Hmmph... this junior is a good seed [Cultivation Management Quest]

Computer science part 1
After paying many contribution points, a lot of testing to make sure that I am in fact competent with arrays and a little begging. I am finally allowed to access to the inner workings of the clan Contribution board.

And it is amazing. It is obviously the work of a genius. Unfortunately I say that with a tone of horror. It is a bit like looking at coding for DNA. Ok not that bad at least everything is obviously useful without loads of space filling junk. Still every bit is interdependent on every other bit. There is no hardware software divide like you would see in a computer. No, the contribution board was designed from the ground up for the purpose of being a contribution board. This is not a computer with a contribution board software loaded into it or a computer running timekeeping software. It's like an analog grandfather clock.

It is obvious that whoever made this was a master artificer of such intellect that I can scarcely comprehend it. It is also clear that it was the work of a single artificer working alone that had never even heard of the idea of object orientated design. Who also felt no need to include comments or explanations.

There is no way I can make any effective modifications to this. It would be easier to design a whole new contribution board from the ground up. I might be able to make some extensions if I treat the contribution board as a black box with some known inputs and outputs however. For example I might be able to create a mobile handheld contribution board, but it would just be an extension of the stationary contribution board requiring the use of it the entire time the handheld is being used. Not very efficient at all. Also there is absolutely no way I can run doom on this.

Well that was a total waste of time and contribution points. The most annoying bit is how everyone acts like the reason I can't get any insight is because the contribution board is so far beyond me rather than the fact the person who made the contribution board made an extra complicated clock rather than the flexible multiple uses hardware that I had been hoping for. Well the contribution board is flexible, but only for all the use cases that the creator envisioned which is a lot more than are currently being used, but he obviously never had any plans for anyone else to build on his work.

In many ways it is funny. Back in the old world it was taken as a point of fact that no one can do a large computer project on their own from the ground up. Everyone, no matter how smart, has to use a programming language designed by someone else that was usually designed by someone else using a different programming language. And even if you ignore that a 'full stack developer' was generally thought of as a sort of myth. No one can be a master of every layer of integration from databases to servers to browsers to every used API and more. The contribution board would be a completely impossible project for any single person and a team could/would never have done it in the way that it was.

But that commonly held knowledge just isn't true here. Here you can in fact have omnicompetent individuals. Yes there is still a degree of specialization, but that mostly comes down to preference rather than ability. Also something to do with Dao I guess.

@TehChron, @Humbaba, @ReaderOfFate More omake for the throne.

With the fall of Sha Yu City and the retreat to the Fearless Line, the Song Empire campaign entered a state of equilibrium--with the sally from the South and the subsequent disaster that unfolded, the Song Empire had become a sideshow among sideshows again.

The Demonic Siege Engines loomed ominously, their evil magics emanating and applying pressure--but the Fearless Line had nigh on sixty years to be fortified and entrenched--no longer was the arrival of the Siege Engines the death knell to the campaign.

It might have been even better, if the Array-Engineers could be spared, but…

"It's the Trials" Rina explained, settled in her chambers of the Lastlight War Camp--the new headquarters of the defense forces. Her armor set aside and dressed in a simple white garment. "If we were to commit our best to this field, and the Trials go poorly… Between the resurgence of the Devil Bees to the West and Jingshen looking for an opportunity to the East, we'd have to choose between losing the road and losing most of our southwest and being cut off from our new holdings--neither is especially appealing."

"Why aren't they here" Bright Iron snorted, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. "They're as Righteous as the rest of us, that's two Nascent Souls that could be participating on the line! Even one could break this deadlock!"

"Never going to happen" Rina shook her head. "You don't interact much with them, so I understand why you'd think this… But no, they'd never send their Nascent Souls out of their territory--no matter how desperate the war gets." One of her fingers taps on the table, while she reaches for the cup of tea that was still steaming before her. "And their conventional forces are garbage--good enough for guarding caravans, but a pitched battle like this?" She takes a deep drink--in defiance of most tea ceremony etiquette.

