Torsten Hewson

v2c36: Length and Breadth

Lu Ri sighed as a young man ran past, shouting apologies at nearly running into him. A part of him flared with anger, while the rest instantly calmed that part. He was merely irritable from a lack of progress. He was absolutely no closer to finding the wayward cultivator than he was when he returned to the sect.

Oh, the trail led to the Azure Hills, as he had last discovered. But that was it. That was where the trail ended. Jin Rou entered Pale Moon Lake City... and then seemed...

v2 c35: A House and a City.

One of the best things about potatoes is how fast they grow. Soon after flowering, the tubers start to grow, and while you have to leave them for a while to get the fully matured potatoes… the young, thin-skinned variety are great too. So I was doing a partial harvest for the fresh young ones, while the rest would grow to their full size and go into the cellars.

We were going to be having a bit of a party, now that Meimei was back home. She had arrived early this morning with Hu Li. G...

v2C 34: The Correct Place

Zhang Fei puffed and panted as he ran up the set of stairs for the second time. He was tired, he was sweaty, he was exhausted. But that, according to Master Bi De, was what he was supposed to feel. It honestly felt a bit good, to run so much, and strengthen his body. How to breathe properly. He could still feel the phantom sensations of wings, pushing his limbs into better positions. This was training. Like in the cultivator stories. He wondered if the Demon Slaying Orchid t...

33.2

Bi De bore witness to the devastation. Only once had he seen such misery, after Chow Ji the wicked’s terrible assault, and yet it was nothing compared to what he saw now. The cheers at his arrival and defeat of the beast had been short lived, instead giving away to a numb shock. The village had gone silent, save for the moans and whimpers of the wounded.

And then the wailing started. Women and men alike began to sob, even as they prepared themselves to deal with what had happened. It ...

Chapter 32 edited conversation

This is the edited version of Xiulan and Gou Ren's conversation. I thought if flowed better this way. Additionally, there is Gou Ren's POV of the conversation, if you wish to read that. Honestly, nothing really changed, but I find it does flow better. A kind of "behind the scenes post, if you will.

Xiulan studied the scene before her. The people crowded around Meihua. Her father, the only man who she had met as tall as Master Jin, was crying as he beheld his grandson. The other men of t...

Chapter 33.1: The Legend Begins

Zhang Fei was bored out of his skull. He had to look after his little sister today, and that meant sticking close by in the village, because she was too young to actually do anything. At least he could go for rocks, and she wasn’t too heavy, especially with the cloth bundle keeping her in place. She was babbling and making little noises. He skirted around giant rock, and nodded to a shepherd as he wandered around the grassy knolls in the sun.

You always started a walk going up. You ex...

32: Conversations

EDIT: I have edited the conversation between Xiulan and Gou Ren, for those who have already read the chapter.

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Her fingers were entwined with her husband’s. The forest was a soothing temperature, with a cool breeze contrasting wonderfully with the blazing sun. The canopy of new growth provided just enough shade.

Jin’s voice washed over her as he gesticulated with his other hand, regaling her of what had happened on the farm in her absence...

31: The Child

“So, Three months for the full effectiveness?” Lady Wu asked, as she stared at the parcel of leaves.

“Yes, this illness in the well is the resilient sort. The purge of it will take a while, and it must be completed in its entirety. Think of it like a dangerous wolf pack. You must slay all of them, else all one has accomplished is to cull the weak. The strong will come back worse than ever.” Meiling explained as she held the other end of the silk brocade. They moved together in s...

v2 C30.3

The stone glided along its edges. Honing it. Bettering it. Maintaining it. It shuddered in anticipation. It was nearly time.

Time to cut.

The warm Qi suffused it. Checking it over for damages, and fixing those that could be fixed. The second rarely did such a thing.

When it said to the Second, when the Second found it, that it liked to cut, he had taken it to mean it liked to cut lives and flesh. He had used it to cut a great many people, and the cutting wa...

30.2

There was a fire raging in Tigu’s breast. This was it. This was what she needed. Confirmation that changing form was possible, and what was needed to change. She needed that mindset. She wasn’t really changing. She was what she was. Human, or Cat, she was Tigu, The Young Mistress of Fa Ram!

