XaiJu
The Veiled Man

The Veiled Man

patreon


The Veiled Man posts

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 141

Chapter 141: When Gods Bleed

The world was ending above me, and I couldn't look away.

Every clash between my grandfather and Sahrazzakhan sent shockwaves through reality itself. Floating islands crumbled like sandcastles before a tide. The very air screamed as two titans reshaped Aethelgard with their fury.

"Quite the sight, isn't it?"

I spun, Kurayami materializing in my hand before I could think. A man stood beside me, hands clasped behind his back, watching the ap...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 140

Chapter 140: When Titans Clash

The moment the announcer's hand fell, reality bent.

Our blades met with a sound like the world breaking. The shockwave rippled outward and shattered the arena floor in a spiderweb of cracks that raced toward the walls. Where Aurelius's Lunafang cut through the air, trails of silver light lingered like scars on reality. Where my Kurayami struck, darkness bloomed and died, leaving afterimages that hurt to look at directly.

"Interesting choice o...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 139

Chapter 139: Declarations and Destinies

The morning sun caught on my blade as I moved through the sixth form of the True Demon Sword Art. Around me, the training grounds buzzed with activity, filled with warriors preparing for matches that could make or break their futures. 

Steel rang against steel, magic crackled through the air, and the Valtherians' booming laughter punctuated it all like thunder.

"Your footwork's getting sloppy," Valeria observed from where she lo...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 138

Chapter 138: Bronze and Blade

The arena shifted beneath my feet, crystalline walls flowing like water as they reshaped themselves. What had been a simple combat circle moments before now stretched into a vast amphitheater, the ceiling dissolving to reveal open sky. Platforms of varying heights materialized from nothing, creating a three-dimensional battlefield that clearly favored aerial combat.

Of course they'd give the dragon every advantage.

The announcer's han...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 137

Chapter 137: Dance of Dragons and Hunters

The dawn broke over Aethelgard like spilled gold across black velvet, the many floating islands catching fire in the morning light. I stood at my window, watching dragons wheel through air thick enough to taste, and tried to wrap my mind around what I'd promised Amelia.

The Arcane Tournament. Even thinking the name sent electricity down my spine.

Every century, the seven Arcane Kings gathered their chosen warriors for a contest tha...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 136

Chapter 136 – A Draconic Dilemma

The teacup hit the floor with a crystalline crash, amber liquid spreading across polished marble like spilled sunlight. I watched the fragments scatter, catching the dying light through the window.

"Well," I said, pushing off the doorframe, "that's seven years of bad luck. Though I suppose dragons measure time differently."

“We dragons and elves actually do. Otherwise, I won’t meet the 50-year requirement of the Arcane Tournament,” ...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 135

Chapter 135: Entering the Dragon's Domain

The designated portal site stood a mile outside Dune's Rest, far enough from civilization to be imposing, close enough to remind everyone who truly ruled these lands. A massive stone gateway dominated the landscape, tall enough to accommodate dragons in their true forms. Ancient crystalline pillars formed a perfect circle around it, their surfaces etched with runes that pulsed with dormant power.

The gate itself showed only desert on the...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 134

Chapter 134: Trial by Combat

The water mug floated three inches off the nightstand, wobbling like a drunk trying to walk a straight line. I narrowed my focus, willing it higher, but the moment my concentration wavered, it crashed back down, spilling across the worn wood.

"Still can't manage a simple pour," I muttered, wiping the mess with my sleeve. Two days of practice with Soul Fire, and all I had to show for it was wet furniture and a growing appreciation for how much I didn'...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Third Book's Launch on Amazon!

Good day to all!

It's been 9 months since I started posting The Martial God, and we're already at Book 4. It's a great feeling, the speed and the exposure we're getting. Today, Book 3's pre-order session ended, and it got published in Amazon Kindle.

Martial Arts VS Magic Book 3: Myth Slayer

Finally used to the name. Amazon Link: [Martial Arts vs Magic Book 3]

2025-06-20 09:21:49 +0000 UTC View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 133

Chapter 133: The Path to Dragons

The Saharan Desert stretched beneath me like an ocean of molten gold, each of the dunes painted like a frozen wave in an endless sea of sand. Unlike the border town of Scorpion’s Kiss, this was totally the land of dragons and beasts.

