On top of a mountain in the Sea of Snow sat six figures. Before them were trays of perfectly cooked food and fine alcohol; before them were the heavens, dancing with the rainbow light of the northern auroras. Xiao Ge of the Cloudy Sword Sect looked out over the world… and felt a sense of contentment.
With him were his fellow elders, Tianzhe Minyan, The Imperial Herald, and Shen Yu.
It was the last day of the New Year's festivities, and Shen Yu had arrived bearing a meal, along w...
2025-06-08 02:35:46 +0000 UTC
View Post
Fa Bi De waved goodbye to the Thunderhooves, as Shen Yu’s sword lifted into the air. The forest stretched out below them: pale white grass on the ground, the glowing fungus on the trees, and the frost dancing in the air graced Iceheart Forest with an otherworldly beauty.
“Man, in stories, this kind of place is some sort of dangerous forbidden zone… but we can come here whenever we want,” Yun Ren mused.
Master Forest Sweeper had been most kind, in extending an open invitati...
2025-06-06 05:21:09 +0000 UTC
View Post
He Who Sweeps The Forest Floor Of Snow and Opens The Way—or Forest Sweeper, as his name was often shortened to—could not help the smile upon his face as he listened with rapt attention to the sword shaped like a human before him.
“Bi De comes from the side, his body alight with Qi. The bastard lifts a finger to bat him away. The finger should suffice—he is in the Imperial Realm. But it is not enough! A finger. Then two, then his whole hand is forced,” Shen Yu narrated...
2025-06-03 05:47:53 +0000 UTC
View Post
Spooks watched as a bundle of firecrackers danced along the ground popping and banging, leaping up into the air, and jerking this way and that. He had finished packing, and was now just waiting for the humans to be ready.
He approached the circle standing around the crackers slowly, not making a sound as he joined the group. He positioned himself just behind Tigu and Yun Ren. He caught Bi De’s eyes for a brief moment, the rooster smirking at his appearance.
The early morning was...
2025-05-31 03:27:23 +0000 UTC
View Post
The New Year’s celebrations continued; the thumping of drums and the joyous music was ever present. Xiulan found it very enjoyable, but even she had her limit to the partying.
She was also distracted by the news about her mother. Not the bad kind of distracted. The news didn’t pull up any bitter feelings; quite the opposite. Instead… she was hopeful that she could reconnect with her mother. To think that letters had been sent, but never arrived. Some part of her thought that...
2025-05-29 06:09:56 +0000 UTC
View Post
I woke up to the feeling of something ticklish on my nose. I absently tried to swat at the feeling, but my right arm was weighed down. Assuming that was the arm Meimei had slept on last night, I tried my other arm… only to have that one weighed down too.
There were two sets of muffled giggles. My nose tickled again. I opened my eyes, and raised an unimpressed brow at my tormentors. Meiling was laying on one arm, Xiulan on the other. It was actually a rather nice view… but it was rui...
2025-05-27 04:53:45 +0000 UTC
View Post
The world felt odd. Like it was spinning. Xiulan felt something strange in her chest. Meiling, who had been in the middle of washing Tigu’s hair, turned at the words. Her shock was clear. Ri Zu and Pi Pa, who had been talking about the celebrations, similarly froze.
Xiulan’s words broke through the haze of drunkenness; Bailu’s eyes widened, and then a small grin formed on her face.
“Ah! Xiu lan,” Bailu enunciated the parts of Xiulan’s name, ...
2025-05-24 02:46:56 +0000 UTC
View Post
Some people have brought up Yun Ren being in the brothel last chapter. It was meant to be him more catching up with Yuanlin, but I think I might remove it. in any case, heres the chapter!
=======================
One day Before the New Year:
Nezin Han, Chief of the Nezin Tribe, had seen a great many things in his sixty five years of life. He had seen the Seven Flame Aurora of the Sea of Snow, painting the skies in all the colours of the rainbow, a tide of...
2025-05-22 05:25:33 +0000 UTC
View Post
The Day before the New Year:
Moving at a mortal pace was quite boring, Su Ge mused as they walked through the snow. The week had still been agreeable enough despite the need to escort them. Even the hangers on had been tolerable.
Yuanlin was more concerned with the safety of the mortals than trying to flirt with Lu Ri, which Su Ge could respect. The woman took her duty seriously, and while she was flirtatious… oddly, she seemed to be genuinely trying to help Su Ge with her cloth...
