“Come, Alex! In just three days we’ll be hunting for spiritual treasures, so it’s best that we get in as much training as we can.”
Alex grinned at that before taking a bite of a delicious treat that was definitely growing on him. “Sounds good, Master Wu. As long as you don’t push yourself too hard showing off your wonderful arts.”
The man snorted. “Oh, just a couple times, and no strain at all, I assure you. No, it’s Captain Dui Zhong who wants to take your measure with the spear. You and Ya Ling both.”
Alex grinned at that as he stole a glance Ya Ling’s way, who was freshly attired without a hairpin out of place and was most definitely not paying him any mind as she carefully nibbled her own breakfast. “Sounds good. Though I admit that I have a newfound appreciation for the jian. I fear that I might have seriously underestimated it. I think in the right circumstances, it can be a truly fearsome weapon.”
Reny smirked when she caught Ya Ling’s warm smile, before the girl shyly looked away.
“The jian certainly has it’s place,” Qing Wu allowed with an indulgent grin. “And in the hands of a cultivator attuned to its use, it can truly be a devastating tool. But the spear is called the king of the battlefield for a reason. It’s utility remains a constant in all terrain and with almost all affinities. And when it comes to spirit beast hunting, few weapons, save for a bow or crossbow which does nothing for defense, could be better. Now finish your repast, warm up, and report to the captain when you’re ready.
“I do hope the captain won’t mind if Alex and I warm up before joining your men for the morning training?” A fully kitted Ya Ling asked the captain and his men a short time later, with a teasing twinkle in her eye that invited indulgence.
“Of course,” Dui Zhong said, waving magnanimously at the sands, his smile widening when it became clear that the girl would be using her jian after all. “The men would enjoy seeing the techniques of wujen cultivators once more.”
His smile had soon faded, turning to furrowed brows and an overly intent stare when it became clear that Ya Ling was no fragile blossom, and Alex could do far more than simply summon shields of Wood, Water, and Stone.
Their weapons flashed under the light of the desert sun before a laughing Ya Ling seemed to vanish in the sands, only to spring up at Alex’s rear, her jian just barely deflected by his crackling shield bright with rings of Earth, Fire, Water, and every other major element as well. Ya Ling furrowed her brow and darted forward at a sprint, her feet having perfect traction in sands that required careful footing from anyone else as she attempted to pivot around Alex’s elemental shield, and it soon became clear to all their slack-jawed spectators just how much the pair had been holding back before. Alex found himself forced to strike at full speed, even if with only a fraction of his true strength, only to find his scimitar-like sparring dao splashing harmlessly into a spray of sand before feeling the prick of steel against his armored back.
“One point for me,” Ya Ling declared in a husky voice.
Alex chuckled ruefully and dipped his head.
“Well earned,” he said, waiting for her to ready herself once more and give a nod before abruptly dashing forward and smacking her entire body with his shield, finding he could intuitively reign in the wilder elements of his ward, the blow as cushioned as smacking springy willows or loamy topsoil. Yet it was still enough to send a surprised Ya Ling crashing to the soft sands. Clearly she hadn’t appreciated the sheer mass differential between them, not to mention just how effective Ogre-tier Strength and rough-and-tumble tactics could be in any engagement not limited to courtly duels with light flicking blades alone.
“Point to you,” she chuckled.
Still her surprise quickly became a smirk as she gazed up at him with bedroom eyes and a teasing grin before fading into the sands once more.
Alex was savvy enough to immediately spin around, sword held in a high hanging guard, shield at the ready, only to feel a slick steel blade against the inside of his thigh. Right by his unarmored femoral artery.
Alex felt an icy chill racing down his spine.
Had Ya Ling harbored malicious intentions… had the blade been sharpened to a razor’s killing edge…
That could have been the end right there.
He forced himself to bow his head, looking down at the smirking girl’s face gazing a bit too raptly up at him from her vantage point, arm and face solid, where the rest was sand.
“Point to you,” he said, and he wouldn’t dream of kicking her, for all that his Find Weakness skill screamed at him to do so. Because this was a sparring match between him and a cherished friend, and he had no doubt she would never let herself be so vulnerable if she didn’t trust him far more than she should trust any man only known for a handful of days. Not with her health, head, or heart.
But he would do his best to be worthy of that trust with what was effectively his kung fu sister, and the closest friend he had in this brave new world.
