The lava bubbled and hissed. Lava slimes were morphing and shifting within the gooey pool of molten stone, absorbing the energy and growing by the second.
Neave observed this and felt a strange sense of panic. As far as he had read once, the cores of planets had magma all the way to the planet's center. In his world, the magma started significantly deeper than in this world, as the underground was countless times more expansive.
Here, however, it started quite high. There was some...
2023-04-18 21:45:00 +0000 UTC
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Running a cultivator to exhaustion wasn’t that difficult. If forced to use qi, they could be out of energy within minutes. But without qi…
That was a different story altogether.
The glass shrub. A fabulous being of mighty, mysterious powers, one whose path had taken a sharp turn into the deep unknown. This mysterious being was manipulating a glass puppet to chase a child on the bronze path into exhaustion.
Indeed, running a cultivator to exhaustion without forcing them t...
2023-04-17 21:45:00 +0000 UTC
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In a beautiful gazebo, sitting in a picturesque garden, six figures lounged in luxury, bathing in the goods of this world of wonders.
They all had luscious, blonde hair, except for one figure with a striking pink mane streaked in crimson. Their bodies donned pearly white togas orned in golden decorations. A young man grabbed a grape off a table and ate it.
He swallowed it, yet he reacted with a frown instead of satisfaction.
Hunter turned to the others, “Do you all feel we...
2023-04-16 21:45:01 +0000 UTC
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A little arrogant, but I believe it will still be a fruitful experience.
Marven was aware of Neave’s martial prowess and had seen him fight someone on the third step of the platinum path.
However… That was with his overwhelming advantage of well over a dozen spirit powers. In the spirit realm, none of them had spirit powers.
Neave was likely to be several ranks above his own in strength, even with the spirit powers removed, but it was mighty arrogant of him to a...
2023-04-15 21:45:00 +0000 UTC
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While platinum path cultivators could still think while asleep, they could also choose not to. Marven decided that keeping his thoughts empty would be best for him this time.
Once he woke up, there was no way to tell how long had passed. All he had to go off was the way he felt.
It wasn’t long until his mind cleared and he was back in reality. He felt incredible. Must have slept for quite a while, and the sedative Neave gave them must have helped him relax considerably. He was a...
2023-04-14 21:45:00 +0000 UTC
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Hunter sipped on the lovely tea. It was poisoned, and he died.
He knew that such was the fate of any child in the Zearthorn sect as he looked at the mountains of young corpses and the dragon with his mother’s head feasting on them.
…What the fuck is happening?
This was a strange world, a world of weird rules. Rules he didn’t know, strangeness he didn’t understand. It was a dream. A nightmare, to be exact.
Yet, he felt it rang hollow. After all, the Zea...
2023-04-13 21:45:00 +0000 UTC
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Marven looked at the improvized sword, noticing the bending and tearing it had endured after he used the massive technique. It wasn’t a big deal, the blade could last longer, and Dukean could fix it up in seconds if needed.
However, even if he had the Glass Shard, he wasn’t confident he could face this crisis. All they could do was run.
Before their eyes, the demon absorbed piles of limbs and grew with every piece of flesh that sank into its body. What stood before them could ...
2023-04-12 21:45:01 +0000 UTC
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Gabrias stood frozen, waiting for the puppet to move. Anxiety was already setting in, as it hadn’t moved even a bit for minutes.
What was happening? Was the glass brush busy with something else, thus, incapable of manipulating the puppet?
That wasn’t good news. Gabrias was alone on the surface and utterly defenseless without the puppet's help. He could perhaps take the Glass Shard, but he didn’t want to upset the shrub once it returned.
He anxiously scouted over the la...
2023-04-11 21:50:00 +0000 UTC
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Slithering, scurrying, sneaking, and, well, just outright rushing toward them. Some demons were subtle and insidious, while others seemed to have a more straightforward approach to life.
Marven was sweating profusely as he got into a battle-ready stance. He had access to qi techniques this time because his weapon resembled a sword enough, but that didn’t change the fact that their current situation looked quite hopeless.
He had struggled mightily to take out a single demon last ...
2023-04-11 21:45:01 +0000 UTC
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Several demon bodies lay strewn around the cavern, shredded to bits by floating shards of glass. Yet, one still stood, lurking, hiding in the shadows. Observing. It could sense the soil and the roots that spread within.
Horrifying yet exciting. Perhaps even thrilling—but dangerous.
