
by InsaneLatte
Emotions have real power over mortals and cultivators alike. Lee, dealing with grief and drowning in abject sorrow, learns this lesson barely into his formative years. He finds survival not guaranteed, and the comfort that once girded him is broken amongst the shattered remains of someone he loved dearly. He is cursed in a way; those who know grief know the pain of an empty world, devoid of someone once thought immovable. Know the grief of living in that world forever without them. Though for his mother, he needs to survive. Eat trash and drink filthy water. Push his tolerance again and again. Learn about this new world he finds himself in. A world of shadowy thieves and rusted shivs. But at his lowest, he finds that his emotions can be forged into something more. A coping mechanism turned to power: his shield and sword in this unforgiving heap he calls home. Every step will test how far this strange magic can really go. How real these ephemeral things can truly be. Twisting burning anger to turn sand into glass. Having sorrow drown his enemies with base air. Turn the brain inside out. Let the human mind infect reality itself. His emotions are king, and he is sovereign above them all. Well, he will be one treacherous and informative step at a time! He will be when he learns that sometimes the world is not big enough for two sovereigns. (Book 1 Synopsis) What to expect: • Progression that changes with age and understanding (from a high fantasy softish magic system to a xinxia cultivation hardish magic system) • Child (does Child thing and sometimes accidentally does mind-twisting atrocities because he doesn't know better). Though he is not stupid. • Focus on the magic (there are many fights, but they mean something) • Everything has a purpose. A "why". I don't write things without reason. Discussion encouraged. • Slow burn? Kind of.
No streak history
Rank updated 14 Aug 2026, 04:15 UTC
Entry forecast updated 14 Aug 2026, 04:15 UTC
Overall Rising Stars shadow rank
deep field · ~#1120 of 7,637 · 1070 below #50
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Hidden gem — exposure is the bottleneck
Readers who find this story follow it at a high rate; there just aren't enough of them. In our cohort data, near-daily posting lifted the odds of reaching 25 followers from ~0% to 17% — more chapters, shoutout swaps and ads buy the eyeballs this conversion deserves.
At this conversion, the Adventure Rising Stars bar (≈8 new followers/day) costs about 972 views/day — the story currently gets ~45.
Benchmarks: 8,060 active Royal Road stories, percentiles within the 50–149 chapters band, cohort of 2026-07-02. Conversion is measured as followers gained per 1,000 views over the recent window.
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