G. Tolley

August Schedule Change

Hello everyone,

As you know, I've been struggling to keep up with posting five new chapters a week, and I'm now down 4. While I am trying to do better, the problem is just that I have found book 6 far more difficult to write than those that came before it. These days, each chapter is taking me between 8 and 12 hours.

I've tried to push myself to do better, but for now, I think I jus...

Chapter 391 – Life 109, Age 21, Martial Grandmaster 1

Author's note: I've been implementing a change to chapters as they go live on RR. I changed maximum possible pill efficacy to 200%, with everything created being shifted to between 50% to ~160%.

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When I first met the Pill King who was in charge of the opening round of the competition to enter the Temple of the Herb Saint, he looked at me with an expression of c...

Chapter 390 – Life 109, Age 21, Martial Grandmaster 1

The recipe that Emperor Chan had given me used ten different herbs to create a six-patterned Rank 3 Saber Aura Pill.

Its core was a pair of entwined herbs that contained saber energy. These two herbs were each empowered and altered by different metal-based herbs, and the two metal-based herbs were, in turn, empowered by earth-based herbs. These six herbs formed the heart of the pill and r...

Chapter 389 – Life 109, Age 21, Martial Disciple 1

Thanks to the customers who had frequented my teahouse, I had been able to gain a relatively solid understanding of the area surrounding the Yellow Flower Borough. Most of what I heard was just gossip, but this had been enough for me to draw a decent map of where each borough was, know which boroughs were dangerous, and chart a safe route from Yellow Flower back to the Palace Borough.

In ...

Chapter 388 – Life 109, Age 20, Martial Disciple 1

Once the fighting was over, the villagers were faced with the need to set up a new, functional society on the remnants of what Mandakh had left behind.

Several important questions needed answers. What should they do with the enemy soldiers who had surrendered? How should they handle the green-robed farmers who had stayed out of the fighting? What should their new government look like?

Chapter 387 – Life 109, Age 20, Martial Disciple 1

Over the course of five short lives, I refined my idea for ‘medicinal baths’ to the point where the results were… tolerable. Sinking into these baths still caused severe pain, and hardly any of the medicinal energy actually went toward strengthening a person’s body. However, they worked, and they could be ‘brewed’ with cheap, locally sourced ingredients. Aside from a tub of hot wate...

Chapter 386 – Life 104, Age 19, Martial Disciple 1

I extracted my five chosen recruits from my inner world and lined them up on the cold floor of the underground cavern. There were two young men and three young women. These weren’t the most powerful youths in the village. These were the ones with the greatest hatred toward the black-robed soldiers.

Once everyone was in place, I slammed my hands together, creating a booming clap that cau...

Chapter 385 – Life 104, Age 19, Martial Disciple 1

Shortly after entering Lord Mandakh’s territory, I passed an invisible line, and the rows of broken, abandoned houses were suddenly replaced by an expansive field of wheat, with stalks so tall they blocked my view of the surrounding landscape. This sight was almost enough to make me believe that I had somehow been teleported out of the city and into the countryside.

Passing through this...

Chapter 384 – Life 104, Age 19, Martial Disciple 1

As the light of morning pierced through the rubble of destroyed buildings, I awoke to find the area around me entirely undisturbed. Standing up and dusting myself off, I started to wonder if I had been too paranoid.

Emperor Chan had emphasized the dangers of this city, saying that I would need to rely on my moon spade to keep me safe, but he had also stressed that I not kill anyone. Likel...

Chapter 383 – Life 104, Age 19, Martial Disciple 1

Before I left the Palace of the Herb Sovereign, Chan had me change into the sturdy hemp robes of an itinerant farmhand. Then, he confiscated the jade token that marked me as a member of the Palace and replaced my storage bag with a leather pouch that contained only a handful of copper coins. After entering the City of Selfless Courage, I would have no status and no resources. All I would have t...

Chapter 382 – Life 104, Age 19, Martial Master Peak

At first glance, the moon spade that Emperor Chan had taken out looked like it could be a legendary artifact of immense power. However, upon closer examination, I saw that it was a basic, mortal weapon, entirely bereft of energy.

Upon even closer examination, I found that the grain of the wooden staff was perfectly straight and that the crystalline structure of the metal ends was unusuall...

Chapter 381 – Life 104, Age 17, Martial Master 3

As far as I could tell, the flaws that had appeared in my four-patterned pill were the result of a fundamental incompatibility between the three base herbs and the two new herbs that I was using to give the pill its additional structure.

During the reshaping and transformation processes, I was able to smooth out the disparate energies and bring them together into a united whole, but this ...

Chapter 380 – Life 104, Age 17, Martial Master 3

After reviewing the list of what I knew and what I still needed to learn, Chan arranged for me to stay in one of the Palace’s workshop suite

After reviewing the list of what I knew and what I still needed to learn, Chan arranged for me to stay in one of the Palace’s workshop suites that was a third of the way up the mountain.

This suite had a small cultivation chamber and bedroo...

Chapter 379 – Life 103, Age 17, Martial Master 3

After I accepted Emperor Chan as my mentor, he said a few parting words to the gathered elders, then led me straight out of the grand audience hall.

Upon exiting, we found ourselves on top of the mountain, with rolling grasslands stretched out before us. There were signs of towns and cities off in the distance, but nearby, there were only a few herds of weak demon beasts. Was the Palace o...

Chapter 378 – Life 103, Age 17, Martial Master 3

When I exited the portal, I found myself in the center of a grand audience hall with two rows of chairs in front of me. The feet of the firs

When I exited the portal, I found myself in the center of a grand audience hall with two rows of chairs in front of me.

The feet of the first row were level with my head. Only 17 of this row's 25 seats were occupied, but each one held a Martial...

