《Silver Fox and the Western Hero》Book 7 - Chapter 27 - Gold trumps Silver. A fox runs for cover.

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Alex flashed a fierce smile as he was abruptly torn free of his vision, the torments of countless hours asphyxiating fading away as if it had never been, even as the insights and revelations of years worth of diligent research was his own, waking up to knowledge as if it had always been his own, just a single revelation away.

Yet even as he reveled in the furious howls of his sworn enemy, he sensed the calamity about to fall upon his precious realm.

Then, much to his relief, pressure abruptly eased off of his library gate.

Before the Servant’s portal was ruptured so brutally, so abruptly, he couldn’t help crying out, as if he himself had just been ripped open.

And much to his horror, he sensed his enemies finally breaking through.

“Dong Xiao! Get everyone to flee the area! Golds have entered our sanctuary! Enemy Golds have entered our sanctuary!”

Alex took no comfort from the surge of acquiescence, horrified by the message flashing across his mind when he tried to expel his unwanted guests by force.

Sanctuary is in dispute. You are unable to expel guests or make improvements while your territory is in dispute! All Reds must be cleared from your realm before divine authority is restored.

Heart pounding in furious panic, wondering if things could possibly get any worse, that was when Alex saw it. The twisted smile of a Gold covered in lamellar armor the color of blood, wielding a brace of dao and brimming with the power of Metal.

Alex strove to keep his cool, even as his mind was bombarded with the panic of his own people fleeing for their lives, and the fierce resolve of those who would fight to their last breath.

Including two girls still party linked, even now racing to their deaths.

“Yinzi! Hao Chan! They have a Gold!”

“Yes, we know, future husband,” said Yinzi’s exasperated voice, barely touched by panic. “But right now Dong Xiao senses only Dongfang Hong’s Elite Bronze squads and Silver crack troops pouring through. More than enough to kill us, but at least we have a fighting chance!”

“Until the Gold bastards leading them pick out the strongest pockets of resistance and blast them to hell and back, catching them completely unawares!”

“Exactly!” Yinzi almost happily agreed. “So you’d better think of something, husband! Our lives are sort of in your—Chan! Look out! They’re here!”

“Yinzi!” Alex glared at the gate he was presently unable to cross, wanting to howl with the terror he felt, not for himself, but his friends. Forced to accept that that grotesque mocking hate-filled blubbering monstrosity of a fallen god had nonetheless managed to trap Alex brilliantly, forcing him to watch helplessly as everything he loved was destroyed before his eyes yet again.

Think, little fox.

Three harmless words shivering through his soul. He could even be sure if they were warning or simple memory. Nonetheless, he took a deep, shuddering breath, inhaling the sharp crisp scent of pine and resin, the soothing scent of wildflowers, and the sickly-sweet stench of roasted flesh as grass rustling in a gentle breeze caressed his naked feet. He refused to surrender any longer to panic, realizing bitterly that that was exactly what Shalu would wish for him, so was the one thing he would never do.

He glared at the door, thinking of his options.

His ability to empower his realm had been choked off from the moment Reds had ruptured his gate.

He was unable to enter his own gates and bring the battle directly to his foes, not until the light of a new dawn caressed his face at least.

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He turned around, gazing at the sight where he had taken down not one but three Golds. Using the odd sense of serendipity and connection between all four of them, connections Shalu had used to manipulate them over at least two lives, to buy himself the time he needed to trap his foes and claim his prizes.

A strange lul that could have ended in sweetest friendship… but instead had ended in cold-blooded butchery by a wildcard who had been betrayed far too many times to trust or forgive, and a Silver ascendancy like no other.

Alex shook away bitter regrets he had absolutely no time for. Already knowing the truth of what he sensed.

He could only make certain kinds of traps with gates that were in his sight. And any traps he made he would have to be within weapon’s reach to strike through barriers he alone was immune to.

And as far as forming gates that led to far different locations went…

You are attempting to form a gate beside Ruptured Gate. Exit point: One mile above Sea of Spirits, 3264 miles (the edge of the horizon you once caught a glimpse of) beyond Yidushi proper. -20 Skill check penalty in effect! Skill check failed! You are unable to form a gate in Sanctuary leading to a tertiary location at this time! 30 Qi expended!

