“Alex, we’re alive!”

Hao Chan chuckled with relief and joy as she squeezed a still woozy Alex tight, his eyes bulging wide with no small amount of surprise by how incredibly strong her grip was, and how generous her affections. The strikingly beautiful giantess flushed beneath reddening cheeks, before flashing him a positively wicked grin as Yinzi chortled from just feet away.

“Our future children will never go hungry with me as their mother, blessed as I now am with a concubine’s grace and a queen’s might.”

Alex flushed at how boldly she said it, not mincing words in the least, but he couldn’t help but nod in fierce approval, for she truly did radiate the majesty of a queen, with a pristine spiritual energy none could deny that was beyond striking, even if her voluptuous blessings would have been a hindrance in anyone smaller. But at a now positively remarkable six foot four inches, powerful dancer’s legs he could dream about all day whipped about through the air so fast that Alex felt cold chills of wonder race down his spine as he gazed at the woman of his dreams under the shadows of the rocky overhang they had awoken to find themselves resting under.

For his precious Hao Chan, her perfect bare feet twisting effortlessly upon the rich loamy grass, now moved with a grace he could scarcely imagine, as if she were a graceful swan among a world of clumsy frogs, her every moment a benign goddess’s brush upon the canvas of existence, exquisitely proportioned limbs flowing to exactly where they were always destined to be. As if his beloved had become something transcendent, for a grace far beyond mere physics and cause-and-effect now governed her movements.

“And if any fool should think a mother’s most wondrous blessings make me any less of a warrior...” she flashed an adorable smirk. “Then I fear that fool will taste folly far more bitter than what I’d ever wish for my treasured foxes, for my chosen will experience nothing but honey in my arms.”

Yinzi chuckled throatily as Hao Chan glowed under Alex’s slack-jawed approval.

“I do believe our future husband is a little bit overwhelmed by the warrior queens he now glimpses, sister-wife,” she declared.

Hao Chan dipped her head with a smile. “I do believe you’re right, kung-fu sister.”

Yinzi smirked, tapping her chin as if in deep thought. “Of course, it could be because absolutely every last iota of our clothing disintegrated under the fierce storm of heavenly spiritual energy we used to infuse our cores will so much power that I feel like I’m going to burst! And no normal girl’s physique is that defiant of gravity, darling, but since our bodies are literally bursting with so much divine Silver tier spiritual energy… and look, I look extra perky too!” She pouted then. “But I’ll never be as big as you, in height, or other things… even if I’m now just as tall as Alex!”

Alex continued to gaze nonplussed at a sight that had his inner otaku screaming with joy, before quickly lowering his head when his lower Dantian began to throb just the tiniest bit. Which was totally not fair, he thought to himself, but considering how over-saturated they all were, best to play it safe until they’d all safely stabilized.

Somehow.

Hao Chan’s eyes widened, before a wicked smile came over her blushing cheeks. “Do you like what you see?”

Alex chuckled. “You better believe I do. We’re things different, I’d marry you both in a heartbeat.” A part of him couldn’t even believe he’d said that, even if he had grown more used to the idea after accepting just how adorable he found Yinzi, and the connection he now knew they shared, no matter how bittersweet it was. But if his hunch was right…” He swallowed and shook his head, ancient screams that had once tormented his soul now replaced with the cheerful laughter he realized he had recognized from the moment he had met her. He blinked away the hot sting in his eyes before solemnly pulling free prizes that were no longer locked in his Gold tier storage ring.

“Your armor, padding, and the backup silk kimonos,” Alex said, before immediately seeing the problem when a blushing Hao Chan had very little luck with the kimono, even with a throatily chuckling Yinzi, who’s own once loose robe worn for comfort was now ready to tear under a far more powerful and yes, moderately more voluptuous physique, as if she too had only now just blossomed to womanhood, for all that she was just a year younger than Alex.

“I’m afraid this is going to be a tight fit! It’s a good thing Hao Chan’s armor was originally made for a giant, and the silk ribbons mother had used to help tighten and secure our armaments while training at the pavilion are easy enough to remove, since I think she had a feeling we were going to blossom, even if she had thought it would take at least a few more years.”

