Justin Ankar

Chapter 82 - Reverse Landslide

The barriers to his strength weren’t something he could solve just because he wanted to. Sage spent the rest of the night in the cave, waking up in the morning to find the body of a shadow-tailed civet. The Chameleon Mantis had done its job well and Sage stored the body of the beast before collecting the Mantis and starting on the next leg of the journey. 

He’d lost a couple days with that pair of adventures, but the journey wasn’t too long in the first place so he didn...

Chapter 81 - Lamp of Passion

Surprisingly, Ding Bo had avoided the spider silk net, his shorter height leaving him free. The boy rolled underneath the outer edge of it and started running. The flames only catching his heels as he dashed away from the cliff and entered the woods. 

At this point, Sage had just finished his slaughter and looked over to see a round object spin into the air, leaving a brilliant red swirl in the air. Ding Bo’s head tumbled to the ground, having caught the attention of the Ch...

Chapter 80 - Battle!

Unfortunately, things did not go the way Sage was expecting in the least. Du Hou started to battle with the remaining five thugs of Ding Bo. After his initial surprise attack, they were wary of his other hand and other places a hidden weapon could be concealed.

“Sister Su Ru, we have to help!” Ren Fen spoke even as he started to rush into the fray. He had been standing protectively in front of Su Ru, but the two of them weren’t just weaklings to be protected they could fight...

Chapter 79 - Arrogant Young Master

Individually, the boy didn’t seem like much. All of those gathered were only rank 2, but their stages varied. The arrogant one was level 21, while the opposing party had two level 24s and a 25. It was a shame that all the arrogant boy’s goons were level 24. The older boy of the trio was stronger than anyone here, but he was vastly outnumbered. If the 24s on either side matched up, the one boy at level 25 would be up against four level 24s. 

“We’ll never give in to you...

Chapter 78 - Demon Seed

As the Emerald Dragonfly sped away, Sage was finally starting to relax. They were a few hundred feet away from the Solarium and he figured they were safe now. The Dragonfly had darted down below the treeline to try and hide its presence. Sage had rapidly raised and matured the Dragonfly from an egg in just a couple minutes. The Dragonfly was far weaker than its current rank would suggest and it had only a very small energy reserve. He had rushed the process of growth and maturing, as we...

Chapter 77 - Round Two

With all but one of his previously matured insects already dead, Sage was deciding whether he should escape now, or make one last attempt. He’d only exhausted two of his preparations so he still had a few more options available. 

While he was contemplating whether or not he should take the plunge, the Demonic Plant locked onto him. That huge vine whip swung directly away from him. While it might seem like it was heading in the opposite direction, Sage immediately recognized...

Chapter 76 - The End

Demonic Plants were not known for their speed or strength, as plants they were all terrifying because of their seemingly endless vitality. Fighting them was always a battle for attrition. If it wasn’t for their slow speed and tendency to stay in one place, nobody would ever choose to take one on. The only reason anyone would ever make such an attempt was because their stationary nature made them like forts. With enough study, a weak point could be found! Nobody in their right mi...

Chapter 75 - Gardening

With a target in mind, Sage pushed the Centipede to higher ground. The vines covered the walls quite deeply, but it was still less to deal with than the heavy bushes and undergrowth by the ground. The Centipede merely had to pave its path instead of building a tunnel. Skittering along the upper rim of the Solarium, they skirted around the perimeter until they were looking straight down at their target. It was entirely possible it was a trap and the real Demonic Plant was somewhere else,...

Chapter 74 - Demonic Plant

Sage stored the Emerald Dragonfly and took out an egg of the Steel Silk Centipede, starting to incubate it rapidly. Inside his beast bag there was three of each of his new creations. A breeding pair of rank 1 adults and a single rank 3, fully matured battler. It was far faster to link with an egg and accelerate the growth of a new insect. At the same time it was a large resource cost in energy. Linking to a fully grown and mature rank 3 was a process that would take weeks while raising ...

Chapter 73 - Departure

Sage hit the time deadline he’d set. There was still so many things he could still work on, but there was no telling what he might find in that cave. It only took one expedition to make more progress than I did in two decades quietly training. Just like when I was trapped in that mine, I advanced far faster than normal. Life and death situations really do bring out a person’s full potential…

The Insect Shed should be able to carry on for at least two years, so after...

