G. Tolley

Chapter 135 – Life 66, Age 20, Martial Master 1

Once I was done absorbing all of the essence in the cavern, I turned my attention to the glowing formation that had appeared when I had finished off the golem.

I tried to study it and work out its secrets, but even with energy vision, it was like I could only half see it. The lines that formed it were disconnected, and so much was missing that what remained didn’t make any sense.

...

Chapter 134 – Life 66, Age 20, Martial Master 1

We stepped out onto a solid stone platform. Immediately a middle-aged-looking man approached us.

“Academy students?”

“Ye… Yes,” I said, slightly disoriented from the change in scenery.

We had moved from the middle of a bustling city to the outskirts of a small village surrounded by craggy, rocky hills. Instead of the city’s wide array of eclectic buildings, the vil...

Chapter 133 – Life 66, Age 20, Martial Master 1

The day after everyone finished advancing to Martial Master, Instructor Yuan had us gather in the classroom bright and early.

“At the beginning of the year, you were all given various assignments for raising your affinities.” Instructor Yuan walked back and forth at the front of the classroom as she explained. “While most of you no doubt have access to outside resources to help you ...

Chapter 132 – Life 66, Age 20, Martial Disciple Peak

Our class went to apply for Master-level courses together and were greeted by the same woman who initially tested me for entry into the Academy.

“As your entire class has reached Peak Master, the school will permit you to continue to take courses for elite students.” I could hear a hint of sarcasm in her voice, but she tried not to let it show. “However, while it is permitted, to be...

Chapter 131 – Life 66, Age 20, Martial Disciple Peak

I reappeared in my dormitory. The moments leading up to my death had been hectic, so I sat down and took some time to process them.

The Ning Clan had contacted Emperor Li and told him about our arrangement. Whether that contact had been made out of suspicion or gratitude, it had resulted in the Emperor showing up in front of me in a rather foul mood. His appearance was something I should�...

Chapter 130 – Life 65, Age 24, Martial Lord 1

After completing the initial phase of my deal  with the Ning Clan, I no longer had to worry about meeting any hard deadlines. I only had two more years before my self-imposed ten-year limit, but I wouldn’t let an arbitrary goal dictate my actions overly much. I would reap the harvest I had sown.

But before pushing myself further, I needed a short break. I had spent four years deep ...

Chapter 129 – Life 65, Age 24, Martial Grandmaster Peak

I woke up in my apartment and groggily shook my head.

What had happened to me?

I thought back to the last moment I could remember. I had been improving my affinities, and there was a sudden pain in my soul…

Doing a quick examination of my soul, I didn’t notice anything different. It was healed slightly more than the last time I had looked at it closely, but that was the on...

Chapter 128 – Life 65, Age 20, Martial Disciple Peak

With my deal in place with Grandmaster Ning, I said a quick goodbye to my classmates, returned the scrolls to the library, and skipped out on my last two weeks of classes. This behavior might have raised some red flags for someone in the Academy, but when I returned, I was going to have to live these two weeks over again, and I didn’t want this life to taint what would happen next time.

Chapter 127 – Life 65, Age 20, Martial Disciple Peak

Zhuge Yan and the others had gone to the library, so I waited in my dormitory for a few hours thinking through plans for the remainder of this life. When I was confident that he had returned, I left to visit him.

Shortly after I knocked on his door, he opened it up and invited me inside. 

He looked concerned when he saw me. “Fang, what’s going on? Is there a problem?

...

Chapter 126 – Life 65, Age 20, Martial Disciple Peak

Two weeks before the end of our Disciple training program, our class had its final martial competition. In the class we were facing, everyone had a martial blessing that formed some type of external incarnation, a beast made out of pure elemental energy that would fight alongside them. 

Neither Zhuge Yan nor Lin LiTing had blessings to help them, nor did their professions grant them ...

Chapter 125 – Life 65, Age 17, Martial Disciple Peak

We gathered in our classroom the day after the competition, and Instructor Sun greeted us with a stony expression.

“You won, but don’t let it go to your head. That was one of the weakest classes. None of them had combat blessings, and a couple of you still barely survived. In the future, don’t expect things to be so easy.”

He reached into the storage bag and threw a pill and...

Chapter 124 – Life 65, Age 16, Martial Disciple 3

In the evening, I returned to our group’s primary classroom for Instructor Sun’s cultivation training.

The instructor spaced the five of us out around the room so that he could watch us all at the same time while giving us enough separation so that we didn’t interfere with each other.

“You already have the cultivation techniques you will use for this portion of your training...

Chapter 123 – Life 65, Age 16, Martial Disciple 3

At the beginning of the next week, I was pulled into a private training room by Master Tan.

“You technically have a choice of which profession you wish to pursue. However, as you’ve already shown that you wish to become a formation specialist, we will skip some of the formalities.”

When did I do that? Wait, were we not starting with combat today? I was surprised, but spending ...

Chapter 122 – Life 65, Age 16, Martial Disciple 2

After class, our group headed to the dining hall as usual.

Everyone was in low spirits from their lack of progress. While I had made significant strides in shifting my qi on command, they were all still struggling to form a basic defense.

To me, the problem was clear. The method Instructor Sun was using to guide them to using their qi internally was far from optimal. I had to assume...

Chapter 121 – Life 65, Age 16, Martial Disciple Peak

Note:

Martial Grandmaster Tier is up on Patreon for anyone interested. It is $10. Right now, it is only 5 extra chapters ahead of Martial Master, but with the promise that I will publish an extra chapter every Saturday and Sunday until it is a total of 25 chapters ahead of Royal Road. Yes, I know it isn't the best deal, but it's the deal I was able to offer at th...

