“Alex, you’re hurt!”

Alex gave Hao Chan a wan smile as Jidihu finished leading him back to their private accommodations, leading Alex to a plush, silk-upholstered seat, giving him a gentle hug before stepping back, anxiety and worry overcoming her strikingly beautiful features. Alex forced a smile despite his lingering pain from a heart wound, no matter his Power Healing, for Hao Chan’s gentle gaze sent his heart soaring, assuring a 100% recovery every time.

Jidihu hissed, eyes flashing as her cute little button nose crinkled with distaste. “Deathroot venom. That a Gold would stoop to such a thing!”

Biochemical Skillcheck made!

You have achieved 100% immunity to: Deathroot Venom.

You may now manufacture Deathroot Venom at will!

The kitsune’s eyes widened when all traces of the poison disappeared. Her nostrils flared. “It’s gone!”

Alex nodded. “Yup. I got complete immunity, so I had no problems absorbing it. So no worries about any mortal dying within seconds of touching my rather messed up armor.”

Hao Chan gave him a fierce hug. “A talent I understand well, because thanks to your arts, it’s no my own. But I’ll never forgive that vile Kuai Su. That monster ran you through, thrice!”

Alex nodded. “That he did.”

“And how exactly did that happen, disciple?” Panheu asked, displeasure radiating from his stiff posture and hard-eyed gaze.

Alex bowed his head. “Because when it comes to parrying aside even a Gold Titan’s most devastating blows, our art reigns supreme. We know this. The crowd that cheered my fight with that unspeakable monster knows it.” He flashed a cold smile. “And Dongfang Hong, Heir Presumptive of an entire nation, famed general, and would-be annexer of CuiJing Province, knows this to. And what general doesn’t do his best to counter his opponents? He now knows that half a dozen Silvers striking at once or even the challengers I was forced to fight yesterday, were unable to counter our Golden art. Yet all techniques have their drawbacks. And a speed cultivator who relies on darting attacks with a heirloom jian so potent that it can effortlessly slice through even enchanted steel and stone is the one thing our Golden Technique is not apt at countering.”

Panheu gazed at Alex for long moments before gesturing for Alex to continue.

Alex spoke on. “If he were projecting massive amounts of Qi in the form of an attack, we could flow right past it. At least when we’re truly one with our path. But at that man’s speeds, not slowed down at all as he generates no Qi strikes with his attacks, he has an edge against us, where our every movement is about mastering the currents of Spiritual Energy as much as it is displacing air. In short, we have a bit of spiritual drag minutely slowing down our blows, even if it allows us to simultaneously push through our opponent’s wards and rupture their own attacks, piercing any counter like our hands punching through dyed water. Why, Golden Swan even allows us to bypass flag restrictions! But against a Gold who is nothing but speed enhancing a jian of cutting…”

Panheu sighed. “That minute drag that signifies the glory of our path suddenly becomes a bane. I know. No technique is perfect, Alex, and what we have forged is stronger than most will ever dare.”

Alex’s mentor then glared at the headmaster’s throne where Dongfang Hong even now sat, amber eyes peering intently at the next match. Then he turned to smile indulgently at Alex’s own disciples. “Fortunately, Hao Chan and my daughter are now so infused with the endless storm of spiritual energy all around us, energy that crackles from the depths of their souls, that the shockwaves released with their blows slow them not at all. If anything, it allows them to strike with a degree of force that few could hope to match.”

Alex’s hard smile met Panheu’s own. “We have forged a worthy art, master.”

“That we have, disciple. Though I do wonder why a certain wolf was left among the living. A deadly wolf who will no doubt be eager to snap at our flanks again.”

Alex smirked. “A wolf who swore a cultivator’s oath on his talisman that he would leave me and mine alone for all time. And by sparing him after he had come so close to killing me, like the most foolish of idealists, I hardly look like a ruthless bastard guilty of so many things best not mentioned.”

Panheu and Jidihu shared a bemused look at that. “He actually has a point there, wife.”

“I know, husband.”

Liang Song bowed his head. “It humbles me to witness the Golden art you and my master forged together. To appreciate both its strengths, and its one weakness. Yet still you triumphed, and I had thought you a fool to take on Kuai Su. As obnoxiously arrogant he as he can be, it’s an arrogance earned, particularly with his employer’s gifts acting like such a force multiplier. Gifts that I see you’ve claimed,” he said with a certain twinkle in his eye as Alex showed off his latest storage ring.

Alex chuckled, before tossing his prize to Hao Chan. “Funny how that worked out. I’ll leave it to my disciples to divide the spoils as they see fit.”

An odd expression crossed Liang’s features. “Disciples the same age as you?” He shook his head in bemusement before a worried frown came over his features. “Yet I couldn’t help but note the mention of poison. Aren’t you worried that...”

Hao Chan flashed a teasing smile. “You’ll find that there are all sorts of perks to joining a winning team.” Her gaze hardened. “So long as you keep your oath.”

Alex blinked at this. Liang Song smiled. “Of course I promised my former master that I would cause no harm to you or yours while we walk this path together. And even should I leave, I will do so peacefully, and reveal your secrets to no one.” His gaze turned flinty hard. “Just as I swore on my former employer’s behalf. I will freely tell you all that I am truly dismayed by how far he has fallen these past two years… and I will say no more than that.”

Hao Chan nodded her head. “So long as you keep your word, we’d be honored to have you travel by her side. Right, Alex?”

