~~~
Every moment holds a myriad of possibilities.
That does not mean one should try to take all of them into account when making a choice. Possibilities are possibilities, not certainties. Most of the time, there are only three or four truly probable outcomes. Indeed, one who tries to think of everything might find themselves paralyzed by indecision.
The idea of all the bracelets in the Sparring Hall shutting down simultaneously was never one Liu Jin entertained seriously. I...
2021-08-02 12:00:07 +0000 UTC
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- Guaranteed Challenges must be accepted.
- Every disciple can only issue three Guaranteed Challenges per day.
- Every disciple can only receive three Guaranteed Challenges per day.
- Both these counts reset every day.
- A disciple who has received three Guaranteed Challenge can still issue challenges.
- A disciple who has issued three Guaranteed Challenges can still receive them.
- A disciple who has been incapacitated by either injury...
2021-07-28 12:01:03 +0000 UTC
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Here are the week's chapters:
Chapter 133: Complications is now out for Core Disciples. Also, Chapter 132: Light Sparring came out on Friday, so make sure to check that out as well if you haven't already.
2021-07-26 12:00:06 +0000 UTC
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~~~
They leave the Sparring Hall after Pan Qiu wins a few times, enough to make him noticeable to those present. Once word of what happened today spreads, those who attacked Senior Brother Luo will have incentive to act. Not right away, of course, but eventually.
The sun has yet to set. Of the five men Lady Ling gave him, Liu Jin has two with him, the weakest ones. Big, burly disciples who do not look particularly bright but are close to the True Realm. Lady Ling could have given ...
2021-07-26 11:55:00 +0000 UTC
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His and Her Circumstances XIII
~~~
Amanda had no idea where Tim was, and that bothered her.
It also bothered her that it bothered her, but that was not something she wanted to think about.
Her first inkling something was wrong had been immediately upon entering the building. Tim had the annoying ability of almost always getting there before her. The sight of him chatting with the big, scary security guys in the lobby had become commonplace. It made the times she arrive...
2021-07-23 12:01:02 +0000 UTC
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~~~
It was just a few months ago that Liu Jin first walked into the Sparring Hall. Back then, the air cracked under the force of every blow. Crowds, big and small, gathered around the many rings. Some waited for their turn to fight; others were content to watch and study their foes. Applause and cheers filled the air. Taunts and insults flew from people’s mouths as naturally as the day turns to night.
Most of those things still hold true today.
That does not stop the Sparr...
2021-07-23 11:01:02 +0000 UTC
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Here are the week's chapters:
Chapter 131: Strength and Weakness is now out for Core Disciples, and if that confuses anyone, there's a note there you should read before going to Chapter 130.
Chapter 127: You Might Blame Yourself is now available for Inner Dis...
2021-07-19 12:01:03 +0000 UTC
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~~~~
The Young Master of the Eternal Flame Clan must always present a dignified image. He must be mighty, brilliant, and without peer. The slightest show of weakness will only invite vultures to gather around him.
“It is not fair!”
Feng Hao is not yet ready to be held up to that standard.
As much as he tries, Feng Hao is still very much a child, something that is on full display today as he angrily paces back and forth around the sparring room.
“Elder Broth...
2021-07-19 05:30:01 +0000 UTC
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~~~
“Is this the reward for competence?” Lu Mei ponders after Liu Jin tells her what Elder Xue has entrusted him with. “Not only more work but more difficult work as well?”
She sighs theatrically, her red locks swaying lightly as she shakes her head.
“I have often wondered how it is that certain people end in positions so ill-suited to them. I believe I may have found the answer. They were exalted to incompetence.”
The odd phrase gets a raised eyebrow from ...
2021-07-12 11:56:00 +0000 UTC
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His and Her Circumstances XII
~~~
Hospital smell was the worst in the world.
