Plutusauthor

Pay-To-Win Patriarch Chapter 1 (First Draft)

For those who've been paying attention to the the story poll pinned to the top of the page you might recognize this story from nowhere because it's not one of the options. This idea came to me as a spur of inspiration and I'd like to know your thoughts. Cheers!

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Gamers beware. If you rage too much at your game, the game might just take offense to that.

For Jasper Cr...

Chapter 120

The temple Xie Ling resided in was both the spiritual and material heart of the village. It was where their major ceremonies were observed and where the collected archives of the village were housed. It was the seat of the shamans and was where they distributed tasks and provided healing to the sick and injured. It was also where the foodstuffs and products the village produced were stored for ...

Chapter 119

The New Year began with all the villagers of the four tribes watching a Liquid Meridian Realm trying to fly. Unfortunately for Chen Haoran, Phelps’s seemed to float even faster after drinking and, with no ceiling to obstruct him combined with his head start, quickly outpaced the distance Chen Haoran could reach even with his fully powered jump. So it was that Chen Haoran pitched headfirst int...

Chapter 118

Not really satisfied with this chapter but it took a while to write and I'm tired so here it is. Been trying to make the chapters bigger than bite-sized recently. So expect more 2k and up chapters in the future. Cheers!

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The new year was a cause for great celebration in the Basin. The whole village came to life with renewed energy as homes were cleaned from top to...

Chapter 117

The passing of time was strange in Zumulu. No matter how much action and change was actually occurring at any given moment in the region, the trees and dense flora remained the same. The days blended together, stretching out so that even day and night seemed like one continuous whole, like a long video left unpaused. It didn’t help that there weren’t seasons as he knew them in the south: no...

Chapter 116

Chen Haoran had tried to use the bare minimum he thought he needed to reach the top of the tree. As it turned out, he still underestimated how much power his advancement brought. His leap brought him high into the air and almost through the canopy entirely. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and grabbed a branch before he flew too high and swung himself onto the tree.

At the very top was an ...

Chapter 115

Bao Si languidly waltzed into the clearing. She traded in her tight-fitting dress for a looser one of mossy green silk. A slit on one side revealed a toned and powerful leg. His Liquid Meridian enhanced sense of smell treacherously had him notice she smelled of flowers. Chen Haoran’s eyes weren’t deceived, however. Her gait was effortless, all liquid predator. So tightly controlled that it ...

Chapter 114

Hey all. Despite what it may look like this is not a repost. I was tired and marked the chapters wrong. Last chapter was a Xie Jin interlude and is now appropriately titled. This is the real chapter 114. Cheers!

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Chen Haoran stepped and paused. He stepped again and paused again. He waited.

And waited.

He began anew.

Step. Pause. Step...

Interlude: The Silkworm II

The first principle of a shaman is responsibility. Their duty is sacred, and their roles are many, from serving as the spiritual guides of the tribes and bringing prosperity to expelling poisonous insects from homes. A shaman is responsible for all that and more. The act of rearing and controlling Gu demanded no less.

Xie Jin kept reminding himself of this principle as he trawled through ...

Chapter 113

Xie Jin’s home could be considered the end of the rainbow. End in the sense that the rainbows scattered by the last light of sunset died when they fell within the boundary of the village. Here alone the light separated by the prism-like leaves became whole once more. It was a startling bleak contrast compared to the colorful jungle surrounding it.

The village itself was a compact affair...

Chapter 112

That got attention. The air shifted with the sudden flaring of qi as the warriors pulled out their weapons. The black-eyed warrior locked onto Chen Haoran and finally revealed his cultivation level. Liquid Meridian Realm Third-Layer. Just as suddenly as it shifted, the air unnaturally stilled. A deadly tension hung over their heads.

“Please stay calm,” Jiang Lei said to the w...

Chapter 111

When Xie Jin had said his home was much lower than other places in Zumulu, Chen Haoran should have perhaps expected the understatement. The Basin was an apt name; from above, it looked like someone had buried a bowl into the earth and dropped a jungle into it. Waterfalls spilled over the sheers cliffs surrounding the Basin and were swallowed into the dark jungle below. The dense, dark green tre...

Chapter 110

What followed was cleaning up the scene, gathering up the strewn pieces of his Clear Heart Mirror Armor, and taking count of their spoils. Unfortunately, Chen Haoran’s hopes that he’d find a treasure or a technique were dashed. Some rations. A few silvers and gold in tael and banknote form. Other sundries and camping gear. As it turned out, soldiers didn’t carry any extraneous supplies wh...

Chapter 109

Chen Haoran opened his eyes and looked at the swarm that surrounded them. Large patches of green miasma ate away at Jiang Lei’s liquid qi dome. Jiang Lei swung his sword. A glowing blade of qi crossed through the barrier and annihilated a hole in the swarm to the outside. It was only exposed for a moment, however, before the swarm shifted and more insects closed the gap.

Chen Haoran bli...

Chapter 108

When Chen Haoran first saw the Heavy Core Pill he had been intimidated by its size. So his first reaction when he easily downed it was surprise. The Heavy Core Pill sank like a stone to his core, leaving a spicy grass taste on the back of his tongue. Chen Haoran exhaled and smelled spring in the air. He could feel the aroma of the Heavy Core Pill spread thickly throughout his whole body and as ...

