Even Further Beyond [Complete]

RedV said:

I wonder if we can make Liefang a Titan for shits and giggles with our Necromancer in the epilogue. Given our Stage, amount of Overgrowth beasts needed to elevate him to peak Grand Solipsism (assuming that more philosophical requirements aren't also needed) would be doable without harming our own progress, and seeing him become a Titan would be pretty fun. Best dad needs some kind of reward.

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UDwarf said:

Some of the beasts are already Grand Solipsism-level, so it would probably only take one beast, and even that only if there are no titanic beasts in there. If there are, we wouldn't even need a whole beast (make ALL the Titans!).

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Shard said:

And what about our poor, ignored mother?

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Rihaku-24 said:

Deepwater

In a lesser receiving room, the Nameless One leaned back, unfolding his legs to restore sensation. Meiling sat beside him in peaceful repose, fault accepted so totally it veered into blithe audacity. Yong Shen leaned forward, eyes like a hawk sighting a beached flounder.

"The reparable damages come to a sum of eight million, four hundred fifty thousand, six hundred and eighty-two talents, eighty-seven coppers," the Yong mason rattled off. "Irreplaceable damages come to a sum of fifty-four million, seven hundred thousand, fifty-three talents, three hundred coppers, and a desecrated Kong cloud-jade vase of priceless value. The manufacturing district—"

Meiling coughed lightly, and sipped her tea.

"—is projected to complete repairs in four days, seventeen hours, and eight minutes. The full accounting—"

Yong Shen twitched a finger, the shockwave blowing the screens open, silk curtains pressed flat to the painted timbers. The mason nodded, stepping away with the speed of a Reality Former.

"Zhuyen. Boy." Shen pursed his lips, face unreadable. "It would seem you had an enjoyable afternoon."

"It was adequate," Meiling said, hand to her lips.

"We heard."

The slightest dusting of color graced the Heroine's cheeks, not humiliation but remembrance. The Nameless One gave her a thumbs-up and a brilliant grin.

"Do you have something to add, boy?" Shen enunciated.

"WHAT?" the Nameless One yelled, vicinity painted white in compressed vapor. Meiling clapped a hand over his mouth.

"His eardrums haven't healed yet," Meiling tittered. "But, really, that's—yaah! That's disgusting!"

The Nameless One withdrew his tongue. "IF YOU DON'T—"

"Out," said Yong Shen, and tapped a finger, the thunder blowing them back. "Out of my house until you learn discretion. Go elsewhere, and let some other fool suffer your misdemeanor."

The Titan's word was law in the land of Yong, and so the Nameless One and the Heroine departed. Honored as she was, Meiling still warranted a raucous festival fueled by the economic might of Yong even after destroying an entire wing of the estate. The Nameless One noted ruefully that the combined furor of the cheering masses barely approached the banshee vocalization that deafened him the day before.

Truly, only after coming to this world was he learning what it was to live.

Yong Liefang, Shen's seventeenth and favorite son, personally waved them off, blowing exaggerated sobs into a six million copper silk handkerchief. At his side, a sorrowful beauty glared daggers at the Nameless One as the infant Weiwei in her arms wailed relentlessly. Meiling cooed over her, which only made her cries louder.

You and me both, the Nameless One thought, looking at the little sister in another life. You and me both.

"Yong presents to you these wonderful gifts," Liefang said, ceremonial flourishes executed with languid affect as a caravan of rich silks, gold, and spices was laid before them. Meiling waved a hand not occupied with tormenting a child, vanishing the tribute into her subspace vault. "And a personal gift from myself: a charm to ensure healthy pregnancy and painless childbirth." From his sleeve he unfolded a small wooden charm carved from Yong yew, proofed against the ages.

"Does it work?" the Nameless One asked, holding the charm to the light. An obstetric palliative seemed well within the capabilities of Diagram magic, but Cultivation was hardly an altruistic science.

"Of course not! If it did, it would be a pill."

"…Right." He tossed it at Meiling, embedding it with the Pelagic Silence. It rematerialized mid-flight, appearing behind her receiving hand to clock her in the face.

"Yah!"

Oh, shit. He genuinely thought she would catch it.

"And for your journey to the lands of Kong," Liefang continued, handing over a wax-sealed scroll, "I'll lend you my spacious Yongshan timeshare. Just mention me and the owner will know what to do."

"Right, yeah, okay," said the Nameless One, watching Meiling advance upon him. "Vane, I'll be honest, it was really funny—ow, ow!"

---

The owner had taken a look at the scroll, clapped the Nameless One on the back, and inquired when he could expect the first installment, the firm grip of a Dao Cleaver restraining him.

The Nameless One didn't know what else he was expecting. What a fucker, that Yong Liefang, he thought ruefully, unable to even muster a reaction. He hadn't even warranted a real scam. Or perhaps the expectation of being scammed, was the scam. It was scams all the way down.

With a quick application of Neulevogue's Sculptor to amass a metric ton of transparent Cultivator's jade from thin air, the Nameless One officially owned a six-storey apartment with a scenic view of the black ravine separating Yong from the Overgrowth, where he could brood on the balcony with a jug of wine and think about his nemesis until Meiling dragged him away.

"You're so depressing, Cursebearer," she said, when they were beneath the covers. She was using him as a headrest.

"Meiling, no, I have a headache." The Nameless One swooned, snapping a self-portrait. "All those dank memes have rotted my millennial brain. Mee-mees. Wait, shit. Mee-mees for Meimei." The bounty of Wits was rich and nourishing.

This close to the border, the verdancy of Yong retreated from the ravages of the Beasts that plagued Kong, crags and cliffs grown into layered ablative fortifications by Yong Elementalists. Tapered passages of reinforced stone wide enough to hold skyscrapers channeled Beasts into killzones, sheer slate and char-bubbled mica lined with polished steel hooks shining like claws of thunderbirds, the smallest heavy enough to crush a parade in its shadow. Past the borders, the terrain descended into the coiled willowy brambles of the Overgrowth, star-set darkness pulsating gently like ripples on the night sea, hiding in their depths the bed of monsters.

Their guide, Kong Suichou, was unperturbed. Clad in a warrior's tunic, she carried a spear tipped with rough jade, two short swords sitting at the small of her back that she only unsheathed for the kill. She welcomed the Nameless One's money gladly, eyes blue as the free man's sky.

"For a sum such as this," she said, hefting the string of gilt Imperial jade, "I'd take you to Ming! Or even my bedroom."

Meiling adhered to the Nameless One in a ferocious burst of speed. "The Overgrowth is fine, thank you," she said.

