Cognosticon

Chapter 509: Three Against the Redstorm Sect

(Cognosticon here. Some regrettable errors in last week's chapters, but I don't want to take any time off now. The primary thrust of the book remains steady, so please bear with minor issues until then.)

As she leapt into a storm of crimson lightning, Zae Zin Nim felt deep contentment.

She couldn't afford to fight sloppily against the Redstorm matriarch, yet she found that sh...

Chapter 508: Poisoned Negotiations

The asshole setting up the chairs on the wheel thought he was hot shit, Omilaena could tell.

It wasn't the fact that he had poisoned the cloths he was placing over the chairs, that was just to be expected. What irritated her was the way he brushed the poison against the surface, as if he was being surreptitious. A truly competent poisoner would have had the poison already applied, or bett...

Chapter 507: The Redstorm Sect

Before Kai could act, Zae Zin Nim stepped forward and thrust out her arm. Her Coldfire Palm slammed into the side of the energy surrounding them.

One of the Earth Souls was consumed in flame, the formation tore apart, and multiple cultivators began coughing up blood.

In an instant, the domineering overconfidence of the group broke and they began to scatter. A single cultivator someh...

Chapter 506: Into the Eastern Plains

Kai cultivated at the prow of the Clanless, glowering purposefully.

On a handful of occasions their trip had been interrupted, which he'd accepted was just part of Cloudspire, but he didn't want to waste time on weak sects. Just how much he disliked the delays must have come through in his face, because one group fled in terror when he walked up. Omilaena had said that was a good tactic ...

Chapter 505: Six Months

(Cognosticon here. We are launching into the fifth book even though it may not be fully edited. The overall direction is clear enough, but there may be some typos. Might need to take an additional week at some point.)

By all rights, Kai should have been happy and content, yet he found himself shifting unhappily in their bed. For a long time he had been focused on Zae Zin Nim and Om...

Books 4/5

Cognosticon here. Hope everyone enjoyed the fourth book.

The fifth, as should now be obvious, will deal with the incursion and its consequences. It will cover more characters/places/systems than you might expect, because this is the first big climax. If one book is an arc, this is the end of a multi-arc saga.

At one time I was worried that the fifth book would be shorter than averag...

Chapter 504: Interludes Delta

The visitors were leaving the Southern Reach when Yriliuna finally got a peek at one of them. How odd... the handsome young man looked familiar to her. Like someone she had seen in a different place and time. It was only after they departed that it connected for her.

"Who was that Goralian man?" Yriliuna asked her grove. "Was he related to all those troubles?"

"You didn't hear?" Her...

Chapter 503: An Unquiet Meal

One day after the battle, Kai still struggled to believe it. So much had led up to this point, so much had been on the line... and they had triumphed. It was over.

The three of them sat in the number one most prestigious restaurant in Floodisle City, being served the finest foods offered by very nervous local sects. That didn't matter to him so much as the fact that not a single young mas...

Chapter 502: The Terrifying Younger Generation

(The fourth arc is ending this week, so one day will have a different post.)

Wan Fei had always wondered who would come out on top, if he actually fought the matriarch of the Dark Crown sect. Her lightning technique was formidable, but required significant time to prepare in its strongest form. He ended up singed and aching, but his Physique had carried him through the day until she lay b...

State of the Story

Cognosticon here. This is a break week, but I'm still checking in with an overview of the story so far, business dealings, and what you can expect.

The big thing that is distracting my writing is that I've signed the biggest deal of my life with a company that will be announced later, for five audiobooks of Depthless Hunger. It isn't an exaggeration to say that this will make or break the...

Chapter 501: A Flicker of a Greater World

A needle through the neck would have been lethal for most cultivators, but Xir Xan Khan proved tougher than most. The strength he gained from the immortality elixir wasn't any kind of transcendent perfection, it was more like an unnatural extension of his life. He drew on a large part of it, burning away the power permanently to wrench away from her and close the hole in his neck.

Her nex...

Chapter 500: Arriving at the Peak

And so it was time for the most dangerous part of the plan: Kai went up not against a young master, not against a leader, not against a demon, but against one of the most powerful people in the world.

In their first encounter, Zae Clen Ban scornfully created a tornado of wind around himself and tried to sweep Kai off the field, clearly more interested in tracking down his daughter. That w...

Chapter 499: Throuple Tactics

Xir Xan Khan had never encountered such an infuriating opponent.

The Coiling Death should have been an overwhelming advantage, enough for him to end this foolish rivalry once and for all. Even though it could only be used once in a lifetime, its usage extended for a long period, so he had more than enough time. And yet his opponent refused to engage with him directly, instead retreating d...

Chapter 498: Destined Matches, Entangled Strategy

(Cognosticon here. On one hand, I just signed the largest deal of my life for the audiobook rights to DH. On the other, the worst has come to pass: I'm almost out of backlog with my back against a wall.

I have done my best to never miss chapters, and announce hiatuses only rarely, but I'm going to need to take a week. Normal chapters this week, announcement Friday.)

Despite ...

Chapters 494-497

(Cognosticon here. This is the final weekly batch, but frankly I'm in rough shape; this arc is done, but the next is very WIP. More information next week as I take stock.)

Chapter 494: True Monstrous Presence

That comfortable meal around the campfire was their last relaxed moment. As Omilaena preserved and stored the remaining meat, the warm atmosphere seemed to be packed awa...