"They'd just be food," Xu Zhen agrees. "So they beg off a deployment by providing Spirit Stones at a sharp discount, instead of military force."

"How did they even survive? Sandwiched between you and the Battle Blood Cannibals anyway?" Bright Iron asks a moment later. "It'd be one thing if they were strong, but…"

"Two reasons." The tapping ceased as Rina brought two fingers up. "First and foremost, the Golden Devils are primarily focused on keeping what we have--we've gotten very good at it, but it means we don't generally pick fights that we don't want to--so our border has been relatively peaceful with little more than the occasional deniable raid and sneaky trick pulled on one side or the other--nuisance level plays for the most part, which means most of their deterrence can be covered in the form of fixed fortifications. We have no special grudges with Jingshen that would lead to a greater escalation than that…'' She trails off, and slightly lowers the first of her fingers. "Well, that's not fair, the Grand Elder Alexios terrified them, and he always made his distaste for their policies clear. If it wasn't for the fact that any assault on Jingshen's territories would have provoked assault from Sun Diaxiang and the Battle Blood Cannibals, he'd have found an opportunity to annex them long ago."

She sighs then, and lowers the finger the rest of the way. "He was a terrific guardian of our people, but he wasn't particularly skilled of a diplomat. We're not in a state of outright war--but it's not much of a secret that Jingshen won't feel safe until they hold the Scorpion Road in its entirety--and that means they need to break my Clan's back to get it. With any luck, a new Nascent Soul will rise in my Clan before they can gain a new one of their own."

"That's one reason." Millet chimes in, perched on one of Rina's chairs. "What's the other one?"

"Sun Diaxiang mostly" Rina shrugged. "The Old Cannibal understood the idea of sustainable harvests' ' Her face screwed up in distaste. "So as long as Jingshen cultivated a relatively weak and populous territory on the border with the Cannibal Sect, the Old Cannibal wouldn't take that as an invitation to invade."

"The more I hear about Desert politics, the more I wonder why anybody thought it was a good idea to let a veteran Nascent Soul from there leave in good order." Xu Zhen sighs. "Come on Glorious Strike, you should have known better…"

"It's not that surprising, the Desert has a reputation for weakness for a reason." Rina elaborated. "Most of what people see from us are my Clan--who delve in silly formations and secular warfare taken to the extreme--and the Jingshen, who are weak merchants who just happen to have some of the wealthiest Spirit Stone mines in the Region." She sighed, and started pouring a second cup of tea. "Nobody gets close enough to see what we were containing, so they just figure 'Hey, if those two jokers could suppress them--they can't be that bad.', and they forget that Despite being in the most desperately poor corner of the desert, contained from expanding on all sides, the Battle Blood Cannibals were still a functioning menace for well over a millennium.." Her voice steadily rose over the course of her speech, only silenced when she chugs down the second cup.

"I'm sure they're kicking themselves now." Millet winced at the sudden vitriol. "This puts the Devil Bees somewhere in the top five military strengths in the Region now, and if the Old Cannibal is as capable as you say he is…" She groans and rubs her forehead. "Cripes, that's going to pull a lot of power back south, isn't it?"

"The Saber Palace is influential in the South, and their Nascent Soul remains unharmed." Leafsplitter agreed. "Even if only the Saber Palace was harmed, the threat will still be enough to pull many of the coalition to see to their own defenses. The prospects here are…" He frowned. "Not good--and your own people cannot send aid to reinforce the defenses?"

"Yeah, the Trials." Rina explained. "We need to pull out our military forces with enough time to drill on strategy, and we need our Array-Engineers to prepare our boltholes and traps. Lacking any one of those could be disastrous."

"How bad could it possibly be though?!" Bright Iron snapped. "People are dying up here and you're just pulling out…"

*Crack*

The teacup Rina was holding--formed of Seven Seas Porcelain, a treasure that stimulates the potential of all manner of medicinal teas--cracked repeatedly, her clenched fist nearly destroying the treasure.