Chapter 72 - Wonderful Trio

The Emerald Dragonfly was not exquisite because of its origins. Sage had mostly taken one of the Dragonflies he’d found at the Saffron Swamp and combined it with one of the Green Spiders he’d found in the Emerald Holly bushes. After finding the Seed of Life at that time, he’d completely forgotten about the Green Spiders and only years later did he appreciate their abilities. They weren’t actually that exceptional in any specific way, but Sage found them to be of quite high quali...

Chapter 71 - One Year Deadline

Sage’s time seemed to fly by as he trained. In the past he’d always been bitterly trying to fight against fate, but now it seemed like he was changing his life. The vastly different mindset turned the dull chore into an engrossing hobby. It also helped that he was working on many different things at the same time. Training his body, techniques, crafting formations, breeding insects, and studying in the library. Along the way he also spent time with his friends, no longer feeling emb...

Chapter 70 - Divine Breath

Sage’s training speed eventually leveled out. A full cycle of opening a Qi Pore was cut down to merely an hour. With this improvement, he finally completed opening the required number of Qi Pores within a couple months. Once the speed leveled out after the first month, Sage started to diversify his training regimen. He had to practice Divine Breath, Ancestral Serpent Techniques, study Seals, create Formation Plates, and finally breed Insects. That Seal Master’s cave had been there f...

Chapter 69 - Training

With his goals laid out, Sage began his training regimen. He hadn’t seriously trained his Qi Cultivation for quite some time spending only an hour every morning to maintain his current level. Once he had hit rank 3 and the Qi Sea formed inside him, Sage had at first tried to keep training hard. When it took him more than three times longer to increase by 1 stage than it had while at rank 2, Sage grew even more discouraged. That was the reason he’d only advanced to stage 2 after more...

Chapter 68 - Insect Shed

The final part of Sage’s training plan fell to his Insect Horde. At least that was how he liked to think of it. When he gained ownership of his home and it stopped being a dormitory for four and his own personal residence, it was full license for him to expand his Insect Shed. What started as a small storage shed had become the size of a bedroom after a few years, and now that he owned the house it was nearly half the size of the main building and had taken over the majority of the tr...

Chapter 67 - Formation Plate

Taking advantage of your strong points and covering up for your weaknesses is a pretty basic concept when it comes to most forms of competition. The new Sage now found it ridiculous how lacking his combat abilities were. Before joining the Holy Flame Sect he’d been forced to fight for his life dozens if not hundreds of times. He had strove to purchase techniques, weapons, and anything else he could get his hands on to make himself stronger. After joining the Sect he grew complacent, n...

Chapter 66 - Techniques

Divine Breath. It was only a supplementary technique as an Alchemist, but it can also be used in battle. Given that it was taught only to those practicing the Instruction of Divine Paradise, outsiders considered it to be their signature technique. Divine Breath is an interesting technique as it’s a combination of Body Training and a Qi Technique that can be used in battle or to help with Professions. As Sage read more he learned that it was a form of body hardening and muscle training...

Chapter 65 - Restricted Area

When Sage placed his Sect Token into the pedestal, a golden light seemed to shine from beneath it. A few moments later the door in front of him opened up. He collected his token and stepped inside, watching as the door closed behind him. This would be the perfect opportunity for them to get rid of me.

It was only a mild flash of paranoia which quickly passed. Since the door opened it seems his accessing the Seal techniques was not a lie. With that doubt gone, new ones ins...

Chapter 64 - Million Skill Library

Unfortunately, the Golden Egg was a rarity. Sage even went to the trouble of checking out the special store room. He had Xuan Bai bring out the contents of at least a dozen storage chests before he gave up. It was in fact merely an Antique shop and the vast majority of its contents were mundane objects of exceptional age and quality. Only a small percentage of them would qualify as Top-grade Mortal Treasures, and just like those weapons he’d seen were all priced far higher than other ...

Chapter 63 - Unusual Object

Something about the giant egg, caught his eye and Sage immediately asked about it.

“Ahh, what a discerning eye you have, Sir Lang. That is one of my most treasured objects! Legend says that it’s the egg of a Dragon, but as you can see there is no lifeforce coming from it. It’s nothing more than an unfertilized egg, probably from a Demonic Beast. It’s only use now is as an ingredient for an alchemist, but it’s far too beautiful for that. There’s plenty of other demon eg...

