Hao Chan was gazing at Alex with something close to awe, Yinzi just beaming and chuckling throatily.

Alex, for his part, was just glad that he now had doubled his allotment of potency points from the 6 he had had to 12. His hunch had been right, investing just 2 into finesse allowed Quickness to ascend as well thanks to the dark Qi elements of his growth giving him an effective 4th stat free, so long as 3 physical stats were increased. And since Strength and Vitality had already ascended to Silver, thanks to his recently infused draconic bloodlines, he thought it best to save those 4 points, along with the 2 he got for free each level. Useful as they were for forging Cards of Fate, Soul-Linked locations, or increasing skill ranks, he had the sneaking suspicion that they would be vital to his long term goals of maximizing all his physical characteristics for advanced tiers, just as he now had for Basic and Bronze, so that all of them would then be able to rank up the next tier. And if the characteristics had ever increasing costs like he suspected, and he only brought only Strength and Vitality Silver Rank 5, he risked stagnating into a strength cultivator, only able to increase the latter 2 characteristics while ascending Gold, his Speed and Quickness forever relegated to Silver.

He didn't know for certain, but the cost of making a mistake were so long term and crippling that he dare not underestimate the importance of saving points, at least to the extent that he could afford to.

“I didn’t seriously think you could show us an actual glimpse of your soul, Alex,” Chan whispered. “But… I could sense it! How strong and powerful you are. As graceful and coordinated as Jidihu’s best dancers, and so strong, it's like you've already broken through to Silver Giant! And is that dragon's blood now flowing through your veins?"

“And handsome too. I saw that little bump in the node of his soul,” said a grinning Yinzi, eyes twinkling mischeviously, before licking her lips. “Not that I need any visualized manual chart to let me know when my eyes have caught sight of a vision of pure deliciousness. And if we have his children, they'll be just as strong as he is!” She furrowed her snow-white brow, looking every inch the impossibly beautiful fox maiden with snow white hair and irises a brilliant shade of crimson. Hers was a look that left viewers dumbstruck back at Gold Dragon academy, and so frightened they did all they could to avoid her as politely as possible. Yet for some reason, the slight hardly seemed to bother her at all. As if she’d laugh and embrace all of life’s challenges, reveling in the awkwardness of any situation. Save the one time she had lowered her head in embarrassment, feared rejection more than she could bear.

But still… Yinzi was Yinzi, and would poke fun at them both.

So Alex grinned back. “So says the incredibly beautiful kitsune princess. And after that last kick? Only a fool would dare think you're any less a warrior than you are a future queen!”

Yinzi grinned with fierce pride, now fully restored once more. “Alright, we’ve wasted enough time, with my mother’s glaring at us, pretending that Alex, clearly before us, isn’t even here. So let’s train our hearts out, kung fu sister, imprinting Alex’s mad technique upon our souls, and we'll laugh in their faces when we utterly ruin ourselves for any other art!”

Hao Chan grimaced. “That’s not exactly how I would have put it, but…”

Yinzi’s gaze hardened. “But you know it’s true. Alex is taking advantage of Eternal Fox to break every rule, not bothering with any damned twisting winding cords I feel the most awful ache trying to forge with three Dark affinities tearing apart my Metal and strangling my Wood, as if I could ever forge a Silver basket of winding cords to hold a gold core in that bit of painful madness!”

She laughed and shook her head. “Instead we infuse the pressure, the weight of our elements within the Qi matrices accompanying each of our tiniest bits that Alex insists we call cells, such that our bodies resonate with our spiritual energy. They become our Qi manifest as we forge ourselves into our own core, layering on ever more spiritual energy, ever more potential, especially in our bones, until the pressure becomes such that our physical bodies transcend through the ranks and one day we actually embrace the mad power of Jade Queens upon the board of fate and crush all our foes, even if we never learn more than a handful of techniques, and not the dozens that my mother can put into play!”

