Two days passed in the blink of an eye, almost the entire time spent running through the stances of the Ancestral Body Technique. In such a short amount of time, Nolan had managed to achieve a minor breakthrough to the late phase of the Integration stage’s sixth level.
No wonder Uncle Grey was getting hard over these things. Nolan had made several months’ worth of progress in less than 48 hours without the slightest bit of backlash. The most change took place within his spi...
2022-06-11 04:39:39 +0000 UTC
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“He said they’ll be here in two weeks?” said Nyla, who was pinching her chin in thought. “Just to be cautious, we should assume they’ll be here within one week at the latest. There’s a chance he was just trying to throw you off in order to gain an edge on us.”
“You’d probably think differently if you were there.” She hadn’t heard the way that the man had been squealing, after all, or witnessed Nolan repeat ‘I still don’t believe you’ dozens of times before th...
2022-06-11 04:30:50 +0000 UTC
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“You…who are you?” mumbled the man, who began to fall under the effects of the paralysis poison that Nolan had applied to the needle’s tip. “This poison, it’s from the auction…”
“You really don’t recognize me?” He took out the mask that he’d worn throughout the evening, which only covered half of his face. “I know you’re going through some stuff right now, but it’s not a hard code to crack.”
He caught the man in a net of spiritual energy and then ra...
2022-06-03 23:26:04 +0000 UTC
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Nolan followed after the three elders with silent steps, his aura masked by the necklace that he had taken from Delia and his appearance hidden by an intermediate concealment arrayment that had all but made him invisible to anybody with lesser amounts of spiritual energy than him. They had just taken a discreet detour down one of the many alleyways that lined the main street that they were currently on, which led them to the base of the city’s southern walls. Moments after they arrived here...
2022-05-27 23:35:29 +0000 UTC
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“Friends, please quell your anger.”
Middle-aged, the man was dressed in a light pair of silken trousers along with a matching tunic of darker blue. The cloak that was draped over his shoulders only reached down to his waist, its edges trimmed with soft white fur. Not only was he covered in just as much star gold as the auction’s host, but the CMA insignia that was embroidered onto the bosom of his tunic had two layers of golden gilding rather than a single one like the sigils that...
2022-05-20 21:52:59 +0000 UTC
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The pellet sold for one and a half million spirit stones, a price that shook Esteban’s soul. He had never thought that medicinal pellets could sell for such monstrous prices, and felt that he finally understood why Nolan had invested so much of his time and energy into practicing his alchemy. Maybe I should ask him to teach me later?
“Are you thinking about asking Nolan to teach you alchemy later?”
“H—how did you know?”
“You get a greedy look in your e...
2022-05-13 21:46:30 +0000 UTC
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Aine was at the ninth level of Integration, and at the very least could escape from the elders with her life by relying on the Swift Steps movement skill that Nyla had taught her. Even if those men were at the Genesis stage, doubling her current maximum speed would doubtlessly ensure her escape.
“Let’s just wait until your things are auctioned off and then head back,” said Aine, a bit nervous. “You don’t have to buy me anything here, I’d rather we not make any bids so that w...
2022-05-09 02:41:09 +0000 UTC
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“Okay,” he sighed as he emerged from the changing room. “Let’s go look for the right building.”
“No need,” said Aine, who had been waiting for him by the doors. “I just asked one of the clerks, and they said it’s nearby.”
“Oh, okay. Lead the way, then.”
They arrived at the auction hall a short while later, a grand, circular building that consisted of a single, giant chamber that was lined with over two thousand seats, similar to a movie theatre back o...
2022-05-06 23:24:53 +0000 UTC
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“Just don’t walk so fast, okay?”
“I’m sorry, I was just eager to get out and see the city.”
They were only about a block from the inn where he and his friends were currently staying, which was a fairly congested area. The well-kempt streets were swelling with people, most of which wore the colours of the CMA. Although they hadn’t gone out much thus far into their stay in Tallgate, Esteban got the sense that most people in town were either merchants or affiliated with...
2022-04-30 01:01:46 +0000 UTC
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Nolan was taken aback. “Seriously? I didn’t think that was possible.”
“It is for me and people like me, though I doubt any others exist at the moment.” Glancing at her sandaled feet, she said, “And as for my time within the sect, the disciples were too intimidated by me to ever approach and nearly all of the elders scorned me because of how I obtained my position. I rarely left my quarters in my free time.”
Why was he only hearing this now? Thinking on it, wasn’t i...