Chapter 62 - Antique Dealer

The antique shop was styled like a perfectly preserved ancient chinese palace on the outside, yet the first room he entered was warm and inviting. A somewhat small and cozy room that looked perfect to entertain perhaps a dozen people. The inner and outer appearances were quite different. From the outside it looked like a blatant advertisement, a grand and imposing building worn down to show its age and then perfectly preserved. Inside, it suddenly became a warm and inviting drawing room...

Chapter 61 - Storage Ring

Sage had earned quite a lot from the Soul Taming Abode. There was so much he wasn’t even sure how to go about sorting through them. Sending his consciousness into his Storage Ring he looked at the pile of beds, cabinets, dressers, desks and chairs. It looked like he’d tried to pack a moving van with how haphazardly it was all placed. When he compared the ring now to what it had been when he first got it, he chuckled. The previous owner had treated it like a well organized storehouse...

Chapter 60 - Four Brothers

The four men, all in their fifties, would be hard to mistake as a group of middle aged men. Every rank a Cultivator increased would more than double their lifespan. A Core Formation Cultivator would usually live nearly five thousand years, give or take a few centuries. How early a Cultivator reached a high rank played a part, but for the most part most Cultivators didn’t die of old age. They usually fell in battle or to foul play. Those of high ranks were also usually well treated by ...

Chapter 59 - Standout

In the decades since he’d arrived at the Holy Flame Sect he’d been adamant about living in the same home. His three friends, Yuan Hu, Geng He, and Qui Hou, had long since been separated. Five years after he arrived at the Sect Yuan Hu stood out and got promoted to an Inner Court Disciple. In the following years Geng He, and Qui Hou joined him. The four still met to drink and reminisce, but they were on different trajectories. Sage was worried for their safety everytime they left on ...

Chapter 58 - Return to the Sect

Things went as Sage had assumed. They were all given a substantial amount of contribution points, ten thousand to be exact, based upon their work for the six months and also the bonus based on discovering the Soul Taming Abode. Each of them were also cleared to learn one technique without cost, which was to be chosen from a supplied list. Sage knew the list wasn’t complete, but merely those which they had permission to learn. He was quite sure dozens of the techniques were too rare, s...

Chapter 57 - Beast Spirits

Remembering that Sage wasn’t privy to their findings, Peak Master Zhen was actually kind enough to explain, “We’ve already reviewed the core techniques of the Soul Taming Abode. If that really is the Soul Training Grounds you’ve found, we might have some of the Disciples start training in them. You see, the Soul Taming Abode’s core techniques were based upon taming a beast spirit. Normally they’re quite weak, but they have an advantage over regular ghosts in that their will ...

Chapter 56 - Center of the Lake

A few minutes later, Sage was settling a third Dragonfly into one of his Insect Cages. After chasing down the first one, it had been a simple task to find a couple more. All he had to do was linger nearby a swarm of Mosquitoes, which thankfully found his scaly body unappetizing, and once a Dragonfly came into range he released a paralyzing cloud. ‘Subduing Spores’ was a wood based Qi Technique that acted as a tranquilizer. For those weaker than him, a lower rank, it would cause gradual paral...

Chapter 55 - Treasure Hunting

Sage had already picked out a few locations for his first treasure hunting foray. Technically he was still part of the exploration expedition so he wasn’t permitted to just wander off whenever he wished. He could wait for the expedition to end before heading out to treasure hunt, but they were scheduled to be out here another couple more months. The other problem was that they were quite some distance from the Sect grounds and if he wanted to come out here again later it would be quit...

Chapter 54 - Seal Master

Sage spoke truthfully. He’d mentioned Seals to Elder Qing. He shook his head to her second question. The other four still using the Library seemed to have their own unique hobbies and he’d bumped into one of them, a Doctor, in the Anatomy section. 

“You will quickly retrieve them all and bring them directly to me. Make sure to take down the nameplate as well.”

Amazed, Sage couldn’t help himself, “Yes, Peak Master. I… What is wrong? Why must we be so secret...

Chapter 53 - Knowledge of the Soul

Sage dove wholeheartedly into the huge library of knowledge about the Soul and its properties. From what he knew, this sort of knowledge was very rare. The majority of Cultivators focused on techniques using Qi Power or those related to the body, what many called Physical Power. Those who used Spirit Power, which Sage thought of as Psychic abilities, were comparably very small. For the most part Spirit Power was used as a support, using spirit sense to search and scan areas or to guide ...