"As you say. But charting through the Overgrowth gets dicey, you know! I need to know what you're looking for."

"Of course," the Nameless One said. "We're looking for…"

---

[ ] …Monsters – "Monsters, eh? There's plenty of those to go around. You don't look like much, but if you want to die that's your business."

*Go Beast-Hunting, a proud, grim tradition of the people of Kong. Under your Titanic protection, trade routes will be reinforced and fortifications expanded, strengthening the Kong region for the coming apocalyptic battle.
*Weakling Beasts that fail, and are ejected by, the brutal selection process of the deep Overgrowth are the most common assailants on the relatively fragile mortal citadels. Each can massacre legions of Organ Refining Cultivators before a Soul Chrysalis Cultivator renders them down into spare parts. Their blood, dilute and thin, is a powerful Cultivation reagent, and is fermented into Kong Blood Wine by the mortal population, a potent and delicious stimulant. Meiling's new favorite beverage!
*Deeper penetration into the Overgrowth summons exponentially more dangerous Beasts. In seeking worthy opponents, you may upset the delicate status quo that permits survival of the Kong people.
*Eat Beasts for power! Power not guaranteed. Terrible taste guaranteed, unless you can find a Cuisine Sect Cultivator. Enduring the havoc wreaked upon your digestive system by such potent Heterodox Cultivation materials may interact with your Remittance strangely.
*Defend the weak mortals from uncaring primeval gods and Accursed-sempai will notice you!
*He will not notice you.
*Rumored sightings of Beasts transgressing beyond the Grand Solipsist Great Circle, with equivalent Reality Effects. Has Kong been Cultivating Beasts like insane Pokemon?

[ ] …Treasures – "Treasures, eh? I can't guarantee we'll find any, but who knows what'll pop up? Once, I found a full ceremonial tea set inside a Beast! It must have eaten someone very rich."

*Establish a comprehensive patrol for erratic Beasts whose ungainly power has crystallized into artifacts of renown.
*Fight even weirder shit than you would normally. The Defense Arm renders the Nameless One mostly immune, but Meiling must rely on her innate hardiness and Artifact ensuite.
*The most valued treasure known to the men of Kong are the Pearls of Fathomless Blue, solid accretions of Cultivation found in high-level Beasts. Meiling tells you that upon consumption and absorption, the brief alignment to the energies within also aligns the Cultivator to Kong Zang, who forms a channel of communication. You could eat one, and possibly digest it harmlessly given your Constitution, but you're better off selling it.
*Other raw materials sacrifice potential power for instantiated narrow effect, mostly related to spatial manipulation and internal expansion effects derived from Kong's Dao. Meiling will be able to craft these materials into potent Spacetime Artifacts.
*Other raw materials are specialized against the above. Good old predator-prey dynamics! Meiling will be able to craft these into potent Antimetric Artifacts.

[ ] …the Patriarch Kong – "…I want ten times as much."

*Kong Suichou is reluctant, but enchanting her with an Ignition Defense Shell will allay her fears. The money also helps.
*The location of Kong Zang is a secret, but traveling toward the direction of spatial distortion is a generally accurate method.
*Kong is served by a coterie of lackeys who maintain the fiction of a reigning, but distant, Titan. They may try to eliminate you. Killing the entire Elder Council of Kong may have side effects.
*There are also secessionist elements within Kong, who work to undermine Kong Zang's efforts. Ineffectual as they are, you risk disturbing the few plots they have successfully running, and they may try to eliminate you.
*Locating the Chrysalis of Kong may awaken him early. His attention is fully invested on his own Cultivation, but it only takes one Kong officer gulping a Pearl before you take his head off.
*You may need to relax the Pelagic, as the Fates will not be able to leverage full assistance to prevent untimely awakening. Might as well get in on that helping hand while it's still handing out handouts.

[ ] …Something strange – "Something strange, eh? Well, alright, sir."

*There are rumors of abandoned Cultivation science experiments and ruptures to other realms cause by Kong's previous failed ventures in space transcendence.
*An isekai inside my isekai? It's more likely than you think.

---

In between (or during) romps, Meiling tutors you in the Diagram, instilling you with the conceptual principles the Divinities harnessed when crafting its foundation. With your genius intellect, Diagram intuition, and the Shadow playing supercomputer, you achieve ten of the eleven Signs, understanding the Diagram as no Diagram Magus ever had, or will. The penultimate Sign, Essence, remains out of your reach, demanding a sacrifice of toil and self to release its secrets. This sacrifice can be paid by Meiling, eroding her mortal frame to release the light of divinity, but you still need to bone up, nerd.

The final Sign cannot be acquired without a bullshit sidequest. It's not Love.

Nevertheless, at his level of Dexterity and prodigious quantities of spiritual fuel (MP), the Nameless One can cast hundreds of Sigils in a second, and dozens of Battle Diagrams. The Shadow, whose form is a matter of mind, can contort his shape to cast dozens of times faster, assuming the shape of a razor whip of Ignition that convulses through thousands of Sigils in a thunderstorm cascade. Certain Diagrams may not be accelerated to this extent, requiring the bodyplan and idiosyncrasies of the Humans it was designed for.

With the Mental Partition, the Ego and Shadow can have different loadouts. Currently, both retain the internalized Diagrams of pre-Partition. However, certain Diagrams cannot find purchase on the Praxis Form of the Shadow, or interact oddly with the two-as-one nature of the Nameless One.

Out of the trillions of potential Diagrams, the Nameless One has narrowed it down to a few possibilities he would like to develop or refine:

