Alex, more relieved than he cared to admit, flowed back to his feet with the grace of a dancer, dipping his head as he faced what his mind kept trying to pull away from, a blotch of shadow best ignored like a blemish in an otherwise perfect autumn evening… before squinting his eyes as a pale-faced man dressed in nothing but dark grey leathers suddenly snapped into focus.

The man furrowed his brow, eyes glaring at Alex as he darted for the shadow of a gently rustling tree.

Alex favored the man with a cold smile. “I see no collar of binding about your neck. This is good. I don’t suppose you’re bound to any dark infernal contracts and in your heart of hearts you’re hoping some hero might actually take pity on your sad crooked life sufficient to free you from bindings far too dark to bear and open the way for a future friendship that would become the stuff of legends?”

Alex’s words earned him nothing but a cold smile from the man before him.

Alex couldn’t help grinning back. “Good.” His gaze hardened. The man hissed and stepped back, as if surprised by the weight of Alex’s gaze. “And this isn’t the first time you’ve danced this dance, is it? You enjoy what you do. And you have, for a very, very long time.”

“There’s no way you could know that,” the darkness hissed with a snarl.

Alex locked gazes with the man. “Fair warning. This is my last life, so I won’t be holding back. If I best you, I’m not just claiming your life… I’m taking a piece of your soul as well.” Alex smirked as the man flinched. “So for the sake of all your future lives, if you choose to turn around and leave… you’re free to go. My word on it.” Alex turned around, smiling into the darkness. “That goes for all three of you.”

“Now!” the closest roared, and Alex was cartwheeling away as the air filled with shadow whips and daggers covered in Poison Qi, a combination of Shadow, Destruction, Water and Metal.

Silver Wing successfully parries Shadow Whip!

Qi Deflection counters Serpent’s Bite!

The trio of assassins hissed in surprise and dismay when their furious barrage of shadowy attacks kept missing their prey by the tiniest fraction of an inch. And far from being terrified, filled with despair as death came inevitably for him, the blue-eyed Ruidian showed no signs of fear or dread at all. Merely slipped and darted past their attacks, moving with a Speed Cultivator’s finesse, yet when the largest among them roared and attempted to power right through the Ruidian’s defenses with a dao of shadow and flame, it was the weapon that went flying, not the coldly glaring Ruidian’s forearm, for all that it was covered by nothing more than a thin film of Liquid Qi.

“Impossible!” Snarled the beady eyed man who had perhaps become the slightest bit overconfident, as indicated by his increasingly disdainful stance and posture. For their target had been too distracted, for all his grace, to counter a single one of their blows with a strike of his own.

Until the Ruidian abruptly unleashed spear hand strike for the startled cultivator’s jugular as the air flashed with a massive blast of lightning, sending the smoking man hurtling through the air.

The pair of remaining assassins exchanged a look before charging forward as one. Both no longer holding back, projecting spears of diamond hard Shadow Qi radiating Silver Tier intensity. Rushing forward with the confidence of men who knew their shadowy strike could pierce the defenses of any foe covered in shadow, and the dying rays of the setting sun assured the world was covered in gloom.

The perfect time to strike.

Then the air rang with the sound of toughened flesh trying to knock aside shadowy weapons, but not without cost. The night air was suddenly redolent with the scent of blood. Earning a nod of respect from the Ruidian, now dripping blood from a gash on his arm onto the lush fecund grass at their feet.

“Shadow and Steel together pierced my Silver Wing.” Their blond-haired opponent dipped his head. “Thank you for showing me the weakness in my defenses, a weakness I will work damn hard to correct. If you’d like to call it a night and retreat, as compensation for your efforts, you may do so.”

The remaining pair of cultivators sneered. “He bleeds before us and he thinks we will surrender? The arrogance of this one!”

His companion laughed. “He did but strike us once and has no spiritual energy left. We have found his weakness, so he seeks to use words to buy him mercy his stunted powers cannot!” He sneered and spat. “You die now, Ruidian. And our prize will double for taking out an abomination with Imperial blood flowing in his veins!”

