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

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
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query said:
I imagine it will be a significant tribulation to come to terms with, as sexuality seems deeply intertwined with prostitution and rape in her mind.
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It make me think about differences between "deeply" and "strongly" as both her reaction to Bai advance and IIRC her attention to beefcake prove that it's not defining characteristic in her mind, just really prominent to create "I do not think about it" mentality (essentially it's attached to "lovemaking" in her mind, but not part of it).

Not immediate EWWW, just "I'm not thinking about it" censor.

PS. So I must contend that "deeply" part. It's strongly intertwined in her mind, but thankfully not deeply enough to cause real problems and not "just" "need to deal with it".
 
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al103 said:
It make me think about differences between "deeply" and "strongly" as both her reaction to Bai advance and IIRC her attention to beefcake prove that it's not defining characteristic in her mind, just really prominent to create "I do not think about it" mentality (essentially it's attached to "lovemaking" in her mind, but not part of it).

Not immediate EWWW, just "I'm not thinking about it" censor.

PS. So I must contend that "deeply" part. It's strongly intertwined in her mind, but thankfully not deeply enough to cause real problems and not "just" "need to deal with it".
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Then why did you quote me by editing in your comment?
 
yrsillar said:
Then Ling Qi heard a rumbling battle cry and a mighty crash as a massive weight smashed against the statues shins. Zhengui, charging forward, with his shell aglow with magmatic light, sent the statue tumbling, and over it's falling shoulder, she spied Xuan Shi standing atop his shell, seemingly unbothered by the smoke rising from his feet. His ringed staff was raised over his head horizontally. As she watched, she felt the qi around the staff distort, and very suddenly, the weapon went wholly still, even as Zhengui's forward momentum tore it from Xuan Shi's hands.

It hung there in the air, impossibly still, even as the statue fell upon it, and remained there hanging still in a cloud of dust after it had carved clean through the fallen constructs neck. For a moment, as the echoes of the statues fall faded from the temple, Ling Qi hung silently in the air, staring down at the unmoving ruin they had wrought.

Then as Zhengui wriggled his way free of the fallen rock, and she saw Xuan Shi still standing on his shell, hat only slightly askew and dusty, she broke the silence. "I thought I had the offense?" She said, hands on her hips.

Xuan Shi coughed and doffed his hat, revealing a head of short black hair, split by a short ridge of white bone that began at his forehead and disappeared beneath his collar in the back. "Apologies, this one merely sought to grasp opportunity," he called up, returning his hat to its place as he hopped down, embers still sizzling on his blackened sandals.
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Couple of things belatedly noticed:
-Xuan Shi noticed an opportunity, but I'm not sure it was tactically THAT significant? Its just the giant golem falling over.
-The timestop is super impressive, but I'm curious how hard would a simple gravity smash onto a blunt object be compared to a cultivator's direct attack?

Did Xuan Shi just spend a huge amount of money to look cool while riding a Xuanwu into battle?
 
[X] Dreaming Moon

didn't we get our favourite muse from our last Dreaming experience? If so then all the better.
 
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Turbulent
  • Sidestory
    • Turbulent​

    It's a lovely day, quite picturesque in it's beauty in contrast to the...storm that had occurred a scant few weeks ago. Turbulent weather to reflect the turbulence within the heart of I, Zhiqiang, and so it is only natural that with the calm of newfound resolve that the sky would match my own mood. Arrogant? Perhaps, but in that regard it is fortunate, for I have-

    "So what's the plan today, Windbag?"

    "Hmph, hmph," I glance towards my scarred errant student where he stands idly nearby, "Must you always be in such a hurry, Junior Brother?" With an affected sigh and shake of my head, I turn my attention towards my latest acquisition. A finely crafted saber, its handle carved of red jade with a golden tassel, innumerable formation characters worked into the seams within the stone that encased the metal itself. A dull, grey steel, with azure ripples imprinted upon one side, the piece itself caught the eye, even if it possessed no obvious signs of Qi being worked into it. The 'back' of the blade was, unlike the curved front, rough and broad, as befitting a tool meant to chop, however, near the handle were a series of grooves; something of a swordbreaker.

    It had been the result of ample negotiations and research on my part, not to mention the work involved in acquiring the materials and techniques needed for it's creator to prepare it for me. And yet it was ultimately worth it. A proper Trump Card of my own.

    "You wanted to show me a sword?" Ji Rong spoke up, glancing at the weapon.

    My eyes turn towards him curiously, "A sword?" I inquire, pouring water into the metallic cup in hand, my grip nestled upon the red stone that served as a cup holder, "Where do you see a sword, Junior Brother?" I continue, before taking a deep drink from it, smacking my lips in satisfaction.

    "Okay, a cu-"

    I raise an eyebrow in response, my free hand now tapping herbs for smoking into the bowl of my pipe, it's length covered in crimson jade, with a gold tassel dangling from the bottom, "What do you see here, Junior Brother?"

    With a sigh of exasperation, Ji Rong rolls his eyes at me, "A talisman, I guess."

    "Good answer," I, Zhiqiang, nod in satisfaction, "But no, this is something that is a tool of...last resort." With those words, my errant student stiffens, his long-dormant thuggish instincts coming to the fore, but I merely chuckle at his unfounded paranoia, "You need not worry, Junior Brother Ji." I smile towards him, pawing at my faux man chu, "I would not drag you into potentially dangerous circumstances without informing you first."

    "You absolutely would, you asshole." Is the boys immediate rejoinder.

    With all due theatrics, I reel backwards, free hand clutching at my heart, "From where does this accusation come? Have I, Zhiqiang, ever not been anything other than truly fair and upfront with you, Junior Brother?" I cough, glancing away as the wind carries water from the air into my eyes and I find myself once again grateful for Brother Wind's assistance, "Such tragic and unfounded paranoia!"

    With my senses I can easily discern my errant students glare, already crackling with the might of Heaven. Hmph, hmph! Such a lack of trust! And after all I've done for him as well!

    "Such animosity, after this Zhiqiang had even went through the trouble of arranging for that Tribulation for Junior Brother!"

    In a display of unsanitary thuggishness, Ji Rong spits to the side in contempt, "That's what I mean!" He gestures at my self rudely, "You didn't tell me about that until we were already at the mountain summit!"

    I turned to stare back at him, my expression incredulous, "And you considered a mere hike up a mountain to be dangerous?"

    "No, I meant the lightning storm!" Ji Rong shouts loudly, and as my ears ring I take a moment to scratch the sensitive eardrum with a finger.

    "But this Zhiqiang informed you of that before you climbed into it, did I not?" I reply back, flicking my finger towards him. To the boys credit, he dodges the projectile with alacrity.

    "That's disgusting!" My finger then points towards the spot on the ground where he had spat, and I am treated to the shifting eyes of the young man before me, "A-anyway, telling me about it right when we're already there isn't the point!"

    "And to think I had thought of it as a surprise gift for Junior Brother..." I shake my head sadly at Ji Rong's stunning lack of gratitude, "Where did this one go wrong, where such a valuable opportunity is looked upon as some kind of suspicious deed?" After glancing towards the Heavens for guidance and finding them lacking, I turn back towards the younger man before me, "But we are going off topic, Junior Brother." With that I turn around, and resume walking towards our destination.

    "Your unfounded paranoia aside, I called you out today because I wished to show you what a challenge among my peers looks like, and to prepare yourself accordingly."

    Ji Rong perks up at that as he follows behind me, "You in a challenge, huh? What're you going after?"

    "Rank 598, as it turns out." I reply crisply, "Senior Brother Wen has determined that the challenge shall be a duel between us."

    Lightning sparks erratically, "Wait, you mean like a fair fight or something?" I nod, "But since when do you ever agree to a fair fight?"

    As we continue walking I consider my words for a few moments, before deigning to reply, "There are circumstances which sometimes force even my hand, Junior Brother. Though this Zhiqiang is an impressive speciment indeed, I, too sometimes fail to have the right to choose my own battles." The pause this time is a bit longer, as Ji Rong digests this revelation before opening his mouth once more.

    "Wasn't Wen Cao the guy you had a big favor with? The one you were planning to call it in on later?" My eyes narrow at this unexpected bit of insightfulness, "Isn't it a bit early for you to ride in on his coattails then?"

    "...It is perhaps a bit earlier than I would have liked, but recent events have caused me to re-evaluate my circumstances, to determine how I need to move in order to avoid being swallowed up by the very wave I had intended to take advantage of." With a ponderous sigh I continue in a near mutter, "You're all moving far more quickly than I had anticipated." It had caught me off guard when Sect Sister Bao had advanced to the mid-500's in one move, but given that the depths of her preparations had enabled her to fool even my senses, such a great leap should have only been expected.

    And I had no intention of being left behind at this stage.

    "So you're panicking?" Ji Rong added in unhelpfully.

    "Not so much panicking," I reply, "Think of it as...re-orienting my goals to reflect the change in circumstances." The duel field enters the edges of my own senses, and Brother Wind begins his work in obscuring our conversation from potential eavesdroppers, "But either way, I am forced to act if I still desire to get ahead of the changing tide."

    "Then why bring me out here?"

    "Is it so odd that I wish to impress upon you the strength of the one that is teaching you, Junior Brother?" I reply with a chuckle, "And it should give you a better idea of what to expect at this level of Cultivation when you embark on your own challenges." I tilt my head, and the wind carries my next words in a whisper, "Your Princess seems to not have the time to spar with you as regularly as necessary to help provide a proper frame of reference, and you will need to know what to deal with sooner rather than later should she prove antagonistic to other factions in the Inner Sect."