How embarrassing that the fish was the one to teach her that. It still burned at her pride, that he had achieved what she coveted without seeming effort. All he needed to do was dodge li...

Meiling: Full Res

This is my gift to everybody. 

Thank you for all your support. 

As always, Art is by Tsuu.

v2c30.1: Progress

It had been a massive surprise when Washy jumped up through the water, kicking the crap out of the fish that had dared to move into his section of the house. I was happy with the excitement, because today had been a bit slow and grindy. And a bit lonely. Xiulan had been meditating all day, and Gou Ren was weeding the sudden expanse of rice patties by hand, with a big old rock on his back. My man was getting some muscles! He was still a little lanky, but he looked, surprisingly, agile. I hesit...

Cover Feedback

Hey everybody. Its been a while since this was posted, and we are inching towards completion of the official cover for the release. Still lots of stuff to get done first, but this is a good step forwards. 

I just wanted to request everybody's feedback before we 100% this.

Edit: The reasoning behind the letters being like that is I wanted a kind of contrast between the peaceful scene, and the more aggressive looking lettering.

I just wanted to expla...

Interlude: The Waterfall

The little fire, raised on a bank of stones, crackled merrily under Wa Shi’s watchful eye. He never thought that he would think this, but there was too much water here. Everything was absolutely drenched from the constant little rainstorms, or the land itself. He had to stack thirty rocks in order to build his firestone, as the rest simply sank into the swamp. Then, actually gathering and drying out the wood was another, hell-sent labour. His Qi rejected the ability to boil water, ...

29.3 Update.

Hello everybody. I was a bit dissatisfied with how the conversation went, and so I have decided to update the chapter, swapping the POV character and some of the events. For those that do not wish to reread the chapter, this is the part that was changed. I hope you enjoy it.

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It was a pavilion on the outskirts of town. Neutral ground. A high garden, built to give a commanding view of the land outside the walls, looking down onto the valley that surrounded the Ver...

29.3

Edit: This Chapter has been edited, completely changing the ending scene.

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Gathering herbs and fungus gave Meiling the time she needed to think. Something she hadn’t been doing yesterday. Yesterday, she saw a problem. So she went about trying to fix it. Her father said that it was a good trait to have as a healer, especially in situations where there were multiple people hurt. Categorize the wounded and the sick. Then start working. Concentrate. ...

29.2

I apologize for the late post, this one kicked my ass the entire weekend.

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“So? How is everything?” Meihua asked, looking a bit exasperated. Meiling raised an eyebrow and removed her fingers from her friend's wrist. Her pulse was good. Better than good, really, the best Meihua had ever felt, strong and steady.

In fact, there was nothing that would normally say Meihua was pregnant. No swollen feet, not fatigue, no sore back, hells, even no m...

29.1: The Hills

Xiulan dodged to the left as I hucked another ball of mud at her, sailing through the air as she leapt to another post. The second ball of mud immediately fired, and she twisted mid-air. But it still managed to tag her, moving at a decent clip. The force of it knocked her off balance, and she had to desperately adjust, choosing a different, smaller pole than the one she originally intended on.

She landed, her arms waving comically, as a mud barrage fired again, and she weaved, dodging t...

v2 c28: Depart

Bi De gazed down upon the town in the pre-dawn light. From his position on top of the enormous coop, he could take it all in. it was a little bit rude, to stand atop another’s coop, but the Master of this place was a human. Bi De doubted the stately man used the roof often. No, it was home to strange ones that shared his form called pigeons. They were like the people of the town. Crammed together brushing shoulders, and constantly chattering.

He observed the town. The winding, cobbled...

v2 c27.3

The exchange was always, always just slightly jarring to walk into. From ‘normal’ medivalish things to basically a mall was odd as hell. There was advertising. There was kind of a food court. There was even a chain. Like, a food chain. ‘Chao Baozi’ a colourful sign proclaimed, with a stylized meatbun on it.

Hells, I had seen one of them in Pale Moon Lake City. Did they have a contract with whatever body governed the exchanges?

Well, they were pretty good....

v2:Chapter 27.2

“Ah, yes, a pleasure to see you once more.” The Lord Magistrate said after a second. He performed a regal looking bow of greeting, as perfect as his station demanded. Right, he had met Big D before, at the farm.