And in very short order, with absolutely no help from Alex, both his queens were fully kitted out in artifact tier battle regalia that would have done any warrior queen proud, armor of seafoam green and cobalt blue hugging their bodies so perfectly, especially with the padding underneath, that it was as if the magical treasures truly had been made for Yinzi and Hao Chan both. Alex was admittedly surprised to find that his fox maiden was wearing her treasure even more comfortably than he recalled Xian Hong doing, as if Yinzi had been the ideal for whom the royal princess’s enchanted armor had been forged. Which he knew shouldn’t be surprising, considering that any spiritual treasure of this caliber would be made for a girl just a half-step away from Gold, if not fully ascended in truth. As for Hao Chan, she now filled her priceless treasure as well as any Silver Giantess could, her powerful shoulders and arms rotating in perfect comfort, both girls appearing satisfied with how well they could leap, pivot, and kick, their hair soon tied in no-nonsense buns as they reacquainted themselves with ko-naginata that were thankfully forged to near indestructibility, for their would be no holding back their strength, Alex thought, as he kitted up in his own enchanted stone armor and steel helm, dao firmly secured in their hip sheaths, admiring a fangtian ji that now felt as light as a feather in his hands.

“Don’t worry, Alex. This overhang is saturated with Shadow Qi!” Yinzi assured, spotting Alex’s worried frown. “Not a soul would be looking our way, even if the grassy field before us was filled with Silver tier inquisitors! But as it stands...”

Alex smirked. “I know. Nothing but a few friendly sheep and a shepherd boy without an ounce of spiritual energy sleeping by the rear face of a mountain from which you can’t even see Baidushi or the academy.”

“Yup! And woods just past the fallow fields. I’ll bet he’s part of a farming community full of mixed-bloods steeped in druidic lore with a connection to the forest and hidden groves full of spiritual herbs and magical fruit trees most city cultivators could only dream of!” Yinzi squealed.

Alex smirked. “Sure, or maybe he’s just a regular kid sleeping beside his dog. Either way, let’s take full advantage of Shadow’s embrace and see just how strong we are before we head out, shall we?”

Hao Chan nodded. “I’ll show you my character sheet if you show me yours.” Her eyes twinkled with mischief while Yinzi chortled, and a laughing Alex happily did just that.

Condensed Character Sheet

___________________________________________________________________

Alex Hammer

Class – Cultivator: Disciple of the Dual Path (Unlimited potential. This is a Divine path.)

Rank 5 Divine Silver Cultivation Achieved! (Note! You have super-saturated your frame! Raise all key skills related to Golden Swan kung fu by one or more ranks before daring to progress further! - Note! Your World Seed is closed to you until Gold is reached! (And perhaps forever, but you can dream!)

Prismatic Path Bone Strengthening Technique has been infused with Divine spiritual energy! (Shui Jun’s blessings now infuse your bones and joints! Present Strength: Undefined. Drawback: Should you cross her, you’re never slipping free of her coils!)

Physical Characteristics

Strength – Gold Rank 2 (41+125+250 = 416) (Relentless Resolve and a dragon's might are now recognized as core elements of your path.)

Vitality – Gold Rank 2 (41+125+250 = 416) (Eternal Resilience and a dragon's fury are now recognized as core elements of your path.)

Quickness – Silver Rank 5 (40+125 = 165) (Chaotic Unpredictability is now recognized as a core element of your path.)

Finesse – Silver Rank 5 (40+125 = 165) (Mastery of Oneself is now recognized as a core element of your path.)

Spiritual Characteristics

Scholarship - 14 (Exceeds 84% of Population.)

Perception - 18 (Exceeds 99% of population.)

Willpower – 20 (Rank 1 Bronze achieved the hard way! - You have the resolve to walk in the Valley of Death and slip free of the River of Souls.)

Qi Pool – Silver Rank 5 (165 points available: 0 Points reserved: Divine Soul Stone is no longer anchored! You have dared to consume it to enhance a world and yourself! Note: Forged and peripheral channels now enjoy added resiliency!)

Health Points: 4966

Perks

Insightful – Rank 2

Charismatic – Rank 3

Lesser Shadow Affinity - You can now see Shadow Qi! You have +6 to spot all those using Shadow to ambush or confuse you.