The sun hung overhead, a merciless white eye that would have blinded lesser men, but the Photon Ring's radiance made it seem pale by comparison. Wind whipped past at speeds that should have torn flesh from bone, ye...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 132

Chapter 132: The Devil's Coin

The modest hut felt smaller with three people crowded around the low table, but somehow warmer for it. Steam rose from bowls of lamb stew—Rafin's specialty, seasoned with desert herbs that made my tongue tingle. Through the open door, the irrigation channels caught the late afternoon sun like veins of molten gold.

"And then the Baron turned into this massive lizard thing, Father! Scales the size of dinner plates, teeth like daggers...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 131

Chapter 131: Infinitely Worse?

The world twisted inside out, colors bleeding together like wet paint before snapping back into focus. Lailah's stomach lurched as her feet found solid ground again, the transition from Nevaramis's grand plaza to this new space jarring her senses.

She blinked, taking in their surroundings. 

They stood in what could only be described as a marriage between ancient alchemy and impossible technology. Glass tubes snaked across the ceiling lik...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 130

Chapter 130: The Master of the Ghost City

The android administrator remained on one knee, her head bowed in a gesture of submission that looked wrong on something so perfectly crafted. 

Everything about her screamed artificial perfection, from the flawless symmetry of her features to the way her crystalline hair caught the chamber's ethereal light.

"Rise," I commanded, my voice rougher than intended. The effort of calling out to Nevaramis had left my throat raw, and b...

View Post

The Barbarian Awakening - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Into the Wilds

Dawn broke over Meadow's Cross as we slipped away from the village, leaving behind the last traces of civilization and heading into the untamed wilderness. 

The air was different here. Well, much of this new world felt different than the pollution of Earth, but the forests here were even fresher somehow. 

It carried the scent of dew-drenched grass and wild herbs. Birds called overhead, their songs the only thing we could enjoy as we fol...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 129

Chapter 129: Inheritors and Invitations

"Cease your preparations for battle, children.” The Leviathan Remnant's voice rolled through the dark cavern like thunder from the deep. “I have no quarrel with the last of my blood."

I'd already begun channeling what little Qi I had left into defensive formations, there were enough reasons to, but the spirit's words made me pause. The massive serpentine form undulated through dimensions I couldn't quite perceive, its purple energy cas...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 128

Chapter 128: Consequences of Poor Choices

I withdrew my hand from the wall, where the soldier's head had become an abstract painting of bone and brain matter. The wet sound echoed through the cavern as brain matter fell to the floor. The sound marked the sudden shift in power dynamics.

The remaining guards stood frozen, eyes trembling. They were caught between duty and the very reasonable desire to live, eyes full of fear. Their gaze darted between their fallen comrade's corpse ...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 127

Chapter 127: The Leviathan's Price

I really, truly, definitely regretted exploring a dungeon without my Demonic Sphere. The number of times I’d been ambushed, fallen into traps, and generally been clumsy was not even funny. The dungeon monsters weren’t weak either.

Ultimately, carrying healing water in small vials helped us survive by quickly mending our wounds mid-battle. It was our lifesaver.

With Vyrn and Azahira’s guidance, we managed to avoid the worst ...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 126

Chapter 126: Mysteries and Audacities

The desert night wrapped around us like a lover's embrace—cold, intimate, and full of hidden promises. 

Our small fire crackled between us, fed by Vyrn's occasional contributions of dry scrub he'd found scattered among the rocks. The spectral owl seemed to take pride in his role as provider of kindling, puffing his ethereal chest each time he dropped another twig into the flames.

“This is a little frustrating, Alexand...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 125

Chapter 125: A Deadly Race

The Glass Serpent's crystalline body shattered into a thousand glittering fragments as Lailah's wind blade sliced through its midsection. The monster's death throes sent sparkling shards flying in all directions, forcing me to shield my face with my arm.

"Not bad," I called out as the dust settled. "Though you telegraphed that final strike so clearly even a blind monk could have seen it coming."

Lailah straightened, brushing desert grit from her ...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 124

Chapter 124: The Retreating Forces

Three days of relentless travel brought us to the Lightning Canyons. It was a maze of wind-carved passages and towering stone walls that caught the dying light like rusted blades. 

The journey hadn't been kind. 

We'd faced two more Sand Ghouls, a swarm of Glass Scorpions, and a particularly stubborn Dust Wraith that had nearly cost me my remaining arm. But Lailah had risen to each challenge, her command of the wind growing more ...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 123

Chapter 123: Echoes in the Wastes

The sun clawed at my skin like a spiteful lover, determined to leave marks. 

