A/N: Hello, everyone! You've probably guessed it, but MTPDDAT is coming to an end. After so many years, it feels kind of crazy to say it! On December 15, you'll receive the final chapter of MTPDDAT. But coming soon, before that date, I'll be releasing the first chapters of the next cultivation book on the MTPDDAT tier. Please look forward to it! And if you like it, please consider remaining my patron!
Thank you to everyone who's supported me so far. I hope I can continue to entert...
2023-11-24 15:00:09 +0000 UTC
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He threw his own qi down beside the death qi and swirled it around, gathering up the scraps of the gold qi. With his own qi, a bit of phoenix qi, death qi, and the remnants of the gold qi, Hui reformed the character from memory.
The other characters paused. The glow dulled, then faded entirely. Hui’s cobbled-together character flickered a little, not quite stable, but with the other characters backing off, it managed to hold itself together. Hui let out a slow breath, afraid to accide...
2023-11-23 16:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Jun Ke scowled. “What chance? If she’s taken the Golden Immortal’s blood, she’s as much a puppet as any of the rest of you. Even if I win her heart now, it’s meaningless.”
Xi Muchen clicked his tongue. “Don’t be so rash. Do I look like a puppet?” He gestured. “Does she look like a puppet?”
Behind him, the door swung open. A jade beauty stepped into the room. Dark eyes scythed through the men, while ruby lips pursed. Her dark hair flew loose around her head, l...
2023-11-23 15:00:05 +0000 UTC
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The door slammed open. Hui and Xi Muchen both startled, while Jun Ke grabbed for a weapon he lacked.
Cho Haoli stormed in. “Xi Muchen! You don’t have the authority to remove prisoner—”
“Ah? I don’t? Then why are they here? If I don’t have the authority, wouldn’t they still be in the prison?” Xi Muchen asked, gesturing.
Cho Haoli frowned. “That…”
Huh? What does he mean, if he doesn’t have the authority? Is the prison controlled directly by ...
2023-11-22 16:00:05 +0000 UTC
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At the top of the stairs, Xi Muchen pushed the door open. Rather than stepping out into the small dark room or directly into the city, the door led into a large, comfortable room. Plush furniture lined the walls, the walls draped in soft drapes. Thick rugs stretched underfoot. A large window gazed out over the city from a high vantage point, giving Hui a great view of the lotus.
Hui walked to the window, gazing out. What’s to keep me from—
“Going to leave? So soon?...
2023-11-22 15:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Xi Muchen snapped his fingers. Instantly, the cuffs left Hui’s hands, and the door to the prison swung open.
Hui let out a slow breath, massaging his wrists. Relief flowed through him as his qi began to move again. I didn’t realize how stuffy it felt to have my qi passages all blocked up like that until he released me. Phew! I have to say, I’m not a fan of those handcuffs.
He glanced down the hall and met Jun Ke’s eyes as the man stepped out of his cell. Jun Ke ga...
2023-11-21 16:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Hui looked around the prison, pressing his face up against the bars. Now that I have a better angle, do I recognize anyone here?
Unfamiliar and unfriendly faces stared back at him. A demonic cultivator with corpse-colored skin and white eyes hissed at him, and an aggressive-looking female cultivator licked her lips suggestively. Another few more ordinary cultivators checked him over, or ignored him, sitting back and relaxing or cultivating.
In the corner, tucked almost ou...
2023-11-21 15:00:05 +0000 UTC
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In no time, they reached Heart Lotus City. Hui watched from where he hung under Xi Muchen’s arm. Immortals flew around in the sky, going about their business. No one paid too much attention to Hui, handcuffed and dragged into the city. For his part, Hui looked around calmly. Placidly, he surveyed the sky. It’s troublesome to always enter the loop at different times. It makes it hard to determine who’s stuck in the loop, and who’s aware.
Tian Lan scooted up his arm, nosi...
2023-11-20 15:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Hovering in the air in a heroic pose, hand outstretched, Cho Haoli looked down at them, dressed in the same glittering gold as he’d been the first time he’d taken Hui out of the village. He smiled nobly. “Tian Lan, won’t you come with me?”
Tian Lan stared at Hui. She looked at Cho Haoli, then Hui, then back again. Tears sprang up in her eyes. “You killed him!”
“I killed a dangerous man. Come with me, Tian Lan. You’ll be safer with me,” Cho Haoli assured her.
2023-11-20 15:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Floating in the void, the Hui wearing white put a hand on his chin. His brows furrowed. What was that? That final image… the Elusive Ghost. Who is he? What is he?
I have no answers and no clues, except for the Elusive Ghost disguising himself like me, and looking like the mes in the garbage realm, before I stitched myself back together. But that doesn’t mean the Elusive Ghost is me. It could be someone else, trapped in the eternal cycle.
