I thought of something else while contemplating the potential fallout of an admission to Cai. It's unclear how the scenario is going to be revised by @yrsillar but in the meantime, we've got what we've got to work with to work with. Given the political stakes, it's hard to tell if Cai would go public with our guilt but assuming she did, we were told this by Fu Xiang:
"The three targets I have in mind have their facilities in the market," Fu Xiang said smoothly. "The wards merely prevent violence, not sabotage or theft… but I admit, you would be taking a risk. Should you be caught, you could receive a ban from the market."
Publicly aired guilt carries the risk of a ban from the market. Given the context of the sect's wards mentioned, the best interpretation of the ban is that it would also originate from Sect authority. The question then is whether they would also ban Ling Qi from utilizing her third realm privileges to access the Inner Sect's markets and subsidized GSS exchange rates. Worse still, her proposed intermediary, Fu Xiang, would also be implicated in the scheme and could face a similar ban if one was forthcoming. This would leave Ling Qi with seriously eroded access to cultivation drugs of an appropriate tier.
It also wouldn't really be an unreasonable penalty. If the sect is stepping in to make their displeasure with our conduct clear by banning ready access to commercial opportunities, why would they leave us open the avenue to the objectively superior market of the Inner Sect? It would have every appearance of a bullshit loophole, because that's what it would be.
A market ban was only ever a possibility in the first place, but I don't think we should skip over the potential ramifications of our options by simply hoping for the best.
Cherry picking. That very update he also stated there are short and mid range FSA+ forks. The lack of a long range perception art makes the long range fork useless, but not the others(which are either DPS focus, dispel focus or burst damage focus based on FSA).
Short and mid range FSA are going to be strictly inferior to music as they won't have the advantage of range.
The one I was answering to made the argument about FSA being better due to range. Taking a mid or short range successor would be a complete waste of time.
Trying to "have a type advantage against any opponent" is a terrible build policy. To see that, imagine picking up a Tech which had "on damage, opponents get -6 dice to clashes using Fire aligned arts"... and then laboriously picking up analogues for each of the other elements we know. We would have a "type advantage" over every enemy... except that this advantage would take a good dozen arts and twice that many meridians to maintain. We could get far, far, far better effect by specializing.
You've kind of missed my point in your eagerness to claim that my post supports yours - which is that archery is kind of superfluous to Ling Qi at present and not only is FSA+ less desirable than another musical art, more levels of her existing arts or perhaps even a well-chosen new art, but that FSA itself could be replaced by another art and Ling Qi would probably be more combat-effective.
Now, perhaps you like the thematics of archery for Ling Qi - nothing wrong with that, she can certainly go down that path. Perhaps you want Ling Qi to rain death from long range - again, it's probably a viable option. But it (FSA+) being a key to victory, as you claim, is just not supported by the evidence from my point of view. Ling Qi would get a better outcome from taking that amount of effort and putting it into any of her existing arts - yes, even Argent Storm (which I'd rate as probably the least useful for her at present*) or Thousand Ring Fortress (which would get less improvement for a given amount of effort at present). Likewise I'd put a new music art as more valuable**.
* That might change in a level or two as more techniques are revealed, of course. But for now? It's not the lowest priority for me because it's currently fast to improve.
** Note that the first level of FSS gives the following passives. It improves most of Ling Qi's core - music techniques and basic music attacks - helps her in a last-ditch situation (unarmed) and gives her some specialty defense. I could imagine a reasonably strong musical art from the archive offering some other useful benefits with the same effort as FSA+ would take.
Cold effects by the user gain armor piercing 2
User gains armor 2 vs cold effects
Basic unarmed and music attacks by the user gain one bonus cold damage
The user receives a two die bonus to all expression based offensive clashes
Ling Qi likes archery though. I'd like to encourage her to diversify what she does. Optimal arts loadouts when we are not one of those restricted cultivators is, in my opinion, missing the point. It's about doing another thing that is fun and cool and being good at it at the same time.
