G. Tolley

Chapter 443 – Life 116, Age 17, Martial Disciple Peak

Following the successful conclusion of the Heavenly Ascension Tournament, the Broken Spear Outpost remained packed with cultivators from distant towns and sects, while the Grandmasters who had been keeping them in check had vanished, causing the streets to slip into barely restrained chaos.

According to the Bureau’s regulations, my sectmates and I were supposed to be protected from any and all attacks for the next several months. However, with the outpost in such disarray, a chance en...

Chapter 442 – Life 116, Age 17, Martial Disciple Peak

The day after our successful Heavenly Ascension, my sectmates and I visited the Bureau to receive our rewards. There was no ceremony nor any other form of fanfare—just an old man leafing through a pile of paperwork that was strewn across a lacquered desk.

As had become the norm, Kan stepped forward to handle things. “Hello, sir. We’re here to complete the procedures for upgrading our sect.”

The old man only gave Kan the briefest of glances before pulling out a truth stone ...

Pausing Payments for the Next Month

Hello everyone,

TL;DR: I am pausing payments starting tomorrow, Nov 12. Only payments--not chapters.

So, I haven't been keeping my end of the deal here, and you have all been getting far fewer chapters than you are supposed to. I've looked at a few methods of compensation, and from what I can tell, it looks like the best way to handle this is just by pausing payments.

This will not affect the posting schedule. You will still receive...

Chapter 441 – Life 116, Age 16, Martial Disciple Peak

By defeating the team from Blackblade Hall, we had secured our promotion to First-Class, Eight-Star Sect. All that remained was one final match to decide what prizes we would be walking away with.

Before rushing into this last battle, however, we needed to prepare. So, while Meng LuYao and JiuLi went about retrieving the scattered fragments of their broken weapons, Kan and YuLong sat down on cultivation mats to restore their energy. A few hours later, once everyone had recovered as much...

Chapter 440 – Life 112, Age 16, Martial Disciple Peak

When I opened my eyes, I found myself back at the side of the arena—my friends next to me, our ten black-robed enemies opposite us. Looking around, studying everyone, I felt a weight settle onto my shoulders.

Kan and YuLong were good fighters, but quickly defeating multiple opponents was a challenge, even for them. The Blackblade Hall cultivators weren’t particularly skilled, but that poison qi more than compensated for their lack of ability. Even with my memories of that first bout...

Chapter 439 – Life 111, Age 16, Martial Disciple Peak

During the Bureau’s Tribunal, I had declared that I was the Supreme Elder of the Amorphous Blade Sect, but what exactly did this mean? What duties and responsibilities did this title entail?

A Supreme Elder did not involve themselves in petty politics or administration. They existed for one purpose: to serve as a final line of defense. If anything threatened their sect's survival—whether from within or without—the Supreme Elder was there to save it, or if necessary, avenge it.

Chapter 438 – Life 111, Age 16, Martial Disciple Peak

One hour after fighting us, the Blessed Spear Sect went back up on stage to fight the third First-Class Sect, the Heavenly Saber Sect. As soon as spear met saber, it was clear that these two sects were evenly matched, but after a series of long, grueling fights, the Blessed Spear Sect edged out a win by the slimmest of margins.

Then, just an hour later, before their wounds had a chance to stop bleeding, the Heavenly Saber Sect was forced back up on stage—this time, against us.

T...

Chapter 437 – Life 111, Age 16, Martial Disciple Peak

The stage for our first match lay in a wide, bowl-shaped hollow to the north of the Broken Spear Outpost. During most of the year, this place was submerged beneath a cold, clear lake, with terraces of water herbs swaying just beneath its surface. During the tournament, however, this lake was drained and its terraces repurposed to hold thousands of spectators.

Our opponents in this round were Blessed Spear Sect, a team of five young Disciples who had all been raised in one of the nearby ...

Chapter 436 – Life 111, Age 16, Martial Disciple Peak

As the end of the year approached, the Broken Spear Outpost grew crowded. Disciples wearing the robes of unfamiliar sects filled the streets, with each group eager to show off their prowess. The local Bureau was only authorized to promote sects from nine-star to eight-star, but established Eight- and Seven-Star Sects still came to compete for the Bureau’s generous rewards.

With hundreds of young Disciples flooding into the outpost, and only a handful of officials around to keep them i...

Chapter 435 – Life 111, Age 16, Martial Disciple 3

Lord Tong sat rigidly at her desk, scowling at me until I sat back down. She didn’t seem overly concerned with the specifics of whatever punishment we might receive, but she clearly took issue with my having disrupted the proper order of the Tribunal.

