One week into the alleged dragon hunt and Kai was beginning to understand why it wasn't as exciting as he'd been hoping. Closer to civilization, there were endless crowds milling around, planning to go seek dragons but mostly hoping to get lucky. Out in the desert, it was a lot of sand broken by ...
2023-12-03 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostKai wanted to find out more about the golden fire ability that had been used during the match and immediately ran into a problem: everyone wanted to know more. Because he had observed the fight and used advanced spiritual sight on the participants, he actually knew more than most. There were endl...
2023-12-02 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostAt first when the two Diamond Crystalliers met, Kai was taken aback. Instead of using the abilities he expected, they were fighting hand to hand, exchanging what looked like ordinary blows. Actually, as the melee went on, he felt their movements were too elaborate and acrobatic.
Was this en...
2023-12-01 18:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe incident with the other cultivator left Zae Zin Nim disturbed for almost a week, even though she refused to admit it. Instead of going with him anywhere she spent all her time cultivating, despite the fact that she seemed to believe that reaching the next stage in the near future was impossib...
2023-11-30 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostDuring their first week in the city Kai had gone off to engage in random activities, because of course he couldn't contain himself. Zae Zin Nim had been a bit annoyed by his tendencies at first, but now she thought of them as a fond oddity. It just seemed to be in his nature to seek out miscellan...
2023-11-29 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostIn stories winning came down to passion and believing in yourself really hard. In reality, it often seemed to come down to math.
According to Zae Zin Nim, it would cost him 100,000 Goralian Eagles for a perfect breakthrough in his cultivation. He had just over twenty eight of those thousand...
2023-11-28 18:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostSince Zae Zin Nim wanted to freshen up before they left, Kai had a moment to stretch and prepare. He decided to take that time to learn a little more about who they were going to meet, since the first meetings hadn't gone particularly well. Guessing that the servants at an inn this fancy would be...
2023-11-27 18:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day they decided to start off immediately by inquiring with the top merchants. Zae Zin Nim was adamant that they should start with one of the wealthiest, a man named Suortril who apparently controlled trade from Cloudspire. Since Kai had no strong opinions and could use a bargain on cult...
2023-11-26 18:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostNo one came to greet them at the gates of Yulthens. Their sapphire crystallier badges got them in with no trouble, but they saw no sign of being scouted as they explored. Most likely the greatest city in Krysal thought that it was too good to get worked up over visitors with 100 Power.
Thou...
2023-11-25 18:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostAs the horde of monstrous wolves rushed closer, Kai took a deep breath. Far deeper than he should have been able to, his lungs swelling and swelling until he felt as though his chest should have been inflating. His body might have shifted slightly, but thankfully he didn't bloat up like the Infer...
2023-11-24 18:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostDespite the fact that it concluded with a brawl, Kai's time in Romastir resolved mundanely. He spoke briefly to Unklian, who was disappointed to see him go but paid him for the fraction of the next month he'd worked. That left Kai with twenty seven thousand Goralian Eagles, which was still a mind...
2023-11-23 18:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostKai grimaced in pain and instinctively grabbed for the hand holding the knife, but he missed. Naellia took a step back and smirked at him.
"You too?" Kai asked. "What did I do to offend you?"
"Rejecting me. Thinking you're better than everyone else. Ruining a lovely evening." Naellia ...
2023-11-22 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostAnother week passed simply enough, and Kai was glad because it gave him more time to train. He finished mastering his shroud well enough that the other crystalliers couldn't sense anything about him and drained qi crystals until he reached 99%, then right up to the breaking point. Sometimes he fe...
2023-11-21 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostKai next met Zae Zin Nim on the day they were paid. They hadn't planned it exactly, but apparently for security reasons the payments were disbursed by multiple merchants on the same day. After stopping by the Crystallier Headquarters, Kai found himself carrying another bag of gold. Even consideri...
2023-11-20 18:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostReturning to the luxury of Romastir only put Kai more on the edge, but the training lulled him into a false sense of security. The harder he worked, both on his shroud and his cultivation, the easier it was to avoid thinking about the deeper problems. He knew how to gain power, so in a way workin...