To be fair, it's getting caught by the Sect that brings out a penalty like that. If you can pull it off, more power to you--if they actually wanted to discourage sabotage and theft, they'd be able to do so easily.
Ling Qi likes archery though. I'd like to encourage her to diversify what she does. Optimal arts loadouts when we are not one of those restricted cultivators is, in my opinion, missing the point. It's about doing another thing that is fun and cool and being good at it at the same time.
Ling Qi also likes music. To the point where she kept the flute even when she was starving, even when she was unable to play it for fear of being heard and found. Archery is a side hobby compared with music.
Ling Qi also likes music. To the point where she kept the flute even when she was starving, even when she was unable to play it for fear of being heard and found. Archery is a side hobby compared with music.
Ling Qi has had non-art music thoughts go through her head many times since her tutoring with that music guy. Especially lately. We thought about it after we did Fu Xiang's job, we played mother's compositions with Zeqing, we compose things as part of our cultivation, it's no longer a merely combat hobby.
"We practice only art music" may have been an objection a dozen weeks ago. It is not anymore. The text of each update makes that very clear.
Ling Qi knew that it was unreasonable of her to be frustrated after a mere two weeks of failing to reach bronze. Many, many people failed to manage it entirely, and most took months at minimum for their own breakthroughs. Yet she could not help but be irritated by her own failures. At least she had made progress this time, some of the purified stellar qi actually settling properly into her bones and tissues, forcing out further impurities. Yet she had lost control of the densely packed qi and ended up covered in painful blotchy bruises from dozens of burst bloodvessels on top of being covered in a film of oily filth for her trouble.
For all the benefits, breaking through was a thoroughly unpleasant experience.
She was afraid her own frustration had caused her to go a little overboard though. Ling Qi studiously looked away from the scene playing out in front of her, idly toying with a strand of hair that had escaped her braid. It had been getting unruly again since she had left meditation.
In the training field, half a dozen boys in the lower second realm lay on the ground, pale and covered in frost. One lay curled up in a ball, eyes wide as he glanced around in a panic. She felt a little bad, but he had been starting to rally the others, so she had trapped him with her elegy to prevent the group from beating the exercise. Even now, the mists still lingered on the field, clinging at the hems of her gown, and her breath came with particles of sparkling ice.
"This concludes the initial exercise, men. Engrave in your minds the effect of being unable to resist an enemy spiritualist!" Gan Guangli stood beside her, looming above like a pillar of polished steel. His arms were crossed over the shining breastplate of his armor. "Now stand and thank Miss Ling for her efforts on your behalf!"
Ling Qi glanced up at him, and then away as she saw the honest grin directed down at her. The boys in the field stumbled to their feet, still shivering as the obeyed Gan, lining up to bow and offer a discipled and only slightly wobbly shout of gratitude directed at her. As awkward as it was, she managed to perform the proper bow in reply.
"Very good! You have one hour to meditate and cultivate upon what you have learned, drilling will resume then. Dismissed!" Gan Guangli's shout echoed over the field and his subordinates scattered. She didn't miss the way they avoided her gaze as they all but fled.
...Definitely overboard.
"I do apologize for the poor showing, but thank you for your help all the same," Guangli spoke again when they were well out of earshot, his normally shouting reduced to merely 'loud'.
"It was no trouble," Ling Qi replied, tucking her flute away . "After failing to break through for three days, I needed the exercise."
"Hah, truly, it is a troublesome thing, breaking into a new realm," Guangli said with a laugh. He himself was her opposite, having broken through finally to bronze, and lagging in the spiritual. "I hope my subordinates served well."
"They do need to work on their perceptive arts," Ling Qi admitted, reluctant to criticize others. "Only half of them really resisted much at all."
"And I will see that they are rewarded for that," Guangli applied agreeably. Ling Qi blinked as he tossed her a small metal canteen, she caught it of course, and raised an eyebrow in question. "Playing for so long is thirsty work," he said in reply to her unasked question. "My preferred mineral water encourages the quick recovery of ones qi as well. It is the least I can do."
