The Space Rodeo

License to Cultivate Bk 3 Ch 37

Chang-li raced upward against the fleeing crowd, most of whom seemed to be seeking the lower petals of Vardin City. The tower shuddered and shook as he went. His heart pounded in his ears. Were his friends all right? Min, the acolytes—he needed to get back to where he had last seen them all.

As he pushed forward, it got harder to move. His limbs felt sluggish, like he was running through water. There was a feeling like someone's will pushing against his, thou...

License to Cultivate Bk 3 Ch 36

Joshi felt the tower rock as a surge of lux exploded outward. A pulse of immense will, dropped down on him like a blanket. Joshi fell to his knees. All around him, people collapsed. He cycled Way of Boulders and struggled back up to his feet.

Screams rent the air. The tower itself was shaking. He could feel a hard hum of lux in the air, discordant notes as the different colors made their presence known.

What had just happened? He looked around. Festival-goers lay on the ground. Ge...

SU&HM Bk 1 CH 40

Rick leaned closer to the mission running board and studied it. Each mission was written on a card in neat letters. There was a title, a category, a summary, and a completion time, as well as spaces at the bottom for the names of the players assigned to the mission to be written in. 

"It looks like we can assign combat players and non-combat players," Rick said, his brow furrowed. "Does that mean these don't involve fighting?" 

Gambit leaned in and looked for himself. Th...

License to Cultivate Bk 3 Ch 35

The world exploded around Min. There was a flash of light of every hue, so bright it dazzled her eyes, accompanied by a loud screeching sound that went on and on, driving into her eardrums. The ground shook as the whole crown ring trembled. A burst of willpower like she'd never felt before smashed against her, knocking her flat onto her face. Fear turned her insides to water—a foreign fear mixing with her own terror of the unknown.

The noise died. Min blinked. She still s...

SU&HM Bk 1 Ch 39

Sam looked at the upgrade token curiously. Tobias Schneider appeared at Rick’s elbow as if out of thin air. The other Mars Expedition NCPs started drifting over, and soon the whole crowd had gathered around Rick and Sam. 

“Will it upgrade the crafting space?”

“How many more retinue can we have?” 

“I want a job!” 

The chatter washed over Rick, and he couldn’t help but smile. He took one last look around the clearing at the team.

His ...

License to Cultivate Bk 3 Ch 34

Chang-li sat in an opulent marbled hall on a tall-backed chair and cycled. He kept his hands clasped together in front of him, his feet firm on the floor as he concentrated on his cycling technique. The infusion of lux from the prism's display filled him with crackling energy. It was easy to work with but had a different quality than he'd experienced from tower lux.

After Wulan's complaint about this tower having bland lux, Chang-li had spent some time contemplating and decided that he ...

SU&HM Bk 1 Ch 38

Rick got a text from Sam just before they got back to Angels Landing. We need to talk.

He stared at it for a long moment before replying, Fire away.

In person, Sam said. You at your caravan?

Almost, Rick typed back.

Is there a way for me to visit?

It was early evening. The camp was still a hive of activity. Slate and Dr. Schneider had their heads together at the far side of the camp. Rick strode over, and...

License to Cultivate Bk 3 Ch 33

"How far is he?" Min demanded as she followed Brother Stone what felt like halfway around the Crown Ring. They passed groups drinking, dancing, socializing, feasting, and hosting various competitions. In one square, half-naked men were wrestling while the boisterous crowd placed bets upon the outcome. In another, cultivators were practicing their own versions of the fancy show of lux illusions taking place in the sky overhead. Min spared a glance or two as she went. She'd never s...

License to Cultivate Bk 3 Ch 32

The festivities bloomed around Joshi, ostentatious displays of wealth that would have made his brothers lapse into a rant about the decadent ways of civilization while casting envious glances all around. Joshi was untouched by it all. This tower cull was almost at an end, and he was glad of it. After this, either the sect would shake off most of its hangers-on and go to a smaller tower where he might continue to cultivate without so much attention, or he would have to leave it.

That had...

SU&HM Bk1 Ch 37

As the echos of Pratt's voice died away Rick had a brief urge to run but then turned back. This showdown had been a long time coming. He was only two steps from the doorway, so the risk wasn't great. Gambit stopped in the doorway itself and looked back. 

"Hey, Pratt, how's it going?" Rick called nonchalantly. 

The rest of Team Technique spread out across the dais and stopped. Pratt stood in the middle, shaking a fist at Rick. The others kept glancing back and forth. They...