Golden Apple of Wisdom consumed. Increased chance of cultivation breakthroughs.

Draconic Ancestry. - The blood of golden dragons flows through your veins! You may now purchase additional ranks in Strength and Vitality as if they were 1 tier lower than they actually are, in terms of cost and requirements! All damage from heat and flame, spiritual or mundane, is reduced in severity by 2 Damage tiers. All cold-based attacks and physical sources of damage are decreased in severity by 1 Damage tier.

You have deliberately incorporated all aforementioned traits into your genome! Your future offspring will enjoy inhuman Strength (+1 Silver Tier to Strength and Vitality, once adulthood has been reached) and all perks listed above!

Favored Skills tied to your transcendent art.

Golden Swan Kung Fu – Rank 4 (This counts as a Gold tier martial art specialized in piercing and deflecting all spiritual energy attacks and counters! Golden Swan rank counts as a modifier equal to its rank with all underlying skills!) - Drawback! This art is partially based on a Forbidden Path! Anyone who dares this path must maintain physical purity until Gold is reached or risk destroying their cultivation base!

Eternal Fox Kung Fu – Rank 10 (14) (Incorporates all benefits and techniques of Rank 10 in Golden Realms, White Crane, and Silver Swan Kung Fu.) This art involves the mastery of movement, Qi flow, and battle. This art serves as the cornerstone of the Path of Pearlescence.

Black Swan (Soul Cleave) – Rank 10 (14) (Standard variant can now be used at zero cost! Lesser wards are automatically ruptured! With your mastery, every blow you or your disciples deliver is potentially a killing blow!)

Dark Qi Projection – Rank 10 (14) (You may now coat your arms and legs in Dark Qi at zero maintenance cost! Weapons may also be coated, at increasing cost. Note, your second disciple has already learned how make use of this skill better than you!)

Piercing Strike (Spell Cleave) – Rank 10 (14) (Successful use of this skill allows you to ruptured wujen spells, and partially or completely bypass all elemental wards! Note! Using Spell Cleave with Storm Strike will give additional bonus of +3 +Storm Strike Rank to rupture wards and deflect all incoming spells!

Qi Deflection – Rank 10 (14) (Synergizes with Silver Wing to twist aside Qi attacks and space itself!)

Silver Wing – Rank 12 (16) (Not only can you deflect attacks with singular grace, you’ve begun to learn the art of warping space itself with your parries!)

Storm Strike – Rank 10 (14) (You may effortlessly channel ward piercing lightning at no energy cost with your every attack! (This variant specifically made with your first disciple in mind.)

_____________________________________________________________________

Party Member: Yinzi has achieved Rank 12 Divine Silver Sheen!

(Yinzi has exceeded Ebony Jade maximum potential! Yinzi has achieved Supreme Enlightenment and Extreme Instability! Immediate ascension to Gold sheen recommended!)

Strength – Silver Rank 11

Vitality – Silver Rank 12

Quickness – Silver Rank 10

Finesse – Silver Rank 10

Golden Swan Kung Fu is now Rank 3

Eternal Fox Kung Fu is now Rank 9 (12)

Black Swan is now Rank 7 (10)

Dark Qi Projection is now Rank 6 (9)

Qi Deflection is now Rank 8 (11)

Piercing Strike (Spell Cleave) is now Rank 6 (9)

Shadow Jump is now Rank 6

Water Walking (Soul Stride) is now Rank 6

Eternal Fox is now Rank 8

(Maximum non-perception based techniques reached until Gold sheen has been achieved.)

Congratulations!

Party Member: Hao Chan has achieved Rank 12 Divine Silver Sheen!

(Hao Chan has exceeded Ebony Jade maximum potential! Hao Chan has achieved Supreme Enlightenment and Extreme Instability! Immediate ascension to Gold sheen recommended!)

Strength – Silver Rank 10

Vitality – Silver Rank 10

Quickness – Silver Rank 11

Finesse – Silver Rank 12

Golden Swan Kung Fu is now Rank 3.

Eternal Fox Kung Fu is now Rank 9 (12)

Storm Strike is now Rank 7 (10)

Silver Wing is now Rank 7 (10)

Black Swan is now Rank 5 (8)

Qi Deflection is now Rank 5 (8)

Piercing Strike (Spell Cleave) is now Rank 6 (9)

Water Walking (Soul Stride) is now Rank 6

Storm Flight is now Rank 6

Eternal Fox is now Rank 8

(Maximum non-perception based techniques reached until Gold sheen has been achieved.)

