ericdontigney

Unintended Cultivator V8: Chapter 45 – A Place to Breathe

Sen picked them both up on qi platform and flew them away from the manor. He moved them away quickly and, once they got to the city wall proper, he boosted the speed to something he was certain that Lo Meifeng couldn’t match. He’d mostly been focused on making sure that no one was following them to drag him back to make more decisions. He knew he couldn’t escape it forever, but the thought of getting away for even an hour or two had been too much temptation. Even if it did mean dealing ...

Isekai Terry TOD: Chapter 6 – To Battle…

Terry was once again filled an intense desire to just leave. This was more of that hero bullshit. It was straight out of a volume of some isekai manga. The wayward traveler from another world makes… Well, Terry hesitated to the call the farmer and his family friends. The wayward traveler inherits some mostly inoffensive companions, only to be confronted with some monster that requires him to dig deep and find his true heroic spirit. Which, Terry admitted, made perfect sense if...

Unintended Cultivator V8: Chapter 44 – Escape!

“Lo Meifeng’s right,” said Grandmother Lu. “You should use sects to secure your holdings. It’s efficient.”

Sen nodded and even managed to keep a calm expression while he did it. He’d been getting a lot of practice at those just lately. He’d also been dragging his feet on the decision to use the sects because… He sighed. It was just because he didn’t like it. He knew it was the right move. He’d just been hoping that Grandmother Lu would have some excellent reason th...

Unintended Cultivator V8: Chapter 43 – Ally?

Hsiao Jiayi fussed in front of the mirror, as she had been for the last two hours. She had decided that she needed to go see that man. Then, she had spent half the morning justifying it to herself. He’s a powerful cultivator and noble in this kingdom, she thought. It only makes sense for me to make contact with him. He might be more amenable to our ways than the mortals here. That last thought had been an almost laughable lie. Any doubts she might have he...

Isekai Terry TOD: Chapter 5 – Dead Back Home

Terry was standing in line at the DMV, listening to some woman try to passive-aggressively get the clerk behind the counter—a hard-faced man who was probably around when God made the earth and also clearly wasn’t moved by the woman’s complaining—to do some damn thing or other. What Terry couldn’t figure out was why he was so happy be stuck at the very end of that line. He was overjoyed by the fluorescent lighting, the vaguely off smell in the air, and the knowledge that no one was t...

Unintended Cultivator V8: Chapter 42 – Nope, I Think It’s Fine

Jing turned to look at Sen and said, “This doesn’t strike you as a bit… Isn’t it a bit much?”

Sen cast an appraising eye around. We’ve got huge walls that are vastly ominous with glowing spikes, he thought.

“No,” said Sen, “I think it’s just about right. Oh, before I forget, huge sections of the walls were hollowed out.”

“What?” demanded Jing, his eyes narrowing.

“Yeah. Wouldn’t have taken anything to punch a hole through...

Unintended Cultivator V8: Chapter 41 – Now, That Is a Fortress of Doom

Much as he had done at his own manor, Sen stepped onto a qi platform and rose high above the royal palace. It probably wasn’t necessary. He didn’t need to physically see structures like walls to manipulate them, but a little spectacle was probably in order. He’d drawn quite a crowd the first time around. Of course, he’d been up there for hours and hours. That it would only take him an hour or two hadn’t been a boast to impress Jing. Sen had a rough idea of how much wall he’d be wo...

Isekai Terry TOD: Chapter 4 – Hero!

Terry was still screaming obscenities at the sky when a young woman raced up and threw her arms around him. She was tall and quite strong, no doubt a testament to years on the farm, which meant that Terry was wholly unprepared when her assets were pressed and held firmly against his body. He was so stunned, in fact, that he still had a clenched fist raised to the sky. The shock had silenced his cursing, though.

“Thank you!” the young woman all but shouted into his ear. “You’re a...

Unintended Cultivator V8: Chapter 40 – There Is a Difference

“Are you planning a coup?” asked Jing.

Sen almost spat out the food he’d just put in his mouth. He glowered at Jing, who gave him a beatific smile in return.

Swallowing hard to get the food past the lump in his throat, Sen said, “Why would you ask me such an absurd question?”

“Well, with all those rumors regarding your Fortress of Doom—”

“It’s not a Fortress of Doom,” growled Sen. “It’s just… It’s just sufficiently defended.”

“Fr...

Unintended Cultivator V8: Chapter 39 – Discernment

Sen and Grandmother Lu spoke for another two hours before she announced that she was weary from her journey. Sen called in Pan Shiji and told her to arrange a room for their most honored guest. The young woman’s eyes danced back and forth between Sen and his grandmother, trying to parse the relationship and getting nowhere with it. She eventually retreated to do as she was told. While that was being taken care of, Sen decided that there was one more person that Grandmother Lu should meet. I...

Isekai Terry TOD: Chapter 3 – Crap. Money.

I don't plan on making this a habit, but I knew exactly what was going to happen in this chapter, and it was eating a hole in my brain. So, you get to reap the fruits of my weakness. Enjoy! ~Eric

***

It took most of a day to get out of the city, even running nearly the entire way. The only good thing about fleeing through a city filled with what had to be tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of people was that it was nothing to blend in. Terry had eventually found a window...

