In the box, Sect Master Lan drew up alongside Weiheng Wu. “I’m surprised to see you here for the tournament. You usually refuse any invitations.”
“Mmm. I wasn’t invited this time,” Weiheng Wu replied.
“Is that why you came…?” Sect Master Lan asked quietly, befuddled....
2022-01-01 18:43:15 +0000 UTC View PostA cultivator in short blue robes and billowy white trousers rode up to the opposite side of the stone square on a pure black panther. Like his panther, his hair was sleek and shiny, slicked back from his forehead and bound into a low ponytail. He hopped off and strode up to the arena, one hand on...
2022-01-01 18:42:30 +0000 UTC View PostA faint heat emanated from the back of Hui’s hand. He glanced down and found the silver mark shifting, reshaping into a name. Shan Xe.
I don’t recognize that name. But then, I don’t know many people from our sect. If they weren’t in the outer sect with me, I probably wo...
2022-01-01 18:41:55 +0000 UTC View PostWaving goodbye to the Su siblings, Hui tucked his hands behind his back and hummed to himself. Ah, I’ve done a good deed today. Even if I had to help out a siscon to do it. See, this Hui is a righteous cultivator after all.
Actually… how are those two siblings? If Su Yan is...
2022-01-01 18:41:13 +0000 UTC View PostThe Duke limped down the drive. The trio bobbled after him, following.
“Take me!” Luc begged, blue eyes glimmering with hope.
“We won’t get in the way. We’ll watch from the wall, we won’t be trouble at all,” Yvon promised.
“We can’t,” Emilie argued, but she f...
2021-12-28 19:43:09 +0000 UTC View Post--Twelve Years Later--
Luc leaned his head on his arm, watching sunlight spill over his desk. His hand laid on the line between light and shadow, fingers demarking the edges. He leaned his hand forward, and shadow eclipsed the light. Tilted it back, and light beamed into his palm, ...
2021-12-28 19:42:16 +0000 UTC View PostFire crackled, burning merrily atop a low platform erected in the center of the field. Dark smoke billowed into an overcast sky, low gray clouds oppressive. The smell of burnt flesh blew across the field, taking with it heat and glowing ashen embers.
Wide and broad, the field stretched acro...
2021-12-28 19:41:09 +0000 UTC View PostHey there,
Been working on a side project for a while now. I've put the first chapter up on RR, and I'll put the first three up over here. Called Kingdom of Shadow. Take a peek if you're interested! It's a slow-burn fantasy epic, lots of deep plots and slow-build stuff. If you guys like it,...
2021-12-28 19:40:27 +0000 UTC View PostA hand closed around his shoulder seconds later. “Elder brother!”
Hui turned, brows already furrowed. Who would call me elder brother?
A cute girl with wavy short hair stared back at him, big doe-like eyes wide. Though she was almost his age, she stared up at him from alm...
2021-12-28 03:08:50 +0000 UTC View PostBelow, the five peaks laid out before them. With his enhanced third-stage eyes, Hui could make out ribbons and banners strung along the road. Lanterns bobbled around the paths, dancing in the wind. Cultivators in their cleanest, purest-white robes darted to and fro, cleaning, setting up decoratio...
2021-12-28 03:05:24 +0000 UTC View PostHalfway through the meal, the lights in the room dimmed, save a single pure white beam shining from the heavens on the highest table in the house. A silvery shower of snow rained from the heavens as Bai Bing, Matriarch of the Bai clan, descended to her rightful spot, treading on air as simply as ...
2021-12-28 03:04:31 +0000 UTC View PostAt the sound of the servant girl’s voice, Hui looked up hopefully.
White hair flashed. White robes floated after, touched with red at the neck and sleeves, skirts parting to reveal a flash of red rope. Bai Xue gazed around the room, red eyes narrowed, brows slightly furrowed.
From w...
2021-12-24 03:13:46 +0000 UTC View PostA half-dozen burly men and women crashed down from the skies, digging craters as they landed around the two of them. Dressed in black and white, they all held vicious weapons and regarded Hui and his master with dark eyes.
The servant backed away, breaking out of the circle. Behind her, the...
2021-12-24 03:11:34 +0000 UTC View Post“Hui.”
Hui opened his eyes. I still don’t understand what Master was trying to tell me about my dantians, but I’ve consolidated my realm, so I’ll count that as a win. He turned to Weiheng Wu and nodded.
Weiheng Wu held up the blue robe he’d been working on earlier...
2021-12-24 03:09:21 +0000 UTC View PostHui circulated his qi, silently consolidating his realm. At the same time, he probed his dantians and passageways for irregularities. Nothing stood out. The two systems were identical in all ways, except that one circulated qi, and one circulated death qi.
Rather than any irregularities, hi...
2021-12-24 03:07:54 +0000 UTC View PostEverybody stared. Hui stared back because he had no other choice, too committed to playing dead to even twitch his eyes.