Alex groaned, having felt momentarily crushed by a weight far exceeding anything his Tier 3 Spirit or Tier 3 Strength could hope to overcome. And the wasted Qi cost was itself a perilous risk, even if he could get it to work, he only had a handful of shots before he was completely drained of spiritual energy.

He choked back a sob, crashing to his knees, wondering what the hell he could do.

“Alex! There are too many of them!”

Hao Chan’s panicked voice jolted him to action.

He might not be able to build any gate traps or barriers in his realm, being himself a realm away. Yet the very nature of his Chamber of Doors meant that he could form personal gates anywhere. So what if he wasn’t the one to step through? He could still form a gate others could make use of, even if all it could do was lead friends… or foes, right to him.

You have successfully formed a spiritual gate between your present location and Tree of Wisdom! Bonuses for area familiarity and sovereignty in effect! 20 Qi Expended.

And in seconds, a new gate was formed, Alex catching a sight that filled him with horror and vindication. Fires, smoke, and fallen bodies were everywhere. Dozens of people could be seen shouting and fighting with polearms and dao, and a flood of Dongfang Hong’s crimson armored crack troops even now intercepting a dozen fleeing disciples wearing hastily donned armor as they huddled desperately by the roots of the sacred tree Alex had planted.

He heard no sound, but he could see the malicious smiles upon the prince’s crimson troops as they raised their blades high to cut down the former Phoenix Academy servants, even as Alex screamed out with his mind.

“Dongfang Hong’s troops are RED! Kill at will!”

And his tree responded.

Dozens of massive roots suddenly bursting out of the earth causing all but a few movement specialists to stumble over, looks of surprise and outrage, ugly snarls of hate from the helmed faces of a dozen soldiers turned to looks of wide-eyed panic and desperate struggles to free themselves as the roots twisted like snakes and began pulling their prey into the ground.

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Even as massive leaf-covered branches lowered themselves to cover the entire courtyard filled with multiple pockets of enemies and defenders fighting and maneuvering around each other.

Yet when the tree branches lifted, only the wild-eyed defenders remained, Alex catching sight of dozens of struggling reds being squeezed so tightly they exploded in showers of crimson gore raining down upon the battle-torn field below.

Only a handful of reds escaped, and Alex wasn’t surprised to sense them fleeing the courtyard entirely.

And how relieved he was to see a shocked-looking Hao Chan and Yinzi, wearing their enchanted armor of cobalt blue and sea foam green and wielding a pair of ko-naginatas in expert grips, both of them covered in blood that thankfully didn’t seem to be their own. They were presently gazing about with wide-eyed disbelief, and perhaps a little bit of fear, at the tree that had stood gentle sentinel for so many weeks, before finally showing just what a sentinel that grew upon the Jade tier slopes of ascension was truly capable of.

“Yinzi! Chan! Lead everyone to this gate! I can protect everyone from here!”

And it was true, Alex thought, gazing back at an empty part of the clearing behind him, decidedly away from those spots where he had cleaved free the eternal cores of his enemies and waded in the River of Souls.

You have summoned an additional 6 gates!

You have formed a cuboid structure 100 square yards! Top portal is permeable to air. Sound and light within normal human tolerances may pass through freely. Portals may only be entered by those who have sworn the Oath of Sanctuary! 30 Qi Points spent.

12 other gates are already in use. (1 Gate has been Oath-breached! Enemies must be purged from World Seed before it can be reclaimed! 1 Disputed gate has been surrendered by foe, this gate has been reclaimed. Note. No Risen Phoenix Academy gate can be permanently closed without damaging cultivation base! (Headmaster Oathbinding) Note. Resilience perk means foes must now access Jade tier resources to successfully breach either gate a second time.)

You have 3 additional gates you may assign before maximum number is reached.

Here, at least, he could protect his people. At least those that made it through.

