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Chapter 156 - Festival of Sins (VII)

"Mama, read it again, read it again!" Light laughed brilliantly, kicking her legs back and forth while nuzzling against a kind-seeming woman whose lap she was occupying. The latter chuckled helplessly, patting the top of her head and slowly pulling the pages back to the beginning.

"There are other stories, Little Light," her mother said. "Some more interesting than this one, too."

"No way! Nothing is more interesting than the story of how you and Papa beat up that bad guy...

Chapter 155 - New Grudges

The sun had just cracked over the horizon as a chilly squall swept over the empty and hollow landscape. There where once tall mountain peaks stood proudly like giants now lay a flat so barren one couldn't even see a single blade of weed growing anywhere.

There was only dust and tiny stone pebbles, and an occasional bird sweeping overhead on its way to the greener pastures.

Even the prying and curious eyes who came early on were gone, for there was nothing to see but ashes and noth...

Chapter 154 - Festival of Sins (VI)

As soon as Xi Zhao opened his eyes, he felt a pang of nostalgia burst through him.

He found himself standing at the heart of the Sunlight Town's market, at the very crack of dawn, just as the townsfolk were starting to come out and set up their stalls.

The scent of freshly baked bread began to spread, yet was quickly counteracted with the stiff air of the burning furnaces coming from the blacksmith shops not two streets away.

He could hear Old Nan and Pap already shouting at...

Chapter 153 - Festival of Sins (V)

Dai Xiu stepped through a seeming nothing, yet she immediately felt her surroundings morph. The trees vanished in the blinding flash of light, and the dark, morose sensation of the orchard was replaced by a spattering of rays from the sky.

By the time she could see full shapes again, she found herself in a vaguely familiar garden; flowerbeds of roses and lilies decorated the four corners, while concentric squares housed several other forms of flowers, all the way to the center where a m...

Chapter 152 - Festival of Sins (IV)

The orchard itself was located to the back of the village, practically pressing against it, and was loosely fenced off by some scatterings of wood and stone. It was cleaved into two, as far as I could tell--on the left, they looked like plum trees, while on the right, they looked like... well, they didn't look like grapes, at least not any of the ones I knew.

I watched grapes grow woven into a literal metallic net, but not on a tree. So, yet another thing that differs from back...

Chapter 151 - Festival of Sins (III)

The dining hall was... well, it was shoddy, to say the least.

It was barely bigger than my bathroom was back on Earth, it was stuffy yet also had a draft at the same time (somehow?), and the chairs were uncomfortable. Like, I suddenly understood that those seats back in the sect were actually considered at least partially comfortable.

Nonetheless, none of us said anything as we sat down around in a circle while the old man ushered some of the younger kids to have...

Chapter 150 - Festival of Sins (II)

"Okay, it's safe now!"

The veil of darkness that were Light hands finally lifted and I could see!

To hell with this!

These kids are treating me like I'm a child, too!

And, look, look at Long Tao! He looks like he's just about ready to blow his top of laughing harder than he ever laughed in his life! Weren't you apathetic?! Weren't you a legendary hero?! Is seeing the kids make a mockery of me that funny?!

... haah.

I'm venting into the sky.

I...

Chapter 149 - Festival of Sins (I)

The people following us?

It was actually a bit of a reunion. Well, not a reunion as we didn't know them individually, but seeing as they were the former, escaped disciples of the Fire Sun Sect, I suppose there's some karmic connection between us, no?

Obviously, they weren't wearing the Fire Sun Sect robes the same way we weren't wearing Spirit Sword Sect robes. Unlike us, however, who were just 'barely' disguised as merchants, they donned a far simpler of an attire: bandi...

Chapter 148 - Great Questions (III)

It was perfect.

No, it was more than perfect.

Wan Lan's hands trembled as she read through the art her forced-upon-her Master just handed her not two minutes ago.

She didn't actually think too much of it--why would she? She knew better than anyone just how restrictive her physique was and that practically only the Demonic Cult itself had arts that she could use. A random Elder of some random two-bit Sect that was destroyed in the span of a few hours?

He would ...

Chapter 147 - Great Questions (II)

Long Tao once again thought back at the tome his strange Master showed him. He'd never seen an art quite like it before in his life. Then again, he hadn't really seen arts like his Master's in general.

Aegis of Infinity...

It was a bold name and, yet, it still somehow felt understated. If it had been auctioned off by the Golden Dragon, it would have likely fetched the worth of a Tower. Not that he ever knew anyone who could have actually practiced the art.

While 'De...

Chapter 146 - Great Questions (I)

System is a prick, I decided on that much at least.

The same way it can give me a reward that grants another person a unique freakin' physique, it could have given me a reward that does that to me. But it chose not to.

Because it's a prick.

Okay, maybe not. It's pretty much clear by now that the system's job, as far as I go, is just to 'maintain me'. It will help me here and there, but only in so much that I can keep up with the disciples in terms of art ma...

Chapter 145 - Aegis of Infinity (III)

Thankfully, she didn't stay after that embarrassing speech of mine; she bowed and then bowed out, and I near did that cringe-crouch where you just flatten against the ground trying to make yourself seem as small as possible, so as to become invisible.

I mean, I meant every word of what I said, truly, but at the same time... I don't know, I don't think I have the gravitas necessary to pull off speeches like that. You know, the voice, the commanding, stout presence, the ...

