In the box, Sect Master Lan drew up alongside Weiheng Wu. “I’m surprised to see you here for the tournament. You usually refuse any invitations.”
“Mmm. I wasn’t invited this time,” Weiheng Wu replied.
“Is that why you came…?” Sect Master Lan asked quietly, befuddled. I didn’t invite you because you never come, invitation or no, not because I didn’t want you present.
Weiheng Wu shook his head. “Though crashing events might become a habit, at t...
2022-01-01 18:43:15 +0000 UTC
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A cultivator in short blue robes and billowy white trousers rode up to the opposite side of the stone square on a pure black panther. Like his panther, his hair was sleek and shiny, slicked back from his forehead and bound into a low ponytail. He hopped off and strode up to the arena, one hand on the panther’s shoulders.
“Are you my opponent?” he asked, holding up a fist that read: Weiheng Hui.
Ah… seeing it laid out in text is a little too painful. Master, co...
2022-01-01 18:42:30 +0000 UTC
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A faint heat emanated from the back of Hui’s hand. He glanced down and found the silver mark shifting, reshaping into a name. Shan Xe.
I don’t recognize that name. But then, I don’t know many people from our sect. If they weren’t in the outer sect with me, I probably won’t recognize them, though… haven’t I surpassed most of the people I was in the outer sect with, by now?
Huh. Maybe I am incredible.
Though! Incredible or not, I ha...
2022-01-01 18:41:55 +0000 UTC
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Waving goodbye to the Su siblings, Hui tucked his hands behind his back and hummed to himself. Ah, I’ve done a good deed today. Even if I had to help out a siscon to do it. See, this Hui is a righteous cultivator after all.
Actually… how are those two siblings? If Su Yan is a wolf who’s cultivated a human form… no, he could be a human who cultivated a wolf form. But why? Usually cultivation doesn’t go that way. Besides, is it even possible to cultivate the form of...
2022-01-01 18:41:13 +0000 UTC
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The Duke limped down the drive. The trio bobbled after him, following.
“Take me!” Luc begged, blue eyes glimmering with hope.
“We won’t get in the way. We’ll watch from the wall, we won’t be trouble at all,” Yvon promised.
“We can’t,” Emilie argued, but she followed after the Duke, hesitant to leave him behind.
“Madeline!” the Duke called.
A horse galloped out from around the side of the house, already saddled and ready to go. It drew up b...
2021-12-28 19:43:09 +0000 UTC
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--Twelve Years Later--
Luc leaned his head on his arm, watching sunlight spill over his desk. His hand laid on the line between light and shadow, fingers demarking the edges. He leaned his hand forward, and shadow eclipsed the light. Tilted it back, and light beamed into his palm, almost as if he could hold it. Light spilled through his sleeves, the worn fabric almost translucent, except where patches repaired rips and tears with new material.
“Can anyone tell me the Tw...
2021-12-28 19:42:16 +0000 UTC
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Fire crackled, burning merrily atop a low platform erected in the center of the field. Dark smoke billowed into an overcast sky, low gray clouds oppressive. The smell of burnt flesh blew across the field, taking with it heat and glowing ashen embers.
Wide and broad, the field stretched across the center of the city. Proud, stone-fronted buildings marched along the field’s edges, peeking from behind massive old-growth oaks and maples. In the distance, at the far end of the field, a sto...
2021-12-28 19:41:09 +0000 UTC
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Hey there,
Been working on a side project for a while now. I've put the first chapter up on RR, and I'll put the first three up over here. Called Kingdom of Shadow. Take a peek if you're interested! It's a slow-burn fantasy epic, lots of deep plots and slow-build stuff. If you guys like it, let me know!
-noct
2021-12-28 19:40:27 +0000 UTC
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A hand closed around his shoulder seconds later. “Elder brother!”
Hui turned, brows already furrowed. Who would call me elder brother?
A cute girl with wavy short hair stared back at him, big doe-like eyes wide. Though she was almost his age, she stared up at him from almost a foot shorter, tiny and dainty in all proportions. She wore short robes that expanded at the knee, accentuating her cute charm points and slender, though short, legs. “Eh? You aren’t elder br...
2021-12-28 03:08:50 +0000 UTC
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Below, the five peaks laid out before them. With his enhanced third-stage eyes, Hui could make out ribbons and banners strung along the road. Lanterns bobbled around the paths, dancing in the wind. Cultivators in their cleanest, purest-white robes darted to and fro, cleaning, setting up decorations, or otherwise busy.
“The sect is preparing for the Intersect Tournament. Once every hundred years, we hold a tournament, and this is our turn to host. The three sects we have alliances with...
2021-12-28 03:05:24 +0000 UTC
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Halfway through the meal, the lights in the room dimmed, save a single pure white beam shining from the heavens on the highest table in the house. A silvery shower of snow rained from the heavens as Bai Bing, Matriarch of the Bai clan, descended to her rightful spot, treading on air as simply as though it were firm ground. Wrapped in a pure white sheet in her arms, a tiny infant slept peacefully, its hair white as the falling snow.