The corpses that lay around had all already been cracked into by roots and were being consumed. All but one final corpse currently in the living demon's grasp.
Small, black veins spread from the...
2023-04-10 21:45:01 +0000 UTC
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Neave rarely, if ever, truly acted his age.
It was hard to say what his age really was, to begin with.
Was he eleven? Or did all the years stuck within the loop count? It was hard to say. Neave felt it depended on social interaction, maturity, and stuff that couldn’t be developed in total isolation. Let alone in a horrid hell realm of infinite death and suffering.
Or perhaps, even more simply, it just depended on one’s biological age.
It didn’t really matter eith...
2023-04-08 21:50:01 +0000 UTC
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Defying the heavens, violating balance, and the concept of infinite perfection.
It was claimed that the heavens, infinite in their wisdom, created harmony. Harmony between all, above and beyond one, several, even many.
What was an individual to a society? What was a society to a civilization? What was a civilization to the myriad species of the realms above and below? What was life to all that was unliving?
And finally, what could all that was, matter to all that wasn’t?
2023-04-08 21:45:04 +0000 UTC
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The average strength of someone on a step on the path wasn’t a particularly valuable variable.
It could be compared to the average number of testicles people had. Yes, statistically speaking, people have one testicle on average. In reality, and in the overwhelming majority of cases, it is either none or two.
That was kind of how the average strength of a step worked. True, if one took all of the people on a step, measured their physical strength, and found the mean, one would kn...
2023-04-07 21:50:01 +0000 UTC
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A demon slithered around the surface, sniffing out any potential prey. Its wriggly tentacles squirmed and grasped branches of obsidian, and it pulled itself through the shadowy forest of black.
“Yo, dude, watch this!”
Something spoke. It turned around, spotting the tiny, pink-haired child, a creature that smelled of wonderfully tasty flesh. However, the demon paused as it felt the unusual object in the small being’s hands.
It swung the object and–
***
“...
2023-04-07 21:45:00 +0000 UTC
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Neave appeared back before the glass shrub and sighed. He had fed the children and left them with a stick to fight off the animals of the night.
He had played up the theatrics, but honestly speaking, not even he could really treat that weapon so carelessly. He had to play up the performance for their sake, though. He did worry that they would end up dying by accident, but hey! His father was highly experienced. There was no way he would accidentally kill everyone with that thing…
<...
2023-04-06 21:50:02 +0000 UTC
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Neave sat in the middle of the room, eyeing his allies. They had just explained what they had been doing, and he couldn’t believe it. It was nonsense.
“You… You have been fucking decorating? Oh, so, I tell you all that you better get used to discomfort as soon as possible, and the first fucking thing you do is go off and try to make yourselves as comfortable as possible!?”
Marven looked up, “Neave, that isn’t…”
“Shut the fuck up, geezer, l...
2023-04-06 21:45:00 +0000 UTC
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Marven stared at the cave opening, gripping the brittle branch, unsure whether it would even serve him as a weapon. However, the qi of a platinum path cultivator was not to be underestimated.
Marven could pull every last bit of potential out of this branch. Judging by Neave’s description of the demons, this shouldn’t be too difficult for Marven to handle. Yet, he found himself sweating anyway.
His spirit powers had been removed by Neave. Granted, they weren’t the best spirit...
2023-04-05 21:50:01 +0000 UTC
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Within a shimmering, nigh-impenetrable barrier, the great god sat in his mortal disguise, biting his nails. His eyes were bloodshot, and his leg was bouncing in place.
“How!?”
Astrador had sacrificed both his arms to restrict his access to this realm, yet here he was anyway, while that kid dragged several people in here with him before a day had passed and stayed inside longer than he should be allowed to.
So how?
Astrador turned, glancing down the mouth of the cav...
2023-04-05 21:45:01 +0000 UTC
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Marven and Dukean stared, frozen, at the absurd sight in front of them.
Hunter groaned and whimpered, kicking himself away from Harel, who still gripped the bloody branch.
Once Marven regained himself, he rushed forward, ensuring he kept silent lest he said something he would regret.
Harel dropped the sharp branch and stepped back, hyperventilating and profusely apologizing, “I’m… I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do it. I’m… I’m sorry, Hunter. Oh heavens, I’m...
2023-04-04 21:50:01 +0000 UTC
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How could he have been so inconsiderate?
Neave was frustrated, and ashamed of himself for his lack of awareness. Of course, some mortal weaknesses were a thing of the past for him, but for his allies, they were a thing of the present.