Chapter 144 - Aegis of Infinity (II)

To Wan Lan's credit, she kept getting up.

And kept getting up.

She'd rush in, fists and feet flying about, and would get rebuffed within a breath and sent flying backward. The saddest bit? Long Tao never drew his sword.

No, scratch that--he never even used an actual art.

Within two minutes, there were about a few dozen scratches and gashes that were bleeding; within four, her left eye had swollen so badly I'm pretty sure she didn't see a thing through it; by t...

Chapter 143 - Aegis of Infinity (I)

While taking a break for kids to cultivate, I nestled myself into the isolated corner of the tent and started pondering on what art to create for Wan Lan.

It appears that will be the trend for all kids when they break through--the system will give me one 'freebie' to make an art that pretty much only they will able to use.

To be honest, though, I'm not quite sure what to create. Not because there are no options--no, the options are infinite--but more that I just don't know what Wa...

Chapter 142 - Shock and Awe (II)

Was Long Tao a good cook?

No.

Did any of us dare point it out?

Actually, yeah, pretty much everyone except for me.

"Wow, Senior Brother, this piece of lettuce is somehow sharper than your sword," commented Xi Zhao.

"Chewing raw grass is tastier!" added Dai Xiu.

"It's stupid," said Light in all her wisdom.

"It's... edible," said Wan Lan, though it would have been better had she not said anything.

Meanwhile, I actually felt kind of bad for the old...

Chapter 141 - Shock and Awe (I)

It was about a month into our journey, and on a particularly cold day (as they've been getting cooler by the week), that it had happened at last--the first domino fell.

Wan Lan broke through.

We hadn't actually made much physical progress, all things considered, over the past thirty days or so. In part it was because I had them all focus on cultivating far more, and in part because it was essentially only possible to travel midday. The weather turned wildly over ...

Chapter 140 - Northward (II)

Perhaps the neatest thing of all about the tent is how easy it was to pack--just press a button! Well, it wasn't really a button, per se, but more a spot in the central array. It 'sucked' itself inside a small bag that I could either toss into the spatial ring or hang off my belt.

I actually liked how it looked--it was made of some sort of black material with almost glitter-like, golden etchings that seemed to sparkle under the sunlight. Though I did want to hang it off my belt...

Chapter 139 - Northward (I)

"So, uhm, there's this realm..."

Though I wanted to lie and conceal some of the truth, I ended up telling him everything. His expression remained unchanged (after calming back down, at least), and he listened patiently. Once I was done, he fell silent--and so did I.

"In three years, you said?"

"Yes. You don't think... we should go?"

"Why not?" he shrugged. "We have an invitation and every right to be there."

"But--"

"--do you trust them?" he suddenly asked....

Chapter 138 - Tensions (V)

The leaving of the hall was rather... unceremonious. Well, that's the nicest way I could put it--we were simply kicked out. There weren't any goodbyes or farewell drinks or feasts, no, just a kick in the ass (proverbial) and we were back on the ground... where, once again, we had to suffer unto the void being ripped open and the warship going through it.

This time around, I didn't lag behind and simply pretend to pass out relatively quickly. I was already discovered once, and I didn't w...

Chapter 137 - Tensions (IV)

Everyone gathered relatively quickly, though, oh boy, did they grumble. All faces were quite familiar, and there were even a few unfamiliar ones. Altogether, I counted the number of unique sects present to be eleven, I think?

Only four, I garner, would be considered 'Holy Lands', while the rest probably fell into that category of first or second-rate sects.

Just as I was wondering about how they'd 'teleport' us, they just... did.

It happened in the blink of an eye--...

Chapter 136 - Tensions (III)

I have to be honest--for a little while, everyone stared at the sky... and there was nothing there. Yet, I'm pretty sure only I felt awkward about it; others seemed tense and even... scared.

It was about fifteen seconds later that it happened.

The first thing was a hum--a low vibrato that churned straight through me, rattling my organs. All our robes fluttered under the pressure, and Wan Lan even yelped slightly in pain.

The second thing was a shake--not of the grou...

Weekly(?) musings and such, part 2~~

Hello everyone, and welcome to my weekly but not-so-weekly update on... things.

I'm almost at 150 chapters and I'm honestly kind of surprised with how well I've managed to keep up with the release schedule. I also feel like I'm moving the story at a decent pace, but that's one of those questions I'll always wonder--some people prefer their high-octane, non-stop action, and some prefer there to be some stretches of 'slice of life'. Trying to find the balance between the two is probably a...

Chapter 135 - Tensions (II)

Strangely, only Wan Lan agreed to come along.

Long Tao... well, he was hiding in the corner, brooding over something.

Xi Zhao said he had to 'meditate upon his heart', though he was probably just a touch too embarrassed to share a meal with that young woman.

Dai Xiu said she had to 'make sure Junior Brother meditates properly'; it's kind of cute how jealous she is without realizing it. It's not 'romantic' jealousy--far from it--she simply fears that some stranger will take a...

Chapter 134 - Tensions (I)

Long Tao didn't take nearly as long as I'd expected him to--rather, he was back within less than an hour, and in a decidedly foul mood. I didn't even have to ask him or interact in any way to recognize the stench of 'don't talk to me' practically bursting from every inch of his skin.

It was quite a familiar one, too, as I'd donned it often back in the day.

And so, I didn't bother him, and just let him be. Whatever happened inside that ruin... yes, I was desperately 2025-07-30 21:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post