“I think you made the right call, taking pity on those desperate souls,” said Hao Chan a short while later, squeezing his hand and saying so much with her gaze as they made their way to one of the dueling rings in the heart of the grand courtyard, Alex’s disciples walking confidently by his side. All of them armed, armored, and ready for battle.

“And I think you’re awfully softhearted for the man who so deliciously destroyed Lai Wei and his uncle… but maybe my heart would have melted for those broken cultivators too, if I had actually been forced to look into their puppy dog faces,” opined Yinzi, humming and skipping along in her priceless armor. “And this way, we actually get to fight, for real!”

If anything, Alex was awed by how quickly his friend had arranged things for them at the competition. His only complaint was that it had been too fast. Almost as if Yingpei had expected Alex to turn down the easy path of kicking out critically wounded cultivators from their much-needed sanctuary. The only problem was that he, Hao Chan, and Yinzi had yet to properly train as a unit outside of their dreams. But the timeslot for the match Zhu Bi had already signed them up for precluded any delay.

But as Yingpei made clear while they headed to the dueling ring, if they were going to seize this opportunity, it had to be now.

“You worry too much. It’s going to work perfectly, just like in our dreams. Now send me the party invite!” Yinzi declared when Alex murmured about lost opportunities as she happily twirled her ko-naginata. The long, thin, and only slightly curved katana-like blade with the modified point atop its five-foot skywood shaft might have been much less massive than a cavalryman’s guandao, but Alex had seen firsthand just how fast and deadly Yinzi was with that weapon, after weeks of watching her forge Hao Chan into her near equal.

And her smile didn’t falter once, even as they approached the quartet of coldly staring cultivators clearly waiting for them, all of them also fully armored in steel lamellar armor, clearly making use of Donfang Hong’s gifts to the school when they had fled, though at least having the grace to paint their armaments black, refusing to wear the Red Prince’s colors.

Alex frowned, immediately picking up the steady emanations of men who had already broken through to Bronze. None were anywhere near Silver, but none of them were basic cultivators, unlike his Hao Chan. And for all that only half of the quartet used polearms, they had positioned themselves with the confidence that comes of fighting experience, two men with shields and dao lifted in high hanging guard, and two others wielding light ji, effectively spears with an extra dagger-like blade that could hook limbs or puncture armor, in confident grips. Very different from Alex’s own thick-hafted fangtian ji, with its razor sharp spear point and two crescent axe-heads.

The two spearmen sneered in Alex’s direction.

“Fool’s using an oversized training ji head, and a heavy enough shaft to support it. He’ll be as slow as winter ice, and as easy to cut down as a squealing pig,” said one.

The other laughed coldly. “The pair of girls are pretty enough in their lacquered play-armor, but those women’s naginata blades are too thin for anything save honor-duels, and will shatter of they dare to slam them against good steel armor.”

The two shieldmen just stared and sneered, trying to cow the trio before them with their killing aura alone, and Alex couldn’t help smiling at the pre-match smack talk. Even if Alex hadn’t infused the ko-naginatas with the potency of his kills, he highly doubted that even thin spring steel would break so easily in combat. But if their foes cowed Hao Chan and Yinzi into using their weapons in a tempered or cowed manner, or with anything less than fierce, killing zeal, the match was already as good as lost.

And considering what Alex had done to so many of his dearly purchased weapons after convincing a genuinely concerned Zheng to have his smith put as fine a killing edge as he could on each of them, meant that his girls now wielded near indestructible blades honed to be sharper than a surgeon’s scalpel, with tips that could plunge through enemies just as well as any spear.

Or so Alex hoped.

It was in preparation for this very moment that he had switched between so many weapons in his perilous battle with the shadow pumas, expending his Qi for the temporary invulnerability Adderstrike or, at times, even Blackswan could grant, protecting the fragile blades for the split second he needed to make his kills and forge nearly indestructible weapons. Truths their enemies would soon be forced to experience for themselves.

A gleefully smiling Yinzi, helmet now just as secure as her kung-fu sister’s, for all that it now had a bit of extra padding for ear comfort, was all but bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Ooh, this is so exciting! Soon we’ll get to taste their blood, Hao Chan! Won’t that be a treat?”

One of the shieldmen scowled. “Think you can cow us with women’s words?”

Then his scowl deepened. “There’s something wrong with you. You’re face looks pale as death and your eyes… and your hair! What are you, a ghost girl?”

Hao Chan scowled, but Yinzi only grinned.

“Ooh, it’s been so long since anyone called me that. Normally they’re screaming when they do so. Do you want to know why?” She flashed a wicked smile when the man blanched and stumbled back, knocking into the spearman behind him. “I can’t wait to savor your screams. I wonder what they taste like?”

“Behave, Yinzi,” cautioned Hao Chan through their party link, and Alex could now feel the warm Skywood shaft of Chan’s own ko-naginata in her hands as if it were just an extension of himself, expertly held in calloused palms that had trained with her kung fu sister’s favored weapon for all the months she and Yinzi had been holed up in Jidihu’s near unbreachable hideout, the girls having practiced with a single-minded focus long before Alex had all but taken over their dreams. Absolute dedication to Yinzi’s favored instrument of death, a weapon whose techniques were absolutely perfect for incorporating into Silver Swan’s sweeping slashes and the winding thrusts of White Crane as well.