"We're friends, so I'm going to forgive you--once." Rina's voice went steady as the grave. "But please, do not--ever--say 'How Bad can it be?' It is Worse, I assure you."

Xu Zhen rubbed his chin, eyes narrowing. "You know…" He speaks up before Bright Iron can recover from the shock of the normally easygoing Rina reacting like that. "This probably comes down to one of those misunderstanding things again. We know what everyone else does--that the Golden Devils withdraw to their core territory once every century, and suffer great losses afterwards. But anything beyond that? Nobody knows, and nobody really cares." His eyes flicker with something, and he catches Rina's gaze. "This seems to me as good an opportunity as any other to clarify your position, don't you think?"

Rina matched his look, and closed her eyes, breathing in and out deeply to stabilize her emotions. "Okay."

She sets the damaged teacup down, as Millet picks it up to be brought in for repair. "So, we call it the Hundred Year Trials." She closes her eyes, digging deep into the memories of the horrors of her first clash there. "Every hundred years, we are invaded--dark skinned experts suddenly appear throughout our territory. Appearing near every significant concentration of our kinsfolk--we have tried sending people into Secret Realms to hide. We have tried sending people to other territories. It doesn't matter--they appear wherever we try to be, bearing strange tokens of magical wood upon them. They can communicate with one another at great distances, and each has the strength of what we would call a Chosen."

"... That's absurd," Leafsplitter shakes his head. "How many are we talking about? Hundreds? Thousands?"

"The number seems to scale to the size of our Clan." Rina adds. "Always enough that we regularly find ourselves outnumbered, by foes beyond our strength. And when they find us, they kill us." Her eyes glaze over. "Qi Condensation against Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment against Foundation Establishment, Core Formation against Core Formation." She recites from the Centennial Record. "The one mercy we are offered is that should the Hunters slay one of a Great Realm beneath them, they are banished from the Trials."

"... Slay." Leafsplitter says, eyes widening . "Then…"

"Yep, there's no rule against Foundation Establishment rolling in, crippling Qi Condensation, and then leaving them for their juniors to clean up." Rina's voice went cold. "There's no rule against Core Formation standing at the back of thousands, healing the wounds and replenishing the Qi of any who fight before them. Perfectly legal."

Her fist was clenched on the table before her. "Killing us is the point, we are Harvested by monsters from beyond our Sea every hundred years. Our fortresses cannot aid us--for their seniors will shatter any that block their juniors from their share. Our Elders cannot save us, for they're busy fighting for their own lives or held at bay by ancients with power enough to break our entire Region over their knee. Even if we play entirely by the rules, we might lose perfectly good people Just because some little shit half your age has a life saving treasure capable of killing a Nascent Soul"

The table before Rina began to crack before her. "This--this above all other reasons--is why the Imperial Optimatoi reject no path to power, why we cannot seal our dark arts and join the greater community. They will not allow it, the Heavens will not allow it. If it wasn't for Lady Barda's poison, my company would have drowned under the weight of the Hunters at Pleuron. If it wasn't for Magnus' skill at containing it, we would not have the weapon that brought the Core low. If it wasn't for Xiao Yi's stand before the walls, we would have arrived at a slaughterhouse. The Hunters will not care--to them, we are weak demons that exist to give their juniors a safe tempering experience. To cast aside the strength we've gained--no matter how foul some manifestations are--is to simply see more sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers butchered."

The room went silent, save for the splintering of the table.

"Kinslaughterer said something, when he arrived." Rina spoke up, the room silent. "He said that I walked his Master's path… In many ways, I disagree--I have no interest in making any other pay a price for my own power. But when I dwell too long on these matters, for just a moment? I can Understand how he might have thought it to be the only choice he could make." There was no need to clarify who she was referring to.

Bright Iron had gone especially pale as the story came out, glancing from side to side, and gulping deeply. "I… I…" He shook his head, and turned. "I have something I need to do…" He opened the door, and fled the room. Rina's gaze followed him as he went.