Chapters 490-493

Chapter 490: Blue and Black Paths

They were back together, everyone had gotten laid, and they had a plan. Things were looking up as far as Omilaena was concerned. Up to this point, she and Zin Nim had hidden their growth with shrouds, and Kai was still unknown, so their opponents would underestimate their new strength.

When it had been just the two of them, everything had been simpl...

Chapters 486-489

Chapter 486: Farewells on Deadwaste

By the time Kai returned with the last major piece, the construction of the new ship was essentially complete. Many were unsettled that he planned to use a Sky Soul cultivator as a battery, but Wan Fei was struggling to maintain his health against the poison and cooperated in any case. If he did decide to turn on them, Kai could finish him off and power...

Chapters 482-485

Chapter 482: The Final Use for an Old Tattoo

Once everything was confirmed stable at the Frontier, Kai left the others to jump back across the continent to the Southern Reach. Since they had established the door anyway, it was deemed acceptable to teleport Lofgan as well, since Juray could take care of his treatment just as well as the beleaguered elite healers. So they skipped back to Ra...

Chapters 478-481

(Cognosticon here. Just reminding everyone that chapters are temporarily going to a weekly batch while I travel.)

Chapter 478: To the Frontier Abyss

Back to the Frontier again, thankfully not wasting any time thanks to teleportation. When Kai arrived, he found himself standing on the interior of the wall next to some of the outposts. It looked like they had fully repaired dam...

Chapter 477: Qi and Poison in Floodisle City

Returning to Floodisle City while invisible was a bizarre experience for Zae Zin Nim. Often in the past she had been the subject of attention, either for her rank or her beauty, and even while the Blackblood Physique left her ill, she was the object of pity. But now, with the wreath of dryad leaves making her look like an average woman, she attracted no attention at all. Her rank 14 slip was hi...

Chapter 476: Dryad Potions and Crystal Engines

The dryad district of Razorfall City was surprisingly different from the dryad village on Cloudspire, even down to what trees the dryads inhabited. They still favored shady open areas, but without the constant rainfall, the shape of the city was radically altered. Kai marveled at how it was strangely layered, because though the hills were much like any other hilly city, individual trees varied ...

Chapter 475: Twisting the Old Gambit

As far as Gorndron was concerned, training on Deadwaste was an endless series of brutal cliffs. Average folks with no real talent or opportunity might become warriors and end up with 50 Power or so. Then there was an awkward gulf for those with greater ability who couldn't make it to the Frontier.

Those went in all kinds of directions. Some got into three digits and were prominent members...

Chapter 474: Ragged, Rushing Wings

(Cognosticon here. Normal chapters this week, but next week we'll need to shift the schedule. No reduction in chapter rate, just a change in posting.)

The wind kept tearing against his face, and even though Kai's skin was completely immune to it, he still felt like was wearing him down. Given all the ways he'd enhanced his body, his eyes didn't water and his lips didn't chap, yet h...

Chapter 473: Feeling Out New Paths

So it turned out that Zin Nim's new body was gray all over, except where it was black. Omilaena's theory was that the dark blood had fully fused with her, providing coloring throughout the body. The most obvious was her lips, which looked almost as if she used dark lipstick, but Omilaena had taken great pleasure in confirming that the pattern extended to other places as well.

She blushed ...

Chapter 472: Deadwaste Reunions

The ship decoy gambit had been a huge success, and that night Kai allowed himself to rest long enough to share a meal with Juray and Razz aboard the airship. What they had done was take a harmless-looking airship south, with a teleportation anchor on board. The weaker sort of teleportation they had here couldn't jump people between any two points, but Kai could break a gemstone and be drawn bac...

Chapter 471: Cultivators Gathering Against a Barbarian

In all his long life, Wan Fei had never visited visited Deadwaste. Never thought about it, never imagined that it could contain any challenge or advancement worth of him. It had barely entered into his mind, more a metaphor for weakness than a truly existing place.

Now it seemed as though it might be the death of him.

Because the locals were too coordinated, he had no choice but to...

Chapter 470: Mercantile Reunions

For a moment they just stared at one another, unable to say anything. Juray was several years older than when he'd last seen her, but she still looked vibrant, and more importantly, she looked happy. He briefly thought about checking her soul to view her advancement, but that seemed meaningless compared to seeing his old lover again.

"You put that thing down!" Juray stormed forward, pushi...

Chapter 469: Tracking Down Cultivators

Wind bit against Kai's face as he pushed himself harder, flashing over the mushroom-crowned hills. He'd gained his orientation in the Southern Reach, with a strong sense for Goralia in the north, so now even if the territory was unfamiliar, he could move around more quickly.

Even though he was by far the fastest person in the area, the underground communication between dryads moved faste...

Chapter 468: Living in a New Skin

The cavern resolved slowly as tension and speed gave way to wakefulness. They had escaped successfully, and hidden well enough for rest, yet none of that was any comfort. As her mind returned to itself, Zae Zin Nim let out a sigh and stirred within her blankets.

"Kai..." Zae Zin Nim's relaxation faded as she remembered everything - Omilaena had explained more during their flight, but she ...

Chapter 467: Twelve Cultivators on Deadwaste

As the teleportation faded, before his sight had even returned, Kai skidded over dust and knew that he had returned to Deadwaste.

He had never seen the high hills around him before, and the vibrant trees were nothing like Goralia. But the air itself was familiar: even though it was desolate compared to the rich energies of Rosemount or Cloudspire, the dominant mana reminded him of home. H...