License to Cultivate Bk 3 Ch 31

Chang-li and Min wound their way through the festivities. Min seemed quiet and withdrawn. As they passed people she knew, she gave slight head nods and bare acknowledgments. Her brother's words must have cut her deeper than she was letting on. "Are you all right?" he asked her in a low voice. "Should we go back to the sect house?"

She shook her head. "We can't. You and I both have duties here tonight. Besides," she smiled up at him wanly, "it's time for your tutoring sessio...

SU&HM 36

The fireball grew large, headed straight for his face, filling his vision and scorching his skin. He threw Protection just in time as the burning flames reached him. The bubble popped so quickly he wasn’t sure he had even cast it. The flames scorched across his face and arms, and he felt a scream tear from his lips.

He hammered on Soothing Mist as fast he could. The cooling feel of it washing over him was soothing, but it didn’t heal much of the damage, and his skin sti...

License to Cultivate Bk 3 Ch 30

A waxing half-moon hung in the evening sky as the Sect of Morning Mist arrived at the Crown ring for the ceremony to mark the beginning of the final phase. The whole sect had turned out in their finery, with new robes provided courtesy of the Oaken Band Brotherhood. Chang-li's were of fine silk, the nicest he'd ever worn, with a vibrant crimson sash and Min's matched his. For once, he hadn't protested her grandfather's largesse. It was important that their sect looked the part tonight.

...

SU&HM Ch 35

"Are we ready to go?" Daniel asked.

Rick shook his head. "Hang on." He studied the area for a couple of minutes before addressing the team. The boss was on a raised platform with the large anvil in its center. The platform filled that whole end of the chamber. From it several deep steps lead down to the main floor. Down the center of that floor the three massive metal arms were mounted to a pivot set in the floor. On other end of each arm, high above the floor, a Levistone crystal was m...

License to Cultivate Bk 3 Ch 29

Note: one of the global changes I'm adding to previous chapters is that when the next phase starts, the three remaining bridal candidates and their top supporters get personal tutoring from a prism - a boon that Joshi and Chang-li are both eager to win.

Chang-li was just coming down the stairs from the training room, intending to go to the kitchen and make a meal of whatever food was on hand, when Min popped up from the front drawing room. Her ...

License to Cultivate Bk 3 Ch 28

Chang-li waited with Li Jiya, Joshi, and the disciples they had selected to enter the sixth floor with them one last time. They stood in a mass of other cultivators all waiting to be allowed in.

"You are the top five candidates. You will enter with your team in order of your standing in this tournament, with ten minutes between each group," the announcer boomed from beside the door. “The first three to receive the floor boon from the guardian will advance further, the other two...

SU&HM Bk 1 Ch 34

The Centi-wing boss’s sinuous body was twice as long as Rick’s own, and its wings were several feet across. The buzz of its wings sounded like a hundred angry mopeds. A swarm of blue sparks flew around it, much larger than the previous; each spark a blue glowing centi-wing the size of a hand.

"New plan, new plan!" Rick shouted. "Stay close. Nia, focus the little guys. Daniel, stay on the boss, but don’t hit its wings." He wasn’t sure if the thing would be deadly on the ground, b...

License to Cultivate Bk 3 Ch 27

Joshi discarded his robe and pulled off his tunic before stepping into the ring as the crowd applauded. His opponent, a Young Master from the Crimson Orchid sect, slipped inside the rope barrier and bowed to him. Joshi put his hands together and gave a brief head nod. The rival Young Master was taller than he, but skinnier, and their reach looked about the same.

The opponent shifted his weight from side to side as the referee, a cultivation spouse of Dream Blosson sect, cleared his thro...

SU&HM Bk 1 Ch 33

Two enormous, winged insects, both level five, lifted into the air with an angry whine of flapping wings. Smaller bugs, like sparks of light, swirled around them in blue orbits. 

The bugs themselves had four wings—two in the front and two more at the back. It gave them the appearance of mating dragonflies, but with far too many legs. 

"Ew, they're flying centipedes," Nia said, and raised her blowgun to her lips. The weapon was a strange little device, like a dozen stra...

License to Cultivate Bk 3 Ch 26

The man who called himself Noren left his junior acolytes training in the upper room. This was a good opportunity for him to satisfy a curiosity that had been building in him for some time. The senior members of the sect were engaged in a competition inside the tower and would not be back for some time, while Min had gone out to pay a call on another sect. He didn't expect her back for several hours. As long as Brother Stone took his duties in training the acolytes seriously, Noren had bought...

SU&HM Bk 1 Ch 32

"Oh no!" the Rork exclaimed, though her tone didn’t match her words. She sounded flat, like someone reciting a lesson learned by heart. "This is terrible! Smith Ajaz has returned! He will unleash a scourge upon this world if he is not stopped!"