"Hmm." Leafsplitter closed his eyes. "I see. My apologies for my own part in the questioning." He looked to Rina, a hint of understanding in his eyes. "May your hunt go well, and that we will see you again later." He bowed, and turned to step out himself.

Leaving Millet and Xu Zhen sitting before her.

"Hoo.." Millet tilted her hat back. "Okay, that's a bit of a mess… Still! As long as you've got a little spot of help I'm sure everything'll be fine…"

"On that note." Rina interrupted before Millet could continue on. "You are to remain with Xu Zhen until the Trials are complete, you are not to attempt to provide support."

"Wait wha?" Millet snapped back, hand to her chest. "It's just a little tilting of the scale though.."

"They make examples of any locals who interfere, don't they?" Xu Zhen met Rina's gaze. "That's why you all need to pull out before then."

"... Yeah" Rina nods. "We tried getting aid from our allies and vassals in previous trials." She shook her head. "Doesn't work out so well, the overseers don't usually move--they kill a few juniors as a warning first--and if that's not enough, one of their elders executes a Nascent Soul next."

"Spirit Severing then?" Xu Zhen clicks his tongue. "Damn, if only we could use that here."

Rina weakly smiled back. "We did try, once or twice--they're monsters, not idiots, if we try to provoke Hunters to appear while we're in the middle of a fight, they'll just join in." She clenches her teeth. "From what we've found out, they basically think they're liberators, protecting the people of this Sea from evil demons, so anyone fighting us has to be the good guys, right?"

"Joy." Xu Zhen leaned back. "Well, for what it's worth, we'll keep you on the rolls up here--and I'll see to it that your share of the group's contributions are put at your disposal--sideshow as this front came, you still did get a tiny portion of the credit for engaging a hostile Nascent Soul." He grinned. "Most of these awards are posthumous--so you're a step up from the majority!"

"That's not funny" Though the side of Rina's mouth twitching hinted at her true feelings. "I almost died there!"

"Yeah, but almost died is still completely alive!" Millet chimes in. "The only wound that matters after all is a career ending injury, and a big scary tyrant like you?" She wiggles her hands. "Please, you won't stop unless something kills you--and I wouldn't bet the farm on that sticking forever either."

"You don't even have a farm…" Rina snorted, covering her mouth.

"But I do!" Millet puffed herself up. "I got the title of a perfectly good spirit herb farm in the Song Empire! I'm gonna fund my own cultivation off of that! So you can be damn sure I won't bet that on anything but a sure thing!"

"... Farms and economics aside…" Xu Zhen tried to conceal his own mirth--with slightly better success. "When are you heading out?"

Rina relaxed. "The original plan was to be gone tonight.. But there's something I still have to take care of before I buckle down for Trial Preparations."

Her hand brushed her Storage Ring, and the treasure stored within. She had put off this confrontation for long enough.

It was time she made the Token Sensing Tree her own.

------------------------------------

The remainder of the day was spent acquiring what she needed for the ritual. Millet was a great help in this regard--her encyclopedic knowledge of immortal magic that could interact with Lingering Wills priceless--her foresight was just an added bonus on top of htat.

"Now, first thing you need to keep in mind…" Millet mumbles, drawing the last part of the circle with the Ghost Scattering Chalk. "The Will of a Cultivator below Nascent Soul generally isn't capable of doing much. Core Formation's about the earliest you can be before your Will can start doing something--I don't even think she intentionally fused her Will into this either--it's just that she was so indignant at going town to a pack of Qi Condensation brats that her ghost got slurped up by the nearest treasure capable of containing it."

She tossed the chalk up, the remaining nub scattering into glittering dust that settled into grooves and channels in the diagram.

"That's both good and bad for you, incidentally." Millet confirms to the kneeling Rina at the front of the circle. "It's good that the Ghost is going to be tied to that grudge, and predictable because of it. It's bad because… Well, within the scope of that grudge, it's going to feel a lot like when they were alive."

"And I'm the last one she saw before she died." Rina closed her eyes. "Of course."