“Which is an act of madness, and one we will put an end to now,” said none other than Ning Jing from what might once have been a royal box seat within the ancient amphitheater, the powerfully built Silver, radiating such deadly Qi said, glaring down at the trio of them. A solemn faced Jidihu nodded in agreement by her side as the shadows melted away revealing a third woman as well, wearing an intricately designed silk robe with silver glyphs and sigils covering its entirety as well as tattoos of silver and inky darkness upon nearly every inch of her skin.

Alex glance up, surprised they had slipped past his perception, for all that he knew Jidihu was one of the very few who could, and even more surprised to see them all looking right at him. Especially the Wujen. He could feel her Fire and Spirit Qi washing over him, even from a good fifty feet away.

Yinzi glared up at her mother. “You snuck up on us. That’s hardly fair. Besides, we’re dreaming. Sort of. So you shouldn’t even be here!”

Ning Jing’s gaze hardened. “You truly think you're asleep? You and your kung fu sister have been smashing stones, talking to spirits, and sparring all night long for two solid weeks! You are the one who drove us to this, daughter.”

Jidihu gave a sad nod. “As much as I am grateful to see love’s memory echoing so strongly within Hao Chan that her foundation is strengthening despite our worst fears, as much as it pleases me to see you bright with renewed purpose, Yinzi, I fear you have taken things too far. That to follow the edicts of those who have passed on, infused as they are with ghostly Qi alone, comes at a terrible cost."

Yinzi frowned. “What are you talking about?”

The Wujen chose that moment to spoke. “The cards do not lie, child. I have seen your would-be husband’s fate. He is gone from this world. Of that. there can be no doubt.”

Hao Chan’s eyes widened with something close to horror, quickly darting Alex’s way. “Alex? Is it true? Are you dead?”

Alex smirked. “Not to the best of my knowledge.”

Yinzi, also looking anxious, gave a relieved nod at that, before turning to glare at the three women in the seats above. “There, you see? Alex is fine. He said so himself.”

Ning Jing ground her teeth. “Have you not heard a word we’ve said? He’s not really there. You’re talking to a ghost!”

Yinzi’s glare matched her mother’s and Alex could sense the sudden storm of Qi within her. Pure liquid Qi representing Destruction, Shadow, and Fate fused into one obsidian whole, sandwiched between alternate layers of Metal and Wood, forming a tight, hard, impossibly dense core deep within her Dantian that she had begun layering with the disciplined patterns of power and possibility the constant practice of their unified martial art had allowed. Silver Swan flowing into White Crane reinforced by the core principles of Golden Realms Kung Fu.

And Alex had seen it in her eyes when she had had her sudden breakthrough, her leg whipping around with all the unexpected force and fury of Hao Chan’s deadliest kick… and his own.

Blasting through his defenses so quickly and utterly, despite his own breakthroughs, bone cracking under the force of a blow far, far stronger than the one he had been waiting to counter.

And Alex only then realized the true depths of the cost Yinzi had paid, fearing neither she nor her mothers would ever forgive him.

Perception Check made!

And by the way Jidihu was glaring down at her daughter, she understood what had happened better than Yinzi did.

“Daughter, what did you do?”

Yinzi furrowed her brow. “What do you mean, what did I do? Isn’t it obvious? I finally understand the lessons! I can finally tap into the absolutely delicious flood of power our party leader has been stuffing our souls with.” She flashed a fierce, proud smile. “I’ve finally broken through to Bronze!”

Jidihu flashed a sad, sad smile. “That you did, little fox, and you don’t even understand the price you paid.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Look at your shadow, Yinzi.”

Yinzi frowned as the first golden rays of morning crested the cliff face at last, everyone’s shadows stretching wide and long in the gentle morning light.

Except for Yinzi's own.

Her eyes widened. “But wait, that…”

Her mother’s frown grew. “And your kitsune ears and tale. Shadows no longer, my child, but as real as darkness itself, for all the world to see.”