    "Whaddya mean?" My student answered back.

    "There are many that would seek to keep their strength hidden, not just myself or Sect Sister Bao, so it is best that you be prepared in case someone attempts to target you as a proxy attack on your Master. Whether here or off the Mountain." At these words, Ji Rong simply nodded, and we finally entered the space for the duel.

    ...​

    "Sect Brother Wu," My opponent for the day greeted, hands clasped as he inclined his head towards me, "It's a pleasure to see you once more."

    Ji Rong turns an inquisitive look towards me, one which goes ignored, "Likewise, Senior Brother Wen," I return, hands clasped in respect, "This Zhiqiang is honored that you would agree to this small request."

    Light reflects off the shaved head of Wen Cao as he turns a thin smile towards me, "It's no great trouble, I can only hope that Sect Brother will continue to lend me his support in the times to come."

    "Such a trifle should go without saying," I reply in turn, "As Sect Brothers it is only natural that this Zhiqiang would give his all towards your success."

    Wen Cao looks satisfied, before turning his gaze towards the thuggish boy besides me, "And who might this be?"

    I gesture towards the fool, "This one would be Junior Brother Ji Rong, new to the Inner Sect, I've taken a small interest in him and thus have been giving him a few tips here and there." When the bald man before me shows no reaction, I continue, "You have seen him before, a scant few months ago in fact."

    The other mans eyes narrow ever so slightly, seeming to really look at the boy for the first time, "You're the one who lost to Junior Sister Ling, aren't you?" Wen Cao said with a smile, as Ji Rong twitched in that subtle way that is flagrantly obvious to the observant. It appears that he will need additional training to steel his nerves!

    "Yeah, what about it?" Comes my errant student's surly response.

    "Nothing," Wen Cao answers back, "I simply wished to congratulate you on your performance in that match, as it allowed both of you to display your abilities to their utmost." The scarred boy twitched once more, "Yes, I felt that Junior Sister Ling truly could not afford to hold back against you, Junior Brother." The older Cultivator continued, "And in pushing yourselves to those heights, you both displayed such dazzling talents that will surely only be matched by one another, achieving great deeds in the days to come."

    My errant student's expression grew cloudy as the thunderhead, and so I rested my hand upon his shoulder in cold comfort. Thankfully, the atmosphere was kept from growing more charged by the flexing of qi, and the sensation of a warm summers breeze, scented of fresh wood grabs our attention. I turn towards the shuffling, genial smile of the approaching Elder and clasp my hands together in respect.

    "Disciple Zhiqiang greets Elder Wàn," My humble self calls out in greeting, "This one thanks you for taking the time to officiate this minor challenge."

    As Ji Rong and Wen Cao nod their own greetings, the rotund Elder inclines his head, "It is no trouble, Disciple Wu." Eyes closed in apparent mirth turn towards the other two besides me, "Though I see that I have interrupted some friendly jousting between young men."

    The taller man nods in confirmation, "There is no need for Elder to concern himself," Wen Cao gestures towards his chest, "This one was merely expressing his expectations for Junior Brother Ji now that he is under the tutelage of a reliable Sect Brother such as Sect Brother Wu." He smiles towards my foolish student, "I have high hopes that he will live up to the pace set by his peers."

    "You rate me too highly, Senior Brother." I, Zhiqiang, reply with a chuckle, "This humble self is merely providing Junior Brother with some tips in the application of his favored element due to a slight curiosity, it is nothing so formal as all that." My hand strokes at my facial hair, "Junior Brother Jis accomplishments are his own, and in turn those of whomever he eventually swears himself to."

    "Sect Brother is quite wealthy then." Wen Cao answers back, smiling thinly, "To have arranged for a rare Tribulation opportunity to be given to someone else for the sake of indulging such a meager whim."

    This shitty bastard! "This one hardly deserves such credit, Sect Brother. It was merely a matter of calling in a few favors, really," I say with a shake of my head, "It is nothing so extravagant as all that."

    "As pleasing as it is that the two of you are getting along so well," Elder Wàn speaks up from the side, "There is only so much time in the day, you two." With hastened apologies, my opponent and I proceed into the dueling ground, surrounded by a number of mostly empty spectating boxes, formation pillars creating a sealed space far larger on the inside than on the outside. Yes, this would be for the best. My own contacts were not the type to be invested in my own progress, and for all of Wen Cao's own promise, he was hardly as popular as he believed himself to be.

    "I look forward to your future accomplishments, Junior Brother Ji." The bald disciple says genially as he steps into the formation, and as ever, the thuggish boys bristling aura is clear even from this distance.

    But even so.

    I pause, and turn my head so that my foolish student would see a slight curving of my lips. Hmph, hmph! Worry not, Junior Brother! I, Zhiqiang, shall endeavor to avenge your honor like the innocent maiden that you are!

    ...​

    Inside the altered space, myself and my opponent stand at a somewhat respectable distance from one another. Not quite close, as the Immortal reckons, but certainly close enough for one to close the distance should the other be unprepared. Equidistant between us stands Elder Wàn, suffused in the light of the Sun, "We shall now begin the challenge between Disciple Seven Hundred Ten, Wu Zhiqiang, and Disciple Five Hundred Ninety Eight, Wen Cao." The perpetually cheerful Elder paused, glancing back towards the stands before continuing.

    "In accordance with Sect Rules, Disciple Wen Cao has chosen a challenge of direct combat. Let both competitors be at ease that this humble Elder shall not allow either of you to come to permanent harm." At this, Elder Wàn cast a knowing look towards the bald scion, "This one hopes that both of your youthful spirits can be released to their fullest extent." This time he glances towards myself, his smile stretched only slightly too wide, and with a rueful grin of my own I bow towards the rotund man in understanding. Yes.

    I will endeavor to not hold back, Respected Elder.

    "The rules of this duel shall be simple," The older man continued, "As requested by the Challenged, there are no restrictions on weapons, techniques, spirit beasts, or space in the dueling field itself. The match shall end when one participant is at risk of serious injury, or in the event of an outside influence disrupting the duel. Are both sides prepared?"

    The loamy earth was familiar to me, though purged of any influences outside of the natural Qi that suffused this dueling ground. The air was rich, heady with the lingering scent of the storms that had ravaged the peaks only a scant few weeks ago. I even imagined that I could discern the contortions in space imposed by the Formations delineating the boundaries of the duel space. I, Zhiqiang, breath in. My eyes, nerves, olfactory senses, eardrums, tastebuds, each inch of me takes in and memorizes the state of this field. A snapshot of its natural state before the battlefield would be drenched in my opponent's potent Lake Qi.

    There was no need for Brother Wind to do anything, his senses were as mine, and the baseline would be sufficient for when we brought our more esoteric senses to bear.

    I nod.

    This would be the do or die moment. A painstakingly crafted, safe scheme of accumulating favor, cast aside for the sake of a risky gamble. Could I defeat the man before me? I was confident of my chances, but Count Scions, especially ones as praised and skilled as Wen Cao, were not so easily overcome. The bounty of playing matchmaker was that the other man had accepted the challenge with putting only one Contribution Point on the line and thus giving my true reserves hidden, but should he fail there was a slight possibility that he would be pushed back into his previous range should another try and make the leap into the 500s.

    I did not doubt that Wen Cao would, at the very least, do everything he could to prevent being humiliated by a defeat at my hands.

    Very well. This Zhiqiang shall enter into battle with the resolve to kill. I'll trust in the Honored Elder to keep things at an amicable level.

    As Elder Wàn raised his hand up in preparation, I spotted the recognition and simultaneous resignation in his eyes, no doubt displayed for my benefit. My apologies Elder, this one shall be relying on your guidance.

    I am rather desperate, you see, and it makes me act quite hastily.

    I give you my thanks ahead of time.

    His hand lowers.

    "Begin!"

    ...​

    My eyes, excellent as they are, are discarded instantly. There is no need for the base senses against one trained in the illusionary arts. In lieu of vision, I call upon the firmament, which has awareness of all that treads upon its surface. Brother Wind expresses himself in full, the frolicking breeze an extension of my limited flesh. My body fills with the fulminating power of Heaven, and my self processes all things at a speed none of my ostensible peers would ever be able to reach on their own.

    It is only due to this action that the first pulse of Lake Qi, carried upon a fetid wind, washes over my humble self and is ignored. The illusory technique scrabbles at my mundane senses, stretching a film of energies over my skin and twists and scrabbles at my nerve endings, attempting to carry on a mummers show at my expense. But I ignore it, as a short, curved blade manifests at my side, the familiar sky blue webbing trembling in anticipation.

    I take my first step, directly towards Wen Cao, where he had sought to move himself after conjuring a thin film, a construct of Lake Qi as a flimsy after image. My senses brushed against him, easily piercing the obfuscating veil he had cast upon himself, and I felt his lips twitch upward in a predatory smile. Let him, then. So long as he could not tear away Brother Wind's reach in the air, his deceptions would be as nothing before the cutting truth of this battle!

    I take my second step, and with a challenging bark of laughter my partner spun through the air at my opponent, and while Wen Cao was a cunning individual, he was not one enamored with the idea of subtlety. In a flash of light, he held out a fan where before his hands had been empty, an elegant bamboo thing, it's silken webbing featuring an image of a lakeside, upon the shore of which stood great read ogres. Some danced merrily, others swam easily, one fished patiently, and yet all had one distinct commonality;

    All faced the opposite shore, and where before the expressions upon the creatures were apparently on jolly and cheerful, closer inspection showed them to be rapturous instead as their eyes were universally turned upon the opposite shore, where a number of figures in the imposing robes of nobility stood sentinel as if gods looking upon their creation.

