Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
[X] A softly lit temple, with sparking qi barriers blocking the way toward its rear. Behind them, you can see the looming shadow of a great statue of some forgotten great spirit.
 
>"The way will open only for a man and a woman together," Xuan Shi agreed, stepping toward the gate. "This one does not understand the purpose of such a lock, but perhaps it will be explained beyond."
[X] A pier and a little boat tied to it, floating on a river that flows into the yawning mouth of an ominous cave.
OH HO! A SHIPPING TRIAL! WE ARE MOST PREPARED TO MATCH THIS PROPOSAL!​
 
[] A corridor seemingly composed wholly of roses and thorny vines, that split and twisted into the distance, forming a great labyrinth
A hedge maze, how neat. Ling Qi can pick up some gardening skills and maybe get to work on a manuscript that All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
[] A softly lit temple, with sparking qi barriers blocking the way toward its rear. Behind them, you can see the looming shadow of a great statue of some forgotten great spirit.
This feels like a direct puzzle challenge with a cool mystery to it.
[] A pier and a little boat tied to it, floating on a river that flows into the yawning mouth of an ominous cave.
We have had bad experiences with SLs and boats, and as far as I'm concerned, boats are cursed unless you're One Piece, so let's not go here. Also, this sounds way too much like a Tunnel of Love, and well... how about no?

[X] A softly lit temple, with sparking qi barriers blocking the way toward its rear. Behind them, you can see the looming shadow of a great statue of some forgotten great spirit.
 
[X] A softly lit temple, with sparking qi barriers blocking the way toward its rear. Behind them, you can see the looming shadow of a great statue of some forgotten great spirit.

Great spirits are great!
 
[X] A softly lit temple, with sparking qi barriers blocking the way toward its rear. Behind them, you can see the looming shadow of a great statue of some forgotten great spirit.
 
[X] A softly lit temple, with sparking qi barriers blocking the way toward its rear. Behind them, you can see the looming shadow of a great statue of some forgotten great spirit.
 
[X] A softly lit temple, with sparking qi barriers blocking the way toward its rear. Behind them, you can see the looming shadow of a great statue of some forgotten great spirit.

Seems interesting, and I'm all for strange puzzles and mysterious happenings.
 
[X] A softly lit temple, with sparking qi barriers blocking the way toward its rear. Behind them, you can see the looming shadow of a great statue of some forgotten great spirit.

Don't want anything wood or water related right now and the statue seems interesting.
 
[X] A corridor seemingly composed wholly of roses and thorny vines, that split and twisted into the distance, forming a great labyrinth

The most GGrinning Moon option imo.
 
[X] A pier and a little boat tied to it, floating on a river that flows into the yawning mouth of an ominous cave.
 
Oh god, they were romance novels, weren't they?

A man and a woman only (not very progressive) and a choice between walking through a maze of roses, a boat and a cave - one of those "tunnel of love"s no doubt - and a softly lit temple that I'm sure is dedicated to a fertility goddess or some such.

...How do we feel about this guy?

Thread seems to like him. Ling Qi sees him as a very knowledgeable friend. Also something something Xuan Wu Zhengui something last thread speculating that his family wants him to pick up Ling Qi something.
 
[X] A softly lit temple, with sparking qi barriers blocking the way toward its rear. Behind them, you can see the looming shadow of a great statue of some forgotten great spirit.
 
[X] A pier and a little boat tied to it, floating on a river that flows into the yawning mouth of an ominous cave.
 
I hope Xuan Shi is dropping lines from the books to try to look cool and mysterious.

[X] A softly lit temple, with sparking qi barriers blocking the way toward its rear. Behind them, you can see the looming shadow of a great statue of some forgotten great spirit.
 
He sighed. "This one merely wished to read the final two volumes, which were archived within the Sect alone."

Well that was kind of silly, but it was hardly the worst thing ever. Even if it was weird to imagine caring so much about a book as to travel all the way across the empire to get at it.
Poor Ling Qi, as a poor person in the land of no internet you never got to enjoy good smut. I mean books. Books.

"The way will open only for a man and a woman together," Xuan Shi agreed, stepping toward the gate. "This one does not understand the purpose of such a lock, but perhaps it will be explained beyond."
Wait, maybe it was smut after all!
 