“Ooh, look at that, Sister Wife! We’ve both achieved Supreme Enlightenment and Extreme Instability!” Yinzi flashed a manic smile at Hao Chan’s blanch. “And we’ve got double digit Silver Ranks in our physical stats! I’m not quite sure what that means, but I feel so ripe and full of spiritual energy, it’s like I could explode at any minute! Isn’t that wonderful?” She closed her eyes as Hao Chan shared a nervous smile with Alex. “I mean, just look at our cores! That glorious Silver core has turned to… what’s the word percolating in Alex’s skull? Oh yes, it’s whirling about like a pulsar, stretching space around it like the event horizon of the black void that our scary god of death husband is thinking about… or like your Silver Wing parry!”

She pouted and mock glared at a wincing Alex. “How come I don’t get to bend space with my Dark Qi projection?”

Alex gazed at Yinzi for long moments, before winking. “You know what? I’ll bet you can. My interface, or maybe it was just a snarky comment from your dad, made it clear you’re even more gifted at manipulating Dark Qi Projection than I am. You just need practice. In fact, that’s something we all need.” He turned around, stepping back from the overhang, to gaze at the steep face of the massive mountain upon which Rising Phoenix Academy rested. “And I can’t think of any place better to test and hone our skills than in the tournament that should be starting pretty soon, if it hasn’t already.”

“Oh yes, how exciting!” Yinzi squealed, squeezing Hao Chan’s hand. “We can forge ourselves in the crucible of battle! Now open a gate, hero, and slide us right under their unsuspecting noses!”

Alex winced. “Yeah, there’s sort of a problem with that.”

Hao Chan’s bemused smile for her kung fu sister faded to a look of gentle concern. “Alex? What’s wrong?”

Alex awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. “You know how you guys are right now absolutely brimming with power?”

“And extreme instability!” Yinzi said with a cheerful nod. “It says so right here on my character sheet, which I can only see when I’m partied with you!”

“Well, that comes with a tiny drawback. You see, all three of us are basically supernovas about to explode, save for the pressure of this titanic realm that’s just barely keeping you girls safely compressed, and I’m not too much better off. But if I were to open any gate to our realm and any one of us try to jump through...”

Hao Chan blanched. “Alex, please don’t tell me...”

Alex nodded. “At this point I don’t dare put up a single field unless it’s at least a dozen feet away from me so there’s no chance any freak gust of wind, dizziness, or surprise attack will push us right through. Or worst of all, if we forget for just a single second that we can only use those portals as barriers against others. If we dare push through them ourselves...”

“Then that will be the end of our tale!” Yinzi said with a sigh.

Alex winced. “Worse, it will destroy the magnificent world you two helped me forge.”

Hao Chan’s eyes widened. “So that dream we had...”

“Of us being gods worshiped by everyone we saw as we forged a world wholecloth form our imaginations was real?” Yinzi’s eyes twinkled with delight. “How exciting! Now I can finally make WiFu jealous. He isn’t the only world forger in the family!”

Alex smirked. “Something like that. But your father has had 40,000 or so years of refining and strengthening this reality, along with the rest of his psychotic family and what I suspect are countless other clans equally ruthless and crazy. Whereas my little world-seed… okay, not so little any more, only has, well, us. And Aiko, my goddess of knowledge. And my seneschal, of course.”

“Who’s also basically a god,” Yinzi declared.

“Pretty much,” Alex admitted. “Anyway, we basically can never go back. At least until we stabilize ourselves and aren’t at risk of blowing up like supernovas. The price of power and all that.”

Yinzi frowned. “But we were actually there!”

Alex smiled. “We were channeling the divine power of Shui Jun’s eternal soul stone, and now I halfway wonder how much was actually a gift. Regardless, the cost was that now my world is firmly tied to the River of Souls, the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. But since I want my reality to be stronger than a soap bubble that my enemies might one day try to pop, even with the forest’s help, I’m okay with that.”