Some people would say only bad hospitals—the ones with rats and bugs and all that nasty stuff—smelled. Most hospitals were cleaned too well and too often with odorless chemicals to smell of anything. They were neutral. Only occasionally will a person get a whiff of disinfectant within their walls.
Those people didn’t know what the hell they were talking about.
It was that neutral s...
2021-07-09 12:15:05 +0000 UTC
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We're halfway through the year already. Imagine that.
There was an extra chapter on Wednesday for all tiers. Make sure to check that out if you haven't already.
Here are the week's chapters:
Chapter 129: Am I to Act as Bait? is now out for Core Disciples.
Chapter 125: Contest<...
2021-07-05 12:00:07 +0000 UTC
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~~~
A message from Elder Xue waits for Liu Jin outside the isolation chamber. The disciple who delivers it has tired eyes and moves stiffly as if he had been standing in attention for a long time. Liu Jin hopes the fault does not lie with him. Keeping track of time inside his soul had relied more on guesswork than on anything remotely concrete. It would be unfortunate if he had unknowingly made this disciple wait for days.
Liu Jin decides not to ask.
Instead, Liu Jin thanks ...
2021-07-05 11:56:59 +0000 UTC
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~~~
Liu Jin’s Qi roars and thunders and soars. He pushes and pulls and breaks, yet no matter how many hours pass, the result will not change.
He cannot pull out the jeweled sword.
“What am I missing?”
Liu Jin floats upside down in the contaminated waters as he ponders that question, one hand on his chin and the other holding his elbow. His legs kick at the water every now and then to help him keep his balance.
“Is it simply just a matter of strength, or i...
2021-06-30 12:01:03 +0000 UTC
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Hi, all! Everyone is getting an extra update this Wednesday!
In the meantime, here are the week's chapters:
Chapter 127: You Might Blame Yourself is now out for Core Disciples.
Chapter 123: Priority is now available for Inner Disciples.
2021-06-28 12:00:06 +0000 UTC
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~~~
“You?!”
The same word is spoken at the same time by two very different people. One says it with outrage, the other with surprise. One is a rising star, the other a forgotten tool.
Well, not completely forgotten.
“Pan Qiu?” Liu Jin says incredulously.
Pan Qiu, the disciple who tried to impress Lu Mei by fighting him. The disciple who took part in the plot to steal the herbs Liu Jin and Huang Shing were transporting to Ember City. The disciple who fough...
2021-06-28 11:58:59 +0000 UTC
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His and Her Circumstances XI
~~~
Chloroform was surprisingly sweet.
Tim figured it was chloroform because why else would a couple of strangers put a wet rag over his mouth? People didn’t just walk around putting rags drenched in juice over someone’s face. They did put rags with pee on it sometimes, during wars and stuff. Apparently, it helped filter out gases or something, but Tim was pretty sure that wasn’t the case here.
Besides, pee didn’t smell sweet.
2021-06-25 12:01:03 +0000 UTC
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This post is going to cover a lot of stuff, some of it serious. It's part of the reason why it took me so long to post it. Originally, I wanted to have this up by Friday.
Well, first it was Wednesday. Then Thursday. Then Friday. Then Friday Night. Then Saturday morning.
You get the idea.
I've put a tl;dr down below, so you can choose to skip all this if you want to.
If you choose to bear with me, here it goes:
First things first, we've (fo...
2021-06-21 18:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Hi, all! There's going to be a post later today where I talk about stuff.
In the meantime, here are the week's chapters:
Chapter 126: The Internal Force is now out for Core Disciples.
Chapter 122: Escalation is now available for Inner Disciples.
2021-06-21 12:01:03 +0000 UTC
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~~~
The Internal Force.
Their job was to monitor all other disciples and report their actions so that points may be given or taken away as necessary. They were a stealthy and efficient unit that reported only to the Division of Internal Disputes.
However, that all changed once the bracelets were introduced.
Since the bracelets each disciple wears can more easily keep track of everyone’s points, the need for the Internal Force greatly diminished. Eventually, they were...