"Well, it's not all bad for you." Millet pats Rina on the shoulder. "For an exorcism like this, most treasures can't help you--but not only did you go through the Twelfth Heavenstage and get the empowered soul. But you also pushed into the Thirteenth and brought your Dao into play way before it should be possible. That should go a long way towards evening the odds in a spiritual conflict like this… But just remember--if it feels like it's losing and wants to spite you, it can always self-detonate. You'll lose the tree then."

"So, I need to either overpower the Will immediately before it knows what's happening, or I need to break its spirit so much that it simply accepts dissolution." Rina sighed, straightening her posture and adjusting her condition to her peak. "Either should be doable, I think."

Millet grinned. "Oh? None of that tries to get them to accept their lot and pass on peacefully?"

"It'd be too fake, this woman was willfully facilitating mass murder of my people." Rina replied, her eyes opening into a pair of blazing gold orbs. "So I'm not going to try, I'm going to tell her precisely what she was doing, and she is going to concede. Start it up."

"Well, best of luck then!" Millet encouraged, before tossing a burning incense stick into a burner before diving behind a folding wall for cover.

Rina turned her attention towards the tree--leaves rippling in an unseen wind as the ritual dredged the Will out from it. A spectral hand reached out from the Token Sensing Tree, and the pressure of a Core Formation expert began to fill the ritual chamber--specially reinforced to ensure it doesn't leak out and cause a panic.

A head emerged, a ragged mop concealing eyes of blazing red. "Y...ouuuuu" The shade spat. "Murderess! Devil!"

"I would say the same back to you!" Rina's voice boomed, the [Halo of the World Lord] manifesting behind her, emanating Dao Might to contest the Core Pressure. "Twenty thousand you sought to slaughter! Using your juniors as your weapon! Not even seeking to claim their Karma for your own!" The Dao Emanation emerged, the shade shrinking back and screaming beneath the pitiless golden gaze. "Did you think because your seniors said it was fine, that you could violate your own oaths? Your own Law?"

"No!" The Shade clawed back, its pressure redoubling. "Not Slaughter! Never Slaughter! I Preserved Life! And you Murdered Me!" Its gaze redoubled, and it snarled as it attempted to lunge out at Rina. "Kill you too!"

"You WIll NOT!" Rina's voice boomed, and the shade collapsed under the [Weight of the World]. "You invaded another Sea! Red in tooth and claw, you served as a champion! That you personally did not spill blood did not mean your hands were clean!"

"Hisssss!" The Shade snarled, and began pulling itself back up, fingertips clawed and bloody. "No! To slay demons is the will of the Heavens! A duty of all Cultivators!"

"Maybe so." Rina allowed, and the Shade seemed to regain some power, scrambling back to its feet. "Thirty Thousand."

It rocked back as if struck. "What…"

"Mortals left exposed to the desert after your butchers slew their protectors and shattered their homes. Mortals, slain in stray attacks. Mortals! Dead because your petty attempts to keep score were more important than caution and diligence! Because You didn't care! YOU DIDN'T EVEN BOTHER LOOKING!"


Rina's hands lashed out--and caught the shade by the neck.

"I name you Betrayer of your Law! I name you Murderess and Executioner! By your Rule and Mine! Did you think it was a coincidence that your Law turned in your hands at the critical moment?!?" Rina's words boomed like thunder--her hands crackling with lightning as the shade squirmed and whined.

"No.. Trick! Words!" The shade stammered, but it flickered.

"Children! Doing nothing but seeking to protect hearth and home against devils from beyond! And a great healer smugly watching their deaths, content and serene as she mended the wounds of her little butchers, knowing they were in no great danger to begin with! That they could simply walk away at any point! You may have rationalized it as acceptable, but The Law Knows! That is how you lost! That is how you died!"

The shade broke down, slumping over and sobbing in the burning grasp of the Shining One. "no… more…"

Rina's hands wrung tightly to it, the pressure of the Dao crashed down, and the power of a Core steadily began to fade as the phantom Cultivation collapsed. The shade's grasp became tenuous, and it began to flicker.