Four days into our journey across the Scalding Plains, and the landscape had become a maddening repetition of endless dunes stretching toward a horizon that never seemed to draw closer. Our water skins grew lighter with each passing hour, reminding me of time's relentless march.

"We should reach the Lightning Canyons by tomorrow afternoon," Lailah said, her v...

View Post

The Barbarian Awakening - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Shifting Landscapes

The pushing from the night before had thankfully amounted to nothing. Perhaps just the great stone settling, or some small forest creature that had given up. Our prayers were answered. 

Morning light filtered down through the vine-covered opening in the ceiling, a welcome sight after a tense night. We rolled aside the stone blocking the main entrance, stepping back into the wilderness.

The forest seemed almost innocent in daylight, its ...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 122

Chapter 122: Swirling Plots of Royal Problems

Rafin's expression remained carefully neutral as we recounted the day's events around the modest dinner table. Oil lamps cast shadows across his weathered face, hiding whatever thoughts might be flickering beneath the surface.

"An oasis marked by leviathan magic?" He sipped his stew, considering the news. "Every five years some fool claims to have found one. Remember old Hazim? Took twenty men into the Scarlet Dunes. Only his bones r...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 121

Chapter 121: Whispers of the Oasis and a Fading Peace

The next five days settled into a strange rhythm. Wake at dawn. Eat a simple porridge with Rafin and Lailah. Work the fields until midday sun turned the horizon into rippling waves of heat. Rest through the worst hours. Resume as the shadows lengthened. 

Eat again. Sleep. Repeat.

This wasn't the life I'd been born into. Wasn't the life I'd built. And certainly wasn't the life I'd fought gods and demons to preserve....

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 120

Chapter 120: The Cripple's Dance

Lailah's heart plummeted to the pit of her stomach as the one-armed stranger they'd rescued limped toward the doorway. 

Had Alexander completely lost his mind? 

A crippled man with barely enough strength to feed himself was about to face five armed thugs—men who routinely broke bones for entertainment. They weren’t weak either, they were all at least 2nd Ascension!

No, no, no, you fool! she silently screamed, he...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 119

Chapter 119: A Gentleman's Mistake

Hours stretched into the late afternoon as Rafin and I worked on the irrigation channels. When we finally returned to the hut, the sun had begun its descent, painting the desert in hues of amber and gold. 

My muscles ached from the unfamiliar labor, a different kind of pain from the injuries I'd sustained. It was honest pain, earned through useful work rather than desperate battle. It didn’t feel too bad.

Rafin settled on a three-l...

View Post

Martial Arts Vs Magic - Chapter 118

Book 4 | Chapter 1

Chapter 118: Whispers on the Sun-Scorched Border

Consciousness returned like a thief in the night, stealing away my expectations of pain. Instead of the searing agony I remembered, there was... absence. 

A void where sensation should have been.

I opened my eyes to a ceiling of packed mud and straw, crisscrossed with wooden beams worn smooth by time. My first coherent thought wasn't of strategy or power, but si...

View Post

The Barbarian Awakening - Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Please, Help MeWe ran through the forest that’d become alive with chaos. Shadows shifted around us, and the heavy thud of my boo

Chapter 20: Please, Help Me

We ran through the forest that’d become alive with chaos. Shadows shifted around us, and the heavy thud of my boots hit the earth echoed like a heartbeat in the night. 

Each step carried us through thick darkness, and my senses picked up every rustle and howl that broke the silence. Creatures—gob...

View Post

Great News! Book 1 Audiobook Out

Hope everyone is doing alright, because I sure am! Book 1's audiobook is finallyyyy out! My thank you to anyone who'd listen to it, I hope you'll enjoy it to your heart's content.

Audible Link: 2025-05-02 16:40:22 +0000 UTC View Post

The Barbarian Awakening - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: A Surprise(s)

“Keep fighting, BARBARIAN!” 

Dammit.

Despite the hopelessness of the situation, my mind was already racing through options. Without my ax, I'd need to rely on my Class skills and combat training. That didn’t matter. The disadvantages were something I had to work with.

I couldn't afford to lose here, impossible. Not with Ragna fighting for her life against those mercenaries. I’d promised her mother.

Allister lunged...

View Post