Chapter 24

Immediately, Jackie's Granddad fired off a Roaring Technique that seemed to have some kinda heat to it. Instead of letting himself get hit by that sorta thing, Jackie disappeared in a puff of sand as he engaged the Great Sand River Bears Away the Serpent Technique, reappearing just in time to use the Resplendant Crane's Wing Block to parry a punch that had a buncha piercing and rage Chi in it at the wrist, pecking at his Granddad's Temple with a Crane's Beak Strike to counter, which his Granddad leaned away from.

Jackie lashed out, using the Great Sand River Wears Away Steel Technique to belch a torrent of abrasive sand particles at his Granddad at point blank range, but the Old Man seemed to weather the storm just fine, channeling a buncha Dragon Chi to his skin. For a second, Jackie coulda sworn his Granddad'd grown a shitload of dragonlike scales that'd blocked the sand particles. The Old Man sure as shit took advantage of Jackie's shock at seeing that, lashing out with a kick infused with River and Rage Chi that smashed into Jackie's Guard and sent him reeling backward, feet digging a pair of furrows into the turf.

Jackie skidded to a halt in time to see his Granddad leap up with the Qirin's Flighty Leap and dive down at him with a flying dive kick that was infused with Heaven, Fire, and Rock Chi. Not wanting to get hit with whatever that was, Jackie used the speed granted to him by the Quicksilver stepping method and Wave Step to throw himself to the side, just barely avoiding the kick that slammed into the turf and created a giant, scorched, crater that was a bit over thirteen feet wide and threw up a buncha dust and flames to boot. Jackie looked back at that and shook his head.

"Damn, Old Manm, what the hell was that?" He questioned.

"That, Grandson, was the Qirin's Heavenly Meteor Bombardment. You did well to avoid it, I daresay most combatants couldn't do so. At the same time, you avoided the Lion's Mighty Pronouncement with an odd technique." Informed his Granddad.

"Yeah, that's the Great Sand River Bears Away the Serpent. Brother Sandy taught me that." Informed Jackie.

"And I assume you also learned that sand-belching technique from Sha Wujing as well?" Queried his Granddad.

"Yeah, the Great Sand River Wears Away Steel. What's your point?" Asked Jackie.

"My point, Grandson, is that it seems that we both have techniques that the other doesn't know of. I had not thought that was going to be the case." Grinned Jackie's Granddad.

"Thought this shit'd be one-sided?" Questioned Jackie.

"It was a fair assumption to make, Grandson." Insisted Jackie's Granddad.

"Yeah, well, I ain't gonna make this too easy for you." Huffed Jackie.

"I wonder how many more new techniques you have? Would you care to show me?" Queried Jackie's Granddad.

"Only if you show me how the fuck you grew dragon scales." Retorted Jackie.

"The Qirin's Glorious Coat. You would learn it in time anyway. Still, I think we will call this my win. I did hit you while you could not lay a finger on me." Mused Jackie's Granddad.

"Who says this is over?" Asked Jackie.

"Look around, Grandson. We will already have to redo the landscaping. Why waste more money?" Questioned Jackie's Granddad.

Jackie frowned, looking around at the section of property they were fighting in and seeing the damn place was trashed. His Granddad'd gone full-on with the destructive techniques. There's already three giant craters, plus part of the lawn was scorched away from the Qirin's Mighty Pronouncement, and part of the Lawn'd been stripped of grass and topsoil by Jackie's Great Sand River Wears Away Steel Technique. Not to mention the twin furrows Jackie's legs'd dug into the turf and the buncha sand laying around from Brother Sandy's Techniques.

Jackie hadta admit that the place was trashed. Honestly, it looked like a section of yard that was a couple houses wide had been totalled from the fight, and they'd only been using Chi for a couple of exchanges, plus it'd been a friendly sparring match. If they'd been doing this for real? Well, they'd probably have fucked up most if not all of Bristol County before one of 'em pulled out a win. That was just how high-level Chi-Based Combat tended to go, it seemed. Jackie was briefly reminded of watching Brother Sandy and Brother Piggsy fight Orphion and utterly wreck up a section of ruins that was the size of the City of Athens. He ain't thought that he'd get to that same level so fast, but here he was.

"Fair enough, Old Man." Grunted Jackie, kipping to his feet.

"Still, this was more than what I expected of you." Nodded Jackie's Granddad.

"Oh yeah? Did I pass your test?" Queried Jackie.

"Oh yes. I had expected to pull off a victory, but I had expected you to be unconscious. I did not think you would make me work so hard for one. Had I known how far you had progressed up the ladder to heaven, I would have likely not done this here." Acknowledged Jackie's Granddad.

"Ain't looking to wreck up the property?" Asked Jackie.

"Indeed." Nodded Jackie's Granddad.

"That's enough, you two, come on in and let's finish dinner!" Called out Jackie's Ma.

"Yeah, I worked hard on it, and I'd hate to think you didn't appreciate my effort." Added Jackie's Uncle Chen.

"Don't get him started, he'll play the victim all day if you do." Warned Jackie's Uncle Li.

"Though I do have to wonder if your Mystical Studies have progressed as far as your Cultivation Ones." Mused Jackie's Uncle Lu.