Chapter 377 – Life 103, Age 17, Martial Master 3

I appeared on an endless plain, all alone. None of the young men or women who had entered before me were anywhere in sight.

In front of me, a field of herbs stretched off to the horizon. The plants nearest to me were all Rank 1, but in the distance, I could see herbs that reached into Ranks 5, 6, and beyond.

Nearly every herb was of some strange species or cultivar that I had never ...

Chapter 376 – Life 103, Age 17, Martial Master 1

Qongqor might have just been an old wagon driver, but he was still a Martial King who had been traveling the Heroes’ Domain for centuries. So, while he couldn’t tell me any secrets of the universe, his stories did help me better understand how this domain actually functioned.

Therefore, the moment our carriages rolled into a small village that was only large enough to house a few thou...

Chapter 375 – Life 103, Age 17, Martial Master 1

Following the banquet, all the former Disciples returned to their rooms to cultivate. We had been warned several times that winning the previous competition hadn’t guaranteed us membership in the Hall of the Herb Sovereign, and everyone appeared eager to spend this trip making their final preparations for whatever lay ahead.

For me, this was somewhat problematic. To cultivate pill qi, I...

Chapter 374 – Life 103, Age 17, Martial Master 1

As Emperor Chan led us out the city’s gates, the view in front of us opened up to reveal a picturesque landscape. The peaks of rolling hills were visible in every direction, and each one was covered in a unique blend of grasses and flowers. There were zero signs of the raucous festival that had occurred just one month earlier.

The stone road that led us away from the city was made of qi...

Volume 2 Updated on Royal Road

(July 4,2025)

Hello everyone,

Just want to let you know that I just updated all the chapters of Volume 2 to their final version on Royal Road. They should be free of errors... hopefully. The affected chapters are 57 through 113.

In general, there is nothing "new" in these chapters. If you don't reread them, then you aren't going to be missing anything story wise, so d...

Chapter 373 – Life 93, Age 17, Martial Disciple Peak

After the competition, the three of us who had earned spots in the Palace of the Herb Sovereign were guided back to the Hall of the Herb King under the guard of five Pill Lords. Then, once there, one of these Lords guided us directly to the fourth-floor workshops.

“With the festival still going on, the situation outside the city is volatile. When it becomes clear that certain sects are ...

Chapter 372 – Life 93, Age 16, Martial Disciple Peak

Over the following months, my life fell into a familiar rhythm.

At first, I spent several hours a day practicing with my crescent moon spade. However, after my affinity broke through to peak nine-star, it refused to grow further. This could have been because advancing to low eight-star took significantly longer, or it could have been that increasing the star level of this affinity came wi...

Chapter 371 – Life 93, Age 16, Martial Disciple 5

I entered the Hall of the Herb King’s Assignment Hall and walked straight to the desk where the Hall’s servants could pick up new assignments.

The attendant barely glanced at me. “Yes?”

“Hello, what do I need to do to register as a Disciple Alchemist?”

The attendant froze, and I heard some snickering from the servants who were hanging out on the room’s benches, b...

Chapter 370 – Life 93, Age 16, Martial Disciple 2

Upon returning to my apartment, I had a decision to make.

I had only been given an extremely basic Low-Yellow cultivation technique, and cultivating it ‘properly’ would mean subjecting myself to several severe restrictions that would slow my speed of advancement.

Completing tasks for the Hall would allow me to purchase better techniques and spend more time in the Sharp Crescent ...

Chapter 369 – Life 93, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

Halfway through my second month as a member of the Hall of the Herb King, I visited the secluded courtyard behind the Hall’s main building for my second lesson on the use of the crescent moon spade. Before I could enter the yard with the other Disciples, however, our teacher pulled me off to the side and placed an affinity testing orb in front of me.

Not needing any explanation, I place...

Chapter 368 – Life 93, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

My first couple of weeks in the Hall of the Herb King were not too different from my early days in Golden Eagle City. I kept my head down and did dirty jobs such as cleaning out pill furnaces and disposing of alchemical dregs. This work wasn’t exactly satisfying, but since I could dispose of most things by just dumping them into the fires of my inner world, it was simple enough, and it gave m...

Chapter 367 – Life 93, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

As usual, the System teleported me to a deserted alleyway that ran between two crumbling buildings. This told me that, yet again, I had been transported to the slums of some unfamiliar city. So, not wanting to stick out, I decided not to change out of the tattered robes of a Su Clan orphan.

This was a mistake.

When I exited the alley, instead of finding a street filled with old men ...

Chapter 366 – Life 93, Age 16, Martial Disciple 1

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in the middle of an abandoned courtyard. Looking up, I saw the massive black sphere that consumed the eastern sky. I had returned to the place where I had first entered this continent, and I had some decisions to make.

Before that, however, I needed to take a moment to understand what had just happened. So, closing my eyes, I mentally reviewed the fin...

Chapter 365 – Life 92, Age 16, Martial Disciple Peak

On the third and final day of the Hall of the Herb Lord’s end-of-year competition, I arrived at the stadium an hour early, as usual. The

On the third and final day of the Hall of the Herb Lord’s end-of-year competition, I arrived at the stadium an hour early, as usual.

The stage was set.

This time, there were eight rows of workbenches, with six workbenches per row, allowin...

Chapter 364 – Life 92, Age 16, Martial Disciple 5

After my meeting with Jon and Lord Yong, I had little more than a week to prepare for the Hall’s end-of-year competition, and while I had confidence in my abilities, I didn’t want to take any more risks than necessary. So, I immediately went back to my workshop, pulled out a Qi Gathering Formation, and began cultivating.

Over the past year, I had been advancing slowly and methodically...