Yinzi blinked. She gazed at her mother and a horrified Alex, who only now appreciating the gravity of what he had done. The absolute madness of imperiling the people he claimed to cherish and love with the untried techniques of a mere Bronze, so arrogant as to not only alter a technique, but to shatter all precepts and countless thousands of years of methodology with absolute disdain, as if he, with only two years of cultivation experience, could somehow design something better.

He clenched his teeth and lowered his head in sudden awful shame.

Before being dumbstruck by the sudden sound of laughter.

The mad cackle presaging homicidal fury?

No.

It was the sound of glee.

“This is so incredible! Look at this! I finally have ears and a tale like you do, Mother! I no longer have to pretend I’m something I’m not, save for a few precious hours every full moon. And I have no shadow. No shadow! Do you have any idea how glorious that is? Who ever heard of a cultivator so daring, so mad, that they actually managed to lose their shadow? I bet it’s something no other cultivator has ever done before!” She chuckled gleefully. “I’ll bet my father would be so proud of me, if he only knew.”

Ning Jing’s eyes bulged, strangled words in her throat turning suddenly to helpless laughter. “Oh child, only you would find such delight in the chaos you’ve just made of your life!”

Jidihu grimaced, shaking her head, elegant features filled with such exasperated sympathy even Alex couldn’t help but wince. “Truly, daughter, you are a fool, but a fool I love with all my heart.” She chuckled ruefully. “As bittersweet a revelation as this is, daring to forge your soul on the words of a naïve boy who barely survived a single semester at an academy I taught at for decades, assuming he survived at all, I can say with absolute certainty that your father would enjoy the jest of your life every bit as much as you.”

Yinzi beamed, turning to Alex. “See? Even WiFu would be proud of my breakthrough.”

Alex flashed a smile both fierce and genuine. “You know what? I think he would.” His gaze bore into Yinzi’s own. “So why don’t you go show the peanut gallery what you can do?”

Yinzi chuckled softly. “Let’s”

She turned to Hao Chan. “Spar with me?”

Hao Chan’s eyes widened. “You mean all out, don’t you?”

Yinzi nodded solemnly. “And then the pillars.”

Hao Chan winced. “The pillars we shattered our tibias on, just two days ago?”

Her kitsune friend nodded. “The very same.”

Hao Chan’s return smile held a fierce bit of something Alex thought might be contagious. “Sure, kung fu sister. Let’s do just that.”

And with a formal shared bow, they began to spar. Slow, like a dance, elegant hooking kicks and graceful sweeps effortlessly dodged or leaped over, snapping punches, ridge hand strikes, and right-hand crosses evaded or swept aside. Neither doing more than causing the other’s hair pins to rustle in the breeze of deadly fast winds as their pace continued to increase, and increase yet again.

Until with a shared signal Alex sensed, being part of their party, they exploded into action. Both of them moving at a blinding pace, lightning fast jabs and snapping kicks unleashed at a mad, furious pace, countless blows just a hairsbreadth away from striking to devastating effect, their knowledge of their shared deadly dance and truly being one with the moment all that saved them from gravest injury.

Alex spared only a heartbeat to catch Jidihu’s surprised features, or Ning Jing’s worried frown, clenched hands making it clear she was deliberately stopping herself from intervening when Hao Chan’s spinning heel kick came so close to shattering Yinzi’s skull, had she not arched back at just the right moment, her motion transformed to a butterfly kick Hao Chan flipped away from like an acrobat. Like the heroes in the most fantastic martial arts films Alex had ever seen.

For it was as much a performance as a deadly dance. But a killing art it was, none could doubt, when with a single shared clap they sprung forward in tandem, doing cartwheels and leaps and as they wove and darted about each other as if slipping past harried enemy lines before both gave great fearsome cries, flying back kicks striking massive granite blocks in tandem.

And for all that the spell was broken when Hao Chan screamed and rolled away, clutching her ankle in agony, Alex had still felt the storm of built up power that had whipped through both their frames. And it was two granite statue heads that burst into stone shrapnel, not one, for all that Yinzi alone stood upright with only the tiniest of winces, giving both her mother’s and the shocked looking Wujen a solemn bow before racing to her friend.