“Because you actually have a divine tier technique that lets pretty much any cultivator learn how to escape aging and death altogether!” Yinzi crowed.

Alex chuckled. “Well, that certainly doesn’t hurt.”

Hao Chan frowned. “But Alex, we promised Yinzi’s parents that we’d let them through. Your gate is still available to others, right?”

Alex blinked, because of course Hao Chan was right, as the two oathbound gates at the school, and the ones holding a certain mystic artifact sealed in the River of Souls so clearly proved.

He sighed. “I was reluctant to even dare that much, but you’re right. I have multiple gates open, and I can feel the connection to them thrumming through my soul, and everything’s fine.”

He exchanged looks with Hao Chan and Yinzi. “Alright. But just in case… we’re stepping back. Way back.”

His disciples nodded in complete agreement and Alex was surprised by just how much his heart was hammering as a cold sweat prickled his back when he actually dared to open a gate to Yidushi. He crashed to his knees with relief when it worked, even if the gate was a short distance off, and Alex’s neck hairs stood on end, suddenly frightened that some freakish mishap would happen right then and there to send him catapulting through the gate he was ready to close in the blink of an eye… but there was nothing.

“Mother! Father! Over here!” They could all see Headmaster Panheu and Jidihu frowning out at the field from the backdrop of Panheu’s estate, Alex’s gate having formed a distance between them, yet already Alex could pick up the salty tang of the sea now in the air in the air. Yet still it was long moments before Yinzi’s mother sighed and seemed to disappear in a rustle of shadows from nowhere such that even a frowning Alex was confused as to where she had gone before he felt death whispering in his ear.

“What the hell did you do to my daughter, Alex Hammer?”

Yinzi sighed while Alex carefully said nothing. Because for all his growing power, he was smart enough not to piss off the head of an entire sect of killers who had once gone by the name Black Death.

“Isn’t it obvious, Mother? He helped Hao Chan and I ascend beyond anything you or anyone else could possibly imagine! Why, we’re filled with so much power that if the three of us aren’t careful, we’ll absolutely explode and take out the entire city! Right, Alex?”

Alex winced. “I wouldn’t have put it quite like that...”

“Is it true?” Jidihu whispered, eyes as hard and cold as any mother-in-law’s could be.

Alex flashed a bitter smile. “Actually it’s worse. We’re quark bombs ready to erupt because our enemies forced us to ascend steps neither of my disciples were ready for.”

“Yes, but on the plus side, my core’s now spinning so fast that I can hear it shrieking through my soul whenever I close my eyes. It’s absolutely incredible!” Yinzi squealed.

Before moving so fast that her surprised mother was gazing at her own empty hands, Yinzi holding a serpentine blade and shaking her head, before dipping down to kiss her mother’s cheek.

“And Hao Chan and I have so much power flooding our bodies that no one will be able to threaten those we love, ever again.” She smirked and handed her now trembling mother her knife. “Would you have really cut him?”

Jidihu gazed up at her fully armored daughter for long moments before hugging her as tightly as she could. “I feared you were gone to us, Yinzi! After all you had endured, spending countless nights losing hope while your father always had an eye to the field, trusting Alex’s portal would somehow form… and now...” She gazed up, shaking her head in wonder. “I find my daughter a Silver giant over six feet in height. A perfect match for her future husband, and radiating so much power that my tail fur stands on end, and I am both awed and horrified that your beautiful ruby red eyes have been replaced by orbs of Silver.”

“Orbs of pristine Silver, because Alex was washing our souls within heavenly currents!”

Jidihu’s loving smile hardened as she glared Alex’s way. “My blade wouldn’t have killed him, but sure as hell it would have hurt! And at least made him think about the consequences ofhis actions, putting you girls in peril!”

“There, my wife, be at ease,” Panheu whispered, taking a shaking Jidihu in his arms, Alex now forced to wonder how much of their seeming at-odds aloofness at the college had just been a decades-long act all for the benefit of Panheu’s own twisted ascension. If the way he held her now was any indication, pretty much all of it.

Alex couldn’t help but both admire and be chilled by the ruthlessness and affection those two were capable of. Yet the look he shown Alex’s way was definitely that of the doting uncle or grandfather extremely impressed by what he saw.

