Boots

5.41 - The Trials of Self

Li Heng knelt at the point where dark and light met. To either side stood a version of himself. The one the inverse of the other. One black-robed, the other white. Hair, skin, clothes—mirrored and inverted. The two halves of his spirit glared at one another, weapons held ready, spirits cycling in this expanse of dark and light. The only other detail of this strange realm was inscribed upon the jade-tiled floor. The taiji, yin and yang, each half containing the seed of the other. Each half c...

5.40 - The Sealed Realm

When He Yu’s vision returned, he found himself in a realm of crystal. The ground beneath his feet was of packed earth, like a cave floor. If he truly stood within a cave, he couldn’t see the walls, nor the roof. Only the crystals.

Jagged clusters of dull yellow jutted up from the floor like so many trees. The smallest of them came up to his knees, while the largest towered dozens of feet overhead. All of them pulsed with a soft amber light, enough to illuminate the immediate area an...

5.39 - Patriarch Sun Lei

He Yu stood before the one claiming to be Patriarch Sun Lei of the Cloud Dragon Valley Sect, and felt nothing. No whisper of qi, no spiritual weight of an expert’s presence. Nothing. To call it unnerving would be an understatement. He had no reason to doubt this being’s words, even if he didn’t truly know what kind of being it was. Even if he had his suspicions. The only other time He Yu had felt such a lack of spiritual weight was during his first meeting with Elder Cai’s projection....

5.38 - Cloud Dragon Valley Sect

He Yu placed a hand on each of the bronze plated doors and pushed. They creaked open on rusted, worn-out hinges to reveal the dusty interior they’d guarded for so long. The disturbance of the stagnant air within kicked up a cloud of dust, sending golden motes to dance in the sliver of light that filtered in from the door.

The group stepped in and surveyed what lay before them. A counter much like the one in the entrance of the Shrouded Peaks Sect’s manual pavilion sat off to the rig...

5.37 - Further into the Jade Mountains

The sun sank to the west, and night eventually gave way to do day. As the stars wheeled overhead, He Yu cycled the medicine he’d taken, and cultivated. By the time the sun rose the next morning, he’d recovered enough that he felt he could travel.

Throughout the night he’d focused on the worst of his wounds, directing the revitalizing qi of the medicine first to his wrist, healing the shattered bones there. Then his broken cheekbone, where Tan Qingsheng had kicked him. He saved the...

5.36 - Agreements and Ambushes

Wang Xiaobo had been waiting with Xin Lu for several hours already when Tan Qingsheng returned. Announcing his arrival by throwing open the door to the hall, then throwing himself into the closest chair, Tan Qingsheng’s arrival sent a wave of irritation through Wang Xiaobo. When the older man leaned back and sighed with a broad grin spreading across his features rather than address his guests, Wang Xiaobo finally lost his patience.

“So?” he asked, the word clipped and sharp. “I ...

5.35 - To Struggle Against All Odds

“Come and face me, then,” Tan Qingsheng laughed. His presence billowed out. Metal spikes erupted from the bleached white sands. A black sun beat down upon the land, and the desert burned.

He Yu and Tan Xiaoling hit him both at once.

Black clouds gathered above, but couldn’t fully cover Tan Qingsheng’s dark burning sun. Even as the rain fell, the parched land drank it up. Heaven reached down, but for every one of the metal spires He Yu struck and shattered, another grew up ...

5.34 - The Valiant Ones

A great tiger stalked the desert. Its golden pelt shimmered in the harsh light of the dark desert sun, and its claws were of sharp metal, gleaming with death and strife. He Yu met the tiger as the storm, his spirit breaking over the land. A storm roared in, carrying wind and rain. Clouds rolled above, and heaven reached down to the earth, shattering the metal spikes littering the otherwise barren expanse. Tan Qingsheng turned. His nine-ringed blade met He Yu’s guandao in a sparking clash of...

5.33 - Tan Qingsheng

Tan Qingsheng arrived in a burst of metal and fire. The resemblance to Tan Xiaoling was immediate. He had the same rough edge as her, and his lips curled into a familiar half-smirk. The changes to Tan Xiaoling’s physical appearance that had accompanied her advancement to Nascent Soul were more apparent in her uncle. His hair, while held back in the fashion of the empire, appeared rough and wild. Like his niece, Tan Qingsheng’s eyes shone with a soft light, like two molten pools of gold. 2025-02-08 23:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post

5.32 - Herald of the Flame

Xin Lu’s presence was a tower of flame, coursing with twisting channels of heaven running along its length. A rain of sparks and embers fell all around him, setting alight countless tiny blazes. The twinge of darkness and blood He Yu had detected down south still lurked within Xin Lu’s spirit, but to He Yu’s relief it hadn’t grown any more potent. Gripping his double halberd in one hand, Xin Lu cast his furious gaze over the five of them.