2022-04-30 00:50:18 +0000 UTC
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She hurried to her room and disappeared behind a harshly-closed door. As soon as she was gone, Nolan let out a pent-up breath. Man, is my heart racing, he sighed, doing his best to regain his composure. Good thing I took the initiative there. If he had learned anything from the girls that he had gotten to know, it was that he couldn’t allow himself to be played around in their palms. Take Hala, who had taken Liv’s place as the young miss of the Varai clan, for instance. ...
2022-04-30 00:42:01 +0000 UTC
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We should take our time selling a bit of what we have and then keep the rest for once we get the sect up and running.
It would be a while before they returned to the Three-River Valley, though once they did he planned on officially constructing a site to house his sect members. By that time he would have already recruited dozens of Otherworlders, perhaps hundreds depending on how many he would encounter on North Island. Not only that, but he would actively recruit young discipl...
2022-04-29 04:51:11 +0000 UTC
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Nolan was caught off guard by her candidness. He had figured that someone like the White Rogue wouldn’t have had a desirable upbringing, as tended to be the case with renowned killers, though he also knew that he couldn’t judge the situation by Earth’s standards. Venara was a world where most tavern fights ended in murder and where the act of killing held a different connotation in society. All of the civilizations that Nolan had encountered thus far had been dominated by a martial ment...
2022-04-29 01:50:55 +0000 UTC
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Nolan watched the pillars of smoke with a smile that bordered on sadistic. That makes, what, four buildings now?
Two weeks had passed since he and his friends had struck up an agreement with Welson Telis, the Consul of Tallgate, to mutually antagonize Connick Sorus and the others of his faction. During this time, Nolan and the others hadn’t been idle, all of them cultivating like madmen within their room at Welson’s inn.
Thanks to the abundance of extremely rare and p...
2022-04-22 23:56:53 +0000 UTC
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Neither seemed enthusiastic about the fact, both giving half-hearted affirmations.
“And you’ve agreed to help Tems with things while you’re here?”
“Normally, I wouldn’t involve myself in the matters of another sect, but I owe it to my late uncle to intervene. He’s only been gone for a decade or so, and yet his sect has been facing crisis after crisis. How can I just ignore an outright invasion from another power when I happen to be in the area?”
“Why do you...
2022-04-16 03:33:50 +0000 UTC
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“That’s a broad range.”
While it wasn’t unheard of for Genesis-staged cultivators to be capable of going up against those with higher cultivation levels, it was much rarer than any of the prior stages. The amount of energy required to advance from one level to another grew drastically in the Genesis stage, making it common for most people in this realm to require many years to make a single breakthrough. Tems’s request was indeed too vague, for a killing formation capable of i...
2022-04-08 23:44:53 +0000 UTC
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Merchant Lord Kalvin sat patiently within the large antechamber that he had just been escorted to by a thin, wispy woman named Dracia, who was the newest great elder of the Falling Rain Sect. He was neither offended nor surprised that Tems hadn’t come to greet him in person, since the hapless sect master had never been competent in his dealings be they personal or professional, which was known to anybody in his acquaintanceship.
“It’s already been two hours,” growled the man at ...
2022-04-02 04:31:45 +0000 UTC
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“Are you sure this is a good idea?”
Hearing Nyla’s uncertain voice in his mind, he returned her sound transmission with resolute words. “Even if it isn’t, it’s something I want to see. Besides, nobody can sense you as long as you’ve got that talisman, and May and Delia are both hiding about a kilometre above the city.”
“You’re enjoying this too much.”
“I’m enjoying it just enough, thanks. Besides, how can I let that sl...
2022-03-26 04:25:07 +0000 UTC
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“Are we going to…you know, that place?” asked Esteban, who glanced at Delia uncertainly
Nolan shook his head. “We can’t go back for another two or three weeks. But that’s okay, since we’ve got everything we need here.”
Ian patted Esteban on the head with a laugh. “What’s the rush to return to that place? You really want to be a fourteen-year-old baby by the time we’d be leaving there again?”
The boy shrugged Ian’s hand off of his shoulder with a sno...
2022-03-26 04:23:03 +0000 UTC
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Aine and Alicia weren’t keen on drinking, since they felt that the group indulged too often these days. Instead, they chatted quietly amongst themselves as they sampled all of the different and delicious foods that had been laid out on the old, dusty table.
Welson turned out to be a heavy drinker, the extent of his consumption revealing the scope of his frustrations and helplessness. The more out of sorts that he became, the more he began to talk about all of the stresses that came wi...
2022-03-26 04:14:28 +0000 UTC
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“Truly?” asked Welson, who seemed unconvinced.
