DefianceNovels

Chapter 965.

"How is it?" Um'ha smiled. "You have been frowning that ball the whole day. For weeks, really."

The intricate machine of interlocking parts sat in the cavity on the worktable, both table and contraption created with such detail that the mechanical orb could freely be rolled in place without the slightest resistance. Thousands of parts and years of work to create something never-before-see...

Chapter 964.

"This seems… ill-advised," Ra'Klid hesitated as he looked at the screen, but shook his head in helplessness upon seeing the expressions of those around him.

Ogras was barely listening as he tried to make sense of the readings his girl was spitting out, but there were others to deal with these kinds of matters.

"How so?" Vilari smiled, her gaze making the skittish chiefling swallow...

Chapter 963.

A/N: We're Back! As mentioned, the return after the editing break was delayed another day. I will release an extra weekend chapter to catch up with the 50-ahead-schedule, though I don't know yet if it will be this weekend or the next. There's still a sizeable chunk of Book 8 to go through.

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Zac looked at the screen with surprise. He'd tho...

No chapter tomorrow.

Hey, unfortunately, there'll be no chapter tomorrow for Heaven's Chosen Patreon Tier.

I've been working through the weekend on the draft for Book 8, but I am still not where I need to be with my deadlines. Therefore, I have to keep going at it for another day instead of working on tomorrow's scheduled chapter.

Instead, I'll release a Saturday chapter this week for this tier, so stil...

Chapter 962.

A/N EDIT: A reminder, this is the last chapter of the week as Oct 13-17 are my monthly editing days. So next chapter on Tuesday.

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Originally, Zac had planned on using the [Essence of the Abyss] much later, some time after using the Temporal Chamber. Now, he didn't have that luxury. He wasn't ready to seal himself off for three years, and th...

Chapter 961.

Zac had overestimated his new Void Vajra Constitution for a moment there, but it wasn't all bad. Zac had felt that his constitution wasn't just for show during the fight, even if it hadn't given him unique healing capabilities just yet. He had been constantly inside or adjacent to incredibly powerful flames, but his skin had resisted the onslaught better than expected.

The vibrant life in...

Chapter 960.

"Not bad," Calrin said with a small nod as he worked hard not to seem impressed.

It wasn't easy.

The scene outside was far from anything Calrin had ever witnessed, even if he was toiling under a fate-touched oddity like the little Lord Atwood. That little troublemaker might have visited amazing places, but Calrin had been stuck in the offices of the Thayer Consortia most of his life...

Chapter 959.

Zac felt a bit helpless as he tried to figure out where Iz was hiding and what she was up to. The huge geyser was supposed to help him suppress Iz a bit, but it had instead filled the battlefield with scalding mist that helped obscure her location. Meanwhile, Zac could feel something was changing in the surroundings as the temperature was rapidly rising.

It seemed like Iz was unleashing a...

Chapter 958.

Zac had never heard of the concept of Earth Immortals before, but he felt this was a rare opportunity to learn some new things without getting blasted by Iz.

"A what?" Zac said with interest.

"If you fail to build a ladder to Heaven, you still have a chance to conjure the chains to the Earthly Planes and become an Earth Immortal, or a Fallen Autarch. You are weaker than true Autarch...

Chapter 957.

The gains weren't earth-shattering, but Zac was still happy with the result. Getting attributes at all was usually the sign of a high-quality Constitution, and he actually got efficiency from the first layer. That almost made the entry layer of the method equivalent to a top tier-title, which wasn't anything to scoff at. The flat attributes were useless now, but Zac suspected he'd get a noticea...

Chapter 956.

The golden hands radiated a holy light, and Thea felt she could almost glimpse something inside the radiance; a vast ocean where all the answers to cultivation existed. In front of that ocean, her Sword Intent was nothing, a small parlor trick not worth mentioning.

No, it wasn't! Thea shook her head, her awe at the hands replaced with fear. It was almost like she had been hypnotized there...

Chapter 955.

A/N: There we go, a bit later than I planned, but here we go. Again, thanks for re-upping, and welcome new patrons!