“And now our daughter glows with a Silver purity I would never have dreamed possible for even the most gifted of heaven’s chosen! Far beyond what the three of us had managed to achieve after centuries honing our dark arts… and our child’s soul tainted not at all by her own ordeal!”

Then his warm gaze frowned. “In fact, I don’t sense any karma from our daughter at all. Neither good nor bad.”

“That’s because I’m Alex’s queen now,” Yinzi crowed. “His cards, banes, and curses now claim us as well!”

Jidihu paled as Panheu’s gaze hardened. “That is no easy burden to bear, daughter.”

Yinzi stuck out her tongue. “Well my other father said he was very proud of me for not dying on his steps, and said I’d make a fine wife, once I hit Gold!” She tilted her head. “And how exactly is it that I have two fathers and two mothers? No one’s really explained it to me, and the way you two are blushing...” she smirked, before clasping Alex’s hand. “At least I know who my children’s father will be, no confusion at all!”

Hao Chan bowed before the pair of them. “Elder Panheu, Lady Jidihu, thank you for coming.”

Jidihu gathered Hao Chan in a hug. “There there, none of that. You know you are family now, Hao Chan.” He smirked as he gazed up and up. “And I see your path is still much as it was before.”

Hao Chan flushed before raising her chin. “Yes I do. Queen and courtesan both. This is who I am. What I am. I will nurture and protect my man, care for my children, and crush anyone who dares to cross us.”

Jidihu flashed a teasing smile. “Good. Face the world with your head held high and revel in your treasures.” She flashed a teasing smile Alex’s way. “For you’ve managed to capture the hearts of my daughter and Alex both. May you always stay true to one another, no matter what future forces try to tear you three apart.”

Hao Chan curtseyed with exquisite grace, her armaments naturally flowing with her movements. “It will be just as you say… mother-in-law.”

All of them laughed at that, while Panheu’s measuring gaze grew intent. “Alright, my wife is shielding us from the jaded eyes of shepherd boy and sheep alike. So before we embrace the next stage of our plan, let me see just what you three are capable of, before we dare to tweak Dongfang Hong’s beard and challenge powerful Silvers in the tournament that starts just two days hence!”

Hao Chan and Yinzi nodded agreeably enough, and Headmaster Panheu was testing their skills in short order. At first kime was observed during their randori, light touching blows where the only objective was to successfully parry, slip past, or otherwise avoid each other’s blows.

Hao Chan performed dazzlingly well, as far as Alex was concerned, and if her adorable brow furrowed in a frown for hardly being able to land a single blow upon Alex’s mentor, Panheu seemed equally impressed that Hao Chan managed to deflect not just his attacks, but his very angle as well, leaving the man wid

e-eyed with awe, glancing at his own shifted body and fist. He had immediately put a stop to the match. “Do it again, child. Yes! Show me how well you have synergized Golden Swan with your Silver Wing Parries!” Their sparring match rapidly became an instructional session, all of them working on mastering the movements, a pouting Yinzi frustrated that she had the most trouble out of all four of them of mastering a technique that even Alex admitted gaze him a slight headache if he wasn’t absolutely in the zone, though his master just chuckled and declared it one of the advantages of a Water Qi specialist.

“And now it’s your turn, my youngest.” He gave her a warning frown. “I do hope your lack of mastery over that one technique will not discourage you from giving it your all!”

Yinzi’s exasperated pout turned to a hard grin. “I think I just might surprise you, Father. In fact, I’m absolutely sure of it.”

Panheu’s lazy smile soon hardened when he found a giggling Yinzi countering what were first light taps with only the most basic blocks, not bothering to attempt to bend space at all. “Careful, child. There are reasons why we seek to counter our opponent’s blows with angular deflection and the flow of Qi itself. A reason why our dear Alex has gone so far as to learn the secrets of bending space itself to his will!” But a smirking Yinzi did nothing to change her approach.

“This works for me, father,” she assured, even when her father’s gaze hardened, gently taps soon becoming genuine strikes before transforming into granite shattering blows, no matter how his wife hissed and glared. Yet all Yinzi did was smile, her ebony covered arm not moving an inch.

Before a blindingly fast snap kick echoed with a crack that had even Alex wince when Yinzi’s shin slammed into her father’s thigh. Earning a rueful chuckle and a dip of the head.