"Who is Ajaz Rick asked.

The Rork sighed and rolled her eyes. "What more do you need to know? He’s High Smith..." Her voice shifted from exasperated to mildly concerned, which indicated to Rick that the system was pushing her to say som...

License to Cultivate Bk 3 Ch 25

Quick summary of the changes I've made to previous chapters:

Slight modifications to hopefully make Joshi less of a jerk. Tournament rules are clarified and the "points" mentioned earlier are removed. Advancement slightly slowed, with the lesser disciples either not quite at or barely reaching the Peak of Bodily Refinement. Min has reached her first core condensation, not the Peak.

As they left the grove, Min, panting, plucked at Chang-li �...

License to Cultivate Bk 3 Ch 24

Chang-li was in the courtyard sparring with a set of training dummies, practicing a routine of punches and kicks Joshi had taught him. He had no intention of switching from his sword and elemental weave combination. It felt right to him. But the foundation of cultivation was knowledge of self, and that began with one’s own body. In normal sects, acolytes spent years mastering the foundational techniques of martial arts to strengthen and better know themselves. Chang-li didn’t know ...

SU&HM Bk 1 Ch 31

Rick stood, brushing a smoldering piece of tar from the exploded trap off his arm. He cast Soothing Mist on himself, then the rest of the team one by one. "Holy crap, man, how many more like that do you have?"

Daniel's face fell. "That was the best. The others aren't nearly so -- impressive. I spent half of my supplies just on that one."

"Yeah, that might have been too much," Gambit said. There was a red splotch on his cheek where some burning tar had left its mark. 2025-01-10 14:00:13 +0000 UTC View Post

License to Cultivate Bk 3 Ch 23

“Noren's reputation is solid. The Oaken Band Brotherhood had greased a few palms to help his paperwork look even better.” Min’s grandfather sat behind his desk, drinking tea, looking pleased with himself, as Min stood in front of him, trying to keep her features respectful.

“He is… he isn’t what I expected,” Min ventured. In her mind she had thought the cultivator her grandfather was bringing in would be a figurehead, someone she could manipulate subtly to kee...

SU&HM Bk 1 Ch 30

"So you could add Theo to your retinue and we could both get out of here?” Nia sounded gleeful. “Heck yeah, sign us up.”

“I don’t know…” Theo said, frowning. "Will I still be able to tell people about this quest when I'm done?" There was an odd note in his voice. Rick suspected he was being influenced by the system.

"You won't need to. The system will assign someone else to do it."

"But what if they don't do a good job?" Theo folded his arms across his chest. �...

License to Cultivate Bk 3 Ch 22

Hiroko bowed in the doorway as the Dowager Pearl looked up from her work. "Ah, yes, my dear. How are you?"

"I'm fine," Hiroko said as she entered. “How may I serve your eminence?”

The Dowager gestured at the man seated across from her. "Hiroko, this is Grandmaster Noren of the Morning Mist sect."

Hiroko took in his robes, which were in the Morning Mist's pattern, and the ring on his finger with a symbol matching that which Joshi wore.

She entered and knelt b...

SU&HM Ch 29

When Rick emerged the next morning, Slate and Gambit were seated by the fire discussing questing. There was a pot of something hot brewing, but when Rick tried it, it tasted nothing like coffee. He spat the remains out and dumped the cup into the fire. "What is this crap?"

Slate shrugged. "I have no idea. I've never met anyone that likes it. But every time a campfire spawns, there's a pot of it hanging over the coals from one of these doohickeys." He pointed at the tripod arrangement. "...

License to Cultivate Bk 3 Ch 21

The entire sect assembled in the garden where the newly proclaimed Grandmaster stood waiting. The junior disciples seated themselves cross-legged in three rows of four, with Brother, Stone, Cui, Shou and Yang at the front and the more recently added disciples at the back.

Joshi, Chang-li, and Li Jiya all stood in a line to one side. Min was standing with them, biting her lip and fidgeting. Chang-li couldn't help glancing toward her as his mind whirled. She looked guilty. W...

License to Cultivate Bk 3 Ch 20

"It was not your place to make that decision,” Li Jiya fumed. She and Joshi had spent several more hours inside the tower until the competition was over, but had not recovered any more puzzle boxes or succeeded in downing any challenges.

Now Chang-li, Joshi, and Li Jiya were back at the Sect of Morning Mist's headquarters in the training room. The disciples had all been sent off to enjoy themselves for a few hours. Min sat quietly in one corner, cycling with her eyes closed, bu...