Pressure slammed down on all of them. Li Xiang spread her stance, shoulders struggling. Bai Xue tensed, subtly straining against it.
Hui’s qi stuttered. He circul...
2021-12-20 00:44:32 +0000 UTC View PostBai Xue drew his fan. Li Xiang stepped ahead of them all, brandishing her sword.
Hui glared upward. “Erlan!”
The demonic expert balanced atop his calligraphy brush, a sketchpad clutched tightly in his arms. He hovered before them, his back to half of the lotus girl, the other half...
2021-12-20 00:18:19 +0000 UTC View PostThe lotus girl’s eyes opened, revealing a purple-black, shifting shimmer, lotus dust trapped under a thin layer of glassy film. She turned to them and smiled, baring black teeth as hard and shiny as the lotus pill’s shell. She laughed lightly and danced toward them, half-stumbling, both clums...
2021-12-20 00:17:19 +0000 UTC View Post“Er, Bai Xue, would it be too much to ask for you to be in your yang form?” Hui muttered.
“Huh? Why?” she asked.
“Just in case,” Hui said. Better to have bonus fire if this doesn’t work out.
She glanced at him, then shrugged. Black shimmered over her, flip...
2021-12-19 23:54:02 +0000 UTC View PostHesitating, Li Xiang glared at Jingwen, then retreated to Hui’s side.
Jingwen backed away, putting her hands up. “I don’t want to fight. Just leave me be.”
“Sure. Give me your outer robe,” Hui agreed.
“Eh?!” Li Xiang asked, startled.
Jingwen shot him a horr...
2021-12-19 23:43:21 +0000 UTC View PostHey folks,
Chapters are going to be coming out a little late this week. Unfortunately I found myself somewhere with absolutely no internet and very little cell phone reception available for the weekend, so uploading a big batch of chapters isn't possible. But... I should be in somewhere wit...
2021-12-18 22:56:45 +0000 UTC View PostBai Xue and Li Xiang leaped back, breaking apart. Opposite them, Zhang Zhou stood, expressionless as always. Curse marks roiled over his skin, morphing and changing with every moment.
Panting, Bai Xue wiped blood off her cheek. Li Xiang frowned and held her sword one-handed, other sleeve bl...
2021-12-12 03:04:39 +0000 UTC View PostThe curse mark shattered. Bai Xue and Li Xiang burst out, charging up into the crowd. Li Xiang hurtled at Zhang Zhou with a shout.
He spread his feet and reached up. Curse marks on his arms glowed red, rotating around his forearms and wrists and tracing down the backs of his hands. Like sna...
2021-12-12 02:45:47 +0000 UTC View PostHui fell into darkness. His qi searched into the pitch, desperate for a light, any light.
At last, a distant heat. He turned toward it, peering after the heat. It flickered, sometimes ice cold, other times blazingly hot. Hui pushed onward, searching. Where?
Flickering, Xue’...
2021-12-11 18:40:44 +0000 UTC View PostA blast of superheated mist blasted into the room as the two met. Hui cowered back, nearly thrown back by the force of the clash. Lesser cultivators went flying, thrown to the walls of the room.
Fenfeng attacked. Her sword traced a frosty trail through the air. Flicking his fans casually, X...
2021-12-11 18:35:15 +0000 UTC View PostThey reappeared in a dark tunnel. Distant light gave a hint as to its shape, but none of the details could be seen. Bai Xue lifted his hand, and the fiery butterfly lifted off and fluttered ahead of them.
Each flap of its wings illuminated a rough-cut tunnel, walls built of bare earth, rein...
2021-12-11 18:18:07 +0000 UTC View PostLi Xiang lifted her sword over the unconscious man’s body. Hui hesitated, then grabbed her arm.
“What this time?” she demanded.
“Wait, elder sister. It’s unjust to kill a sleeping enemy. What if we leave him and interrogate him later, instead?” Hui asked.
“I like t...
2021-12-11 17:58:51 +0000 UTC View PostThoughtful, Hui walked over to the barrier and squatted down. He reached out and probed the barrier with a strand of qi.
Qi lashed out at him. Icy cold poured through his forearm. Hui jolted back, retreating.
“Barrier got you?” Bai Xue asked, chuckling.
“Mmm,” Hui mutter...
2021-12-04 18:53:15 +0000 UTC View PostThe last of the mist faded away. Hui found himself in the branch family’s complex again. He looked around, searching. Narrow streets wound through small houses, themselves well-kept, though a bit worn and tired, as if no one had lived in them for a time.
This isn’t the center square...
2021-12-04 18:46:34 +0000 UTC View PostYet again, Hui turned a corner and bolted into a wide-open space. Again, a duck awaited him, furious and primed to fight. It leaped off the ground and flapped at him, whirling around to strike with its claws at the last second.
Hui drew the flint from his robes and held it out, circulating ...
2021-12-04 18:38:26 +0000 UTC View Post