"Ah, thank you," Ling Qi replied, a little nonplussed. She unscrewed the cap and took a sip, she might distrust it from another source, but Gan Guangli wasn't the type to spike a drink with something. The water had a crisp taste too it, cleansing the last of the sour flavor left over from her failed breakthrough, and she did feel her somewhat depleted qi begin to cycle more smoothly. "Can I ask why you're still doing this though? The open fighting is done, and Princess Sun's allies are all more focused on physical things."
He caught the canteen as she tossed it back. "It is my duty as Lady Cai's right hand to not only be a great warrior in my own right, but to be a leader as well," he replied gravely. "And to be honest, the lack of disciple and coordination among them irritates me greatly."
Ling Qi let out a quiet laugh. "I suppose you were marching in good order from the moment you could walk?"
"Very nearly," he responded, entirely straight faced, but with a hint of humor, he turned, giving her a questioning look as he headed toward the exit of the training field. She fell in beside him easily enough, it was a warm day and good for a stroll.
"You didn't answer the second half though," Ling Qi pointed out.
"A lack of defense against spiritual arts is common among lower realms," he replied, clasping his gauntleted hands behind his back as they walked. With combat over, he had gradually shrunk, reaching his normal height, where he stood only a head taller than her. "Such arts are not as common, nor as enticing to new cultivators as more offensive arts."
"I suppose," LIng Qi said, thinking of Argent Mirror, she supposed it was a fairly rare sort at least in the outer sect. "Why is that though?"
"It is a matter of resource," he replied bluntly. It was still a little strange to hear the over the top boy speak seriously. "Even cultivators who can reach the third realm in their lifetime may only use so many arts in tandem, those like you and I, or Lady Cai and MIss Bai are exceptions, not the norm, the matter is even worse among common cultivators, for whom the resources to open more than perhaps a ten meridians in their lifetime is a dream."
"That seems like a pretty obvious gap in ability though," Ling Qi mused. "Doesn't that mean the empires common soldiers are really vulnerable to spiritual attacks?"
"They are, and spirits of that sort can become a long running plague on the regions they inhabit," he answered with a frown. Ling Qi's thoughts turned to Su Ling's background, the girl didn't often talk about it, but she knew that she deeply resented her 'mother', more deeply than one would resent a dead person. "Some landholders choose to invest more in their soldiers,but most are content if they can repel assaults from the more common sort of beasts. It is shameful, and a thing for which I admire the Sects. They train and equip their forces with proper regularity and discipline!"
His voice rose toward the end, taking on his more typically passionate mode of speech. "Well, I'm sure you won't let this provinces forces be lax," she said lightly.
"One day all of Emerald Seas will have soldiers as well drilled as the Cloud Peak Guard of Cai! I swear that on my honor," he took her comment seriously it seems, he had stopped, raising a clenched fist to the sky as he spoke.
"You know, your really good at switching that on and off," Ling Qi replied, eyeing him shrewdly as they resumed walking.
"A man should be open and passionate," Guangli said with a wide grin. "So that his followers may be inspired, but I know that there are times for solemnity."
Ling Qi shook her head. "I think you just like shouting," she said, smiling a bit.
"You have discovered my secret Miss Ling. I must ask that you hold it close to your heart," the taller boy replied with utmost seriousness.
"I'll think about it," she shot back. "Lets pick up the pace a little though. I'll get us something to eat before we have to head back. I never did pay you back for punching out Kang."
"A task for which I hardly need a reward, but I am not one to refuse a maiden's gratitude," Guangli replied agreeably. "Lead the way, Miss Ling."
It was nice, after dealing with so many closed off and complicated people, to just spend some time chatting with someone totally open.The food at the market teahouse was good, and she had to admit, there was certain appeal to torturing… that is training subordinates. Maybe she did need to take some more time with the Ma Sisters in the future. They hadn't been following her lately but they were still assigned to her after all.