He spun around to his open gate, catching sight of Hao Chan looking resplendant in her armor, dashing towards his gate with dozens of exhausted-looking cultivators behind her. And how brilliantly she smiled, catching sight of him.

Alex’s heart lurched in his chest. “Duck and roll, now!”

There was no reason to say it. None at all. There was no enemy in sight, that Alex could see. But after all he had seen and endured, minutes that had felt like weeks of torment, flooded by impossibly sharp memories of too many lives ended in bitterest tragedy until he had torn free Shalu’s vile card… his sanctuary had been violated, and his beloved granddaughter so many times removed was now just a memory.

So when fate deigned to show him a moment of sublime beauty dancing on peril’s edge, he would always assume cruel death was just a hairsbreadth away.

And it did not disappoint, when the ground exploded in torn earth and a thousand steel knives.

“Hao Chan!” Alex screamed, heart in throat, panicked wild eyes looking around… and seeing nothing.

You have flooded party interface with excess potency designated: Emergency healing.

Silver Tier meridians avert all strain!

Your potency remains unclaimed.

“Alex? I’m okay! We have to flee back to the tree!” Hao Chan cried out through the interface as the courtyard rung with mocking laughter, as a cultivator channeling wind and steel settled before the gate, powerful arms crossed with a smirk on saturnine features, his crimson lamellar armor radiating potent enchantments Alex could sense a world away.

“What’s that, my pray seeks to flee through an opportune gate I sense? I’m afraid we can’t have that little slaves. It’s back to the compound and slave collars for all of you!” The deep Silver chuckled coldly, and a furious Alex could sense the way his eyes lingered on Hao Chan’s long legs as she weaved and darted from side to side… for all that the smirking wujen held his fire. “Ah, the pleasures of leading the vanguard. First choice on all the spoils!”

The wujen’s eyes then focused on the tree. “But first, to pluck free the vile thorns infecting the newest blossom to our master’s ever-growing collection. Steel Bane!”

The Wujen roared the last and Alex winced to see an absolute storm of whirling steel blades tearing into his sacred tree, shaken by the arboreal agony lancing through him as if the damned wujen had violated his own soul, the Silver’s mocking laughter now washing over the courtyard entire.

“Steel trumps Wood every time, and how delightful it is to hunt sentient shrubbery. As if you had any hope of troubling one such as I!” the soldier crowed, effortlessly flying above half a dozen too slow roots flailing desperately at the smirking wujen darting through the air, before unleashing another storm of steel at Alex’s all too vulnerable tree.

Alex could think of only one thing he could do at that moment, reaching out with his will.

You are attempting to forge Party Link with Tree of Wisdom.

Tree of Wisdom is not designated as Viable Candidate!

Tree of Wisdom is located within your realm.

You have redefined the definition of Viable Candidate within your realm.

Tree of Wisdom has accepted Party Invite!

Alex was knocked off his feet as Hao Chan and Yinzi cried out over the interface when they were all flooded with an arboreal sense of his entire realm, feeling as much like a thousand thousand rustling branches reaching for the warm golden light of the heavens, supping upon the rich spiritual energy all around, feeling an ever growing arboreal wrath for the warm-bloods daring to prick the heart of its power…. Before their latest party member quickly pulled back and contained its monstrous psyche, and Alex could think clearly once more.

Though the momentary duality, where he had seen his enemy both glaring hateful at him and ignoring him, completely unable to see him through what was, for the red prince’s men, an opaque gate, did give him an idea he wasted no time putting to the test, even as his enemy attempted to kill his latest party member once more.

Party Member Tree of Wisdom has taken 2 Additional Serious Wounds!

You have successfully formed additional courtyard gate!

And Alex couldn’t help smirking at the surprised looking Wujen, now peering down at Alex and the clearing he stood upon where there had been a tree, just seconds before.

“What trickery is this?” The hot-eyed wujen snarled, raising his fist, crackling with metallic Qi. “Unless you wish for an agonizing death, you will remove your veil and surrender immediately!”

Alex did his best to mime surprise and fear as his Hao Chan played her roll to the hilt. “Run, my love! Our home has been taken by our enemies! They’re after your thousand spirit pearl bounty! Run and never come back!”

