Apollos Thorne

Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 21

It was an hour before Huifen brought herself to the point of being able to use heart of ice. It wasn’t because she was incapable of circulating the technique, but she’d been unwilling. Her father-in-law had said she must make her protests known to her husband. Instead of a leaking faucet, this early morning she’d torn the faucet from the wall and had all but beaten him with it. The only reasons she hadn’t done more was because deep down, she was thankful he’d taken the initiative in...

Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 20

They arrived high in the air near the wooded peak of one of the largest mountains in the region. The sun was casting its morning light across the highest growth while the cozy valleys still slumbered. Instead of snow capping the peaks, dense fog covered them at dawn and dusk, shadowing the valleys even further. It was enough condensation that it supplied the waterfall halfway down its face with a river’s worth of water daily. It was in the valley at the base of the mountain where Sage Ping�...

Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 19

Ignoring his assassin’s confusion, he pressed on. “You wanted me dead, Sage. This is the best and the last chance you’ll ever get. I recommend you take it.”

She’d been starting to get up, then faltered. Her gaze returned to the ground. “I don’t want you dead.”

“Are you saying you didn’t try to kill me?”

Her response wasn’t a quick one, but it was more resolute than the first. “I did.”

Before he said another word, he thought of his wife. He d...

Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 18

High above a little village at an elevation where only the highest clouds soared, a woman in a blue gown stood on nothing. Each strand of her long, blood-red hair wisped about in the violent currents of wind. She was unaffected by such lowly gales, but she allowed her hair to do as it wished.  It was something Syaoran would’ve never allowed. She wasn’t sure if she was doing it out of spite or because she enjoyed it. Perhaps spiting the memory of him was currently the highest joy she ...

Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 17

She noticed something. It was almost instinctual. Sitting up in her chair, Huifen looked back at Chao. Nearly all of their energy gathering had been done as one for the last year. Feeling the slightest change in his circulation had become almost second nature to her, even from across the room.

Going over to him, she took a closer look, only to see a fresh green stem on their bed that he must have dragged in. It was out of place, so she went to brush it aside, when she pulled her hand ba...

Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 16

Chao and Huifen continued north. They took their time training as they went and taking breaks to try or see anything that caught their fancy. Even though their schedule was less disciplined than in the past, there was a natural flow to their days and nights that traveling freely allowed. It was like a gentle salve for their souls after all the training and their battle of life and death.

On their third day of their journey, they found another inn in a quaint little village. They had din...

Quick Update

The next Heaven's Laws chapter is coming tonight or tomorrow. I received the info on Facebook that my appeal was rejected and I still don't know why. The spaces for the posts and reason are both left blank, so I'm trying to contact them in other ways.  They normally leave checks against your account which have to accumulate, and yet I've never received one. It's made it difficult to write today. I'll likely leave the chapter for tomorrow to go back over what I got when my head is in the ...

Update

It looks like I may never get advertising access back on Facebook, and I even know why they removed it. Normally, the review takes 48 hoursm but mine has been going on over a week now. My best guess is that someone reported one of my updates or their AI read my recommendation for people not solely rely on recall info. It was when we had covid and were snacking on bad peanut butter at the same time.

I get that if an AI took a wooden literal reading then it would come off negative. The f...

Update

Hey guys,

I didn't mean to be taking this long to get the next chapter out, except facebook banned me from advertising for some reason. That and the power went out yesterday in the afternoon. *Sigh* Should be done with this is a day or two. I hope.

Cheers!

Preorder Live! - Codename: Freedom - Vanguard

Publishing Oct. 10th

185,000 words

Synopsis:

After  surviving the trials of Freedom, Lucius prepares to enter  the next  stage of the military’s super soldier creation scheme. Medieval   weaponry and gritty fantasy combat will be a thing of the past. He’ll   be bringing what he’s learned to the modern  battlefield.

Fighting  futuristic tech isn’t his only  challenge. He’ll be going head-to-head  against G...

Codename - Book 4 - Download

Vanguard is ready to go!

The Patreon copy is in the attachments. It's the Epub version, which is mostly universal these days, but if you have any issues, just let me know.

I'll be publishing about a week from now, give or take a few days.

Cheers!

Quick Update

I've been working with contractors the last two days. When the power came back on our water heater did all but blow up. >.< The entire garage was filled with steam. A new one is in, and momma is happy that she can take hot showers again. Dad-bod-flex!

Also, I got the finished cover for Codename back, so in a few days I'll have it ready. The Patreon copy should be up then and I'll have the preorder up soon. I'm not doing a long one. Just enough to get all my advertising set up and...

Hurricane Update and Codename Cover

We're currently without power in the middle of hurricane Ian. I live in Central Florida outside of flood zones, so there's little danger. Having fun with the wife and kids, but bummed with Heaven's Laws right now. Somethings about to happen... 😉 I should have the next chapter up Tomorrow unless this hurricane decides to actually move. It's not moving fast. Today if possible. Trying not to leave you guys with a cliffhanger.

I got back the initial Codename Vangard cover art. The light...

Heaven's Law - Lifestone - Chapter 15

Huifen suggested they take turns training while they traveled. She wanted to memorize the poison tables that Big Sister Ping before she got distracted with learning the Indominable Plumage, the first technique in the third pillar of the Ice Phoenix Cultivation Tomb. Unlike all the others except Ice Shroud, this was a defensive technique. She’d studied it enough to know the basics of how it worked. It used qi to mimic the way Divine Ice Phoenix’s body did to defend. The cost was massive am...

Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 14

Their parents and Sages Fang and Ping came to wish them farewell as they left the capital city. They’d had their official parting a few days before, so their meeting was brief. It was a happy parting.