“Hao Chan?”

Party experience pool accessed. Power Healing engaged. Alex smiled with relief, sensing that his beau had ascended in Eternal Fox to an impressive degree.

“It’s okay,” Hao Chan winced, biting her lip so hard blood dribbled down her chin before she gasped, wide eyed, Alex sensing the pop of an ankle back where it belonged, a few extra seconds fully healing strained tendons and ligaments, hopefully leading to a joint even stronger than it had been before.

After a cautious wince, she smiled with relief, her bow free of pain as she genuflected before the true masters of this academy.

Jidihu turned to her lover. “What do you think?”

The deadly former assassin frowned. “Our daughter now channels a Silver Ranked killing art. For all that she walks a foolhardy path, to surrender her gift of shadows… I cannot gainsay its effectiveness. As for the foolish idiot of a girl who imperils our child with her very presence?” She sighed, shaking her head. “She managed to clear two more of her meridians in two short weeks, and shows no signs of the awful strain spirit pearls or cultivation pills mirroring such a feat would have caused. She’s so strong, in fact, I think she’s already a match for any newly forged Bronze, even without breaking through.” She flashed a chill smile. “Save for our daughter and the fool who set them on this path, of course.”

Jidihu nodded. “I quite agree.” She gazed down at the two girls she could see and the boy she couldn’t. “What do you call the path you walk?”

Yinzi grinned. “The Pearlescent Path. Because you’re not worried about tying knots of gold power later. You’re just building up your core directly, one layer at a time, just like an actual, well, pearl.”

Her mother frowned. “How in the world are you actually managing to do that?”

“By fusing our understanding into all our cells. And our bones. Each hour we spar, every time we embrace our dance that incorporates absolutely everything we know about our martial forms, we’re adding another layer of potency and power on top of all the layers before. Enough layers, and you just might earn a breakthrough!”

Her mother’s frown grew. “And yet I hear nothing about forming unbreakable cables of spiritual energy that might one day be capable of holding a pristine golden core. The ultimate aim of all cultivation paths that would call themselves exalted, and I never thought the living Alex would ever aspire for anything short of absolute perfection.”

“But that’s just it, Mother, we’re not forging cables at all. Our physical body itself becomes the vessel for our spiritual energy.”

Hao Chan nodded. “Every cell in our body becomes increasingly infused with spiritual energy, and the increasing flow of life energies naturally strengthens and clears our meridian channels. In a way, our body becomes our core.”

Yinzi grinned, completely ignoring the looks of horror upon her mothers’ faces. “It’s thanks to our ability to compress Water Qi. We alternate it with Metal, in Hao Chan’s case, or Metal and Wood in mine! Since Water can be compressed to an extreme degree, Alex says our growth is virtually unlimited! If we can hit Jupiterean pressures, and no, don’t ask me what that means, there’s no limit to how far we can go!”

Only then did Yinzi furrow her brow, finally sensing the deadly mood of the three Silver cultivators glaring down at her and Hao Chan.

“Mother?”

“What they are doing is madness. Absolute madness!” Ning Jing snapped. “This isn’t any exotic cultivation path! It’s just a madman’s path to permanently ruining their Dantians!”

The Wujen’s gaze hardened, air thrumming with the exotic sigils of silvery energy she had inscribed upon the air. Since they had caused him no harm initially, Alex had done his best to ignore them. Particularly since he knew of no way to dispel them without attacking the Wujen outright.

Jidihu’s hard glare scoured the suddenly shaken girls below her. “Fools! That you would dare such a path, without even thinking to consult me? I have allowed you endless weeks to follow your own way. Because if nothing else, at least your martial prowess were improving, your vitality increasing, even if your actual growth as cultivators had ground to a halt. But this? If I had known the true depths of your daring, I would have had this spectre dispelled at once!” Her gaze turned from merciless judge passing sentence to the imploring gaze of a mother. “Child, what were you thinking!? With all your gifts, you would follow this insane path, and you have not a trace of Water Qi in your veins!”

