Morning came. Hui still sat in the corner, contemplating the petrified wood and the severed plant leg.
The door opened. “Xie Hao—”
Hui gestured, sending the petrified wood and leg back into his storage ring.
Gu Tian stared. “Was that… the lotus girl’s leg? And…”
Hui stood and gave him a subservient smile, ...
2022-04-16 03:51:22 +0000 UTC View PostBack at the palace, Hui released Gu Tian and slumped against the wall, panting. Scary, scary! He pushed his hair out of his face and glanced back up at the window. No one chased them yet. The night remained dark and quiet.
He breathed out. Thank goodness.
Something trembled in his other hand. Hui uncurled his finger...
2022-04-15 17:30:31 +0000 UTC View PostThe seed twitched. A sprout burst from the seed, rapidly growing into a lotus bud. Hui and the triplets jumped back, startled. After a second, Hui leaned in, curious. A rebirth ability? I could use something like that! If I can cultivate this technique, my playing dead can reach a whole new level!
Though… I might need to ent...
2022-04-14 03:17:24 +0000 UTC View PostGu Tian lifted his flute to his lips. Hui turned back around and pressed his hands against the lotus blossom again. This time, he quietly reached out to the qi inside the blossom, sensing its composition.
Mostly qi, laced with life qi. Ah, oh well. I’ll take it. Any life qi is better than none, and I can always use the qi to advance ...
2022-04-13 23:49:47 +0000 UTC View PostNight fell. Hui meditated, the picture of a studious cultivator. Gu Tian practiced sword forms in the open space of the room, full of energy. At last, a knock sounded from their window.
Hui’s eyes opened. With a gesture, he stored the piece of Mount Mu. Gu Tian sheathed his sword. Their eyes met.
Another knock sounded on the window...
2022-04-12 01:02:28 +0000 UTC View PostHui ran back to the palace. The triplets chased after him, close at his heels. Hui glanced back a few times, but never caught sight of Ding Lao. Did it really shake him that much to see his cousin trapped beneath the tablet?
If he’s that shocked, does that mean… that the ordinary cultivators don’t know about the sect usi...
2022-04-10 20:52:33 +0000 UTC View PostAs he drew harder at the life qi, more rushed to his hand. Now fully healed, his hand glowed with vitality. Life qi poured into his dantian, forming into songbird after songbird. They swirled in the void, fluttering around happily.
Immersed in absorbing life qi, Hui’s eyes went blank. He fell into the stream and descended past the tablet...
2022-04-10 17:22:11 +0000 UTC View PostHopping back up into the trees, Hui surveyed the area. He tapped a finger on his chin, glancing around. Hmm… somewhere there aren’t many people…
Ding Lao isn’t still hanging around, is he? Closing his eyes, Hui circulated his qi to his ears.
“…good job, everyone! What impressive boulders…”
Hui...
2022-04-10 03:55:50 +0000 UTC View Post“Come out!” Erlan ordered.
Instantly, the disciples leaped out of the palace. Gu Tian stood by the window, then looked back at Hui.
Hui climbed out from under the bed and straightened his robes with a decisive snap. Tossing his hair, he strode over to the window and stood beside Gu Tian, back straight, shoulders squared, the pict...
2022-04-09 03:30:22 +0000 UTC View PostHui slashed the petrified wood. Rather than trying to gouge out a huge chunk or cut a piece out, he aimed at the edge, where little of the borderline immortal aura permeated. The death qi weakened the edge of the wood ahead of the blade. Even so, the wood resisted. Green light surged up, only to die back as black invaded it. The death qi cut off...
2022-04-08 01:37:21 +0000 UTC View PostHui dug through the earth, burrowing deep into its depths. He glanced over his shoulder a few times. That Ding Lao, he isn’t following me, is he?
“Everyone, good work! I’m eagerly awaiting your boulders!” Ding Lao shouted.
Dammit, a little further! Hui dug at the wall with renewed desperation, carving his wa...
2022-04-07 01:23:56 +0000 UTC View PostHui ran along. The instant he saw a boulder, he hurtled toward it and smashed it apart. All around him, cracks, snaps, and crumbling sounded as other cultivators did the same, all of them equally desperate to be free of the scourge of Ding Lao.
Ding Lao flitted from one to the next, his eyes gleaming. “What devotion! What determination! ...
2022-04-05 00:51:33 +0000 UTC View PostHui raced on. His body moved automatically while inside, his mind churned. Body… transmute the body, gain incredible strength. Become something else. Something stronger. Something that won’t be obvious if I’m playing dead, even if my snake skin gets torn apart…
Steel is no good. Stone… white jade still looks strange....
2022-04-04 00:29:15 +0000 UTC View PostThe other cultivators sighed, full of the same despair Hui felt. He glanced around at them and felt a sudden burst of camaraderie, something he hadn’t felt in any of his lives; not in his first life, not in Starbound Sect, not in Black Asp Sect. He shook his head, exhausted. We’re all in this together, brothers and sisters. Together, we...
2022-04-02 22:36:24 +0000 UTC View PostHui bounced from tree to tree. In the distance, a massive mountain rose, taller even than the tallest tree. Out of curiosity, he bounded toward it. Fewer cultivators appeared around him, until he once more ran alone.
Hui glanced around him. Another restricted zone? I wonder what I’ll find here!
Ahead, an opening gaped in t...
