“My, what an invigorating climb!” Panheu said with a chuckle, leaning only the slightest bit into the ethereal currents that Alex was most definitely forced to lean into, ignoring the looks of concern being sent his way by his companions, the inverse of his first time up these steps. For instead of a trickle, it was as if an entire river crashed and roared through his soul.

Which suited him just fine, as he continued to take one slow step after another, reassuring an anxious looking Hao Chan with his smile. “It’s alright. Trust me, it’s better this way, at least for me.”

“Sure as hell not for me,” Ning Jing hissed, wincing as her arm continued to cramp, earning a concerned glance from Jidihu, who visibly struggled not to steady her wife up the final golden steps leading to the first plateu.

“Oh this is exciting, we have hit the first benchmark!” An excited Yinzi crowed upon leaping into the basin, just a heartbeat before an alarmed Alex could match her, struggling as he was against the current.

The panicked lurch in his chest when Yinzi left his sight turned to a sigh of relief when he saw no trace of soldier, hard-eyed assassin, or indeed, anyone wearing anything like the Red Prince’s colors. All he saw were some twenty odd youths ankle deep in a marble pool of water, congratulating themselves on making it up the first leg of their journey, uniformly declining with gracious smiles and bows the singular lonely-looking servant’s offer to take their ease and call an end to their journey.

The young girl in silk cultivator’s robes then turned the way of Alex’s group with a surprised look on her features that instantly softened to a welcoming smile. “Congratulations on your ascension. You have proven yourselves as cultivators and taken your first steps as students of this school. Should the water’s weight prove a burden unbearable, you are free to leave these waters and join the feast awaiting you all above.”

Alex blinked, noting that the atmosphere was definitely different than it had been the last time he had been here, where two battle-trained youths had been awaiting them, not a girl who barely looked twelve, for all that Alex sensed she had already cleared her first meridian and had a full intact seven gate configuration.

Alex was about to smile and shake his head when, to his surprise, Ning Jing’s ragged voice filled the air. “If we leave this pool… can we ever enter these pools again?”

The girl’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “The pools? Yes, most definitely. A secret you’ll find as a servant is that even cultivating in these waters, or indeed, simply soaking in them, can lead to insights and opportunities for growth almost as good as cultivating in the Silver Tier pagodas overlooking the grand mountaintop vistas high above. But to actually ascend the steps?” She slowly shook her head. “I’m afraid a life of honored service will be your reward for your strength and daring so far. But the first plateau will serve as the foundation of no warrior. You need to achieve the third plateu if you hope to ever ascend past servitude to becoming a full-fledged student who duels for honor and privileges many wandering cultivators would kill for.”

Ning Jing chuckled bitterly. “Well then, I suppose this damn climb has just begun.” She snorted and glared at the rest of their group. “Well, don’t wait on my account. Let’s get up those damn steps as fast as we can and see if some of us, at least, actually have the potential for Gold.” She glared her daughter’s suddenly flushing features. “And that most definitely means you and your future sister-wife, child. If your would-be mate would claim sufficient wisdom to balance his taste for foolish peril, then he’d damn well better be matching you every step of the way there as well.”

She flashed Alex a grim smile. “Because it’s your blond ruidian hair and ancient changshan shirt that I see blowing in the air far more than the rest of us, boy. And don’t think I missed you leaning forward, as if you’re constantly fighting against the wind.”

Alex matched her grin. “I’d also like to see how far I can ascend. How much do you want to bet it’s farther than you?”

“You’re on! Loser surrenders all rights to claim my daughter!” Ning Jing said before racing forward at a blistering Silver Tier pace, utterly dumbfounding the cluster of basic and recently broken-through Bronze cultivators even now approaching the second flight of golden steps.

Alex spared time only for a brief encouraging smile for the handful of aspirants girding themselves for the next flight before racing up the second flight of golden stairs, a laughing Yinzi and Hao Chan springing in perfect step beside him. Both, much to his profound and heartfelt relief, hardly seemed to feel the spiritual energy currents at all. And even if he was leaning forward as if facing off against a powerful river, much as he had been with the steps below, it was no harder than it had been with the first flight, and Alex was prepared to endure whatever he had to, for the sake of the girls under his care. Because if the howling spiritual waters roaring through him could actually help to refine and polish his foundation by any degree at all, than it was well worth the strain he was presently enduring.

