Alex smiled fondly at a shaken Cui Zhe, sobbing with loss and wonder and relief and despair, shedding tears that sparkled like jewels from her pristine eyes as a magnificent golden gate leading to a faerie tale palace opened behind her, her three now healed children pouring out and surrounding her, shedding tears of joy as they held their trembling mother close.

Alex smiled at the sight of his seneschal still on the other side of the gate, the exquisitely coiffed man with his scholar’s robe and square topknot-secured hat never having looked more like a benevolent god, or a harried administrator, than he did at that moment.

“How is our newest addition, seneschal?”

Dong Xiao bowed at a perfect 90 degree angle. “The valley you suggested is a perfect fit, Child of The Heavens. Connected as we now are to Yggdrasill and the River of Souls, our realm now has more than enough spiritual energy to host this city, and a hundred more.” His smile grew pained. “There is, however, the matter of feeding close to fifteen and a half million more inhabitants, with only a tiny handful of survivors making any overtures about leaving the school to set up a farming community of their own.”

Alex bowed his head, turning to an absolutely speechless Cui Zhe.

“It’s true,” she whispered. “You really are WiFu’s Eternal Disciple.” She shuddered before his gentle gaze. “An immortal Child of the Heavens.”

Alex flashed a pain-filled smile, turning to the distant mile-wide gate, even now spilling forth a constant sea of Seanchen invaders. He ignored the awful lurch in his chest. “I’m afraid you’ll soon see just how mortal I am, Your Grace. But in the meantime… may I assume that the Gift you have Freely Given me includes portals to each of the major trade towns that supply Baidushi with the food and supplies it needs to keep running?”

Cui Zhe’s eyes widened in sudden understanding as her oldest daughter squeezed her hand.

“Yes, of course! You have free and unbridled access to every trade town and Sacred City within my Province!” She declared as Alex shuddered and lurched back, his mind suddenly ablaze with the knowledge of a dozen Sacred Cities and no less than a hundred and twenty trade towns that served as the lifeblood of her territory.

Congratulations! Spirit Qi, Divine Tier Card: A Gift Freely Given & Jordian Heritage have allowed you to successfully CLAIM mental coordinates of each landmark of note withing QuiJing Province!

You have established GATES just beyond the entrances of one dozen major trade towns within QuiJing Province! All gates are Oathbound! Only those who swear to enter in good faith for purposes of Trade or Settling while adhering to Standard Realm Oath may enter your Realm!

All those who break Standard Realm Oath will immediately be subject to EXILE (in deep space!)

All those of malicious intent will fail to see or enter your gates!

Divine Tier Fate Card in play! Tier 7 Gold has been elevated to Tier 7 Divine!

Not even the Gods of this realm may enter your portals without your consent!

WARNING! Divine Card-Linked Gates are no longer your own!

You have permanently lost access to 12 of your gates!

“Alex, you did it! You actually did it! You saved Baidushi!”

Alex smiled fondly at the beautiful girl glowing with the vitality that only a newly forged Gold with the most pristine of foundations could savor, her presence captivating, her heritage now undeniable.

“Imperial Princess.” A whisper that froze Hao Chan’s smile in place as triumph instantly turned to dismay when a sovereign princess and her children kowtowed before her.

A stunned Hao Chan froze, having no idea what to say or do.

“Give them permission to rise, assure them that they are your friends, and not bound to rigid rules of formality outside the imperial palace,” advised none other than a warmly smiling and newly restored Cheng Lei, now gently holding Liu Li’s hand as they both stepped back through the Golden Gate, having savored the most miraculous of healings. Not so surprising, Alex thought, when his Gold tier seneschal and healer served as the guardian of a realm now as steeped in potency as the planet he had once called home, even if nowhere near as vast as the Golden Realms.

The Blue Prince, Alex’s kung fu brother and beloved friend, chuckled throatily at Hao Chan’s speechless awe.

“It is good to see you too, aunty. Let me be the first member of our family to congratulate you on your magnificent ascension. Forged in Gold before your 20th summer, when even the most gifted outside our clan are more likely to take at least a century, or several, to achieve the feat. And you did it along the Path of Peril, no less. Free of outside aid, enhancement, or our family’s considerable resources.” He flashed a confidential smile, eyes twinkling. “I think even Grandfather will find that a remarkable feet in the extreme.”

Hao Chan turned to Alex, looking like a doe caught in the headlights. He gave her his most reassuring smile. “It will be okay,” he assured. “Cheng Lei is good people. One of the best friends you could ask to have by your side.” His smile grew pained as he took in all his friends.

Liu Li’s eyes lit up when she caught his gaze, looking both nothing like the idealistic teenager he once had known, over a decade’s maturity and the most horrific of ordeals just survived having left their marks upon her for all that she had just been healed by is divine senescal… and yet somehow, she looked exactly the same.

“Alex.”

A single word, so much understood between them.

He smiled fondly. “You two make a great couple.”

