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Chapter 156: KILL AND BLOOD
CHAPTER156KILL AND BLOODJieyuan—∞—Well, Jieyuan thought, his gaze lingering on Jiahao’s corpse, if we weren’t in a hurry to leave before, we sure are now.The nearest Shifting Feather—the one that had nearly split the Orangesoul in half—was still within range of his soulforce; he lowered its weight and then pulled it back to him using his soulforce. The half-amphis shot back through the air, slamming into his outstretched hand with a meaty thump.He immediately noticed the glowing red lines. They sprawled over the blade, throbbing l...
Chapter 155: TO BISECT
CHAPTER155TO BISECTJieyuan—∞—Stepping out into Radiant Street, Jieyuan set a brisk pace, leaving the hulking black form of the Mysterious Night House behind him. Not so fast that he’d be running and drawing people’s attention, though. More like he had somewhere he needed to get to.Which he did. And that somewhere was out of the city.He took a quick scan of the street before setting off toward the First City. Fewer cultivators in that direction.Daojue and Meiyao matched their steps with his, following from the sides. Jieyuan navigated ...
Chapter 154: BUY AND SELL
(Chapter 2 of 2 today.)CHAPTER154BUY AND SELLJieyuan—∞—“Should you wish to bid on a lot,” their attendant was saying, indicating one of the two pedestals rising off the floor, “then you need only channel chroma here, and state a number of prisms and their color. The bid will be reflected on the outside of the booth window.”Jieyuan, Meiyao, Daojue, and their attendant were inside the booth they’d been assigned for the auction. The attendant had brought them straight here after their talk with Sovereign Aoxin and Dayang, leading t...
Chapter 153: STARRY NIGHT
(Chapter 1 of 2 today. The next chapter will be published right after.)So here’s the release for the Monday before last, which was significantly delayed, as well as this Monday’s release, which was considerably less delayed.Normally, when I delay a release by more than a week, I like to include a bonus chapter to make up for it. However, one of the reasons for the delay this time is that I’ve been focusing on the rewrite, and I really want to wrap it up this month—sonobonus chapter this time, I’m afraid. On a related note, the rewrite...
Chapter 152: BACK AND BLACK
Here's last Monday's chapter. Cutting it close again, but still in the right week. Planning on getting the next chapter sooner, but we'll see how it goes.CHAPTER152BACK AND BLACKJieyuan—∞—Meiyao gave Jieyuan an utterly incredulous look, eyes wide, jaw slack. It’d have been comical if it weren’t for how serious the situation was. “Qingshi is what?”“An Orangesoul,” Jieyuan repeated dutifully. “And the new sovereign protector of the Gleaming Stone Sect.”He was back in the safe house, back in the living room, sitti...
Chapter 151: DRINK AND TALK
Here you go, last Monday's chapter. Cutting it close, but at least it was still released in the right week. CHAPTER151DRINK AND TALKJieyuan—∞—In a small but tidy living room, Jieyuan, Meiyao, and Daojue sat around a table in the dark. Xiaohu lay draped across Meiyao’s shoulders.Daojue was silent, as usual, but Jieyuan and Meiyao weren’t speaking, either. Jieyuan was thinking, considering the situation, and he was pretty sure that so were the other two.His feet drummed restlessly on the floor under the table; his body was filled wi...
Chapter 150: TO BE BACK
A bit delayed (I really wanted to get this one right, and it took me longer than I would have thought), but better late than never. This is last Monday's pending chapter. I hope you enjoy it.CHAPTER150TO BE BACKJieyuan—∞—Meiyao was different. Her appearance was the same. Same long, flowing brown hair. Same vibrant green eyes. Same impossibly, hauntingly beautiful face. But she was different. It was the way she stood, shoulders squared, as she faced the Primordial. The way she had her chin slightly lifted so that she could stare straig...
Chapter 149: VOID TO CAVE
Sorry about the delay! I ended up having to travel last week, and that messed up my schedule. This is last week's chapter. This week's chapter should actually be coming out tomorrow, Thursday at the latest (it's already half-done). CHAPTER149VOID TO CAVEJieyuan—∞—The void blurred and sharpened back into solid matter around Jieyuan, and the first thing he saw was the Primordial’s prone, slumbering form.Muyeshen’s hazy green body lay on the floor, curled into itself. Tendrils of viridian mist rose lazily from its body, curli...
