Li Meili wasn’t entirely certain how to feel about her existence. As far as first impressions go, immediately feeling the sting of disappointment from one of the people most precious to her wasn’t great. The fact that she had nothing better to do but stew on it while her friends, family, and self—and Seong Misun—scrutinized her didn’t help much.
She didn’t blame Master Ienaga...
2022-10-17 18:50:39 +0000 UTC View PostAll the pieces were beginning to fit together. Ja Yun proved to be an excellent teacher, and her explanations were easy to follow. Dae’s technique was exactly what Yoshika needed—it took a certain set of thoughts or ideas, imprinted them onto a packet of mana, and then isolated that packet away from the rest of one’s aura.
The trick was that with careful meditation, a practitioner c...
2022-10-14 20:33:09 +0000 UTC View PostIt was disturbing how easy it was to vivisect Jianmo’s avatar. Following his instructions, Yoshika reached out with her divine spark and pulled at his essence, unraveling the construct like a fraying piece of cloth. There was no resistance—not that she expected Jianmo to try to stop her, but she had a sense that there couldn’t be any resistance. It was like when Forge had disrupt...
2022-10-12 19:45:09 +0000 UTC View PostAn avatar. In other words, an extension of oneself. Strictly speaking, Rika’s Hundred Mirrors technique and Yoshika's experiments with simulacra were already avatars, but she knew that Jianmo was speaking of something much more specific.
“An avatar? You mean like the ones that the divine sovereigns use? I thought you said you weren’t a real avatar.”
Jianmo chuckled and shook...
2022-10-10 19:25:27 +0000 UTC View PostIt wasn’t easy to create a new technique from nothing, even for Yoshika. Thankfully, she had the talent and experience of her friends to aid her own ingenuity. She knew that she had some of the building blocks necessary to create the technique she needed—it was just a matter of figuring out how to put them together.
The first step was analyzing what it was about Rika’s Hundred Mirro...
2022-10-07 20:49:10 +0000 UTC View PostJung was sound asleep by the time the girls made it back to camp, having been exhausted by the day in town. Jia and Eui carried her between them on the bamboo litter. It was simple, but light and sturdy, with enough room for Jung to lie down and a basic roof to protect her from the elements.
It wasn’t the most comfortable ride, but Jia had fixed that by adding a few cushions she found i...
2022-10-05 19:43:50 +0000 UTC View PostShortly after Rika and the others left to gather information in town, Ja Yun found herself terribly bored with only Muddy for company. She’d been in the middle of trying to teach it some simple sign language when a voice interrupted her.
"Please don't take this the wrong way, but how do you get anything done with that wild mane of yours?"
Ja Yun jerked in surprise and glanced up a...
2022-10-03 22:41:37 +0000 UTC View PostHello again everyone, sorry for the extra notification but it's time once again to vote on new character designs. Last month's winners are Lady Tennin with a commanding lead, and Seong Misun in a not-so-close second place. I'm surprised to see Misun getting so much attention given how much everyone hates her, but I suppose it's hard to say no to another pretty foxgirl.
As always, you can ...
2022-10-01 23:25:09 +0000 UTC View Post
The new character designs are complete! Everyone's favorite fluffy disaster Ja Yun is joined by troublemakers Lee Narae and this month's bonus sketch, Do Hye. Just look at that trustworthy smile! I honestly love these pieces, especially Narae (she's so adorable!)
2022-10-01 23:25:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe Gaze of the Everwatching Mists Sect. Apparently a lesser sect that presided over a small territory not far from Qinghe. When word of Luo Mingyu’s cultivation pills reached them, they rushed to send representatives over to recruit him into their sect, luring him with promises of wealth and resources. Eventually he agreed, promising his parents that he would stay in touch and visit as often...
2022-09-30 20:23:43 +0000 UTC View Post“Congenital, yes. Means you were born with it—er, probably. Hard to tell for certain, which is why I need to check your qi flow.”
Jung leaned forward, her intense stare boring into Luo Huang.
“If I was born with it, doesn’t that mean I could pass it on to my children?”
“Hmph, surprised you know that. It’s possible, yes. Not a sure thing, but these things can be...
2022-09-28 20:02:37 +0000 UTC View PostYoshika immediately pushed her mind to the limit with Absolute Awareness and examined the old doctor with her domain. Nothing. She could barely make out the faint impression of his aura, even more faded and weak than Jung’s. The same went for the other two, though Yi Lan’s was strong and healthy—a good sign of potential. Still, none of them had awakened—they were all undoubtedly mortal....
2022-09-26 19:47:40 +0000 UTC View PostThe wealthier district on the opposite side of the river was like a separate world from the sprawling community that Jia and the others had just left. The buildings were solid wood, rather than the bamboo ubiquitous throughout the village, and the roof tiles were made of treated clay. Everything was painted in bright colors and laid out in artful design, luxuries that the people on the other si...
2022-09-23 20:34:59 +0000 UTC View PostTakeda Rika sat in a small restaurant with her friends while they made small talk and tried to get used to their false identities. She also investigated the alley behind the restaurant, and the building across the street, and they were close enough to the river for her to take a look at the nicer neighborhood on the other side. Not that clairvoyance was anything special—anyone with a domain c...
2022-09-21 20:32:19 +0000 UTC View Post“Li Zhen, your ears are showing again. I told you to keep them flat against your head!”
Jia reached up to fix Jung’s disguise, but her sister batted her hands away and smoothed it out herself.