Sign of Knowledge
[ ] Observe (Sigil) – Upon casting the Sigil, the Nameless One receives a snapshot impression of the target's general capabilities and immediate disposition, interfacing with the Remittance into a character sheet. Repeated castings can be used to accumulate and define a comprehensive dossier.
[ ] Ironsights (Sigil) – Upon casting the Sigil, the Nameless One designates a target, a continuous stream of information about their location and tactical decisions feeding to him for six minutes. In combination with the Sword, he can effortlessly counter all attacks before they're even made.
[ ] Radar Ping (Sigil) – Upon casting this Sigil and designating a target category, the Nameless One receives information on their whereabouts if within a vicinity of several hundred meters.
[ ] Subtitles (Sigil) – Upon casting this Sigil, the Nameless One receives emotional and psychological data from a target.
[ ] Scanner (Battle) – Upon casting the Sigil, the Nameless One learns the composition and broad history of a target or location. Wow, you did that with a spoon?
[ ] Critical Weakpoint (Battle) – Upon casting the Battle Diagram, the Nameless One immediately comprehends the vulnerabilities of a given target's mindset and combative capabilities, informing his devastating quips and bon mots, and also strategies of victory.
[ ] Prescient Path (Battle) – Upon casting the Battle Diagram, the Nameless One's consciousness is expanded to perceive the next four seconds.
[ ] Third Person Limited (Grand) – This Diagram expands the Nameless One's awareness beyond its already heightened level, allowing him to witness simultaneously all things occurring within a radius defined by one minute of travel at maximum speed as if he were observing with the eye of a hyperdimensional being.
[ ] Walkthrough (Grand) – This Diagram strengthens the Nameless One's foresight and decision-making through gross data accumulation. All choices gain additional benefits as they are streamlined and magnified in effect.
[ ] Search Function (Grand) – This Diagram absorbs and indexes all information within the Nameless One's minute travel vicinity into a repository of knowledge for the Nameless One to peruse at will as though he were present at those moments.
[ ] Deliberation (Grand) – A spell of intellectual augmentation. You already have the Cognition Frame and trans-Titanic Wits, but every bit helps, I guess? Meiling notes that the original spell was developed by a blood-enemy of Vane who still lives, so you may incur his wrath.

Sign of Seeming
[ ] Confidence Game (Sigil) – The Nameless One pumps himself up with a rush of manic energy. This Sigil can also be used to evoke any emotion the Nameless One has experienced personally.
[ ] Palette Swap (Sigil) – The Nameless One changes the aesthetic appearance and physical sensation of a target or object.
[ ] One-Liner (Sigil) – Upon casting upon a target, they hear, see, or otherwise experience a customized attack on their personality.
[ ] Mindlag (Sigil) – Upon casting, the target's observation of the Nameless One is delayed by up to seven seconds.
[ ] Replay (Sigil) Upon casting upon a target, the Nameless One flawlessly recreates any form of sensory experience, even if the memory of the event is faded.
[ ] Palate Swap (Battle) – Upon casting, the target's sensory input is suborned to the Nameless One's control. Superhuman or extraordinary senses beyond his experience are poorly simulated.
[ ] Devastating Rejoinder (Battle) – Upon casting, the target experiences a personally traumatic memory or agonizing sensation.
[ ] Invisibility Cloak (Battle) – Upon casting, the Nameless One is erased from all sensory experience and methods of observation. The Brand still works, though, but they will be unable to identify its source.
[ ] Chat Window (Battle) – Upon casting, the Nameless One forms a sympathetic link with an ally, able to transmit physical sensation and sensory input.
[ ] Brand Mitigation (Grand) – Mitigate the Brand of the Wretched by 10% while you are within cosmic range of the Diagram.
[ ] Killing Intent (Grand) – Focuses the Brand of the Wretched into a beam of absolute hatred powerful enough to stop hearts. Counts as 5% Mitigation. Now that's some lemonade!
[ ] Poison of the Soul (Grand) – Upon contact, the Nameless One may channel the entirety of the Brand of the Wretched into a target. Effects unknown.

Sign of Death
[ ] Soulcutter (Sigil) – Fires a missile of necromantic energy that can kill low-level Soul Chrysalis Cultivators. Glancing hits disable limbs on a fundamental level.
[ ] Seed of Grief (Sigil) – Fires a missile of necromantic energy. Upon contact, the target experiences crippling enervation and loss of motivating passion.
[ ] Commune Spirit (Sigil) – When cast over a recently deceased body, the Nameless One calls its spirit up to speak.
[ ] Life Leech (Sigil) – When cast on contact with a target, the Nameless One frays their soul, absorbing a portion their life-force and boosting HP regeneration marginally, or MP regeneration to a greater degree.
[ ] Hadean Gladiator (Battle) – Upon casting, the Nameless One instantiates a spectral warrior of Soul Chrysalis level. The warrior is capable of intangibility, invisibility, low-level flight, and emitting blasts of necromantic energy, and comes armed with a weapon of choice.
[ ] Overshadow (Battle) – A missile of phantasmal energy that smothers the soul of a target, suborning it to the Nameless One's control.
[ ] Fortify Self (Battle) – The Nameless One leeches life-force in a radius, restoring his HP and granting temporary Constitution buffs. Cultivator foundations are eroded. Heavy leeching may lead to cosmic substructure degradation.
[ ] One Up (Grand) – This Diagram constantly accumulates excess vitality skimmed from the Nameless One's regeneration or stolen life-force. When the Nameless One's HP is reduced to 0, all accumulated life force is returned, and a brief regeneration buff is applied. Following this, the Diagram must be reinscribed. It can be triggered upon an ally.
[ ] Lord of the Dead (Grand) – The souls of all who die within the Nameless One's vicinity are instead entombed in their bodies, which are restored to serve his will. He is able to command them mentally, and force them to divulge their secrets.
[ ] Trillion Soul Colossus (Grand) – Cast on a location, all spirits of those who perished there in the past 1666 years are summoned and aggregated into a singular entity of supreme spiritual might, obedient to the Nameless One. If it perishes, inscribe this Diagram on its grave to resummon!
[ ] Gallows God (Grand) – The Nameless One, upon contact, permanently annihilates a soul, and increases his own maximum HP or an Attribute. It is far easier at this time to add a point to HP than to an Attribute. Souls of especial power require duration of contact.

Sign of Space
[ ] Stretch Space (Sigil) – Upon casting, an area is dilated or shrunk by a factor of ten.
[ ] Protection (Sigil) – Upon casting, a wall of force equivalent to enchanted diamond instantiates briefly.
[ ] River of Gravity (Sigil) – Upon casting, a brief channel is opened between the Nameless One and a target, allowing for direct attack. Duration and diameter of channel attenuates rapidly with distance.
[ ] Transporter (Battle) – The Nameless One exchanges his vicinity with an equal vicinity a thousand kilometers away. At his current MP regeneration rate, he is capable of casting this sequentially for an hour. In conjunction with transcendent space Praxis effects, this Battle Diagram can be augmented to several thousand kilometers.
[ ] Contortion Fortress (Battle) – Upon casting, the Nameless One is shielded by heavy dilation of spacetime. His own hyperspatial Praxis effects, should he have any, can be deployed as though it were not present.
[ ] Seven-League Boots (Battle) – Upon casting, for every step the Nameless One takes, he travels four steps of equivalent distance.
[ ] Subspace Inventory (Battle) – An improvement on Meiling's Magic Magazine, this version folds space into a pocket capable of holding a full armory.
[ ] Meiling's Magnificent Mansion (Grand) – An improvement on the Vault of the Ur-Pharaoh, the caster receives 10 design points, but Accessibility 4 and Habitability 3 are already present. Meiling's own version is Beyonded, granting her 15 points. You've mostly been Slumbering within it.
[ ] Guillotine of Worlds (Grand) – Cast on a location, it is immediately transported to the Outer Dark. The Nameless One is capable of inscribing this within a single day.
[ ] Worldshatter (Grand) – This Diagram bestows continuum unity upon the Nameless One, destabilizing and forcing all spatial and intangibility effects to manifest physically. Dilation effects are rebounded on their casters. Enemies find themselves drawn to him, attempts at evasion failing.
[ ] Noclip (Grand) – This Diagram allows the Nameless One to form a bubble of contortion around him while compressing his real world volume to a miniscule point. The Nameless One appears transparent, but receives all sensory information as though he were still unshrunk. Travel through cracks in wood, stone, people without (much) harm. Release while inside an enemy to telefrag them!