[X] A softly lit temple, with sparking qi barriers blocking the way toward its rear. Behind them, you can see the looming shadow of a great statue of some forgotten great spirit.
 
i think, by now only those two miss its implication of being a test of romance...with a difficult task meant to challange the harmony between them, which they will overcome, thinking there is a treasure at the end, and be disappointed to receive a blessing for their union instead.

(reminds me of a manga with a similar situation, where the challenging entity kept giving harder tasks to a group of boy and multiple girls, so that only one of the girls would remain and be declared romantic pair, only for the entire group to pull through, thinking there is finite predetermined number of tests, until the entity got tired of coming up with new ways to break some of the girls off, and just declared them husband and wives).

(and later, her friends will find its funny she missed the clues about the challange that were all over the place).

[X] A softly lit temple, with sparking qi barriers blocking the way toward its rear. Behind them, you can see the looming shadow of a great statue of some forgotten great spirit.

Ling Qi doesnt hav eproper sea legs and labyrinths are not so good.



 
Xuan Shi glanced to the side, tugging his hat down to cover his eyes. "...Study of a text may reveal many hidden things."

How evasive," Sixiang mused.

Ling Qi narrowed her eyes, thinking back to the many times she had seen Xuan Shi in the Outer Sect archives. "Just what sort of text?" Ling Qi asked lightly. "I might need to start reading more."

"...This one discovered a cipher, within a certain series of novels. The final volume was filed among the shelves of the inner sect.," Xuan Shi replied after a moment.

Son of a bitch. If that fanart where the treasure in the center of this temple is the sequel to the book he was reading is true, I'm gonna give up entirely.

"Huh, I never would have guessed," she said, bemused. "Do you mean those books I saw you reading in the archive last year? Why would they have a cipher leading to a place here?"

"In the days before the Great Sects, the author resided here, when not voyaging himself," She could detect a hint of excitement in the boys tone as he began to speak on the subject. "This one sought out the placement in this Sect for that purpose."

"So you figured out the cipher before you ever came here?" She asked curiously. She supposed that he really was a smart guy.

"...Yes, though the goal remained shrouded, the path of course intrigued this one," Xuan Shi agreed, perhaps a bit too quickly.

"Your a bad liar mister," Hanyi said, emerging from the trees behind Ling Qi. She then shot Ling Qi a dirty look. "Big Sister is mean, walking so fast on her stupid long legs."

Ling Qi shot her a cheeky grin, which earned her a frustrated huff, but in her head Zhengui responded suspiciously. "Yeah, why is he lying? Big Sister, you should be careful."

Ling Qi rather doubted it was a dangerous lie, and she really did need to look into why Zhengui always seemed so… snappish around Xuan Shi. However, Hanyi wasn't wrong. She gave Xuan Shi an expectant look all the same.

He sighed. "This one merely wished to read the final two volumes, which were archived within the Sect alone."

Well that was kind of silly, but it was hardly the worst thing ever. Even if it was weird to imagine caring so much about a book as to travel all the way across the empire to get at it.

He is a far bigger nerd than any of us could've imagined.

As for the vote, hmmmm, I don't really know what criteria to judge them off of. I guess spitballing what challenges they could involve and how well our skillset can deal with them. I don't think there is a lot to go on regarding what the different rewards might be, could be that rewards will be the same.

...How do we feel about this guy?

He is probably at the top of my Husbando list. He's an actual genius, he has a fairly relaxed demeanor, he has ties to the Xuan, and a few other things. But that said, no one in my Husbando list has a very strong case by themselves, Qi's relationship with all of her peer males is pretty shallow compared to her female friendships. I'd love it for Qi and Xuan Shi to get closer over the course of this little adventure, but more than that, I don't know.
 
[X] A softly lit temple, with sparking qi barriers blocking the way toward its rear. Behind them, you can see the looming shadow of a great statue of some forgotten great spirit.


Pffft, this is gonna be tragic. Romance aside, I think this is the best fit of challenges where both of us will be able to contribute (judging from descriptions). Some cooperative puzzle solving will be good for dat social link.
 
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