“It appears you’ve developed your own unexpected strengths. One more time, shall we, daughter?” Alex and Hao Chan exchanged bemused smiles while Jidihu looked on with increasing open-mouthed disbelief when Yinzi continued to counter her father’s increasingly fast blows before the air rang with the dull thud of ebony covered shins striking knees, ankles, and thighs over and over again.

Then her father’s gaze hardened and Alex finally saw the buildup of Qi he had been expecting.

Before Yinzi dropped and twisted, lashing out with a sweep kick that her father would have effortlessly leaped over, had his daughter not been pounding his limbs at specific pressure points Alex had taught, with the equivalent of steel gauntlets and greaves and monstrous strength behind each blow.

It had only been for an instant that Panheu’s hands had been forced to touch the ground before he snapped back upright, now blazing with the sudden power and fury of a true Gold, radiating his true might, full of killing intent.

Yinzi squealed and immediately ducked behind her glaring mother, never mind that she was now nearly twice her diminutive mother’s mass.

“Panheu!” Jidihu hissed.

But her husband’s features had already stilled to cold immobility… before he broke out in a smile so beatific, it was like the first golden rays of dawn after a cold, lonely night. “Magnificent! Absolutely magnificent! Silver Wing spatial parries might be beyond you, but what does it matter if sheaths of Dark Qi can pierce nearly any defense?” He chuckled melodiously. “Did you see how wonderfully she performed, first-wife? Parrying every last one of my blows with the one element I cannot counter. Pure darkness itself! She has mastered Golden Swan just as well as Hao Chan, and their combined Strength…“ Panheu shook his head with awe. “Did you see, wife? I can treat her as a Silver no longer. I must tap into the raw power of my core if I wish to beat her!”

“I did,” Jidihu breathlessly said, gazing at her now positively giddy daughter with a mixture of maternal affection and grave concern. “Her body bubbles with the might of a Gold, as does her Sister-wife’s. Not just in Strength, but in Quickness and grace as well. Truly a wondrous and terrifying thing. For they are still just Silver… and that can’t be a good thing.”

“No, it’s perfect, mother!” Yinzi gushed. “We’re approaching Divine Tier! WiFu told me himself! The only problem is that I’m still somewhat mortal, and it’s kind of tearing me apart. But everything will stabilize perfectly, once I hit Gold!”

Panheu’s pleased grin faded. He gazed intently Alex’s way. “I expect you to take full responsibility, disciple.”

Alex winced, but nodded, squeezing Hao Chan’s hand before she could retort, instead bowing low before Panheu. “Of course, master. It will be as you say. I am as devoted to rising my queens to Gold tier every bit as much as I am myself.”

Jidihu snorted. “His queens. As if he were a ruler and had already claimed my daughter’s hand.”

Hao Chan politely coughed. “Forgive me, beloved aunty...”

“Beloved mother,” Jidihu corrected.

Hao Chan flushed, but smiled. “Thank you, mother. But technically, Alex is correct. According to the card of fate my beloved forged… we are indeed his queens. An extension of himself. It is that truth alone that allowed us to shelter in his arms when we were forced to take shelter on the fifth step of divinity while a Jade roared for our death, just feet away.”

How odd it was to see even his master pale, Alex thought, as Panheu exchanged a solemn glance with Jidihu before turning back to his disciples. “I think it best you tell us everything.”

The three of them exchanged looks. “It’s okay,” Alex assured. “You’re both protected by Fog of War and Cleaved Fates. Even without Jidihu’s Shadow Qi, we can safely speak.” He then turned to Yinzi’s parents. “But best you two never repeat a word of what we’ll say, lest spiteful gods that hate us all hear your words and act accordingly.”

Jidihu flashed a bleak smile. “No need to teach the fox how to hunter her dinner, boy. This one will be silent while you and my daughters share your tale.”

In short order, they did just that, Jidihu now wrapped comfortably in her husband’s arms while she held her talkative daughter close as Hao Chan, having claimed Alex’s arm, finally finished their tale. “And then that Jade monster who had the power to summon meteors from the sky and bend gravity itself to do his bidding finally realized we weren’t the easy prey he had thought, and actually dared to ascend first one step… and then a second.”

