Chang-li raced upward against the fleeing crowd, most of whom seemed to be seeking the lower petals of Vardin City. The tower shuddered and shook as he went. His heart pounded in his ears. Were his friends all right? Min, the acolytes—he needed to get back to where he had last seen them all.
As he pushed forward...
2025-02-03 13:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostJoshi felt the tower rock as a surge of lux exploded outward. A pulse of immense will, dropped down on him like a blanket. Joshi fell to his knees. All around him, people collapsed. He cycled Way of Boulders and struggled back up to his feet.
Screams rent the air. The tower itself was shaking. He could feel a hard hum of lux in the air, di...
2025-02-01 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostRick leaned closer to the mission running board and studied it. Each mission was written on a card in neat letters. There was a title, a category, a summary, and a completion time, as well as spaces at the bottom for the names of the players assigned to the mission to be written in.
"It looks like we can assign combat players and non...
2025-01-31 14:00:16 +0000 UTC View Post
The world exploded around Min. There was a flash of light of every hue, so bright it dazzled her eyes, accompanied by a loud screeching sound that went on and on, driving into her eardrums. The ground shook as the whole crown ring trembled. A burst of willpower like she'd never felt before smashed against her, knocking her flat onto...
2025-01-30 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostSam looked at the upgrade token curiously. Tobias Schneider appeared at Rick’s elbow as if out of thin air. The other Mars Expedition NCPs started drifting over, and soon the whole crowd had gathered around Rick and Sam.
“Will it upgrade the crafting space?”
“How many more retinue can we have?”
“I want a...
2025-01-29 14:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostChang-li sat in an opulent marbled hall on a tall-backed chair and cycled. He kept his hands clasped together in front of him, his feet firm on the floor as he concentrated on his cycling technique. The infusion of lux from the prism's display filled him with crackling energy. It was easy to work with but had a different quality than he'd experi...
2025-01-28 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostRick got a text from Sam just before they got back to Angels Landing. We need to talk.
He stared at it for a long moment before replying, Fire away.
In person, Sam said. You at your caravan?
Almost, Rick typed back.
Is there a way for me to visit?
It was ear...
2025-01-27 14:00:15 +0000 UTC View Post
"How far is he?" Min demanded as she followed Brother Stone what felt like halfway around the Crown Ring. They passed groups drinking, dancing, socializing, feasting, and hosting various competitions. In one square, half-naked men were wrestling while the boisterous crowd placed bets upon the outcome. In another, cultivators were pr...
2025-01-27 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe festivities bloomed around Joshi, ostentatious displays of wealth that would have made his brothers lapse into a rant about the decadent ways of civilization while casting envious glances all around. Joshi was untouched by it all. This tower cull was almost at an end, and he was glad of it. After this, either the sect would shake off most of...
2025-01-25 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostAs the echos of Pratt's voice died away Rick had a brief urge to run but then turned back. This showdown had been a long time coming. He was only two steps from the doorway, so the risk wasn't great. Gambit stopped in the doorway itself and looked back.
"Hey, Pratt, how's it going?" Rick called nonchalantly.
The rest of T...
2025-01-24 14:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post
Chang-li and Min wound their way through the festivities. Min seemed quiet and withdrawn. As they passed people she knew, she gave slight head nods and bare acknowledgments. Her brother's words must have cut her deeper than she was letting on. "Are you all right?" he asked her in a low voice. "Should we go back to the sect house?" 2025-01-23 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post
The fireball grew large, headed straight for his face, filling his vision and scorching his skin. He threw Protection just in time as the burning flames reached him. The bubble popped so quickly he wasn’t sure he had even cast it. The flames scorched across his face and arms, and he felt a scream tear from his lips.
He hamme...
2025-01-22 14:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostA waxing half-moon hung in the evening sky as the Sect of Morning Mist arrived at the Crown ring for the ceremony to mark the beginning of the final phase. The whole sect had turned out in their finery, with new robes provided courtesy of the Oaken Band Brotherhood. Chang-li's were of fine silk, the nicest he'd ever worn, with a vibrant crimson ...
2025-01-21 13:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post"Are we ready to go?" Daniel asked.
Rick shook his head. "Hang on." He studied the area for a couple of minutes before addressing the team. The boss was on a raised platform with the large anvil in its center. The platform filled that whole end of the chamber. From it several deep steps lead down to the main floor. Down the center of that ...
2025-01-20 14:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostNote: one of the global changes I'm adding to previous chapters is that when the next phase starts, the three remaining bridal candidates and their top supporters get personal tutoring from a prism - a boon that Joshi and Chang-li are both eager to win.
Chang-li was just coming down the stairs fro...
2025-01-20 13:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostChang-li waited with Li Jiya, Joshi, and the disciples they had selected to enter the sixth floor with them one last time. They stood in a mass of other cultivators all waiting to be allowed in.