Of course.
How silly of him.
His allies had come all the way to this nightmare realm. They had been allowed into his world. Nay, they had desired to enter.
Of course!
It was only correct he showed them the utmost hosp...
2023-04-04 21:45:01 +0000 UTC
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The moon above the realm hung silent, continuing its eternal orbit unabated. In the darkest, deepest, coldest corner of this celestial body, three archdemons sat in a circle.
The shadow of death sharply inhaled.
The other two instantly perked up. Such a violent reaction from the one named the silent one was catastrophic.
The shadow of destruction spoke in a cheap imitation of a man’s voice and asked, “What happened?”
The shadow of death responded in a distressed ...
2023-04-03 21:45:01 +0000 UTC
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The smell of freshly cut wood permeated the newly built Falken sect premises. The ‘council chamber,’ one that wasn’t guaranteed to ever have an actual council take place, was currently populated by the only members of the sect, bar one.
They all sat silently, shuffling, squirming, groaning, and contemplating.
Marven stared at the neatly arranged monster cores on the ground. It hadn’t been long since Neave handed them over, and so far, nobody had decided to take a single on...
2023-04-03 08:31:03 +0000 UTC
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Drip… Drip… Drip…
Droplets of sweat struck the ground repeatedly. In the dark room, far in the corner of the Emperium sect, a young boy gasped for breath and shook profusely.
Yet, he grinned.
Dukean had just finished acquiring the last of the five powers. He felt like shit. Although, his spirit was almost entirely intact.
The spirit trials weren’t easy, but they were far from a real challenge for him.
Not to mention how difficult they would have ...
2023-04-01 12:59:22 +0000 UTC
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[NOTE]
The chapter number is 83 because I've changed the numbering to stay consistent over the course of multiple books, instead of restarting the count with every new book. It is more convenient for the sake of navigation!
Enjoy!
[NOTE OVER]
The smell of books, dried parchment, tanned leather, and old paper filled the air. Pages shuffled, disciples whispered, clatters and murmurs filled the cramped areas between the shelves of the grand library. In a small corner ded...
2023-04-01 10:38:59 +0000 UTC
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2023-03-17 15:15:14 +0000 UTC
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Neave stared at the little golem, mouth agape. After thinking it through a bit, he quickly caught on to what was happening.
Neave turned to the plant and pointed at the golem.
“Are you doing this?”
The golem nodded its head.
Neave couldn’t believe it.
“You can understand what I’m saying?”
The golem nodded again.
“Oh my… What!? This is insane.”
This was indeed insane.
Not only was this plant seemingly sapient at merely the...
2023-03-14 22:45:00 +0000 UTC
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Neave stood before the glass shrub, mouth agape.
“Ok, now I can see why Astrador reacted like that.”
Something still clawed at the back of Neave’s mind. Why would this result in the destruction of his entire realm? He thought back to the way the god phrased that question. What did he mean by your entire realm?
Was that another trick? Perhaps he was referring to the nightmare realm and not the outer realm? If that was the case, Neave definitely believed him. Ye...
2023-03-13 20:38:18 +0000 UTC
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Neave stood before Astrador, unsure how to react. The good looked obviously distraught by something Neave had done. If Neave had to guess, it had something to do with his experiment.
Astrador yelled at Neave.
“You’re a moron. I do not know what you’ve done or how, but I promise you, you will regret it if you don’t stop immediately.”
“Alright, alright, old man, you know the drill, soul oath time. If you tell me under soul oath that ‘I will regret’ doing what I...
2023-03-12 22:45:01 +0000 UTC
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Just once.
Just fucking once.
Neave wanted to, if only a single time, experience what it was like to get an idea, try the idea, and have it work without any complications.
Yet another idea has come and gone, and that experience slipped through his fingers once more.
Neave had read a bit about giving plants spirit powers. It wasn’t entirely accurate to say that plants could be ‘granted spirit powers,’ but rather, plants could be granted a quasi-s...
2023-03-11 22:45:00 +0000 UTC
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Dukean and Neave returned to the library after several months of being stuck inside the realm. Once Dukean finally starved, Neave ejected all his blood to widen the pool in the underground chamber and left.
Once they found themselves face to face in the outside world again, Dukean looked quite distraught. He bowed to Neave.
“Thank you, that was a valuable experience. I never thought I would experience death and live to tell the tale.” He shook slightly as he said those words...
2023-03-10 22:45:01 +0000 UTC
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