“Stop fussing! I’m doing my best, but this is uncomfortable, and it makes it hard to hear. Why does it matter anyway? I thought you were using magic to hide them, Li’er.” 2022-09-19 20:53:25 +0000 UTC View Post
“Absolutely not! Are you both insane?!”
Predictably enough, Seong Misun was the first to protest the proposed detour.
“We’re supposed to be keeping a low profile, and now you want to wander into the nearest town to see how well the Qin populace reacts to a band of ‘beasts and savages’?”
For once, Misun’s protests weren’t completely unsupported—the rest of t...
2022-09-16 19:18:25 +0000 UTC View Post“Now that we’re across the border, we won’t have to worry as much about keeping our ki restrained.”
Master Ienaga scanned the horizon as she spoke. The girls had taken the time to catch their breath, and listened attentively.
“That said, we’re still in enemy territory. Use discretion—it would be unwise to give ourselves away too soon. We’re still walking, and since w...
2022-09-14 20:33:11 +0000 UTC View PostOnce again, Ienaga’s pace was downright torturous. Despite the blatant and significant use of essence in their battle with the shades, Ienaga insisted that they once more restrict their usage of essence to prevent leaving any more of a trail to be followed. That left Jia more or less alone with her thoughts as they sprinted through the landscape. It turned out she had a lot to think about. 2022-09-12 20:03:45 +0000 UTC View Post
“We are dying.”
The white cat speaks flippantly, grooming herself by the pale green flame of the stove. Her partner scoffs, the rat’s beady red eyes reflecting her own golden gaze.
“And who’s fault is that? I warned against allowing too many into our hearts. You have nobody to blame but yourself.”
The cat does not respond at first, st...
2022-09-09 21:14:39 +0000 UTC View PostSpirits of the dead, wayward souls, shades—Lee Hei recalled the word used by Wan Guo, the worthless cultivator who had dared to harm her lover—ghosts. It was obvious once she knew what to look for. Each unliving mote of darkness was in a state of steady decay, with the largest and most well formed being the souls of the beasts that Master Ienaga had killed when they had first arriv...
2022-09-07 20:15:11 +0000 UTC View PostThe three patrolling cultivators were in view now, coming straight for them. Eui’s eyes narrowed as she focused her resolve and began to call the essence of destruction forth from within her. She was going to tear their fucking throats out.
Just as she was about to launch her assault, something slammed into her out of nowhere, pulling her away and dragging her through the shadows into a...
2022-09-05 19:37:05 +0000 UTC View PostLee Narae had always been lucky. She always got the best hauls, never got caught by the guards, and even usually dodged the worst of the beatings from the ‘caregivers’ at the orphanage. When things had been darkest, just when Narae thought her luck was going to run out and she’d lose the only person in her life that made it worth living, her ‘big sister’ came out of nowhere and flippe...
2022-09-02 19:24:47 +0000 UTC View PostHey everybody, it's that time again! Tsuu is hard at work on the winners of the July poll, and I should be getting sketches for those soon. Last month's winners are Lee Jung and Seong Haeun, so you can look forward to see those next month. I'm really interested to see who the winners are going to be this time, since we're running out of the main supporting cast and getting deep into the seconda...
2022-09-01 23:05:25 +0000 UTC View PostIt was quiet as they ran through the lightly forested terrain that marked the no-man's-land between Yamato and Qin, but not as tense as Jia had expected for such an infiltration. The pace set by Master Ienaga was hard, but not as intensely grueling as it had been on the first day, and as the sun rose on their second day of travel, Narae’s childish glee at the wind in her hair made it feel mor...
2022-08-31 17:06:35 +0000 UTC View PostThe girls raced to the north gate as quickly as they could, Jia scooping Heian into her arms on the way out. She cast a worried glance at Ja Yun, who was acting strangely normal given what they’d all just gone through.
“Ja Yun, are you okay?”
“Hm? Oh, yeah, I’m fine! Why do you ask?”
Ja Yun glanced over, then did a double-take when she saw Muddy’s new form.
The landscape rends and shatters as once distant battlefields collide and intertwine. The champions of each stand together, tense, poised, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. They have not won their wars by being complacent, and the sudden confluence of their worlds leaves them wary of the battle that is certain to ensue. The strongest among them steps forward, and the others immediatel...
2022-08-26 20:12:11 +0000 UTC View PostJa Yun flew into a panic when Muddy disappeared, but rather than flounder as she usually did, something in her snapped. All the stress and frustration that she’d been building up over the last year boiled over at once, summoning courage she didn’t even know she had to finally give the ones responsible a piece of her mind.
“Ancestors damn it, Yoshika! I told you this was a bad idea! ...
2022-08-24 20:27:40 +0000 UTC View PostJianmo’s insight on the different states of essence had sparked an excited discussion among the girls as they theorized about how the different properties of essence worked and how it might be possible to alter them. Jianmo himself was decidedly unhelpful, answering most of their questions with a shrug or an oblique “I don’t know.” Nevertheless, after what felt like hours of intense deb...
2022-08-22 18:34:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Tsuu has come through once again with the character designs funded by a generous patron. Hayakawa Kaede, Takeda Rika, and a bonus sketch of Murayoshi. Last month's poll winners should be finished by the end of next month, so look forward to that!
2022-08-21 05:52:28 +0000 UTC View PostThe exercise had barely started and things were already going off the rails. Heian—who’s cat form was much larger than Yoshika remembered—was staring down at the ground, looking contrite, while Muddy quivered in fear behind Ja Yun’s legs.
There were so many things wrong with that picture. Muddy expressing fear was strange, as was that strange mimicry of Ja Yun’s voice. ...
2022-08-19 20:13:29 +0000 UTC View Post