She shimmered into a flesh and blood girl once more, the pair exchanging bows and admittedly grinning at the speechless looks they were now getting from the entire camp, no one even pretending to be readying the camp as Alex and Ya Ling clashed once more.
Liquid steel sheathed in mystifying sand cloaking far better than Shadow struck at all angles.
But Alex was far from helpless or an easy mark, now that he had a sense of her tactics, showing the true worth of his arts as he weaved, darted, and blocked with the consummate grace of someone who knew what it meant to fight for their life against enemies on all fronts.
Despite the numerous nicks and bruises received, never again did Ya Ling’s jian kiss Alex’s neck, thighs, or otherwise deliver what in other circumstances would have been a killing blow. And Alex’s Qi-less blade was just slow enough for Ya Ling to comfortably shift to sand whatever naked dusky flesh his blade managed to touch. And perhaps he was holding back just a bit. Yet the intensity was more than enough to demand absolute attention, focus, and when his mind dinged with another notification coinciding with his sudden epiphany, as he savored a fresh breakthrough.
He could suddenly sense so clearly how the swirling storm of White Qi he had once come so close to mastering could be perfectly mimicked by Air Qi alone. And with that insight, he felt a part of him long asleep awaken once more.
The beautiful girl before him soon found Alex’s wall of steel almost impossible to break through, and his rejoinders became horrifyingly deadly. Though of course all she felt was the gentlest brush of his blade against her overheated skin.
Congratulations. You have had a Breakthrough!
Tier 10 Mastery of White Crane Kung Fu has allowed you to pierce the fog of revelation! You now sense the whirlwind of Wind Qi all around you, and have learned to channel it to your will!
You have unlocked a new art!
Wind Crane kung fu is now Rank 1!
You have countered over a dozen assaults from a Bronze tier cultivator with the power of Wind alone!
Wind Crane kung fu is now Rank 2!
Alex’s eyes lit up with excitement as Ya Ling gazed at him with awed disbelief.
“No, I refuse to believe you evolved your art in the span of a single...”
WIND STRIKE!
In that single pristine moment, Alex felt a connection to the individual strands of spiritual energy flooding his meridians and saturating his soul. Understanding how to infuse himself with the art most closely tied to White Crane, and how to use it in ways he never could have before, with so many strictures finally lifted from his soul.
It was effortless to slide a single pace back before lashing out with a furious blast of cutting wind arcing from his blade.
Qi Perception Check made.
You manage to avoid disaster!
Congratulations! You now know Wind Strike at Rank 1
He only realized his folly after he had unleashed the blow. Only registering Ya Ling’s horrified dismay as a practice bout became suddenly perilous. Alex didn’t understand, couldn’t have known… but the look in her eyes made it horrifically clear.
The very gifts that allowed her to flow around killing steel and become one with the sands all around, the skills that allowed her to fight way above a typical Rank Bronze 1 cultivator… put her in jeopardy from a blast of wind that would do no more than send a typical body cultivator tumbling back with a chuckle.
For what could be deadlier to a pristine arrangement of carefully maintained sand in the form of a beautiful girl than a sudden desert storm that could blow her to oblivion?
It was with those thoughts shrieking through his head that he jerked his blade to a halt, just an inch away from cutting through the waist of the wide-eyed girl gazing at him with desperate tears in her eyes. Before she slumped to her knees.
“How the hell did you… Alex, that could have killed me!” She hissed, yanking Alex to the desert ground beside her, his greater strength no match for sand that seemed to slant under his feet.
Alex flushed and lowered his gaze as the distant spectators hollered and cheered them on, because caravanners were like caravanners everywhere. No matter the strictures of city life, no one seemed to begrudge the romance of the road.
“Yeah, that was way too close,” Alex admitted sheepishly.
Ya Ling glared for long moments. “You owe me a kiss, you know that, right, Alex?”
Alex blinked and swallowed, absolutely hating how little he wanted to fight her off as soft warm lips touched his own for just a heartbeat before Ya Ling squeezed his hand and lifted him to his feet, the pair of them ignoring the hooting guards as they made their way back to their wagon. “A Wind strike, Alex? You can control the element of Wind as well, now? When were you going to tell me you had this ability?”
Alex smirked. “Would you believe I just found out right now?”
Ya Ling froze, foot elevated inches above the desert sands before she turned to face him, cool almond eyes boring into his own. “You’re going to tell me you unlocked a martial technique and a killing strike in a single sparring match?”