Sign of Stone
[ ] Hitscan (Sigil) – Creates a rod of enchanted bronze the diameter of the Nameless One's finger, the length of his line of sight. Spiritually strong enough to interpenetrate Soul Chrysalis Cultivators.
[ ] Shape Matter (Sigil) – Moulds a target to the will of the caster. Objects with a soul or Flesh resist.
[ ] Periodic Progression (Sigil) – A refinement on Konral's Odd Detonation, the Nameless One determined that this Diagram shifts the elements of a target one step along the periodic table, wreaking absolute havoc on molecular bonds. Your skill allows you finer control and advancement. In combination with Sculptor, become ludicrously rich. Three steps to turn pure lead to pure gold, if it pleases you!
[ ] Rocks Fall, Everybody Dies (Sigil) – Summons a boulder, anvil, comically large piano, etc, several hundred meters above a location.
[ ] Meiling's Munificent Makeover (Sigil) – Meiling made this before she Incarnated fully. You already have this, but if you improve it somehow Meiling will be mad at you.
[ ] Sculptor (Battle) – A redesign on Neulevogue's Sculptor, which you currently have. Increase instantiated mass to six tons, and range of compositions.
[ ] Refinement (Battle) – An improvement on Kleinvarr's Greater Refining, this version grants additional bonuses and control of result.
[ ] Unbreakable (Battle) – Upon casting, target is rendered immune to deformation, and does not transmit energy.
[ ] Alchemy Cauldron (Grand) – This Diagram, when inscribed on a device of industry, imbues all creations made with it with unnatural strength and killing power. Meiling has her own variant (Meiling's Manufacture Mojo) specialized to augment her Artifice capabilities.
[ ] Boss Arena (Grand) – At will, manifest a battleground in your vicinity, which deforms and attacks to your advantage.
[ ] Hand of Hephaestus (Grand) – Imbues the power of Shape Matter and Refining into your own body.

Sign of Force
[ ] Explosion (Sigil) – A classic. Point and boom!
[ ] Piercing Bolt (Sigil) – Fires a beam of shearing force energy strong enough to core miles of stone.
[ ] Disperser (Sigil) – Engulfs a target in violent energies.
[ ] Move Object (Sigil) – The true MVP. Target object moves to your will. You already have this to Leviosa shit.
[ ] Animation Skeleton (Battle) – Upon casting, target matter is moved according to preset conditions and framework of motion.
[ ] Meteor Strike (Battle) - Upon casting, target location is placed under high-gravity compression.
[ ] Augment Force (Battle) – Upon casting, the Nameless One's attacks are doubled in effective kinetic impact. He already has the original (Llewyn's Primal Might), but with access to its successor spell of the Flesh, redesign will help scale it to his Remittance.
[ ] Lightness of Being (Battle) – Upon casting, the Nameless One no longer experiences gravity or recoil stress, up to Dao Cleaving levels of strength. A minor boost to his recovery!
[ ] Exotic Hammer (Battle) – Upon casting, the Nameless One fires a missile of esoteric destruction, harnessing all the energies beneath the Diagram's purview for the sole purpose of devastation.
[ ] Transcendent Magnification of the Fist (Grand) – A Diagram that duplicates the effect of the Nameless One's might.
[ ] Telekinesis (Grand) – This Diagram manifests movement control of all objects within the Nameless One's local vicinity.
[ ] Rocketeer (Grand) – At will, achieve orbital acceleration.

Sign of Flesh
[ ] Salve of Repair (Sigil) – Heals target for 50 HP. You've been using this a lot.
[ ] Wellness Tincture (Sigil) – Invigorates and palliates target.
[ ] Fertilizer (Sigil) – An improvement on the Balm of Growth, this spell sacrifices refinement per casting for permanency.
[ ] Poison Effect (Sigil) – Generates a potent venom capable of crippling Organ Refining Cultivators.
[ ] Instant Juice (Sigil) – Generate 500mL of mundane fruit juice. Can also be used to generate organic compounds and enzymatic solutions.
[ ] Sentinel Vigor (Battle) – Restores a font of stamina, awareness and regeneration. You've been using this a lot.
[ ] Greater Reshaping (Battle) – Heals target for 800 HP and regrows limb. As in, if you lost two limbs you're fucked.
[ ] Prodigious Might (Battle) – Why not? Combine with its sister-spell Augment Force for happy times.
[ ] Seed of Life (Battle) – Upon casting, generate a customized seed that will grow into a magical plant within a year. This plant is immune to Flesh spells.
[ ] Warrior Beast (Battle) – Generate a combat beast capable of combating low Dao-Cleaving cultivators. This beast is inclined to obey you, but may stray.
[ ] Tabula Rasa (Grand) – Upon casting, the Nameless One will slowly be reshaped into a form designated at time of casting.
[ ] Heart of Vitality (Grand) – The Nameless One emits a field of vitality, increasing HP regeneration for all within range. His own HP regeneration is increased by 10%.
[ ] World-Eater (Grand) – Generate a rapidly-growing intelligent animal of supreme power capable of casting Diagram spells, and with bodily strength and power equal to Reality Formers.

Ascendant Signs later!

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RedV said:

Last quest Procrastinator felt highly restrictive - we couldn't develop Vitalism at all in large part due to it. I won't argue that it wasn't worth the power we got, but it sealed off interesting interactions. This time it still impacts us, but mostly we can develop in our own directions so it feels more fine by me.

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Last quest

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RedV said:

She's kinda like Suizhen. Martial character who thread can ignore since we can sword better than her and will likely always continue to do that, surpassing majority of utility she provides. She's not as nearly cool as Liefang; this means she'll always be second / third priority to me.

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Horologer said:

I only finished reading the quest earlier this week, so I could be completely off base here, and I'm interested to see what more experienced readers think.