2022-04-02 15:15:22 +0000 UTC View PostHui looked down at his hands and at the black robes he wore. He hesitated, then stripped off the ghoul skin. If the triplets and Huang Yan think I’m dead… I should act dead. At least for now. I don’t want anyone to get suspicious of this small cultivator!
Instead… He closed his eyes and focused, circulating the sn...
2022-04-02 02:23:56 +0000 UTC View PostHis fingertips brushed the cool, smooth roots. The second they made contact, a strange energy surged through the roots, rushing toward him. Hui yanked his hand back, but found it stuck to the lotus root, unable to let go. Life and death qi surged under his fingertips, barely out of his reach. His own life and death qi surged, drawn toward the lo...
2022-04-01 02:03:59 +0000 UTC View PostThey bounded from tree to tree. A few times, green-robed cultivators called out to the triplets, who answered back in sync, though they rarely agreed on what to say. Hui followed after them. As much as he could, he repressed the aura of his death qi. Though some leaked out, none of the Mysterious Heavenly Forest disciples stopped them. He glance...
2022-03-31 02:18:10 +0000 UTC View PostHui stepped out onto the branch and looked around. He heaved in a deep breath. Qi flowed into him. Unlike Starbound Sect, where the qi smelled pure and clean, or Black Asp Sect, where it smelled of blood, here the qi carried a scent of pine and leaf mold, sap and woodsmoke. He closed his eyes, circulating the qi. It feels a little diff...
2022-03-29 00:46:29 +0000 UTC View PostSumptuous furniture filled the room, all of it carved from wood. Hui nudged one of the chairs and took a seat, then stood, nodding vaguely. It’s… good furniture, I guess.
Gu Tian hesitated. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at Hui, biting his lip. “Er… Xie Hao, there’s only one bed.”
“You can have it. I...
2022-03-27 23:43:55 +0000 UTC View PostA huge forest rose up before them. Over a hundred trees stood close together, all clustered in close together. The smallest of the trees stretched easily a hundred meters around, while the largest reached over a thousand meters around. They soared into the sky, towering so far above that their verdant canopies blotted out the sun and blocked the...
2022-03-27 20:39:45 +0000 UTC View PostAt the bottom of the vertebra, a small group of cultivators stood around. Among them, Hui recognized the girl with the stiff face from the inheritance zone, Liu Baozhai. Most of the others were seniors he didn’t recognize, in black robes with dark red hems. At the sight of Hui and Gu Tian, they turned away. One or two let out derisive snorts.<...
2022-03-26 23:38:46 +0000 UTC View PostBack in his vertebra, Hui paused. In the distance, a few disciples flew off on their swords, racing away at top speed. He closed his eyes and focused his qi, listening in.
“…broke the barrier! He’s getting away!”
“Who is it in his arms? Jing Aimei?”
“Don’t be stupid. Jing Aimei doesn’t have purple hair!”
... 2022-03-26 16:24:39 +0000 UTC View PostAs he rode, Gale tipped back another potion. A refreshing feeling surged through him, and he let out a sigh.
HP: 139/175
Mana: 139/175
Damn, Blood Mage really takes its toll on HP. Gale considered another potion, then shoved it back into his bandolier. Potions restore about fifty H...
2022-03-26 00:57:06 +0000 UTC View PostA liquid sloshed as Jin Xian climbed out of the coffin behind him. She walked over and stood quietly at Hui’s shoulder. Hui glanced at her, then nodded, welcoming her back.
Fa Chuyou put a hand to her chest. Her eyes burned with an honest, if hungry, light. “Don’t worry, Xie Hao. I understand. I won’t get between you and your belov...
2022-03-25 01:11:14 +0000 UTC View PostHui stared down at the two interlopers, neither of whom showed any self-awareness, but who instead shamelessly stared back, openly stealing his qi. He sighed out and shook his head, giving up. It’s fine. Jin Xian isn’t absorbing much, nor is Fatty. I can still cultivate the ghoul skin despite their presence.
“I can’t find ...
2022-03-23 20:22:36 +0000 UTC View PostA blast of power rushed through Jin Xian. Hui was forcibly expelled, and his vision blackened. Hui jolted out of his meditation and almost simultaneously spat a mouthful of blood. He jumped up and ran for the entrance to his vertebra, then hesitated. Dammit! Fa Chuyou has my ghoul skin. If I leave, I…
Wait. Yunxu knows who I...
2022-03-23 03:22:41 +0000 UTC View PostNodding, Bai Xue took off. As the other disciples left, Hui stood on his tiptoes, craning his neck. He caught sight of Fa Chuyou and rushed to her side, grabbing her sleeve seconds before she mounted her sword to fly off. “Elder Sister!”
She shook him off her sleeve and tossed her hair, reaching for her sword again. “Hmph. Talk to th...
2022-03-22 02:42:53 +0000 UTC View PostExhausted, Gale thumped down on the porch. The jacket he’d taken from the slavers drifted on the wind beside him, quilted cotton flying like a flag. He fell backward, splaying himself over the wood. “I’m… dead…”
Kino dropped down beside him, equally boneless. “So… tired…”
“What are you boys giving up for? It’s...
2022-03-22 00:37:20 +0000 UTC View PostHui’s vision faded as he flew up. The last thing he saw was the snake ancestor, settling back down in her throne. His vision went black.
White. Blinding white.
Hui threw his hands out and barely saved his face before he slammed into the skeleton. He bounced and spun, rolling away down the top of the snake’s skull. After a few bou...
2022-03-21 03:34:13 +0000 UTC View Post