Then he froze stock still, slowly turning to catch Panheu’s twinkling smile. Noticing his stance, how he was positioning himself. Perfect for countering Alex’s favorite strikes. And, perhaps, the might and fury of unseen currents as well.

Alex was struck by the sudden realization that he was being something of a fool. After all his furious effort, helping to evolve and forge an exalted art based on channeling and redirecting the flow of Qi, why was he hesitating to take full advantage of the opportunity before him? Yes, he could also endure the waters straight on and strengthen his core. Maybe. But nothing said he couldn’t both enhance his foundation and do everything possible to perfect his own art, perhaps far more efficiently than in any other arena imaginable. An arena where he was honing his killing edge against an entire divine spiritual river’s worth of furious intent.

“Alex?” He smiled into Hao Chan’s eyes as he visualized deflecting an unseen blow…

before nearly being sent hurtling right off the steps.

“Alex!”

“It’s fine!” He hissed to Panheu’s quiet chuckle and the snorts of Ning Jing and Jidihu both as he desperately sought to ground himself, realizing only right then that that was what he had been doing from the very start, grounding himself in ways spiritual as well as physical. Yet now he wanted not just to weigh himself down but to slice forward, like a blade cutting through lard, or perhaps, a jet-skier cutting through choppy waters.

Indeed, when he thought not of parrying a rainstorms’ worth of pelting blows but instead forever weaving past a single impossibly mighty Titan’s fist projecting all the elements… that was when it finally began to click. When instead of feeling at risk of flying off the steps, he felt instead like an arrow slicing through the air, simultaneously in a state of oneness, of perfect zen, and like he was performing countless dozens of spiritual energy operations, deflecting a maelstrom of attacks that left him simultaneously exhausted and invigorated, until he had to shift focus once more.

The trick was instantly shifting his awareness from cutting through the water to the implacable gravity of his own forward progress, going from cutting arrow to heavy anchor far too fast to be rocked off any individual step.

Save the one time he almost stumbled in truth, feeling the entire ocean crash against him for just a heartbeat before he stabilized to the screams of Hao Chan and Yinzi both… before everything normalized and he was proceeding at a steady pace once more.

Doing his best to ignore the flush in his own cheeks as his companions gazed at him with far more concern than was warranted.

“Alex, that was too close!” Hao Chan hissed, furrowing her adorable brow. “We haven’t even hit the second plateau yet, and already you’re at risk of flying off!”

“Not a very fortuitous start, disciple,” Panheu seconded. “Perhaps a cautious path would be best for you, for now.”

“Kid seems like he’ll fly off at any second,” a grimacing Ning Jing snorted, still rubbing her painful wrists. “Are you sure you’ve dared these steps before?”

“He did!” Yinzi enthused. “And he was awarded the absolute weakest talisman in the entire school. Until it changed, right, Alex?”

Alex sighed. “You’re not helping, Yinzi. And basically, yes. That is what happened. Until it changed. Though it did allow me to pick fights with whoever I wanted, even a Silver who came way too close to killing me,” he conceded. “Now stop staring. I’m fine. Instead, check out the night sky!”

Alex savored the sudden quiet perfection of the golden steps shimmering under the light of a brilliant starry night sky, showcasing a solemn majesty he hadn’t felt since the last time he had dared these steps, feeling once more closer to the heavens than he had ever held before.

Too bad the most beautiful of vistas also held the ugliest of secrets.

“Alex, it’s beautiful!” whispered an awed Hao Chan, squeezing his hand before quickly letting go for the next step, her voice already sounding so very far away. “All the constellations I memorized, and so many others I’ve never seen before!”

“I see colors I’ve never seen before!” Yinzi’s ears perked up in excitement. Orange and violet and a gorgeous sparkling amber!”

“Truly, we are on heavenly steps,” Hao Chan whispered with no small amount of reverence and awe.

Panheu snorted. “And we’ll spend the rest of our lives as servants, or so these fools would like to think, if we don’t get a move on and show just how far we can ascend in a single night.”

Ning Jing snorted. “You never were one for any beauty save the most carnal, old man.”

This earned a quiet chuckle. “As you would know… second-wife.”

Jidihu tisked, soft brown eyes turning Alex’s way. “Alex, is there a time limit we should be aware of?”

