Kim swore he didn’t know anything about anyone. I cut him off and told him he had two weeks to find out at least something. In the meantime, he could enjoy a special session in the Chamber.
That was it — my social duty was fulfilled. I’d redeemed myself in Liang Shi’s eyes — shown him I was working on the Hall of Order’s tasks....
2025-06-15 23:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostLiang Shi was tearing into us in the same duty room where he’d once served tea after Marek’s suicide attempt. He had to hold himself back to avoid raising his voice, as his colleagues were watching. The cadets were pretending to read from their tablets, but in truth, all ears were on us. So instead of shouting, Liang Shi hissed. It felt less...
2025-06-13 23:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostNovak ‘invited’ me over. Still, he was fairly gracious about it, taking into account that I had a session with the ‘mutual support club’ — in other words, dodging Bao Feng’s wooden mace. But he didn’t let things drag on for too long, and I had to bow out earlier than the other cadets.
Kate and I ran into each other on the way...
2025-06-11 23:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostI was walking back from the Armour Hall, thinking over the changes the new suit brought with it. This wasn’t my old plastic shell anymore, but real armour — something I could easily wear for several days outdoors in the thin atmosphere of Verdis. And one particular joy: no sand down my back or in other, more delicate areas! Though, I’d sti...
2025-06-10 23:36:02 +0000 UTC View PostAfter the Wood, I moved on to the Mace simply because I already had the necessary ampoules, and my extensive plans involved all types of qi.
After the Wood, I moved on to the Mace simply because I already had the necessary ampoules, and my extensive plans involved all types of qi. The more I learnt to distinguish between them, the better I...
2025-06-08 23:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostTwo days after our stroll in the greenhouse, Zola actually shaved her head. Not completely bald — she’d used a 0.5 guard, so the skin didn’t shine but remained rough, like sand on coarse stone. Still, the effect was… noticeable. Very noticeable.
First, the look. She’d never resembled the graceful-lady cultivators from dramas or w...
2025-06-05 23:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostI’d gotten over Arnaud. After all, I’d just been a random witness to his collapse — I wasn’t involved in any other way. Besides, I had my own problems to deal with, like the metaphorical beating my arse had taken from Cinar. Metaphorical, since it was actually my chest that suffered the most.
I even had to spend three points on tre...
2025-06-04 23:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostI finished the latest chapter just a few hours ago. For various reasons, I’ve burned through my chapter buffer. Not all of those reasons were bad — for example, I got distracted by Operation Spiderweb and the Kerch Bridge explosion. Both brought me great joy!
Still, that puts me in a tight spot and adds a lot of pressure. One unexpecte...
2025-06-03 23:41:01 +0000 UTC View PostScenes like the one in Rene’s hall always break the rhythm of life. It goes on, sure, but it’s like a mental stumble, like stubbing your pinky toe on a doorframe. Not serious, but damn it hurts and throws you off. Although, the ‘not serious’ part is debatable. I wasn’t hurt, but that cadet probably just wrecked his life...
And th...
2025-06-03 23:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe Rene Hall was far from empty… The more cadets broke through the first bottleneck, the more of them trickled in here. Those only managing the breakthrough now were, more often than not, the kind of losers who wouldn’t make it to Second Period — but they weren’t giving up. Life had a funny way of turning things around, and Rene didn’...
2025-06-02 23:36:00 +0000 UTC View PostTwenty-four vials of Fist Essence lay in my locker like dead weight. Twenty-two, if I counted on Omar — and he didn’t seem like someone who’d go back on his word.
I could trade the rest for something useful.
I thought of Hakim.
A cocky conspiracy theorist from second period. He claimed he could get hold of anything that c...
2025-06-01 23:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostYou may have seen his book Mage Steel alongside mine on the Rising Stars list.
It’s a Western cultivation series that pairs well with my Moon Cultivation.
Check it out here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/125542596?collection=1419016 2025-06-01 19:33:21 +0000 UTC View Post
"Let’s go like yesterday — start on the third step," Rene said.
"I preferred it from a standstill," I replied.
"You’ve already mastered that," Rene said. "Let’s see it in motion."
He’d cleared a lane for me from one wall of the hall to the other. That was generous, considering how packed his training space had become ...
2025-05-29 23:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostPiper and I took one corner of the hall, while Kate and Cinar went to the opposite one. I had no idea what was happening on their end. I refused to stand with my back to the wall, not wanting to give Piper the chance to pin me. So Kate and Cinar ended up behind me.
“After you,” I said, gesturing her toward the corner.
“How chiv...
2025-05-28 23:36:00 +0000 UTC View PostIn the evening, Kate and I were invited to Novak’s. Since she already had access to his quarters, there was no need for Adam or Lina to escort us from the station or take us upstairs.