Alex smiled with unexpected relief when the barrier between them completely melted, Chan’s warm honeyed presence more like a mineral bath caressing his soul than the sharp tang of the pounding ocean Alex knew her spiritual essence to be when she also accepted his group invite.

And between one breathless instant and the next, the three of them were one.

Yinzi has accepted Group Invite. You have successfully formed Party with Yinzi.

Hao Chan has accepted Group Invite. You have successfully formed Party with Hao Chan.

You have previously formed Tier 1 Groupmind with your present party within Realm of Dreams.

Former limitations transcended.

Groupmind successfully formed within World Seed. Interface map successfully incorporated. All Tier 1 bonuses now apply.

And Alex couldn’t help but flash a maverick grin wide enough to do even Yinzi proud, reveling in the sudden connection he felt with the two woman he felt so protective of. Two more halves of his whole, instantly knowing their positions relative to his own.

And before any further insults or threats could be traded, an elder with a pale white square hat clipped to his topknot and the robes of a judge made his presence known, his cleared throat earning him seven respectful bows, though Alex’s was clearly shorter than the elder liked. But save for a glare sent Alex’s way, he said nothing on it, now speaking to the group as a whole, as well as for the benefit for the dozen or so casual spectators and the handful of potential future opponents peering at them all like hawks eager for blood, Zhu Bi and Yingpei perhaps the only pair of genuinely friendly faces in the crowd.

Not that Alex minded the stares at all when they were led inside a thirty foot diameter circle, plenty of room to maneuver, yet still establishing boundaries that to be forced out of meant accepting a loss.

“As all of you know, the stakes are higher on this day than on all others, where those who have earned a hundred or more credits may compete for the right to claim one of the palace’s sacred pavilions for oneself! To feast upon heavenly mana in the form of whatever victual you can imagine, to savor sleep upon heavenly beds that will fill your Dantian with spiritual energy even as your heart and mind embrace halcyon dreams of transcendent bliss! And whatever tome you can imagine, so long as it lies within the library’s vaults, can be yours with a single pull of the crystal bell!”

Alex frowned at this, thinking that the judge was hamming it up just a tiny bit, but of course said nothing as the man droned on.

“For this reason, you all are expected to fight in earnest, on this day. Today alone you fight in full battle armor, equipped with whatever weapons you wish! There are no limitations on tactics or powers. You fight until your opponent yields or is too injured to continue. But note, those of you who have mastered killing arts, the Blue Pavilion will be taking a share of your credits, depending on how severely you wound or cripple your opponent. So you fight all out, but are still expected to avoid killing blows!”

With those words, several men and two women wearing pale blue robes clasped their hands and bowed, and Alex thought it a prudent thing, having the healers on standby where they could potentially save a cultivator from near any strike, save a crushed skull or decapitation, even should the cultivator be a permanently maimed wreck, depending on the severity of his injuries.

The nearest opponent sneered and spat at Alex’s feet, pointing his dao at Alex’s face. “Did you get a good look at the healers, Ruidian? Just you wait. You’ll be looking at them close up when you’re screaming with your arms and legs hacked off. Then you’ll get to see the inside of the blue pavilion for the rest of your miserable life!”

Alex smirked. “Somehow, I don’t think that’s how it’s going to go.”

“Are you ready?” A sharp thought answered in the blink of an eye. His future queens were more than ready. Hao Chan and Yinzi were feeling the same fierce sense of exhilaration that he was.

Then the gong was rung and their match begun.

Chapter

“Circle and strike!” Alex commanded as their hard-eyed opponents roared and charged right for them, their intentions both obvious and effective, standing to the test of time in multiple worlds. A front line of charging infantry slamming into their opposition shield first, closing the gap at speed to limit the effectiveness of polearms while thrusting forward with their blades, their second line then able to use their own polearms to devastating effect while their front tied up the opposition.

And it might have worked, if Alex wasn’t already channeling the force and fury of sea and sky with his every movement, his bold mocking laughter catching the eyes and focus of the two charging shieldmen even as he backpedaled with ease, despite the tremendous weight of his stone tiled armor, while Hao Chan and Yinzi flanked their foes to the left and right, each immediately engaging the spearman on either side and showing the tremendous advantage their customized naginatas and hundreds of hours of practice cultivating the whirlwind of Qi all around had brought them.

Even as Alex step slid away from the leftmost shieldman roaring at him to stop and face him, he was spinning around, his fangtian ji whipping about at killing speeds as he weaved away from the short thrusting blade aimed for his face a heartbeat before his weapon head rung his foe’s helm like a bell.

Finesse check made! You manage to hit your opponent with the flat of your weapon! You manage to pull your blow!

And in that single eyeblink the battle transformed from glaring cultivators chasing a mocking spinning fool to the crack of a broken skull as the man collapsed and spasmed upon the soft loamy ground, legs jerking spasmodically as he kicked the ground.

And Alex didn’t need to see the faces of his queens to sense their fierce sense of victory, Yinzi giddy with manic laughter as she embraced the whirlwind of Qi she could now channel far more adeptly than even in her dreams, effortlessly winding her naginata around the shaft of her opponent’s polearm and jerk it off-line. And how surprised the powerfully built cultivator looked to see his weapon twisted out of his hands by the far more slender but still powerfully built Yinzi.