She chuckled throatily, resting her head against Cheng Lei’s shoulder. “And you now look nothing like the bedraggled scrawny boy who risked his life to save this silly girl who will always be grateful. And yet somehow, you look exactly the same.”

Alex swallowed the lump in his throat. “It’s good to see you, Liu Li.”

“It warms my heart to see you as well, Alex.”

He turned to Cheng Lei. “And now you all should really step back through that gate.”

Hao Chan’s eyes widened in sudden alarm. “But Alex! What about me and Yinzi?”

Alex chuckled. “Did you forget? You just broke through to Gold. That means you’ve completely harmonized your core that’s no longer spinning like a pulsar. So yes. It’s perfectly safe for you to cross.”

She swallowed, still in a bit of a fog, her transcendent insights replaced by a dazed, exhausted girl who had just put down the most vile stepfather imaginable. “But what about Yinzi?”

Alex turned to his curious-looking disciple and didn’t hesitate to put in the palm of her startled hand the tiny silver ring WiFu had given him.

“Alex?”

He gave her a reassuring squeeze. “A debt repaid for a sacrifice in a previous life I’m doomed never to remember. But that’s not the important bit. What matters is that it promises stability for anyone willing to learn it’s secrets.”

Yinzi gazed at Alex for long moments, Silver eyes boring into his own as she slowly slid the ring on her second finger, the look in her eyes that of a woman swearing herself to the man she loved.

Before gasping aloud, shuddering in Alex’s arms.

“Yinzi!”

“It will be alright,” Alex assured an anxious Jidihu. “The important thing is that Yinzi can now step through.”

Yinzi’s eyes widened with delight. “Alex is right! My core is still spinning so delightfully fast, like dancing on oblivion’s edge. Yet it now feels… cushioned, somehow.”

Jidihu blinked, then glared. “Then you’d best not take it off, once you cross through. Too many lives are at stake, daughter.”

Yinzi ruefully shook her head, gently tugging at the ring. “Um… I don’t think I can, mother. Not ever.”

“At least not until you reach Gold,” Alex agreed with a smile, glad he could read WiFu’s lips, even if his furious relatives had drowned out all sound before exiling Alex yet again.

She tilted her head thoughtfully, peering a bit too intently at Alex. “Alex, why do I have this ring?”

He swallowed the unexpected lump in his throat, squeezed her arm, and locked gazes with his friends. “I think it’s time for you all to cross over, now.”

Yinzi’s frown crinkled her cute little button nose. “Alex, what are you talking about?”

Hao Chan’s eyes widened, far too perceptive for him, even in her post battle fugue. “No, Alex, don’t!”

***

Alex took a ragged breath and forced himself to step back, pointing at the massive gate crackling with eldritch light, from which a flood of roaring invaders were still pouring from at the bottom of a now empty valley.

“The gates leading to the Ice Queen’s domain is still very much open, and her troops will continue to pour through. Dongfang Hong, now divinely inspired and motivated by a pair of absolute assholes, will do all he can to pin the blame on Ruidians, Kitsune, and of course, Cui Zhe’s family. And with all the cards now on the board, he’ll manage to pull it off, assuring vendetta and a racial cleansing the likes of which this world has never seen. Because the gods above are less concerned about actually preserving the realm than making sure this reality is cleansed of anyone and everyone they consider impure.” He flashed a bitter smile, ignoring the looks of horror this earned him. “That is, unless we can successfully close that gate.”

Cheng Lei gazed at Alex for long moments as Jidihu and Panheu gathered a wide-eyed Yinzi and led her to the portal promising safety within Alex's realm that they would find nowhere else.

“You would dare take to on an entire army,” the Blue Prince whispered.

Alex said nothing, just clasped his friend’s hand, ignoring his look of surprise when his kung fu brother sensed the strength of Alex’s grip.

“Alex?” Liu Li, his first friend in the world, now taking comfort in Cheng Lei’s arm wrapped protectively around her, was gazing down with horror at the seething mass of tiny figures below, still perfectly visible from the ruins of the arena. “Is it true? Would you really take on an army?”

“Alex, don’t, you’ll just die pointlessly!” Hao Chan sobbed, eyes pleading with his own. “I can sense them. I’m… Gold now, and I sense them better than you could imagine! Alex, there are over a million troops already deployed, and they are led by Silvers and Golds with access to powers we’ve never seen before!”

“I know.”

Yinzi’s eyes flared with sudden resolve. “If you’re going… then I’m going with you.”

“You’ll do no such thing!” her mother snapped, genuine panic clearly audible beneath her guillotine stare. “Do you truly not understand where we are in your would-be husband’s tale? This is the final hour! You’re no fool, child, no matter how much you like to carry on! You know how these stories end! How they always end! Please don’t be the foolish fox chasing her master right into the flame!”

Panheu’s eyes winced in sympathy as Hao Chan sobbed, clenching Alex so tightly he could so easily imagine holding, cherishing, and loving her for a lifetime.

