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Chapter 245 - Legends and Myths (III)

[Prismatic Lensing]

[Type: Shamanic Art]

[Rank: peak-Heaven Tier]

[Host Comprehension: None (Fails to meet minimum requirements)]

[...]

[Obfuscates the nature of a projectile-bound attacks within the concept of light, making it appear distorted and as though firing in a random direction or even altering how it looks like without making any actual changes to the projectile itself. Though less talented Shamans will have to first Inscribe it to use it, those with a ...

Chapter 244 - Legends and Myths (II)

It truly was true, that though the history may not repeat itself, it will rhyme.

We weren't being rushed out into the middle of the night through some underground tunnel, but we may as well be. Luckily, though, it looked like the kids expected it, and merely shrugged it away as just one of those things that are 'normal'.

As they all dispersed, I actually held back the ever-elusive Rayce, as the vague relationship would no longer hold water.

"I'll follow," he said...

'Weekly' musings & whatnot~

G'day everyone and welcome to my not-so-weekly 'I have some thoughts and nowhere else to share them' post. How have you all been?

One thing I've realized while writing the novel is that... there's no romance. Which is honestly kind of unprecedented for me. If you've read any of my prior works, you'll have picked up on the fact that love's always in the air~ somewhere in there, but thus far, there's been none. Not to say there won't be any in the future, but for the fi...

Chapter 243 - Legends and Myths (I)

Old man Gu returned around midway through the day after the disaster; in the meantime, Gu Hai snuck out and came over to us, sort of bringing us up to speed on what was happening.

By their accounts, there were, in total, around 2,000 casualties--including the attackers. Though most of the dead were ordinary citizens or low-level cultivators who got caught up in the crossfire, there were also at least 20 dead that came from prominent forces--if not Holy Lands, then first-rate an...

Chapter 242 - Legend of the Masked Children (XII)

The night fell, though the city was still very much alive.

Okay, maybe alive is a bit of an inappropriate word, considering, but there were lights practically everywhere as virtually every able-bodied person had come to aid in trying to locate any of the remaining survivors as well as slowly start moving the rubble away at least from the streets.

Nothing brings people together quite like a tragedy does--I suppose, even here, that stands true.

What's the difference...

Chapter 241 - Legend of the Masked Children (XI)

It hurt.

Oh my God, did it ever hurt.

In the process of trying to save as many people as possible, I've incurred about seventy-seven gashes and twice as many nicks, and all so even through the protection of the Lao and Tao. Or, how I started thinking of them as 'Lt. Ao'. They'd probably kill me if I voiced it, so I never did.

Regardless, I had saved just about eighty or so people altogether, gathering them all back and shoving them into the basement, telling them to stay ins...

Chapter 240 - Legend of the Masked Children (X)

She wove her fingers gently and tore open a hole in the void, pulling the newcomer in with her.

Opposite of her stood a shadowy figure, its edges like vanishing smoke.

It was an Avatar, prompting her to frown.

Of all the curses to inflict upon the city, what exactly did she do to cause the err of a Sovereign?

Sighing, she undid the muted colors and the vast arrays the figure set up to try and trap her; it was akin to a parent 'testing' a child, causing her to feel ...

Chapter 239 - Legend of the Masked Children (IX)

The world was pretty, Light thought.

The looming pavilions of the city faded like smoke, and were instead replaced by a milky-white haze. It was calm and pretty, like a stone garden.

She stepped out onto the stage, as it were, and waited until the shadows, like tendrils, began forming into figure. One, two, ten, twenty, fifty, a hundred...

She couldn't count past that, growing frustrated and pouting. She'd have to get that silly Master of hers to teach her numbers--what if ...

Chapter 238 - Legend of the Masked Children (VIII)

Wan Lan took a deep breath, her foot rapping against the ground repeatedly as she tried to steel her nerves. She wasn't even quite certain why she was nervous, just that she was. Perhaps it was the expectations levied against her by the Senior Brother Tao, asking her to face forty cultivators, all of whom were at least at the Peak of Foundation Establishment, and at least half were in the Spirit Manifestation Realm.

She wanted to argue against that lunacy, but...

Chapter 237 - Legend of the Masked Children (VII)

Dai Xiu was sitting in one of the alcoves, feeling rather bored and entirely uninterested in the competition, when she felt the tendrils of Qi crack like thunder above her. She immediately shot up to her feet and ran out, facing the sky just as the voice boomed across the entire city.

Not ten seconds later, she found herself drifting in darkness; rather than panic, she felt excitement--she was about to fight! And fight for real, not needing to put on a show like she were an exhibit in a...