“Allow me to reintroduce myself,” said Nolan, feeling a bit of pride as he straightened his back in a self-important manner. “My name’s Nolan, and I’m the Sect Master of the Earth Sect.”
Sean and Ian tried and failed to suppress short bursts of laughter, though Nolan rolled his eyes and dismissed them with a wave.
“Even though I’m the leader, we’re more of a democratic sort of group, and we’re not really ...
2022-03-18 23:06:42 +0000 UTC
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The man hurried into the alleyway without waiting for a response, leaving Nolan and his friends looking at one another with wary eyes. Still, Nolan shrugged it off and followed after the man, leading the others as they made their way through the back alleys in silence.
They arrived at a hole-in-the-wall tavern a short while later, one that was so well-hidden that it would be impossible to find if its patrons didn’t already know where it was located. Once inside, they were seated at on...
2022-03-18 23:04:15 +0000 UTC
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Nolan appreciated that she knew exactly what role to play despite the fact that he’d yet to tell her his intentions of having her come here. She had been observing the entire situation from afar, so she was already up to date on what was happening.
“Hello, miss,” said Connick, who casually approached her and grabbed her hand. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Connick Sorus, chamberlain of Merchant Lord Varus.” He kissed her hand in a romantic yet respectable fashion, which...
2022-03-12 03:50:54 +0000 UTC
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“I’m sorry, but all I can say is that somebody else has paid an exorbitant amount of money to rent out this room.”
“Man, sucks that you guys already rented it out to us. Hopefully whoever it is isn’t too mad about it.”
Just as the man was about to say something else, a familiar yet unwelcomed face suddenly strode into the room, accompanied by at least a dozen people whose cultivation levels he couldn’t detect.
“Allow me to explain,” said Connick in a polite...
2022-03-05 08:47:54 +0000 UTC
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The manager tried to get them to stay, but they promptly refused and then hurried out of the building, though not before Nolan became the object of a hushed wave of ridicule from many of the other patrons. As soon as they made it outside and began walking back in the direction of the inn, he threw his arms up in annoyance.
“Listen, I get what you’re trying to do here. That guy’s a higher up in the CMA, so he probably knows things that others don’t, and you want to find out whate...
2022-03-05 08:45:33 +0000 UTC
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“Oh, she definitely will,” smiled Nolan, who emptied his cup and then refilled it to the brim. “Thanks, buddy. This was really nice of you.”
Nyla shot him a momentary look that cautioned him about patience. “Thank you, Mr…?”
“Conick,” said the man. “Conick Sorus. I’m the owner of this restaurant, and of quite a few other businesses in the city. I don’t believe I’ve seen you before, so I took it upon myself to make an earnest introduction.”
“And ...
2022-02-26 04:08:20 +0000 UTC
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“I tell you, I get no respect,” muttered Nolan, the cultural reference going unrecognized. “Would it have killed her to say hello?”
He was only at the third level of Integration, after all, while Nyla was at the peak of the entire stage. That wasn’t to say that he was some dust on the roadside in the eyes of those around them, since on the surface he was only a seventeen-year-old youth that had a similar cultivation level to some of the weaker guards in attendance. He wasn’t...
2022-02-19 01:36:50 +0000 UTC
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“You look a bit bored,” said Nolan, who was busy ferrying a dozen even-sized mounds of gunpowder into the same amount of barrels. “You can go meet up with the others if you want. Now that my spiritual sense is this advanced, I can make over a hundred of these in just a couple of hours.”
Nyla shrugged off his question and happily mimicked his actions. “I don’t mind helping you out if it means that I get to choose where we go next.”
It had been about four hours since t...
2022-02-12 01:06:51 +0000 UTC
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“Is the situation in the Easterly Kingdoms that bad?” asked Nyla, who wore a look of unpleasant recollection. “Have any kingdoms fallen yet?”
The man gave a solemn nod, his eyes doing everything in their power not to look Nyla up and down as he had been moments before. “Alsai has fallen, its people no doubt experiencing the same thing that happened to the citizens of Mour all those years ago. Hauss is barely holding on, though it only retains a third of its territory.”
2022-02-05 09:27:06 +0000 UTC
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“Here, wear this and keep out of sight, but be sure to help us if something unexpected happens.”
She accepted it with a hesitant hand.
“May, I think you should change your appearance like you did before.”
“You mean when I was ‘Avril?’”
He nodded. “Even though you looked kind of similar, it’ll still make you harder to recognize.”
“I looked similar to how I do now because that’s how I looked when I was seventeen.” Seeing the looks of sur...
2022-01-29 04:24:59 +0000 UTC
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