Chapter 148: BLOOD AND BOON
CHAPTER148BLOOD AND BOONJieyuan—∞—It was not the blood-red plains Jieyuan returned to. Rather, what the void of the Heavenly Room gave way to was, for once, an actual room.The room was large and mostly empty, with bare gray stone walls, ceiling, and floor. There weren’t any windows. Glowing bars ran through the ceiling, providing illumination.On one side of it was a lone meditation cushion. On the other side was what appeared to be a training area: a metal rack with weapons stacked on it near the back wall, and in front of it a large sq...
Chapter 147: TO LAY BARE
This is last Monday's chapter, as promised, even if a bit late. I'd like to say next week's chapter is coming out tomorrow, but clearly I'm too optimistic with dates, so let's just play it safe and say it'll come out sometime next week. CHAPTER147TO LAY BAREJieyuan—∞—The metal walls of the Sword Tower snapped back into focus around Jieyuan just as the blood-red sphere disappeared inside his chest.Besides him, Daojue, and Anren, there were only three others left in the Heavenly Hall, all of them Absolute Sword Sect ...
Chapter 146: BURNING END
Chapter 2 of 2 today. Chapter 147 is coming out tomorrow.CHAPTER146BURNING ENDJieyuan—∞—He didn’t appear in any of the forests or towns he’d burned down. Nor did he appear in the midst of the charred, burning landscape that had served as the setting of the seventh through tenth difficulties. It wasn’t the inferno-filled void where he’d experienced the eleventh difficulty, either.What it was, was red.Very red.He was in a large, square room with a high, vaulted ceiling. It was all made of smooth scarlet stone. Near the corners were ...
Chapter 145: FIRE AND SELF
Chapter 1 of 2 is today. The next chapter will be published immediately afterward. There will also be another chapter tomorrow—today’s two are the one I owed from last week plus a bonus as an apology for the delay (the fifth stage ended up needing two chapters, rather than just one). Tomorrow’s chapter is already written (I actually finished it before this one because I was stuck on a specific scene in this chapter), but it still needs a quick revision pass, which is why it isn’t going up tonight.CHAPTER145FIRE AND SELFJieyuan—∞—...
Chapter 144: THORN AND PAIN
Chapter 2 of 2 today. Again, please check the Discord announcement. There WILL be another chapter this (or next, for some of you) week.CHAPTER144THORN AND PAINJieyuan—∞—When Jieyuan stepped into the Heavenly Room, Shifting Feathers drawn, he did so expecting to appear in a torture chamber on the other side: some dark room stacked with torture implements. Or, if not that, some hellish landscape, where tortured souls screamed in eternal agony.He’d picked Pain for the fifth stage, after all (and what a relief he’d felt when, in the Heave...
Chapter 143: OF DEAD BONE
Chapter 1 of 2 today—and these are still last week's chapters. I'll be explaining the situation clearly in the Discord announcement, but there'll still be another chapter next week. Long short short, I overdid things a little and ended up with two full length chapters last week. Oops.CHAPTER143OF DEAD BONEJieyuan—∞—The Heavenly Hall had barely materialized around Jieyuan—his arm still outstretched from picking a sphere—when Anren stepped in front of him.“So?” she asked promptly, leaning in close, eyes bright as the s...
Chapter 142: SHAPE AND CHANGE
CHAPTER142SHAPE AND CHANGEJieyuan—∞—Jieyuan stared blankly at the metal surface of the door in front of him. It was darkened, the handle gone.The woman’s frenzied words still rang in his ears.Listen to me. You must… You must… You must…“Must what?” he murmured. His heart was still hammering against his ribcage, beating rapidly.What did she see in me to set her off like that? How come I’m suddenly back in the hall?He turned away from the door and scanned the area; sure enough, it was pretty much empty. There were only a couple...