"Talk to him about them yourself after we finish dinner, Lu. The food is waiting, and wasting it would be wrong." Insisted Jackie's Uncle Wen.

"Still, that was a heck of a show. Not like what I managed." Grumbled Steph.

"You'll get there." Grinned Jackie, teasingly.

"And just for that, you're gonna get it." Cautioned Steph.

"Come on. Let us head back inside." Intoned Jackie's Granddad.

Steph just stuck her tongue out at Jackie, who snorted in amusement. The atmosphere'd sure as hell changed on a dime, not that Jackie was complaining. He'd rather have a fun time with family than be fighting with 'em, that's for damn sure. He followed his folks back across the Ward Lines, shaking his head as he did so. Sure, they'd wrecked up part of the property, but that ain't nothing a bit of dough spent on landscaping couldn't cure. And the Yuens had a lotta dough to spare for shit like that. Nobody'd been actually hurt, though Jackie's Pride'd been bruised a touch. He'd been hoping to land at least one blow. Jackie's Granddad must've been able to tell what Jackie'd been thinking, though, 'cause he looked over at Jackie with a grin on his face and shook his head at him.

"You know what they say, Grandson. Age and Treachery beats out youthful exuberance nine times out of ten." Chuckled his Granddad.

"Yeah? Just you wait, Old Man. I'll beat you one of these days." Vowed Jackie.

"And on that day, Grandson, I shall congratulate you gladly." Smirked Jackie's Granddad.

Then the family sat back down at the dinner table, and there was no more talk of fighting for the rest of the meal. . .

XXXX

Bixi had pinpointed the source of the disturbance that had stirred him awake. It was far away, on the other side of the world. He frowned as he realized that making his way to that area would necessitate him crossing into the Dominion of the Feathered Serpent, at least for a little while. True, he may be able to bypass such complications by changing his form to that of a mortal man and traveling in the mortal plane, but that would cause other issues. He had been asleep for some time, after all. Doubtless, the Mortals had changed a fair bit from when he had last been awake, some one-thousand-two-hundred years ago.

Still, he had few enough options as it was. He would have to risk it, though there were ways to ensure he arrived in the mortal realm inconspicuously. For instance, he had a number of safe hideaways that he could use in places such as Wuzhou that he had secreted away before he had gone into slumber. He would materialize there in the mortal realm as a mortal, gather up some of the resources he had secreted away there, and begin to make his way east to the lands where the disturbance had occurred.

Concentrating for a moment, Bixi shrank down from his normal colossal size, his scales, claws, fangs, and shell all receding along with his draconic appearance as he took on the form of a Mortal Scholar in Noble Clothing of the latest fashions back when he had first gone to sleep. Once he was satisfied he could pass as a normal, if wealthy, Mortal, he concentrated once more and dematerialized, rematerializing in a chamber that he had prepared filled with relics and mortal currency. He took a purse of the Gold Tongbao Coins that he had seen minted last he was here, before thinking and taking a purse of silver and bronze Tongbao Coins as well. There was no sense in paying more than he had to for passage, after all.

Of course, there would be a slight problem in trying to hire a ship and crew for the journey. Most Mortals would balk at having to sail far enough east that they were effectively sailing into the unknown, even at the direction of a patron who knew where they were headed. Bixi may have to find a sorcerer to teleport him that far east with magic instead. Either way, it was likely that he would wind up using the gold regardless, since either option would likely prove to be quite expensive. Still, it was mere mortal currency, so Bixi was not too worried. After all, it was hardly as if mere gold and silver were irreplaceable. It wasn't that precious a sacrifice.

"Mortals attach importance to the oddest things." Mused Bixi, his voice rumbling somewhat.

Frowning at that, Bixi realized that he would have to change his disguise's voice to match its appearance. There was still far too much of the Dragon in the rumbling echo that he now sported. Focusing for a moment, he felt his disguise's voicebox change to be more in line with the outward appearance.

"That is far better." He opined in a more normal, mortal tone.

Then, once he had his disguise and his Mortal Currency, Bixi headed out of his hidden cache to see what the Mortal Realm was like these days and to hopefully barter passage east into the lands where the disturbance lay. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we see the rest of Jackie's Grandad testing him, along with more about Bixi and a bit more character interactions. Hopefully, you guys enjoyed it, though the next chapter will cut out action for more Character Interactions and setup for Bixi's arrival. If you couldn't tell by now, Bixi's arrival and dealing with it is the next big Arc. As one of the Nine Sons of the Dragon King Ao Guang, Bixi is someone who is on par with some of the Guys from Mount Meru that Jackie met before going to Olympus. It's gonna be a big thing.

Of course, the last time Bixi was in the Mortal Realm was during the Tang Dynasty in the Seven-Hundreds AD. He's going to find that things have changed quite a bit from his time and that making his way East to the Americas is going to be both harder and easier than he'd thought. Easier because he can just get on a plane instead of having to hire a ship and crew for a special trip into the unknown, and harder because nobody takes Tang Dynasty Coinage anymore, or even thinks and acts the same way they used to when last he was awake.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the rest of Family Dinner, with character interactions, alongside more of Bixi's trip to the Mortal Realm as he tries to figure out how to get to the Americas.

Stay tuned. . .