And the flash of her rosebud lips forming a hungry smile was the last thing that man would see that day as her naginata whipped forward in a deadly slash, so expertly controlled by the trained killer that only the tip of the two food long blade at the end of her polearm slashed through his skull, effortlessly punching through the rim of his helm as it blasted through eyes and nose, leaving the man stumbling back in a shrieking heap, blind to anything but his own pain and the feel of his crimson blood and ruptured eyes spurting through his shaking hands.

Alex felt his Kitsune’s dark exultation, a part of him reveling in her furious vindication of the man who had mocked her as if it had been his own weapon that had taken his enemy’s eyes, yet spared his life. But what filled him with exultation beyond even his own victory was the sweet rush of seeing his Hao Chan in all her deadly glory, truly embracing the power of the flooding rivers and the stormy seas as she spun about at near superhuman speeds, the shaft of her naginata smashing her snarling opponent’s lunging polearm utterly free of his hands, sending it cartwheeling into the crowd just an instant before her spinning heel kick slammed into the helmet of her wide-eyed opponent, and the crack of a shattered skull and broken neck washed over the stunned crowd as the man collapsed in a boneless heap.

In the heartbeats three of his teamates had fallen, the fourth cultivator hissed a curse and flinched in his stride, but refused to let up in his furious charge for the Ruidian’s back, eager to slam him to the ground and stab him with such fury he would never rise again, all thought of temperance burned away at the sight of his fallen friends.

Flashing thoughts of his foe Alex could almost sense like his own as he pivoted and thrust behind him, twisting his body around to meet the eyes of the shocked soldier looking down at the fangtian ji that had effortlessly smashed aside an imperfectly held shield and blasted through his abdomen, the soldier’s eyes bulging out in surprised disbelief and agony as he collapsed with a gurgling cry, the referee frantically banging his gong, declaring the match over.

Alex flashed a cold smile at the dozen disbelieving glances, even as anxious-looking healers robed in blue dashed for the fallen men, though wasting precious heartbeats deciding whether or not to treat the man shrieking for his burst eyes, or the two men with cracked skulls, deciding an instant later to stabilize the one Hao Chan had came so perilously close to killing.

But all Alex allowed himself to convey to the girls cheering their victory was fierce satisfaction in their accomplishment, sweet vindication for all the hundreds of hours they had spent lost somewhere between wake and dream, forging a Pearlescent Path unlike any other as they strove to master their Unified martial art and forge the most powerful pair of Jade Queens that would ever walk the Golden Realms.

But it was only when the four critically wounded cultivators had been removed from the field, anxious healers racing for the blue pagoda, that the match was officially called.

“Round one goes to Team Fox!”

Alex frowned at a beaming Yinzi, when it became clear who had done the naming, Alex not even aware that that had been a thing.

“Team Yellow Dragon is now out of the competition!”

“They’re also out a good pair of eyes!” Declared a laughing Yinzi, the pink tip of her tongue lightly caressing the razor sharp edge of her naginata. She shivered with delight. “And their blood tastes sweet!”

The judged looked horrified by Yinzi’s gleeful grin. Then her crimson eyes hardened and the Silver actually paled before the newly minted Bronze.

“Would you rather he tasted of foulness and corruption? I’m glad their group isn’t tainted like so many of the Red Prince’s soldiers are purported to be. It would be a shame to have to kill men we went to so much trouble sparing, after all.”

The judge’s nostrils flared. “So much trouble sparing? Your party maimed, crippled, and brained all of them!”

“Are they still alive?”

“Barely!”

Yinzi grinned. “Then I’ll call that as a win, in every sense of the word!”

“Team Fox gets no credits. It all goes to the healers’ accounts!” The man furiously spluttered. “You’re all just as mad and bloodthirsty as your namesake!”

Yinzi rolled her eyes. “As if we were doing this for your stupid credits.” She then frowned, catching Alex’s bemused gaze. “Are credits an issue for us?”

Alex grinned. “Nope. I got over 16,000 of them.”

Yinzi grinned back at the judge. “There, see? We’re fine. Now quite wasting time, and call the next match!”

And Alex couldn’t help it, he burst out in laughter at seeing the man’s apoplectic expression as Yinzi embraced her manic persona to the fullest. Even Hao Chan was beaming at the pair of them. Alex gently clasped her hand as the judge stalked off, blue eyes gazing into amber jewels that left him breathless with desire.

Her cheeks flushed, pupils dilating as her lips quested hungrily for his.

A single kiss

That lit his soul on fire.

“Stop it, kung fu sister. You know what happens if we don’t wait for Silver.”

Ice cold words that froze Alex in the middle of his kiss, only now feeling a gentle warning tug in his lower abdomen as he took a deep breath and stepped back, Yinzi’s chill gaze measuring them both, nodding only when Hao Chan lowered her head in wordless apology.

Then Yinzi was all smiles again. “Good! Let’s not play the fool, sister. We’ll ascend together, and claim him together!” She laughed at Hao Chan’s odd expression, caught somewhere between exasperation and ire. “Or maybe I’ll let you claim him… and then I’ll claim you.”