Big D returned the gesture, his feathers puffed up proudly. He examined the Magistrate curiously, while the Magistrate had the same calm face on as always, like he hadn’t just gotten introduced to a chicken that would be solving some of his problems.

He had a remarka...

Addition to chapter 27.1/ my screw up:

I screwed up and accidentally cut off a portion of my own chapter, and then wasn't really paying attention when I posted it. I apologize for that. for those who don't wish to read the chapter over, here is the bit that was missing from the end. I will ensure this will not happen again.

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While the rest of their troupe settled in, His Great Master mentioned paying his respects to the leader of this Verdant Hill.

One his Great Master would have to pay his resp...

Chapter 27.1: The Town

There has been an edit. I screwed up a bit and cut off the last part of the chapter.  I apologize for this mixup.

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Hong Yaowu was just as he remembered it. The many coops for the many flocks of humans that lived here. Each was small and cramped looking, compared to his Great Master’s own grand coop. Their walls were less solid, and their windows uncovered by glass.

The fields too were much smaller. The shoots of their crops, less vibrant...

v2c26: Preparations

Bi De considered at length the bundle of cloth that was to be his source of rations. Small, but not too small. Big enough to carry food, yet not big enough to get in the way. He could certainly live off the land--there were always insects and grains but his brief foray as a test into the lands outside Fa Ram had proved one thing, and one thing only: the world outside was not blessed. The Qi was lower, the taste of the morsels lesser. They were of greatly inferior quality, and he had returned ...

v2 c25: Plants and Clothes

I carefully ran my fingers though the steadily growing shoots. Soil acidity, good. Sunlight, too much. Wind, needs more. I nodded in agreement.

“Lets get you moved over, little guy.” I muttered to the plant, and I imagined its little fronds waving in thanks.

Wait, don’t actually wave in thanks, you’re food. Just the impressions I get are enough.

I grabbed the pot and moved it to a better location, examining the collection. The vast majority were relatively n...

v2c24: Righteousness

When this mission had merely been him fulfilling a minor duty of the Sect, Lu Ri had been relatively frugal. In his mind, the only thing that had been taken up was his own time, and thus he kept resource costs relatively low, save for the one rallying of the disciples.

Now, however, things were important. Important enough to begin to use true techniques. With Elder Ge’s command, he immediately sought the use of a Divining Formation. The answers one got were murky at the best of times,...

Schedule Update

As Said last week, I will be transitioning to three posts a week as the book comes closer to release, to avoid burnout, and keep quality good.

The Post Schedule will therefore be Mon-Wed-Fri. Any extra writing I do get done will be towards getting out more advanced chapters for everybody who is supporting me on patreon.

As always, thank you for you for your time and consideration.

Chapter 23: A Past Conversation

There was a certain mountaintop near the Cloudy Sword Sect. A locus of power, and a meeting place.

Every twelve years, a certain set of sworn brothers met here, high above the earth in a place that would kill a mortal from mere exposure. The wind, the cold, the howling Qi.

Forms shimmered into existence.

Xiao Ge was one, his projection shimmering into existence on the mountain top. It was rough around the edges, because of the distance. He was very far away, but this is why ...

v2 c 22: Set out, Stay in

When he was but a mere Outer Sect Disciple, Lu Ri had made a decision that benefited him greatly. He was deeply immersed in one of the Honoured Founder’s writings, specifically upon etiquette and composure, when he had witnessed one of his Senior Sisters spear another disciple with a mere glance. He froze and recoiled, and even far away from the impact, he felt it. The Intent. He had heard of it before, but never experienced it for himself. He, who wished to join the ranks of the Senior Dis...

V2 C 21: The Search

Please note, the previous chapter has been edited, As I was not happy with the "Tell" nature of it. The dialogue has been expanded if you feel like reading it again, but mostly the same stuff happenes.

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It was a beautiful day in the mortal realm. The sun was bright and warm, the air fresh, and there was a slight breeze through the valley’s tea shop.

Senior Disciple Lu Ri took a sip of his tea. It was a disappointing brew, watery and weak. He could taste the ...