“Where else would I be?” Lin Hai beckoned Renxiang out as he straightened up. “You are an odd girl at times, Baroness.”
“She is,” Cai Renxiang agreed. “But if you are here, would you like to attend the fitting? Your perspective may offer valuable critique.”
There was a sinking feeling in Ling Qi’s stomach. She knew—knew for certain—a way to break this fantasy. ...
2021-11-19 00:42:24 +0000 UTC View PostIn the end, it was hardly a choice. There was only one person who she really knew well out of the four. She doubted Cai Renxiang would be pleased to have her privacy invaded, but she was also pragmatic. Her liege would understand.
Ling Qi nodded tersely to the spirit and stepped up to the other girl, a single stride crossing the gulf of white. She had never taken the step of entering some...
2021-11-16 00:27:41 +0000 UTC View PostThe trip was slow going. The others wrapped themselves in heavy cloaks and coats lined with the warm fur of fire-aspected beasts to ward against the extreme chill and the cutting wind without constantly expending qi. The path was a narrow thing, barely more than a meter wide at its greatest extent, and only the constant shrieking wind kept the snow from piling it to impassibility.
They ma...
2021-11-13 23:54:55 +0000 UTC View PostLing Qi smiled to herself as she alighted atop the packed snow in the bottom of the gorge. To mortal eyes, it stretched unbroken in every direction, a solid field of white. If Ling Qi didn’t know better, she would be convinced that she was alone here. Naturally, she did know better.
Focusing on a tiny spark of warmth beneath the snow, only perceptible because she knew it was there, Ling...
2021-11-12 01:03:53 +0000 UTC View Post“So, you are saying that enough generations had passed for these spiders that stories of their exile had been mythologized almost entirely,” Ling Qi said blankly, descending the stony mountain gorge that lay beyond the forested vale.
“That is accurate,” Cai Renxiang agreed.
“Spirit beasts of the chitinous type are generally very short lived until mastery of Shen is achieve...
2021-11-08 23:54:23 +0000 UTC View Post“Oh, this is a shiny one. I like it,” Sixiang said, lying back on the polished surface of an antique table. They held a slip of white jade up to their face as if they could look into it with their eyes.
Ling Qi glanced up from the near empty box in front of her and the jade slips arranged on the cover of a massive atlas of the Emerald Seas that lay on the floor before her. “Oh, what...
2021-11-06 20:57:55 +0000 UTC View PostCuriosity was a funny thing, Ling Qi mused, reaching out to touch the shimmering fabric of the tapestry. She’d never cared much for any ancestors further back than her own mother, but she just couldn’t fight back the urge to know.
Beside her, Meng Dan had withdrawn his hand, flipping rapidly through the pages of the tome in his hand, but she saw him glance up as her fingers brushed th...
2021-11-05 00:08:24 +0000 UTC View PostTogether, they descended into the unnatural darkness of the stairwell.
Together, they found more confounding effects. There were places where the space of the stairwell warped, turning back on itself in a recursive loop. There were other places where the fabric of this space thinned, threatening to drop intruders into bubbles of corrosive not-reality or spill the stuff into the ring itsel...
2021-11-02 00:08:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 1
The Argent Peak Sect had long vanished behind them. More than a year of battles, trials and effort, gone like the sun sinking below the horizon. It was almost hard to believe that so much had happened in so short a time. Her heart still burned with miserable indignation at Han Jian’s total rejection, nearly as potent as the memory of the searing pai...
2021-10-31 19:55:47 +0000 UTC View PostLing Qi inhaled the scent of stagnant air and ancient parchment, nearly sneezing. She grimaced, restraining the urge to scrub at her nose. The air in here felt thick and heavy.
She opened her eyes to see that she stood between two tottering stacks of hastily bound books of notes, looseleaf papers sticking out haphazardly from between covers that smelled of poorly cured leather.
Outs...
2021-10-30 23:02:52 +0000 UTC View Post“Is it actually dead?” Hanyi asked suspiciously as she peeked her head out from behind a fallen chunk of stone.
“It feels dead,” Gui said suspiciously. His scales were stained with blue and black ink, glistening wetly in the faint light cast by the cooling magma.
“I felt its dantian shatter,” Xia Lin said, rising from the crouch she had landed in. One of the frosted bone...
2021-10-28 23:55:28 +0000 UTC View PostWith a mighty crack, an ash caked skull spun off over the horizon, teeth flying in every direction. Zheng Nan squinted into the distance, racing the fading arc, his staff still held outstretched. All around the soldiers of the Gu clan remained in formation, a bristling hedge of spears surrounding her carriage and the horses. Ash and sand clung to blades and armor, leaving as the only sounds the...
2021-10-28 00:00:46 +0000 UTC View PostA lacquered black inkbrush drew itself across a page of charred parchment, painting characters in the wild handwriting that filled every wall of the chamber, and a rattling breath emerged from the corpse’s hidden face, emitting another stream of buzzing flies to join the swarm.
Xia Lin fell back to where she stood, a disgusted look on her face. “A corpse immortal,” she spat. “To t...
2021-10-25 23:34:35 +0000 UTC View PostLing Qi rose from the net of dream webbing as if it were no more than air, no longer smiling. Beneath her, the solid shell of Zhengui, already aglow with volcanic light, formed and beside her was Hanyi, smiling viciously. Caught in mid-leap, the three spiders screeched in unison as she played the howl of a blizzard on her flute.
Behind her, the lump of webbing where Xia Lin had stood blaz...
2021-10-23 23:43:11 +0000 UTC View PostLanding in a crouch, she sent the wisps spiralling out into the chamber at the bottom. It was small, only a few meters across, but three tunnels reached out. Small and cramped, they were roughly carved, most likely shaped by the quick excavation of an earth technique.