Zan didn’t let them go without one last warning, “Stay humble and don’t let your cultivation levels and martial abilities go to your heads or you might just end up dead without knowing what happened. There is still much danger in this world, even to you. It is those dangers you don...

Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 13 part b

Here we go!

There's a lot of little hints in this chapter. Enjoy!

---

“They’re passed the dangerous part,” Zan said.

“Good,” Quinyuan replied. Her ice qi gown was already covering her and heart of ice was circulating.

He admired his ice fairy before turning to the Envoy and nodding. He did the same with the youngsters Fang and Ping then commanded them, “Keep a close eye on her majesty.” He gave the sky realm empress a more formal bow. Then withou...

Update and LotR Question

This next part of the chapter may be done today, but there is a lot of planning involved for later in the book. That means I'm being extra careful what I do and don't put in the chapter, so it's just taking longer. Gotta get the foreshadowing just right. There's also some funny bits I'm working out.

On a side note: What do you guys think of the new Lord of the Rings series? I've been going back and forth on it, but it's still been pretty entertaining.

Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 13 part a

They did end up staying another full day in the capital before returning to their room at the inn Immortal’s Slumber. It was the preeminent inn in the entire city with specialty cultivation chambers that Chao and Huifen made good use of. Their normal dual cultivation could be rough on a normal room due to their energy circulation even if they weren’t refining any heavenly materials. Such was the life of high realm cultivators.

It was on their third day in the city that they sat down...

Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 12

Huifen held on tightly to Chao’s hand. Sage Li Hao-Yu was a legendary figure even in the eyes of the ice fairies of the Ice Phoenix Sect, as was Master Li Jing who was in charge of daily affairs of the Li family. The sage had been a visiting lecturer for the last millennium and Sect Master Quinyuan had traded pointers with him many times. The Li family was involved in the politics of the empire more than the joint sect, so their relationship had never moved beyond mutual respect. But that r...

Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 11

The Li family’s home was nearly the size of the Sun family’s palace. It wasn’t obnoxiously covered in gold, but its towers were tall and proud. They landed behind the two sky realm cultivators carrying Li Bowen in the courtyard just outside the main entrance. As they did, the guards at the front door parted as a man stepped out of the grand doors twice as high as the man was tall.

The man was a tall imposing figure with the same long hair and sharp face as the young master. He wor...

Quick Update

The next chapter is ready, but my shoulder has been hurting the last few days and I've just written to write through some of it. I'm going to come back tonight and reread it before posting.

It should be up later.

Cheers! 

Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 10

Chao wasn’t angry to the point of losing all patience. He waited until something came up that could at least be useful. The man had bid for almost every resource that could be used for cultivation. There were many sets of qi crystals that were up for bid, but there were some other helpful natural treasures that were even rarer.

“Next up, we have a sky realm dire beast core that’s rich in lightning qi.” The auctioneer Ou Hop said with a touch of awe in her voice. “It’s one of...

Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 9

“I’m assuming you want to go to the auction house first?” Huifen asked.

“That is my preference, yes. What do you think?” Chao pried.

“It is mine as well. Going to auction with my father was one of my favorite things to do as a child. They can be quite exciting. Master Wang said there will be an auction this morning and one in the afternoon. These are the daily general auctions, so it’s likely there won’t be anything too remarkable. But to have auctions daily, this ...

Update

I'm a bit behind today. We had a dentist appointment, so I'll try to get the chapter out tonight.

Cheers!

Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 8

They left the palace by flying over its main entrances. There was a street bustling with people that led straight to the heart of the business district. Huifen wore her orange martial uniform and her cultivation distorting sash. Chao’s garb was a handsome silver she had recommended to him. Even as they landed and the eyes of many glanced in their direction, they weren’t worried that people would see past their sash’s ability. Earth realm cultivators could commonly fly for short stints. ...

Quick Update

The next chapter is coming along well. I'm actually cutting some of it. Going to get to the conflict a bit faster. Should be tonight or tomorrow.

Cheers!

Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 7 - part b

Two squads of ten Gilded Guards stood before the treasury’s vault in an advanced defensive formation that could amplify their power. Who knew how many other non-human formations were setup to protect the vault as well.

The moment we entered the room, a guard rushed forward and took a knee before the empress. The guards in formation didn’t move.

“Hello, Captain Li,” the empress said. “We’re here to visit the treasury.”

“This one understands,” the man replied...

Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 7 - Part a

“This one thanks Senior Fang for his instruction,” Chao said, bowing deeply.

“Little Brother, I have gained greatly over the last week as well. Please call me Big Brother,” Fang said, grabbing him by the shoulder and giving him a little shake.

“Big Brother, then.”

They shared a fiery smile.

“One last piece of advice that should be of help to you as you go out adventuring. No more bowing or addressing yourself as ‘this one’. You are a sage now, after a...

Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 6

Before Envoy Po returned to the divine realm, he would attend the meeting with the Aureate Empire’s ruling family to make clear the divine sects approved of what had happened. Instead of flying the whole way under their own power, Po removed his official Divine Fire Phoenix Sail Shuttle from his spatial ring.

Chao had seen riven ships back home. They were mostly rowed by teams or qi powered paddle boats, so they had no sails. This one looked more like the sail boats he’d heard of. I...

Quick Update and Poll

I'm still working on chapter 6. There's no clear cut to splitting it into parts so it might be tomorrow before it's posted.

We're moving on to the big meeting with the Aureate Empire's royal family. The MCs have a little traveling to do, so I wanted to ask you guys what your favorite type of vessel was in cultivation novels? You're allowed multiple answered.

Note: It won't change the chapter, but I'll keep it in mind for the future. There will be a lot of traveling in this book....