Over the years, Jiaguo had developed a number of satellite villages—the first tentative steps into expansion from a city-state capital of the empire to a true nation of its own. The first of them was Urayama, a farming village that had emigrated from Yamato soon after Jiaguo was founded. It was led and protected by the Lady Tennin, who Jia and...
2024-05-27 19:43:21 +0000 UTC View PostIt was always a little strange, returning to Goryeo. Eui and Jia had both grown up there, but neither of them felt any real attachment to it. Eui in particular always felt unwelcome. Even after she’d removed the brand that once marked her as an exile, she felt self-conscious of every stray glance. And being a powerful cultivator in the company...
2024-05-24 19:17:16 +0000 UTC View PostJiaguo’s controversial demonic rehabilitation center was, in essence, a prison. Starting life as an innocuous medical pavilion for academy students to treat any injuries or illnesses they incurred in the course of their cultivation, it had undergone extensive modifications since being reclaimed from the demonic invaders.
When the Demon S...
2024-05-22 19:31:12 +0000 UTC View PostAn Eui, Seong Misun, and Seong Eunae were gathered just outside of Jiaguo’s gates as they prepared to depart for Goryeo. Misun had her arms crossed, tapping her finger impatiently on her upper arm.
“Where in the ancestors’ names is that girl?! It’s not like Haeun to be late.”
Eui rolled her eyes.
“She’s busy sayin...
2024-05-20 20:07:58 +0000 UTC View PostJia had a pretty rocky history with Zheng Long. They had met as enemies, and he was directly responsible for the first time she experienced the pain of bodily death. For cultivators, death of the body was still a mortal wound, but if the soul could be saved, there was always hope. Yoshika had experienced more such ‘deaths’ than she cared to ...
2024-05-17 19:21:48 +0000 UTC View PostSeong Misun’s revelation was quite the bombshell, but ten years was both a triflingly short time for immortals, and also a long enough time that it was difficult to feel pressured by it. Nevertheless, it did manage to sober the room somewhat, and Yan Yue took advantage of the opening created by that.
“It’s heartening to know that our...
2024-05-15 20:31:42 +0000 UTC View PostJa Yun paced back and forth around the house, wringing her tail nervously.
“Do you really have to go?”
Eunae sighed and smiled softly, stepping forward to gently cup Yun’s cheek.
“Of course I do. Unlike you, I am not a citizen of Jiaguo, and I still have a duty to my queen. Now stop fretting, I’m sure I’ll be back b...
2024-05-13 19:11:57 +0000 UTC View Post
Some more pinups from CJ. This time it's Lee Jung, Sun Jaehwa, Lin Xiulan, and Ienaga Yumi. I doubled it up this month because I totally forgot to post in April. As always, the spicier versions are available for Demon+ tiers in Discord.
The new cover is shaping up nicely,...
2024-05-10 19:52:00 +0000 UTC View PostThe princesses did not expect Yue to respond right away, allowing themselves to be ushered into the embassy while the girls greeted their other guests. Yoshika gave her friend a concerned glance.
“Are you alright?”
Yue sighed and nodded.
“I’m fine—Lin Xiulan warned me this might happen. I didn’t expect the princesse...
2024-05-10 19:51:39 +0000 UTC View PostUnlike the approaching Qin delegation, Seong Misun did not signal her arrival in any way. She simply arrived one day, carried by her wind walking spell, and expected to be greeted appropriately. Yoshika knew the princess’ idiosyncrasies well, and had prepared for just that.
A group of Goryeon mages who’d been studying in the academy th...
2024-05-08 18:26:15 +0000 UTC View PostAs expected, Yan Yue’s ascension had set things into motion all over the continent. Xiantian ascensions were rare, and the fact that Jiaguo boasted two in such a relatively short period of time didn’t go unnoticed. Seong Misun answered her sister’s letter with a curt demand to speak through the reflecting pool, insisting that only Haeun an...
2024-05-06 19:27:38 +0000 UTC View PostHyeong Daesung—or just Dae, to his friends—was poring over his personal notes while he worked on the next revision to his main project. His jobs as the headmaster of Jiaguo’s academy and the nation’s chief magical researcher kept him quite busy, but he was happy with both roles. As happy as he’d ever been, really—he was safe among fr...
2024-05-03 18:55:14 +0000 UTC View PostNobody but her mother knew just how important Heian was to Jiaguo. The ancient grand formation that ran through Yoshika’s soulscape was one of a kind and impossible to replicate, and it required constant maintenance. The soulscape would exist without it—that was part of Yoshika now, and always would be—but it had many crucial functions wit...
2024-05-01 17:01:44 +0000 UTC View PostPrincess Seong Eunae was nearly as busy as Yoshika most of the time, but without the advantage of multiple bodies with which to attend her appointments. As Goryeo’s ambassador to Jiaguo, she was in charge of the academic exchange programs, and as those programs increased in popularity, her job grew as well.
Still, despite their busy sche...
2024-04-29 20:03:56 +0000 UTC View PostAlmost five years after Jiaguo had transformed from a tiny city state into a burgeoning new empire, Yoshika still couldn’t get used to just how much work it was to run an empire. Yan Yue and Ashikaga Sae were excellent leaders, but no matter how much she delegated to them there was always something major that demanded her attenti...