Alex grinned at the exquisitely handsome Liang Song, who was probably far older than Alex, perhaps closer to a century than not, which still made him absurdly gifted for even a newly forged Gold. “I’d say so, yeah. And he had the good taste to be our master’s former disciple.”

Hao Chan nodded, her smile fading as she took in once more the ruins of his armor, the gaping wounds that would have spelled death in an other man. “I know just how powerful your parries are, Alex. But even Silver Wing, which you’ve achieved such mastery over...”

Alex grimaced, looking down at his devastated armor as well. “Still cuts through the air slower than a parry lacking any spiritual force at all. So if I’m not countering a massive Avalanche or Ice Claw, but am instead trying to parry an enchanted jian that cuts through anything without any spiritual drag at all, I’m suddenly at a disadvantage. Because against that cultivator and that weapon, speed is everything. It doesn’t matter if I can change the angle of an attack or shift space itself, if he strikes me before I can even unleash my counter.” Alex then flashed a cheerful smile. “Of course there’s a reason why thrusting weapons might be favored in duels but rarely in all-out battles. Because when you replace whipping slashes that fail to cripple with a thrust meant to kill… you’re forced to commit. And if your foe doesn’t crash to the ground quite as quickly as you think he should… if he instead manages to grab your wrist...”

“You can pound his face in with your Tier 2 Gold Strength, no fancy techniques needed!” Yinzi gushed.

Alex nodded. “And rock hard gauntlets of Dark Qi that protected my forearms from being shredded to ribbons by a jian just as sharp as Xian Hong’s sure didn’t hurt. Dark Qi I hid under shredded armor and blood. But still, I had to draw him in. And do so while revealing as few of my abilities as I can.”

Hao Chan shook her head in dismay. “He had the field totally mastered, or so it seemed, moving so damn quick it was scary. I was so terrified he’d spear your eyes or rip open your throat...”

Alex nodded. “Even with the Dark Qi partially protecting me, I was still forced to take a major risk, just to survive the fight without revealing all of my cards. Which is why I’m so proud of you and Yinzi. Rank 10 Silver is basically the equivalent of a Gold speed cultivator newly broken through. And with your strength being so much greater than his, your strikes would have hit with such devastating force that the match would have ended in seconds.”

“But it was you that Gold fought,” Yinzi noted. “When we were scheduled to fight before you. Yet somehow all our matches are canceled, we have been consigned to the role of dancers, and the pinch-faced bureaucrat sitting at the contender’s booth dared to say that we had failed to attend the Silver elimination round, so our previously scheduled matches were all mute!”

The girl’s eyes flashed, cheerful demeanor becoming dark and cold.

Jidihu flashed a hard smile. “It appears the supposed ‘headmaster’ is more interested in crushing any adversaries and consolidating his power under the guise of a competition than anything else. Even the appearance of fair play. That, more than any fair challenge, or risking a pair of dancers even a fool could see had earned the interest of at least half the men who would otherwise challenge you, was why your bouts were conveniently removed. As if you had never signed for them at all. And you’ll notice a completely different shift of employees today, so they can say with complete candor that they have no knowledge that any foul play occurred at all. They could swear it on their talismans, in fact.”

Panheu snorted. “No doubt Dongfang Hong’s chosen lackeys will get dibs on the treasures to be doled out after swearing loyalty to his cause, supporting his attempted annexation of this territory.”

“Of course,” Jidihu noted. “Such was to be expected from the very beginning. The only burr in their buckles at this point is the boy we see before us, who really needs to change out of his shredded armor before the next set of elimination matches begins.”

Alex winced but nodded with agreement, not afraid to ask for a smirking Panheu’s help as he removed straps and buckles secured by far fewer towels than it once had been, thanks to his massive increase in strength and modest increase in bulk. Yet his armor really had gotten shredded by that hideously wicked jian. A jian he had happily claimed as his own, along with sheath and storage ring, as the poor fool couldn’t deny that he had declared his terms so loud that the entire coliseum had heard.

Unfortunately, it really had done a number on the only magical armaments he had.

“Back to the very same outfit you first rescued in, I see,” Hao Chan teased as Alex finished removing his tattered armaments, forced to rely on the attire always ready and waiting for him. Bone button changshan shirt, sturdy cotton pants, and comfortable leather shoes. Attire that might shift in coloration but never form, feeling as comfortable as a second skin that shed dirt and odors perfectly, regenerating rips and tears just as fast as Alex himself did.

He gave a rueful shake of his head. “I know, right? Somehow I always end up facing the world in the same clothes I first walked the streets of Yidushi in, however long ago it was.”

Hao Chan’s gaze turned thoughtful. “How long have you worn those clothes?”

Yinzi winked. “Haven’t you read the stories, sister-wife? He’s worn those clothes for a thousand years! Right, Alex?”

Alex shrugged and smiled. “Or maybe it was closer to two. Hard to say, really.”

Liang Song visibly blanched, turning to a coolly smiling Panheu.

“Master...”

Panheu chuckled softly. “I told you long ago the surest way to power and folly along the Path of Peril. You do remember, do you not, disciple?”

Liang Song gazed at a blushing Alex for long moments before solemnly bowing his head. “He who dares to ride the fox’s tale will savor the fires of conflict and adventure like no other. I recall. There’s just one problem.”

Jidihu quirked a bemused eyebrow. “And what would that be, Little Liang?”

The Gold flashed a rueful smile. “You can never let go.”