Chapter 107

The Stygian Lotus was a spirit plant that improved a cultivator’s overall durability in every aspect. While Chen Haoran wouldn’t make the mistake of calling himself invulnerable to harm, he had relied on his body to resist all sorts of sharp edges and blunt force.

No amount of durability would protect him from fire, however.

Chen Haoran scarcely had the time to react when the fi...

Chapter 106

The hollow collapsed as the tree uprooted itself and dropped its entire weight on top of their heads. Three different lights of peach pink and metal white flashed and split the tree from the bottom to the top in a rain of kindling.

Jiang Lei and Wang Xiao stood together with their swords drawn. A scent of peaches filled the air. Chen Haoran stood a ways away from them to the side. Phelps ...

Chapter 105

Naturally, they ran even further after seeing a pillar of light pierce the sky.

“What was that?” Chen Haoran breathlessly wondered. It was a rhetorical question. The fact that the Auctioneer was most likely the one responsible for the pillar of light was obvious.

Jiang Lei answered him regardless. “It looks like the Golden Lily Association Supervisor stopped holding back.” 2023-04-27 04:17:36 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 104

Who knew a Heaven-Rank technique would make such a good flashlight? While the tunnel had some light coming from the glowing green talismans placed along its walls, they were few and far between enough that they served better as markers rather than illumination. That was the only comfort Chen Haoran had as they raced down the escape tunnel.

His first instinct had been to rip the technique ...

Chapter 103

Move

Chen Haoran willed his qi to cycle. After one revolution, he felt his head clear. After another revolution, he could move his fingers. After the third revolution, a dragon’s roar sounded out from his chest, and he picked himself up—

—Only to fall to his knees when two terrifying presences took notice of him. Chen Haoran paled, and his breath came up short. The ta...

Chapter 102

“The Garrison Commander,” Jiang Lei whispered. He and Wang Xiao shot out of their chairs. Chen Haoran held Phelps close to him.

Above them the Garrison Commander had placed himself between the auction hall and the light spilling through the hole in the ceiling, standing in the air he looked like a bloody angel descending. Scarlet light coalesced around his halberd and dripped to the f...

Chapter 101

The bids fell like rain.

“8 million,” the Auctioneer said in a cold robotic tone. “8.7 million. 9 million.”

Jiang Lei and Wang Xiao watched in stupefied silence as the price of the Moonflower was jacked up by the hundreds of thousands and millions. Chen Haoran was similarly impressed, but he’d quite literally dropped bigger numbers before, so the price wasn’t so shocking...

Chapter 100

Five-Gold Market. Noon.

The golden words vanished from the Golden Lily Token, and Chen Haoran put it away.

He heaved out a sigh. “Daytime, huh?”

It made sense. With Daqing’s curfew, it would be much more suspicious for people to move around at night. He stopped training and went inside to gather his things. Laid out on the table was a stack of golden banknotes. ...

Chapter 99

“How in the world did you get your hands on something like that?”

Those were the first words Jiang Lei said to him after they had left the inn and gotten far enough away. They weaved between various alleys and into and out of crowds. While Jiang Lei said they weren’t being followed, it was still best to be careful.

Chen Haoran stashed his cloak in his storage bag while Jiang L...

Chapter 98:

The Liquid Liquor was a humble hole-in-the-wall wedged directly next to the river between the docks and warehouses. It was a place for laborers, sailors, and the working folk of Daqing who kept the industry flowing. It was also a place visited and patronized exclusively by locals.

Chen Haoran felt eyes on him as soon as he entered the bar. Even though he wrapped himself in a large cloak a...

Chapter 97

He’d give Jiang Lei this: he was a far more pleasant training partner than Song Yuelin was. Chen Haoran hadn’t realized it until they started but he’d half expected Jiang Lei to make him eat dirt once they started practicing. As it turns out that wasn’t a universal practice and Song Yuelin was just being an asshole. In all honesty, he should have realized that sooner. Despite both being...

Chapter 96

“I have no idea what the issue is,” Jiang Lei said.

Chen Haoran looked at him. He squinted and tried to find any sign of falsehood in his face. He drummed his fingers as he pondered over his observation and came to the conclusion that no, Jiang Lei was not lying to him. That, in all honesty, made it worse.

“Didn’t you say you could help me?” Chen Haoran asked. “Something...

Chapter 95

Apologies for the late chapter. Mistake on my part. As an apology, there will be two extra chapters this week.

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If they had decided to fight then and there, Chen Haoran would be the first to object. He’d already paid the house rent for a year. Even if Jiang Lei put a sword to his neck, he wasn’t going to waste his deposit by wrecking the place.

Fortunately, Jiang Lei...

Chapter 94

Perhaps unsurprisingly, no matter how extortionate the city guards were, causing property damage had them rushing to do their jobs. What was very surprising was that Jiang Lei was much better at running away than he was at sneaking up on someone. After the guards turned night into day with their flares, he bundled up Chen Haoran with his liquid qi and sped off.

Despite being carried on ma...

Chapter 93

Jiang Lei caught his scimitar with his hands. Chen Haoran’s whole being thrummed with the White Tyrant’s image, yet Jiang Lei caught his sword despite that. It was not a mark against the power of the Harmonization. It was Chen Haoran who was the issue. Could he even call it Harmonizing when his half made the White Tyrant’s so much less?

Even so. The White Tyrant would bite his head ...