Silent words conveyed with a single glance that set Hao Chan’s cheeks ablaze, Alex pretending he hadn’t heard a thing. Especially not when he caught sight of the quartet of men rapidly approaching, cold professional gazes looking over Alex and the girls, a darkly smiling judge behind them.

“Well, aren’t we fortunate, children? The runner-ups are happy to take on a newcomer for the next match! Best of all, whoever wins is only a single Silver duel away from claiming a week in paradise!”

Alex carefully eyed the four men before them as the smirking judge stepped away, the prince’s steel lamellar once more in evidence, though blackened as the others were, each of them possessing the powerful build of strength cultivators, at least two Deep Bronze like Alex, and all of them carrying wicked looking guandao, the vicious blades atop their thick shafted polearms looked more than capable of cutting a horse in half with a single swipe.

The largest of the quartet, clearly the leader, nodded in Alex’s direction. “So you’re Team Fox.”

“So I’m told.”

The man smirked. “And you took out Yellow Dragon in less than a minute.”

“It was a fast fight.”

The man chucked softly, whipping about his polearm in a flashy series of cleaving cuts and powerful thrusts. “I don’t think you’ll find us nearly as easy to beat, Ruidian.” His cold smile hardened. “And if you try the same tricks we saw you pull with those fools, you just might lose your head.”

Alex said nothing else, all his focus on the powerfully built cultivator eyeing him from fifteen paces, carefully measuring his opponent’s shifts in stance and movement, the aggressive high overhand stance with which he held his guandao in cocked arms conserving energy, ready to give powerful overhand cleaves he’d morph to deadly sweeps the moment his opponent dodged.

Alex ignored the pounding of his own heart, the excited whispers of the crowd who was decidedly betting against his crew, all his focus on his enemies’ tells, noting the way they all gazed at one target in particular.

And the soft hitch in Hao Chan’s breath, made it clear that she understood as well.

Three words with which he would risk the love of his life, or call the whole thing off without batting an eye.

“Are you ready?”

He sensed Yinzi’s instant affirmation.

And Hao Chan’s alarming hesitation.

A jolt of her barely suppressed panic was all he needed to sense to know the choice he would have to make.

“I… the look in their eyes. I know their target. It’s me! Alex, I’m only a basic, they’re Bronze! Please… I don’t think I’m ready for this.”

Honestly he knew pained her, but nothing could be hidden in the links between their minds.

It’s okay. There are other paths forward.

Alex raised his arm. “Judge? We concede the match.”

The frontmost challenger’s bushy eyebrows widened, Alex’s words more than loud enough to carry.

But the cold eyes of the judge made it clear he would pretend otherwise as he rang his gong. “Begin!”

“Crush the girls, I’ll handle him!” Roared the lead warrior, charging forward with guandao raised high.

“Alex!”

“We fight or die! Follow the plan! Go go!” Alex screamed in his mind as the fierce but controlled rush of a challenging fight turned to jolting realization that his girl was in peril against monsters that would see her fall.

Time seemed to stretch as Alex’s heart roared in his ears, Qi Perception spotting his girls sprinting away in opposite directions to draw out wingmen, just as before. Only now all their opponents save one were charging straight for Hao Chan, their plan as bold as it was ugly.

To cripple what they perceived to be the weakest link. To utterly destroy her, before coming around to mop up Yinzi and Alex last of all.

His opponent’s smile stretched across his features and Alex, now utterly tuned in to his foe, could sense the sudden surge of Earth Qi, feel the avalanche like rush of power infusing his body as he charged forward in a move perfectly mirroring Dineng, his opponent and friend who had been naturally attuned to Earth. Only this opponent was even more skilled at those deadly rushing arts, coming for Alex almost as fast as his own Bullrush of a year ago.

Contest of skills vs Rank 7 Bullrush & Quickness modifier vs. Rank 3 Rhino Strike & Quickness modifier. Modifier for subtlety in effect! You have successfully dodged your foe!

But the Alex of a year ago who had dared to challenge spirit boars with a movement skill that allowed him to streak forward at surprising speed was a novice compared to the Deep Bronze who could now teleport across the battlefield in the blink of an eye. And even as his foe’s weapon cleaved through the air with killing force to decapitate a knocked down foe who wasn’t even there, Alex’s own weapon was whistling through the air at the eye of a storm.

A storm howling with the fury of desperate peril, allowing his fangtian ji to whip through the air with speed and power beyond even deep Bronze as the closest of three cultivators looking to kill his beloved found himself with no legs beneath the knee.

A scream that caused a single jolt in foe’s eager for Hao Chan’s fall.

A panicked command all Chan needed to snap out of fear and embrace her own killing art, spinning around like the dancer she was. Like the mistress of an artifact that would allow almost any attack of any severity to glide off her form like steel sliding across wet ice, so long as she was flowing with the song of battle.

So long as she was never still as she had been for one perilous second, despair written across frozen features that now blazed with wrath of her own as her ko-naginata smashed her leftmost foe’s guandao completely off-line. She didn’t bother snapping forward her weapon’s wicked blade for a quick reaping slash, but instead spun completely around with the speed of an Olympian skater, with results that should have surprised no one when her naginata, cresting the howling fury of a tidal wave, blasted through all resistance, cutting her foe completely in half at the waist.

“Black Swan!”

The words rang through the air.

The ultimate expression of a concubine’s killing art coming to her as naturally as movement itself.