Finally he turned his full attention to...

5.31 - The Fruits of Our Labor

Tan Xiaoling’s immortal’s cave was one of the most comfortable He Yu had ever seen. More than just a grotto carved from the living rock of the mountains, it was practically a home. She’d swept away any dirt from the floor, and laid down exquisite foreign rugs. In the far corner, a pile of silk cushions sat near a pillar of spirit stone, much like the one they’d found in Kang Zhu’s cave. The entrance was partially hidden, but unscripted. He Yu wasn’t particularly surprised by that....

5.30 - The Jade Princess

He Yu arrived on the valley floor first. As he drew closer, the storm of metal grew more distinct. Unmistakable. He shared Li Heng’s certainty now. Nobody else he’d ever encountered had this spirit. And what a spirit it had become.

A shining expanse of white sand stretched to the horizon in every direction. Above, a ball of black fire limned by a dark orange blaze glared down over the desert. It was so much like the real White Desert, but at once so different. The storm at its cente...

5.29 - The Search Continues

The passage leading deeper into Kang Zhu’s lair sloped sharply downward. At least the roof of the tunnel was high enough that they didn’t need to stoop, owing to its need to accommodate Kang Zhu’s size. Each step brought them closer to the source of the unaspected qi, and into a denser soup of the same. It was hardly any Kang Zhu had grown so strong with a cave like this to cultivate in.

When they emerged into the lair proper, Yan Shirong let out a low whistle. A pillar of raw spi...

5.28 - God of the Green Mountain

Kang Zhu crashed into a shining formation barrier. Chen Fei’s art faded, and the great boar unleashed a series of broad, sweeping cuts with his cleaver. Between the Spring Rain Mirror and the barriers called with the Seventy-Two Blessed Symbols, He Yu and Chen Fei turned the attacks aside. Things still weren’t looking great by He Yu’s estimation, though.

Yan Shirong had dragged himself well away from the fight. He’d hunkered down among some boulders, seeking what protection they...

5.27 - Bridge Guardian

He Yu called forth his guandao. This was not a creature they could reason with, and he wasn’t even going to try. The massive boar stood twice as tall as even Chen Fei, and its wrist was as thick around as He Yu’s chest. It was clearly advanced enough to assume a partial human form, and although he wasn’t yet certain of the great boar’s advancement, He Yu could tell this was not a foe to be taken lightly.

As the storm of his presence billowed out from him, he called upon his tech...

5.26 - Into the Wilds Once More

Yan Shirong sat down at the table in the downstairs room of their inn. “I think I may have found her,” was all the announcement he made.

When He Yu had emerged from his cultivation after their first day of combing Jade Mountain Citadel for rumors and clues, Yan Shirong was already gone. At least he’d the courtesy to leave a note, even if it had only said to wait for him to return. They’d done as he bid, and had spent the morning and the early afternoon sitting in the main room a...

5.25 - Absence

It didn’t take them long to find lodgings in the city suitable for cultivators of their advancement. With the spirit stones they’d received for the sand beast parts, the price wasn’t anything to worry about either. They each had their own cultivation chamber, and the hostler even had a formation expert on hand to reconfigure the script to amplify the aspects guests required. He Yu emerged from his cultivation early the next morning as Jade Mountain Citadel began to awake.

After a ...

5.24 - Jade Mountain Citadel

Backed by the rugged, snow-capped peaks of the Jade Mountains to the south, the royal palace dominated the capital of the Jade Kingdom. The city itself was as busy as He Yu had ever seen. Not that he’d seen all that many, now that he reflected on it. He tried his best not to look like the country bumpkin he was.

Chen Fei had no such shame. She let her excitement show plainly as she moved through the crowd, talking about how even during her first trip south to the Shrouded Peaks she’...

5.23 - Oasis

The sand beasts moved without sound and attacked without warning. The pack leader was no exception. He Yu summoned the Spring Rain Mirror and darted to the side. A spray of acid blood erupted from the wound he scored on the creature’s side as it passed him by. When it landed, it turned. Fixed its eyes on him once more. Once more, it attacked.

Nearby, Chen Fei fought off two more of the beasts. Although they clung to her with their claws and their teeth, they failed to bring her to the...

5.22 - Breath of the Desert

The sandstorm hit just as they reached the oasis. As they drew near, the winds picked up like the storms down south, but scorching hot and dry rather than pleasantly cool and humid. The foliage around the oasis itself shook in the increasingly violent wind, but held firm. The thick bark of the date palms endured the winds and sand well.

Under the full fury of the storm, they had to shelter in the lee of a rock. They huddled together, seeking what scant refuge they could find from the ra...