“Um… maybe?”
She gave him a long look. “Alex, that Wind Blast… that wasn’t a simple extension of a Body Cultivator’s arts. That was a ranged attack. An area attack. Even if it started from the tip of your blade. You’re definitely skirting wujen territory there.”
Alex was surprised at how defensive this made him feel. As if he had broken some ancient, sacred covenant by daring to do just that. He gave an angry shake of his head. His cultivation path and internal senses made it clear that he was free of so many ancient bindings and limitations, the abrupt and unexpected loss of his power and a number of abilities the price he had paid to do just that.
So what if those memories now allowed him to learn arts mirroring that which he had lost at a pace as rapidly as any expert learning a similar field, as opposed to being a rank beginner? And if whatever ranged components that had forever been locked were now open to him… that was just sweet icing on the cake.
It was about time he got his share.
But still… what he had done was inexcusable.
As soon as they were out of sight of the still smiling guards, who had enjoyed both the show and what they were no doubt certain was a romance in the making... Alex kowtowed before Ya Ling.
“This foolish disciple apologizes for putting his kung fu sister at risk.”
Ya Ling glared at him for long moments, leaving his stomach twisting in knots, before shaking her head with a sigh.
He was prepared for almost any reaction, save the exasperated tousle of his hair. “You’re a bit of a clever idiot, aren’t you, Alex?”
He chuckled softly, more relieved than he cared to admit. “I’ve certainly been called worse,” he admitted.
She snorted. “Fair enough. Still, it’s a damn effective tactic against Sand elementals and desert spirits, so it’s a worthy addition to our defenses. But um… next time we spar, we’re embracing slow, steady katas. Like when you were teaching me the basics of spears, okay?”
Alex solemnly nodded. “No more free sparring. Disciplined focus and careful application of technique. I 100% agree.”
“Good,” she said, eyes twinkling. “Now let’s hop on the wagon rooftop and we pick up where we left off with spear technique.”
Alex paused, having something he had to get off his chest. “When I knocked your style before… I was totally out of line. it’s clear as day that you absolutely rock with your jian, while using it in the desert sands. It’s a talent you proved firsthand in the crucible of actual battle, the only proving ground that actually matters.”
Ya Ling paled and shuddered, pressing against Alex and wrapped her arms around him. Not to seduce, but to take comfort, he understood that even as he gently rubbed her back.
“Let’s not mention how close I came to getting killed there in front of Reny or Qing Wu, okay Alex? And yes, you did overstep your bounds when you denigrated my art. But you were also dead right. My blade and skills give me beautiful synergy in the desert sands, but I’m still so vulnerable against the wrong opponent that any master of Wind could kill me if I didn’t have time to prepare myself. And if I’m not in terrain favorable to me, my favorite fighting style won’t be half as effective as it is now.”
She squeezed his hand, looking up at him with a sheepish smile. “And I’d be an idiot not to take this opportunity to learn whatever you’re willing to teach me. Because there’s a good chance that the rift oasis filled with natural treasures we’re heading to is the farthest thing from a desert dune.”
Alex’s brow furrowed with concern. “Which means you’ll have no access to you Sand abilities.”
“Not without straining my meridians, no,” she acknowledged, picking up her practice spear and tossing him his own. “Now how about we review the techniques from yesterday?”
Alex was more than happy to do just that, and the rest of the day passed uneventfully, with neither Reny nor Qing Wu any wiser about just how close Ya Ling had come to peril. Fortunately, it seemed they were both in the clear, and the days traversing the desert sands soon fell into a pattern of morning sparring with both spear and swords, each using their elemental techniques defensively only when they free-sparred in the earliest hours of the morning. The rest of the day, however, Alex focused on his own development.
During the hot midday when everyone sensible was taking a nap save for a handful of sturdy teamsters, Alex was doing all he could to rank up his prismatic cultivation technique, draining it with his elemental ward as fast as he absorbed the spiritual energy from his environment, most especially the gorgeous heavenly spiritual energy gifted by the sun itself. Later in the day he would spend his time both working to master his one ranged attack skill, which he truly found delightful to have in his repertoire, and fruitlessly struggle to understand the element of Ice, which kept eluding him despite Qing Wu’s best efforts and how much he practiced. Besides his cultivation pursuits, he also made sure to spend time chatting with and getting to know his fellow travelers and just take a few moments here and there to live fully in the moment, appreciating the simple pleasures of a cool breeze, friendly company, tasty fare, and a beautiful view of nature’s stark majesty all around him. Earthly pleasures as worthy of contemplation as anything else.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
It was in those moments that he felt a genuine sense of gratitude for the priceless treasure that was his life, free of eternally frigid waters and Shui Jun’s restless coils.
