensed death approaching as well, for Alex encountered no stalking felines or any other foe as he raced down what seemed endless tunnels, even as the earth seemed to tremble with earthquakes and avalanches, and Alex could only guess what was occurring in the world above.
But what grabbed all his attention as he made his way through a dizzying series of tunnels was the sound of roaring, gurgling water from below.
He breathed a shuddering sigh of relief when his Qi Perception seemed to flicker back on after racing up what seemed endless winding corridors to yet another massive cavern, before screaming in sudden pain as every cell seemed to cry out for air as badly as they ever had when Alex had nearly drowned in that gelatinous slug-like horror.
You have engaged in Power Healing! Your cells are rejuvenated!
He was stunned to find himself stumbling to the ground, soaking wet, as trickling water from the pool he had leaped out of slowly filled the cavern he now found himself in, lit by lichen and moss high overhead, spending long moments catching his breath as he struggled to dizzy feet, before turning around in horror.
Wait. He had jumped out of a pool? Impossible!
Still, the sight was undeniable, the steep tunnel leading to the basin and the ledge he had scaled was now a pool of ice-cold water filled with the bodies of countless shadow beasts. But what chilled Alex just as much was the realization that those monsters weren’t just the fresh kills of a recent flashflood, but the long dead remnants of beasts that had been caught off guard weeks or months ago.
Heart lurching in his chest, Alex quickly scurried back, pretending his cells weren’t all throbbing with the remembered agony of having endured endless minutes, hours, or days, of surviving on nothing but Dark Qi alone.
The very idea that he had been trapped for so long within the River of Souls...
He shuddered, shaking the awful thought out of mind, lurching forward as fast as his Qi Perception could lead him along what were now deathly-still corridors, finally heaving a great sigh of relief when he at last felt the fresh cool breeze scented with the sharp scents of pine, wildflowers, and burning wood.
He was near the entrance, he had to be!
Yet he saw no trace of the sun.
Racing now with terror as much as hope, he all but flew down the corridors, spear raised for any homicidal foe or deadly surprise. And the cry of relief when he finally burst out into the grassy clearing beside the cave entrance was nothing compared to the tremendous swelling of gratitude in his heart, falling to his knees as he gazed at the starry sky above.
He took endless breaths of fresh, life-giving air, beyond grateful just to be alive.
Perception check made!
Then his eyes caught the warm orange glow of fires in the distance. He felt an awful sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. It had taken him a few seconds to orient, since he had never actually seen the rear of Morning Dew Temple when he had first been dragged into the crater and thrown down the deepest pit, but he suddenly had no doubt that the fires flickering above had once been the sect chapter he had hoped to run missions for, just an innocent handful of days back. Or perhaps it had been countless weeks ago.
He winced, dreading what he would find, but he still felt compelled to check the monastery. Or at least, what was left of it.
It was only when he stepped forward, away from the cavern entrance that was now no longer there, that he realized he had a problem. Falling completely over on his side, his eyes widened at the horrifying sight of his ghostly pale feet sinking into the soft loamy ground.
“Ha! You have lost, WiFu! He reemerged with only the one cord he had forged before. He has not even transformed to a broken Silver, no matter his waste of an entire Golden spirit core!”
Long Wang’s ghostly laughter seemed to echo across the entire basin, thought a horrified Alex, staring at his ghostly feet slipping into the ground. “I’m surprised that worm even managed to survive! No doubt thanks to your slippery influence alone, WiFu. But there can be no doubt. The fool’s base is shattered! Shattered so artfully he could channel a hundred cores and fail to advance a single stage as all that Qi drains away to nothing! He may have his life, but it will end soon enough, Fox. For Shui Jun always claims her due.”
Even General Shalu snorted at that. “I have lost countless soldiers to her wiles when my legions crossed rivers and my flotillas crossed the great lakes of this world. She has left her mark, WiFu, even if he was able to outrun the serpent god’s doom. And not even you are such a fool as to not know what that means.”
“Only because you played two Calamities back to back, brother!” snapped the voice of a highly-irritated WiFu. “One spirit to hound him in life, one god to hound him in death. Stretching the rules in ways never intended, four cards played between you two before I have even laid a single one!”
The general’s mocking laughter burned Alex’s ears. “Rules are made to be exploited, Fox! They are but one tool in an arsenal of mastery and destruction. Victory has nothing to do with virtue or a bard’s glorified ideals, and everything to do with how well one has mastered the rules. You know that as well as anyone, Fox, so don’t you dare cry foul now. Bending rules to suit your whim is practically your calling!”