2024-04-26 17:51:43 +0000 UTC View PostYan Yue collapsed onto the plush couch in her sitting room and let out an exhausted sigh. Tired though she was, she still had a lot of work to do. Not as High Arbiter—Yoshika had volunteered to relieve her while she recovered, and while that would inevitably mean cleaning up after whatever mess they left behind, the reprieve was worth it. No, ...
2024-04-24 18:51:38 +0000 UTC View PostThe peak of Mount Geumji was still and silent, save for the ominous roiling of the dark clouds high above. Even in the middle of summer, the air so high up was deathly cold to mortals, but barely an inconvenience for the small group gathering together at the top of Jiaguo’s infamous mountain.
Even before the Sovereign’s Tear, an artifa...
2024-04-22 17:26:15 +0000 UTC View PostHey there everybody! Now that book 7 is finished here on patreon, I'm going to take a break from posting for a week while I get some editing done to prepare for book 6's amazon release in a couple months, and to let the backlog fill back up a bit. I'll be back on the 22nd! Thank you for all your love and support as always!
2024-04-12 18:37:29 +0000 UTC View PostDeep in the wilderness of the imperial countryside, within an isolated cave far away from the endless politics of the great sects, Zheng Long sat in quiet meditation. He wasn’t high on any great mountains, nor was he located in a place of power. He doubted that any such places were left undiscovered within the empire. He’d chosen the place <...
2024-04-12 18:33:40 +0000 UTC View Post“Hmm, let’s see...if I invert this portion of the spell matrix, then add another formation here to balance the...no. That won’t work either, hmm...”
A complex map of interleaved spell formations twisted in the air above Do Hye as he puzzled over it, tweaking and adjusting things as he went. Parts of the formation shifted in and out...
2024-04-10 17:10:58 +0000 UTC View PostQin Zhao slowly sipped his tea as he sat alone in a room large enough to comfortably accommodate an entire army. It had been centuries since the last time he’d visited the imperial palace, and it was still as senselessly ostentatious as he remembered.
To even call it a palace was almost a joke. It was the largest city in the empire, and ...
2024-04-08 18:35:31 +0000 UTC View PostYoshika missed being in multiple places at once. There were so many things demanding her attention, and while concentrating her power had been invaluable when it came to challenging Yu Meiren, she was struggling to prioritize her endless list of obligations.
Before any of that, however, she had an apology to make. Li Meili stood anxiously ...
2024-04-05 20:33:47 +0000 UTC View PostStarting an empire was the last thing Yoshika had ever planned on doing. While it was true that she technically intended to take over the world, she’d never intended to do so as a ruler. In hindsight, it should have been telling that gods presiding over entire worlds were called Sovereigns. Perhaps the outcome was in...
2024-04-03 19:26:38 +0000 UTC View PostAfter taking a moment to compose herself, Kaede began making her way to the castle courtyard. Her father was dead, and the war was over, but the real work had only just started.
“Jianmo, what happened while we were gone?”
The sword spirit’s androgynous human form manifested next to her, floating along beside her carelessly.
... 2024-04-01 19:23:13 +0000 UTC View PostWith Yu Meiren’s death, Shogun Hayakawa had lost his last meaningful asset. The war was effectively over. Jiaguo and its allies advanced unopposed toward the capital, and more of Hayakawa’s vassals surrendered every day.
Yoshika was worried about the people of the capital. Jianmo and Murayoshi were still in Hayakawa Takeo’s custody, ...
2024-03-29 19:44:45 +0000 UTC View PostYoshika and Yuuko watched with bemusement as Morita made his pitch to an utterly baffled Yang Qiu.
“It’s not as strange as you might think! Are you familiar with the Lady Tennin in the north?”
Yang Qiu pursed her lips.
“Yeah, she’s a—I know her.”
“Ah! Well that makes things simpler. I’m proposing a simil...
2024-03-27 19:03:20 +0000 UTC View PostIn the aftermath of Yu Meiren’s defeat, there was a lot of damage to be undone. Though there were no casualties among the civilians, Meiren’s careless disregard for collateral damage had left the surrounding lands ravaged by toxins spreading through the wilderness, Qin Zhao’s sudden departure left Jiaguo’s army without one of its best ge...
2024-03-25 20:32:20 +0000 UTC View PostAlthough Yang Qiu and the others had done well to limit the damage, the frenzied demons had still disrupted the peace in the Kasuga refugee camp. Between the demons being suppressed by their own allies and the uncertainty it had caused among the civilians, Yu Meiren had created an almost perfect stage on which to confront Yoshika.
It wasn...
2024-03-22 17:46:26 +0000 UTC View PostWith Lady Ashikaga’s help, most of the remaining lords weren’t too difficult to convince. Thanks to Lord Noguchi and Jin Hu’s efforts, the generals already had their doubts, and Kaede’s message—bolstered by Kasuga as a witness and Ashikaga’s support—was enough to confirm those doubts.
The onmyouji were more difficult to deal ...
2024-03-20 18:51:13 +0000 UTC View PostBefore she could move on to the other lords, there was one other thing Kaede needed to take care of. There were relatively few mortals in Ashikaga’s camp, and only one hiding a small arsenal of shikigami in their robes.
The priest was in the middle of surreptitiously slipping out to an empty corner of the camp when Kaede appeared in fron...
2024-03-18 17:29:51 +0000 UTC View Post