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Addio said:

I don't care for xianxia.

And you know what? I think it's time for another build vote!

~~~
DEFY YOUR OWN HEAVENS YOU LAZY TWATS
4357 words
Cursebearer EFB Quest
~~~


AN: Hohohoho what fresh hell is this.

Spoiler: For all you friends and fools

Deepwater

In a lesser receiving room, the Nameless One leaned back, unfolding his legs to restore sensation. Meiling sat beside him in peaceful repose, fault accepted so totally it veered into blithe audacity. Yong Shen leaned forward, eyes like a hawk sighting a beached flounder.

"The reparable damages come to a sum of eight million, four hundred fifty thousand, six hundred and eighty-two talents, eighty-seven coppers," the Yong mason rattled off. "Irreplaceable damages come to a sum of fifty-four million, seven hundred thousand, fifty-three talents, three hundred coppers, and a desecrated Kong cloud-jade vase of priceless value. The manufacturing district—"

Meiling coughed lightly, and sipped her tea.

"—is projected to complete repairs in four days, seventeen hours, and eight minutes. The full accounting—"

Yong Shen twitched a finger, the shockwave blowing the screens open, silk curtains pressed flat to the painted timbers. The mason nodded, stepping away with the speed of a Reality Former.

"Zhuyen. Boy." Shen pursed his lips, face unreadable. "It would seem you had an enjoyable afternoon."

"It was adequate," Meiling said, hand to her lips.

"We heard."

The slightest dusting of color graced the Heroine's cheeks, not humiliation but remembrance. The Nameless One gave her a thumbs-up and a brilliant grin.

"Do you have something to add, boy?" Shen enunciated.

"WHAT?" the Nameless One yelled, vicinity painted white in compressed vapor. Meiling clapped a hand over his mouth.

"His eardrums haven't healed yet," Meiling tittered. "But, really, that's—yaah! That's disgusting!"

The Nameless One withdrew his tongue. "IF YOU DON'T—"

"Out," said Yong Shen, and tapped a finger, the thunder blowing them back. "Out of my house until you learn discretion. Go elsewhere, and let some other fool suffer your misdemeanor."

The Titan's word was law in the land of Yong, and so the Nameless One and the Heroine departed. Honored as she was, Meiling still warranted a raucous festival fueled by the economic might of Yong even after destroying an entire wing of the estate. The Nameless One noted ruefully that the combined furor of the cheering masses barely approached the banshee vocalization that deafened him the day before.

Truly, only after coming to this world was he learning what it was to live.

Yong Liefang, Shen's seventeenth and favorite son, personally waved them off, blowing exaggerated sobs into a six million copper silk handkerchief. At his side, a sorrowful beauty glared daggers at the Nameless One as the infant Weiwei in her arms wailed relentlessly. Meiling cooed over her, which only made her cries louder.

You and me both, the Nameless One thought, looking at the little sister in another life. You and me both.

"Yong presents to you these wonderful gifts," Liefang said, ceremonial flourishes executed with languid affect as a caravan of rich silks, gold, and spices was laid before them. Meiling waved a hand not occupied with tormenting a child, vanishing the tribute into her subspace vault. "And a personal gift from myself: a charm to ensure healthy pregnancy and painless childbirth." From his sleeve he unfolded a small wooden charm carved from Yong yew, proofed against the ages.

"Does it work?" the Nameless One asked, holding the charm to the light. An obstetric palliative seemed well within the capabilities of Diagram magic, but Cultivation was hardly an altruistic science.

"Of course not! If it did, it would be a pill."

"…Right." He tossed it at Meiling, embedding it with the Pelagic Silence. It rematerialized mid-flight, appearing behind her receiving hand to clock her in the face.

"Yah!"

Oh, shit. He genuinely thought she would catch it.

"And for your journey to the lands of Kong," Liefang continued, handing over a wax-sealed scroll, "I'll lend you my spacious Yongshan timeshare. Just mention me and the owner will know what to do."

"Right, yeah, okay," said the Nameless One, watching Meiling advance upon him. "Vane, I'll be honest, it was really funny—ow, ow!"

---

The owner had taken a look at the scroll, clapped the Nameless One on the back, and inquired when he could expect the first installment, the firm grip of a Dao Cleaver restraining him.

The Nameless One didn't know what else he was expecting. What a fucker, that Yong Liefang, he thought ruefully, unable to even muster a reaction. He hadn't even warranted a real scam. Or perhaps the expectation of being scammed, was the scam. It was scams all the way down.

With a quick application of Neulevogue's Sculptor to amass a metric ton of transparent Cultivator's jade from thin air, the Nameless One officially owned a six-storey apartment with a scenic view of the black ravine separating Yong from the Overgrowth, where he could brood on the balcony with a jug of wine and think about his nemesis until Meiling dragged him away.

"You're so depressing, Cursebearer," she said, when they were beneath the covers. She was using him as a headrest.

"Meiling, no, I have a headache." The Nameless One swooned, snapping a self-portrait. "All those dank memes have rotted my millennial brain. Mee-mees. Wait, shit. Mee-mees for Meimei." The bounty of Wits was rich and nourishing.

This close to the border, the verdancy of Yong retreated from the ravages of the Beasts that plagued Kong, crags and cliffs grown into layered ablative fortifications by Yong Elementalists. Tapered passages of reinforced stone wide enough to hold skyscrapers channeled Beasts into killzones, sheer slate and char-bubbled mica lined with polished steel hooks shining like claws of thunderbirds, the smallest heavy enough to crush a parade in its shadow. Past the borders, the terrain descended into the coiled willowy brambles of the Overgrowth, star-set darkness pulsating gently like ripples on the night sea, hiding in their depths the bed of monsters.

Their guide, Kong Suichou, was unperturbed. Clad in a warrior's tunic, she carried a spear tipped with rough jade, two short swords sitting at the small of her back that she only unsheathed for the kill. She welcomed the Nameless One's money gladly, eyes blue as the free man's sky.

"For a sum such as this," she said, hefting the string of gilt Imperial jade, "I'd take you to Ming! Or even my bedroom."

Meiling adhered to the Nameless One in a ferocious burst of speed. "The Overgrowth is fine, thank you," she said.

"As you say. But charting through the Overgrowth gets dicey, you know! I need to know what you're looking for."

"Of course," the Nameless One said. "We're looking for…"

---

[ ] …Monsters – "Monsters, eh? There's plenty of those to go around. You don't look like much, but if you want to die that's your business."