As much of an exercise in relaxation as it was though, between speaking with Gu Tai and then spending time with Gan Guangli, Ling Qi's thoughts could not help but turn to Cai Renxiang. The time was soon coming when she would have to accept or reject the girls offer. As much trouble as she had been having she doubted that she had more than a month until her breakthrough completed.
Yet she still knew so little about her. She was convinced that the girls espoused views were genuine, true, but that wasn't really the same.
No, they needed to talk yet, and so Ling Qi's steps took her toward where she knew Cai Renxiang would be.If nothing else the girl stuck to her schedules like clockwork unless there was an emergency.
She found her, unsurprisingly, on the road between the market and the residential district, surrounded by her usual small tableau of unctionaries. Not doubting that the other girl could sense her since she was making no effort to hide, Ling Qi took up a position a polite distance down the road and waited for her to approach.
Sure enough, she felt Cai's gaze lock onto her the moment her group crested the hill she waited at the foot of, and the moment they grew near enough to speak without shouting, the heiress raised her hand to halt and silence her followers. "Ling Qi," she said by way of greeting. "What news brings you here? Have Fu Xiang and you determined the culprit of the crimes committed in the market?"
Ling Qi did not show the slightest hint of the twinge of guilt that passed through her at those words. Cai Renxiang trusted her subordinates too much, that was probably going to get her in trouble one day. "No, sadly not," she responded instead. "While we are on the trail of the culprit, Fu Xiang wishes to fully verify all of the evidence before presenting the case for your inspection, to avoid tarnishing any names unnecessarily."
"I see," Cai replied, expression stern. "I will continue to rely upon the two of you for your good work," she concluded with a nod. "What brings you here then?"
Ling Qi took a deep breath. "The matter that you gave me to deliberate over. If it would please you, I would like to discuss it. I believe the time to make the decision is coming soon."
The other girls with Cai glanced between them curiously, but the gaze of the heiress herself remained focused on Ling Qi's face with laser like intensity, the faint halo of light behind her brightening by degrees. "Very well," she said simply. "Continue and complete the requisitions in my absence, I will review them in the morn," she said, turning her attention back to her followers. "I will be beginning my evening cultivation somewhat early today."
Ling watched with a raised eyebrow as the girls surrounding her did the little social dance of accepting Cai Renxiang's dismissal, and did her best not to react to the furtive, curious, and calculating glances sent her way. Only when they had bustled off, leaving her alone with the heiress did Ling Qi speak again."Is that really going to be alright?" She asked. "I don't doubt that some rumors just got kicked up."
"It is inevitable," Cai Renxiang agreed, looking up at the sky, where streamers of color had begun to spread with the setting of the sun. "This is a matter of import though. I offer you my congratulations on reaching the third realm."
"Thank you very much, Lady Cai," Ling Qi replied, offering a polite bow, her hands clasped. "I admit, I almost expected you to be waiting in our dining room with Bai Meizhen to receive my answer," she kept her tone even, but tentatively teasing. Cai was serious at all times, but she seemed to accept a little bit of impropriety in their interactions.
"I am not so impatient," she answered just a touch dryly. "You have not yet completed your ascension either. I will not rush this matter further than I already have," she continued, before turning on her heel. "Come, I do know your specific concerns, but they are best not aired in the middle of the road."
Ling Qi blinked in surprise as Cai's feet left the ground, tendrils of light blooming over her shoulders, but hurried to follow, the mantle she wore over her gown fluttering s she rose into their air as well, trailing streamers of black mist. She caught up to the heiress in a moment, bobbing gently in the air beside her as the wind washed over them. She wasn't sure where they were going, but for now she just followed Cai Renxiang's lead.
"So you are confident in your reserves," Cai mused, glancing her way. "Good."
"Flight still drains me quickly," Ling Qi warned, without thought manipulating the rushing wind to avoid it interrupting her words. "As much as I wish it didn't," she admitted, looking at the mountain now spreading out below them. She still loved the sensation of flight. "Where are we going?"
"To a training ground of mine," the heiress answered simply. "Do not concern yourself with the drain for now. Liming's presence bolsters their lesser kin."