Chapter 236 - Legend of the Masked Children (VI)

With one step, Xi Zhao found himself blurred against the shadow stirrings; having expected it, he remained calm, waiting for the undulating tendrils of darkness to bleed back into ether, revealing a world slightly different than the one he left.

He was once again up on the stage, squared construct of stone, but now there was no sea of souls cheering, no noise, and no wind howling. There was only him, and some sixty other figures that appeared on the opposite end.

He'd still donned...

Chapter 235 - Legend of the Masked Children (V)

The competition began, yet I could hardly concentrate on any of it; my eyes kept darting between Long Tao who'd closed his eyes to meditate, and the 'Lady' whose head stayed at a persistent tilt, gazing northward. With each passing second, it felt like my BPM went up a notch, and if the tension inside continues, I genuinely believe I'll start breaking some long-standing records.

I'd only been drawn away from the anxiety when one of the kids stepped out on one of the stages. It was Xi Z...

Chapter 234 - Legend of the Masked Children (IV)

I'm nervous. I'm anxious. I'm excited. I'm a many million things, truth be told, and they all worked perfectly in concert to make me... nauseous.

Now, it might be because I was standing--or, well, sitting--about a thousand feet up off the ground, on what looked a rather shabbily-built platform that was currently standing suspended midair, looming over the round arena with terraced seating and six martial plateaus where the competition would take place... but it could also be anything e...

Chapter 233 - Legend of the Masked Children (III)

Long Tao crouched and planted the final flag; a burst of energy was short and minimal, but the last sign that the array's bond had been established.

Looking up over the overcast eaves of the rundown buildings, his eyes gazed upon the strangely-blue sky, as his lips curled up into the faintest of smiles. Though he felt bad for lying to his Master--something he pretended wasn't happening--he wasn't lying... completely.

He really did arrange it all for the kids, but not be...

Chapter 232 - Legend of the Masked Children (II)

Days whizzed by rather uneventfully, all things considered.

I locked myself up in a room, hiding from the Sect's Elders that looked at me in ways that triggered all my internal alarm sensors.

In the meanwhile, the fanfare of the Gathering was ramping up, so much so that I couldn't even escape the rumors of it from in here. Dai Xiu would visit every da with her 'daily updates', where she'd inform me about some new kid that arrived, and about how famous they were, and all their fea...

Chapter 231 - Legend of the Masked Children (I)

"... you did what?" That was me, living out a cliche I haven't lived out in over fifteen years of my life, all so while accompanied by a comical expression, and the tone of the voice that belonged more so in a sitcom than reality.

But... it was my reality.

"I enrolled the kids into the competition." That was Long Tao, confirming rather dismissively what I thought was him just trying to make my blood pressure rise.

Honestly, if I wasn't certain he could bend me in half lik...

Chapter 230 - Legend of the Sage Alchemist (XII)

"I swear upon the High Heavens that, whatever I shall experience in the year henceforth, I shall divulge to no other soul for as long as mine remains conscious. Shall I tarnish or break this Oath in even the most minor of ways, may the Heavens smite me, body, heart, and soul."

... wow.

No hesitation.

No, seriously, my jaw was currently on the floor. I'd barely finished my sentence before he spat out his--dude! This is your soul we're talking about here! And the oath...

Chapter 229 - Legend of the Sage Alchemist (XI)

This is one of those moments in life where I wish I could freeze time for about 9 seconds only so I can scream 'Fuck!' at the top of my lungs 'till my throat starts to hurt. Not only is this guy not embarrassed that he lost the bet, my little antics have only made him even more curious.

And if there's anything I hate more than assholes, it's curious assholes.

How did I find the parasite? The hell if I know! It wasn't me, dude! All I did was put on a stupid pony ...

Chapter 228 - Legend of the Sage Alchemist (X)

Lao Shun stared rather disinterestedly at the monkey performance being put on in front of him; if it wasn't so haplessly inane, he might have even applauded the entertainment value of it. Though he knew from the onset that the two morons in front of him had no means of 'curing' the young girl, the life had become... dull.

Dull in ways he never thought would happen, not to him at least.

He was bored.

Depressingly bored.

He was coming up on the 500th year of his life, a...

Chapter 227 - Legend of the Sage Alchemist (IX)

Long Tao stopped by a bakery at the side of the street and bought a freshly baked bun with some sour cherry before finding a nearby bench, plopping himself on top of it, and slowly eating away.

It wasn't all that good, but it was at least sweet.

He lazily observed the passing strangers who seemed to not even notice he existed, passing by as though he were a ghost. He'd forgotten just how much he hated cities.

Soulless furnaces packed with apathetic creatures playing at chi...