A hush fell over the cultivators. All eyes followed the...
2021-12-28 03:04:31 +0000 UTC
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At the sound of the servant girl’s voice, Hui looked up hopefully.
White hair flashed. White robes floated after, touched with red at the neck and sleeves, skirts parting to reveal a flash of red rope. Bai Xue gazed around the room, red eyes narrowed, brows slightly furrowed.
From where he sat, Hui smiled and waved.
Bai Xue’s expression relaxed. She grinned back at him and leaned down to the servant. A few quiet words passed between them.
The servant paled. She bac...
2021-12-24 03:13:46 +0000 UTC
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A half-dozen burly men and women crashed down from the skies, digging craters as they landed around the two of them. Dressed in black and white, they all held vicious weapons and regarded Hui and his master with dark eyes.
The servant backed away, breaking out of the circle. Behind her, the cultivators lounging on the rear pavilion sat up, peering toward them. A few let out whoops or whistles, and Hui’s ears caught a few bets getting exchanged between the rowdier cultivators.
Th...
2021-12-24 03:11:34 +0000 UTC
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“Hui.”
Hui opened his eyes. I still don’t understand what Master was trying to tell me about my dantians, but I’ve consolidated my realm, so I’ll count that as a win. He turned to Weiheng Wu and nodded.
Weiheng Wu held up the blue robe he’d been working on earlier. “Perfect.”
Hui tipped his head. “Master?”
Beside Weiheng Wu, a pile of robes laid. After a moment, Hui recognized them. Those are the robes I hid in, in the closet, back when...
2021-12-24 03:09:21 +0000 UTC
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Hui circulated his qi, silently consolidating his realm. At the same time, he probed his dantians and passageways for irregularities. Nothing stood out. The two systems were identical in all ways, except that one circulated qi, and one circulated death qi.
Rather than any irregularities, his systems were almost strangely regular. No hint of the illusory-ghost-qi-curse-devouring ducks was anywhere to be seen, and the blood qi duck had similarly vanished. No matter how deeply Hui probed h...
2021-12-24 03:07:54 +0000 UTC
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Everybody stared. Hui stared back because he had no other choice, too committed to playing dead to even twitch his eyes.
Pressure slammed down on all of them. Li Xiang spread her stance, shoulders struggling. Bai Xue tensed, subtly straining against it.
Hui’s qi stuttered. He circulated his death qi at full force, fighting off the pressure. Please, this small disciple didn’t mean to, I have no control over this wild snake!
Erlan let out a high-pitched giggle. ...
2021-12-20 00:44:32 +0000 UTC
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Bai Xue drew his fan. Li Xiang stepped ahead of them all, brandishing her sword.
Hui glared upward. “Erlan!”
The demonic expert balanced atop his calligraphy brush, a sketchpad clutched tightly in his arms. He hovered before them, his back to half of the lotus girl, the other half sprawled in front of him, still burning merrily. He shook his head at them and tittered, salt-and-pepper ponytail dancing behind him. “Too soon, too soon. She wasn’t a masterpiece yet. No, no, it...
2021-12-20 00:18:19 +0000 UTC
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The lotus girl’s eyes opened, revealing a purple-black, shifting shimmer, lotus dust trapped under a thin layer of glassy film. She turned to them and smiled, baring black teeth as hard and shiny as the lotus pill’s shell. She laughed lightly and danced toward them, half-stumbling, both clumsy and graceful. The sword trailed after her, held loosely in her hand, almost an afterthought.
“That’s not Bai Fenfeng. Whatever it is, it’s only taken her form,” Bai Xue declared.
2021-12-20 00:17:19 +0000 UTC
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“Er, Bai Xue, would it be too much to ask for you to be in your yang form?” Hui muttered.
“Huh? Why?” she asked.
“Just in case,” Hui said. Better to have bonus fire if this doesn’t work out.
She glanced at him, then shrugged. Black shimmered over her, flipping her clothes and hair from white to black. Voice deeper, he replied, “If you insist.”
All around them, the lotus’ roots trembled. The barriers around the Bai clan cultivator shuddered,...
2021-12-19 23:54:02 +0000 UTC
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Hesitating, Li Xiang glared at Jingwen, then retreated to Hui’s side.
Jingwen backed away, putting her hands up. “I don’t want to fight. Just leave me be.”
“Sure. Give me your outer robe,” Hui agreed.
“Eh?!” Li Xiang asked, startled.
Jingwen shot him a horrified look.
“Give me your outer robe, or Li Xiang will execute you.”
“That’s not justice,” Li Xiang protested.
“Jingwen! Stab that filth!” Bai Fenfeng shouted.
Hu...