Alex frowned, all his focus once more on alternating Golden Swan Qi Deflection techniques with the weight of his own destiny, constantly balancing on a knife’s edge, lest he go flying back into the servants pool far, far below, and he could all too well imagine the roaring laughter of his heavenly enemies if he ended up the lowest of the low.

“That’s kind of complicated actually.”

“Really? Why don’t you enlighten us as to what exactly these complications are?” said his mentor, and Alex pretended he didn’t catch the man exchange a nod with Tan Wu as the half-step titan subtly shifted his ascent to be right behind Alex, as if he would be stabilizing a fragile little mixed-blood Ruidian, and not the impossible weight and pressure of the river itself that Alex knew he somehow represented.

“Well, to the outside world, it will seem like a single night. Even if, for us, that single night stretches to an eternity on these steps.” He ignored the hisses and groans of dismay. “A night that will only end when we reach our destined plateau, or end up falling off these golden steps. But so long as we don’t ascend too high, our ego is all that will be bruised, the pools below there to catch our fall as much as anything else. But if we dare to ascend high enough, beyond Bronze’s grasp and a novice Silver’s potential, we risk hurtling through the heavens as an eternal shooting star.”

Yinzi grinned. “A heavenly shooting star, what a glorious way to go!”

“Not really,” Alex said with a bitter smile. “Remember, the gods of your world are definitely on the vindictive fuck end of the divine spectrum. Save for my patron and Qing Bai, of course. And maybe Grandmother Yi Wang as well.” Alex frowned thoughtfully in the sudden dead silence. “And maybe Shui Jun, to be fair. Sure, there’s some conflict there, some tension, but I have a hell of a lot of respect for the good that she actually does, keeping the world from being flooded by restless undead.”

Tan Wu snorted. “Beware your insults, boy! You never know who might be listening.” The half-step Gold sighed. “The sheer arrogance. Speaking as if you were actually on a first name basis with any of them, and I know damn well the priests refuse to talk to anyone with even a trace of Ruidian blood in their veins!”

Alex exchanged cheeky smiles with Hao Chan and Yinzi both but forbore to say anything further, all his focus now on the second plateau as he once more felt the adrenaline surge of pre-battle jitters. He quickly sprang forward and cleared the final step with a leap, his sharktooth dao covered in shimmering spiritual energy at the ready. Dao he had purposely kept sheathed at his hips, Just as he had the restored remains of his once indestructible mail shirt and steel helm, the former miraculously repaired in the magical armoire kept in his Gold tier palatial suite, Jidihu’s shadowy arts concealing the latter, just as his changshan jacket covered his armor, knowing he’d have no access to the fangtian ji and other treasures secured in his extra storage rings and pouches.

Because he wouldn’t put it at all past the first girl to meet them to be the scout for whatever plot his enemy had cooked up, refusing to play the unprepared fool yet again.

Only to find himself feeling very foolish indeed when he cleared the final step to confront nothing more than a familiar basin of crystal clear water, and a single terrified-looking servant who broke into tears. “Please don’t strike me, honored cultivator! I’m only here to welcome any brave cultivator wishing to call an end to their journey and bring them up to the celebratory feast above!”

Alex glared at the pretty young woman who couldn’t have been any older than he had been when first waking up to this world, her soft brown eyes filled with surprise and more than a trace of fear, her body strangely full of impurities for all that he could see some potential as a cultivator within her, and she was absolutely no threat to him at all. “Wait, shouldn’t there be a feasting table, along with all sorts of nubile young men and women to seduce the exhausted and foolish from the golden steps and into a life of willing servitude?”

Her tension immediately faded to a relieved smile when Alex, sensing no peril, sheathed his dao. The girl chuckled throatily. “Rumor does get around, I see. Well, if you wish to accompany me to the feasting hall above, I can promise you that the pleasures awaiting you are everything you could hope for.” She then gazed at him with an odd longing. “But before we go, can you tell me what it was like? I never had the courage to dare the steps myself.”

Alex blinked, gazing at the girl in slack-jawed surprised as the rest of his companions spilled into the basin. “Wait, wait! You’re saying you’re a servant, and you didn’t climb the Golden steps of ascension?”