And Alex sensed not one iota of Meridian Strain from the girl who had claimed his heart.

The crowd froze in stunned silence as the field turned crimson with the spray of a dying man, too shocked even to scream.

And before Hao Chan could freeze up at her own actions, the spear point of Alex’s fangtian ji had plunged into the back of the last of the trio. Alex could sense the man’s eyes widening with shock and now pain as he crashed to the ground.

Find weakness skillcheck successful! You sense the weakest point between steel plates and have struck a decisive blow!

Piercing Strike negates Lesser Earth Ward!

Tier 2 Silver Strength effortlessly blasts past all resistance!

Finesse check made! Spearhead inertia arrested 5 inches into your target.

Your foe fails to save versus crippling blow!

And in the time it took Alex to roar for the blue pagoda and mentally shout for his seneschal, Yinzi had intercepted the wide-eyed Bronze Ogre charging at Alex with a desperate howl.

“Oh no, mister bull. Alex has already plucked two fruit from your delicious tree!” Her chipper smile turned to something dark and cold. “You’re fight’s with me.”

And before the final member of the Bronze Quartet could do more than scowl, Yinzi was upon him in an eyeblink, her inhuman speed instantly apparent as her naginata danced about her foe’s heavier guandao, using his greater strength against him as her skywood staff snapped and twisted against his own, forcing his deadly cleaves high while she ducked low, her naginata lashing forward like a snake to bite into his flesh with rapid flicking slashes and lunging kisses aimed with perfect precision for poorly protected wrists, exposed legs, and everywhere there was the slightest gap.

Only to snarl more like a wolf than any kitsune when her deadly steel was pushed away, again and again.

The hot eyed cultivator laughed coldly. “You think I’ll be that easy to beat, fox bitch? My brothers might have fallen, but we’ll rise stronger than ever! My wards are more than a match for your woman’s weapon!” He declared.

Alex’s eyes widened, sensing the sudden buildup of Qi.

“Careful, Yiniz. He’s getting ready for another Rhino Strike!”

“I know, future husband. You don’t have to tell a fox how to catch her dinner.”

Alex smirked, but said nothing more on it. He was happy to let Yinzi handle this final fight on her own as he held a now shivering Hao Chan close, not giving a damn what any of the wide-eyed onlookers might think. Just so long as Yinzi understood the threat before her.

“Are you ready to die, fox bitch?” mocked the Bronze Ogre, charging even as he said the words, hoping to catch Yinzi in mid-thought and lay her low.

But his vicious sweep did nothing more than cleave air, Yinzi cartwheeling away from the blow.

“Ah, I see it!” her words were the fierce exultation of a hunter, finally seeing her prey manifest.

Sensing in that moment, just as well as Alex did, the sudden vulnerability in their foe’s imperfect technique as he stopped and stumbled around, protecting himself with a vicious sweeping slash.

Whose weapon Yinzi, suddenly before him, effortlessly forced offline with her widely spaced grip.

And how surprised the man looked to see the slim kitsune whose sleek powerful body was so well covered in a queen’s armor, was far more powerful than any fifteen strength mortal as her weapon lashed out like an adder, plunging deep into her opponent’s thigh, before tearing it free.

And she was rewarded with a surprised shout and a roaring curse as the stumbling giant, now spurting blood lurched forward, eager to cut her in half with great heaving blows.

Blows impaired by gashes that multiplied as Yinzi effortlessly slid past his cleaving blows with darting slashes painting the Bronze Ogre’s legs and forearms bright crimson, naked flesh between lamellar gaps no longer protected by wards Yinzi could now pierce as easily as the howling storm could flood the cracks of a poorly made boat, until her foe was stumbling in a pool of his own blood.

Until at last, with a furious roar, the man surprised them all with a final mad rush Alex thought utterly beyond him.

Only to collapse to the ground when Yinzi spun to the side, her whirling naginata catching him in the back of the neck, and Alex heard the crack of ruptured lamellae as indestructible steel bit deep into the vulnerable flesh underneath.

“Blue Pagoda!” Alex called as the man collapsed, spurting his lifeblood, while Yinzi raised her naginata high and howled for sheer exultation, reveling in her bloody victory.

A howl echoed by a fiercely cheering Hao Chan, Alex pumping his fist as well, though his intent gaze caught his frowning seneschal’s own.

“Master Alex…”

“I know. Use what healing potions you need. I’ll cover the cost later.”

His seneschal jerked a quick nod, not hesitating to pour one of the potent crimson potions the Red Prince favored for his own men, earning a number of shrieking screams that immediately silenced the cheers, even from a frowning Yinzi. And much to nearly everyone’s surprise, the fatal bloodloss faded to a trickle, then stopped, within seconds.

“For in the end, it is about stitching and binding a small but vulnerable area, little flesh even needing to be regenerated.”

Alex smiled at his seneschal’s observation. “I know.”

“But the poor fool who dared to cross your beloved…”

Alex sighed. “I know.”

“I pray you will forgive me if not everyone survives this night. I shall commit myself as fully to the task as you desire.”

Alex nodded his silent appreciation, his ruthless resolve fading as the girls he cherished were no longer in imminent peril. “Do what you can.”