One day quickly flowed into the next, Alex soon making friends with the caravanners and most especially the baker always brightening his day with fresh hot loaves of bread Alex happily shared with his kung fu sister. Yet even as he enjoyed rank ups in multiple skills while being awed anew every morning he glimpsed the vast, clear, cloudless skies and hot ochre desert sands that seemed to stretch forever, Qing Wu’s demeanor grew increasingly grave, his lessons shorter and curter, as it became clear that, remarkable as his most recent breakthroughs were, Alex seemed to have very little natural talent for ice at all.
“Not so unusual, all things considered. It is your other talents that are nothing short of absurd,” the cultivator declared with a sigh, running his hands through salt and pepper bristles after another fruitless lesson, shorter than all the others before. “Now, best use your time mastering the skills we already know you have exquisite aptitude for. I will leave you to cultivate and train with your battle sister.”
Alex cleared his throat, almost afraid to ask… but needing to know. “Elder Wu...”
“Yes, Alex?”
Alex paused under the man’s probing gaze, but spoke on, regardless. “Is everything alright?”
Qing Wu gazed at him for long moments, before sighing and shaking his head. “I had thought… no, I was all but certain that the oasis, the rift we seek was nearby. But if the eddies of spiritual energy connecting so many pocket realms to our own truly have shifted their currents...” he gave a helpless shrug. “I’ll have to talk to the captain. He already thinks we should turn back. And we will… after a few more days.”
Alex frowned with concern as the tired looking wujen made his way to the captain’s caravan. Yet if he was worried, Ya Ling was positively brooding.
“We have to make it to that rift,” she declared, squeezing the hilt of her blade as she gazed out at the endless ever-shifting sand dunes with helpless intensity. “If we don’t...”
Alex squeezed her hand in reassurance. “I know.”
She choked back a sob. “If I’m forced to arrive at Silver Sands a damaged prize… without being at my peek, if I fail the entrance trials, or worsen my injuries while doing so...” She shook her head in dismay.
“We’ll find a way,” Alex assured in his gentlest voice. “We’re not going to have you attend Silver Sands like a swan with her wings clipped. That’s a promise.”
She swallowed, despair turning to resolution as she forced a smile. “Damn right, we won’t. And Reny has nothing to worry about. I always feel stronger, after our daily training sessions. I know I’m not pushing too hard. I’m doing exactly what I need to do to heal and nurture my gift, every time we train.”
“Not to mention how quickly you’re improving with both spear and jian,” Alex concurred.
She flinched only once, before giving a determined nod. “Damn right I am.”
“Ya Ling...”
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “The nightmares stopped after the second night.” She gazed down at the ochre sands at their feet. “I still wish I hadn’t had to… but I will feel no shame in doing whatever I have to do to defend myself, and the people who would walk beside me through my life’s journey.”
“Damn right,” Alex said with a smile.
Her soft brown gaze grew determined. “I will do whatever it takes to survive, to flourish… to live life on my own terms. And that sure as hell means I’m not embracing any ‘marriage of convenience,’ no matter what anyone else thinks is best for me.
“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Alex concurred.
“Which means I need to heal the strain to my foundation, one way or another. Which means we’re staying out here until we find that damned rift… and you and I are sparring every day when the sun is at it’s highest and everyone else is sleeping off the heat.”
Alex chuckled, happy to have shifted his own training schedule to better suit Ya Ling’s preferences, and it had certainly paid off, because she was now fighting more fiercely than ever before. Both of them savoring the warm sun caressing their backs and filling their meridians with such glorious warm energy.
She tilted her head curiously. “At first I had insisted upon early morning training because I thought that’s what you needed. But you look as happy to be out here as I am.”
“That’s because I am.”
She smirked at that. “So I’m still trying to figure out how a Ruidian is as comfortable in the sun as a girl blessed with the element of Sand.”
“I already told you. It’s the dragon blood,” he said with a cocky smile that earned him the eye-roll he was counting on.
“Right. Now come at me!”