“And what happened then?” Panheu breathlessly asked.

Hao Chan smiled and shook her head. “And then we lost ourselves in the dream forging of a world. And when we woke once more, still balancing for our life against the roaring tsunami of spiritual might, a voice roared through our party interface that we had to run… that the gods themselves had descended to claim our heads and tear free our souls. And before I could say a word, Alex had already delivered me to the gate, Yinzi just a shadow jump away.”

She then solemnly pulled three magnificent melon-sized apples that flashed a shimmering jade-gold hue out of storage, causing both Jidihu and Panheu to gaze at them with speechless wonder. “And we were given a final parting gift by the tree of wisdom. The only problem is, there is a cost to eating this fruit.”

“And what would that be, daughter?”

Hao Chan smiled. “The capability to ascend one full tier. Gold for the Silver among us. Ad for the Headmaster who has actually achieved Gold...” she held Panheu’s gaze for long moments. “Jade would indeed be possible. Eventually. But your soul will then eternally be tied to this realm. You can never ascend to divinity, nor start anew in Alex’s realm, free of all malicious gods, so far as I can tell, even if its population is in the hundreds right now… or maybe the low thousands? The dream is already so fuzzy, and normally I remember my dreams so exquisitely...” she shook her head with a frown. “Regardless, we took the tree’s gifts, free of obligation, fearing it wouldn’t survive the god’s spiteful wrath. I suspect, however, that it would be as happy if we planted it in the deepwoods as consume it ourselves.”

Panheu gazed at the magnificent fruit with desperate longing, squeezing his wife’s hand. “We don’t dare,” he whispered.

Jidihu nodded. “Both of us destined for Silver, only escaping our doom at greatest cost, and Rank 1 Gold is as much as your soul can bear.”

Yinzi sighed. “Or maybe it really will let Father safely ascend all the way to the first rank of Jade!” she whispered in excitement, chuckling at the hungry look in her father’s eye. “Or maybe you will be at even more risk of rupturing than we are.” She shrugged. “Honestly, no one’s really sure if the fruit just boosts potential or it gives you a huge surge of power right away, or if anyone will even survive if they couldn’t ascend the jade steps anyway. I think that’s why Alex hasn’t let anyone eat the fruit back home. On account of the fact that they might explode or something. Just like us!”

Alex winced but nodded. “Yeah, that’s it as much as anything else. I offered it to Elder Ru, because he was only days away from death. But now that I’ve upgraded to Gold tier facilities, four hours sleep will halt all aging for a day and the golden apples with every meal will take a day away, so that’s a path to immortality right there.”

His words died off when he saw the hyper intent looks Panheu and Jidihu were giving him. He couldn’t help chuckling. “Would you two like to visit? You’re more than welcome, as long as you promise no bloodshed, save in self-defense or agreed upon contests. Oh, also please don’t tear things up unnecessarily, and hopefully you don’t feel the need to steal anything. If you need anything, just ask.”

Husband and wife shared a long look before bowing formally and low before a suddenly flustered Alex. “When Peril’s Path has taken us as far as we can go...”

“And I’m pretty sure it has already,” his wife noted wryly.

“Then I would be honored, Disciple, and you would have my eternal gratitude,” Panheu solemnly said, his bow now the equal of Alex’s own.

“And guess what? It resets karma! So you won’t even be forced to spend centuries in torment, after stealing our enemy’s soul!” Yinzi squealed, earning a very flat look from her mother.

“Watch your words, you silly little git. You no longer have the luxury of Shadow Qi!”

Yinzi wilted, before her mother sighed and gathered her back in her arms. “Silly little kit,” she chided, before flashing a heartfelt smile Alex’s way.

Panheu, much to Alex’s surprise, looked so overcome with emotion that he couldn’t say a word at all.

“Alex, if there’s a chance for us to reset our karma… to start anew and put old sins and regrets behind...” Jidihu, still holding Yinzi, bowed her head. “We’d be honored for a chance to visit your palace, and perhaps dote on future grandchildren.” Her gaze grew intent. “Would that offer include...”

Alex grinned. “Of course Ning Jing, your son Zhao Doushi, and Qie Qie are all invited. And their cute little daughter. Why not? The more the merrier!”