And Alex didn’t hesitate to do just that.

Quickness check made!

Chilled by just how decisive his enemy proved himself to be.

Not wasting time in surprise or thoughtful contemplation, no.

There was no need to goad him further. In fact, if Alex wasn’t now darting through the trees at a madman’s pace as trees and metal shrapnel exploded behind him, he would already be dead.

“Shit, I think that worked too well!” He hissed to himself, making maximum use of his Forest Flight skill, taking advantage of his Hidden Movement skill as his opponent, fortunately neither Shadow affiliated Kitsune nor bound to him via nemesis card, roared his fury overhead.

“You think you can hide from me, worm? I know who you are! I know where you are! Your offenses against the Red Prince can never be forgiven! I will give you one chance to surrender, Ruidian, and my oath that your death will be quick and relatively painless. But should you make me hunt for you… should you make me share your bounty with kitsune hunters unworthy of a single pearl… I will make you bleed for it beyond your wildest—“

Qi perception check made. Forest Sense skill check made.

You have successfully triangulated your opponents exact location!

Limbs successfully covered in Dark Qi.

Find Weakness skillcheck made.

Soul Sight fails to pierce Wujen psyche.

Bullrush! Bullrush! Bullrush!

Blackswan!

In the blink of an eye, Alex was behind his opponent. He knew better than anyone just how perilously he was courting death, sensing multiple wards of rippling steel about his his foe.

A foe who was quick. Far quicker than the average Wujen with Speed near the limits of what even Bronze Tier body cultivators could hope to achieve.

Fast enough to twirl around, fists filled with deadly Metal Qi, the instant he felt a whisper of displaced air behind him.

But not fast enough to counter the fangtian ji enhanced by Rank 1 Silver quickness and 8 Ranks of Silver Swan Alex had finally blossomed into, each rank finally granting its full bonus, modified by 7 ranks of Bronze White Crane, 7 Ranks of Basic Golden Realms, and Rank 3 Silver Strength.

He had once shattered an overconfident instructor’s wards the very first time he had ever used his deadliest skill.

Now, with Black Swan itself being Rank 8, the results of his cleaving strike were beyond the pale.

Even so, there was a limit to how many techniques he could weave together, and perhaps foolish to attempt to combine Silver tier arts designed with a singular purpose over countless decades to one he had cludged together by sheer blind luck and mad flashes of insight.

His fangtian ji would have exploded in splinters, had it not been tempered for indestructibility in the blood of a deadly spirit beast. As it was, his weapon violently ruptured not one but three layers of metallic wards before obliterating the crimson spirit beast gorget and sending the confused looking wujen’s head tumbling through the air as his body violently exploded in shrapnel.

Because Blackswan was peerless when it came to rupturing Silver tier wards and the bodies underneath. But it did nothing to neutralize the complex webs of spiritual energy responsible for the wards themselves, and less than nothing against any sort of retributive strike.

You fail to synergize Blackswan with Spellcleave!

You have failed to embrace Qi Deflection!

You have failed to enact Qi Absorption!

You must save versus dismemberment!

Alex desperately tried deflect deadly shrapnel that turned out to be more perilous than the wujen himself, but was still reeling from attempting to combine two exotic arts on the fly. All he could do was embrace Silver tier quickness, curling into an armored ball as a storm of steel pounded into his body, bruising organs and breaking multiple bones, his now monstrous strength all that had kept his limbs from being completely torn off or at least dislocated, no matter that they were all coated in dark Qi.

And had he not had the strength to keep his head tucked as the concussive blast hammered into his nearly indestructible helmet, sending him cartwheeling through the air… it didn’t bear thinking about.

You have been critically hit by Retributive strike! Fatal injuries reduced to Severe injuries thanks to Draconic resilience and indestructible armor!

6 ribs and right arm have suffered compound fractures!

You have saved versus dismemberment.

Power Healing engaged!

Potency Mastery in effect! You are absorbing 4 additional Qi points per seconds for the next 240 seconds.