"You are the top five candidates. You will enter with your team in order of your standing in this tournament, with ten minutes between each...
2025-01-18 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe Centi-wing boss’s sinuous body was twice as long as Rick’s own, and its wings were several feet across. The buzz of its wings sounded like a hundred angry mopeds. A swarm of blue sparks flew around it, much larger than the previous; each spark a blue glowing centi-wing the size of a hand.
"New plan, new plan!" Rick shouted. "Stay c...
2025-01-17 14:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostJoshi discarded his robe and pulled off his tunic before stepping into the ring as the crowd applauded. His opponent, a Young Master from the Crimson Orchid sect, slipped inside the rope barrier and bowed to him. Joshi put his hands together and gave a brief head nod. The rival Young Master was taller than he, but skinnier, and their reach looke...
2025-01-16 13:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostTwo enormous, winged insects, both level five, lifted into the air with an angry whine of flapping wings. Smaller bugs, like sparks of light, swirled around them in blue orbits.
The bugs themselves had four wings—two in the front and two more at the back. It gave them the appearance of mating dragonflies, but with far too many legs...
2025-01-15 14:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostThe man who called himself Noren left his junior acolytes training in the upper room. This was a good opportunity for him to satisfy a curiosity that had been building in him for some time. The senior members of the sect were engaged in a competition inside the tower and would not be back for some time, while Min had gone out to pay a call on an...
2025-01-14 13:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post"Oh no!" the Rork exclaimed, though her tone didn’t match her words. She sounded flat, like someone reciting a lesson learned by heart. "This is terrible! Smith Ajaz has returned! He will unleash a scourge upon this world if he is not stopped!"
"Who is Ajaz Rick asked.
The Rork sighed and rolled her eyes. "What more do you need to ...
2025-01-13 14:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostQuick summary of the changes I've made to previous chapters:
Slight modifications to hopefully make Joshi less of a jerk. Tournament rules are clarified and the "points" mentioned earlier are removed. Advancement slightly slowed, with the lesser disciples either not quite at or barely reaching the Peak of Bodily Re...
2025-01-13 13:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostChang-li was in the courtyard sparring with a set of training dummies, practicing a routine of punches and kicks Joshi had taught him. He had no intention of switching from his sword and elemental weave combination. It felt right to him. But the foundation of cultivation was knowledge of self, and that began with one’s own body. In norm...
2025-01-11 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Rick stood, brushing a smoldering piece of tar from the exploded trap off his arm. He cast Soothing Mist on himself, then the rest of the team one by one. "Holy crap, man, how many more like that do you have?"
Daniel's face fell. "That was the best. The others aren't nearly so -- impressive. I spent half of my supplies just on...
2025-01-10 14:00:13 +0000 UTC View Post
“Noren's reputation is solid. The Oaken Band Brotherhood had greased a few palms to help his paperwork look even better.” Min’s grandfather sat behind his desk, drinking tea, looking pleased with himself, as Min stood in front of him, trying to keep her features respectful.
“He is… he isn’t what I expected,” Min ...
2025-01-09 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post"So you could add Theo to your retinue and we could both get out of here?” Nia sounded gleeful. “Heck yeah, sign us up.”
“I don’t know…” Theo said, frowning. "Will I still be able to tell people about this quest when I'm done?" There was an odd note in his voice. Rick suspected he was being influenced by the system.
"Yo...
2025-01-08 14:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostHiroko bowed in the doorway as the Dowager Pearl looked up from her work. "Ah, yes, my dear. How are you?"
"I'm fine," Hiroko said as she entered. “How may I serve your eminence?”
The Dowager gestured at the man seated across from her. "Hiroko, this is Grandmaster Noren of the Morning Mist sect."
Hiroko took in his r...
2025-01-07 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Rick emerged the next morning, Slate and Gambit were seated by the fire discussing questing. There was a pot of something hot brewing, but when Rick tried it, it tasted nothing like coffee. He spat the remains out and dumped the cup into the fire. "What is this crap?"
Slate shrugged. "I have no idea. I've never met anyone that likes i...
2025-01-06 14:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe entire sect assembled in the garden where the newly proclaimed Grandmaster stood waiting. The junior disciples seated themselves cross-legged in three rows of four, with Brother, Stone, Cui, Shou and Yang at the front and the more recently added disciples at the back.
Joshi, Chang-li, and Li Jiya all stood in a line to on...
2025-01-06 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post"It was not your place to make that decision,” Li Jiya fumed. She and Joshi had spent several more hours inside the tower until the competition was over, but had not recovered any more puzzle boxes or succeeded in downing any challenges.
Now Chang-li, Joshi, and Li Jiya were back at the Sect of Morning Mist's headquarters in the t...
2025-01-04 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post