Or it could ...
2023-11-19 17:00:06 +0000 UTC
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The boy sighed. “I’ve heard that line so many times. Before you make your attempt to escape… why?”
“That world you long for, is the world I long to escape. The shining steel and brilliant light you saw exists, but so does darkness to equal… no. Darkness even deeper than this world’s filth. I have no desire to live in that world once more.” Hui bowed respectfully. My world? No, no, no! Ah, it’s nice to have microwaves and webnovels and the internet, but in return, I...
2023-11-19 15:00:06 +0000 UTC
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A/N: Bonus chapters for Writathon goals!
--
When he stepped into the hut, he found himself in a vast room. Stone walls stretched high overhead and gaped wide in every direction. Tigers, carved from pure white jade, growled at him from either side of the hall, lining the path down the center of the hallway. At the far end of the enormous hall, a huge throne stood tall over him.
Atop the throne, a small figure sat, dressed in gold. It drummed its fingers on the arm of the chai...
2023-11-18 17:02:39 +0000 UTC
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Hui crossed his arms, his lips twisted. He looked at the Prince.
“That’s… that’s really all, I swear. Please,” the Prince said, shaking his head.
Li Xiang glanced up. “He’s telling the truth.”
I wish he wasn’t. Hui sighed. These skills of his are… how to put it? Not the most impressive skills of all time.
He looked at the talismans in his hands, all of which he’d composed from seeing the Prince’s skills. Phoenix Escape Tech...
2023-11-18 15:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Li Xiang hurtled down into a nearby forest, just far enough away to be out of the sight of the blue-robed cultivators. Hui glanced back. Distantly, fire encircled the blue cultivators and cut off their line of sight.
Good. They won’t notice us hiding here. And since we could fly literally anywhere, and there’s a war going on, they probably won’t expect us to hide so close. Hui followed Li Xiang down and into the trees.
“I did good, huh?” Bai Xue asked from besid...
2023-11-17 15:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Underneath them, the Immortal World churned. Sects attacked one another, fended off the gold cultivators, or both. Even in the skies, Immortals exchanged blows and traded massive spells that would have destroyed the fabric of the mortal world back and forth. Dodging the errant paw of a passing enormous qi structure of a dragon, Hui wove his way through the battlefields, ignored by the busy warriors.
“The Immortal Realm isn’t usually like this. In fact, it’s the first time in my fi...
2023-11-16 15:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Hui narrowed his eyes right back at Bai Xue. “I’m not undressing, Elder Sister.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
He drew his robes apart just enough to bare his neck, then tilted his head. Shiny red feathers glimmered in the firelight. “I’m currently the Vermillion Bird.”
Jun Ke startled. “What? The Vermillion Bird?” He looked around at Li Xiang, Bai Xue, and Song Wei, all of whom simply nodded. He stared. “Is that not startling?”
Bai Xue glanced at him...
2023-11-15 15:00:03 +0000 UTC
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“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Take your clothes off.”
“Er, could I decline?” Hui asked.
“Hmm… I don’t think so.”
Beside him, Li Xiang reached up to her neck.
“Elder Sister, you don’t need to respond to that seriously.” Hui turned toward the darkness. “It’s you, isn’t it? Bai Xue.”
A heavy sigh sounded from the far side of the room. A sleeve flapped. Braziers spaced on either side of the room’s main hallway lit, one at a tim...
2023-11-14 15:00:02 +0000 UTC
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This time, Hui flew directly down to the brothel, casually creating an invite in midair. He tossed it to Li Xiang and made a second for himself. “Stay close. It seems to also be a bit of a swinger’s club, and maybe an exhibitionist club too, so don’t look around too much if you don’t want your eyes to burn.”
Li Xiang nodded. “You seem to have great experience with this place.”
“I—Elder Sister, I only went once, and I didn’t go to bed with anyone.”
“Th...
2023-11-13 15:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Hui skipped back. The sword cut through the front of his robes. Feathers flew free, bright red like blood.
“You aren’t living your truth, either,” Li Xiang accused him.
Hui touched the cut robes. Not… my truth?
No, that’s fair. I’ve changed, thanks to the world. This isn’t my truth. It’s just a momentary form.
It’s as I realized. I cannot allow the world to change me, if I’m challenging the world.
But in order to...
2023-11-12 15:00:01 +0000 UTC
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“Xiao Hui, I’ve come. Like we promised.”
A voice?
Who is it?
No, I recognize it. It’s—
Hui reached out, and his hand hit a wall. He pressed against it, confused. A wall?
That’s right, I was trapped.
Even as he thought that, the wall cracked.
Hui froze. Er, I didn’t mean to break it. I can’t afford the fee, so can we just forget this happened?
No, no, wait. I’m trapped. I...