*Go Beast-Hunting, a proud, grim tradition of the people of Kong. Under your Titanic protection, trade routes will be reinforced and fortifications expanded, strengthening the Kong region for the coming apocalyptic battle.
*Weakling Beasts that fail, and are ejected by, the brutal selection process of the deep Overgrowth are the most common assailants on the relatively fragile mortal citadels. Each can massacre legions of Organ Refining Cultivators before a Soul Chrysalis Cultivator renders them down into spare parts. Their blood, dilute and thin, is a powerful Cultivation reagent, and is fermented into Kong Blood Wine by the mortal population, a potent and delicious stimulant. Meiling's new favorite beverage!
*Deeper penetration into the Overgrowth summons exponentially more dangerous Beasts. In seeking worthy opponents, you may upset the delicate status quo that permits survival of the Kong people.
*Eat Beasts for power! Power not guaranteed. Terrible taste guaranteed, unless you can find a Cuisine Sect Cultivator. Enduring the havoc wreaked upon your digestive system by such potent Heterodox Cultivation materials may interact with your Remittance strangely.
*Defend the weak mortals from uncaring primeval gods and Accursed-sempai will notice you!
*He will not notice you.
*Rumored sightings of Beasts transgressing beyond the Grand Solipsist Great Circle, with equivalent Reality Effects. Has Kong been Cultivating Beasts like insane Pokemon?

[ ] …Treasures – "Treasures, eh? I can't guarantee we'll find any, but who knows what'll pop up? Once, I found a full ceremonial tea set inside a Beast! It must have eaten someone very rich."

*Establish a comprehensive patrol for erratic Beasts whose ungainly power has crystallized into artifacts of renown.
*Fight even weirder shit than you would normally. The Defense Arm renders the Nameless One mostly immune, but Meiling must rely on her innate hardiness and Artifact ensuite.
*The most valued treasure known to the men of Kong are the Pearls of Fathomless Blue, solid accretions of Cultivation found in high-level Beasts. Meiling tells you that upon consumption and absorption, the brief alignment to the energies within also aligns the Cultivator to Kong Zang, who forms a channel of communication. You could eat one, and possibly digest it harmlessly given your Constitution, but you're better off selling it.
*Other raw materials sacrifice potential power for instantiated narrow effect, mostly related to spatial manipulation and internal expansion effects derived from Kong's Dao. Meiling will be able to craft these materials into potent Spacetime Artifacts.
*Other raw materials are specialized against the above. Good old predator-prey dynamics! Meiling will be able to craft these into potent Antimetric Artifacts.

[ ] …the Patriarch Kong – "…I want ten times as much."

*Kong Suichou is reluctant, but enchanting her with an Ignition Defense Shell will allay her fears. The money also helps.
*The location of Kong Zang is a secret, but traveling toward the direction of spatial distortion is a generally accurate method.
*Kong is served by a coterie of lackeys who maintain the fiction of a reigning, but distant, Titan. They may try to eliminate you. Killing the entire Elder Council of Kong may have side effects.
*There are also secessionist elements with Kong, who work to undermine Zang Kong's efforts. Ineffectual as they are, you risk disturbing the few plots they have successfully running, and they may try to eliminate you.
*Locating the Chrysalis of Kong may awaken him early. His attention is fully invested on his own Cultivation, but it only takes one Kong officer gulping a Pearl before you take his head off.
*You may need to relax the Pelagic, as the Fates will not be able to leverage full assistance to prevent untimely awakening. Might as well get in on that helping hand while it's still handing out handouts.

[ ] …Something strange – "Something strange, eh? Well, alright, sir."

*There are rumors of abandoned Cultivation science experiments and ruptures to other realms cause by Kong's previous failed ventures in space transcendence.
*An isekai inside my isekai? It's more likely than you think.

---

In between (or during) romps, Meiling tutors you in the Diagram, instilling you with the conceptual principles the Divinities harnessed when crafting its foundation. With your genius intellect, Diagram intuition, and the Shadow playing supercomputer, you achieve ten of the eleven Signs, understanding the Diagram as no Diagram Magus ever had, or will. The penultimate Sign, Essence, remains out of your reach, demanding a sacrifice of toil and self to release its secrets. This sacrifice can be paid by Meiling, eroding her mortal frame to release the light of divinity, but you still need to bone up, nerd.

The final Sign cannot be acquired without a bullshit sidequest. It's not Love.

Nevertheless, at his level of Dexterity and prodigious quantities of spiritual fuel (MP), the Nameless One can cast hundreds of Sigils in a second, and dozens of Battle Diagrams. The Shadow, whose form is a matter of mind, can contort his shape to cast dozens of times faster, assuming the shape of a razor whip of Ignition that convulses through thousands of Sigils in a thunderstorm cascade. Certain Diagrams may not be accelerated to this extent, requiring the bodyplan and idiosyncrasies of the Humans it was designed for.

With the Mental Partition, the Ego and Shadow can have different loadouts. Currently, both retain the internalized Diagrams of pre-Partition. However, certain Diagrams cannot find purchase on the Praxis Form of the Shadow, or interact oddly with the two-as-one nature of the Nameless One.

Out of the trillions of potential Diagrams, the Nameless One has narrowed it down to a few possibilities he would like to develop or refine:

Sign of Knowledge
[ ] Observe (Sigil) – Upon casting the Sigil, the Nameless One receives a snapshot impression of the target's general capabilities and immediate disposition, interfacing with the Remittance into a character sheet. Repeated castings can be used to accumulate and define a comprehensive dossier.
[ ] Ironsights (Sigil) – Upon casting the Sigil, the Nameless One designates a target, a continuous stream of information about their location and tactical decisions feeding to him for six minutes. In combination with the Sword, he can effortlessly counter all attacks before they're even made.
[ ] Radar Ping (Sigil) – Upon casting this Sigil and designating a target category, the Nameless One receives information on their whereabouts if within a vicinity of several hundred meters.
[ ] Subtitles (Sigil) – Upon casting this Sigil, the Nameless One receives emotional and psychological data from a target.
[ ] Scanner (Battle) – Upon casting the Sigil, the Nameless One learns the composition and broad history of a target or location. Wow, you did that with a spoon?
[ ] Critical Weakpoint (Battle) – Upon casting the Battle Diagram, the Nameless One immediately comprehends the vulnerabilities of a given target's mindset and combative capabilities, informing his devastating quips and bon mots, and also strategies of victory.
[ ] Prescient Path (Battle) – Upon casting the Battle Diagram, the Nameless One's consciousness is expanded to perceive the next four seconds.
[ ] Third Person Limited (Grand) – This Diagram expands the Nameless One's awareness beyond its already heightened level, allowing him to witness simultaneously all things occurring within a radius defined by one minute of travel at maximum speed as if he were observing with the eye of a hyperdimensional being.
[ ] Walkthrough (Grand) – This Diagram strengthens the Nameless One's foresight and decision-making through gross data accumulation. All choices gain additional benefits as they are streamlined and magnified in effect.
[ ] Search Function (Grand) – This Diagram absorbs and indexes all information within the Nameless One's minute travel vicinity into a repository of knowledge for the Nameless One to peruse at will as though he were present at those moments.
[ ] Deliberation (Grand) – A spell of intellectual augmentation. You already have the Cognition Frame and trans-Titanic Wits, but every bit helps, I guess? Meiling notes that the original spell was developed by a blood-enemy of Vane who still lives, so you may incur his wrath.