Before stepping back with a final kiss on his beloved Hao Chan’s cheek, knowing they’d have no time at all.

“You’re mother’s right, Yinzi,” Alex said, now gently clasping her hand. “It’s time for you to step through the portal to sanctuary, and for me to do what needs doing.”

“What, Alex?” demanded a now panicked Hao Chan. “There’s a mile wide gate surrounded by enemy soldiers! What can you do about it?” Her eyes lit with desperate hope. “Alex, use your gates… you can use...”

Alex slowly shook his head. “No good. It’s a divine tier gate, radiating the spiritual pressure of the god who hates me above all others. Even this gate is just out of the range that any of my own would rupture.” He flashed a bitter smile. “In other words, that gate packs so much potency and malice that, at this point, it’s just an extension of Shalu himself.”

Hao Chan gazed at him in horror. “Then what can you do?”

Alex slowly stepped back, bowing his head at the people he loved beyond all others. “There are twelve Divine tier gates leading to different trade towns throughout the Province. No mortal or god opposed to my pantheon may enter, but you may use them to enter or leave my realm as you see fit, just as any caravan wishing to make a fat profit with what will effectively be an extremely short trip to my world’s new capital city may now freely make use of them.” He locked gazes with Jidihu. “Or you may use the gates to bring in as many Kitsune families and Ruidian Clans as would like to restart their lives and start farming communities of their own in a world free of persecution.”

Alex locked gazes with his disciples and all the members of his council that were present. “Princess Cui Zhe, I hope that you and your family will continue to rule Baidushi wisely and well.” He grinned at their flummoxed expressions.

“Just as I trust my counselors to run my realm wisely and well in my absence, to you I entrust the jewel that is Baidushi once more.” His eyes flashed with sudden intensity, the ground shaking with his words.

“A gift. Freely given.”

“Alex, from the bottom of my heart… thank you!” Cui Chan, Cui Zhe’s eldest daughter sobbed, glowing with a beauty and grace that showed how far she had already ascended past the scars to her heart, psyche, and soul inflicted upon her by their enemies.

Alex grinned. “I’m still trusting you to act as one of my realm advisers, and I suspect that, should she make full use of Aiko’s library, your mother will have countless millennia to repair her core and rule Baidushi wisely and well. Who knows? Perhaps your siblings will one day lead expeditions founding new Sacred Cities within our world in the centuries to come.”

He continued stepping back as Hao Chan’s eyes filled with furious tears. “No, Alex, don’t! You can’t do this! It’s suicide! Simple...”

YOU HAVE BROKEN ALL SEALS UPON DIVINE TIER ARTIFACT!

DO YOU WISH TO RECLAIM DIVINE TIER ARTIFACT?

WARNING! THIS WILL PUT YOU IN DIRECT CONFLICT WITH GOLDEN REALMS PANTHEON!

YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY RECLAIMED FANGTIAN JI – GODLSAYER!

The air was suddenly filled with the screams and howls of countless fallen souls as they air grew heavy with the mists of oblivion, the stone tiles wet with waters from the eternal river as Alex flashed a final farewell smile to his friends, hands now heavy with a fangtian ji glowing like the full moon before autumn’s final harvest.

Eager to collect its weight in souls.

Liu Li paled and cried, crumpling before the sight of a Divine Tier artifact.

Cheng Lei held her close, gazing at Alex for long moments before bowing his head. “Fight well, Eternal Disciple,” he said, before quickly stepping through the gate, cradling a shaking Liu Li in his arms.

Alex gave a final smile to his own two wide-eyed disciples. “I’m incredibly proud of you both, and nothing would make me happier than if you were to continue your journey of ascension as divine stewards of my realm. Our realm. The world we forged together in our dreams. With you two by Dong Xiao and Aiko Tanaka’s side, I just know our world will blossom into something truly spectacular.”

“Alex! There has to be another way!” Hao Chan sobbed.

“There is none. If we do nothing, the emperor will be coaxed and swayed to believe that the fault is ours, and will purge this world of multiple races.” He tilted his head, struck by a sudden revelation. “Somehow it all fits. Even Hao Zei’s initial intention of degrading and destroying you, the emperor’s own daughter, was also part of that gambit. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Seer who had judged you so unfit himself had exotic bloodlines, and the Purple Pavilian they had picked out to be your doom specifically catered to the wealthiest Ruidian and Kitsune clientele. Because the gods have invested more cards of fate than you can possibly imagine to assure our destruction.” He gave a bitter chuckle. “At this point, I think that the realm war was just a pretext for racial genocide. They hardly care about the Ice Queen’s maneuverings at all. And like I said, that gate now packs so much of our enemy’s potency, it’s basically just an extension of Shalu himself.”

Alex squeezed the hilt of his dread artifact tightly with those final words, forcing himself to ignore Hao Chan’s cries as he left the ruins of the arena, the waters of oblivion following in his wake.