“Let us proceed,” she said at last, each word clipped with restraint. “The Tribunal will hear the second charge.”

The judge to our right studied his ledger for a long moment before speaking. “An inventory of the Amorphous...

Chapter 434 – Life 111, Age 16, Martial Disciple 3

The three enforcers marched us through Broken Spear Outpost, chains rattling in rhythm with our steps. The moment the locals caught sight of the enforcers’ black-and-silver uniforms, they hurried to the sides of the street, with only a few willing to cast quick, curious glances in our direction before lowering their eyes in practiced indifference. By the time we reached the Bureau, the noise of the city had faded to a heavy stillness broken only by the dull echo of our footsteps.

Afte...

Chapter 433 – Life 111, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

Killing the Lord of Black Point City’s son had left us in a dangerous position, but not because of the Lord himself. Against the resources of my inner world, the wrath of a mere Lord was meaningless. No, the real danger was the Sect Affairs Bureau. If we didn’t handle this situation properly, it could unravel everything we were trying to build.

To try and prevent this, the moment we appeared in our suite, I gathered everyone up and marched us straight to the Bureau. There, Kan proud...

Chapter 432 – Life 111, Age 16, Martial Disciple 5

Upon our return to the Broken Spear Outpost, we went straight to the Sect Affairs Bureau and turned in the two missions that we had actually completed, a process that proved as tedious as it was macabre.

As the clerk drew each head from our sack one at a time, stacking them neatly on his counter, we were forced to answer a long series of questions under truth stone to verify that these heads belonged to who we said they did. Once this was done, we then had to spend another ten minutes p...

Chapter 431 – Life 111, Age 16, Martial Disciple 5

Author's Note: Sorry this was supposed to have already gone up. Not sure why it didn't.

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Our targets were located in Iron Sand Village, a small settlement south of Black Point City. After cross-checking the position of this village against the details on our mission slips, we guided our carriage in a broad arc, circling wide to approach from the east.

As I had hoped, the sight of our battered, worn-out carriage was too tempting for the local vul...

Bookfunnel Links to Book 2, Water Flower, have been sent out

Hello everyone,

If you had an active subscription on Monday October 13, you should have just received a link via bookfunnel to download your copy of book 2. If there are any problems with this, please let me know.

Thanks for your support,

G. Tolley

Chapter 430 – Life 111, Age 16, Martial Disciple 2

Without a cultivation technique driving him to madness, Kan was able to demonstrate his true combat skills. He might not have had any useful talents to assist him, but years of training—as well as whatever instincts and abilities he retained from his life as Liang—allowed him to face YuLong on nearly equal footing.

What set Kan apart wasn’t talent or luck. It was a sheer, unyielding stubbornness that allowed him to push himself further than any sane person would dare. Whe...

Chapter 429 – Life 111, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

After trudging up the final flight of stairs into our suite, all I wanted was a bed and a few hours of peace and quiet. YuLong and Meng LuYao, in contrast, still looked as chipper as always, our time in the training room not having taken much out of them.

As we entered, I scanned the common room to make sure that nothing had changed. The furniture was all still intact, none of the walls were damaged, and the bundles of loose training supplies were still scattered haphazardly around the ...

Chapter 428 – Life 111, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

One of the stranger quirks in the rules for First-Class sects was that, although there were strict limits on what we could and could not buy, there were no such restrictions on the amount of gold we were allowed to possess. Also, while we weren’t permitted to receive any form of assistance from stronger sects after our founding, there hadn’t been anything stopping one from handing us a mountain of gold beforehand.

Why? Because gold was only useful when there was something to spend i...

Chapter 427 – Life 111, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

During my journey to the Palace of the Herb Sovereign, I had copied several detailed maps from an old wagon driver named Qongqor. Unfortunately, these maps were primarily focused on important caravan routes. The Heroes Domain was vast, containing hundreds of empires and thousands of kingdoms, so it wasn’t possible for these maps to show the location of every small border town and minor outpost.

However, while Qongqor’s maps were of little use, during my stay in the Palace, ...

Chapter 426 – Life 111, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

When I opened my eyes and found myself back in the cramped inn room in Iron Spear’s slums, the first thing I did was climb onto the hard bed and go to sleep. My body didn’t need rest, but my mind did—and so did my teammates.

The next time I opened them, I dressed in my newly bought, secondhand robes and sat down, getting into as comfortable a position as I could manage.