2023-11-19 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostKai dropped the merchant to the floor and struck the paper wall, tearing it with surprising ease. Immediately he found himself face to face with Omilaena the Maneater, the woman who had conquered New Laeneria.
He was first relieved that she wasn't Anaelina in disguise, which shouldn't have ...
2023-11-18 18:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostIn the moment the ambush appeared, Kai very nearly attacked. It would have been so easy to unleash a Tyrant's Claw that would have probably destroyed half the street. What stopped him wasn't the fact that he'd reveal himself, since the locals might not even be able to tell the difference, it was ...
2023-11-17 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostKai sprinted through the wastes, chasing down the scent of blood. He could feel it before he could see it, almost like he could see on the other side of the rocks. Instead of going around he leapt directly to the top and found himself staring down at what the locals called a Diresnake.
It w...
2023-11-16 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostMeeting Zae Zin Nim had fired Kai up, and not in the obvious way. Now that he viewed their time in Romastir as a temporary part of his training, he was motivated to try to extract every single iota of power he could from it. Maybe he wasn't making much progress investigating the Krysal City State...
2023-11-15 18:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Kai had first met Zae Zin Nim, she'd been bleeding profusely and hacking up her lungs. The harm to her body had been so severe that it left her stick thin, more skeleton than woman. He had known that she had returned to health after breaking through the Body Refinement stage, but he had most...
2023-11-14 18:00:20 +0000 UTC View PostPhysical training helped Kai work off some of the unease and when it was time for the feast he felt mostly prepared. Still like he was walking directly into a battle he didn't fully understand, but mentally ready for the ambush. Krainuun and several young woman who worked for the merchant attempt...
2023-11-13 18:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe man who had purchased Kai's services turned out to be a local merchant named Unklian, an enormously wealthy man who owned a major crystal mine, or a stake in one, or something technical like that. He was concerned about bandits attempting to attack the crystal shipments and wanted raw muscle ...
2023-11-12 18:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostCould all of this have really been prepared for them? Kai tried not to gawk like the rube they apparently thought he was as he looked around the arena. His attention had been immediately drawn by the small army, but they were mostly weak and likely just part of the evaluation. The real threats sa...
2023-11-11 18:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe group of crystalliers took them through Romastir boisterously, a combination of testing their movement abilities and pointing out the best places to eat or drink in the city. Zae Zin Nim was able to keep up effortlessly, while Kai was fast but not exactly elegant, just jumping or running afte...
2023-11-10 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThere was only one problem with their plan to go to the Krysal City States: a clear look at Kai's soul would still send the majority of people running for their lives. He cultivated as much as he could on their way northwest, but it became clear that he wouldn't be able to reach the peak of the f...
2023-11-09 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostTheir opponent appeared to be fully ready to fight, so Kai's first analysis was purely martial. The arrival had an immediately impact, but his spiritual sight couldn't pierce the veil surrounding the figure. All he could do was use his real eyes and hope he could find some leverage.
The Fro...
2023-11-08 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostAt first Kai had been overjoyed about his new technique, but as they traveled further northwest, discontent set in. Did his total number of monstrous abilities have a hard limit? If so, that would seriously reduce his flexibility.
He wanted to keep his biting technique because it had proved...
2023-11-07 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post(Cognosticon here. While I think I need to scale back with bonus chapters for RR, I will still offer them for patrons. Next benchmark is a consistent 250 patrons.)
After cultivating for a while to calm down after the battle, Kai prepared to take a step into the unknown. Most of his life he'...
2023-11-06 18:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostI'm sorry to do this, but I guess I went overboard with those four chapters yesterday. I know missing a day is bad, but I figured that moving forward with not fully baked chapters is worse. The normal schedule should resume tomorrow and we will get into monster fusion stuff I've been waiting a lo...
2023-11-05 18:11:01 +0000 UTC View Post(Cognosticon here. Since the Patreon has stayed above 100 supporters, everyone is getting two new bonus chapters. Because I'm also giving a bonus to free readers, plus your regularly scheduled chapter, that means you're getting four releases over the course of Saturday. This is bonus chapter 4/4....
2023-11-04 20:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post