[Royal Writathon April 2024 Winner]Raika used to be a Cultivator. She lived in a sect, fought in tournaments, and cultivated to spite the heavens, as a cultivator should. While she was never the strongest, fastest or wisest, she held it in her heart to never, ever give up, and to stand for her ideals.And then an Imperial Cultivator destroyed her soul organs and left her crippled.In a world with a sun made of flaming serpents, reality-defying entities running amok, and a timeless, all-knowing Emperor ruling all through the power of his Blades and the constant advances and experiments of his Divisions, Raika is less than worthless, unable to see and feel the blood of reality- but when it's surrender or madness, she chooses madness. Embarking on a new path, Raika will find strange secrets, hidden paths to transformation, and abandon humanity, sanity, and the rule of the Empire to become something far stranger and far more powerful than she ever thought possible. In a world replete with enslaved Daemons used as WMDs, reality-bending powers, eldritch-punk technology, and strange pathways of cultivation and magic, she'll have to find allies, confront gods and monster, and defy the Heavens, her own body, and common sense to find a way to become something new. Facing a millenia-old Empire rife with corruption and unknown plans, impossible horrors from the edges of the world, Daemons, Witches, and her own broken soul, she won't stop until she's become truly free- but what will it cost, and can her insanity match the madness of the reality itself?What to expect:Slowburn power progressionExpansive worldbuilding and complex storyWeak to Extremely strong protagonist with a unique powersetComplex villains and charactersA raging bisexual of a protagonistMutants, madness and mayhem, oh my! My current posting schedule is 5 days a week, excluding tuesdays and saturdays! This story is designed to add lovecraftian cosmic horror and weirdness to a Xianxia setting. If you like some biohorror, self-modification, well written violence and geopolitics under the eyes of ancient, alien beings, this is the one for you, darlings!