As I thought through the events of the previous day, I realized that I had been overlooking a key mechanic...

Chapter 425 – Life 110, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

Although Kan might have chosen to live a life of seclusion, distancing himself from the day-to-day activities of the Su Clan, there was no way his sudden disappearance would go unnoticed. It was bound to raise questions, and his father, the head of the Liang Branch, would demand answers.

There were several ways I could deal with this. I could have Kan take care of it—either by talking to his father or just leaving a note—or I could send YuLong and Meng LuYao to take care of it, like...

Chapter 424 – Life 110, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

Who was JiuLi? After everything I had seen and heard, I couldn’t help but have certain suspicions. They couldn’t possibly be correct, though, could they? If they were, what would that mean? Was the Earthly Dao meddling with my inner world, or was something more going on?

Before jumping to any conclusions, I needed information. I could try to get it from the System, but I had no desire to hear that “the cost cannot be calculated at this time.” Thankfully...

Chapter 423 – Life 110, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

Following the Shi Clan’s Patriarch and Grand Elder, YuLong and Meng LuYao crossed into the compound’s inner bailey, where the din of the training yards gave way to the quiet calm of the residential district.

Unlike the sprawling estates of the Nine Rivers Continent, the Shi Clan had chosen to expand their compound upward, instead of outward, mimicking Chang’an’s more vertical design. Its residential district was comprised of only five buildings, but each of these was a massive h...

Announcement: Book 2 Release Oct. 22 -- Book 2 to be Stubbed Oct. 12

Hello again,

It's already time to make the announcement for book 2, which will be released on Amazon Oct 22. The Audible version isn't up for preorder quite yet, but it will be released the same day. As an FYI, the version of book 2 currently on Royal Road is in the final version, so don't expect any new changes. However, if you haven't read these chapters since they were first release, then you should definitely find them more enjoyable now.

Amazon: 2025-10-02 20:10:49 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 422 – Life 110, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

Before we could create a new nine-star sect, we first needed to round out our team by recruiting two mortals who had yet to start cultivating. Since I was planning to use this sect as a way of strengthening both the Su and Shi clans, it only made sense to recruit a youth from each of these clans.

I could have just reached into my inner world, pulled out a few kids at random, and let Meng LuYao check them for the proper talents. However, even setting aside the inevitable chaos that this ...

Chapter 421 – Life 110, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

Iron Spear City was a border town situated on the southwestern edge of the Heroes Domain, adjacent to the area of the Nine Rivers Domain controlled by the Li Clan. Further to the north, similar towns had been able to develop into thriving metropolitan cities by relying on the trade between the two domains to attract skilled artisans from both sides of the border. Iron Spear City, however, did not lie along any important caravan routes, so it had never been able to achieve the same level of pr...

Chapter 420 – Life 110, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

Waking up in my tiny house in the Su Clan’s training complex, I leaned back and took a deep breath, savoring the musty, stale air. My time in this complex had been horrific—marked by a dozen deaths and a century of enslavement. However, I couldn’t help but feel that I had finally returned home after a long journey.

While it had ended rather abruptly, my first foray into the Central Continent had been more successful than I could have ever hoped. Beyond the wealth of high-level her...

Volume 6 Afterword

Hello everyone,

First off, with this volume complete, I'm going to take a short break.

For $5 tier members, Chapter 420 will drop Monday, October 20th.

I hope you have enjoyed our first foray into the Central Continent. I know that I lot of people had problems with Jon early on, but I hope that, now that everything's said and done, you can at least understand why I chose him as our antagonist for this volume.

I do apologize for the abn...

Chapter 419 – Life 109, Age 87, Martial Sovereign Peak

From the plaza in front of the elders’ audience hall, the vast grassland to the west of the mountain was laid out before me. A sliver of this land had been turned into a lake for the creatures of the Abyssal Depths, but the majority remained an untouched wilderness.

After accepting the role of Palace Master, I had visited this plaza more than once, taking in the sights as I did my best to chart a safe course through the remainder of the life in front of me.

This day, however, wa...

Chapter 418 – Life 109, Age 87, Martial Sovereign Peak

By simply stepping forward, I could, potentially, become the next Saint of Myriad Herbs and claim the seed of a Heaven-Rank spirit fire. Should I do it? It would be a lie to say that I wasn’t tempted. However, my greed for the riches of a Saint hadn’t blinded me to the realities of my situation.

Saints were, supposedly, the “Chosen of Khörs.”

If I stepped forward and Khörs chose me to become the next Saint, then I would be on the fast track to having my soul annihilated ...