Chapter 141: DO OR DO
CHAPTER141DO OR DOJieyuan—∞—Jieyuan sighed as the Heavenly Hall reappeared around him, along with all the cultivators there.The sphere he had chosen now sat within his body; he could just barely feel its presence here in the Heavenly Hall, but it was unmistakably there, inside him. Merged with him, maybe.This constant awareness of the Concept he’d been forced to pick was many things. A comfort was not one of them. Most of all, what it did was remind him of what he’d—what he’d have to face—next.He wasn’t looking forward to it. ...
Chapter 140: TWISTS AND TURNS
And there we have it: the first chapter published following the new schedule. The next chapter will be coming out next Monday; I've also adjusted previous chapters so that paying patrons are now seven chapters ahead instead of fourteen—but still seven weeks ahead of the regular releases (and also ahead by the same amount of words). So this should've been chapter 147, but ended up as chapter 140. CHAPTER140TWISTS AND TURNSJieyuan—∞—If there was one thing Jieyuan didn’t plan on, it was dying.The empyrean sure didn’t make thing...
Chapter 139: THE TWIN SNAKES
CHAPTER139THE TWIN SNAKESJieyuan—∞—All things considered, the snake didn’t really come as a surprise.Jieyuan had just barely told the Amphis Concept what difficulty he wanted when the beast spilled out from the mouth of the stone snake head opposite him: a great, sinuous body covered in black and yellow scales.It slid out from between the massive fangs and dropped to the ground in free fall, landing with a heavy, wet thump.The snake didn’t seem all that bothered by the fall; lying on the arena directly across from him now, it raised i...
Chapter 138: A WAY FOUND
CHAPTER138A WAY FOUNDJieyuan—∞—In the place of the infinitely distant ceiling was now a starry sky. An ocean of silver orbs scattered throughout a black void.Not just any starry sky, either. It was a mirror of the same vision Jieyuan had seen once before, when he bonded with Absolute Will Command, right after their mission gone wrong in the Fatebloom Woods.The Heavenly Vault. For a moment he forgot his impending doom, along with all his concerns and worries. Seeing the Heavens like this again stole his breath away. Only then did it really...
Chapter 137: PAST AND TOWER
CHAPTER137PAST AND TOWERJieyuan—∞—Anren knelt down, picked up Gleaming End. Then she walked over to Daojue—whom she’d just dropped to the ground with her last attack—and extended a hand.Jieyuan watched in awe as Daojue took it and Anren pulled him to his feet.They were all standing at the middle of the platform—far away from the abyss lines, which were much more of a threat nowadays than they used to be in the beginning. They weren’t taking any risks.“That was better,” Anren said, handing the crystal spear back to Daojue. ...
Chapter 136: TO INSTRUCT
CHAPTER136TO INSTRUCTJieyuan—∞—Jieyuan, of course, didn’t let go. Not that he reckoned he’d have stood much of a chance if this turned into a tug-of-war situation. Given what he’d seen of Anren’s performance against Daojue earlier, it was a good thing she wasn’t pulling on the Shifting Feathers, just holding onto them.Anren was not just encroaching on his personal space but outright invading it, her nose nearly brushing his. Only now did he realize how tall she was; she had a few inches on Meiyao and was about the same height as...
Chapter 135: CUT THE SHADE
CHAPTER135CUT THE SHADEJIEYUAN—∞—Jieyuan looked between Daojue and Anren.Anren, who was in a relaxed stance, her sword up, the tip pointed at Daojue.Daojue, who had taken a combat stance himself, both hands on Gleaming End, the spearhead angled towards Anren.Daojue’s dark violet eyes were narrowed, fixing Anren with a stare so intense it was a wonder she hadn’t combusted on the spot.Anren stared right back at him, thoroughly undaunted. Smirking.Jieyuan pursed his lips, then tensed his legs, bringing the Shifting Feathers forward. He w...
Chapter 134: BARREN PLAINS
So. A quick author note: So far, I’ve been restricting myself pretty heavily punctuation-wise, but that’s led to a gross overuse of em-dashes, so it’s something I’ll be addressing in the rewrite. However, I figured I’d already start putting it into practice, so expect to see some semicolons, colons, and parentheses peppered throughout the text going forward. (You might’ve already caught some of those in earlier chapters because of some edits I’ve recently made.)CHAPTER134BARREN PLAINSJIEYUAN—∞—Jieyuan was on his feet the nex...