For a moment, Ling Qi didn't understand what she meant, but then she glanced down, at the pure white gown Cai wore, and met hungry red 'eyes'. "That is new,"she replied cautiously, now that she focused on it...the drain on her qi was a trickle compared to the current amount. "What is Liming exactly? I admit that I lack understanding in the matter."
"An artificial spirit created by my Lady Mother," Cai Renxiang replied shortly, her stern gaze passing over the landscape rushing below. "Object spirits are unreliable things, their formation difficult to predict, and their rate of growth slower and more easily disrupted than any other. The Duchess Cai has fixed many of these things, though the cost of the creation puts them beyond price. Aside from Liming, only three others of the same quality currently exist."
"I assume that Duchess Cai has one, and I suppose the Empress has one, who has the third?" Ling Qi asked curiously.
"You are correct in your assumptions," Cai Renxiang replied approvingly. Her lips thinned and her eyes narrowed slightly as she continued though, which was close to a scowl for the stoic girl. "The third belongs to Mother's greatest supporter among the province's nobles."
Ling Qi remained silent as they banked in their flight path, curving around the mountain. She elected not to push the topic further. "You know, that all reminds me, before the Sect, I had never left Tonghou. What is the capital like? You would have grown up there, right?"
"Xiangmen is unmatched in its beauty, save by the Imperial capital itself," Cai replied, easily shifting to the new topic as they began to descend. "Though I suppose each ducal family thinks the same of their seat."
"Perhaps, but that just means they are biased, right?" Ling Qi said, her tone slightly flippant.
"Of course," she replied, her serious tone never wavering. "Regardless, it is likely difficult for one of your background to picture. The city of Xiangmen was the original stronghold of Xi clan, and as such, the whole of it built into and onto the last of the great Heavenly Pillarwoods."
Ling Qi furrowed her brows for a moment. "The city is built into a tree? How…"
Cai gave a slightly amused huff. "As I said, difficult to picture. It is more than two kilometers across at the base, and its canopy breeches the clouds. The view from the ducal palace looks down upon the province like the seat of a divine judge. The city resides in hollows within the trunk and terraces carved into the exterior."
"That must have been scary as a child, do a lot of people fall?" Ling Qi asked, trying to imagine living so far off the ground. It was somewhat ironic, considering how many hundreds of meters up she was right now, they were beginning to descend though.
"Mortals are confined to the lower reaches, including children," the heiress said as the downward arc of their flight grew steeper. "For their own safety. A mortal would suffocate in the upper portions of the city. I did not meet my Mother in her palace until I was six years old and fully awakened."
That seemed a little wrong somehow, though obviously she didn't say so. Hadn't Han Jian said that it was odd for children to start cultivating before they were ten or so? "Well I suppose that makes sense," she said instead as the two of them landed in a strange field of tall, narrow stone pillars, wide enough only for a single person to stand upon. They rose from a pool of shimmering, clear water, charged with a potent qi.
Cai Renxiang stood straight and tall on the highest of the pillars, closing her eyes as she breathed in deeply from the placid atmosphere. Ling Qi could feel rigid qi that filled this place flowing toward the heiress, as her gown rippled, the fabric sparkling under the dying light. "This place is private," she said as she opened her eyes. "What is it that you wish to ask?"
Ling Qi restrained the urge to scuff her foot against the smooth surface of the stone pillar beneath her. "I've spent a fair amount of time around you now. I think I understand your goals, at least on a surface level," she began slowly. "I am even grateful to you for your help in understanding imperial law, though I have a long way to go," she added the last with a slight grimace.
"What troubles you then?" The other girl asked without hesitation.
"Despite all that,I feel like I don't know you, exactly," Ling Qi replied just as bluntly. "You said you wanted my loyalty, the kind I extend to Bai Meizhen, Li Suyin, Su Ling, or Gu Xiulan, but… I know things about them, personal things, and they know details of my own life that I don't easily share… we do not have that between us."