2025-05-20 03:38:58 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hong Meiling was a naturally suspicious person. She had always been the stick in the mud who had hung back when their village met new people, eyes searching for any hint of treachery. In her experience, that character trait at least had served her and her family well… And even if Gou and Yun liked to tease her about it sometimes, they trusted her when she said something was wrong.
Overly friendly people were the most likely to be the ones trying to pull something. But as she watched o...
2025-05-11 02:40:13 +0000 UTC
View Post
Artwork of serious Mei by Tsuu
2025-05-09 05:45:52 +0000 UTC
View Post
It took quite a lot to surprise Xiulan anymore. Fa Ram had a way of making the most absurd things seem natural. But this? This was a bit much, even for her.
Everyone knew of the elegance, the control, the grace of the ladies of Soaring Heaven’s Isle. They were legendary even in the Azure Hills, and of all the tales of powerful sects her mother had told to her when she was young, Xiulan had enjoyed the ones about Soaring Heaven’s Isle the most. The tales of those cultivators, who rea...
2025-05-09 05:32:35 +0000 UTC
View Post
“What the Hells should I do?” was the thought running through the mind of Wakokukin Seiyu, the Tsunami Wing of Soaring Heaven’s Isle Sect, as she flew onwards towards their destination. The Windward Blade moved sedately behind her, its speed cut by the Qi void they were flying through.
It was an annoying beast, snapping and drinking her Qi. They planned to pick up their victuals and then spend the New Year’s leave drinking in the Sea of Snow, or perhaps G...
2025-05-07 04:25:47 +0000 UTC
View Post
One Day before the New Year: Northern Azure Hills
Lu Ri, Senior Disciple of the Cloudy Sword Sect, considered the landscape before him. Each breath came with labour, the air near devoid of Qi, but that was simply the nature of the Azure Hills. They were deep into the province now, and the last of the freezing Qi from the Sea of Snow had long since passed.
“This place is most disagreeable,” Core Disciple Su Ge muttered under her breath, glaring out at the landscape as ...
2025-05-05 03:07:08 +0000 UTC
View Post
As seen in the Solstice Battle, Jin's "Super mode"
2025-05-02 16:50:15 +0000 UTC
View Post
One day before the New Year:
The streets of Grass Sea City were awash with red and gold. Lanterns hung in their millions. Dragon and Phoenix pennants were draped from the sides of buildings in such numbers that it looked like the great towers of the city were dressed in fine robes. Even the bridges were decorated this year, streamers cascading out of Underbridge and dancing in the cold winter air.
The forges had been shuttered. The great places of industry the city was known for w...
2025-05-02 04:58:48 +0000 UTC
View Post
And so time marched on. Slowly, ever so slowly, the events of the Solstice were left behind. Wounds scabbed over. Nightmares faded to simply bad memories.
The New Year approached, under the relentless march of time.
=======================
There was something to be said for downtime.
Though Biyu loved her job, and could and would work until Master Jing had to tell her to go and rest, having other projects was fun too!
She could sit around and do nothing, but it a...
2025-04-29 03:43:18 +0000 UTC
View Post
Biyu leaned back in her chair with a contented sigh and patted her stomach.
“As good as the stalls in Pale Moon Lake City,” she praised, and Wa Shi preened. He had somehow managed to grow the lake weed that was ubiquitous in Pale Moon Lake cooking in the river, and Biyu had to admit it was just as good as her favourite food stall.
She could cook well enough to survive, and if she wanted she could get a maid… but it was comforting to go to the same man she had been going to f...
2025-04-26 06:02:43 +0000 UTC
View Post
Zhang Wei, whose nickname was Loud Boy, had known they were about to be in for a nearly unbelievable tale.
And he was right. The events on the Solstice… if he hadn’t known his friends, and hadn’t seen some of what happened in the memory crystal, it would have sounded like some tale from a scroll.
But it wasn’t unbelievable. It wasn’t some fantasy. He could see the memories flash over his friends’ eyes. He could hear the still-present wounds the battle had inflicted on ...
2025-04-25 03:33:48 +0000 UTC
View Post
From one teacher to the next.