Alex chuckled coldly, that alone giving them a moments pause before they roared and struck as one.

“Good, I was hoping you’d say that,” Alex smirked even as his arms were ripped apart by razor sharp Shadow Qi as he forced himself to parry death eager to pierce his heart even as he weaved and dodged, and not once did any spear that struck his forearms, no matter how fierce the blow, manage to cleave through actual bone.

Forearms have suffered significant impairment. Moderate blood loss suffered. Power Healing Engaged!

Alex forced himself to endure the pain, healing only after his forearms were covered in his own sticky blood. Desperate to find the secret allowing liquid metal to counter Shadow and Steel. Dark Qi Projection would do so effortlessly, so Yinzi’s safety was assured. But his beautiful Hao Chan… for her sake alone he continued to suffer and endure. To the point that the furious gazes of his foes had begun to widen with disbelief and then, at last, dismay.

“He should be weakening,” hissed one killer.

“He should be on the ground, delirious with bloodloss!” Snarled the other.

Yet it was only after another furious barrage of blows that the closest killer finally understood, panting for breath, eyes widening with dismay. “He’s playing with us. He’s… using us!”

And Alex couldn’t hide back his fierce grin of exultation even as his foes lurched back. Finally understanding what he was doing wrong.

“Now!” He roared. “Strike at me with all your killing intent. I’m coming for your souls!”

Those words alone served to catalyze his exhausted foes to desperate frenzy, their fear and dismay only growing when their bitter sharp shadow spears, just as deadly as they had ever been before, the darkness now more complete than ever, failed to cut their foe more than skin deep, the spear heads twisting against unseen currents so only the flat of the blade ended up smacking against Alex’s skin as he continued to parry them effortlessly aside.

“That’s it! You idiots have the perfect counter to still waters. But against running currents, even Shadow conjoined with other elements may be turned aside. Perhaps even Earth’s deadly thirst may be avoided.” Alex laughed with darkest mirth. “Thanks for the breakthrough, lads. Now I think it’s time we called an end to this farce. Don’t you?”

The pair of men crashed to exhausted knees, having pushed themselves to their absolute limit, forced to face a foe who had just managed to counter their deadliest attacks, his injuries now healing before their eyes. Alex could read so clearly the dismay in their faces.

As well as other truths he hissed to see.

Fist clenched so tightly with Death’s promise… seeing a pair of souls that had once blazed bright and true.

Realizing he was faced with a choice from which there would be no going back as the pair of would-be killers trembled silently before him.

Too proud to beg for their lives… for all that they pled with their eyes.

Yet what Alex had planned was far worse than that.

He’d claim the spirit cores of their souls.

For all time.

“Alex!”

He flinched and turned around, catching Jidihu’s soft-brown gaze, even as Ning Jing twisted the arms of the groaning cultivator who wasn’t quite dead, for all that he wheezed for breath, covered in electric burns. Yet another bundle of sweet dark potency Alex’s most savage side had been so very eager to claim. Like a final bagged prize when he was done with the two kneeling men before him.

And the look in Ning Jing’s gaze… one killer to another… filled him with shame.

To see the pity in her eyes, sensing how far he had already fallen.

His cheeks flushed hot, suddenly unable to bear her gaze.

“Alex, you have won. Handily defeating three assassins from a rival sect. Three talented assassins supremely adept at fighting in unison, with abilities I would gladly claim as my own.” Jidihu’s eyes met his own, Alex sensing a sympathy there he hadn’t expected.

She held Alex’s gaze for long moments. “Well, Lieutenant?”

Alex blinked, belatedly recalling that he technically was her lieutenant, or at least she had declared such, and he had been all too happy to go along with that ruse for a time. “Well what?”

Ning Jing rolled her eyes. “Your mistress is asking you to surrender your kills. And maybe not tear free their souls? Heaven’s Mercy, just how dense are you?”

Alex flushed, gazing down at the pair of men now actively kowtowing before them.

“Please, honored warrior, spare us. We did not realize you were a brother!”

Alex rolled his eyes, more relieved than he cared to admit. “Sure. They’re all yours… mom.”