A cowed Yinzi lowered her gaze. “Alex found a way past that limitation, Mother.”

“Limitation? Your natural affinities are no limitation!” Her mother snapped, before taking a deliberate, calming breath. “Alright, child. Explain.”

Yinzi licked her lips, imploring gaze locking with Hao Chan’s own.

She flashed a quick glance Alex’s way, received a nod, and nervously addressed the mistress of this sanctuary, former head of a ruthless clan of rogues and assassins who followed only their own code of honor, and sought to explain. “It was Alex, Lady Jidihu," Hao Chan whispered. "He, um… had a breakthrough. I didn’t really understand his explanation regarding emptiness having some sort of fluid form? But it seems that when Yinzi figured out how to combine Voidal, Fate, and Shadow Qi, the inverse of the eight Light Qi elements, it actually forms a perfect fluid medium of spiritual energy. In other words, by daring to fuse those three affinities together, Yinzi has effectively forged her own liquid Qi element, very much like Water Qi. Sort of.”

Ning Jing’s gaze hardened. “Now I remember. Alex was blathering on about treating Dark Qi like the fluid between the stars during that carriage ride. As if the heavens were filled with water! Insights inspired by the ravings of a lunatic. Damn it, I should have put a stop to that madness right there!”

Lady Jidihu’s glare cause Hao Chan to pale and lurch back.

Alarm bells began shrieking inside Alex’s head. Desperately, he summoned that which he should have, precious seconds ago.

World Seed Interface accessed.

He had been a fool to think the warmth of her smile, her patronage, meant Jidihu wouldn’t hold his Hao Chan accountable for Yinzi’s perceived fall. If the kitsune assassin struck now… Yet much to his heartfelt relief, Jidihu’s deadly gaze flowed away from a suddenly trembling Hao Chan, glaring instead at her daughter.

“Let me make sure that I fully understand this bit of madness, daughter. You so fancied embracing an unproven technique that runs counter to every aspect of orthodox cultivation, that promises no framework to store a golden core, and further, demanded you sacrifice your very shadow and permanently fuse three sacred aspects of your being to act as a liquid medium, just so you could break through to Bronze?”

Yinzi beamed and nodded. “See? You understand.” She turned to a horrified looking Hao Chan. “I knew she’d understand if we just explained it to her!”

Jidihu’s solemn gaze turned to the Wujen by her side. “Is there anything we can do?”

The lady paled under the weight of her mistress’s stare. “I can try, my lady. But I fear we might already be too late.” She gazed for long moments at a still beaming Yinzi, confident features growing uncertain, with a tremble to her voice when she spoke. “Countless layers of Wood and Metal have been lacquered so tightly together with liquid darkness between each layer.” She shivered. “And my arts, they cannot penetrate even a single layer of that blackness. I now have no way of sensing the state of her Dantian, and I fear her madness truly has infected every iota of her flesh.”

Jidihu’s eyes widened in horror. “Are you saying my child is dying?”

Yinzi’s now very solid ears tuffed in darkest fur immediately perked up at this. She glared at Jidihu and the wujen both. “I assure you I’m not dying, Mother!” She raised her unblemished fist triumphantly. “You know what this hand looked like when I last tested myself. Do you see a single pockmark, a single scar? A single trace of proof that I had soaked it in your strongest acid?”

“What I see is a foolish daughter who would dip her own hand in my deadliest brew if she thought it would prove her point!”

“Exactly!” Yinzi beamed.

Jidihu turned to the wujen. “Have you determined the nature of that spirit?”

Silver eyes glared in Alex’s direction.

He smirked and gave her the finger.

“That thing belongs to no mortal soul in this realm, my lady.”

The kitsune’s jaw tightened. “Then destroy it. It must be a tool of our enemies.” She clenched her fist. “No mortal below deepest Gold could have possibly found a way through our wards and past our guardians. Yet somehow, they found a way! Bingwen must still be alive. Doing all he can to break our foundations before he comes for us personally! He always hated my kind. Always sought to break us, no matter the accords we struck!”

