Shadowwwing

37. The Soft Knife

Jiang was getting too comfortable.

He realised it sometime in the second week of routine. The moment had been quiet, uneventful—just a brief pause after morning drills, standing in the cour...

36. Ulterior Motives

Zhang Shuren watched Jiang Tian from the corner of his eye as Elder Tao explained the Seven Virtues of Cultivation. The mandatory morning lessons were… well, Zhang would be generous and say they ...

35. Victory

Apparently, reaching the third stage was a bigger deal than Jiang had thought.

He’d been happy with himself, of course, but it’s not like it made that much of a difference, right...

34. Background Progress

Jiang sipped at his tea and tried to keep his expression even. It was bitter – not unpleasantly so, maybe, but still bitter enough that he had to suppress a grimace with every sip.

He held ...

33. Constant Attention

The challenge at the halls of healing was far from the last. Jiang didn’t know how he’d managed to piss so many people off, but clearly he’d done something.

He couldnâ...

32. Angry Little People

Jiang reached the training yard Elder Lu had told him about just before the second bell rang and stood alone under the thin morning light. 

The yard was smaller than he expected—flatte...

31. Pawns on the Board

Elder Lu examined Jiang over the rim of his customary cup of tea, hiding his amusement at the boy’s disgruntled pout. Really, hoping to learn a technique from a scroll when he’d only been a cul...

30. Hitting the Books

The rough wood of the table felt familiar beneath Jiang’s calloused fingers, a grounding sensation in the disquiet that followed the hunt. Spread across the surface lay the shattered remains of h...

29. True Power

Being an outer disciple, Jiang had found, was much like being an aspirant.

There were some differences, of course – he was rapidly coming to love having his own private quarters, for exampl...

28. The Etiquette of Power

The lessons took place in a large courtyard, set into the mountainside, open to the sky and bordered by a low wall of shaped stone. Terraced rows of rough benches flanked a circular clearing of pac...

27. Acceptance and Ambition

Lian stood near the back of the gathering chamber, arms folded, trying not to look like she was counting heads.

The passing aspirants could broadly be divided into two categories. The first w...

26. A Vote of Confidence

“Unfortunately, the number of contribution points you gathered was insufficient. The Azure Sky Sect will not welcome you into its halls at this time. Should the Heavens favour you, you may try ag...

25. Breaking Through

Jiang limped along the path leading to the dormitories, one arm cradled against his ribs. The bruise was fresh and would probably bloom a spectacular purple before the hour was out. Someone had gon...

24. A Glutton for Punishment

Jiang sat cross-legged in the narrow strip of shadow behind the gardens, back to the outer wall. The stone beneath him had long since warmed in the sun, but the chill in the air hadn’t gone with ...

23. Hard Knock Education

The moment Jiang stepped into the duelling ring, he realized he didn’t know the rules. No one had explained them. No Elder had stepped forward to recite the usual structure or offer a signal to s...

22. A Matter of Face

Jiang felt the Elder’s statement settle over him, heavier than it had any right to be. Elder Lu’s casual, faintly amused demeanour had vanished completely, replaced by something sharper and dis...

21. Unseen Advantages

Jiang sat cross-legged in his room, eyes closed and breathing steady as he guided Qi through his recently cleared pathways. He’d made surprisingly steady progress towards his first meridian, and ...

20. What Not to Do

By the time the laundry was done, the servants had relaxed enough around him to resume chatting with each other, and even occasionally making the effort to include him. It had taken longer than heâ...

19. Hard Truths

The Matron’s sudden shift in demeanour seemed to ripple outward, changing the atmosphere along the riverside in a heartbeat. He could almost see the rest of the washerwomen pulling back, feeling ...

18. Bare Essentials

The servant’s instructions were easy enough to follow, and before long Jiang was able to hear the sound of flowing water. The river was a few minutes walk from the sprawling buildings of the Sect...

17. Working Class Cultivator

The job hall was busier than he expected.

In hindsight, Jiang wasn’t sure why he expected that it wouldn’t be busy – there were, after all, hundreds of aspirants all hoping to ...

16. Food for Thought

Jiang was drawn from his meditations by the soft warmth of the sun on his face. His breath came slow and steady, body still settled in the familiar cross-legged position on the floor. He opened his...

15. Threads of Reality

Jiang closed his eyes, inhaling slowly and dropping into meditation for the first time since he’d ignited his dantian. To his surprise, he almost missed the feeling – despite only having been d...

14. Social Currency

By the time Elder Lu finally let him go, Jiang’s head was swimming with all the new information he’d been given. It was undoubtedly useful stuff – how to take the next steps on his ‘path of...

13. Questionable Methods

Jiang followed Elder Lu through the winding paths of the Sect, past towering halls and quiet courtyards where disciples moved with purpose. The further they went, the fewer people they passed. Even...

12. First Impressions

The Elder stood before the gathered aspirants, hands folded in his sleeves. His gaze swept over them—some straight-backed and eager, others shifting in place, their nerves poorly hidden. The murm...

11. Fashionably Late

The morning air was crisp, carrying the bite of mountain cold. Elder Lu Heng stood at the edge of the broad stone courtyard, his hands folded behind his back, robes unmoving despite the occasional ...

10. Foundations

He swept through the darkness, floating high above… something.

He didn’t know where he was going, or even who he was. All he knew was that he was searching for something precious. The wor...

9. Desperate Measures

Jiang moved through the trees, breath steady as his boots crunched over frozen earth. The Qingyun mountains loomed closer now, rising in the distance, jagged peaks half-shrouded in cloud. The cold ...

8. The Path Ahead

Jiang moved through the trees, his stride steady, breath even. The cold air bit at his skin, but he barely noticed. He had grown up in the woods, knew how to move through them without tiring himsel...