'what… will you do… with it…" The shade whispered, wispy tatters all that remained as its power fled.

Rina gazed down on it. "I will banish the invaders that come, be they one by one or a hundred at once. I won't seek their murder, but I won't allow them to continue this butchery for as long as breath remains in my body. They can find another way to entertain themselves."

The shade relaxed, the last links tying it to the Token Sensing Tree snapping, as it hung in the air unattached.

A snort, containing over a century's fatigue and exhaustion.

"Will not be so easy, Devil" The shade whispered. "Take it then, know the power of our Sea. I will wait for you in Hell."

A wind filled the sealed chamber, and the wispy shade faded away within it. Only a hint of a despairing cry left in its wake.

Rina sighed, and her Emanation faded. She stepped up, and collected the Token Sensing Tree--the spirit of the item pure and innocent once more, no longer twisted by the shade of its prior owner.

"Boy oh boy…" MIllet said, peeking out from the other side of her barricade. "Remind me not to piss you off. Damn near soiled myself."

"Please" Rina waved it off with a trace of amusement on her features. "Isn't it good that I can be scary when it's needed?"

"My image of the little cinnamon roll, ruined!" Millet theatrically described, miming a swooning fit. "Seriously though, you need to warn me if you're going to go full Demonic Empress on me in the future, just so I can prepare myself." She straightens though, and grins. "Still, no trace of malice left on that thing, it should do what you want it to do from here on out."

"And not a moment too soon…" Rina mumbles, staring at the tree for a moment, before sending it into her Storage Ring. "Here's hoping it lives up to what it seems to do. I'll be really disappointed if they've countered it before I even get a chance to take advantage of it…"

"They can't be that fast, can they?" Millet stares blankly at it, and shakes her head. "No, you should get at least one good run, and maybe more if you can figure out how to take cuttings and distribute them." She shrugs. "Either way, worst comes to worst, you're no worse off than you started, but you're a lot stronger than before. Just go out there, kick all the ass, and come back in one piece, okay?"

Rina smiled, and bowed. "Yeah, I've no intention of dying here, I'll definitely come back, no matter what.

She would too.

There was too much left to do to leave it undone. It's not like she could just wait for someone else to do it either, they might get it wrong!

--------------------------------------------------

Departing the next morning was heartfelt, pleasant, and a good chance to touch base with those she had fought with in the years since her deployment to the Song Empire. The Silverine Bracers had been seasoned further in one of the fiercest battlegrounds in the Region--but with the Trials coming, the time had come to show why she had trained them the way she did.

Splitting off into a number of small groups, trained to closely understand the skills and techniques of your group, drilled and tested in fierce combat until you could cooperate fully as one. While they could still serve in the Great Formations, the truth of the Bracers was as a shield against the Trials--to overcome the individual strength of the Fifth Sea Hunters and defeat them one by one.

It was still going to be tight, even with all of that. She could split them up further and still get full effect for each--but against a fully massed up group of hunters?

No confidence at all.

"Rina!"

A voice pulled Rina from her reverie, as she turned to face it--catching a blur approaching her with a twist of the hand. Bright Iron stood opposite to her.

"I was wrong," He said, giving a martial artist's salute. "Take care of your business, and come back here soon--you should find that to be capable of keeping up with you."

Rina blinked, and examined the package--a long, broad object, wrapped in good leather. She undid it, and a glint of bright silver filled the air.

It was a heavy sword, shining bright silver--heavy enough to feel effective, not so heavy that it slowed her down. She drew the weapon, the shining silver intoxicating her.

She gave it a test swing, marveling at how it responded so easily to her moves. She had gone through all manner of weapons in her time here--and never quite satisfied with how they handled, breaking more than a few.

This one? This was different.

"Thank you…" Rina clasped the blade to her chest, and returned the salute. "I will! I'll take care of this, and I'll come back! But you all need to take care of yourselves too!" She smiled, tears glittering as she turned to wave back.

"I'll be back!"