Dong Xiao nodded, disappearing with a grace that was almost magical, as all the best servants somehow managed to do, the last of the grievously wounded cultivators somehow fading in his wake.

Alex took a deep breath as he smiled warmly into Yinzi’s ebullient gaze. “How do you feel?”

She chortled with manic glee. “What a rush that was. What a rush! Tasting death’s mocking smile just a single misstep away, smelling the bitter stench of my enemies’ hate, knowing that all that mattered, all that was real, was the sweet peril of mortal combat, and the sheer pleasure of victory!”

She cheered once more and laughed. “Now I know why my mothers reveled in the hunt. There is nothing sweeter than the rush that comes from watching your foes shake and tremble beneath your feet! To feel them wilt before you, the stories of their lives paling before the glory of your own!”

Hao Chan furrowed her brow, seeming troubled by those words, but Alex just smiled, nodding his fierce approval. “You’re damn right. Save for the sweet joy of holding the ones you love, there is no greater rush, no sweeter satisfaction, than cutting down your foes and feeling their endless potential become your own.”

Alex laughed. “Congratulations, Yinzi! I think you’re feeling the rush of earning experience points and leveling up, even if WiFu never popped an interface into your head!” And even if he had been speaking tongue in cheek, he could damn well sense the pearlescent sheen of her soul, her core, taking on alternating layers of Wood, liquid Darkness, and Metal, even as memory of their foes seemed to shrivel and fade in significance. As if the three of them really had claimed the endless potential of the foes they truly had faced in mortal combat, for all that Alex would do all he could to assure their survival behind the scenes.

Even Hao Chan gasped in awed wonder, she too sensing Yinzi’s core growing in density and size almost before their eyes.

She squeezed his hand even as what were now several dozen onlookers gazed at the three in wonder, admiration, or disgust, at least a few holding up purses full of won bounties, hollering their praise. “Alex…”

Alex smiled into Hao Chan’s eyes, she sensing so much of his soul, so much of what he was thinking, without a word being said. “How are you feeling, Chan?”

And now her smile was brilliant, free of all uncertainty or regret. “Incredible, Alex! Everything around me seems so much clearer to my gaze. I swear I can almost feel the flow of spiritual energy all around us, and when I swing my naginata, I feel the winding river washing through all my blows.”

Her eyes widened. “Alex?”

“Yes, Chan?”

“I think… I think I can feel my eleventh blockage clearing! It’s like silt that’s being washed away by the gentlest currents, and the rush I feel in all my limbs…” Her frank gaze caught his own as she clenched her shaft with trembling fists. “I feel everything, Alex. The kiss of fabric and enchanted bronze against my flesh, the shaft in my hands, the helmet upon my head… and other things as well.”

And her bright amber eyes made it utterly clear exactly what those other things were.

Alex grinned. “I think I know exactly how you feel. Good thing we still have one more fight.” His gaze grew concerned. “The rush of illumination doesn’t last forever. Are you both going to be okay for one more fight?”

And he didn’t even need to hear their words echoing in his mind, the fierce intensity of their gazes, the way they both seemed so utterly in tune to their environment, made it feel they were still cresting upon the peaks of their breakthroughs, approaching a transcendent understanding that could only be honed through the crucible of combat and the deepest reflection.

But still, Alex would have been more than happy to call it a day right then and there, knowing better than most the perils of pushing revelations too hard for too long, lest the sweet flow of killing insights and the potency of your fallen foes was forever pushing you forward, before you finally collapsed to exhaustion or death.

Yet before he could do more than catch the judge’s eyes and glare his hate for the bitter fool who had so imperiled his girls, his eyes caught sight of a wide-eyed girl with sleek graceful features gazing so intently at him, a jian on her hip but otherwise wearing nothing more imposing that a form-fitting qipao that did nothing to hinder her rapid, graceful movements or the curves they covered.

“Alex! It’s you! I mean, of course it’s you. But you’re covered in stone tiles and you’re fighting alongside… wow. I’ve never seen girls fight like that! I thought I was fast, but I’m not accepting any challenges against either of you,” she said to the bemused smiles of Hao Chan and Yinzi. “And you’re armor. Wow! Those have to magical artifacts. I’d kill to own armor like that! Well, not really. But if a man were to offer me that as a dowry, I’d marry him in a heartbeat!”

Alex laughed at those words. “It’s good to see you too, Liqin. And these are my friends. Hao Chan and Yinzi.”

Liqin sighed. “And you’re both so beautiful. No wonder I couldn’t melt your heart, Alex.” She gave a sad little laugh. “There’s no way I could compete as your princess when you’re already matched with a pair of queens.”

She then curtsied before an archly smiling Yinzi and a sympathetic-looking Hao Chan. “Alex is lucky to have you both. May he never break your hearts. And may you never break his.”

“I don’t think she’s half bad. She’s pretty enough, and she has excellent taste in men,” Yinzi said.

Hao Chan smiled. “I’m glad Alex is good at making friends. The world’s a happier place with allies at your back.”

“She does jump to conclusions, though.” Yinzi said. “And I can tell she has an appetite.”

Liqin blushed at those words.

“But that’s okay, if you’re hunches are right!” Yinzi said, as she clasped a surprised Liqin’s hands, tilting the girl’s cheek, noting her furious blush, a slow smile coming over her features. “You’re kitsune! That explains so much,” she squealed. Then frowned. “Or at least, a little bit. I think.”

