A Thousand Li

Given a chance at immortality, can Wu Ying grasp the fleeting opportunity? Long Wu Ying never expected to join a Sect or become a real cultivator. His days were spent studying, planting rice on the family farm and spending time with his friends. Fate, however, has different plans for Wu Ying and when the army arrives at his village, he and many other members of the village are conscripted.

Winter has passed, taking with it the hope of peace. The state of Wei deploy an increasing number of cultivators and soldiers, intent on taking over the state of Shen. Caught in between the armies is Wu Ying's village and all those that he cares about. Advised to keep away from the approaching war, Wu Ying will have to decide what is more important - his journey to immortality or the ties to the mortal that he holds onto still. Or perhaps, there is a third way, one that balances both the needs of Heaven and destiny and the karmic ties of the family.

Wu Ying's idle winter, one filled with training and recovery, is thrown awry when his Master and Elder Yang return, injured. The Three Seasons poison fills Master Cheng's veins, slowly killing the powerful Elder. His only hope - a rare antidote. But the ingredients for such an antidote are scarce and located in the deepest wilds.

Wu Ying saved his master from the machinations of the dark sect, but was gravely injured during the process. His body has changed, his bloodline awakened and his cultivation compromised. Physicians and healers at the Verdant Green Water can do nothing for him. Forced to travel to a new sect for healing, Wu Ying might find opportunity in his distress. But the dark sect is not done with him, or their machinations. Caught up in the winds of war, Wu Ying and his friends must continue to balance their journey to immortality against the pull of mortal politics.

When war wages, even innocents perish. Two years have passed, and the war between the kingdoms of Shen and Wei rages on. The Second Storm is the sixth novel in the A Thousand Li series, a book about immortal cultivation, wondrous martial arts, evil cultivation sects and spirit beasts.

Long Wu Ying has been banished from the Verdant Green Waters Sect for defying the orders of the Elders. Forced to prove himself in the outer world before he is allowed to return, Wu Ying begins a journey that will have him visiting old haunts and a new kingdom. Amidst new cultivators, new politics, and new challenges, Wu Ying must find the center of his dao and rise to the challenge. Or be forgotten on the steps to immortality.

Heaven Commands, the Middle Kingdom Concedes. Or so the story goes. As Wu Ying travels beyond the kingdom of Shen chasing enlightenment, he experiences the truth of that statement. Disparate forms of government, new cultures, and people abound with new ways of cultivating towards immortality.

As corruption seeps from the southern kingdom of Nanyue, Wu Ying sets out on a dangerous journey to uncover its source. Spirit stones have become corrupted, with twisted daos embedded within. If left unchecked, this corruption threatens to spread across the world.

Returning to the Verdant Green Waters sect over a decade after his exile, Wu Ying finds his position and place within the Sect in flux. Strong enough to be an Elder but not having achieved his rank via the normal methods, he has jealous and worried rivals to contend with. It is reminiscent of his own past, but now, he's an Elder and able to enact transformation in a broader sense. Wu Ying must find his own place in the sect or leave it once and for all. The cultivation wounds he received in the south trouble him, and it will require time and resources - resources the Sect is able to provide.

The war-mongering kingdom of Cai has begun to stir once again, the long held peace brought to the brink by a widespread drought. Now, the neighbouring kingdoms of Wei and Shen must ally together to deal with the Cai or see the flames of war spread over both nations once again. Wu Ying is brought into the negotiations for his reputation and strength, but the former farmer and now Head of the Wandering Gatherers is a fish out of water in these political waters.

A martial artist falls from a cliff to his death. A rival stands, triumphant above. The beginning of an all too familiar story. Yet, in the time of recuperation and return, time passes and sometimes, the transformation that occurs is not the one you expect. This is a 4,500-word short story set in the A Thousand Li universe featuring as yet to be seen characters in the universe. Does not need to be listened to to follow the main series.

Winter is a time of reflection and cultivation for the Verdant Green Waters Sect. For Wu Ying, this peaceful interlude is interrupted by a new assignment that pits him against the mortal world’s conventions of class and privilege.

Born an Imperial Prince, Qu Yuan always knew his options were to strive for the throne or escape. When he’s forced to put his escape plan into action too early, he’s forced out of the imperial palace into the countryside where the war for the throne rages. Walking blood-soaked fields and burnt out villages, Qu Yuan will be forced to ask a simple question.

Noblewoman and cultivator Li Yao is called to a small village to investigate a mysterious illness that has drained residents of their chi. Accompanying her are her suitors, Xiang An and Shen Wei, both more trouble than they're worth in Li Yao's eyes. Perhaps not all is as it seems.

What do Gods and demons have in common? Perhaps nothing, perhaps a lot. A glimpse into a world where an immortal and a demon partake in a meal while plotting moves that will shake the Middle Kingdom and share gossip of other, more contentious issues.

These were the words Protector Chan’s master had left him. Now, the greedy eye of a king has landed on their sect once more. In the search to reach the Divine Peak, all too many will fall by the wayside, ground up in the bitter dust of desire. Between craving and enlightenment, between the heavens and earth, lies a single man making a choice over what, in the end, is most important in the search for immortality.

Take a step. Take a bow. Look around, how far you've come. For an immortal, the mortal world has little to offer them. Except, perhaps, perspective.

Newly minted an Elder of the Verdant Green Waters sect, sword prodigy Elder Cheng Zhao Wan—the Sundering Blade—is forced to leave the sect to fulfill an old obligation. A benefactor from the past is injured and has demanded Elder Cheng locate his assailant. Forced to listen to the ramblings of a dying old man, amidst a small and unfamiliar sect, who Elder Cheng can trust is unknown. Was the injury nothing more than happenstance, or is something more dire afoot?