    It was an old story, but one I had heard tale of when doing my research into Wen Cao ahead of time. One of too few successes before undertaking this challenge.

    Shining burnished steel clashed against immaculate silk webbing, before Wen Cao let the fan go, the fan in hand spinning off to the side and drag the Cutting Truth with it. But this was expected, and so I took my second step, closing far more distance as my opponent stepped backwards, a heavy, polished wooden staff materializes in his outstretched grip. The qi of a fetid lake crept up the talisman, and around my self flimsy constructs of Qi rise up, limbs heavy with malice and intent to strike. Though my mundane senses go ignored, the use of substantial illusions was obvious, and even as I fall into a defensive stance I can sense the air around Wen Cao rippling with the weight of new presences materializing from his dantian.

    Crude bludgeons of Lake and Wind qi fall upon me, but they are unsophisticated and they touch only the wind as my limbs entrench themselves further into the loamy earth beneath me. The constructs strike, their limbs now forming simple staves and my eyes of flesh gaze upon a dozen copies of Wen Cao. Twelve weapons attempt to surround, and encircle their target. Twelve blows strike simultaneously, but flesh and blood shifts into a mass of laughing air and swirling robes, and in the wake of that coordinated attack twelve actinic limbs materialize in the thin air, grabbing onto their victims. The mindless constructs shudder as qi-forged blades, woven with characters for dispelling, punch through their insubstantial bodies and dissolve them utterly.

    The mass of robes flutters through the chaotic breeze for another moment before the shape of a man reasserts itself within them, and I, Zhiqiang, sink my armaments deep into the earth for later use.

    Before me stands three Wen Caos, each identical to the others in every way. Their Meridians, their levels of Qi, their equipment, even the scent of his Domain, three still lakes, concealing a fetid rot beneath their mirror-like surfaces. The flesh of my eyes burns with the fires of Tribulation, and my thick optical nerves capture the moment of disruption as Heavenly Qi lances through the surface of the illusion, revealing a mighty red ogre with the bearing of a man, and a great creature of Yin Wood qi, a humanoid abomination of poisonous moss that was the equal of Wen Cao's own cultivation.

    The wind kicks up at the back of all three, and they are launched forward, nearly invisible spores trailing in their wake. But they underestimate Brother Wind, a slight breeze casting the poisonous debris away. Identical sheens of poisonous energies wrap around all three staves, but the true Wen Cao does not finish the descent with his disguised Spirit Beasts, instead his weapon expands into another wide fan, suffused with Wind Qi, the artificial updraft keeping him aloft as Lake Qi begins to surge through his Meridians.

    Barbarian Tactics, is it?

    Twins land upon the ground, their weight fooled by the illusions cast upon them, and so move with an ease of practice which puts to lie their origins as counterfeits of their master. Poison flares against actinic Qi, as disguised beasts use the Arts of a man to supplement their own natural gifts. One Wen Cao strikes with unnatural strength, his tainted staff bolstered with the immense strength of a Red Ogre. The strikes are cunning and brutish, yet easy to evade and redirect. In a vacuum.

    The blows of its partner are more sweeping, herding attacks which leave a cloud of deeply poisonous spores in their wake, the very earth warping and putrefying with the Qi of rot. These, too, are easily dodged. But the taint in the air lingers, even through the flowing wind, and soon that rot becomes a cage, a permeable barrier that grasps and undulates ominously. An obvious trap, a corralling action, and all that is left is to confuse the victim into walking into it completely.

    Once more, purloined wind crashes down like a cresting wave, carrying the fetid taint of poison, an illusion meant to seep into the flesh and Meridians, and to Wen scion's credit, this technique is potent indeed. Mundane senses fall first. Their input is cut off, easily amputated. A battery of secondary senses is choked off by Lake qi, the flow in my bodies channels are clogged, stoppered by the stench of stagnant rot, and the touch of the wind is absent. The oily feel of illusions redoubles its efforts, attempting to leech deeply through meridians into my mind.

    Live Wire Sublimation flares, and the fires of Heaven burn the taint away into nothingness. With an effort of will, the shell of Qi around an arm is reinforced by energies of tribulation, taking on the defined form of an armored hand as the winds shift, compressed air gathering in the skies above. Even so, as the air becomes slowly more tainted with toxic qi, I begin to fall back, my attention divided between four targets, until three things happen at once.

    The first, is a countless number of blades descend upon the ground, intended to cut down myself alongside Wen Cao's doppelgangers no doubt. The second, is one of said stand-ins abandons all pretense of technique to lunge at me, arms outstretched.

    The third, is that the earth erupts beneath my feet, and I launch myself straight at the foe attempting to cover the air in pestilence.

    Burning fingers grasps the slowest of my opponents, digits clenching furiously upon his face as the handsome features of Wen Cao flicker and vanish, revealing the much larger, shaggier form of a hulking monstrosity composed purely of fetid moss, it's vaguely humanoid form descending upon me, enveloping me, attempting to entrap me. Ever so slowly.

    Actinic light erupts from my channels, and vast spikes pierce through the beast with an inhuman groan, and so I step back, leaving behind a white construct glowing with dozens of formations that shine with the Intent to burn. The blades fall from Wen Cao upon myself and his first spirit beast, so I answer by seeking shelter.

    The earth rises up, forming a dome against the storm, and the Qi is filled with Intent, the construct inscribed with quickly applied formations to provide sturdiness. Monstrous shrieking erupts within the hastily constructed fortification, and the moss creature begins to burn, so it's only natural to step out, right? I, Zhiqiang courteously create a tiny hole at the bottom, carrying myself out on an errant breeze as I form a hole in the roof to better give the Beast's master an opportunity to aid it.

    Hmph, hmph, it appears that the flow of air is only accelerating the burning that I've inflicted on the creature! The smoke pouring out from this...impromptu kiln is nearly as wretched as the moss beast trapped within it!

    "That was a pretty impressive trick, Sect Brother." A cultured voice speaks out from behind me, one of the two Wen Caos that are left no doubt.

    "Not really," I reply amicably, "Compared to you crippling Junior Brother Yan two years ago something like this is as nothing."

    A hiss of pain disturbs the field, and a film of Lake Qi that tightly stretches over everything in sight snaps and wavers, revealing the shape of two figures, roughly equal in size. How many layers of deception must this man throw upon his foes before he's satisfied? I shake my head as I paw my faux man chu, the heat of one body erratically shifting, the ground noticing the slight trembling that comes from a flinch of pain.

    "Let me show you a better one." Fingers snap, and the dismissed flames of creation rise up towards the second figure that is even now approaching. Whatever trick that has gone into the creation of this illusion is superb. My senses can detect differences, but the Arts of the Wen are truly something else, to enable an illusion so thorough as to make the falsehood real. Even now, the Wen Cao approaching this Zhiqiang was all but identical to the original article. Same Weight. Same Aura. Same Domain. Same bearing. Even the fluidity of movement was exactly like its masters. One would never guess that an uncultured and savage Red Ogre could act with such grace and skill.

    Thick constructs, bars harder than any steel, pierce through the surface of the arena and strike my attacker, pinning him in place. Formations flare, and the beams of forged Qi form between them, serving to pin the targets arms and head in place. Intent seals the constructs shut, imprisoning Formations enhancing the purpose of the constructed pillory.

    The illusion is dispelled in full, revealing the scowling, raging form of Wen Caos second spirit beast, its brutish strength railing against its restraints.

    The Red Ogre's Master is already upon it, a building gale already in hand to sever my work.

    "Your beast can't use your techniques if the illusion is broken, Sect Brother!" The voice of I, Zhiqiang, rings out and a gash of red splits open my opponents hand, ruining Wen Caos attempt to utilize his technique as he turns upon me, livid. With ease of focus, I draw a hand back, a thin line of heavenly Qi left behind in its wake, solidifying, gaining definition, thickening into a heavy looking shaft, tipped with a cruel barb.

    In the same motion I grasp and hurl the weapon, the projectile boosted and guided with the force of a gale, and with a grotesque sound I send Wen Cao's second beast back into his Dantian. The illusions upon the dueling grounds fall away as Wen Cao glares at me once more, and with a second pulsing of Live Wire Sublimation, the oily Lake Qi that had clung to me is burnt away as well.

    As I see truly through my eyes for the first time in this fight, I bear witness to Wen Cao's murderous glower, the blood from his hand freely tainting the air with the metallic tang of his life fluid. With a free hand, I paw at my sparse facial hair.

    "Would you care to concede, Senior Brother?" I ask, the wind carrying my offer as a barest whisper.

    The illusionist stills, his muscles clenching and unclenching as if from pure rage, involuntary spasms as expressions of his anger...That abruptly come to an end, and Wen Cao turns upon me a beatific smile. Another lie, hidden behind thin lips.

    "You have my admiration, Sect Brother Wu." My opponent says, expression serene once more, "I had underestimated you, simply due to your stagnation in the Rankings, and had erroneously assumed that this match would only be the desperate struggle of a pig, ignorant of its place, grasping for something far beyond its station."

    Well, it's not as if I had thought any better of him, "Your words honor this one, Sect Brother Wen." I bow in deference, "How would you care to proceed from here?"

    Wen Cao's arms go slack, his limbs hanging loose as his aura begins to surge wildly, Meridians in his Arms, Head, Spine, Lungs, and Heart all beginning to channel and expel qi at an astonishing rate!