It was all Alex could do to shake off the dazed confusion as the world spun and spun about him, his daze turning to dread that jolted him fully awake as he canceled his inertia by quickly bull-rushing to an inviting-looking treetop. Even so, it was some time before the spinning sensation finally left him as he groaned and shuddered over long, agonizing seconds as he waited for his bones to knit themselves together, feeling the lack of a proper body reinforcing technique more acutely than ever, daring to take on Silvers and Golds. Pure madness. And as effective as he was with his favorite skills, it meant nothing if the death-wards infusing at least the most powerful of Dongfang Hong’s wujen would take him out as readily as the bastards themselves.

He would have to be more careful, focusing on defensive skills first, knowing at least one combination he dare not try again when fighting for his life.

Still, he couldn’t help smiling when he received messages that filled him with relief...and no small amount of dread.

Party Member Tree of Wisdom has accessed experience point pool! Trunk has been restored to full integrity!

Party Members Hao Chan and Yinzi have left World Seed!

Party Members Hao Chan and Yinzi have entered Golden Realms!

“Alex! I’m here! I brought friends, where the hell do we go now?”

Yinzi’s voice pinged against his interface. Alex’s heart surged with sudden relief, immediately marking the warded cube just a few dozen yards from the entrance with a marker he didn’t even know he could place on his map until he did, relieved when Yinzi pulsed her understanding.

“Heading there now, hero! But… um… it seems to be out in the open.”

Alex nodded. “It’s translucent, but nothings getting getting through, Yinzi, trust me. Not unless they’ve already sworn fealty, or they’re in my party.”

“Good! I just pulsed the message to Hao Chan, so she knows where to jump!”

Alex felt a sudden surge of dread. “Wait, where’s Chan?”

“She darted back into the palace! She’s gathering everyone and leading them out while your seneschal distracts the Gold trying to step through!”

Alex’s heart began to pound. As strong an surprisingly resourceful as his Seneschal now was, connected to Alex’s realm entire, he was still just a Silver, no matter how deep his hue. And his enemy was at least a Tier 5 Gold.

And that monster was about to step through.

Alex sensed right then the terrible choice before him.

He was hundreds of yards away from the original clearing and his sheltering cube, and had no desire to put what would soon be perhaps hundreds of refugees and the girls he cherished at any more risk of peril than they already were. He had no doubt that a Gold could obliterate any number of innocents in steel or flame before they could run even a dozen, let alone fifty yards, to shelter.

What he had originally intended as a trap instead tied up six gates, and even now he could sense a sudden surge of reds swarming into these woods.

Because as his mocking enemies had already made clear, he might be protected by Fog of War, but those he was closest to were not, and his foes already knew the location of several gates.

Unless he wanted his people butchered in yet another of that bloated bastard’s traps, he dare not free up a single portal.

He couldn’t help chuckling bitterly, knowing just how perilous his next move would be.

Had to be.

Even as he heard his beloved seneschal cry out with pain that resonated through his entire realm… he opened one massive triangular gate a hundred yards wide, instantly catching sight of his beloved seneschal flying through the air as a cold-eyed wujen covered in shimmering golden mail with eyes that burned like living flame stepped through the gate blinked so brightly in Alex’s mind’s eye, catching sight of countless soldiers arrayed in phalanx formation behind the blazing cultivator.

A gold who slowly took in the devastated courtyard with a contemptuous gaze before turning Alex’s way.

You have successfully summoned a second gate!

Only to furrow his brow when Alex and the forest around him seemed to duplicate before his eyes as the two sides of the tetrahedron led to none other than Alex himself.

A slitted pair of ruby eye gazed coldly Alex’s way. “I do taste an odd power about you. Would this be you realm, Ruidian?”

Alex forced a tight smile, bracing himself against the terrible wave of dread coming so close to overcoming him.

Willpower check successful!

But failing. For no matter how terrified and vulnerable he felt at that moment, he had laughed in the face of half a dozen immortals that wanted him dead.