Sign of Seeming
[ ] Confidence Game (Sigil) – The Nameless One pumps himself up with a rush of manic energy. This Sigil can also be used to evoke any emotion the Nameless One has experienced personally.
[ ] Palette Swap (Sigil) – The Nameless One changes the aesthetic appearance and physical sensation of a target or object.
[ ] One-Liner (Sigil) – Upon casting upon a target, they hear, see, or otherwise experience a customized attack on their personality.
[ ] Mindlag (Sigil) – Upon casting, the target's observation of the Nameless One is delayed by up to seven seconds.
[ ] Replay (Sigil) Upon casting upon a target, the Nameless One flawlessly recreates any form of sensory experience, even if the memory of the event is faded.
[ ] Palate Swap (Battle) – Upon casting, the target's sensory input is suborned to the Nameless One's control. Superhuman or extraordinary senses beyond his experience are poorly simulated.
[ ] Devastating Rejoinder (Battle) – Upon casting, the target experiences a personally traumatic memory or agonizing sensation.
[ ] Invisibility Cloak (Battle) – Upon casting, the Nameless One is erased from all sensory experience and methods of observation. The Brand still works, though, but they will be unable to identify its source.
[ ] Chat Window (Battle) – Upon casting, the Nameless One forms a sympathetic link with an ally, able to transmit physical sensation and sensory input.
[ ] Brand Mitigation (Grand) – Mitigate the Brand of the Wretched by 10% while you are within cosmic range of the Diagram.
[ ] Killing Intent (Grand) – Focuses the Brand of the Wretched into a beam of absolute hatred powerful enough to stop hearts. Counts as 5% Mitigation. Now that's some lemonade!
[ ] Poison of the Soul (Grand) – Upon contact, the Nameless One may channel the entirety of the Brand of the Wretched into a target. Effects unknown.

Sign of Death
[ ] Soulcutter (Sigil) – Fires a missile of necromantic energy that can kill low-level Soul Chrysalis Cultivators. Glancing hits disable limbs on a fundamental level.
[ ] Seed of Grief (Sigil) – Fires a missile of necromantic energy. Upon contact, the target experiences crippling enervation and loss of motivating passion.
[ ] Commune Spirit (Sigil) – When cast over a recently deceased body, the Nameless One calls its spirit up to speak.
[ ] Life Leech (Sigil) – When cast on contact with a target, the Nameless One frays their soul, absorbing a portion their life-force and boosting HP regeneration marginally, or MP regeneration to a greater degree.
[ ] Hadean Gladiator (Battle) – Upon casting, the Nameless One instantiates a spectral warrior of Soul Chrysalis level. The warrior is capable of intangibility, invisibility, low-level flight, and emitting blasts of necromantic energy, and comes armed with a weapon of choice.
[ ] Overshadow (Battle) – A missile of phantasmal energy that smothers the soul of a target, suborning it to the Nameless One's control.
[ ] Fortify Self (Battle) – The Nameless One leeches life-force in a radius, restoring his HP and granting temporary Constitution buffs. Cultivator foundations are eroded. Heavy leeching may lead to cosmic substructure degradation.
[ ] One Up (Grand) – This Diagram constantly accumulates excess vitality skimmed from the Nameless One's regeneration or stolen life-force. When the Nameless One's HP is reduced to 0, all accumulated life force is returned, and a brief regeneration buff is applied. Following this, the Diagram must be reinscribed. It can be triggered upon an ally.
[ ] Lord of the Dead (Grand) – The souls of all who die within the Nameless One's vicinity are instead entombed in their bodies, which are restored to serve his will. He is able to command them mentally, and force them to divulge their secrets.
[ ] Trillion Soul Colossus (Grand) – Cast on a location, all spirits of those who perished there in the past 1666 years are summoned and aggregated into a singular entity of supreme spiritual might, obedient to the Nameless One. If it perishes, inscribe this Diagram on its grave to resummon!
[ ] Gallows God (Grand) – The Nameless One, upon contact, permanently annihilates a soul, and increases his own maximum HP or an Attribute. It is far easier at this time to add a point to HP than to an Attribute. Souls of especial power require duration of contact.

Sign of Space
[ ] Stretch Space (Sigil) – Upon casting, an area is dilated or shrunk by a factor of ten.
[ ] Protection (Sigil) – Upon casting, a wall of force equivalent to enchanted diamond instantiates briefly.
[ ] River of Gravity (Sigil) – Upon casting, a brief channel is opened between the Nameless One and a target, allowing for direct attack. Duration and diameter of channel attenuates rapidly with distance.
[ ] Transporter (Battle) – The Nameless One exchanges his vicinity with an equal vicinity a thousand kilometers away. At his current MP regeneration rate, he is capable of casting this sequentially for an hour. In conjunction with transcendent space Praxis effects, this Battle Diagram can be augmented to several thousand kilometers.
[ ] Contortion Fortress (Battle) – Upon casting, the Nameless One is shielded by heavy dilation of spacetime. His own hyperspatial Praxis effects, should he have any, can be deployed as though it were not present.
[ ] Seven-League Boots (Battle) – Upon casting, for every step the Nameless One takes, he travels four steps of equivalent distance.
[ ] Subspace Inventory (Battle) – An improvement on Meiling's Magic Magazine, this version folds space into a pocket capable of holding a full armory.
[ ] Meiling's Magnificent Mansion (Grand) – An improvement on the Vault of the Ur-Pharaoh, the caster receives 10 design points, but Accessibility 4 and Habitability 3 are already present. Meiling's own version is Beyonded, granting her 15 points. You've mostly been Slumbering within it.
[ ] Guillotine of Worlds (Grand) – Cast on a location, it is immediately transported to the Outer Dark. The Nameless One is capable of inscribing this within a single day.
[ ] Worldshatter (Grand) – This Diagram bestows continuum unity upon the Nameless One, destabilizing and forcing all spatial and intangibility effects to manifest physically. Dilation effects are rebounded on their casters. Enemies find themselves drawn to him, attempts at evasion failing.
[ ] Noclip (Grand) – This Diagram allows the Nameless One to form a bubble of contortion around him while compressing his real world volume to a miniscule point. The Nameless One appears transparent, but receives all sensory information as though he were still unshrunk. Travel through cracks in wood, stone, people without (much) harm. Release while inside an enemy to telefrag them!