Alex winked, he couldn’t help it, laughing at the strange look Jidihu was now giving him, Ning Jing chuckling at that. “Cheeky boy, isn’t he? And not quite the blood-thirsty soul-stealing monster we had feared. Maybe he is worthy of our Yinzi, after all.” She glared down at the groaning man in her arms and the pair now kowtowing before a distinctly unamused Jidihu.

“You three damn well better take your vows seriously. Your former sect leader dared to authorize a strike against one of our own, so your Shadow Oaths no longer hold. You’ve been fairly bested and may swear yourselves to your new master without any disruption to your cultivation bases.” Ning Jing’s bemused gaze turned deadly hard with killing intent. “And you’d better give that oath with all your heart and soul. For it is Black Death whom you will forever swear to serve as your new master. And neither she nor I take kindly to backstabbing talent. Not even gifted Bronze on the cusp of Silver, such as yourselves. Are we clear?”

The pair of men already kowtowing visibly trembled, clearly recognizing the significance of that name as they swore fresh oaths with a fervent intensity that rang true even to Alex’s jaded perception as the crispy fried assassin in Ning Jing’s arms whimpered and groaned piteously, earning a sigh.

“Come on, let’s get you to the healers, fool. And you damn well better believe you’re taking that oath as soon as you’re not wheezing for breath.”

She met Alex’s gaze, giving an approving nod. “Nice form. Getting your ass handed to you every night by our husband clearly agrees with you.”

Alex grinned. “I do tend to blossom best when being beaten to a pulp by my mentors.”

“Happens a lot to you, then?”

“More often than you might think.”

Ning Jing chuckled. “Somehow I’m not surprised,” she said before the shadows claimed her once more as she took her charge away, Alex turning to witness Jidihu give a final nod of approval as her two newest recruits bowed before Alex once more.

“Thank you once more for our lives… and your most excellent pointers, brother.”

Alex held their gazes for long moments. “May you both serve Jidihu honorably and well, and live lives you can be proud of til the end of your days. That being said, if you ever break her trust, I will be the one tearing out the sweet silver cores I see glittering so brightly within your souls. Remember that.”

Both men blanched and looked away. “Yes, honored lieutenant. We will not disappoint you. We swear it!”

Jidihu gave Alex a pointed look. “Don’t you have something you should be doing… Disciple?”

Alex stared at her for long moments, before suddenly getting it. “You want me to sit quietly and meditate again. Don’t you.”

Jidihu gave him a pointed look. “It doesn’t matter what I want, Alex. What matters is what you want for your cultivation base.”

Alex winced. “You just had to go there, didn’t you.”

“You walk a strange path… son-in-law.” She smiled at his flush, making it clear that two could play at that game. “But if there’s any chance that the quiet meditation you seem to find so distasteful will strengthen your foundation in ways that the Paths of Conflict and Peril, the paths that most people strive so hard to avoid and that you and my husband both seem to relish will not… if this is truly your final incarnation, you would be a fool not to do all you could to strengthen your foundation in whatever way you can. Even if it does nothing for you. Far better that time be spent now, making sure you understand yourself as well as it is possible to understand yourself, than suffer eternal regret later.”

Alex bowed his head. “Point taken.”

He closed his eyes and breathed deep, taking in the spiritual energy emanating from garden and sea once more, exhaling the jittery rush and exhilaration of battle, replacing a warrior’s jubilation with a cultivators serene focus, until he felt one with his tiny corner of the academy once more, and one with the limitless potential ringing through the ether of his soul.

He but had to open his inner eye to tremble with wonder before the massive spinning supercable of spiritual energy resonating between elemental energy states and Dark and Light Qi as a whole. With the density of a neutron star and the circumference of a heavenly orbit, all of it somehow compressed within the endless vastness of his soul. A single Silver Supercable that had no less than a Rank 1 divine soul stone’s worth of potency invested in it’s creation, in the form of a single Tier 1 Jade soul stone torn from the soul of a woman he had once loved countless lifetimes ago… and six Jade ranks, or nearly a Divine tier’s worth of power torn from the bloated, hate-filled bastard who had catalyzed the death of Alex’s loved ones and the betrayal of all his friends over countless lives he had lived before. So many lives ruined by the bitter hate of an insecure tyrant who despised his and WiFu’s very existence, and only now, in his final life, could Alex even begin to pay the monstrous Shalu back.