"I see," Cai Renxiang said with a slight frown. "You know of course, that I have investigated your background."
"There's that too," Ling Qi replied, crossing her arms. "I'm sure you know everything about me that the flapping lips of Tonghou could reveal, but I know nothing of you, beyond the obvious."
Silence fell between them, and this time Ling Qi did not bow her head, keeping her gaze locked with Cai's own as she waited for the heiress' answer.
"I have no frivolous details to share," Renxiang admitted bluntly after the silence had stretched on, her eyes remained intense and unblinking. "I do not have time for leisure. My life has been spent solely in preparation and training for the fulfillment of my role," she spoke contemplatively. "I could speak, I suppose of my preferred blends of tea, or the minor projects in tailoring I use as part of my meditative process, but I suspect that would not solve anything."
"I probably wouldn't understand," Ling Qi freely admitted. "All teas taste pretty similar to me, and my needlework is limited to repairs."
The other girls eyes flashed, the light behind her intensifying, casting her shadow across Ling Qi. "That will change should you join me. The foothills of the Emerald Seas produce most of the empires tea's. It is a matter of court etiquette to recognize the various blends."
"Is that so?" Ling Qi replied, twisting a stray strand of hair between her fingers. "Well, I suppose taste testing teas is better than straining my eyes on books that could be used for paving stones," she murmured before shaking her head. "We're getting off track."
"True," Cai Renxiang agreed. "But I do not understand yet what you desire from this conversation."
"I'm not sure either," Ling Qi replied with a grimace. "It's just… you probably know that my Mother was a prostitute, that I spent most of my life as a thief. You probably have a bunch of records that mention the things I did in more detail than I remember. I guess… I want to know you, before I make my choice. Not the heiress of Cai, not your goals. I just... want to know why Cai Renxiang seeks the things she does."
The red 'eyes' splashed across the other girls chest looked down at her, no longer with hunger, but with suspicion as well, Cai's face was a blank and stoic mask. Some part of Ling Qi felt relief, she would be rebuffed, and go on with her life. "You ask for much, given your position," the heiress' voice was cool. "And the fact that you do not even pretend to have made your decision."
"I know, but this is what you wanted from me," Ling Qi replied defiantly, despite the worm of guilt in her gut, hadn't she lied to Cai Renxiang only minutes ago. "I can't guarantee it to be a revelation, but I would speak of myself as well, if you did. It would only be fair."
The light intensified, forcing Ling Qi to narrow her eyes to avoid being dazzled, she wasn't certain this was a good idea, but she had to try. Joining Cai would be a decision that she could not take back.
"My Mother terrifies me," Ling Qi blinked, jerked from her thoughts by the fading light, letting her see Cai's wary face as she spoke. "I speak not in general terms, she is a monster."
"Ah," Ling Qi knew she was gaping, but she couldn't quite figure out how to respond.
"The day I met my Mother was in her workshop, where she fitted Liming to me," Cai continued stiffly, the only indication of discomfort on her part the way that she fingered the hem of her sleeve. "Or rather, when she fitted me to Liming. She is not cruel, not truly, but she feels nothing. Everything and everyone around her are but threads in the pattern she intends to weave."
"I'm really not sure I should be listening to this," Ling Qi said after a moment. "I…"
"You asked," Cai replied blandly. "I do not speak to denigrate my honored Mother. I am a monster as well. Mother made it so, she has shown me the foulness and rot that infests the province, and I will see it purged, justice and virtue will return to my court. I do not find the weaving she intends to be displeasing… I merely believe that it lacks, that Mother no longer perceives certain things with the importance that they deserve. I believe that her inhumanity will bring ruin when she finally grows bored of playing with her dolls and casts them aside. I think this, despite knowing that I dance upon her strings, knowing that I think this way because she shaped me so."