The girl blinked, slowly shaking her head. “No, young master. I was hired directly from the city. I’ve only been an employee of the school for two weeks.” She flashed a nervous smile. “I do hope I’m not giving a bad impression!” Her eyes widened as she took in the rest of his companions who only registered to her eyes a that moment, Jidihu’s magic doing much to dispel wandering eyes from looking too closely at the pair of deep Silvers and Golds suddenly filling the basin. But only a blind fool would miss that the chamber, so exquisitely attuned as it was to spiritual energy, had just been flooded by the presence of… something.

“You and the brave cultivators behind you are the first aspirants I’ve ever met, to be honest.” She gave them all an oddly melancholic smile. “I don’t suppose any of you have any interest in accompanying me to the feast? No?” She politely bowed her head. “Well then, I bid you all a speedy journey up the golden steps of ascension. And if no one told you before now, you only need to achieve the fourth basin, and you’ll have full access to every privilege a student can hope to earn in the greatest academy in all of CuiJing Province!”

Alex froze at those words, turning to face the girl.

Yinzi snorted. “And you know that as a temporary hire.”

The girl’s cheeks flushed prettily, though her gaze boldly met Yinzi’s own. “Of course my masters taught me everything I need to know for my job. I am beyond grateful for the work, and I’m eager to be of service to any cultivator who would have me, in whatever capacity they desire.”

Jidihu gently patted her daughter’s wrist, giving a warning shake of her head. “And a fine employee you are, at that. You do your association proud. A good night to you, my dear.”

The girl blinked, Jidihu’s manner hardly that of the young cultivator she appeared to be, but the girl was savvy enough to do naught but bow before them. “A good night to you as well… honored cultivator.”

Alex cleared his throat. “Excuse me… are you telling me that there are no additional privileges and honors to be earned for ascending the golden steps beyond the fourth tier?”

The girl smiled and shook her head. “Such perilous feats are no longer necessary, young master. All students who achieve the fourth tier have proven themselves blessed with seven fully intact meridian gates and are all to be considered equal, with equal access to all the resources the school has it its disposal, to help them all blossom into the strongest soldiers that our nation, indeed, our empire, could hope to have serving under her banner!”

Alex gazed at the girl for long moments. “You said soldiers.”

She nodded animatedly. “Of course! For there is no higher calling that any cultivator could hope to aspire to than to defend his or her homeland against those who would destroy it for their own selfish ends.

Alex forced himself to calmly nod, revealing nothing of the tumultuous emotions roiling within him. “Thank you for your insights,” he said, before striding forward and embracing the struggle of ascension once more.

“Alex, what’s wrong?” Hao Chan brushed his cheek while they rested between massive golden steps, looking so strikingly beautiful under the light of the brilliant nebulae overhead.

Alex took a deep breath as the river of spiritual energy continued to pound against him, Hao Chan still so grounded that not a single hair had slipped free of her tightly woven braid.

Alex waited for his companions to join them on the golden step that still had plenty of room to spare.

Tan Wu, arriving right behind a visibly panting Ning Jing, took the time to admire the striking view all around them, the starry night sky so bright and vibrant one could see with exquisite clarity the glorious range of snowcapped mountains marching off into the distance, the moons overhead far larger than they had any right to be.

Especially the moon now sporting a glorious cloudy atmosphere and vast blue seas that Alex thought just might be serving as a proxy for his own world, though he wasn’t quite sure.

“Magnificent! Had I known such a wonder existed, I would have taken these steps myself, just for the inspiration now filling my soul.”

Alex grinned at the man. “It is a glorious sight, isn’t it?” His gentle smile hardened. “And there’s the rub. The further up you go, the more magnificent the view that will catch your eyes and the more inspired you’ll feel, on the cusp of insights and understandings and the grandest revelations imaginable. Only problem is, it seems we’ll now be encouraged to ‘retire’ from the path, once we hit the fourth plateau, or Basic Bronze.” Alex smiled before their suddenly intent gazes. “And that, my friends, is something we most definitely are not going to do.”

Panheu quietly chuckled while Jidihu’s tail swished thoughtfully. “I suspect that due to your… dramatic restructuring, our enemies are desperate to repopulate this school as quickly as they can. Especially if they’ll be hosting a contest that would attract the powerful and connected from all the cities within ten days travel by High Road.”