5.21 - The White Desert

Dawn broke, bringing with it the burning and angry sun. The rugged, arid lands of the western passage had been warm and dry. He Yu had thought the White Desert itself would be similar in climate. He’d thought wrong.

The night had been hot, but the night had been merely a prelude to the day. Moments after sunrise, the temperature started to climb. A cultivator could resist extremes, but only up to a point. How extreme depended on their advancement. The sun was only three fingers above ...

5.20 - Wang Xiaobo Arrives

For a moment, the only sound came from the thunder of drums on the street outside. When Li Bao started off to the main house gate, the silence broke.

Chen Fei grabbed He Yu’s arm. “We need to go,” she whispered harshly in his ear.

“General Bao,” Yan Shirong called. “I represent the Ministry of Information. If I may, allow me to speak with Wang Xiaobo. There’s a chance I could dissuade him.”

“Father, wait!” Li Heng called.

“All of you, silence!” ...

5.19 - Seeking Aid from the Li

Following Li Heng’s lead, He Yu and the others headed to the Li estates at the northern end of Iron Gate City. As they walked through the streets, He Yu filled Li Heng in on the past fifteen years. He Yu and Chen Fei recounted their time with Yongnian at the Thunder God’s Shrine, then their trip to Shulin.

Li Heng seemed to grow troubled at the mention of Xin Lu, but allowed them to continue. They told him of their escape, and how they’d taken refuge in the ruins of the sect. Then...

5.18 - Iron Gate City

“That’s not a plan,” He Yu said.

“Do you have a better one?” Yan Shirong asked. His tone was a bit more indignant that He Yu thought he deserved.

The plan, if it could be called that, involved using Yan Shirong’s shadows to effectively blind the guards while they passed through the gates. Never mind the fact the gates remained sealed as part of the lockdown, or that none of them knew if they’d be able to open them.

Of course, He Yu didn’t have a better plan. ...

5.17 - The Western Passage

After He Yu switched out his common garb for what Yan Shirong considered “proper attire,” the three of them left Plum Blossom City under cover of darkness. The guards at the northern gate to the city stood down with a wave from Yan Shirong. Once a polite distance from the city walls, they released their cultivation, and the journey began in earnest.

Yan Shirong had reached late Golden Core in the time since He Yu had last seen him. Now his movement technique allowed him to step from...

5.16 - Yan Shirong

“It’s good to see you, too,” He Yu said.

“Should we be getting ready to leave?” Chen Fei asked.

Yan Shirong waved her off. “It should be fine for now,” he said. “I intercepted the missive and took care of the gate guard’s report. That should buy you enough time to at least finish your meal.” Then he fell silent and eyed the both of them. “But I wouldn’t stay in Plum Blossom City any longer than that, if I were you.”

“Why not?” He Yu asked.

5.15 - Plum Blossom City

He Yu and Chen Fei arrived at Plum Blossom City along with fall. Posing as mortals had limited their speed, but had allowed them to see much of what had become of the lands they wandered through. What they saw left He Yu unsettled.

To say the empire was in ruin would have been a vast overstatement, but neither was is prosperous. Bandits roamed the roads and attacked undefended settlements. The towns they passed through were governed by corrupt officials, often asking outrageous tolls si...

5.14 - Cause Unending

Water qi surged and flowed around Zhang Lifen. The Tidewalker Step carried her safely out of reach of the poison wind and corrupted shadow. As she faded away from her pursuer, she drew her bow of qilin horn and black wood. An arrow of water qi condensed, completing at the instant she reached a full draw. Her bowstring thrummed, and a river surged over its banks to drench the land. The Heart Piercing Black Rain split into nine arrows, then each into nine more. Then each of those into another n...

5.13 - Seeking Allies

They spent some time picking through the ruins of the inner sect. Still, they were attacked, and by defending themselves, He Yu and Chen Fei drew attention to themselves. But with the beacon of Elder Cai’s Nascent Soul now absent, the parade of walking corpses turned from a steady stream to a mere trickle.

Much as He Yu anticipated, the inner sect had been picked clean. Someone like Jin Xifeng, whose very nature demanded she take all that she could, wouldn’t willingly leave any of t...

5.12 - A Fading Light

He Yu and Chen Fei crashed into the fight as one. A rolling thunderhead and an unstoppable avalanche. Lightning cracked and sparked while formations shone. A swipe from one of the spirit’s claws glanced off the Spring Rain Mirror. He Yu opened a gash across the spirit’s swollen belly. Maggots and rotten meat spilled out as it howled in fury and pain.

“Stupid children!” Elder Cai shouted. He held out one palm before him. A beam of radiant light and jagged heaven qi poured forth. ...