Unintended Cultivator V8: Chapter 38 – Business Affairs

After she got over her coughing fit, Sen decided to take a little pity on Lo Meifeng and Long Jia Wei. He’d wanted everyone more or less on the same page about his intentions, and he felt that he’d achieved that. After all, Long Jia Wei and Lo Meifeng already knew what he was going to be doing.

“I expect that there are things that you two need to be looking after,” he said.

Long Jia Wei shot to his feet with a relieved look on his face. Sen was momentarily baffled until he...

Unintended Cultivator V8: Chapter 37 – Grandmother

Grandmother Lu’s eyes traveled over the walls, the open gates, and the people inside pretending not to be watching, all before they traveled back up to his face. She closed her eyes, shook her head a little, and sighed.

“You didn’t listen to a word I said about practicalities, did you?”

Sen took a moment to look at the walls before he said, “I know it’s a little big, but it does come with benefits.”

There was a pause where Grandmother Lu looked a little stunned...

Probably No Chapters Today

So, today wasn't a good time. My back is hurting. I think I may have twisted wrong on the ice last night and pulled a muscle a bit. And I had a migraine... Although, I'm not sure why this time. I took something for the migraine, and it seems to be fading. Some over-the-counter medication seems to have taken the worst edges off the back pain. All in all, though, I feel pretty wrung out mentally. Pain and structured creativity generally do not go hand-in-hand for me. I'm going to give it an hou...

Isekai Terry TOD: Chapter 2 – Noping Right the Fuck Out

Sometimes, my brain just wants to work on other things for a little while. So, you get a random chapter of something. ~Eric

***

Terry was not pleased to discover that even though the stars and dislocation were fading, the pain was not. He was certain, just goddamn certain, that the imprint of some automotive logo was now permanently engraved into his back. As if that insult and injury was not enough, his head felt like it wanted to ...

Unintended Cultivator V8: Chapter 36 – Arrival

Sen breathed a sigh of relief as the gates to the Golden Phoenix sect slammed shut behind him. Lai Dongmei, true to her word, had summoned people to clear away the remains of her bed at the same time that she was escorting him out. Sen had rarely been on the receiving end of so many murderous glares. Although, it was far less nerve-wracking than it had been in the past. Then, those looks had felt like a threat. Now, they were just a frustration. There were probably a few people in the sect wh...

Unintended Cultivator V8: Chapter 35 – Uncomfortable Truth

Sen stretched and looked out the window. Even in the pre-dawn light, he could see Golden Phoenix Sect members out and about. Some were clearly cultivating, others were training martial forms, and he even saw a few groups that appeared to be heading out on some kind of missions. It was all so orderly. He wondered if things would ever look this orderly back at the Deep Wilds Academy. Sen knew that it was going to be a sect, but he just hated the very thought of openly calling it a sect, even in...

Dragon Con 2024

Okay, so I'll admit that I'm generally not big on crowds...or noise...or bright lights... But, in the service of promoting my books, I will make the ultimate sacrifice (🤣) and deal with all of those things to attend Dragon Con this year. At this point, I'm still just attending. I assume that my publisher will want me to do things like... I don't know... sign books at a table or be on panels or something, but none of that is solidified yet. So, until we do get those details sq...

Unintended Cultivator V8: Chapter 34 – Politics, Part 3

Sen had completely discarded any notion of paying attention to the people who kept coming up to them. They all just kept talking. Not interesting talk, either, but just a geyser of words about whatever seemingly random topic popped into their heads. One man had gone into a ten-minute discourse about apples. That might have been interesting if the fool hadn’t just been making things up as he went. You didn’t grow up in a place called Orchard’s Reach without learning a few things...

Unintended Cultivator V8: Chapter 33 – Politics, Part 2

Hsiao Jiayi worried that she might not be able to continue the conversation if she wasn’t allowed a moment to regain her calm. Fortunately, there was a commotion outside the main door into the room they were all occupying. Someone was arriving and, by the noise, it was someone important.

“Lai Dongmei, matriarch of the Golden Phoenix Sect,” choked out the man at the door.

Hsiao Jiayi turned to look. This was another person she had heard stories about, although stories of a di...

Unintended Cultivator V8: Chapter 32 – Politics, Part 1

“Lord Lu, the cultivator Judgment’s Gale, and his escort, Honorable Shen Mingxia,” announced the man at the door.

Hsiao Jiayi looked over, her curiosity burning. She’d heard so much about this man, this folk hero, this cultivator turned house patriarch in a land where cultivator noble houses simply did not exist. The stories had been ludicrous. Wild tales of impossible victories over sect elders when he’d been nothing but a foundation formation cultivator. Stories of him vanis...

Unintended Cultivator V8: Chapter 31 – By This Afternoon

“I can’t believe you forgot,” said Shen Mingxia.

Sen was a little amused to see that aggravation had overcome her newfound sense of respect for him. They were flying over the streets of the capital on a qi platform, drawing curious looks, and even some pointing from local kids. Sen figured that since his anonymity was nothing but a memory at this point, there was no reason to go to the clothing shop the slow way.

“I mean, you can’t honestly think anyone will do ...