And Alex did, today practicing with fangtian ji versus jian, and if she had found his spear frustrating to counter, a half-moon axe bladed polearm that could cleave, pierce, and effortlessly trap blades was testing her patience, and focus, like nothing else.
Yet to her credit, all she did was bow and concede the point when Alex trapped her blade or sent it flying, or waited for just the right moment to sweep kick her feet out from under her when she melted into the desert sands and snuck up behind him, only for their battle becoming a grapple of a different sort, and a kiss he hadn’t expected. A kiss he had returned far too vigorously, before suddenly freezing, and stepping back, cheeks hot with shame.
She immediately melted into sand once more before the desert whirlwind revealed a girl holding her head in apology. “I’m sorry, Alex. I… sometimes forget. And when our blood is pumping after sparring...”
Alex swallowed. “Yeah, I get it. Totally.” He forced a chuckle. “The hearts a tricky beast, isn’t it?”
She nodded, sitting on the desert sands before pulling out a discrete flask, taking a sip, and passing it to him. “Do you ever think you’ll see her again?”
Alex froze in the act of accepting her flask, swallowed the lump in his throat, and raised it to his lips, ignoring the unexpected tremble in his hands. “I don’t know,” he said, gazing up at the deep blue desert sky.
She accepted the flask and took another sip. “You could go back home and sneak her out… I mean, if she’s willing… and we could all escape to Liushi together.”
He sighed and shook his head. “It’s a bit more complicated then that.”
“But not impossible, right?”
Alex closed his eyes. “I’m afraid it just might be, actually. It isn’t just distance and a hostile pantheon… I mean, family, that separates us,” he admitted before accepting the flask once more and enjoying the taste of fermented mare’s milk. “This is good.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Really? Most Ruidians don’t seem to appreciate it. But then again, you’re the only one crazy enough to train in the desert sun, or imbibe spirits before nightfall.”
Alex smirked. “True.” he gazed thoughtfully at the fangtian ji in his hands, before making it vanish before Ya Ling’s surprised glance as he drew his dao and summoned his prismatic shield once more.
“That’s right, you have a containment pouch now!”
Alex grinned. “I do indeed. Can you do me a favor?”
“You know it. What do you need?”
“Can you form a sand mannequin for me? Or even just a mound of stiffened resistance.”
She smirked, surprising him with a near perfect rendition of a certain recently defeated wujen, up to and including the wind whipping his robes and his disdainful smirk.
Alex’s eyes widened. “That’s nothing short of incredible,” he conceded.
She positively beamed. “You clearly have good taste.”
He frowned thoughtfully. “Just how sturdy is it?”
“Right now? Damn hard. My spiritual energy is squeezing about it like a vice.”
Alex blinked in alarm. “Wait, Ya Ling...”
“Don’t worry,” she said with a bemused chuckle. “It’s just after high noon on a cloudless day in the hottest, driest part of the desert, and the caravan would be a bunch of fools if Qing Wu couldn’t make water in a pinch. There is no better time or environment for my arts. So this is no more strenuous than stretching and warming up an injured muscle so it actually heals faster, not slower than it would have otherwise.”
Alex flashed a relieved smile. “Good to hear. May I?”
She smirked. “By all means, kung fu brother, show me what you can do.”
Alex smirked and did just that. A casual thrust stopped in the tiniest fraction of an inch. Alex nodded in approval. “Nice!” He turned to face her, feeling his cheeks flush at the sight of the olive-skinned beauty with high cheekbones, soft, full lips, and warm brown eyes. Even now her cheeks were blushing as she lowered her gaze.
“If you look at me like that, Alex...”
Alex swallowed and turned away. “I’m going to strike full force, Ya Ling. Is that okay?”
“If only you would,” she said, chuckling throatily when Alex near-fumbled his blade before striking with all the force he could bring to bear with Ogre-tier Strength and the exquisite grace and coordination that Rank 10 in a basic art could bring him, grunting in satisfaction when his blade managed to sink three inches. Then he winced, realizing he was being a fool, at grave risk of actually damaging the folded steel blade.
Fortunately, a quick extraction and perusal made it clear that it had suffered no damage at all, save for marks left by the sand.
“That’s a pretty damn good defense, Ya Ling.”
Ya Ling, for her part, flashed a pleased smile. “Most warriors and junior cultivators like us, even the very few who have just broken through to Bronze like me, can’t do more than scratch the surface. You’re shield’s incredible, Alex, but were I not still recovering, were we fighting our foes under the midday sun, yours isn’t the only shield that would be stopping arrows, swords, and a wujen’s spell.”