Art by Tsuu
2025-04-23 23:56:43 +0000 UTC
View Post
Though the Lord Magistrate assured them that everything was fine, they got moving as fast as they could. Biyu once more found herself in the back of the cart, speeding towards their destination.
It was only after they had been half an hour on the road that Biyu realised that their hasty departure could be seen as an insult… but she didn’t really care at the moment. And besides, the Lord Magistrate didn’t try to stop them, and even gave them extra cloaks, so that meant he was fine ...
2025-04-22 06:10:34 +0000 UTC
View Post
Wa Shi and Zhuye take a nap. Art by Tsuu.
2025-04-14 21:57:49 +0000 UTC
View Post
Dong Chou, known as Rags to most, let his feet guide him steadily forward as he broke a path for Wei, who was carrying the wagon. The entire trip north had been a bit of a shitshow so far, and Rags was glad he was a cultivator. Oh, he knew the north got way more snow, and was a lot colder than his usual haunts, but knowing and knowing were two different things. It had been up to his chest in some places, and if Xiulan hadn’t taught them that ‘light foot’ thing all the ...
2025-04-13 01:45:13 +0000 UTC
View Post
Tigu sat on the couch, watching her Master with a slight frown on her face. Something was obviously weighing heavily on both his and the old man’s minds today. They had both been up on the roof all night and for most of the morning talking about something, and it was probably something heavy.
Heavy, but not something that would directly affect Fa Ram, because her Mistress was still unbothered. If something bad was about to happen her eyes would be as sharp as Tigu’s claws and there ...
2025-04-11 03:42:12 +0000 UTC
View Post
They sat together under the stars; the night air blew against them, bitter and cold, with only a fading warmth from the tea in his hands to combat the chill. It was perfect for Shen Yu’s mood. Telling his story had drained him in ways he didn’t think possible.
He had never told any before Jin what he had, not from his point of view like this. Not even Ge. It was a raw, painful thing, even after so long. It was an admission of weakness. A weakness that the Unconquered Blade could not...
2025-04-09 02:10:41 +0000 UTC
View Post
In his memories, it was all so perfect. Bu was a treasure; and Qinxiao looked so radiant. He remembered the pride that burned in his chest as he looked at them both.
When his son came of age, his training began. It was not Shen Yu’s training, begging drunks for their secrets. No. Shen Yu taught his son personally. Each lesson would see him have only the best. There would be no bad habits to unlearn later. There would be no unstable foundation in his son.
Qinxiao found it endeari...
2025-04-04 05:05:21 +0000 UTC
View Post
“I grew up in the Crucible, just like you—an orphan.” Gramps began.
=============================
He still remembered the flames. The crashing of the timbers, and the screeches of the stone.
He remembered the smell.
It would later be called the Great Crucible Fire. It would bloom into a city-wide emergency.
The fire fighting companies hadn’t responded to the fires because the residents of the lower wards couldn’t aff...
2025-04-02 05:14:26 +0000 UTC
View Post
Going tobogganing proved to be just the thing we all needed. One of the hills in the back was a bit misshapen from the battle, but it had emerged largely unscathed.
“Waaaaaaaah!” Zhuye cheered as we thundered down the slope. He was in his momma’s lap, and Meimei was in my lap, all three of us on the piece of wood. He raised his little arms in the air and hollered for all he was worth.
Both of us couldn’t help but laugh at the enthusiasm. It was his first time...
2025-03-30 23:34:48 +0000 UTC
View Post
The second day of having the Elders here came and went. There had been a bit of apprehension about how the Elders were going to react but it proved to be unnecessary… though I guess that did make sense. People said back in the Before that top CEOs and other powerful people were surprisingly easy to talk to, and that proved true here too. They weren’t just powerful people, they were also the leaders of massive organizations that could topple nations if they put their minds to it.
...
2025-03-28 03:22:51 +0000 UTC
View Post
The roar of battle thundered in his veins, yet his heart beat steadily. He could smell his foe. He could taste him on the wind. His jaw was held loosely, ready to snap and crunch.
He was called Shaggy, second of his name. He was a proud warrior. He was a protector of the flock.
He was a Good Boy. No, not a Good Boy. Big Bro Jin said he was the Best Boy.
His tail unconsciously wagged.
A sharp whistle from his brother, his closest packmate cut off his happi...
2025-03-26 01:11:41 +0000 UTC
View Post