Even now he could hear Shalu’s far off howls of dismay, having torn free another two Divine tiers worth of Vitality from his enemy since his cable’s initial formation, generating the mass in the form of inertia and spin his massive Divine tier super cable had needed to begin orbiting in three dimensions. Even if was a slow orbit, at least for now, Alex conceded, savoring the wonder of his brilliant silver cord he now saw superimposed over the twinkling night sky high above.

“Just you wait, Shalu. I’ve only begun to accelerate. By the time I hit Silver Rank 7, I’ll have that sucker spinning faster than the accretion disk of a black hole.” Alex flashed a bleak smile at the silent howls of outrage he could almost imagine hearing in the far off distance, for all that he knew Fog of War hid everything he said.

He spared only a moment gazing at the Divine tier soul stone he had pulled free of Shui Jun, a divine serpent he increasingly saw less as an enemy and more as one of the few gods who did any good at all, assuring that even the most insignificant souls got a chance at rebirth, and that the world wasn’t filled with restless spirits and shambling undead. Even if the cards of fate had decreed that the next time he surrendered to the Waters and lost the strength and will to break free… or should his brain be obliterated in the living world in a singular blitzkrieg strike... he would never again break the surface of the River whose dark secrets he had dared to claim as his own.

Including the soul stones of all who crossed him. Because if this was his final life, he would live it free of all hesitation, all regret, and hesitate from no action that would cause his eternal enemies pain without end.

Alex took a second deep breath, exhaling the bitterness and hate, the fierce wild intensity that served him so well in those pristine terrible moments that Death’s own insights filled his soul, but risked corrupting the sweet idealist he knew he had been as a child and through the scattered lifetimes he had avoided becoming a plaything or target of spite-filled gods. An idealism he sometimes wondered if he was even worthy of, four more Silver tier soul stones claimed that day alone.

And he had been more than willing to claim three more… until Jidihu’s words and Ning Jing’s gaze had forced him to catch a glimpse of his own darkening soul. For no matter how often Cleaved Fates set his karmic tally back to zero, he had been chilled by the bloodthirsty monster he had seen, for just a second before he had turned to an uncertain boy again, in the gazes of the most ruthless killers in all of Yidushi.

When they were gazing at him askance… it was high time he took a moral inventory of himself.

“But I stopped. The three stupid JiangHu idiots who didn’t take my threats seriously… just the boasting of one more victim… are alive and well and sworn to Jidihu now. And the two hunters who had lived countless lives of noble grace and virtue would have a chance to redeem this one time they had been led astray.”

Words whispered as if for clemency as he exhaled his own impurities, even if, for him, it was his own jaded bitterness and yes, bloodthirst, that did wonders for keeping him alive and terrifying his enemies. But if left unchecked… it didn’t bear thinking about.

“Remember the code. I don’t have to be perfect… I just have to follow the damned code.”

To only claim the soul stones of those who had failed to live even one life of virtue out of six.

Or to deny demonic puppetmasters any soul stone at all, should he be unable to cleave infernal ties forged by infernal pacts, even if he couldn’t save the souls themselves.

But it was so easy to slide down a slippery slope, a thousand shades of grey. For what was one pristine life when five others had been filled with bitterest contempt and treachery, when monsters defiled the flesh and soul of girls he had already risked his life to save?

And what happened when one virtuous life became two, even if the other four were rotten as sin?

He gazed down at his own trembling hands, heart pounding in his chest, only now feeling the post battle shakes of having ruthlessly butchered and claimed the eternal potential of four wujen bent on burning down every Ruidian quarter in the city… until they themselves were claimed by darker powers still. Yet even when Alex’s fierce hatred had turned to pity, he had been unable to do a thing to help the fallen souls of those he had gleefully cut down, minutes before.