Chapter 226 - Legend of the Sage Alchemist (VIII)

He eyed me for a long while, a faint grin hanging on his lips. I'd already tried inspecting him with the Creator's Eyes, but I'd need 400 points just to take a peek at his status, and considering I've got 0, it was a moot point.

"A silver-tongued child," he said, walking over to the side where a chair suddenly appeared. It was no ordinary chair, I immediately realized; its hand rests were lined with a thick layer of soft fur, while a fairly sizeable cushion lay at the seat. Ev...

Chapter 225 - Legend of the Sage Alchemist (VII)

We actually walked on foot, crossing the narrow alleyways and emerging onto the main street within a few moments. Oddly enough, though, nobody paid attention to us, almost as though they couldn't see us. Either that, or everyone in the city knew well enough not to look at these two when they were out and about.

Sort of like an understood thing.

Regardless, the journey across was smooth and relatively quick, with us coming upon a massive pavilion towering over all the neighboring b...

Chapter 224 - Legend of the Sage Alchemist (VI)

I'm sweating.

Oh my God, I'm sweating.

This woman is intense. Especially now that I'm left alone with her.

We'd stepped out of the room and into the central hall as Gu Zhao went out to 'prepare', leaving the two of us on our own. She didn't speak, just intently stare at me while I had to smile and act as though everything was perfectly peachy.

But it's not.

This woman is terrifying! Dammit, Long Tao! Why do you keep entangling me with people I should 2025-09-21 21:57:41 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 223 - Legend of the Sage Alchemist (V)

"This is the ancient text where you found the solution?" Zhu Zhen asked cautiously, her voice dripping with doubt.

She saw 'ancient texts' countless times in her life, and 99 out of a 100, they turned out to be fakes. It was usually charlatans trying to cheat her out of wealth, so she'd gotten quite good at spotting when things simply didn't add up.

As such, as soon as Gu Zhao told her how he learned how to cure her daughter, all her hope diminished; she was certain tha...

Chapter 222 - Legend of the Sage Alchemist (IV)

"As I said," he started. "According to my father, Alchemy is strict. And it's an enclosed group--so much so, in fact, that a good number of Alchemist don't even take on Disciples and hide their knowledge like you would a cultivation method. This Sect is an exception rather than a norm, but that is largely because the standards here aren't particularly high.

"Think of this line as the condensed knowledge of Alchemy," he drew a line across the paper--a very thin line. "...

Chapter 221 - Legend of the Sage Alchemist (III)

With the help of Long Tao's mother, I figured out a rather realistic way to age paper properly, additionally adding some tears and imperfections and even yellowing that happens over time.

His father also happened to know how to mix ingredients in a way to create ink that hasn't been used for thousands of years, to make it even more believable.

And thus, I got down to business.

Was I writing a new Shakespeare? This world's Catcher in the Rye? Maybe a new-age Paradise Lost?<...

Chapter 220 - Legend of the Sage Alchemist (II)

I'm pretty sure Long Tao just handed me something that will cause me no small amount of headache when I try to explain how exactly I have it with me.

Looking at the paper, it was a list of... words? I think? Honestly, I may as well be staring at some random child scribbles as none of these mean anything to me. Which likely means this is an alchemy recipe that's gone extinct in the ten thousand years that Long Tao's been dead.

Or, maybe it was extinct even when he was alive, and ...

Chapter 219 - Legend of the Sage Alchemist (I)

What exactly did I need from the Sect Master?

... honestly, nothing? I mean, not nothing--he's far more versed in the alchemy than I am, and probably even Long Tao is, so maybe he does actually have a pill that could fix the girl, but that is supposing I know precisely what is wrong with her... and I really just don't.

I mean, I have guesses, two of which really stand out and I wouldn't be surprised if one of them turned out to be a culprit.

One: it might ...

Chapter 218 - Spirits Blossoming (VII)

Luckily, Long Tao didn't do anything stupid... I don't think.

He'd gone and come back, and the city wasn't falling apart, and there wasn't a martial law being put in place, and there weren't squadrons of guards patrolling the streets looking for him.

So far, so good.

As for where he'd gone and what he'd done? I don't actually know. He came back at the crack of dawn, which was precisely when Gu Hai swung by to drag us all to the canteen--or, well, they called it a Dining Hall...

Chapter 217 - Spirits Blossoming (VI)

Long Tao stepped out of the compound, past the pair of yawning guards that seemed none the wiser. His pace was brisk and nonchalant as he navigated the few narrow alleyways that led past the looming buildings and onto the main street, stepping into a new world.

It was a familiar boulevard--not that he had ever seen this one, but he had seen many like it. A singular path dividing a city into two was as cliche as tying loose iron ropes between the two ends and hanging lanterns f...