Even if he was unable to put any strictures on the gates at his enemy’s end, a literal realm away, knowing that if his enemy chose, he could conceivably shoot a stream of liquid flame or steely death or whatever his element happened to be unimpeded through the open barrier between them, he refused to show any fear.

Instead he smiled, and bowed his head.

Concentration check failed! You have failed to form an additional gate!

“That would be correct, Wujen. And who do I have the pleasure of addressing?”

This earned Alex a cold smile. “Finally, a civilized opponent. You may call me Li Jaw-Long, Descendant of Dragons, Master of flame. And what would your name be, clever little Ruidian? It is a thorn in my master’s side, that your name eludes all attempts at augury and divination. Not even a clear sketch of you can be found. In return for this gift, and the secrets of your kingdom, I can promise you a death far more merciful than my master normally delivers his enemies.

Heart pounding, Alex bowed his head. He could taste the terror swelling in the back of his throat that he fought so hard to hide, knowing he was courting absolute madness. But against a foe as clever and ruthless as he sensed this one was, he feared there was only one way he could uproot his opponent and give his people even the faintest chance of coming out on top.

Daring to delay only a few perilous seconds as his enemy’s bemused smile suddenly hardened, and Alex sensed oblivion just an eyeblink away.

“So be it, Ruidian. I shall be more than happy to—“

You have successfully summoned 1 additional gate! 10 Qi expended. Tetrahedron successfully formed!

“—I’m sorry, did you say Li Jaw-Long? Of the clan Li? With Double-Li as the chosen disciple of Long-Li the dragon god?”

Words that tumbled out in a rush, so fast Alex had almost, but not quite, lost his sangfroid grin when the Fire Wujen’s eyes widened with surprise, momentarily clenching a fist now filled with white-hot flame even as he spun around, glaring, seeing Alex’s beaming smile from three entirely different angles.

“How do you know that name?” Words said in a whisper as chill as a grave in a howling storm, an odd counterpoint to the blazing heat pouring from the man’s clenched fist.

Alex’s smile widened. “Oh, he was just some fool who threatened to kill me with an oversized hammer, so I tore out his heart and devoured it.”

Words so shocking that the wujen before him actually lurched back, stunned, eyes bulging as he strove just to comprehend the depth of the insult emitted from the laughing monkey before him.

His emotions so raw with outrage and trembling discipline that Alex got his first good look at the Qi flow of a Gold tier wujen.

Soul Sight skillcheck: Critical Success! You sense of Qi flow of a Gold Tier Master of Flame!

You have successfully saved versus wetting your pants!

It was everything he could do not to void himself, tasting the furious blazing peril that could obliterate him so utterly.

Instead he laughed like a madman, tossing a completely innocuous pebble through the gate, learning in that moment that whatever barrier prevented him from crossing, a completely inert pebble free of any Qi flow could indeed pass through without enacting any penalty at all, just as did the air from his exhaled breath. A useful bit of trivia that was almost as usefulas knowing that his foe flinched even faster than Headmaster Sudong.

But he sure as shit was no Silver speedster.

Which was the only reason why Alex was still alive.

“You Dare to even say such things, filth!?” the wujen roared.

Quickness Check modified by Bullrush made! You have avoided Obliterating blast!

Alex’s heart was pounding with an odd mixture of terror and exhilaration as he chained a full dozen Bullrushes as the forest below erupted in liquid flame. And even as Bullrush blended into Stormflight his body was still washed by the blazing agony of a howling inferno.

This time, however, he did not fear the flame but instead did his utmost to absorb it. To feed off it, to drink deep of its blazing vitality even as it scorched his flesh.

He knew it was sheer madness, but in that moment of sublime insight, he didn’t care in the least as his own Draconic Potency, stolen from a god and his vessel, filled him with enlightenment into the nature of flame and wild Qi like never before.

You have taken 1 critical wound reduced by Qi Absorption & Draconic Potency to 1 Light Wound!

Qi Absorption is now Rank 6! Dragon’s Insight gained! You have been illuminated by transcendent understanding of Qi in it’s Wildest, most destructive forms! Qi Absorption rank is now doubled whenever consuming damage inflicted by Fire Qi! A portion of all spiritual energy absorbed will replenish your own Qi reserves.