In the seconds she spoke, Alex quickly whispered his warning.

Hao Chan flowed into an elegant dogeza, designed to catch the eye as well as show deference. An excellent way to catch a ruler’s attention while hopefully avoiding their wrath.

“What is it, child?” Jidihu snapped. “And measure your words, girl. My fondness for you aside, your foolishness may have permanently maimed my daughter.” She sighed and shook her head as Hao Chan paled and trembled with fear. “Were I not so fond of you, child, had your beau not gifted our clan with a divine cultivation technique, were my daughter not looking at me like a frightened puppy… you would already be dead.”

Ning Jing nodded her agreement as Hao Chan choked back a terrified sob.

Alex gently squeezed her hand, forcing himself to do what he must, for all that he hated the cost.

You are unable to forge Golden Gate between Kitsune Hideout and Chamber of Doors. Requirements not met! Kitsune Hideout Warded by Gold Tier Shadow Wards. Your physical form no longer resides within this plane.

Interface map has failed to triangulate your present spiritual location!

Do you wish to upgrade your interface map and triangulate JiangHu Hideout? – This will cost one Potency point.

You have chosen YES!

1 Potency point spent. 11 Remain. Limitations overriden.

You have successfully imprinted JiangHu Hideout.

Alex lurched back, his mind flooded with the overwhelming sense of being a tiny mote of light in a vast multidimensional construct, sensing the dizzying distance between his psyche and his body, a gap so vast it transcended any earthly sense of spacetime, a dimensional rift no cultivator could possibly cross without the aid of the most powerful magics, or a 5-D interface like his own.

He was both awed and humbled by his sudden connection to this tiny hidden valley and the gentle cloak of Shadow that protected it from all foes, shivering with a sense of fierce satisfaction when his interface map lit up in a far off corner otherwise surrounded by fog, thousands of miles away from Yidushi and Baidushi. A tiny hexagon of formerly unknown territory now lush and green with perfect understanding, thanks to Forest Sense synergizing so well with his map, Alex tasting as well the psyche of numerous Deep Silvers and at least one Gold ranked guardian that called the adjoining valleys their home.

Not for the first time, Alex couldn’t help but wonder anew how powerful Jidihu truly was, with resource to connections and abilities that far transcended her apparent cultivation level.

Which made the glare she was sending his way particularly chilling.

“Hao Chan, please make the offer!”

“Lady Jidihu! The spirit of my beloved asks for your permission to enter this land directly.”

“Madness! You dare not give any spirit permission to enter our sanctuary, my lady,” the Wujen hissed, glaring at Hao Chan as if she personally threatened the safety of their entire miniature community.

“Are you truly so blind to the deception that has nearly destroyed you and my daughter both? Jidihu said, her gaze an awful mixture of pity and utter disappointment.

Hao Chan paled. “My lady, please! It’s not like that. It really is him. He…” Her eyes widened. “My lady, he’s already forged a gate between our realms. It’s out of reverence and the greatest respect alone that he asks for formal permission to come through.”

The Wujen glared daggers at the now trembling dancer. “Enough of this foolishness! There is no gate, your would-be lover has already fallen to the wiles of his enemies, and your idiocy may well have cost your kung fu sister her very foundation!”

She turned to a hard-eyed Ning Jing and a coldly appraising Jidihu. “With your permission, I will dispel the apparition. Should Spirit Qi be swaying the girls’ minds, this will burst them free of the waking dream I fear they have embraced for far too long. Perhaps then the foolish children will finally begin to appreciate the absolute folly of their actions.”

The pair of assassins and lovers shared a single glance, nodding as one. “Do it.”

Yinzi’s eyes widened as Alex readied himself for what was to come, conveying his final request as he readied himself for battle. “Mother! If Alex can actually wins, can we go visit him?”

Hard silence was her mother’s only response, the Wujen alone acting, flinging five glowing talismans upon the arena sands, surrounding the apparition she sensed.

Quickness check made!

Bullrush!