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"The etherstorm is descending," Onandar said as she glanced at the crimson horizon. "End them."

"They're just children," Thea entreated as she looked down at the huddled captives, her hand shaking both from the me...

Billing Poll

Thank you all for re-upping, and welcome new patrons! 

Unfortunately, this is not a bonus Sunday chappy, but rather a market research poll. Patreon has recently added a new option for billing, which they call Subscription Billing instead of Monthly Billing. 

Essentially, it means patrons will have individual subscription periods. Eg. if yo...

Chapter 954.

In just an hour, three powerful factions on Earth had disappeared without leaving so much as a ripple behind. This would all be kept away from the general population of Earth, but those who needed to know would learn of it one way or another. Zac shook his head and started up the second rotation of his Body Tempering Method.

The days passed this way. The world outside was rapidly changing...

Chapter 953.

Zac was planning on heading toward another conference room, but he stopped when he saw a familiar face below. It was Ibtep, looking out at a garden courtyard from a large window.

"You're still here?" Zac asked as he walked over. "Rhubat didn't call you?"

"No, I have no commitments apart from my farms nowadays. Did things go well?" Ibtep asked as they handed Zac a red larva that almo...

Chapter 952.

It almost felt like looking at a mirror as he saw himself, or rather his design for Arcaz Black, walking onto the stage. No matter how one looked at him, he seemed like a powerful undead cultivator. Only Zac would realize that the aura seemed slightly hollow, but the Branch of the Pale Seal mostly masked it.

Zac felt Arcaz Black couldn't be absent for this announcement, so he had looked i...

Chapter 951.

Apart from the difficulties of cinching the deal, Zac knew his little kingdom was far from reaching the status of the Twilight Harbor. Even if he now had the fundamental qualifications, he lacked the strength to protect something too valuable, even with the Undead Empire on his side. You simply couldn't build a solid faction on a foundation of borrowed strength.

So for the first couple of...

Chapter 950.

Catheya stood just outside the temporary building, looking on as the automaton walked into the woods toward the closest settlement. She was filled with a mix of disappointment and relief that Arcaz hadn't appeared in person. It would have been nice seeing him again, but these shifty elders were up to no good, no matter what they said to her.

That by itself was a huge headache. They didn't...

Chapter 949.

At first, it had seemed as though the voice appeared out of thin air. But mid-sentence, it focused into a singular point as another Draugr appeared in the room's doorway. His aura was restrained, but Zac felt like he was looking into a churning maw when gazing in his direction. According to the readouts from the Yphelion, he was one of the two who had stayed in the woods earlier.

That was...

Chapter 948.

"We can talk about the heritage and reparations later. Let's go back to where we left off," Zac said. "So, what's the verdict? Discounting the thing brewing here in Zecia, does the Abyssal Shores consider me an asset or a liability?"

There were many things Zac needed to cover with Catheya, but the first thing he needed to do was to sound out his value as an individual to the Undead Empire...

Chapter 947.

Spotting the three Monarchs was not only a confirmation that Zac was right to be occasionally paranoid. It was also proof of just how powerful the sensors of the Yphelion were. There wasn't any way for him to actually see the Monarchs, but he could pinpoint their location with a hundred-meter precision across half the solar system. And even if they hid their presence, the Yphelion could somewha...

Chapter 946.

Checking the time, Zac realized he had already spent over a month grinding his Body Tempering Manual. Altogether, close to three months had passed since he returned to Earth, and it was about time to deal with the lingering matters standing between him and his prolonged seclusion.

Just ten minutes later, five people had gathered in Zac's compound; Zac and Ogras, along with the three candi...

Chapter 945.

Zac couldn't believe it when [Void Heart] suddenly shuddered and stopped contending for the medicinal paste mid-beat. The surprise was so big that he tripped, instantly failing the stance and losing the ethereal connection to the Void. The Life-Attuned Energy that had entered his cells failed to fuse and instead started seeping through his pores.

It was an unavoidable res...