    "To honor your resolution, your skill, and your talent," Wen Cao begins as his body becomes enshrouded in thick layers of shimmering lake Qi, "Let me meet you with my full strength, and show you the true difference between us." His voice warps, warbles, and becomes far, far deeper, "This Art is the first step of the truly advanced Wen Illusionary Techniques!" The words become lackadaisical, his form growing taller, and gaining a level of definition which had not existed prior, "First Phase Reflection!" The surging Lake Qi settles, taking on a silverish sheen, and in that instant I pause at the appearance of the Aura of a Cultivator at the Eighth Stage of the Third Realm.

    An all too familiar mask, an all too frustrating bandoleer, an all too envious demeanor.

    "...That's quite impressive," I, Zhiqiang say after a pause, "Even to my eyes, you are indistinguishable from Senior Brother Liao!" I bark out a laugh as best as I am able, and begin trying to grasp a chink in the layers of transformed Lake Qi, now indistinguishable from what I had seen of Liao Zhu's aura. My senses fail, however; what appears before my eyes is truly identical to the Third Ranked Inner Sect Disciple.

    "Do not worry, Junior Brother! It's the same for everyone else!" The transformed Wen Cao calls out, his voice, body language, everything a perfect match, "There were other options for me to take on, but I felt we would all be best served if I just crushed you while facing down those senses you're always so proud of head on!" With an amused chuckle, he pulls out a knife and begins to juggle with it idly, thoughtlessly, naturally.

    "Your sense for irony is too appropriate." I demur, "But I wonder if you can truly match up to Senior Brother Liao's own skills?"

    The smell of copper fills the air once more, and I cast my senses to trace the source! If I could detect Wen Cao's spilled-

    "Whether or not that's the case, I doubt you would be able to tell in the first place, Junior Brother." Liao Zhu's voice whispers from behind me, and all I can sense is...the knife...sticking out of my shoulder.

    I hadn't even felt any pain!

    The disguised Wen Cao returns to standing before me, performing bizarre tricks with several knives, a carefree look on his face, the bastard! The fires of heaven fill my veins, shaped by the hardened channels of earth! With an effort of will, I send off a dozen swords, intent on swatting those worthless knives right out of the air!

    In the instant between my casting of my attack and their arrival at their destination, the false Liao Zhu disappears. But his knives do not.

    Rather, they simply have moved.

    Into my outstretched arms.

    Crimson life fluid spurts into the air, and I cast my senses around. But this time there is no response. Wen Cao does not reappear.

    "To take on the appearance of her favored tutor in the Inner Sect, aren't you worried that you would give Junior Sister a bad impression?" I call out, and the air shifts just so, triggering the ability of the Cutting Truth. And yet, Wen Cao still does not reappear. If there had been any doubt as to the the truth of this deception, then I would have to put it to rest. Such resistance to Cutting Truth's abilities was only possible for Cultivators who were at least a full level of Cultivation beyond me,

    "Making an Illusion that not only fools the self, but fools the world around you?" Knives sprout from my knees, and I fall to the ground. But it is merely pain of the flesh, and I am oh so close to having done away with that limitation entirely, "Truly quite the Art! I am in awe of the Wen once more!" I, Zhiqiang, force out through clenched teeth, "But in the end," I can no longer move, but Wen Cao has not yet targeted anything truly dangerous, "Even the illusion of strength is only just an Illusion!"

    A knife sprouts from my stomach, but I simply breath in, filling my lungs with the qi-rich air around us, "Sect Brother," My voice comes out as a whisper in the following exhalation, "Let me show you the fruits of that 'stagnation' which you so calmly derided just now." A knife presses against my jugular, the sensations against every fraction of my body brought into stark attention by the fires of heaven channeled through my flesh.

    The Qi in the air shifts, a gentle breeze blows, and the knives held against my flesh melt away like dust in the air. That breeze gains strength, turning into a strong wind, and clashes against the warped space of the dueling field, rattling it. My blood weeps freely from my now wide open wounds, but even so, I can still turn to face Wen Cao from where he stands behind me, his thin smile once more in place.

    "Impressive, Junior Brother," He replies in his own voice, "What's it called?"

    "Echoes of the First Breeze," I say in answer, "An Art of my own design."

    Wen Cao's head tilts to the side thoughtfully, "To have prioritized your Insights to this degree at your current stage is putting the cart ahead of the horse, isn't it?"

    "Some may say that," I answer truthfully, "But this Zhiqiang wished to lay out his path firmly before walking down it in earnest."

    Thin lips twitched downwards, but even that slight tremor was enough to crack his composure. Though I am the more severely injured, and the illusionary transformation had healed him of the wounds dealt by Cutting Truth, Wen Cao's aura is already beginning to gutter out. Now stripped entirely of the Lake Qi constructs he had laid upon himself for strength, and open to the backlash from pushing himself far beyond his limits, there is little doubt that he and I are still on even footing.

    While my opponents arms tremble slightly, raising his staff as toxic qi begins to envelop it once more, I take my focus off the Qi connecting me to the ground beneath my bleeding legs. What came next, would be a matter of timing. Though I had few perpetual drains on my own Qi reserves, my stores are not infinite.

    "It's been a good match, Junior Brother." Wen Cao says wryly, proudly.

    "It's not over yet." I answer back, my head still the only part of my body facing him.

    He lunges, the poisoned staff set to stab me from the maximum possible distance, thrust forward with the greatest amount of strength. With my legs and arms in the shape that they were in, a Third Realm would ordinarily be unable to exert the Qi necessary for a proper movement Art, nor an arm based art to knock away the attack. Should I have had another defensive technique, more constructs, or anything of the sort, Wen Cao had other options to just back off and reassess the situation with.

    His staff passes clean through my body instead, as my spine burns white.

    I utilize the fourth technique of Live Wire Sublimation, shifting the Qi of my body, and through my Domain, replace it with Qi of Heaven. Yes, this Art was the very reason I had so confidently pursued the path I had chosen. Moreso than any other Art I had encountered, Live Wire Sublimation was an introduction into what lay down the path for a Cultivator who wished to express their Domain outward!

    As lightning itself, the formless mass of Qi that was my body surged over the attack, and through the insufficiently insulated talisman and body of Wen Cao before reforming into a still bleeding crouch. Hardly better than a movement Art in duration, but the control was far and away superior to merely moving as Lightning.

    I lay my eyes upon Wen Cao, now hunched over and smoking from the ruin of my passage. I raise my voice.

    "Now it's over."

    The younger man twitches, eyes locking on to mine with wariness before jumping away from me. Directly onto the spot where I had been crouching just a moment prior. The mass of Qi I had left behind flares to life, blazing Formation symbols churning the earth in an ever expanding circle that begins howling as it greedily sucks in the air around it.

    In an instant, a wide, circular pit lies open, like the maw of some massive beast, its bottom lying in the forgotten depths beneath the Earth. Wen Cao's eyes widen in recognition at something, when the wind shifts and he attempts to straighten himself out at the edge.

    "So this is what Junior Brother Yan experienced on that day? Interesting." A line of heavenly Qi lances forth from my eyes, striking Wen Cao and shoving him ever so slightly backwards. Blazing with my intent, the formation characters shine once more, and air is again greedily pulled into the cavernous pit. The forces prove too much for my opponent to resist, and, arms desperately pinwheeling to try and get his expanded staff-glider enough lift to escape into the air, he falls into the pit, a loud cry of shock and anger eventually giving way to a loud crack and final, blessed silence.

    "I declare the match finished." A warm, pudgy hand lifts I, Zhiqiang up by the back of my neck, golden light flowing forth and suffusing the wounds that I had taken from the duel, the pain vanishing as they sealed up. Naturally, once my wounds no longer precluded me from doing so, I stood upon my own two feet.

    "The winner is Disciple Wu Zhiqiang." Elder Wàn declared, as the earthen pit began filling up, finally disgorging the unconscious form of Wen Cao into the newly restored grass.

    ...​

    "It was a good match, Sect Brother." Wen Cao said ruefully some time later, the minor crowd of onlookers having long dispersed, "Our business is concluded and debts have been repaid, I presume?"

    "It was indeed a good match, Sect Brother," I, Zhiqiang, reply back with good cheer, "And you are correct. The scales are now, without a doubt, balanced between us." My hand paws at my sparse facial hair, "Of course, should you seek to employ the services of this one once more, I will give you a special rate, as a preferred customer." My lips twist wryly, and I reach out to the soon to be Disciple Number Five Hundred Ninety-Nine with a pale jade slip.

    My former opponent smiles ambiguously, staring at my humble self for a moment before taking the proffered business card, "If nothing else," Wen Cao says as the jade slip vanishes into his interspatial ring, "I will know that it is money well spent."

    With a boisterous laugh, I clasp my hands and bow towards the noble scion before me, "Is there something you have in mind, Sect Brother Wen?"

    "...Not for now, but I will be in touch." He says with an incline of his head, before turning around to go about his own business, "Oh." He pauses, one hand pointing upwards into the air, "I do mean what I said, Junior Brother Ji." The bald disciple turned towards my errant student, "I look forward to your progress."

    It is some time later after we make our way back that Ji Rong finally speaks up, "The hell was with that guy at the end there?"

    I shrug, already considering one or two possibilities, "Who knows? The guy's a total sadist."

    My foolish student snorts in amusement, "Yeah, it's the only reason you won, windbag."

    I raise my eyebrow at him, "Hmph, hmph!" I begin pawing at my faux man chu for effect, "You say that as if that were not why I targeted him in the first place."