Silver eyes widened when the sands crackled with lightning, the deadliest of all elements when it came to piercing wards and dispelling all ghosts, spectres, and demons.

And Alex couldn’t help flashing a smile at the Wujen’s surprised gaze, every fiber of his being filled with a sweet potency he had never before experienced, his muscles thrumming with the absolute power and exquisite control that came from achieving maximum Bronze Rank in all four of his physical characteristics, in addition to the glory a dragon's strength now thrumming through his soul.

Never had he felt so strong, or moved so quickly. Mind and body now so in tune that to think was to act as he raced across the arena sands, laughing as the cursing Wujen peppered the ground with talismans that erupted in fire, ice, or lightning, cages and wards that never once tasted his spirit flesh as Alex danced and spun to the delightful cheers of Yinzi, and the quiet anxious smile of Hao Chan.

“Look at him go, Hao Chan! He’s moving just like we do when mastering our forms, embracing the flow of Qi to the fullest!”

Hao Chan swallowed and nodded. “Quiet, sister of my heart. We don’t dare distract him with Lady Shi so eager to kill him.”

But a smiling Alex hadn’t limited himself to simply dodging his opponent’s deadly assault, steadily working himself closer to the increasingly frantic Lady Shi who was now lashing out with fearsome surges of spiritual energy and flame, so focused on her assault, so dismissive of the threat before her, that Alex couldn’t help but sense the brilliant flow of spiritual energy coursing through her meridians before erupting in crackling brilliance and flame.

Soul Sight skillcheck made! Peripheral Qi flow sensed! You can now sense the flow of Qi in your opponent’s channels well enough to predict the target of all ranged attacks! (Further insight needed before full integration of melee spiritual energy surges can be detected.)

And Alex silently howled with fierce jubilation his opponent alone could hear. Effortlessly slipping free of the desperate eyes belonging to an increasingly frantic Wujen acting on poorly honed reflex alone.

Bullrush successfully chained 3 times!

“Where is he, where is he?” she screamed in sudden panic before stiffening to deathly silence, tears streaming down her cheeks as she felt the cold caress of death, a sharktooth dao somehow real enough in Alex’s dreaming hands to indent her flesh, for all that not a single drop of blood spilled.

“Round one is mine,” he said, winking at an awed looking Hao Chan and a cheering Yinzi. “Now let’s try that again. And this time, fight like you mean it. I have additional techniques I wish to show my students.”

Lady Shi gasped, terror turning to humiliated fury as a laughing Alex seemed to appear out of thin air with a mocking bow for her, a good twenty feet from his students. Close enough for them to watch as the furious Wujen howled a storm of curses, a stream of fire aiming for a certain spirit’s head, but far enough to assure his disciples weren’t caught by the ricochets as Alex cleaved spell after spell, forcing both halves to either side as he tumbled below exploding flame.

Qi Deflection enhanced by Rank 5 Piercing Strike & Medium Range distance between you and your target!

Rank 5 Soul Sight Reduces Rank 2 Silver Naga potency by 5 full Ranks! Wujen spells are now cast by Rank 4 Bronze equivalent. You now have the advantage!

You have successfully countered your Opponents Spirit Fire Abjuration!

You have successfully countered Soul Trap Abjuration!

You partially counter Ghost Missile!

Medium Wound taken! You successfully Save versus abjuration!

Party Member Breakthrough Made! Hao Chan understands the Rudiments of Piercing Strike!

Party Member Breakthrough Made! Yinzi understands the rudiments of Qi Deflection!

Time seemed to stretch and slow as Alex lost himself in the mad dance of survival, every second flickering by in a timeless moment as his Qi infused dao cleaved through spell after spell of crackling death.

Alex wanted to howl with sheer exhilaration, a mad gleeful part of his mind savoring each ruptured spell like he once had cracking balls with the sweet-spot of his bat, his home crew cheering on every ball flying into the bleachers, Ning Jing and Jidhu forced to duck at least once as a perfectly cleaved spell was deflected so precisely as to blast back the way it came, a surprised Alex so stunned by his own success that the following spirit bolt nearly killed him.