“And three more this evening. If I had killed them… if I had claimed their cores…” He choked back a sob, shaking with a truth he was horrified to admit.

But before the weight of the pristine cultivation base he would forge, a divine supercable even now spinning in the heavens above, he dare not let deception destroy the truth of his own foundation, saying the words that tore a sob from his chest.

“No matter that they tried to kill me this time around, two of those would-be executioners had lived multiple lives that were more virtuous and noble than not. If I had claimed their greatest treasures...”

He swallowed, wiping the bitter sharp sting in his eyes. Forced to accept that horrible truth. Because sure, when virtue called out to him, when WiFu rolled the dice of fate and played the card of his favorite maveric disciple, Alex might have performed countless noble acts in lives he had long since forgotten; rescuing entire cities, towns, or even just a single faithful family from oblivion. And those lives were worthy lives he could forever take pride in.

But he had lived countless other lives as well.

Lives where his own growing bitterness and resentment had twisted him in ways he was ashamed even to think about. Ugly lives he’d rather forget, for all that he had pretty much forgotten them, now no more real to him then fragments of half-forgotten dreams.

It didn’t change the fact that if he were to judge his own virtue purely on the scale of virtuous lives lived to corrupt bitter existences that had become exercises in hate and the most extreme acts of vengeance, even if he didn’t remember a single one. Yet all he had to do was to was embrace the horror of using Soul Sight upon himself, gazing at his own shuddering reflection in a mirror of Water and Dark Qi he himself made between his trembling hands, to sense that he was only batting about 700.

Which meant that almost a third of the time he had been a bitter, murderous little shit himself.

Even if he more than made up for it the seven times in ten he lived a life of storybook heroism, before being struck down at the height of his happiness or on the cusp of absolute triumph. Even if ancient wrath had been inspired by nothing less than the concerted effort of multiple heavenly monsters eager to destroy him in whatever way they could.

It still didn’t change the fact that he was now judging souls that were arguably more virtuous than his own.

And that was a line he never wanted to cross again.

He continued to sit in the lotus position, embracing the most basic of all cultivation techniques, even if it wasn’t spiritual energy so much as the spirit itself, or his soul, that he was working on this painful night. Seeking equilibrium with himself, calming the wild bitter flow of spiritual energy from too many lives claimed, too many cores taken, and not once taking a moral inventory after the slaughter was done.

Well he was taking one now, he thought. And had those hundreds of YanTu soldiers not been invading his home, intent on ripping free his sanctuary and claiming his women as chattel, he would call himself a monster for consigning them all to the most ruthless and terrible of deaths, burning in the white-hot flame of a Deep Gold Wujen.

But they were at war.

YanTu was invading his nation, and his own personal realm. He had every right to respond with absolute ruthless conviction. Just like any victim had the right to fight back against any assailant with absolute ferocity, including gouging the eyes out of a would be predator, so too he would feel no shame for utterly annihilating his enemies. For doing whatever it took to protect his home.

So long as he strove to follow his admittedly idealistic code.

Claim no soul stone, lest the vessel was irredeemably corrupt, or damned.

Even if it made it that much harder to ascend.

Because if this was his final life, he’d rather be able to look himself in the mirror with pride for the next thousand years, than shame.

“But I won’t lie to myself,” he whispered. “If I sense a soul karmically locked to my own in a cycle of hate, whether or not Shalu’s damned cards had ever touched it… I will end that threat, once and for all.”

He shivered in sudden memory of General Li Jaw-Long’s serpentine gaze, so filled with caustic hatred that utterly defied any thoughts of compromise or moderation. Somehow, Alex was damn certain that spawn of a furious dragon god would be coming after him for countless lifetimes to come, and Alex had no one to blame but himself.

A soul like that? Yeah. He’d tear that core free in a heartbeat, assuming he even survived the battle, and deal with whatever guilt came with the knowledge that a powerless mortal was far less likely to come after him or his future progeny one or more generations from now than an irate Gold. But everything else being equal, he’d far prefer never to cross that monster that had so nearly killed him, ever again.