    "Is that so?"

    "Of course." With a wry smile, I, Zhiqiang, decide to impart upon my thuggish student one last lesson for the day, "If nothing else, creeps like him are utterly predictable."

    A.N.: FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINALLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYY DID THIS FUCKING THING @yrsillar

    Ugh! Now Zhiqiang is finally in the 500's, has access to the better cultivation sites, successfully put enough distance between himself and the Ducals to retain some sense of self-respect and dignity, and finally has the resources ready to push for his next big leaps in base cultivation as he tries and power-levels his way through the remaining three stages of Third Realm!

    And now I can get back to the cool parts, where I make up other stuff to fill Zhiqiangs social circle in the Inner Sect.
     
    Last edited:
  • Sidestory
    • veekie said:
    Did Xuan Shi just spend a huge amount of money to look cool while riding a Xuanwu into battle?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Yes, he obviously did. It's been a childhood dream of his since... forever really. I mean, remember where he grew up :D
    Never mind the probably small fortune he used in the borderline useless attack, he even took the feet-burning shell with a smile.
     
    TehChron said:
    Turbulent​

    It's a lovely day, quite picturesque in it's beauty in contrast to the...storm that had occurred a scant few weeks ago. Turbulent weather to reflect the turbulence within the heart of I, Zhiqiang, and so it is only natural that with the calm of newfound resolve that the sky would match my own mood. Arrogant? Perhaps, but in that regard it is fortunate, for I have-

    "So what's the plan today, Windbag?"

    "Hmph, hmph," I glance towards my scarred errant student where he stands idly nearby, "Must you always be in such a hurry, Junior Brother?" With an affected sigh and shake of my head, I turn my attention towards my latest acquisition. A finely crafted saber, its handle carved of red jade with a golden tassel, innumerable formation characters worked into the seams within the stone that encased the metal itself. A dull, grey steel, with azure ripples imprinted upon one side, the piece itself caught the eye, even if it possessed no obvious signs of Qi being worked into it. The 'back' of the blade was, unlike the curved front, rough and broad, as befitting a tool meant to chop, however, near the handle were a series of grooves; something of a swordbreaker.

    It had been the result of ample negotiations and research on my part, not to mention the work involved in acquiring the materials and techniques needed for it's creator to prepare it for me. And yet it was ultimately worth it. A proper Trump Card of my own.

    "You wanted to show me a sword?" Ji Rong spoke up, glancing at the weapon.

    My eyes turn towards him curiously, "A sword?" I inquire, pouring water into the metallic cup in hand, my grip nestled upon the red stone that served as a cup holder, "Where do you see a sword, Junior Brother?" I continue, before taking a deep drink from it, smacking my lips in satisfaction.

    "Okay, a cu-"

    I raise an eyebrow in response, my free hand now tapping herbs for smoking into the bowl of my pipe, it's length covered in crimson jade, with a gold tassel dangling from the bottom, "What do you see here, Junior Brother?"

    With a sigh of exasperation, Ji Rong rolls his eyes at me, "A talisman, I guess."

    "Good answer," I, Zhiqiang, nod in satisfaction, "But no, this is something that is a tool of...last resort." With those words, my errant student stiffens, his long-dormant thuggish instincts coming to the fore, but I merely chuckle at his unfounded paranoia, "You need not worry, Junior Brother Ji." I smile towards him, pawing at my faux man chu, "I would not drag you into potentially dangerous circumstances without informing you first."

    "You absolutely would, you asshole." Is the boys immediate rejoinder.

    With all due theatrics, I reel backwards, free hand clutching at my heart, "From where does this accusation come? Have I, Zhiqiang, ever not been anything other than truly fair and upfront with you, Junior Brother?" I cough, glancing away as the wind carries water from the air into my eyes and I find myself once again grateful for Brother Wind's assistance, "Such tragic and unfounded paranoia!"

    With my senses I can easily discern my errant students glare, already crackling with the might of Heaven. Hmph, hmph! Such a lack of trust! And after all I've done for him as well!

    "Such animosity, after this Zhiqiang had even went through the trouble of arranging for that Tribulation for Junior Brother!"

    In a display of unsanitary thuggishness, Ji Rong spits to the side in contempt, "That's what I mean!" He gestures at my self rudely, "You didn't tell me about that until we were already at the mountain summit!"

    I turned to stare back at him, my expression incredulous, "And you considered a mere hike up a mountain to be dangerous?"

    "No, I meant the lightning storm!" Ji Rong shouts loudly, and as my ears ring I take a moment to scratch the sensitive eardrum with a finger.

    "But this Zhiqiang informed you of that before you climbed into it, did I not?" I reply back, flicking my finger towards him. To the boys credit, he dodges the projectile with alacrity.

    "That's disgusting!" My finger then points towards the spot on the ground where he had spat, and I am treated to the shifting eyes of the young man before me, "A-anyway, telling me about it right when we're already there isn't the point!"

    "And to think I had thought of it as a surprise gift for Junior Brother..." I shake my head sadly at Ji Rong's stunning lack of gratitude, "Where did this one go wrong, where such a valuable opportunity is looked upon as some kind of suspicious deed?" After glancing towards the Heavens for guidance and finding them lacking, I turn back towards the younger man before me, "But we are going off topic, Junior Brother." With that I turn around, and resume walking towards our destination.

    "Your unfounded paranoia aside, I called you out today because I wished to show you what a challenge among my peers looks like, and to prepare yourself accordingly."

    Ji Rong perks up at that as he follows behind me, "You in a challenge, huh? What're you going after?"

    "Rank 598, as it turns out." I reply crisply, "Senior Brother Wen has determined that the challenge shall be a duel between us."

    Lightning sparks erratically, "Wait, you mean like a fair fight or something?" I nod, "But since when do you ever agree to a fair fight?"

    As we continue walking I consider my words for a few moments, before deigning to reply, "There are circumstances which sometimes force even my hand, Junior Brother. Though this Zhiqiang is an impressive speciment indeed, I, too sometimes fail to have the right to choose my own battles." The pause this time is a bit longer, as Ji Rong digests this revelation before opening his mouth once more.

    "Wasn't Wen Cao the guy you had a big favor with? The one you were planning to call it in on later?" My eyes narrow at this unexpected bit of insightfulness, "Isn't it a bit early for you to ride in on his coattails then?"

    "...It is perhaps a bit earlier than I would have liked, but recent events have caused me to re-evaluate my circumstances, to determine how I need to move in order to avoid being swallowed up by the very wave I had intended to take advantage of." With a ponderous sigh I continue in a near mutter, "You're all moving far more quickly than I had anticipated." It had caught me off guard when Sect Sister Bao had advanced to the mid-500's in one move, but given that the depths of her preparations had enabled her to fool even my senses, such a great leap should have only been expected.

    And I had no intention of being left behind at this stage.

    "So you're panicking?" Ji Rong added in unhelpfully.

    "Not so much panicking," I reply, "Think of it as...re-orienting my goals to reflect the change in circumstances." The duel field enters the edges of my own senses, and Brother Wind begins his work in obscuring our conversation from potential eavesdroppers, "But either way, I am forced to act if I still desire to get ahead of the changing tide."

    "Then why bring me out here?"

    "Is it so odd that I wish to impress upon you the strength of the one that is teaching you, Junior Brother?" I reply with a chuckle, "And it should give you a better idea of what to expect at this level of Cultivation when you embark on your own challenges." I tilt my head, and the wind carries my next words in a whisper, "Your Princess seems to not have the time to spar with you as regularly as necessary to help provide a proper frame of reference, and you will need to know what to deal with sooner rather than later should she prove antagonistic to other factions in the Inner Sect."

    "Whaddya mean?" My student answered back.

    "There are many that would seek to keep their strength hidden, not just myself or Sect Sister Bao, so it is best that you be prepared in case someone attempts to target you as a proxy attack on your Master. Whether here or off the Mountain." At these words, Ji Rong simply nodded, and we finally entered the space for the duel.

    ...​

    "Sect Brother Wu," My opponent for the day greeted, hands clasped as he inclined his head towards me, "It's a pleasure to see you once more."

    Ji Rong turns an inquisitive look towards me, one which goes ignored, "Likewise, Senior Brother Wen," I return, hands clasped in respect, "This Zhiqiang is honored that you would agree to this small request.

    Light reflects off the shaved head of Wen Cao as he turns a thin smile towards me, "It's no great trouble, I can only hope that Sect Brother will continue to lend me his support in the times to come."

    "Such a trifle should go without saying," I reply in turn, "As Sect Brothers it is only natural that this Zhiqiang would give his all towards your success."

    Wen Cao looks satisfied, before turning his gaze towards the thuggish boy besides me, "And who might this be?"

    I gesture towards the fool, "This one would be Junior Brother Ji Rong, new to the Inner Sect, I've taken a small interest in him and thus have been giving him a few tips here and there." When the bald man before me shows no reaction, I continue, "You have seen him before, a scant few months ago in fact."

    The other mans eyes narrow ever so slightly, seeming to really look at the boy for the first time, "You're the one who lost to Junior Sister Ling, aren't you?" Wen Cao said with a smile, as Ji Rong twitched in that subtle way that is flagrantly obvious to the observant. It appears that he will need additional training to steel his nerves!

    "Yeah, what about it?" Comes my errant student's surly response.

    "Nothing," Wen Cao answers back, "I simply wished to congratulate you on your performance in that match, as it allowed both of you to display your abilities to their utmost." The scarred boy twitched once more, "Yes, I felt that Junior Sister Ling truly could not afford to hold back against you, Junior Brother." The older Cultivator continued, "And in pushing yourselves to those heights, you both displayed such dazzling talents that will surely only be matched by the one another, achieving great deeds in the days to come."