WiFu gave a sad chuckle. “What can I say, brothers? When you’re right, you’re right. Still, it would be a shame if my pawn died now, after so many rounds of play. Don’t you think?”
But Alex was no longer paying attention to the disjointed voices commenting inside his head, his gaze firmly locked on the horrific sight of his own ghostly pale feet. And worse, far worse, was happening to him.
Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the deathly pallor was growing.
It had already hit his ankles, and Alex had no doubt at all that when it crawled far enough up, he would slowly slip through the ground until he was dangling by his hair roots, gazing down at the horrific serpent god Shui Jun, swimming in the wildest part of the River of Souls. He would gaze up and smile at Alex with a wide-open maw of needle-sharp teeth, looking to snap him up the moment he fell.
Alex laughed so hard it was a sob before he began screaming in frustrated fury.
No matter what he did to get back on his feet, no matter what steps he took, those bastards above still managed to smash him back to the ground. And he had no doubt at all this was punishment for his actually daring to crack open those Golden tomes, for not meekly a
ccepting his fate and surrendering all his prizes yet again. For not accepting that he was just a tool to be used, sneered at, and discarded by WiFu’s mocking brothers for all time.
Yet this time he had heeded no demands save those of his own heart, his own desperate need to ascend, to prove himself, to become more than he had ever been before.
And he had actually done it! Actually forged a Divine cord.
Only to find himself thrust into Calamity’s deadly embrace yet again, the instant the first trial ended, having to flee not just an underground cavern but the underworld itself, from which apparently there was no reprieve. He was cursed so thoroughly that even his emergence only bought him time before he eventually sank back into that horrific river once more.
Alex choked down a sob, realizing he could feel the chilly waters of that deathly river washing against his ice-cold feet sinking under the grass even now.
He glared down at his feet even as the gods laughed above, and it was all he could do not to scream his fury at the heavens, before nearly forgotten memories jolted him out of his panicked stupor. Memories that had left him sick with dread at the time, but now filled him with a sense of desperate hope.
All he had to do was gaze down at a limb that had blackened a thousand years prior to it ever turning ghostly.
“I’m sorry, Alex. It looks like the last round of chemo took a heavier toll on your body than we anticipated. Did your mother explain what has to happen?”
Alex could still remember the hopeless sense of despair he had felt, the day his limb had gone tingly and numb, then he felt nothing below his ankle at all. “The chemo cocktail destroyed the vasculature down there. When the blood flow got cut off, the tissue began to die. We didn’t catch it in time, and sick as I am...”
“I’m sorry, Alex, but that smell is a warning sign. If we don’t take care of it now...”
“I’ll die of gangrene before the cancer can even kill me. I understand.”
The doctor’s smile had been so syrupy sympathetic that Alex had wanted to slug the man.
“Don’t worry, Alex. We’ll give you all the palliative care you need. When it’s time to go, you might feel a bit sleepy, but you won’t feel a lick of pain.”
Alex had laughed bitterly. “I don’t mind the pain, doctor. It’s the dying that gets me down.”
Alex gasped, heart racing with that awful memory, having gazed down at a leg blackened and emaciated, nothing like the sleek, powerful limbs he had been blessed with after pushing himself so hard to embrace the secrets of cultivation, no matter the cost of his daring.
“I don’t mind the pain,” Alex hissed, glaring at his ghostly feet, at what was effectively spiritual gangrene slowly crawling up his limb. “It’s the dying I can do without!”
Trembling hands unsheathed one of the two masterwork dao he had claimed from his enemies, putting aside the one with the burrs and nicks of battle marring its edge.
What he needed was a pristinely sharp, flawless blade, and the fierce discipline and peerless strength of a cultivator.
He swallowed, miming what his movements would have to be. Not just a chop, but a cleaving slice, pulling the blade inward for a sawing motion to cleave through resilient flesh and hack through toughened bone.
The very thought sickened him. But he had no friends, no allies he could count on that moment. He only had himself. Yet unlike the last time he was put in this terrible situation, at least now he had a chance of survival.
Assuming he had the courage to follow through.
Willpower check failed! You have botched the cut! Medium Wound taken!
Alex cried out with sudden pain, twisting the blade at the last second, unable to believe what he was doing. He was cutting off his own feet!
He sobbed like a tortured animal, as any creature might, when forced to mutilate itself for a desperate chance at survival.
But Alex knew he had no choice.
Knew that the guardian’s curse was beyond mortal ken, and he doubted anyone with less than a brilliant Golden core in their souls had any hope of overcoming such a terrible burden.
And Alex had no such edge.