Inhale. Exhale.

Accept himself, his strengths, and his flaws.

Make peace with his past, and stay true to his renewed commitment.

Whether or not he had fallen from his perilous path… he would right himself and be true to it once more.

With that resolution now firmly in mind, gazing at the majestic beauty of a spiritual cable glittering like starlight and diamonds, he felt strangely at peace. As if he was stabilizing foundations that had been far shakier than he had realized.

He flashed a rueful smile, feeling both humbled and redeemed as one breath faded into the next, as one hour passed into the next, and he felt a calm he hadn’t felt in a very, very long time.

The hours of cultivation might have done very little, relative to the impossible degree of power already flooding through a supercable that would take centuries to strengthen by any means save the most extreme… but he felt a sense of peace that had been missing for far too long.

Jidihu and Panheu had both been right. Whether he had wanted to admit it or not, the hours spent centering himself and yes, taking a moral inventory, was time well spent indeed.

Alex allowed his mind to drift as it would, pleased to find that his newfound serenity had other benefits as well. He was able to replay the battles he had fought, the insights he had gained, in exquisite detail, synergizing flashes of ancient insight with all that he had learned firsthand that day, achieving unexpected milestones in the art of piercing defenses and cleaving through spells with the unique point of view of an ancient love who had been as much a Ruidian gem master as a cultivating kitsune. She had gifted that ancient version of himself with a unique way of looking at the eight elements as if they were simply different wavelengths. Much like light being split into a rainbow of color through a prism, or the pristine diamond that had been so lovingly embedded into her skull. Her lessons had helped him to unlock a technique for rupturing a wujen’s arts that Alex had been amazed to find worked just as well today as it had centuries ago.

Ancient whispers of memory no more real than dream, yet so infused with insights that it had allowed him to achieve Rank 10 in a skill that would serve as a cornerstone of the art he and his master were trying to ascend to a unified Golden whole, even now.

Silver Wing too had enjoyed a remarkable breakthrough, thanks to his own efforts and willingness to spend some of his long reserved potency points into unlocking whatever insights he could, even now gazing at the flowing sheath of Water and Steel Qi circling his limbs with a sense of wonder, having never thought of combining fluidity with current before, and profoundly impressed with how well it had turned aside killing blades of Shadow and Metal that he suspected was second only to Ning Jing’s own deadly gifts, and would pierce most anything save Dark Qi Projection or the absolute strongest Silver Qi defenses.

That skill too had reached Rank 10. yet despite achieving that crucial milestone, he still had the sense that he was missing something, perhaps many things still.

“Even though it’s Rank 10, it’s still not enough,” he muttered to himself, before dismissing such complaints as unworthy. What mattered was feeling an absolute connection with every facet of the arts he felt so close to synergizing into a unified whole. Rank 10 was just a quantified Interface proxy, and didn’t really mean anything at all. What mattered was how effortlessly the art flowed, how in tune he felt with his abilities… and he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

So he stood up, slowed his breathing, and slowly began practicing the forms of Golden Realms, White Crane, and Silver Swan once more, feeling the flow of Spiritual Energy course through him as he embraced the unified art he had worked so hard to master, reveling in the serene flow of Qi as he parried, weaved, and struck, arms sheathed in a silvery sheen as he mimed knocking aside a visualized spear aimed right for his throat.

Before his eyes widened at the faintest ripple he sensed in the air before him, suddenly finding himself on the cusp of something… hurriedly repeating the same series of motions, feeling a growing sense of frustration when whatever it was remained tantalizingly out of reach…

Before slowing down, breathing slow and deep, regaining his earlier sense of calm, and repeating the motions once more.

There.

That was it!

The same ripple in the air as his winding parry knocked aside a whole cluster of visualized spears… his Silver Wing strike not just a now impervious coating on his arm, but a wave of force, water, and mist… White Qi synergizing with the fluid medium that fit Silver Swan so well, to brush aside any number of attacks.

Not just moving his arm, but somehow warping space itself, like bunching up a handful of cloth, such that all the creases were bent to the side, away from his person.