Snapping him back into the moment as he spent a few perilous seconds just racing madly for survival, a furious Wujen sorceress sensing his momentary distraction, eager to crush her bitter humiliation with homicidal hatred far exceeding what any sparring bout would entail.

And how foolish Alex was to prolong a fight that could mean his death.

Even as his soul fed on the crucible of battle and mortal peril like a drunkard imbibing sweetest nectar. Yet instead of crumbling for his folly, he grew ever stronger for his madness, and would until the day it finally killed him.

You have successfully dodged Wujen Volley!

Congratulations! Qi Deflection is now Rank 4!

Piercing Strike specialization chosen! Spell Cleave selected! Thanks to your insane need to show off for your friends, you’ve grown particularly adept at cleaving Wujen spells out of the air, deflecting them just before the ruptured remnants can kill you! Additional +3 bonus to rupture spiritual energy constructs of all tiers. Additional +3 bonus to deflecting the ruptured remains before it explodes in your face!

“Where is he? Where is that damned spirit?” Screamed the wild-eyed Wujen, her sickly pale face now covered in sweat, body trembling with exhaustion, scanning the arena with desperate intensity, before spinning abruptly around, catching the hard gazes of Lady Ning Jing and Jidihu both.

She flushed with shame. “My ladies, I assure you…”

Before gasping and arching her back with a cry, her arm yanked back as a row of toothlike indentations pressed into her neck.

She fell to her knees and began to sob.

Jidihu hissed, a blade radiating deadly black Qi seeming to appear out of nowhere, Ning Jing now holding a pair of vorpal sickles Alex already knew could cut through any mundane object.

“Jidihu, we must—”

“No!” Jidihu barked, a raised fist holding Ning Jing back. And how strange it was, after mastering his foe so completely, that Alex still felt utterly cowed by the glare he knew couldn’t even see him, merely looking two feet over the panicked cultivator’s head.

“Alex? If that really is you… prove you’re the honorable warrior you strove so hard to be under my husband’s tutelage. If you were ever a friend to my clan, you will step back now.”

Alex was almost surprised by the awed look in her face when the kiss of his dao faded from the Wujen’s neck, the woman collapsing with a sob.

Alex then grinned at his charges, now gazing at him so intently.

“And that’s how you use our arts to take down Wujen. For a master of Qi Deflection can deflect a Wujen’s attacks far, far easier than short ranged whips of fire or a body cultivator’s Qi enhanced fist. Yet the storm of Qi we learn to tap into as students of White Crane is perfect for knocking aside the fists, feet, and weapons of our enemies. And though Piercing Strike will do absolutely nothing against a body cultivator’s naturally enhanced physique, an Adept of this skill can learn to pierce a Wujen’s wards or, if you are truly mad with daring, rupture a Wujen's spells, just as easily as slipping your spear through swaying reeds, so long as you learn to strike at just the right angle.”

Hao Chan just shook her head, cheeks flushing with awe, enlightenment, and a hunger that left Alex breathless, brilliant white teeth biting her soft luscious lip, amber eyes piercing his soul.

He swallowed and lowered his head as the euphoria of battle and victory leaving him so fired with exultation, passion’s closest twin, that he had never been so perilously close to losing control.

It was all he could do not to claim her then and there with hungry kisses and so much more. And the way her eyes glowed, shallow breaths straining to be free of all constraint… he knew she felt the same way.

It was Yinzi who crowed in triumph. “See, Mother? This is the strength of our killing art! Alex forged White Crane, Golden Realms, and Silver Swan into a weapon we can use against any who hunger for our heads. And this is just the beginning, Mother. Just you wait and see how far we will go, once we’re learning at Alex’s side in the flesh!”

Alex smiled and nodded, pointing to the golden portal only Hao Chan and Yinzi could see. But before he could even open his mouth, the world was suddenly awash with a flood of rainbow colors before it all faded to darkness.

He didn’t even hear Hao Chan’s shocked scream as he faded away completely.