No bourbon this time. The air held the scent of honey, pine, apples, and roasted nuts — a clear sign we were having tea.
Novak was already waiting,...
2025-05-27 23:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostSand crunched beneath my feet. I stepped forward half a pace, slid left, shifted my weight — and snapped my left hand out. The first projection flew, followed by a dozen more hurtling toward Kate.
She dodged them all effortlessly, dancing between them like a gymnast, and fired back with an lightning bolt.
I had to choose — dodge ...
2025-05-26 23:36:02 +0000 UTC View PostZola Thembeka Dlamini — that was Nur’s new name. Her primary root was a point, 23. Second, third and fourth places were taken by earth, lightning and water. The fourth with a value of 14, though, was a fist. Something tells me that’s the one she’ll cultivate most actively. She’ll have to learn to distinguish that kind of qi from the ve...
2025-05-25 23:36:02 +0000 UTC View PostIn total, I gained +4 to my Fist Root.
The first one came almost instantly — before I even left the tech room. The second — about five minutes later. The third arrived after ten minutes of slow wandering between platforms, watching other cadets practise their techniques.
But the fourth... the fourth came when the timer was alread...
2025-05-22 23:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostBreakfast matched my mood — bland and unappetising.
There was some lazy chatter around the table about training schedules, shift changes, the usual noise. None of it stuck. The guys had already bought into the cover story that Nur was in the infirmary thanks to another of her brutal migraines, so they weren’t pushing me for details. 2025-05-21 23:36:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Tall, dark skin, slightly curly hair in a stylish short cut, double stripes on her collar. She was casually spinning a trinket in her fingers, looking amused.
Another demon?
Didn’t seem like Nur’s hitchhiker was expecting her. Nur’s face, or his face, looked just as surprised.
“I’m your backup,” the girl said, givin...
2025-05-20 23:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostI hadn’t slept.
Not just a lack of sleep — it was like sleep had deliberately avoided me, like an old friend you’ve had a falling out with, now crossing to the other side of the hallway when they see you. Too many thoughts, too many images from the night before. Blood in the shower. Marek, eyes burning with hate. I can understand dea...
2025-05-19 23:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe dream shattered into fragments with the sharp blare of the interface. A shrill beep tore through the thick fog of sleep, and I sat up in bed, still half-conscious, staring in confusion at the flashing red signs before my eyes.
This signal was more insistent and far more unpleasant than any I had heard before.
Cadet’s li...
2025-05-18 23:36:00 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Johansson finally left, Liang Shi dismissed the cadets, and the block exhaled. But I wasn’t in the mood to celebrate.
The supervisor stayed behind. He gave me his usual unimpressed look, then jerked his head toward the door.
“Let’s talk. You three — out,” he ordered, glancing at my roommates.
Marlon, Denis, and B...
2025-05-15 23:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostAll first-year characters are now officially 18 years old. I’ve gone back and updated all chapters where this was relevant.
2025-05-15 07:52:36 +0000 UTC View PostCultivation went… perfectly.
I felt like a tourist on holiday — somewhere warm, bathed in sunlight, completely at ease. The flow moved through me without resistance. I slipped into trance at the very start and only surfaced when the stream weakened.
My plexus-reactor was working flawlessly. I didn’t just avoid breaking a sweat ...
2025-05-14 23:36:00 +0000 UTC View PostSo, my fall on the Rising Stars list at Royal Road has begun — down to #5 from #3.
If you’d like to help me extend my RS run and haven’t yet, you can like, rate, or even leave a short review for Moon Cultivation here: [ 2025-05-14 19:12:00 +0000 UTC View Post
After Marek’s humiliation, we assistant supervisors regrouped by the vending machine. Dubois was treating us again.
“I was expecting more action,” Kowalski said — disappointed, but smiling. “Apart from the opening slap, nothing really exciting happened.”
“The victims spat on the bully, and he didn’t say a word in retu...
2025-05-13 23:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostMarigold tea still held the crown as the number one horror in my morning routine. And yet — habit is a strange thing. Today I woke up already anticipating the taste of that yellow filth. My body reached for the kettle before my brain could protest, as if it had decided that if the horror couldn’t be avoided, it was best done quickly and with...
2025-05-12 23:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostMarigold tea – what an abomination!
Its flavour could best be described as ‘an infusion of a marathon runner’s damp socks’. And you had to drink it twice a day for a consistent effect. Ideally before bed – since recovery peaks at night – and again first thing in the morning to prolong the benefit. Morning was the hardest. I man...
2025-05-11 23:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostI took it easy that morning. My energy had only recovered to 81 out of 156, so I went back to basics and worked on movement drills using the hologram. It went fairly well — the red flashes were showing up far less often than before, though I was still far from perfect. I didn’t spend as much time on qi projection, but I did manage to push my...
2025-05-08 23:36:01 +0000 UTC View Post