2021-12-19 23:43:21 +0000 UTC
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Hey folks,
Chapters are going to be coming out a little late this week. Unfortunately I found myself somewhere with absolutely no internet and very little cell phone reception available for the weekend, so uploading a big batch of chapters isn't possible. But... I should be in somewhere with internet as soon as tomorrow, to as late as early next week (before Wednesday at the latest). If everything works out right, chapters should only be a day late. If not... Well, let's not talk about ...
2021-12-18 22:56:45 +0000 UTC
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Bai Xue and Li Xiang leaped back, breaking apart. Opposite them, Zhang Zhou stood, expressionless as always. Curse marks roiled over his skin, morphing and changing with every moment.
Panting, Bai Xue wiped blood off her cheek. Li Xiang frowned and held her sword one-handed, other sleeve bloodied.
Blood spurted from Zhang Zhou’s chest. He staggered backward, shuddering. Not even a shred of pain flickered over his face.
Light flickered overhead. All three of them looked up....
2021-12-12 03:04:39 +0000 UTC
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The curse mark shattered. Bai Xue and Li Xiang burst out, charging up into the crowd. Li Xiang hurtled at Zhang Zhou with a shout.
He spread his feet and reached up. Curse marks on his arms glowed red, rotating around his forearms and wrists and tracing down the backs of his hands. Like snakes, they slithered over his body, restless, forever in motion.
With a wave of her fans, Bai Xue turned the floor under Zhang Zhou’s feet to ice. Li Xiang slammed into him and forced him back,...
2021-12-12 02:45:47 +0000 UTC
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Hui fell into darkness. His qi searched into the pitch, desperate for a light, any light.
At last, a distant heat. He turned toward it, peering after the heat. It flickered, sometimes ice cold, other times blazingly hot. Hui pushed onward, searching. Where?
Flickering, Xue’s dantian appeared before him. Fire burned now, his dantian a center of heat and flames, while his illusory ice dantian hung in the shadow.
Curse symbols crawled over the flames like ants. They ...
2021-12-11 18:40:44 +0000 UTC
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A blast of superheated mist blasted into the room as the two met. Hui cowered back, nearly thrown back by the force of the clash. Lesser cultivators went flying, thrown to the walls of the room.
Fenfeng attacked. Her sword traced a frosty trail through the air. Flicking his fans casually, Xue blocked. Heat wavered in the air over his fans, killing the frosty aura of Fenfeng’s sword. She leaped back, putting room between them. Xue chased after her, blazing through the air. He flapped t...
2021-12-11 18:35:15 +0000 UTC
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They reappeared in a dark tunnel. Distant light gave a hint as to its shape, but none of the details could be seen. Bai Xue lifted his hand, and the fiery butterfly lifted off and fluttered ahead of them.
Each flap of its wings illuminated a rough-cut tunnel, walls built of bare earth, reinforced by qi. Hui checked behind them to find a dead end. Ahead, tunnels snaked through the earth, vanishing off in all directions.
“Toward the light?” Hui suggested.
Li Xiang nodded. ...
2021-12-11 18:18:07 +0000 UTC
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Li Xiang lifted her sword over the unconscious man’s body. Hui hesitated, then grabbed her arm.
“What this time?” she demanded.
“Wait, elder sister. It’s unjust to kill a sleeping enemy. What if we leave him and interrogate him later, instead?” Hui asked.
“I like that idea. I want to completely rid my clan of any trash like Bai Fenfeng. If we kill everyone we see, some rats may scurry away into the shadows and survive,” Bai Xue said.
“But we could rig...
2021-12-11 17:58:51 +0000 UTC
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Thoughtful, Hui walked over to the barrier and squatted down. He reached out and probed the barrier with a strand of qi.
Qi lashed out at him. Icy cold poured through his forearm. Hui jolted back, retreating.
“Barrier got you?” Bai Xue asked, chuckling.
“Mmm,” Hui muttered, shaking his hand. I should’ve expected it. It’s a defensive technique, built to defend against qi. Of course it wouldn’t be as vulnerable to qi-poking as other things.
The...
2021-12-04 18:53:15 +0000 UTC
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The last of the mist faded away. Hui found himself in the branch family’s complex again. He looked around, searching. Narrow streets wound through small houses, themselves well-kept, though a bit worn and tired, as if no one had lived in them for a time.
This isn’t the center square. Where am I? Where are the others?
With no answers, Hui took off running.
Around his neck, Zhubi sat up. Turning his upturned nose to the wind, he sniffed left, right, then leaned to...
2021-12-04 18:46:34 +0000 UTC
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Yet again, Hui turned a corner and bolted into a wide-open space. Again, a duck awaited him, furious and primed to fight. It leaped off the ground and flapped at him, whirling around to strike with its claws at the last second.
Hui drew the flint from his robes and held it out, circulating the death qi around his hand. He met the duck’s claws with a clawed hand.
The death qi met the duck’s claws. He felt resistance. Hui shoved, and the duck went flying back, flaring its wings ...
2021-12-04 18:38:26 +0000 UTC
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