Liqin was blazing like a ripe red apple. “Sometimes… with the boys… it doesn’t show with the next generation. At least, that’s what grandfather said. Only the female line always breeds true.”

“Unless your father’s the god of your entire race, then you’re getting the ears and tale no matter what!” Yinzi said with a wink, before chuckling softly and giving the mortified girl an unexpected squeeze. Covering her in a fair amount of goreLiqinvery purposefully didn’t touch or look down at.

Only then did the furious looking judge, who had been in deep discussion with an exhausted looking apprentice healer, the injured long since carried away, race over towards them. “Outsiders are not to speak with the contestants between matches!” Snapped the judge. “And don’t think you will be permitted to walk free of penalty for your crimes in the ring. You fools aren’t fighting for exalted pavilions now, but for the very right to stay in this sanctuary!” The man declared with a vindictive smile.

Alex turned to meet the man’s gaze, warm humor fading to something icy and cold. “Let me make sure I understand you correctly. We survived two fights with men fighting with killing intent, and not only would you deny us our rightful winnings, you now seek to get us expelled from this sanctuary?”

The judge snarled, glaring at Alex with undisguised contempt.

“I’ve always despised your kind, Ruidian. Your kitsune bitch is a madwoman and your harlot a distraction to any true cultivator embracing the ascetics path! Thanks to your murderous intentions, four good men hang between life and death! When I get through with Elder Ru, you’ll be lucky to stay here as the basest of servants!” Hot eyes glared into Alex’s own. “But don’t think for a moment we’ll let mad curs like you reveal the secrets of our sanctuary to the world beyond. If we judge you unfit to stay, you’ll be leaving by no gate save death’s door!”

Alex chuckled coldly, refusing to bow before the Silver’s killing aura. “You know, that last line was actually pretty good. “You’ll be leaving by no gate, save death’s door. You mind if I use it?

The judge practically snarled. “How dare you mock me, you—“

You have successfully summoned three Golden Gates! You have no more gates available for summoning at this time. You have formed triangular formation. Triangular formation can only be seen and accessed by you and designated target: ASSHOLE JUDGE. Exit point: One mile above Sea of Spirits, 3264 miles (the edge of the horizon you once caught a glimpse of) beyond Yidushi proper.

The man’s eyes widened, gazing at the wavering image of Alex he could just barely see like a reflection beyond the golden gate before him with shock, radiating the stink of sudden panic.

Alex flashed a cold smile. “Did you know the lord of this realm can summon gates to any place he’s ever glimpsed before? And Dragon Academy has a magnificent view of the horizon, where sea meets the sky who knows how many thousands of miles from the edge of land, because this world is just that ridiculously large.”

His words then turned cold as ice. “I told you to stop the fight. You didn’t. Out of sheer, petty spite, hating us for the color of our hair and eyes, the shape of our ears, for being anything other than meek little worms. You would have been happy to see us crumble and fall, just like so many damned prideful pricks the world below is too damned full of.”

The judge visibly paled and trembled, falling to his knees to the breathless surprise of countless onlookers, who of course the judge couldn’t see, seeing only endless sea on all sides. “My lord! Please. I beg of you. If I had known…”

Alex smirked. “You would have been less of an ass?” He kept his voice carefully modulated as Yinzi answered his silent command, happily continuing her animated conversation with a stunned-lookingLiqinas a bemused Hao Chan looked on, complimenting Liqin’s astounding speed when she was coaxed into showing off basic forms with her jian, providing as much cover from the curious onlookers who at present only caught glimpses of the kneeling elder in between the far more appealing sight of beautiful young women showing off their impressive martial skills.

The judge was too terrified to speak, but Alex couldn’t help but be moved by the hopeless despair he saw in the man’s eyes. The anxious worry for his wife and child caught in the Red Prince’s grip that had driven him to such frustrated fury, unable to tolerate slacking newcomers who did absolutely nothing to contribute to their new world, yet seemed to rise above all hardship and woe. So many smug young cultivators happy to savor endless bounties, while half the refugees went to bed every night wondering how their families would survive without steady silver coming from the college to maintain their family manors, or if the Red Prince would discover their identities and cut them down out of simple spite.

And not for the first time, Alex regretted his oddly sharp Spirit Qi affinity, flinching from the pain he sensed in the man’s gaze.

The judge, Tang was his name, might have been a prejudicial prick, but he was also a father desperately worried for his wife and daughter.

And between one second and the next, the three gates had shifted.

“Your apology is accepted, Tang. But the next time you feel your heart swelling with hate, remember the mercy one outsider showed you. And if you’re too blind to have actually studied the murals absolutely covering the palace hallways … think about which god would have cared enough to create a sanctuary for the lost and forsaken. Because it sure as hell wasn’t Long Wang, Shalu, or Zheng Yi. I’ll tell you that much for free.”

The judge jerked a desperate nod, his pinned hat nearly popping off his sweat-covered brow. “It will be as you say… my lord. I swear it!”

“Good. Now how about you find us a Silver? A Wujen would be best. Preferably not a homicidal assdhole.”

“But I had arranged… yes, my lord—“

“Just Alex is fine.”