Master of mortal arts
I need to stop half-assing things. I talk about proper craftsmanship and making things with as little array use as possible, but generally I just hire a bunch of mortals to do the work and slap on an array after. As learned at Apoikía Bucephalus I can't always count on always having a bunch of mortal experts to offload the work to. And there is no way that the trials or the Yuan Clan Man-As-World Mountain Array secret realm are going to have any mortals available for hire. I need to learn all the crafts myself. Being an immortal cultivator I don't really have an excuse for a lack of basic skills. I need to become one of those omni-competent experts.

I remember a quote from a book I once liked by another very long lived character. "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." I can't really remember the rest of the book, but that quote stuck with me.

Seems like a good guide to get started.

Change a dipper.
Learning to change a dipper is not difficult, but I am not going to just take the quote of a fictional character literally so I generalize it to childcare. Not just diaper changing. Turns out there is quite the demand for babysitters among legionaries. Despite many of the prominent members of the legion being married to their jobs, many others get married and have children at the same age and about the same rate as mortals do. Being available to babysit makes me unexpectedly popular.

butcher a hog
It is messy, but I can now not just butcher a hog, but many other beasts as well. If the opportunity comes up I also don't need to worry about missing out on any opportunities if I happen to come across a dead spirit beast. I know all the parts, their market prices and the most efficient way to harvest them.

conn a ship
I decided that learning to conn a sea ship is something that I can put off until later. There are however two equivalents here in the desert. Sandships and the Two-Headed Eagle Formation. The Two-Headed Eagle Formation is a standard drill. So I made a sandship. Even added a heat sink array to reduce sand friction and another kinetic energy redirection array to the sails so that the ship can use the wind to go any direction that isn't directly into it. Both arrays require Qi, but not as much as the Two-Headed Eagle Formation. Also this ship can be used by those without the blood of bronze. I know that there are a few without it that are allied with the clan. Maybe I will sell the ship?

Design a building
Interesting to learn Feng Shui as a science with measurable effects. It doesn't matter that much here in the desert, but in the mountains or the plains, a huge deal. Also finally found out how to calculate exactly how much qi budget arrays in a house can use without needing qi from the house occupants.

write a sonnet
Here I admit defeat. My composition is dreadful. I burn all attempts to make sure that no one ever gets their hands on them.

balance accounts
I am actually ahead of the curve here with knowing double entry bookkeeping. Through focused effort I learn all of the local laws. Eventually I will reinvent excel. But that day will not be soon.

build a wall
I can build a wall, but more importantly I can build the standard arrays into a wall. For the trials the standard arrays are more about inconvenience then actually defense. Most commonly an array to drain all the qi outside the wall just to make things that much more uncomfortable for attackers. It is really disheartening to not be able to do anything more than petty acts of spite.

set a bone
I have learned basic first aid. Also a few qi tricks that can mostly be summed up by "Put some Qi in them and want to help it often works". Also apparently pain can be used to power an array which has all sorts of unfortunate implications, but I learn how to harnish that pain to promote healing.

comfort the dying
Has not come up. Sort of hope that it never does. But well the trials are coming.

take orders
Wouldn't have gotten far in the legion if I didn't know how to do this one. Next.

give orders
Does hiring a bunch of mortals count? I think it does. Next.

cooperate, act alone
These are both way too vague. Problem with diversifying my skills based on a quote from an old science fiction novel. Next.

solve equations
When trying to learn more higher math and find out something shocking. The Golden Devils consider calculus an esoteric branch of math with little practical applications. Really then how do other people do arrays? I mean I know that my array notes tend to have a lot more math in them then other people, but I thought. Really other people don't do math in their arrays? I try and make an array using the more popular method of elements and relationships. I can't wrap my head around it. The 5 element array makes no sense to me. None of them are elements! It is just such a strange way of thinking. I would call it nonsense if It didn't obviously work for other people, but I don't think I am going to be able to learn much from most other people's array notes. I get more from looking at the arrays themselves.

analyze a new problem
It feels like I have done nothing but this ever since I was born into this world. It doesn't get any easier.

pitch manure
I can, but I learned Disease purification arrays so I don't have to.

program a computer
The Contribution Board is not a computer. My sadness is immeasurable and my week was ruined.