As the wisps began sending her information from down the tunnels, Xia Lin dropped down beside her, making only a slight th...
2021-10-21 23:42:07 +0000 UTC View PostThey left the camp within the hour, joining the outgoing scouting platoon. The platoon was composed of twenty-five soldiers, two in five of which were in the third realm with an accompanying spirit beast, led by a core disciple of the fourth realm. Their task was to survey the region, and as such, they wouldn’t be following them directly into the forest. Instead, they would provide a cover fo...
2021-10-18 21:58:49 +0000 UTC View PostAN: Sorry guys this one was supposed to take place before the previous chapter so its a lil out of order.
This exhaustion had become unfamiliar, Cai Renxiang thought.
It was not a thing of the body, borne of a pounding heart and bruised flesh.
The blade resting less than a hair's breadth from her throat withdrew with a soft hiss, its gleaming blade shimmering ...
2021-10-16 23:04:40 +0000 UTC View PostThe marriage ceremony is past us, fraught as it was, but I find that my misgivings have not faded. Although the High King’s effort to blend our ceremonies with those of the mountain folk seemed to have not roused any spirits of ill fortune, it displeased the people.
Few have kind words to speak of the mountain prince. His shrinking, womanly demeanor earns no respect among t...
2021-10-14 22:59:02 +0000 UTC View PostIt had been a relaxing afternoon, negotiating with the spirits of the valley. The Sect’s planners had easily worked her into things. As it turned out, they were quite good at wrangling highly individual volunteers. Who would have thought?
She really didn’t credit Zhengui enough sometimes. She had not had to do much. With spirits closer to his own nature, he was even better than her in...
2021-10-11 22:48:08 +0000 UTC View Post“ORRRAAA!!” Gan Guangli’s bellow echoed through the valley.
From above, Ling Qi saw him wrap his enlarged arms around the trunk of a squirming pine, ignoring the lashing branches clattering against his armor. He leapt, ripping grasping roots from the earth, and slammed the canopy backward over his shoulder with a thunderous crack, shattering branches and cracking the trunk.
Th...
2021-10-09 21:36:36 +0000 UTC View PostThat's right Book 3 finishing out the first thread and story with the Outer Sect tournament is coming out on November 2nd in E-book and Audiobook format. You can find it on amazon here!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09H4SNY64?notRedirectToSD...
2021-10-07 20:49:44 +0000 UTC View PostLing Qi pondered what to say. It occurred to her that the master of this old blade was an explorer.
“Honored Ancestor,” Ling Qi said, “before we leave you to your rest, might you have any wisdom on the lands beyond the Wall? Your wielder is well known for his travels.”
“Those days were ending afore we departed the blood-slick sea and left the treasure fleet behind,”<...
2021-10-07 20:45:56 +0000 UTC View PostMeng Dan spent the better part of an hour examining the map, questioning Ling Qi on her feelings regarding specific sites, flipping through a regional atlas drawn from his storage ring, and scattering odd platinum coins carved with different characters across the map before he delivered his verdict. The signs for best fortune pointed to a site on the southeastern edge of the map, marked by thre...
2021-10-04 20:33:24 +0000 UTC View PostAvailable on Discord in the Interlude Spoilers Channels.
Characters: Originals. RR Friendly.
2021-10-03 21:25:40 +0000 UTC View Post“And that is a deal struck, my friend!” Bao Qian said cheerfully. He extended his hand, and Baron Fu grasped it. Their storage rings flashed, and Bao Qian felt the satisfying clatter of spirit stones spilling into his emptied storage space.
Baron Fu gave a sharp nod as he stood. An older gentleman just getting into his second century with a short, well kept beard and topknot shot thro...
2021-10-02 21:42:47 +0000 UTC View Post“So, let us grant that I believe your studies are relevant to our task.”
“Most generous of you, Baroness,” Meng Dan said, resting his chin in his hand.
“What skills do you have to offer to my lady in the field?” Ling Qi asked, ignoring his interjection.
“Mm, I agree. You’d obviously be a real good study buddy, but how’s your practicals?” Sixiang asked flipp...
2021-09-30 18:19:47 +0000 UTC View Post“So,I’m not sure I understand this ashwalker business properly,” Zheng Nan said, his arms and legs were a blur as he jogged beside the carriage, keeping up with the trotting horses with no sign of strain. “That thing I fought wasn’t a mere corpse puppet, it was a Bai, but broken.”
“You are correct of course,” Gu Xiulan drawled, leaning on the window frame of her carriage. ...
2021-09-29 21:37:26 +0000 UTC View PostAlthough they didn’t have a proper spar, Ling Qi was glad to see her little brother was continuing to grow more adept with his terrain manipulation. His reactions were improving a great deal, as was his ability to coordinate multiple vectors of his ramparts and barriers.
Beyond that, Ling Qi also got her first good look at Xia Lin’s abilities. The girl was very fast, fast enough that ...
2021-09-28 00:03:21 +0000 UTC View PostGranting Xia Lin the lead in steering their “tour” took them away from the sect peaks themselves to inspect the terrain and climate and fauna of the surroundings outside the carefully controlled skies above the peaks. Xia Lin seemed to know a surprising amount of wilderness lore given the more urban nature of the White Plumes and the initial impression. She questioned Ling Qi on every detai...
2021-09-25 23:54:10 +0000 UTC View PostThe Cai force’s arrival was marked by a plume of rising dust, visible from kilometers away. The northern road was cleared of traffic, commerce and civilian traffic alike coming to a halt as the cleared fields north of White Cloud Town were made ready to receive visitors.
Sect Head Yuan He waited at the entrance of the town. His flowing storm gray robe snapped and flapped in the blowing ...
2021-09-23 22:29:43 +0000 UTC View Post