Sign of Stone
[ ] Hitscan (Sigil) – Creates a rod of enchanted bronze the diameter of the Nameless One's finger, the length of his line of sight. Spiritually strong enough to interpenetrate Soul Chrysalis Cultivators.
[ ] Shape Matter (Sigil) – Moulds a target to the will of the caster. Objects with a soul or Flesh resist.
[ ] Periodic Progression (Sigil) – A refinement on Konral's Odd Detonation, the Nameless One determined that this Diagram shifts the elements of a target one step along the periodic table, wreaking absolute havoc on molecular bonds. Your skill allows you finer control and advancement. In combination with Sculptor, become ludicrously rich. Three steps to turn pure lead to pure gold, if it pleases you!
[ ] Rocks Fall, Everybody Dies (Sigil) – Summons a boulder, anvil, comically large piano, etc, several hundred meters above a location.
[ ] Meiling's Munificent Makeover (Sigil) – Meiling made this before she Incarnated fully. You already have this, but if you improve it somehow Meiling will be mad at you.
[ ] Sculptor (Battle) – A redesign on Neulevogue's Sculptor, which you currently have. Increase instantiated mass to six tons, and range of compositions.
[ ] Refinement (Battle) – An improvement on Kleinvarr's Greater Refining, this version grants additional bonuses and control of result.
[ ] Unbreakable (Battle) – Upon casting, target is rendered immune to deformation, and does not transmit energy.
[ ] Alchemy Cauldron (Grand) – This Diagram, when inscribed on a device of industry, imbues all creations made with it with unnatural strength and killing power. Meiling has her own variant (Meiling's Manufacture Mojo) specialized to augment her Artifice capabilities.
[ ] Boss Arena (Grand) – At will, manifest a battleground in your vicinity, which deforms and attacks to your advantage.
[ ] Hand of Hephaestus (Grand) – Imbues the power of Shape Matter and Refining into your own body.

Sign of Force
[ ] Explosion (Sigil) – A classic. Point and boom!
[ ] Piercing Bolt (Sigil) – Fires a beam of shearing force energy strong enough to core miles of stone.
[ ] Disperser (Sigil) – Engulfs a target in violent energies.
[ ] Move Object (Sigil) – The true MVP. Target object moves to your will. You already have this to Leviosa shit.
[ ] Animation Skeleton (Battle) – Upon casting, target matter is moved according to preset conditions and framework of motion.
[ ] Meteor Strike (Battle) - Upon casting, target location is placed under high-gravity compression.
[ ] Augment Force (Battle) – Upon casting, the Nameless One's attacks are doubled in effective kinetic impact. He already has the original (Llewyn's Primal Might), but with access to its successor spell of the Flesh, redesign will help scale it to his Remittance.
[ ] Lightness of Being (Battle) – Upon casting, the Nameless One no longer experiences gravity or recoil stress, up to Dao Cleaving levels of strength. A minor boost to his recovery!
[ ] Exotic Hammer (Battle) – Upon casting, the Nameless One fires a missile of esoteric destruction, harnessing all the energies beneath the Diagram's purview for the sole purpose of devastation.
[ ] Transcendent Magnification of the Fist (Grand) – A Diagram that duplicates the effect Nameless One's might.
[ ] Telekinesis (Grand) – This Diagram manifests movement control of all objects within the Nameless One's local vicinity.
[ ] Rocketeer (Grand) – At will, achieve orbital acceleration.

Sign of Flesh
[ ] Salve of Repair (Sigil) – Heals target for 50 HP. You've been using this a lot.
[ ] Wellness Tincture (Sigil) – Invigorates and palliates target.
[ ] Fertilizer (Sigil) – An improvement on the Balm of Growth, this spell sacrifices refinement per casting for permanency.
[ ] Poison Effect (Sigil) – Generates a potent venom capable of crippling Organ Refining Cultivators.
[ ] Instant Juice (Sigil) – Generate 500mL of mundane fruit juice. Can also be used to generate organic compounds and enzymatic solutions.
[ ] Sentinel Vigor (Battle) – Restores a font of stamina, awareness and regeneration. You've been using this a lot.
[ ] Greater Reshaping (Battle) – Heals target for 800 HP and regrows limb. As in, if you lost two limbs you're fucked.
[ ] Prodigious Might (Battle) – Why not? Combine with its sister-spell Augment Force for happy times.
[ ] Seed of Life (Battle) – Upon casting, generate a customized seed that will grow into a magical plant within a year. This plant is immune to Flesh spells.
[ ] Warrior Beast (Battle) – Generate a combat beast capable of combating low Dao-Cleaving cultivators. This beast is inclined to obey you, but may stray.
[ ] Tabula Rasa (Grand) – Upon casting, the Nameless One will slowly be reshaped into a form designated at time of casting.
[ ] Heart of Vitality (Grand) – The Nameless One emits a field of vitality, increasing HP regeneration for all within range. His own HP regeneration is increased by 10%.
[ ] World-Eater (Grand) – Generate a rapidly-growing intelligent animal of supreme power capable of casting Diagram spells, and with bodily strength and power equal to Reality Formers.

Ascendant Signs later!

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Box Lunch said:

It's quite an interesting comparison, really. Whereas we ignored her completely in favor of Lie Fang and Baen, we have consistently disregarded Xiaoling and her social networking skills in favor of Suizhen and her Heterodox power-ups. It's a direct U-turn in advancement strategy.

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vali said:

[X] Pursuit of the Truth
[X] Strategic Complexion
[X] Open the Way

Extra Diligence is nice, but on second thought we don't really need that power. Just sitting around in elf-land twiddling our thumbs is boring to read about, so lets go be a hero instead. And maybe we'll learn something interesting from our adventures.

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Alectai said:

Yeah, to be fair, it's less that we're ignoring Xiaoling, and more that Xiaoling isn't a super crazy person who swears endless loyalty to the first person who helps her out a bit--in terms of overall attention, she's gotten pretty much more than anyone else in our party.

For all that Suizen is a lovable dork, she is absolutely bugfuck nuts.

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