G. Tolley

Miscellaneous: Eight Flower Kingdom (Spoilers)

Potential spoilers below, you have been warned.

I have put in way too much effort designing the background for the Eight Flower Kingdom, and most of it is almost certainly not going to make the cut to be in the story.

My main reason for doing this was so that I had a solid platform to work from when developing the events that will unfold here. However, I don't want to just let this ...

Chapter 76 – Life 61, Age 24, Martial Grandmaster Peak

Hundred Flower City, the capital of the Eight Flower Kingdom, was one of the most meticulously designed cities I had visited.

The center of the city was a lone mountain that towered above the surrounding countryside. An octagonal inner wall encircled the mountain, protecting and separating the Kingdom’s rulers. The palace complex was built on the peak of the mountain, and various admini...

Chapter 75 – Life 61, Age 21, Martial Master Peak

I passed the job of planning our route to Mei. I told her of my desire to reach the Brilliant Sun Empire and the plan to use Eight Flower as a break-in point, but she was free to lead us elsewhere based on the guidance from her blessing.

We requisitioned a carriage through the Pavilion for the first leg of our journey. I wasn’t sure about giving potential spies information about my trav...

Chapter 74 – Life 61, Age 19, Martial Disciple Peak

I woke up in my room in the Blue Wind Pavilion.

My frantic state of mind competed against the lack of adrenaline in my system, leaving my body in a confused state. My mind wanted to get up and run, but my body was relaxed. Taking several deep breaths, I calmed down and assessed my situation.

Who had killed me?

An assassin, obviously, but I didn’t care about him. The person h...

Chapter 73 – Life 60, Age 35, Martial Grandmaster Peak

WuJing slid a stack of papers across his desk.

“This is the contract to transfer the city of Peaceful Ridge into your name. After you sign, you will be the officially recognized city lord of Peaceful Ridge with all the rights and responsibilities that come with it.”

I took a pen and signed, and then WuJing flipped to the next page.

“This cedes your control of the city to...

Chapter 72 – Life 60, Age 29, Martial Grandmaster 1

The day after SuYin departed, I went to WuJing’s office. He needed to get the position as Eight Flower branch manager, and I needed to lock down a position as city lord.

“What do I need to do?” I asked after I sat down across from him at his desk. “Besides just making countless pills, is there anything else I can do to secure a spot as a lord?”

“Not really,” he said wi...

Chapter 71 – Life 60, Age 29, Martial Grandmaster 1

We spent a week enjoying the festival, eating and drinking around town while watching the martial arts tournaments and other entertainments, but eventually, our short vacation came to an end.

Mei, SuYin, and I arrived at the arena early on the day of the exhibition for non-fighter Grandmasters. We wanted to see what the competition would be like and get a feel for how likely it was for Su...

Chapter 70 – Life 60, Age 29, Martial Grandmaster 1

The Dragon Gate. When a carp is strong enough and swims against the current with all its might, it has a chance to climb a waterfall and jump over the Dragon Gate. If it achieves this legendary feat, it will transform into a true dragon.

In the Wastes, everyone, cultivator and mortal alike, was nothing more than a lowly carp. Cultivators would fight with all their might to swim against th...

Chapter 69 – Life 60, Age 28, Martial Master Peak

After resolving the issue with Manager Liu, my time in Dragon Gate City became much more relaxed. Zhong had disappeared, so neither SuYin nor I had any more problems with him or Gao.

With threats to my life eliminated, I had the ability to freely explore the city and surrounding areas, but after a few small excursions, I didn’t have the desire. There were no forgotten ruins or mystical ...

Chapter 68 – Life 60, Age 20, Martial Master 3

“Fang!”

Mei burst into my workshop and interrupted me in the middle of making a pill. I lost my concentration, and the pill collapsed, wasting a set of Rank 3 pill ingredients.

“You need to get downstairs, now!”

I didn’t wait for her to explain. If she was going to, she would have already done it. When I arrived at the landing for the second floor, I heard loud shout...

Help Request: New Alchemy Pills

Hello everyone,

First, thanks for joining my Patreon. I really appreciate the support.