Chapter 133: SOUL AND SWORD
CHAPTER133SOUL AND SWORDJIEYUAN—∞—The voice was deep. Resonant. And loud—so loud it should’ve left his ears ringing, his eardrums bleeding, his bones rattling.But none of that happened. Because the words hadn’t been spoken, at least not in the conventional way—nor in any other Jieyuan knew of, and he had more experience with alternative means of communication than most.It was nothing like a mind-linked thought, or even Huaxin’s compressed flashes of sensations and impressions. Both of those skipped the body and worked straight o...
Chapter 132: BEAST OF MIST
CHAPTER132BEAST OF MISTJIEYUAN—∞—Once swindled, twice guarded. Jieyuan had learned his lesson.This time around, he didn’t just stand there waiting for Meiyao to get them into another mess. The moment he realized what was happening, he rushed over and grabbed her shoulder—all the while bracing himself in case she lashed out like last time.A tremor ran through Meiyao’s body—he saw it, and felt it through his hand on her shoulder—before she turned to look at him. There was still something distant about her eyes. Something unfocused...
Chapter 131: HIGHER REALMS
CHAPTER131HIGHER REALMSJIEYUAN—∞—Chromal beasts weren’t necessarily bigger than their mundane counterparts, and realm didn’t correlate to size. Jieyuan had met massive Redsoul beasts and tiny Orangesoul ones. If anything, the smaller the beast, the more troublesome it tended to be.But Jieyuan had never come across a beast even half as big as this colossal bird. The biggest beast he’d seen before now had been the two-headed snake, and it might as well have been a worm in comparison to this newcomer.His soulsense couldn’t detect the...
Chapter 130: TO DESCEND
CHAPTER130TO DESCENDJIEYUAN—∞—Two months.As best Jieyuan could tell—even after all this while, keeping track of time in the Dome was still no easy task—that was about how much time it took him and Daojue to meet Meiyao again.And now just about that same amount of time had passed since they’d reunited.Jieyuan was on the ground, his back against a tree—a thin, gnarled thing, its trunk so dark it was almost black, its leaves sparse and clumped together.Meiyao was right in front of him, in the middle of the pocket, in her usual green ...
Chapter 129: HIS AND HERS
CHAPTER129HIS AND HERSJIEYUAN—∞—“Meiyao,” Jieyuan said, catching her attention. “Are we safe here, or do we need to move?”To his surprise, Meiyao didn’t even need a moment to answer. “We’re fine for now.”“Are you sure?” He didn’t doubt her, but he remembered how she’d always spend a good few minutes before coming to a decision.She nodded. “I’m much better at sensing the viridian mist, now. Moreover, we’ve got Xiaohu. She’s an even better lookout than I am.”“Is that so?”Jieyuan glanced down at the beas...
Chapter 128: STAKE YOUR CLAIM
CHAPTER128STAKE YOUR CLAIMJIEYUAN—∞—Jieyuan would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought of kissing Meiyao before. He tried not to think about the subject—it was a total waste of time to dwell on fantasies, as far as he was concerned—but he’d never been able to push it off his mind altogether.And it wasn’t a recent thing. Despite himself, he kept coming back to the thought of it—of what it would feel like, to have Meiyao like this, against him—for a good while now. From before they’d gone inside the Dome. From before the Gl...
Chapter 127: KILL AND KISS
CHAPTER127KILL AND KISSJIEYUAN—∞—Jieyuan almost shouted it out—but then he caught himself, swallowing down the words. Keeping half his attention on the fight, he jumped from one thought to the next, trying to decide on his next move, on the best course of action.There was an opportunity here. He was sure of it. He just needed to find it. Find it and grasp it.He had to be smart about it.The thing was, the mimic’s weakness was no big mystery. It was obvious, really, in light of the facts. Jieyuan wouldn’t be surprised at all if Meiyao...