“—Alex. We have a number of spiritual masters who fit that category. I shall see if anyone is interested in dueling you.” He gulped, and Alex was a bit disgusted by the naked fear in the man’s gaze. But this time more with himself than the fool before him. “My lord, Alex, please understand… most of our Wujen already serve as instructors, with said benefits. To entice such as they…”

“Two spirit pearls if they win, and two rooms for my girls if we win. Those are the terms.”

The man blanched, then slowly nodded. “Understood. Forgive me, if I am to secure such…”

Alex tossed him the pearls. “The bate. Do what you have to, but I want to finish this up within the hour.”

And within seconds the man was hurrying off as fast as his tattered dignity allowed, and Alex pretended there weren’t a few hard stares being sent his way by a pair of Silver inspectors even as others seemed to be enjoying the lighthearted sparring going on betweenLiqinand an easygoing Hao Chan, both dancing through forms at a graceful pace,Liqinpositively beaming at the praise she received.

“You’re looking good, Liqin!” Alex commended with a smile when the panting girl pled for a break while Hao Chan and Yinzi commended her forms before sparring themselves, doing all they could to cement the brutal, violent, glorious insights that had been there own during their fierce battle with two sets of foes.

Alex grinned in approval, gazing at them both, sensing that their fierce focus was to tune out the horror of blood and terror and bitter memories around them as much as it was to solidify their battlefield revelations. That as long as they embraced the high and the pulsing adrenaline of their breakthroughs, they could laugh at that which might have Hao Chan shuddering and sobbing in his arms in horror a day from now. A truth Alex could so clearly sense through their connection, tasting as well how lonely Yinzi sometimes felt, loving that which she knew beneath her lighthearted demeanor she might never obtain, far happier embracing the jester’s roll than that of the broken unloved heroine.

Alex winced, gently pulling his mind free of their souls, now only peering deeply enough to feel the flow of their bodies as they moved through Silver Swan’s deadly forms, embracing the storm of Light Qi all around them as they sought to best each other with winding thrusts, the pair both sparring now with training staves balanced and weighted to be the exact mirrors of their favored weapons, now safely stored in their rings until the final gong of the day was rung.

“Alex?”

Alex snapped his focus on the source of that soft voice, alarmed to have lost focus like that for even a heartbeat, not expecting Liqin to flinch in fear so sharply, gazing into his intense blue eyes as if she feared death itself would claim her.

Before her lips curved in a sad smile.

“I missed you.”

He blinked, having no idea what to say to that as she ducked her head, suddenly shy.

“Alex?” so many emotions and thoughts flickering across Liqin’s pretty brown eyes when she dared look up again, long seconds later. But all she asked was, “Will you forgive my father?”

Alex frowned, sensing company fast approaching. “Of course. The past never happened, as far as I’m concerned. Now I really have to get…”

His eyes widened when the missing half of his set of deadly shark toothed dao suddenly manifested.

Alex’s breath hitched. Trembling hands reaching for that priceless wide-bladed treasure that belonged in no one’s hands but his own.

“Liqin…”

“I know. Now’s not the best time, but there will never be a right time for this, and I didn’t even see you until now, and you’re sort of going to need them, if you’re battling a Silver. I mean, maybe.” She swallowed, collecting herself. “He… I… he found them, Alex. Just lying there in the deepest part of the third tier pool, swirling as if caught in an eddy.”

She licked her lips. “This was just after you had had your fight with Father, and I know he felt torn about it, resented how you made him lose so much face, but a part of his soul felt the pull of an oath stretched, if not broken. He was going to send you a note… but then things happened, and then you offered us shelter and absolution and he knew he should have given it to you weeks ago! I thought his foundation would crumble right there! But no, it was just guilt. Guilt because you really were a good man fighting monsters with their crimson smiles, and there was no chance to see or talk to you here, but he was really just ashamed, so he gave it to me since he won’t enter the palace or courtyard, and he knows we’re sort of… friends.” She said, cheeks flushing as she lowered her gaze.

And for all that Alex felt the weight of a Deep Silver’s regard upon his back, he still grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Thank you, Liqin. And thank your father as well.”

He then turned to face the Wujen covered in an aura of Flame so bright he blazed before Alex’s Qi perception.

The man wore shimmering blue cultivator’s robes free of any ornamentation, but radiating powerful protective wards. He had allowed his silky midnight hair to grow long and free of all restraint, his handsome chiseled features an interesting cross between aristocrat and scholar. He looked athletic and well put together, compared to any mortal, but it was clear that his was not the body cultivator’s path.

“You’re the Bronze who would challenge a Silver, and this is your coterie?” The man frowned. “Speed, The absence of Shadow, and a girl who radiates the deadly waters of the stygian depths. Interesting.”

Alex swallowed, genuinely surprised to meet a cultivator who clearly possessed Qi Perception at least the equal of his own.

Then the man frowned, peering intently at Alex who did his best not to give anything about himself away. “And you perhaps, the most interesting puzzle of all, from what I’ve been told.” He gave an intrigued nod. “Very well. I will accept this match. Two spirit pearls should I win, and I will do my best not to kill any of you.”

And between one heartbeat and the next, he was surrounded by a whirling maelstrom of flame, a ball of fire in one hand, a whip of flame in the other.

“My students refer to me as Master Huojin. You may do the same. Shall we begin?”