So, from comments yesterday on RR and things that have been said in the past, I'm beginning to feel that my creativity with alchemy pills is somewhat limited. I can think of plenty of ways for an alchemist to support a run-of-the-mill adventurer, but I have a harder time thinking of ways he could ...

Chapter 67 – Life 60, Age 20, Martial Master 3

My new cultivation technique and knowledge guided me on where to place my meridians. I believed if I followed that information precisely, I would be able to rush through the Martial Master levels without any worries about mental deviations. However, I didn’t. I took my time. I was still exploring the limits of this new technique.

After several months of examining the interactions betwee...

Chapter 66 – Life 60, Age 19, Martial Disciple Peak

The following year was quite peaceful.

Every other month, I advanced my cultivation, and I spent the intervening time studying any small changes to my body. The enhanced technique provided by the Dao was far more powerful than I could have hoped, and as long as I cultivated correctly, there was zero impact on the qi flows in my body at each step of cultivation. Using that as my guide, I w...

Chapter 65 – Life 60, Age 17, Martial Disciple 3

I didn’t see Mei or SuYin at all the next week. They gave me the time I needed to digest my decision. The more I thought about it, the more I felt like it had been rash, but I wasn’t willing to go back and undo it. I would let it play out and see what happened.

During this time, I began spending time studying the Martial Masters that visited the Pavilion. Whenever I had free time, I w...

Chapter 64 – Life 60, Age 17, Martial Disciple 3

After handing over all the pills to a beaming WuJing, I went to find SuYin.

“Hey!” I said when I saw her on the shop floor. “Can you help me out? I want to study some techniques.”

“Just go up to the library,” she said, her face showing confusion at my request.

“The what?” While I had lived in the Pavilion for well over a year, almost all that time was spent foc...

Chapter 63 – Life 60, Age 16, Martial Disciple 2

After dealing with Gougou, I focused inward and spent the next three months in near seclusion. While I did walk around the Pavilion a bit to talk with Mei, SuYin, YuLin, and others, my focus was on cultivation.

My original plan had been to spend three or four months at each level, slowly comprehend the dual-element technique, and then advance to the next. However, every day I became more ...

Chapter 62 – Life 60, Age 16, Martial Disciple 2

Why was I so blasé about my bet with Gougou? Even if I could make Perfect Rank 1 pills relatively easily, making a dozen in a single night as only a Martial Disciple 2 would be challenging, wouldn’t it? Normally, maybe, but I had a secret ace. Spirit Fire Seed Mastery.

After purchasing mastery over the Cold Mountain Fire, I gained insights and ideas I hadn’t even imagined before. One...

Chapter 61 – Life 60, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

As I was preparing to return to my apartment, a voice echoed through the room.

“SuYin, there you are.”

I turned to see two people entering from the stairwell. In the lead was a middle-aged-looking man with a young man around my age following behind. Both were wearing dark yellow hanfus. The younger man’s was plain and unadorned, but the older man’s was embroidered with brigh...

Chapter 60 – Life 60, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

Mei led me back down to the third level of the pagoda.

“This is where you’ll be staying,” she said. “Third level is for all the scrubs. If you can contribute enough, you’ll get bumped up to the fourth.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“No worries. Take some time to relax. We have to get back to work, but if you need anything, SuYin or any of the other attendants can show y...

Chapter 59 – Life 60, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

“Welcome, come on in!” said WuJing in a happy voice as Mei and I entered his office.

He walked up to me and held out his hand for a firm handshake. “I’m Chen WuJing, floor manager of this branch of the Blue Wind Pavilion. I’m glad you came to visit.”

“Thank you,” I said, returning his handshake. “My name is Su Fang.”

WuJing led me to the armchairs at the si...

Chapter 58 – Life 60, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

I appeared in the poor district of Dragon Gate City and began to make my way towards the Blue Wind Pavilion.

How did I want to approach this? Mei should be at the front door of the Pavilion, and it shouldn’t be too much of a problem to simply recreate my first visit, but was that what I wanted? Did it matter? Mei and WuJing both had powerful social blessings, so nothing I did would have...

Chapter 57 – Life 59, 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.

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After I died in the attack on the Twin Mountains Sect, I wo...