Ling Qi stared blankly at the heiress, uncomfortable at the admission that had just occurred. It frightened her somewhat to be frank. It made her think of the scheme she had entered into with Fu Xiang. She strongly believed that their secret was safe. She had been around the heiress enough to know that she relied heavily on the spectacled boy for investigation and intelligence. It was one of the ways in which Cai Renxiang was strangely naive. All the same, some small part of her didn't feel right, continuing this lie going forward. It seemed... false somehow to speak so candidly with the other girl while still hiding something.
All the same, she was reluctant to speak of it, for she knew that Cai Renxiang would almost certainly punish the both of them for it, in some fashion, though she could probably mitigate the damage somewhat... maybe. Cai Renxiangs disturbing words made her certainty shaky.
[] Admit to the deception. Apologize, explain, and accept the consequences.
[] Remain silent, thank her sincerely and speak of yourself as promised.
-[] Convince Fu Xiang to drop the framing part of the plan, it would be best to avoid further abuses.
[X] Remain silent, thank her sincerely and speak of yourself as promised.
-[X] Convince Fu Xiang to drop the framing part of the plan, it would be best to avoid further abuses.
I am absolutely unimpressed with the possibility losing the white room and halting Xiang's investigation into our Renshu by pissing off both parties.
[X] Remain silent, thank her sincerely and speak of yourself as promised.
-[X] Convince Fu Xiang to drop the framing part of the plan, it would be best to avoid further abuses.
Crisper and the flow of question and answer feels better. My own view of what Ling Qi should do hasn't changed, although given her feelings and that it'd be an abuse of authority, the subvote is added. Plus, this option should give Ling Qi a chance to talk about herself - her goals, her concerns, who she feels she is and who wants to be and talk about her Domain and what it means to her.
[X] Remain silent, thank her sincerely and speak of yourself as promised.
-[X] Convince Fu Xiang to drop the framing part of the plan, it would be best to avoid further abuses.
[x] Remain silent, thank her sincerely and speak of yourself as promised.
-[x] Convince Fu Xiang to drop the framing part of the plan, it would be best to avoid further abuses.
[X] Remain silent, thank her sincerely and speak of yourself as promised.
-[X] Convince Fu Xiang to drop the framing part of the plan, it would be best to avoid further abuses.
You've kind of missed my point in your eagerness to claim that my post supports yours - which is that archery is kind of superfluous to Ling Qi at present and not only is FSA+ less desirable than another musical art, more levels of her existing arts or perhaps even a well-chosen new art, but that FSA itself could be replaced by another art and Ling Qi would probably be more combat-effective.
At this point we are heavily invested in music to the point that the most efficient build is to go all music, all the time. Our archery arts will eventually become vestigial utility pieces used to mow down weaker enemies from maximum range. The tipping point for me was Zeqing handing out high quality arts like candy and providing us with juicy tutoring bonuses.
In an alternate universe where we had a random encounter with an archery focused spirit we could easily have arrived on an optimum build that maxed out AE + archery. The worms plus nukes combo platter, bolstered with self-made super arrows, would have been an absolute nightmare for most of our peers to fight against. In that world FVM would have become a vestigial utility piece for mass mook crowd control or ambush purposes.
I don't think either the music build or the archery build is necessarily superior in a vacuum. I think the archery build would have been easier to put together if not for Zeqing providing a ginormous boost to the music build. I also think that as we move higher up the food chain it will become less viable to maintain two completely different vectors of attack. Even if we want to keep a physical attack to go with our spiritual attacks, it will eventually make more sense to have it as part of our music suite instead of having a music suite and an archery suite.
It really says something that the art loadout debate is more enjoyable than the current vote discussion.
I'm really looking forward to Ling Qi talking about her newly-found Domain (that's something to compare - what's Cai Renxiang's Domain about?), her goals and who she feels she is and wants to be ("I'm a thief, and a good one... but I don't think I want to be"), that kind of thing.
EDIT: I mean, not that she doesn't enjoy using her abilities, or playing pranks, or even using theft and such against enemies. But as shown with the favor and how she thinks of her childhood, she doesn't want to use them seriously against those who haven't offended her. She's proud that she doesn't need to, I think.