Panheu gave a sympathetic nod. “I can appreciate our foes’ predicament. I too had a headache filling all the suddenly vacant positions after my own abrupt takeover of Dragon Academy, and I had no grand games to prepare for either. No wonder he’s reduced to hiring help that knows absolutely nothing about the political situation here, so they can reveal no secrets or intrigue of any sort. Their only real role is that of enticement and seduction. Because whether servants or students, he clearly needs every one he can get.”

Alex nodded. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the grandest feast you can imagine one floor up, and all sorts of nubile young men and women eager to help us relax and take our mind off our struggles… and even more of the same, once we hit the Bronze tiers.”

His smile turned wolflike. “The question is, will the bonhomie mask reveal the predator beneath when we insist that we will dare the steps just as far as they will take us. Because the one thing we do not want to do is find ourselves bound to Dongfang Hong’s infernal contracts before the night is through.”

“Only one way to find out!” Yinzi declared, before racing up the steps once more.

Alex exchanged looks with Panheu, eye-widening as he sensed how easily the man was allowing the spiritual currents to pass by him. He frowned, realizing anew just how tentative was his mastery over his own art, in truth able to deflect only a portion of the current, and that was with all of his focus on the challenge before him.

Panheu snorted. “Perhaps you should focus more on your own progression, Alex, than on the pretty stars overhead, or the antics of your friends.”

Alex flushed at that, as much because his master was right as by just how perceptive the old man (Middle-aged. Definitely. Do not think ‘old’ with him staring right at you!) was.

“To be fair, husband, the stars are a spectacular sight,” Jidihu allowed with a gentle smile, eyes positively twinkling with the reflected nebulae in her gaze.

“Damn right it is,” Ning Jing offered with a strained smile. “I feel on the verge of an epiphany, a revelation so profound… and it’s the only way I can endure this pain.”

Alex frowned, even as the current washed full force over him once more. “Do you feel in any danger of flying off?”

“Of course not boy,” she snorted. “Only the slightest of currents presses against me. Unlike you, with your thin blood and hair flying everywhere.” She flashed a thin smile at Hao Chan’s protective huff. “I see your almost-wife is feeling very protective of you. Good.” She winced, Alex feeling a surge of alarm when she abruptly doubled over. “It’s my bones that ache. Abominably. Honestly, moving is the only thing keeping me sane, knowing that the pain will ease just as soon as we enter another basin.”

“Which we’ll never enter if you slow-pokes don’t hurry up!” Yinzi crowed from four steps up. But only in her interface, because as far as the golden steps were concerned, she was already a realm away.

Jidihu’s ears flattened, her gaze one of maternal worry. “Alex?”

Alex smiled. “She’s fine. Let’s just say that the steps are a bit father apart than most people realize, and there’s a reason why no one cautioned us against using bows or a wujen’s spells on the steps themselves.”

“Because the guardian failed to realize how ruthless competing recruits and students can be?” said none other than Tan Wu with snort.

Alex shook his head. “Nope. More like they have no chance of hitting you from even two steps away. Distance and perspective get very weird. It’s as if you’re shouting at someone hundreds of yards away. And then by three or more steps, they’re completely out of your reach.”

Alex wasted no more time on explanations under his mentor’s pointed look, though he still took a moment to appreciate the magnificent vista of distant lush green forests and inconceivably massive snowcapped mountains marching off in the distance under the majestic starry night sky before turning all his focus to what he knew mattered most. Learning to slide through the ethereal currents all about him as gracefully as his master now was. Because maybe there was only so much even these spiritual waters could do to strengthen the foundation he gone to such desperate lengths to forge. But he could use all the practice in the world at leveling up the art he had forged by Panheu’s side.

Even if his interface didn’t dinged with any fresh messages, he certainly felt drained with his efforts by the time they had reached the third plateau, such that he was momentarily mistaken for yet another aspirant who had found his rightful place in the final servant’s tier, a trio of strikingly attractive men and women quickly approaching with carafes of spiced wine and smiles promising so much more.

But Alex’s bemused grin turned to wide-eyed alarm when he spied what truly did look like a grand celebration at the far side of the basin, fine marble tables piled high with gustatory delights both sweet and savory as flute and zither both played festive melodies while the warm waters soothed Alex’s feet. And there Yinzi was, about to eat a luscious looking grape being hand delivered to her by a strikingly pretty cultivator with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes perfectly matching Yinzi’s own.

“Yinzi! Spit out the fucking grape, unless you’ve given up on Silver!”