Dark Qi affinity detected! Divine Dark Qi cycling technique detected! This bonus now includes all damage inflicted by Dark Qi as well!

Alex howled with laughter even as his skin crisped before instantly regenerating, hair blazing with flame.

Which didn’t stop him at all from hovering a dozen yards from the trapezoid pyramid of gates, laughing down at the furious-looking wujen, his effective Rank 12 Qi absorption and draconic blood allowing to completely ignore the mundane flames that had obliterated a good half-acres worth of forest.

Or perhaps it was just madness.

Either way, the wujen’s eyes widened with disbelieving horror as Alex laughed in his face.

“No… there is no way you should have survived that blast. Your skin and hair are on fire!”

Alex flashed his foe a cold smile. “And all I feel is toasty warm with the blood of Long Li now pounding through my veins!” Alex smirked at his howling foe. “Oh, by the way, did you know your patron god wants me dead at all costs? Too bad he’s unable to touch me! And here I am with a thousand spirit pearl bounty on my head. Whatever will I—“

Quickness check made! Bullrush chained 12 times!

You have successfully dodged Phoenix strike!

Second Tier explosive calamity has just destroyed 2 additional acres of forest.

You are currently surrounded by flame!

Fatal Wound reduced by Draconic Potency and rank 6(12) Qi Absorption to Medium Wound.

Power Healing engaged!

“Going to have to do better than that, slow-poke!” Alex mocked, choking back his own scream with laughter as the hideous power of a Deep Gold overwhelmed even his absurd ability to absorb and mitigate the power of flame.

And that was just with the most peripheral damage, knowing that even as he now was, any direct strike would obliterate him pretty much instantly.

He laughed for the sheer madness of what he dared, laughed til the agony of charred skin and scorched muscle was the sheer sweet fierce hot joy of getting the best of his wild-eyed foe, now coating the sky in a curtain of crimson flame.

But not leaving the pyramid of transluscent portals Alex had left him.

“You will not evade me for long, monkey! And we will see who gets the last laugh when Dongfang Hong claims your sanctuary and I burn everything to the ground!”

A threat that made Alex cackle like a madman… lest his foe sense Alex’s fear of him doing just that.

“Oh what a sweet sweet irony it is! You, a potent Gold, oathbound to the most unforgiving of masters! Tell me, don’t you find it curious, Jaw-Jaw, how you ended up being selected to lead this little foray, only to encounter someone exquisitely familiar with the chosen scion of your entire clan?”

Mad laughter and a Gold’s roars rang through the sky, along with multiple massive explosions of liquid plasma so hot it would have melted through steel in the blink of an eye.

You have dodged direct hits from multiple streams of flame. Have taken cumulative damage equal to one additional Medium Wound!

“No? Let me tell you a little secret, Jaw-Jaw...”

“My name is Li Jaw-Long! And I will hear you scream it not once, but a thousand times, begging for mercy, before I finally tear out your heart and present it at the foot of my family alter, once your damned spirit is forever forced to serve my clan!”

“Yeah, I don’t think so, Jaw-Jaw. But just between you and me, Double Li was nothing special. A Silver Core at best, am I right?”

Perception check modified by Soul Sight -success!

Alex grinned at his opponent’s palor. “Oh, don’t look so surprised, Double Jaw! Of course I took a look at his corroded core after tearing out his heart! And it’s now Bronze, by the way. That’s what you get for taking gifts from gods who don’t give a rat’s ass for you or your clan. I knew that hammer was too big for him! Anyway, between you and me, he was nothing special. But let me guess, he was an ideal host for your dragon-god’s gift. Am I right?”

Alex’s foe, temporarily rendered speechless, just glared Alex’s way with serpentine eyes in an otherwise inhumanely handsome face just glittered with ruby hate. “Of course I’m right! And here I am, confronting a Rank 5 Gold wujen who absolutely must be the true head of the Li clan, because Deep Golds don’t grow on trees, but wouldn’t it be interesting if they did? - And now you’re somehow tied up in the machinations of the Red Prince. No doubt tied to all sorts of dark, unexpected oaths, am I right?”