    My errant student's expression grew cloudy as the thunderhead, and so I rested my hand upon his shoulder in cold comfort. Thankfully, the atmosphere was kept from growing more charged by the flexing of qi, and the sensation of a warm summers breeze, scented of fresh wood grabs our attention. I turn towards the shuffling, genial smile of the approaching Elder and clasp my hands together in respect.

    "Disciple Zhiqiang greets Elder Wàn," My humble self calls out in greeting, "This one thanks you for taking the time to officiate this minor challenge."

    As Ji Rong and Wen Cao nod their own greetings, the rotund Elder inclines his head, "It is no trouble, Disciple Wu." Eyes closed in apparent mirth turn towards the other two besides me, "Though I see that I have interrupted some friendly jousting between young men."

    The taller man nods in confirmation, "There is no need for Elder to concern himself," Wen Cao gestures towards his chest, "This one was merely expressing his expectations for Junior Brother Ji now that he is under the tutelage of a reliable Sect Brother such as Sect Brother Wu." He smiles towards my foolish student, "I have high hopes that he will live up to the pace set by his peers."

    "You rate me too highly, Senior Brother." I, Zhiqiang, reply with a chuckle, "This humble self is merely providing Junior Brother with some tips in the application of his favored element due to a slight curiosity, it is nothing so formal as all that." My hand strokes at my facial hair, "Junior Brother Jis accomplishments are his own, and in turn those of whomever he eventually swears himself to."

    "Sect Brother is quite wealthy then." Wen Cao answers back, smiling thinly, "To have arranged for a rare Tribulation opportunity to be given to someone else for the sake of indulging such a meager whim."

    This shitty bastard! "This one hardly deserves such credit, Sect Brother. It was merely a matter of calling in a few favors, really," I say with a shake of my head, "It is nothing so extravagant as all that."

    "As pleasing as it is that the two of you are getting along so well," Elder Wàn speaks up from the side, "There is only so much time in the day, you two." With hastened apologies, my opponent and I proceed into the dueling ground, surrounded by a number of mostly empty spectating boxes, formation pillars creating a sealed space far larger on the inside than on the outside. Yes, this would be for the best. My own contacts were not the type to be invested in my own progress, and for all of Wen Cao's own promise, he was hardly as popular as he believed himself to be.

    "I look forward to your future accomplishments, Junior Brother Ji." The bald disciple says genially as he steps into the formation, and as ever, the thuggish boys bristling aura is clear even from this distance.

    But even so.

    I pause, and turn my head so that my foolish student would see a slight curving of my lips. Hmph, hmph! Worry not, Junior Brother! I, Zhiqiang, shall endeavor to avenge your honor like the innocent maiden that you are!

    ...​

    Inside the altered space, myself and my opponent stand at a somewhat respectable distance from one another. Not quite close, as the Immortal reckons, but certainly close enough for one to close the distance should the other be unprepared. Equidistant between us stands Elder Wàn, suffused in the light of the Sun, "We shall now begin the challenge between Disciple Seven Hundred Ten, Wu Zhiqiang, and Disciple Five Hundred Ninety Eight, Wen Cao." The perpetually cheerful Elder paused, glancing back towards the stands before continuing.

    "In accordance with Sect Rules, Disciple Wen Cao has chosen a challenge of direct combat. Let both competitors be at ease that this humble Elder shall not allow either of you to come to permanent harm." At this, Elder Wàn cast a knowing look towards the bald scion, "This one hopes that both of your youthful spirits can be released to their fullest extent." This time he glances towards myself, his smile stretched only slightly too wide, and with a rueful grin of my own I bow towards the rotund man in understanding. Yes.

    I will endeavor to not hold back, Respected Elder.

    "The rules of this duel shall be simple," The older man continued, "As requested by the Challenged, there are no restrictions on weapons, techniques, spirit beasts, or space in the dueling field itself. The match shall end when one participant is at risk of serious injury, or in the event of an outside influence disrupting the duel. Are both sides prepared?"

    The loamy earth was familiar to me, though purged of any influences outside of the natural Qi that suffused this dueling ground. The air was rich, heady with the lingering scent of the storms that had ravaged the peaks only a scant few weeks ago. I even imagined that I could discern the contortions in space imposed by the Formations delineating the boundaries of the duel space. I, Zhiqiang, breath in. My eyes, nerves, olfactory senses, eardrums, tastebuds, each inch of me takes in and memorizes the state of this field. A snapshot of its natural state before the battlefield would be drenched in my opponent's potent Lake Qi.

    There was no need for Brother Wind to do anything, his senses were as mine, and the baseline would be sufficient for when we brought our more esoteric senses to bear.

    I nod.

    This would be the do or die moment. A painstakingly crafted, safe scheme of accumulating favor, cast aside for the sake of a risky gamble. Could I defeat the man before me? I was confident of my chances, but Count Scions, especially ones as praised and skilled as Wen Cao, were not so easily overcome. The bounty of playing matchmaker was that the other man had accepted the challenge with putting only one Contribution Point on the line and thus giving my true reserves hidden, but should he fail there was a slight possibility that he would be pushed back into his previous range should another try and make the leap into the 500s.

    I did not doubt that Wen Cao would, at the very least, do everything he could to prevent being humiliated by a defeat my hands.

    Very well. This Zhiqiang shall enter into battle with the resolve to kill. I'll trust in the Honored Elder to keep things at an amicable level.

    As Elder Wàn raised his hand up in preparation, I spotted the recognition and simultaneous resignation in his eyes, no doubt displayed for my benefit. My apologies Elder, this one shall be relying on your guidance.

    I am rather desperate, you see, and it makes me act quite hastily.

    I give you my thanks ahead of time.

    His hand lowers.

    "Begin!"

    ...​

    My eyes, excellent as they are, are discarded instantly. There is no need for the base senses against one trained in the illusionary arts. In lieu of vision, I call upon the firmament, which has awareness of all that treads upon its surface. Brother Wind expresses himself in full, the frolicking breeze an extension of my limited flesh. My body fills with the fulminating power of Heaven, and my self processes all things at a speed none of my ostensible peers would ever be able to reach on their own.

    It is only due to this action that the first pulse of Lake Qi, carried upon a fetid wind, washes over my humble self and is ignored. The illusory technique scrabbles at my mundane senses, stretching a film of energies over my skin and twists and scrabbles at my nerve endings, attempting to carry on a mummers show at my expense. But I ignore it, as a short, curved blade manifests at my side, the familiar sky blue webbing trembling in anticipation.

    I take my first step, directly towards Wen Cao, where he had sought to move himself after conjuring a thin film, a construct of Lake Qi as a flimsy after image. My senses brushed against him, easily piercing the obfuscating veil he had cast upon himself, and I felt his lips twitch upward in a predatory smile. Let him, then. So long as he could not tear away Brother Wind's reach in the air, his deceptions would be as nothing before the cutting truth of this battle!

    I take my second step, and with a challenging bark of laughter my partner spun through the air at my opponent, and while Wen Cao was a cunning individual, he was not one enamored with the idea of subtlety. In a flash of light, he held out a fan where before his hands had been empty, an elegant bamboo thing, it's silken webbing featuring an image of a lakeside, upon the shore of which stood great read ogres. Some danced merrily, others swam easily, one fished patiently, and yet all had one distinct commonality;

    All faced the opposite shore, and where before the expressions upon the creatures were apparently on jolly and cheerful, closer inspection showed them to be rapturous instead as their eyes were universally turned upon the opposite shore, where a number of figures in the imposing robes of nobility stood sentinel as if gods looking upon their creation.

    It was an old story, but one I had heard tale of when doing my research into Wen Cao ahead of time. One of too few successes before undertaking this challenge.

    Shining burnished steel clashed against immaculate silk webbing, before Wen Cao let the fan go, the fan in hand spinning off to the side and drag the Cutting Truth with it. But this was expected, and so I took my second step, closing far more distance as my opponent stepped backwards, a heavy, polished wooden staff materializes in his outstretched grip. The qi of a fetid lake crept up the talisman, and around my self flimsy constructs of Qi rise up, limbs heavy with malice and intent to strike. Though my mundane senses go ignored, the use of substantial illusions was obvious, and even as I fall into a defensive stance I can sense the air around Wen Cao rippling with the weight of new presences materializing from his dantian.

    Crude bludgeons of Lake and Wind qi fall upon me, but they are unsophisticated and they touch only the wind as my limbs entrench themselves further into the loamy earth beneath me. The constructs strike, their limbs now forming simple staves and my eyes of flesh gaze upon a dozen copies of Wen Cao. Twelve weapons attempt to surround, and encircle their target. Twelve blows strike simultaneously, but flesh and blood shifts into a mass of laughing air and swirling robes, and in the wake of that coordinated attack twelve actinic limbs materialize in the thin air, grabbing onto their victims. The mindless constructs shudder as qi-forged blades, woven with characters for dispelling, punch through their insubstantial bodies and dissolve them utterly.

    The mass of robes flutters through the chaotic breeze for another moment before the shape of a man reasserts itself within them, and I, Zhiqiang, sink my armaments deep into the earth for later use.