Alex’s shout immediately stilled the festive atmosphere, instruments coming to a startled discordant stop, all eyes turning to him.

Alex winced under the glare before giving back as good as he got, his killing aura causing all the servants who Alex recalled were just doing their job to pale and blanch, and in a few cases just tremble in fear.

He quickly lowered his head, though his Qi Perception was ready for anything, flash-stepping to a wilted-looking Yinzi’s side in a heartbeat.

His smile was gentle as he held his trembling kitsune, gently claiming the grape from her slack grasp.

“Alex, I… I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Alex soothed. “I should have explained things far better, knowing how excited you get. Of course you can stop and enjoy the festivities. But eating the food, drinking the wine, or savoring the delights of all the girls and boys eager to make, ahem, fresh alliances… all that would mean the end of your journey.”

Yinzi’s eyes widened. She stiffened in his arms as he gently backed away. “Alex, I… Oh hell, that would have been a lot worse for me than simply losing out on this wonderful sightseeing hike, wouldn’t it?”

Alex smirked. “Considering the arts we dare, it might have proven downright lethal.”

The nearest servant paled with alarm. “Young Master, we would never dream of hurting any aspirant put in our care. We promise you that.”

The model-caliber young man beside the protesting beauty solemnly nodded. “We only seek to secure the most worthy servants this, or any school could ask for.” He flashed a brilliant smile. “And all of you that have made it up this far have certainly proven your worth and value to Royal Phoenix Academy!”

Alex gazed at the youth thoughtfully. “Have any of you dared the steps?”

The youth adamantly shook his head. “No, young Master. We were all hired from the city below, all of us given a chance to serve an institution, and dare I say it, a cause, far more honorable and prestigious than the ones we left behind. Thank goodness we had talent sufficient that Royal Phoenix Academy thought we were worth the offer.”

Alex caught sight of a number of half-nods at that, the cluster of entertainers perhaps hired as a group, and he instantly understood what their former jobs must have entailed.

All he had for them were encouraging nods, however, as he was all about moving upward and onward in life, no matter how humble or rough one’s start.

“Well then, here’s to a long and fruitful career at the college for all of you! I can tell you all have at least taken at least your very first steps as cultivators, and within the halls of this institution’s library, I’m sure you’ll all find many excellent tomes to aid you in cleansing and strengthening your channels. I definitely recommend that you all take advantage of them.”

The closest beauty smiled and flowed into a bow. “We wouldn’t dream of claiming such tools that are so far beyond our station, but our employer does provide for our every need. And of course we do cultivate. In precisely the ways our masters prefer.” She flushed prettily as she said the last.

“Fair enough,” Alex allowed, “but why stop there? Right now you’re first major assignment is here at the basin, right? And you’re all cultivators… so why not stride a few steps up the golden stairs we approach even now, and see if you can manage just a few steps up? I think you’d be genuinely surprised with the insights such daring might bring you.”

Alex winced at the horrified looks his suggestion earned him, the girl flinching back as if he had recommended she practice juggling flaming knives.

“No, young master. Such acts are forbidden for ones such as us!” She then gave a throaty chuckle, eyes twinkling with mischief of her own. “So why not relax and stay with us awhile instead? I can tell by the way you hold her close that the kitsune is dear to you. So why not spend some time enjoying the feast before you both?” She flashed a teasing grin. “There are plenty of alcoves hidden in shadow and steam in the far corners, and there are few things more delightful than warm baths along with even warmer company.”

Alex smirked even as Yinzi trembled in Alex’s arms. She squeezed his hand, painfully tight, imploring crimson eyes looking up into his own.

“Maybe we should leave right now, Alex, or I’m going to do just that to you, and nothing you can do will stop me,” soft lips and husky words promised, and Alex feared he might be in serious trouble when something pinched his ear. Painfully.

“Ow!”

“Come on you two, up those steps!” A glaring Hao Chan hissed. “I swear, I can’t leave you two alone for a minute!”

Alex did his best to tune out the knowing snorts behind him as he took the first Golden step leading to the fourth plateau, smiling as Yinzi and Hao Chan both gasped with wonder, eyes widening with something close to awe.

“Alex, I finally feel it,” Hao Chang gushed. “It’s wonderful!”