2023-11-11 15:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Hui laid Li Xiang’s body down on the floor. Reaching to his neck, he laid Zhubi down beside her. Resuming a meditative stance, he plunged himself into cultivating, more than ever before.
Zhubi, do you hear me?
Elusive Ghost, do you hear me?
Song Wei, Li Xiang, Bai Xue, do you hear me?
No replies.
He pressed his hands flat on the floor. The golden stitches appeared all over his body once more. They glowed once, vibrantly. Hui hesitated...
2023-11-10 15:00:03 +0000 UTC
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The thread snapped. Pure, true gold spooled down, looping over Hui. He gazed up, where the crack remained and that single black eye gazed down. He pointed. “I’ve seen you. Are you coming down now? Or do I have to go up?”
“I’m here.”
Hui jumped back, grabbing onto Li Xiang with both hands.
Weiheng Wu stood before him, looking the same as he ever had, and yet, not at all the same. The same white robes and black hair, the same noble face. The picture of a righte...
2023-11-09 15:00:03 +0000 UTC
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After a timeless time, he came upon a feature in the darkness. A small shape, pushing out of the ground. A hand, clawing for the sky. All white, with black fingernails.
Hui knelt. Tipping his head back and forth, he inspected the hand. This looks almost like… well, almost like the very first beginning steps of a resentment demon.
Hmm. Rather than a Dao Realm, is this space more like the garbage disposal of the world? Ha… that’s more fitting for this small bug!
2023-11-08 15:00:03 +0000 UTC
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White.
A figure sat in the white. Feeling nothing, knowing nothing, it gazed at nothing and thought nothing.
Time flowed by.
Another figure appeared in the void. The first figure turned. A white figure stared back at it, utterly featureless, save for empty black holes for its eyes and mouth. Revolted, the first figure pulled away, and the second did the same. They turned away from one another.
Time flowed.
A third figure appeared. This time, the first didn’t re...
2023-11-07 15:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Deep lines wound through the jade, twisting through the pale green stone. In the center, a strange, upright on one side, wobbly on the other shape Hui didn’t recognize stood boldly out, its plainness emanating a special kind of importance. Flecks of gold shone from the depths of the carved lines.
A wing, maybe?
Frowning at the jade, Hui lifted it and showed it to Song Wei. “Does this mean anything to you?”
Song Wei leaned in. He squinted at the jade, then shoo...
2023-11-06 15:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Immediately, Hui called out in his mind. Mortal? Rogue? Sectgoer…?
No, I don’t have any clones out. But if that’s the case, who is that?
The copy of Hui turned and fled.
“The Elusive Ghost!” Xie Tiangong released Hui and chased after his copy.
The guards hesitated, lost.
Hui threw his hand after the copy. “The Elusive Ghost has copied my face! Stop right there, Elusive Ghost!” So shouting, he rushed after the copy. Whatever tha...
2023-11-05 15:00:03 +0000 UTC
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On the far side of the mountain, he paused, then shot out of the forest and high into the sky. Flying back over the mountain in plain view, he zipped down toward the manor, following the example of the other cultivators he’d seen. Like this, I don’t appear suddenly out of the forest near the manor. Instead, I’m simply coming over the mountains. No one will think anything is strange!
In the distance, a cultivator in gold blinked. He paused in his patrols over the ruins to ...
2023-11-04 14:00:02 +0000 UTC
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He flew after them at a distance, carefully staying out of the range of Jun Ke’s divine sense. He clutched the floor tile, for lack of a better idea of what to do with it. At his small size, it stretched the entire size of his chest, gleaming with a pale jade sheen. Holding on with all his might, he flew on. At least I got something. It’s a floor tile, but it’s an Immortal-level floor tile. My first Immortal level equipment!
…Can a floor tile be considered equipment...
2023-11-03 14:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Hui zoomed off, low to the ground. Rocks jutted up at him. Stray ceiling tiles from shattered roofs cut at his body, while he swerved narrowly around fallen wooden beams. Li Xiang glittered after him, a brilliant bauble attached to a fast-moving fly. I’ll fly low! Lose them!
“It’s headed your way, Xie Tiangong!”
“I see it!”
Warned by the shout, Hui swerved moments before a pair of fair hands clapped at the air where Li Xiang would have been a moment late...
2023-11-02 14:00:02 +0000 UTC
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The second Hui hit the ground, he sprinted toward the mortal cultivator’s base camp. After watching them for a week, I have a basic idea of where they’re hiding during the day. I’ll come from the same direction, and they shouldn’t notice anything wrong.
He ran a hand over his face, giving himself one of the male cultivators’ appearances, all the way down to the ragged and patchy clothes. Li Xiang became a dirty old sword, wrapped by the swordskin to no longer appear a...
2023-11-01 14:00:05 +0000 UTC
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