2021-06-21 11:56:01 +0000 UTC
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~~~
Silence.
Regardless of how loud the murmurs around him are, Liu Jin’s world has become silent. He looks neither left nor right. His gaze does not even seek out Elder Xue’s, no matter how much he wishes to. Once again, Liu Jin has little choice but to wait for people much mightier than he to decide his fate.
“See his skills?” Lord Feng Gui echoes his brother and laughs. “Brother, are the skills of an Inner Disciple truly something that can be of interest to you?...
2021-06-14 11:58:00 +0000 UTC
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His and Her Circumstances X
~~~
If Gerald were to tell any of his men that he and Matilda were alone in a dark conference room, he’d probably get a few wolf whistles. However, this meeting was strictly business. Not that it could ever be anything else with Matilda. Just as he’d told Arthur yesterday, it hadn’t even taken a day for Matilda to find out everything there was to know about the little maggot that had stumbled into their plans.
“Joseph Pines. Age 22. Gradua...
2021-06-11 12:01:01 +0000 UTC
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I finally got around to making a Character List. It's still incomplete and only has the characters from the Eternal Flame Clan so far. It contains some fairly minor spoilers
Someone over at Spacebattles also did a pretty cool 2021-06-07 18:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Hello everyone!
I remain surprised at how well the patreon is doing. A warm welcome to all the new patreons and an equally warm thank you to everyone who has stuck with me this far. I hope you all enjoy what this month has to offer.
Here are the week's chapters:
Chapter 124: Greatness is Often Trying is now out for Core Disciples.
2021-06-07 12:00:07 +0000 UTC
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~~~
Like the Armory, the Feng estate is secluded from the rest of the compound.
Unlike the Armory, this seclusion is accomplished by massive walls of obsidian.
Their surface is smooth, unblemished by either a cleft or crevasse. These walls were not made by piling stone upon stone but by taking a single, gigantic block and giving it shape. There is only one set of gates, large, spiked things that require unearthly strength to even budge. Past them lies a beautiful garden with...
2021-06-07 11:57:59 +0000 UTC
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Here are the chapters:
Chapter 123: Priority is now out for Core Disciples.
Chapter 119: Trial II is now available for Inner Disciples. Make sure you didn't miss Chapter 119: T...
2021-06-01 00:01:01 +0000 UTC
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~~~
Morning, afternoon, and evening.
The duels between disciples continue at all hours of the day. Through the use of repeated guaranteed challenges, it becomes possible to lure people into no-win situations. Some use the opportunity to settle old grudges. Others try to strike at what they see as troublesome figures in the opposing faction. Many are the disciples who find themselves ambushed by those who they believed to be their friends.
These sorts of tactics are not anyth...
2021-05-31 11:57:01 +0000 UTC
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~~~
His and Her Circumstances IX
~~~
Sandra Lewis snapped the rubber band against her wrist for the seventh time that day. Surprisingly, this one had yet to break. Sandra dared not speculate how many rubber bands she had gone through ever since she’d promised Tim she’d stop drinking. Sure, she may have said just one week, but she was pretty sure Tim wouldn’t appreciate it if she showed up home drunk. Better to quit entirely while she had some momentum.
Some peopl...
2021-05-28 12:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Before I get to the chapters, someone over at Spacebattles did a pretty cool character list with basically every character introduced so far. Massive props to the guy. Also, I finally got around to 2021-05-24 12:01:03 +0000 UTC
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~~~
A disciple from External Relations bursts into Liu Jin’s office and glares at him with stormy blue eyes. It is the second time in as many days this has happened; it is even the same disciple. Predictably, he leads with the same words.
“How much more do you think you can insult us!”
Liu Jin sighs as he looks down at many documents on his desk. Should he be happy he is being distracted from this tediousness? Should he be angry that these tedious tasks will now inevit...
2021-05-24 11:57:01 +0000 UTC
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