She nodded her head at his blade. “And yes, Alex, I can use my jian one-handed with my Sand Ward, and I’m not so foolish that I don’t now appreciate just how smart it would be to incorporate dao and shield into my sword forms as well, after surviving a battle firsthand, and experiencing swordplay outside of a noble’s sparring ring. But my jian is perfect for when I become one with the sand. It’s the safest fighting style I can use right now. And since my focus is learning the spear as best I can in the days before we dare a rift, I’ll stick with that, until after we dare the rift.”
“Fair point,” Alex conceded, still admiring the sand mannequin that Qi Perception made clear was indeed saturated with Spiritual Energy. Not in quite the same way that the former Fu Lan’s wards were, but the principle was similar, and Alex was hit with sudden inspiration. “I don’t suppose you’d mind if I do some further tests?”
She smirked. “Be my guest.” Though her confident smile soon turned to wide-eyed disbelief when Alex’s spear-hand strike tore through the mannequin as effortlessly as plunging his arm into the far looser sands that the breeze was blowing over their feet.
“How the hell...”
Alex smirked, but ignored her muttered cursing as he closed his eyes, drew his blade, and tried to visualize the pounding oceans just enough to cover his blade before striking once more.
He half expected to be humbled and put in his place, the weapon jarring out of his grip when the water coating his blade just hardened the stands into packed earth.
No one was more surprised than him when his blade plunged through the sand mannequin as effortlessly as spearing water. Which really should have been no surprise, considering how closely tied Metal and Water were for him, even now, holding so much back for the sake of his Dantian and a doom he would do almost anything to avoid.
He shivered as Ya Ling’s curses grew more vocal. “How the hell did you do that, Alex!?”
But he stood their speechless, shuddering as he felt something shift and change within him. Sensing with ever greater clarity something he had done his best to put out of mind, for all that it was integral to the path he dared, and everything he hoped to one day become.
He could both sense Enhanced Water Strike crest the threshold of Rank 7… and he could sense the massive spinning super cable with a rotational orbit as vast as Jupiter’s moons also picking up speed. The accretion disk of lost souls and inconceivable power drew ever closer to the event horizon of the tiny voidal seed trapped at the heart of it all as his supercable's reverberations smoothed ever closer to perfection.
All of which he took to mean one thing beyond the horrid scream he desperately choked back down his throat.
He was on the brink of leveling up.
And how absurd was it to feel such breathless potential with something as humble as achieving Basic Rank 6?
“Alex?”
Ya Ling frowned worriedly at Alex’s dazed expression.
That quickly became a smirk when Alex began attacking her mannequin with renewed zeal. “You’re impressive as hell, Alex, but don’t think you’re going to outlast me.”
He didn’t respond, merely redoubled his exertions, looking for something, and even Ya Ling seemed to sense his zeal for inspiration, just by the way his face lit up when his piercing thrusts became a cleaving blow, and Fu Lan’s effigy lost its head that instantly dissolved into sand in the blink of an eye.
Her smirk turned to a concentrated scowl as she reformed Fu Lan’s sneering countenance, but not before first one then a second arm splashed into sand, cut free as Alex felt the flow water washing effortlessly through the elemental wards holding it in place as his connection to the elements he channeled grew.
Congratulations! Enhanced Water Strike is now Rank 7! You may pierce most wards of Silver Tier or better using your limbs or a sharpened metal blade with a skill check. Wards of Bronze Tier may also be sliced through at a -2 penalty.
The distinction made sense, he absently thought. Piercing strike was all about forcing his attack through an otherwise stable weave, like slipping a pencil through the wire mesh of a screen door. He was grateful to find that Silver Tier wards were once more within his grasp to pierce, and wasn’t at all surprised that his cutting power was one tier lower. To actually cut through a Wujen’s Wards was an altogether different proposition, and Alex suspected it was the synergism between Steel and Water that allowed him to do it at all, a metal blade taking the place of channeling the element in liquid form directly, with all the risks to his Dantian that such entailed.
Alex gave a satisfied smile and stepped back, giving Ya Ling a playful bow. “Your humble Kung Fu brother thanks you for the test dummies.”
This earned a snort, her expression caught between humor and exasperated outrage. “That was absolutely absurd! How did you? Where did you learn how to pierce wards so easily?” She paled and shuddered, eyes growing haunted under memory’s vice. “Never mind. No need to answer that.”