Chapter 120 – Life 65, Age 16, Martial Disciple Peak

When I returned to the classroom, I was surprised to see the other students still cultivating. Examining them in qi vision, I saw that one boy and one girl were struggling to continue cultivating as Martial Disciple 4s, one girl was stuck at Martial Disciple 3, and the last boy was having trouble concentrating at only Martial Disciple 2.

I looked to Instructor Sun to see what I was suppos...

Chapter 119 – Life 65, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

I blinked my eyes as I woke up in the Blue Wind Pavilion’s carriage. It took me several moments to adjust to my new surroundings, but as soon as I got my bearings, I remembered what I needed to do.

“System, set a temporary reset point to bring me back to this point in time when I die.”

Confirmed. Cost 60 credits. 93,485,565 credits remaining.

Sm...

Chapter 118 – Life 64, Age 21, Martial Grandmaster 1

After spending two months trying to learn fighting at the River’s Tributary, I walked away feeling as if there was a deep chasm between where I was and where I needed to be.

It wasn’t like I had never tried to fight before, and it wasn’t like I hadn’t watched people fight before either. I had just never been able to put the pieces together in my mind to understand how to fight as ...

Chapter 117 – Life 64, Age 20, Martial Grandmaster 1

When I exited seclusion, there were only eight months until the next Entrance Exam for the Nine Rivers Sect. As a Martial Grandmaster 1, I met the minimum requirements to compete for a position, but I didn’t know my odds of being selected.

Previously, I had only asked simple questions to understand the basic requirements for entering the sect, but I didn’t have any real information ab...

Chapter 116 – Life 64, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

The next morning, I woke up refreshed and ready to go. I was about to start cultivating, but I suddenly stopped myself. Before I began cultivating, I needed to gather information.

Unsure of where else to go, I headed back to the Blue Wind Pavilion. I hoped to have the same attendant as last time, but a different girl approached me.

“How may I help you today, sir?”

“Hello...

Chapter 115 – Life 64, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

With the Pavilion’s fastest carriage, the trip to the Nine Rivers Sect was only supposed to take a month and a half. I didn’t want to cultivate during that time because it would interfere with plans I had for the near future. Still, there were two things I could do during the trip so that I didn’t waste any time.

The first was studying my Earth-Rank cultivation technique. I had look...

Chapter 114 – Life 64, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

Author's Note: I generally do not update the version of the story that is released to Patreon. If you want the best reading experience, check out the versions on Amazon and Royal Road. Below is the story as it was originally written.

==========================================

==========================================

When I woke up, I smiled my most honest smile in centuries....

Volume 3 Spoiler

Hiding information below the fold for anyone who doesn't want to see.

------------------

------------------

------------------

------------------

------------------

This is only a working cover and working title. Both are subject to change. Instead of investing in an...

Chapter 113 – Life 63, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

Note: Double chapter day. Make sure you read 112 first.

Reposted to fix order on Patreon. Sorry.

------------------------------------------

I woke up in my small shack in the Su Clan.

I took a deep breath and examined my soul.

It wasn’t completely healed from my past trauma, but it was on the mend. There were still frayed edges, but it no longer looked like the s...

Chapter 112 – Life 62, Age 143, Martial Master 1

Author's note: This is a double chapter day, so there will be no chapter Friday.

-------------------------------------

During the carriage ride, I considered what was about to happen. No matter what the fallout was, my death was almost guaranteed. I had to prepare for what might happen. I emptied my storage space of almost everything. All I kept was a small jade bottle with two pill...

Chapter 111 – Life 62, Age 92, Martial Master 1

As a reward for his performance in the Trial, the prince had been awarded the position of Lord of Red Sword City. Moving his entire new retinue to the city took several weeks, and when it was finished, I was exhausted, but I didn’t have any time to rest. As soon as everything was settled, the prince called his council to determine how to proceed.

“As I am only a Martial Grandmaster 1,...

Chapter 110 – Life 62, Age 83, Martial Master 1

The following year, I held the prince back from advancing to Martial Master. He wasn’t happy about the delay, but there was no meaningful difference between advancing at 19 and advancing at 20. He needed to take that time to cultivate his soul.

I didn’t have any knowledge of soul cultivation, and I wasn’t willing to attempt practicing it myself, so all I could do was provide the pri...

Chapter 109 – Life 62, Age 80, Martial Master 1

I worked with Prince CaoHan every day to try and increase his cultivation as swiftly and perfectly as possible, but there were limits which were hard to surpass.

While I stabilized his qi filter aws he cultivated, alleviating him of that burden, the prince still found it difficult to draw in significant quantities of qi. This was due to lacking experience, lacking affinities, and the fact...

Chapter 108 – Life 62, Age 79, Martial Disciple Peak

A soldier took me to a small cultivation room on the edge of the palace complex.

“Swallow this,” he ordered once I was seated in the room.

He handed me a pill that I didn’t recognize. I held it in my hands, examining it for a couple seconds, but the soldier’s demeanor suggested that he wanted me to take it without delay. I didn’t know the exact effects of the pill, but I c...

Chapter 107 – Life 62, Age 16, Martial Disciple 3

Without pills, I wasn’t sure how fast I could cultivate, but with my grasp of cultivation techniques, I was sure I could do it far faster than would be normal for someone in my position. I just needed to decide what speed to display for the palace observers who were no doubt watching us. Being either too fast or too slow could prove fatal.

This was difficult because I didn’t know what...