And the way the Gold blanched made it clear he his words had struck true.

As his mentor had once said, he had a knack for hitting his targets with his arrows in the dark.

Save when he didn’t, whereupon he’d often end up dying quite horribly,

as he had countless times before.

“Of course I’m right! Which begs the question, how the hell did you end up trapped on a small island, oathbound to complete your mission? Why, when you think about it, it’s almost like I set the whole thing up! Playing a long game over months, happily yanking Dongfang Hong’s beard, baiting him like the fool he is, bribing so many deliciously corrupt pawns, once I found out what a juicy prize good old Double Li truly was. Goading your master into specifically binding YOU to hunt me down and claim a tiny rocky island in the Sea of Ghosts, while I’m left free as a bird to hunt down the remainder of your clan and TEAR FREE ALL THEIR HEARTS! ”

Alex howled and cackled, Bullrushing well over a half mile, Soul Sight and common sense making it clear the Gold wouldn’t be holding back any longer as that part of the woods becoming an instant blazing maelstrom. Alex, manic smile replaced by a grimace of pain, made a quiet oath he sincerely hoped a certain benefactor would hear before passing judgment upon him, as he took long seconds to heal back his increasingly charred flesh.

And still, it was almost too late.

Had it not been for the faintest ping from his forest sense making it clear that his foe had indeed taken the bait...and that he was an absolute fool to underestimate a Gold tier’s exotic techniques for even a second, he would have been instantly flash-fried.

As it was…

Oblivion’s Cloak successfully camouflages against Sight!

Oblivion’s Flame successfully camouflages against Qi Perception!

Critical Success Soul Sight & Forest Sense TIE with Gold tier technique.

You have sensed your foe!

You have chained Bullrush 97 times!

You have transcended the limitations of this technique, Bullrushing without any legs!

Congratulations! Bullrush is now Rank 8!

Messages that meant absolutely nothing as Alex choked back a hideous scream.

His agony was beyond words.

He dared not even look down at his injuries, he dared not even lose focus for one second.

To ask himself how he was flittering through the air when a flash of hideous light had shorn free everything beyond the now charred bones of his hips.

The very cauterizing nature of the injury all that kept his entrails from exploding free of his mutilated body as he held onto the agonized dream of legs, for all that they blazed with an agony more akin to a runner choking back a sob as he attempted to sprint straight up hill until he collapsed… knowing that to collapse was death.

“Alex! Heaven’s Mercy, what happened!”

Realizing what a fool he had been. The girl he loved still utterly connected to him. Experiencing near everything he did.

He was lucky the backlash hadn’t killed them, especially if they hadn’t made it to shelter… if they were fighting for their lives.

Gate cube in sight!

You are suffering from major Qi Depletion!

Willpower check successful!

“I see you, Ruidian monkey!” It was a roar that shook the heavens.

Death racing for Alex at terrifying speeds.

“My God’s Light attack has cleaved free your legs! Your crotch is ash and bone! You will never know a woman’s blessing now, wretch! And your lessons in agony have just begun. I promise you that, cur! I will leave you live long enough to watch while I tear out your own heart and devour it before your eyes! Only then will my patron god be appeased!”

And there it was, a massive shimmering cube now sheltering half the population of his sanctuary, completely surrounded by not dozens but hundreds of armored soldiers.

A desperate hope that Alex could even get to it in time, dodging and weaving on the memory of legs as he embraced Stormflight with a howl, darting and cartwheeling through the air as blinding light lanced him yet again.

You have been critically struck by God’s Light Gold tier attack!

Quickness Check made! You have avoided instant death!

You are now missing one arm!

Indestructible Steel Mail Shirt has been destroyed!

The messages flashed across his interface even as he howled in agony and hope, putting every last ounce of focus he could into darting for the shimmering cube… before cutting left, spiraling under a hideously potent beam of plasma ricocheting off the forcefield to sear a massive hole into the ground, before finally plunging through.

    people are reading<Silver Fox and the Western Hero>
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