He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “What matters is that we’re here, now, today, able to savor the warm sun caressing our bodies and embrace this fresh chance to ascend and better ourselves in every way we can.”
“While those who crossed us are dessicating under the desert sands, their cultivation journeys cut forever short.”
Alex nodded. “For this life, at least. There’s always a chance for redemption, the next time around.”
She snorted. “Do you really believe that? That there’s anything for us, after we… you know.”
Alex solemnly nodded. “With every fiber of my being.”
Her cynical smile filled with poorly concealed hope. “You don’t know how much I wish that were true,” she said.
Alex held back the lump in his throat, already sensing half a dozen innocent lives filled with sweet moments and positive karma radiating off her, even now.
“Trust me, Ya Ling. You have nothing to worry about in that department. So let’s focus on making the life we’re living right now as rich and rewarding as we possibly can. You up for a little more spear practice?”
“You’re damn right, I am. And this time, no holding back!”
“You’re on,” he said, laughing when her smirk turned to a scowl, as the frustrated sands whipped and whirled around him. Before being caught up in the vortex of Air or Wind Qi enveloping the blade and his form, his spear effortlessly winding past hers as remnants of White Crane mastery manifested in winding spear strikes not even Captain Dui Zhong could counter when curiosity got the better of his disdain for the midday heat and he too joined in their exertions.
You have successfully forced Bronze Tier Body Cultivator’s Spear off-line!
You have sensed your opponent’s weakness. Spear sent flying from weakened grip! (imperfectly healed injury.)
Wind Crane Kung Fu is now Rank 3!
Dui Zhong gazed at the spear windmilling through the air before landing point first into the sands with a look before good-natured laughter burst from his barrel chest and powerful frame. “That’s four times in a row. Impressive, lad. Damn impressive.”
Alex grinned back. “You got the first two points on me, captain, remember? The way you twisted my spear free and hip tossed me caught me completely off-guard. I’ve honestly never encountered anything like it!”
Dui Zhong gave a good-natured snort. “Sure. And you refused to fall for the one trap that actually caught you off-guard a second time! You’re a monster with your shin strikes, and you learned damned fast that pretty spinning heel kicks aren’t worth shit in desert sands!”
“But if that kick had actually landed, if we were on the caravan road...”
The captain smirked at a wide-eyed Ya Ling. “I’d be on the ground with a shattered jaw, maybe a broken neck. That blow could knock a spirit-camel cold!”
Alex grimaced and bowed his head. In truth, he had deliberately tumbled to the sands when he had felt inspiration turn perilously close to disaster, that one kick coming so close to touching the forbidden and putting so many things in jeopardy. From that moment on he had focused only on his weapon, using the force and fury of the swirling Wind Qi all around him to strike far more effective blows and parries than White Crane itself could, which used Wind only as a metaphor. This was the real thing. The difference was in the direction he and his former master had evolved White Crane into something truly revolutionary. This was, Alex suspected, a far more practical and physical martial art.
But he still had every interest in forging Wind Crane into an art worthy of the title, and if he could somehow synergize it to work in conjunction with Enhanced Water Strike, he’d truly have the beginnings of an art worthy of the one he had once given up so much to embrace.
But by the look the captain was giving them and the caravan as a whole… there would be no more group practice for them, at least until nightfall.
“Alright, you two. Time to get in our wagons and get going.” His indulgent smile hardened. “As much as I’m as desperate for a fortuitous encounter as you and our wujen are, Lady Ling, I know better than most do the perils of the desert, and we are truly entering dangerous territory.”
Ya Ling’s post-workout smile grew worried. “Captain Dui Zhong, you don’t have to worry. Master Wu can make whatever water we need.”
“For three dozen men and nearly a dozen spirit camels?” The man snorted. “Sturdy as they are, they’ll be spitting and nipping if we can’t get them watered within the week, and how many hundreds of gallons can our fragile wujen grant us before his foundation is strained beyond repair?”
Dui Zhong gave a sad shake of his head. “Sometimes we have to accept our losses. Sometimes futile struggle only makes setbacks far more bitter than they have to be.”
With those grim words he headed back to the main caravan, and the look Alex and Ya Ling shared said all that needed saying.
When it came to finding hidden sanctuaries and fortuitous encounters, they were rapidly running out of time.