Alex blinked, taking in the view around him. The stars did look a bit brighter, the mountain vistas so exquisitely crisp it was as if the resolution of existence itself had just been tweaked a notch. “It certainly is a beautiful sight,” he allowed.

Yinzi rolled her eyes. “She means the way the waters tingle and flow around us. We can finally feel the current!”

Alex blinked. “Wait, you couldn’t feel it at all before, not even a slight tug?”

Yinzi frowned, exchanging a glance with Hao Chan. “I felt dizzy for a couple of seconds on the first few steps, which scared my mother to no end, cursing and calling you a fool under her breath, but after that? No. It felt just like any other flight if stairs between worlds might. How about you, sister-wife?”

A smiling Hao Chan just shook her head, claiming Alex’s hand and squeezing it tight. “I feel like I’m taking a warm bath soothing all my muscles… and at the same time, like I’m under a waterfall, and cold winter waters are just washing all the gunk and filth off of me… or perhaps, out of my body? My… what did you call it… my cells?”

Alex gazed at the two beautiful girls before him slackjawed, before bemused lips curved in a smile. “It’s because you’re daring a pearlescent path. It must be! I think maybe I know what’s happening.”

Yinzi gave him a look. “So tell us already!”

“Yes, hero, why don’t you tell us?” Asked a waspish Ning Jing glaring Alex’s way as she stumbled to their step, her movements arthritic, now massaging her wrists with a curse.

Alex winced in sympathy, remembering all too well the agony of throbbing bones, a lifetime ago. It was a pain he wouldn’t wish on anyone. Except Shalu and Hao Zei, of course. Those assholes could suffer til the end of time. But he wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone else.

“How are you feeling?”

She snorted. “Like a snake caught under a buffalo’s feet. Now answer the question, Alex. Why is my daughter positively glowing while I’m throbbing in agony and you’re actively leaning against the current the rest of us most definitely feel?”

“Though he leans in no more than before,” Jidihu calmly noted with a discerning eye. “While the rest of us are definitely sensing the ethereal currents a bit more than we had before.”

Alex smiled at his disciples. “I think it’s because Hao Chan and Yinzi’s pearlescent path makes it easy for the waters to wash any impurities away, much like water-polishing a pearl, or any other precious stone. And since their path incorporates every cell of their body, effectively making their entire body their core, so to speak, the water is quite literally washing away their impurities.”

Ning Jing glared, but Jidihu patted her arm. “Considering how far my daughter and my ward have both come… I will no longer condemn their path.” Her eyes twinkled. “Most especially not if they hit Silver, and the way their eyes are lighting up with spiritual revelations even now...”

Ning Jing’s gaze darkened. “Those foolish girls have walked their path for less than two months. There is no way they could ascend to Silver. How many decades did it take us, Sister Wife? And we were among the most gifted of our crew!”

Jidihu chuckled. “Of course you’re right. And we thought it would be a miracle if our daughter ever managed to even break through to Bronze, yet here we are. Our future son-in-law’s mad path suits our child quite well, wouldn’t you say?” She said the last with a fond smile for the cheerfully grinning Yinzi, leaning back as if savoring a sauna’s gentle embrace. “Though she would be an absolute idiot if she tumbled over for foolishness’ sake from what should be the most glorious trial of her life!”

Yinzi’s ears twitched, instantly snapping out of her revelry and wincing an apology her mother’s way. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, just move! And count your enjoyment of waters that so pains your birth-mother a blessing, child.”

Yinzi bowed her head. “Of course, mother,” she said, darting back to give Ning Jing a kiss on her cheek, before racing up the steps once more with a cheerful chuckle.

“I’ll race you guys up the steps!” she crowed.

“You’re on!” Hao Chan enthused, powerful legs springing her forward just a heartbeat behind her closest friend, Alex more captivated than he wanted to admit by the sight of exquisite beauty complimented by superhuman grace.

“Stop before the fourth plateau, just in case!” Alex cried out, now sprinting up the steps right behind them, ignoring Panheu’s smirk and Jidihu’s knowing chuckle.

“Think those fools will actually make it to Gold before we’re grandparents?”

“It would be a miracle if that boy doesn’t find a way to slip free of certain strictures long before then,” Panheu opined with a snort.

Alex couldn’t help but smirk at their byplay, though he was painfully aware that in this like nothing else, WiFu would allow him absolutely no wiggle room at all.