“Wait, Water and Steel can actually do this?” He quickly shook away all doubt, all hesitation, intuitively understanding that nothing would kill his insights, insights on the cusp of Gold that of course no rigid tome seeking to keep lesser soldiers firmly in their place would ever reveal.

Though he couldn’t quite wipe the silly grin off his face, suddenly understanding that there was far more to the interactions between the elements and the forces and fields of reality than he had previously thought.

And perhaps it was the perfect fusion of White Qi with Water and Steel, thanks to two disciplines perfectly combined, that allowed him to do what he was doing. Regardless, he was doing it, doing his best to master stiff-armed winding parries that would be the farthest thing from prudent in any MMA fight or the equivalent back in the world he had left behind. Yet here and now, with a body savoring Silver tier Strength, Quickness, and Finesse, flowing with an absolute storm of Spiritual Energy, the movements had never felt more graceful, had never been so true the ebb and flow of his own soul as he danced and spun, weaving about and striking as space, or the field that Spiritual Energy and focused Intent occupied, was itself forced aside for winding parries that he suspected no amount of Strength would ever be able to power through.

He couldn’t help but flash a smile as he sensed that expression of Silver Swan continue to blossom into the double digits as he traded barehanded for saber, then spear, then fangtian ji. Each weapon had increasing advantages in terms of reach and leverage, each was naturally better at parrying an attack when no Spiritual Energy at all was involved. Yet each required ever more energy to infuse with the glorious flow of Water, Steel, and White Qi as a whole, warping both space and any Qi surge his visualized being sent his way.

But his training wouldn’t be complete, he thought, until he had honed his arts on something more substantial than gossamers of dream, forcing himself to face the imposing obsidian hued mass of stubborn rock he had first honed himself against as a newly forged Bronze.

Trembling with focus and intensity as he unleashed spinning heel kicks and spinning back fists against a slab as stubborn and resilient as Dark Qi itself.

Black Swan!

Black Swan!

Reveling in the crack and boom of the roaring ocean smashing through all resistance, finding fierce satisfaction in bones now laced with a shimmering matrix that embraced the same dual aspected spiritual energy as his Silver Tier supercable, now refusing to break on impact, for all that the stubborn stone did nothing but ring like a gong with such force that the entire manor vibrated.

Yet Alex’s focus was on the crashing storm of Water and Steel, able to shatter nearly any Silver Tier defense and obliterate any resistance without the help of any other art at all. Showing how piercing enemy resistance was a core component of Silver Swan, his additional skills just enhancing the natural affinity of a killing art that was as much about forcing aside opposing Qi as it was damaging his opponent.

For all that the ultimate expression of his deadliest art, Soul Cleave, could cut through even a God’s defenses, when he dared to channel the River of Souls through his own.

Yet now he channeled nothing more than the standard elements of the art he was so eager to elevate before switching Black Swan, now an integral component of his Eternal Fox kung fu, with Silver Wing, sensing more profoundly than ever how spiritual energy was forced aside with his counters.

To knock aside both physical attacks, Qi strikes, and space itself as his fist or weapon pierced all defenses was the ultimate expression of the golden art that he and Panheu were forging, he realized, embracing his dance like never before as dao, fangtian ji, and spear flashed between hues of mercury and absolute darkness, one naturally adept at piercing nearly any defense, the other at the point where it could rupture any spell, or force aside an opponent’s bow wave of Qi altogether.

Or so he hoped, already knowing without a word being said that he should expect to be challenged like never before in the days ahead.

He gave a quietly observing Panheu a solemn bow before finally retreating to his garden shed when dawn’s golden light washed over him in full, eager to share his insights with Hao Chan and Yinzi, and take advantage of a full night's sleep in a mere four hours, knowing he’d be lucky to get even that, before fate compelled him to risk absolute destruction once more.

And the roars of challenge soon heard with the pounding of the wrought iron gates of dragon academy made it clear that Alex hadn’t left a moment too soon.

Because of course his enemies would advance any gambit they could to destroy him before he was ready, Fog of War or no.