    Before me stands three Wen Caos, each identical to the others in every way. Their Meridians, their levels of Qi, their equipment, even the scent of his Domain, three still lakes, concealing a fetid rot beneath their mirror-like surfaces. The flesh of my eyes burns with the fires of Tribulation, and my thick optical nerves capture the moment of disruption as Heavenly Qi lances through the surface of the illusion, revealing a mighty red ogre with the bearing of a man, and a great creature of Yin Wood qi, a humanoid abomination of poisonous moss that was the equal of Wen Cao's own cultivation.

    The wind kicks up at the back of all three, and they are launched forward, nearly invisible spores trailing in their wake. But they underestimate Brother Wind, a slight breeze casting the poisonous debris away. Identical sheens of poisonous energies wrap around all three staves, but the true Wen Cao does not finish the descent with his disguised Spirit Beasts, instead his weapon expands into another wide fan, suffused with Wind Qi, the artificial updraft keeping him aloft as Lake Qi begins to surge through his Meridians.

    Barbarian Tactics, is it?

    Twins land upon the ground, their weight fooled by the illusions cast upon them, and so move with an ease of practice which puts to lie their origins as counterfeits of their master. Poison flares against actinic Qi, as disguised beasts use the Arts of a man to supplement their own natural gifts. One Wen Cao strikes with unnatural strength, his tainted staff bolstered with the immense strength of a Red Ogre. The strikes are cunning and brutish, yet easy to evade and redirect. In a vacuum.

    The blows of its partner are more sweeping, herding attacks which leave a cloud of deeply poisonous spores in their wake, the very earth warping and putrefying with the Qi of rot. These, too, are easily dodged. But the taint in the air lingers, even through the flowing wind, and soon that rot becomes a cage, a permeable barrier that grasps and undulates ominously. An obvious trap, a corralling action, and all that is left is to confuse the victim into walking into it completely.

    Once more, purloined wind crashes down like a cresting wave, carrying the fetid taint of poison, an illusion meant to seep into the flesh and Meridians, and to Wen scion's credit, this technique is potent indeed. Mundane senses fall first. Their input is cut off, easily amputated. A battery of secondary senses is choked off by Lake qi, the flow in my bodies channels are clogged, stoppered by the stench of stagnant rot, and the touch of the wind is absent. The oily feel of illusions redoubles its efforts, attempting to leech deeply through meridians into my mind.

    Live Wire Sublimation flares, and the fires of Heaven burn the taint away into nothingness. With an effort of will, the shell of Qi around an arm is reinforced by energies of tribulation, taking on the defined form of an armored hand as the winds shift, compressed air gathering in the skies above. Even so, as the air becomes slowly more tainted with toxic qi, I begin to fall back, my attention divided between four targets, until three things happen at once.

    The first, is a countless number of blades descend upon the ground, intended to cut down myself alongside Wen Cao's doppelgangers no doubt. The second, is one of said stand-ins abandons all pretense of technique to lunge at me, arms outstretched.

    The third, is that the earth erupts beneath my feet, and I launch myself straight at the foe attempting to cover the air in pestilence.

    Burning fingers grasps the slowest of my opponents, digits clenching furiously upon his face as the handsome features of Wen Cao flicker and vanish, revealing the much larger, shaggier form of a hulking monstrosity composed purely of fetid moss, it's vaguely humanoid form descending upon me, enveloping me, attempting to entrap me. Ever so slowly.

    Actinic light erupts from my channels, and vast spikes pierce through the beast with an inhuman groan, and so I step back, leaving behind a white construct glowing with dozens of formations that shine with the Intent to burn. The blades fall from Wen Cao upon myself and his first spirit beast, so I answer by seeking shelter.

    The earth rises up, forming a dome against the storm, and the Qi is filled with Intent, the construct inscribed with quickly applied formations to provide sturdiness. Monstrous shrieking erupts within the hastily constructed fortification, and the moss creature begins to burn, so it's only natural to step out, right? I, Zhiqiang courteously create a tiny hole at the bottom, carrying myself out on an errant breeze as I form a hole in the roof to better give the Beast's master an opportunity to aid it.

    Hmph, hmph, it appears that the flow of air is only accelerating the burning that I've inflicted on the creature! The smoke pouring out from this...impromptu kiln is nearly as wretched as the moss beast trapped within it!

    "That was a pretty impressive trick, Sect Brother." A cultured voice speaks out from behind me, one of the two Wen Caos that are left no doubt.

    "Not really," I reply amicably, "Compared to you crippling Junior Brother Yan two years ago something like this is as nothing."

    A hiss of pain disturbs the field, and a film of Lake Qi that tightly stretches over everything in sight snaps and wavers, revealing the shape of two figures, roughly equal in size. How many layers of deception must this man throw upon his foes before he's satisfied? I shake my head as I paw my faux man chu, the heat of one body erratically shifting, the ground noticing the slight trembling that comes from a flinch of pain.

    "Let me show you a better one." Fingers snap, and the dismissed flames of creation rise up towards the second figure that is even now approaching. Whatever trick that has gone into the creation of this illusion is superb. My senses can detect differences, but the Arts of the Wen are truly something else, to enable an illusion so thorough as to make the falsehood real. Even now, the Wen Cao approaching this Zhiqiang was all but identical to the original article. Same Weight. Same Aura. Same Domain. Same bearing. Even the fluidity of movement was exactly like its masters. One would never guess that an uncultured and savage Red Ogre could act with such grace and skill.

    Thick constructs, bars harder than any steel, pierce through the surface of the arena and strike my attacker, pinning him in place. Formations flare, and the beams of forged Qi form between them, serving to pin the targets arms and head in place. Intent seals the constructs shut, imprisoning Formations enhancing the purpose of the constructed pillory.

    The illusion is dispelled in full, revealing the scowling, raging form of Wen Caos second spirit beast, its brutish strength railing against its restraints.

    The Red Ogre's Master is already upon it, a building gale already in hand to sever my work.

    "Your beast can't use your techniques if the illusion is broken, Sect Brother!" The voice of I, Zhiqiang, rings out and a gash of red splits open my opponents hand, ruining Wen Caos attempt to utilize his technique as he turns upon me, livid. With ease of focus, I draw a hand back, a thin line of heavenly Qi left behind in its wake, solidifying, gaining definition, thickening into a heavy looking shaft, tipped with a cruel barb.

    In the same motion I grasp and hurl the weapon, the projectile boosted and guided with the force of a gale, and with a grotesque sound I send Wen Cao's second beast back into his Dantian. The illusions upon the dueling grounds fall away as Wen Cao glares at me once more, and with a second pulsing of Live Wire Sublimation, the oily Lake Qi that had clung to me is burnt away as well.

    As I see truly through my eyes for the first time in this fight, I bear witness to Wen Cao's murderous glower, the blood from his hand freely tainting the air with the metallic tang of his life fluid. With a free hand, I paw at my sparse facial hair.

    "Would you care to concede, Senior Brother?" I ask, the wind carrying my offer as a barest whisper.

    The illusionist stills, his muscles clenching and unclenching as if from pure rage, involuntary spasms as expressions of his anger...That abruptly come to an end, and Wen Cao turns upon me a beatific smile. Another lie, hidden behind thin lips.

    "You have my admiration, Sect Brother Wu." My opponent says, expression serene once more, "I had underestimated you, simply due to your stagnation in the Rankings, and had erroneously assumed that this match would only be the desperate struggle of a pig, ignorant of its place, grasping for something far beyond its station."

    Well, it's not as if I had thought any better of him, "Your words honor this one, Sect Brother Wen." I bow in deference, "How would you care to proceed from here?"

    Wen Cao's arms go slack, his limbs hanging loose as his aura begins to surge wildly, Meridians in his Arms, Head, Spine, Lungs, and Heart all beginning to channel and expel qi at an astonishing rate!

    "To honor your resolution, your skill, and your talent," Wen Cao begins as his body becomes enshrouded in thick layers of shimmering lake Qi, "Let me meet you with my full strength, and show you the true difference between us." His voice warps, warbles, and becomes far, far deeper, "This Art is the first step of the truly advanced Wen Illusionary Techniques!" The words become lackadaisical, his form growing taller, and gaining a level of definition which had not existed prior, "First Phase Reflection!" The surging Lake Qi settles, taking on a silverish sheen, and in that instant I pause at the appearance of the Aura of a Cultivator at the Eighth Stage of the Third Realm.

    An all too familiar mask, an all too frustrating bandoleer, an all too envious demeanor.

    "...That's quite impressive," I, Zhiqiang say after a pause, "Even to my eyes, you are indistinguishable from Senior Brother Liao!" I bark out a laugh as best as I am able, and begin trying to grasp a chink in the layers of transformed Lake Qi, now indistinguishable from what I had seen of Liao Zhu's aura. My senses fail, however; what appears before my eyes is truly identical to the Third Ranked Inner Sect Disciple.

    "Do not worry, Junior Brother! It's the same for everyone else!" The transformed Wen Cao calls out, his voice, body language, everything a perfect match, "There were other options for me to take on, but I felt we would all be best served if I just crushed you while facing down those senses you're always so proud of head on!" With an amused chuckle, he pulls out a knife and begins to juggle with it idly, thoughtlessly, naturally.

    "Your sense for irony is too appropriate." I demur, "But I wonder if you can truly match up to Senior Brother Liao's own skills?"

    The smell of copper fills the air once more, and I cast my senses to trace the source! If I could detect Wen Cao's spilled-

    "Whether or not that's the case, I doubt you would be able to tell in the first place, Junior Brother." Liao Zhu's voice whispers from behind me, and all I can sense is...the knife...sticking out of my shoulder.

    I hadn't even felt any pain!