But what he did have was a certain specialized technique and practical knowledge.
No matter how vile the poison or disease, if the infected flesh was quarantined, and ideally separated from the host, it could cause no more harm.
So, no matter how deadly this spiritual curse eating at him, it could only eat what was attached to the now ghostly feet before him.
Alex grit his teeth and glared at his spurting leg. “We finish this, and we finish this now!”
Willpower check made!
And several desperate minutes later, Alex was sobbing with pain and exhaustion and feeling a furious burst of exultation as a pair of hacked off spiritual feet and ankles slowly turned completely ghost white, before falling through the earth and disappearing entirely.
Alex flashed a bitter grin at the furious howl of a serpent deep in the underworld. Before hissing with sudden dread, wondering why he was able to hear her at all.
The connection should be broken.
Then he gazed at his left wrist which had been caressed for just a heartbeat from one of the lurching horrors that had sucked literal months of his life away in just a split second.
Sure enough, it had gone ghostly pale. Though it hadn’t affected his still mortal hand. Yet the paleness was growing up and down his wrist.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” he groaned, before performing the horrid operation yet again.
And this time he couldn’t stop laughing, despite the dizziness of blood loss, as the hydra’s howl became a frustrated scream, and then he heard no more, his fatal connection to that deathly realm below severed at last.
You have used Dark Qi Projection! Temporary Dark Qi coating has severed all spiritual connections! 10 Qi used! All malevolent ties severed!
You have engaged in Power Healing! You have regrown missing limbs!
Divine Eternal Fox cultivation technique trumps Netherworld Jade class curse. Tainted peripheral meridians have been successfully excised! Pristine peripheral meridians have been fully rejuvenated!
Alex clenched his fist in furious exultation.
He had done it, surviving the most perilous of situations, severing curses even the gods seemed determined to burden him with, and had managed to prosper where all his enemies assumed he’d fail.
He had been thrust into the crucible of his enemy’s hate, and had emerged stronger than ever before.
Of course, he thought, while gazing at the furious pyre that had been a well-built monastery just a short time ago, his power as a Rank 1 Bronze was absolutely nothing compared to a city-killing Gold.
No matter his potential, he needed to get stronger. Just as fast as he possibly could. Because the way things were going for him, he’d be lucky to see his second Rank in Bronze, let alone Silver. And surviving long enough even to think about the path to Gold seemed more fantasy at this point than anything else.
Alex gave a tired shake of his head.
It seemed his adventures had only just begun.
But as much as he wanted nothing more at that moment than to sleep for a week and forget the world’s perils, he forced his steady pace to speed up as he left the jungle-like basin and finished scaling the lip of the crater.
Because despite the fact that the blazing ruins of the once-majestic Morning Dew Temple should have marked an abandoned ruin, there were definite screams coming from the courtyard.
And one of them was a voice he thought he recognized.
An Li.
Somehow, she had survived.
But if that cry was any indication, she wouldn’t be alive for very much longer.
His ground-eating trot turned to a full out sprint.
He broke out of cover, racing across the open field between himself and the academy courtyard, leaping atop the wall, girding himself for whatever came next.
27
Alex ga
zed with horrified disbelief at the scene before him. Out of all places in the world, to see his most hated enemy here... Alex’s blood boiled with a killer’s rage at the sight of none other than Hao Zei himself, who Alex was absolutely certain he had killed, along with a full score of hard-bitten and heavily-armed slavers. His pig-like eyes glittered with fanatic hate, for all that his body was warped and distorted, face horribly stretched and distended as if it remembered its human shape only vaguely.
The monster of a merchant waved a crackling whip Alex could sense crackling with infernal Qi, directing half a dozen chained Ruidians, including a sobbing An Li who was currently struggling futilely against her collar, and an equal number of terrified-looking cultivators who looked as if they were all waking from a bad dream.
But even worse than the collars around their necks, even worse than Hao Zei’s vicious smile as his wrist collar glowed, causing all twelve victims to crash to their knees, was the fact that they were all kneeling within a thirteen-pointed star, a tridecagram, the color of freshly spilled blood.
“Accept your fate, slaves! Your temple has fallen, and your new master has arrived! You were foolish enough to sign your former master’s contracts, and now you will all pay the ultimate price, so that I may live once more!”
“But why? You’ve been trading with us for years! Breaking bread with us for years! You said you had a cure. You gave your word!” sobbed Fan Fan, the bitter former librarian who had hated Alex so intently before challenging Alex to a duel the man had had no hope of winning with his corroded foundation.
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior's Oath: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 4 Page 48