    The disguised Wen Cao returns to standing before me, performing bizarre tricks with several knives, a carefree look on his face, the bastard! The fires of heaven fill my veins, shaped by the hardened channels of earth! With an effort of will, I send off a dozen swords, intent on swatting those worthless knives right out of the air!

    In the instant between my casting of my attack and their arrival at their destination, the false Liao Zhu disappears. But his knives do not.

    Rather, they simply have moved.

    Into my outstretched arms.

    Crimson life fluid spurts into the air, and I cast my senses around. But this time there is no response. Wen Cao does not reappear.

    "To take on the appearance of her favored tutor in the Inner Sect, aren't you worried that you would give Junior Sister a bad impression?" I call out, and the air shifts just so, triggering the ability of the Cutting Truth. And yet, Wen Cao still does not reappear. If there had been any doubt as to the the truth of this deception, then I would have to put it to rest. Such resistance to Cutting Truth's abilities was only possible for Cultivators who were at least a full level of Cultivation beyond me,

    "Making an Illusion that not only fools the self, but fools the world around you?" Knives sprout from my knees, and I fall to the ground. But it is merely pain of the flesh, and I am oh so close to having done away with that limitation entirely, "Truly quite the Art! I am in awe of the Wen once more!" I, Zhiqiang, force out through clenched teeth, "But in the end," I can no longer move, but Wen Cao has not yet targeted anything truly dangerous, "Even the illusion of strength is only just an Illusion!"

    A knife sprouts from my stomach, but I simply breath in, filling my lungs with the qi-rich air around us, "Sect Brother," My voice comes out as a whisper in the following exhalation, "Let me show you the fruits of that 'stagnation' which you so calmly derided just now." A knife presses against my jugular, the sensations against every fraction of my body brought into stark attention by the fires of heaven channeled through my flesh.

    The Qi in the air shifts, a gentle breeze blows, and the knives held against my flesh melt away like dust in the air. That breeze gains strength, turning into a strong wind, and clashes against the warped space of the dueling field, rattling it. My blood weeps freely from my now wide open wounds, but even so, I can still turn to face Wen Cao from where he stands behind me, his thin smile once more in place.

    "Impressive, Junior Brother," He replies in his own voice, "What's it called?"

    "Echoes of the First Breeze," I say in answer, "An Art of my own design."

    Wen Cao's head tilts to the side thoughtfully, "To have prioritized your Insights to this degree at your current stage is putting the cart ahead of the horse, isn't it?"

    "Some may say that," I answer truthfully, "But this Zhiqiang wished to lay out his path firmly before walking down it in earnest."

    Thin lips twitched downwards, but even that slight tremor was enough to crack his composure. Though I am the more severely injured, and the illusionary transformation had healed him of the wounds dealt by Cutting Truth, Wen Cao's aura is already beginning to gutter out. Now stripped entirely of the Lake Qi constructs he had laid upon himself for strength, and open to the backlash from pushing himself far beyond his limits, there is little doubt that he and I are still on even footing.

    While my opponents arms tremble slightly, raising his staff as toxic qi begins to envelop it once more, I take my focus off the Qi connecting me to the ground beneath my bleeding legs. What came next, would be a matter of timing. Though I had few perpetual drains on my own Qi reserves, my stores are not infinite.

    "It's been a good match, Junior Brother." Wen Cao says wryly, proudly.

    "It's not over yet." I answer back, my head still the only part of my body facing him.

    He lunges, the poisoned staff set to stab me from the maximum possible distance, thrust forward with the greatest amount of strength. With my legs and arms in the shape that they were in, a Third Realm would ordinarily be unable to exert the Qi necessary for a proper movement Art, nor an arm based art to knock away the attack. Should I have had another defensive technique, more constructs, or anything of the sort, Wen Cao had other options to just back off and reassess the situation with.

    His staff passes clean through my body instead, as my spine burns white.

    I utilize the fourth technique of Live Wire Sublimation, shifting the Qi of my body, and through my Domain, replace it with Qi of Heaven. Yes, this Art was the very reason I had so confidently pursued the path I had chosen. Moreso than any other Art I had encountered, Live Wire Sublimation was an introduction into what lay down the path for a Cultivator who wished to express their Domain outward!

    As lightning itself, the formless mass of Qi that was my body surged over the attack, and through the insufficiently insulated talisman and body of Wen Cao before reforming into a still bleeding crouch. Hardly better than a movement Art in duration, but the control was far and away superior to merely moving as Lightning.

    I lay my eyes upon Wen Cao, now hunched over and smoking from the ruin of my passage. I raise my voice.

    "Now it's over."

    The younger man twitches, eyes locking on to mine with wariness before jumping away from me. Directly onto the spot where I had been crouching just a moment prior. The mass of Qi I had left behind flares to life, blazing Formation symbols churning the earth in an ever expanding circle that begins howling as it greedily sucks in the air around it.

    In an instant, a wide, circular pit lies open, like the maw of some massive beast, its bottom lying in the forgotten depths beneath the Earth. Wen Cao's eyes widen in recognition at something, when the wind shifts and he attempts to straighten himself out at the edge.

    "So this is what Junior Brother Yan experienced on that day? Interesting." A line of heavenly Qi lances forth from my eyes, striking Wen Cao and shoving him ever so slightly backwards. Blazing with my intent, the formation characters shine once more, and air is again greedily pulled into the cavernous pit. The forces prove too much for my opponent to resist, and, arms desperately pinwheeling to try and get his expanded staff-glider enough lift to escape into the air, he falls into the pit, a loud cry of shock and anger eventually giving way to a loud crack and final, blessed silence.

    "I declare the match finished." A warm, pudgy hand lifts I, Zhiqiang up by the back of my neck, golden light flowing forth and suffusing the wounds that I had taken from the duel, the pain vanishing as they sealed up. Naturally, once my wounds no longer precluded me from doing so, I stood upon my own two feet.

    "The winner is Disciple Wu Zhiqiang." Elder Wàn declared, as the earthen pit began filling up, finally disgorging the unconscious form of Wen Cao into the newly restored grass.

    ...​

    "It was a good match, Sect Brother." Wen Cao said ruefully some time later, the minor crowd of onlookers having long dispersed, "Our business is concluded and debts have been repaid, I presume?"

    "It was indeed a good match, Sect Brother," I, Zhiqiang, reply back with good cheer, "And you are correct. The scales are now, without a doubt, balanced between us." My hand paws at my sparse facial hair, "Of course, should you seek to employ the services of this one once more, I will give you a special rate, as a preferred customer." My lips twist wryly, and I reach out to the soon to be Disciple Number Five Hundred Ninety-Nine with a pale jade slip.

    My former opponent smiles ambiguously, staring at my humble self for a moment before taking the proffered business card, "If nothing else," Wen Cao says as the jade slip vanishes into his interspatial ring, "I will know that it is money well spent."

    With a boisterous laugh, I clasp my hands and bow towards the noble scion before me, "Is there something you have in mind, Sect Brother Wen?"

    "...Not for now, but I will be in touch." He says with an incline of his head, before turning around to go about his own business, "Oh." He pauses, one hand pointing upwards into the air, "I do mean what I said, Junior Brother Ji." The bald disciple turned towards my errant student, "I look forward to your progress."

    It is some time later after we make our way back that Ji Rong finally speaks up, "The hell was with that guy at the end there?"

    I shrug, already considering one or two possibilities, "Who knows? The guy's a total sadist."

    My foolish student snorts in amusement, "Yeah, it's the only reason you won, windbag."

    I raise my eyebrow at him, "Hmph, hmph!" I begin pawing at my faux man chu for effect, "You say that as if that were not why I targeted him in the first place."

    "Is that so?"

    "Of course." With a wry smile, I, Zhiqiang, decide to impart upon my thuggish student one last lesson for the day, "If nothing else, creeps like him are utterly predictable."

    A.N.: FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINALLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYY DID THIS FUCKING THING @yrsillar

    Ugh! Now Zhiqiang is finally in the 500's, has access to the better cultivation sites, successfully put enough distance between himself and the Ducals to retain some sense of self-respect and dignity, and finally has the resources ready to push for his next big leaps in base cultivation as he tries and power-levels his way through the remaining three stages of Third Realm!

    And now I can get back to the cool parts, where I make up other stuff to fill Zhiqiangs social circle in the Inner Sect.
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    It's finally here, your sacrifice to the The Great Hunger Of The SV Text Box will be honored forevermore. Good stuff. Some of the actual combat felt a bit wonky compared to, say, his spar with Liling, but that is kind of a direct result of the whole Illusion Specialist vs Sensory Specialist thing. Those kinds of fights are always kinda weird to watch, completely different dynamic from a more straightforward offence/defense oriented thing.
     
    ChronOblivion said:
    It's finally here, your sacrifice to the The Great Hunger Of The SV Text Box will be honored forevermore. Good stuff. Some of the actual combat felt a bit wonky compared to, say, his spar with Liling, but that is kind of a direct result of the whole Illusion Specialist vs Sensory Specialist thing. Those kinds of fights are always kinda weird to watch, completely different dynamic from a more straightforward offence/defense oriented thing.
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    It took me a couple tries to figure out the whole kage bunshin thing to try and make it non-repetitive with the Spirit Beast Henshin yeah
     
    Ayashi said:
    Yes, he obviously did. It's been a childhood dream of his since... forever really. I mean, remember where he grew up :D
    Never mind the probably small fortune he used in the borderline useless attack, he even took the feet-burning shell with a smile.
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    I am not sure about that. I mean, on the islands he comes from not entering a battle riding upon a Xuanwu would be the remarkable thing.:p
     
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