If I am going to learn to program a computer I am going to have to build one from scratch and vague memories. I remember making a macro processor in minecraft once. A really stupid vanity project. But that was minecraft you had to make up your own products and I think I can remember at least a bit from when I did that. Making a computer is likely going to be a hobby project for the next few decades. Unlike when I was doing minecraft I can't look things up.

The ALU wasn't hard to remake. I just can't remember what ALU stands for. The important thing is that it is an array that can add, subtract, multiple and divide. In other words, an especially expensive abacus that requires qi to use.

cook a tasty meal
As usually I lean into my advantages first recreating meals that I remember. I can't make pizza or lasagna because there aren't any tomatoes. Hamburgers are easy. Well so long as I didn't insist on the meat being 'Ham' just meat between two slices of bread.

I learn how to make vegetable oil from flaxseed, rapeseed (who names these things?) and olives (more confirmation of the Golden devil's Byzantine origins) which means that I can deep fry things. Unfortunately there are no potatoes so no french fries. I can make Kentucky fried chicken though.

Posting the recipe for KFC actually gets me a nice pile of contribution points. Guess it was popular.

Of course given that I am trying to prepare for trials in which the last stage involves running for my life for extended periods of time and if that goes well I am going to a secret realm I also put effort into learning how to live off the land. To moderate success. I am fairly sure about my desert survival skills, but I don't know how much that is going to help in the secret realm. The problem being that living off the land takes a very different skill set depending on the ecosystem. Desert survival is not like forest survival which in turn is very different that living off of plains. I try to diversify as much as possible, but the environment in a secret realm can be anything. For right now I focus on desert I will get to the others later. Even so I will definitely have to bring food pills with me despite the expense. I can't prepare for every possible environment.

fight efficiently
Sort of? I am alright, but in this world just being in the top 10% means you aren't really all that good. The top goes all the way up to the heavens.

die gallantly
I have no interest in training this skill.

Well that is the end of that old sci-fi quote, but I think I can take things a bit further.

Glass
I was an arrogant fool to think that my glass lenses were sufficient. Talking with the craftsman that I hired before I can see the extent to which they were humoring me. Now that I delve into the glass makers art rigorously instead of simply being overwhelmed by inspiration I can see just how amateurish my efforts must have seemed. The only reason I was able to make anything of note was because of my advantages as a golden devil. I don't have to worry about burning myself with melted glass, only some mild discomfort that I can endure and quickly heal from. I similarly didn't notice the toxic gasses which similarly plague mortal craftsmen. I am amazed that they agreed to work for me considering the hellish conditions that I had unknowingly subjected them to.

Carpentry
I learn to make all the furniture in my house. Also how to make said furniture optimized for the house's Feng Shui. Can't really improve the legion barracks or my family's home though. They are already optimized of course.

Crochet and Knitted Products
I wasn't sure about knitting and only went about learning it for the sake of completeness, but actually I find the process relaxing. I can even cultivate as I knit. I hope my legion and family don't mind getting a large amount of knitted products. It takes my mind off the pain.

Candles
Candle Making isn't unlikely to be that useful, but it only took me a day to learn to my satisfaction so no great loss if I never use it again.

Clockwork
Clockwork is a big field. Springs, cogs and pendulums oh my. I can make a grandfather clock that only gains/loses about 5 seconds a day but I clearly have a long way to go in this field. Arrays that have clockwork as part of them give a very steampunk vibe.

I also manage to recreate the ALU in clockwork form. Which makes it still an especially expensive abacus, but at least now it doesn't need qi to use. Also really big, but now that I have the prototype down I should be able to shrink it. I just have to refigure out the other parts of a microprocessor. The Memory should be easy, but I remember there being something called the buss?

@Alectai, @TehChron, @Humbaba, @ReaderOfFate One more step.

Maria holds back the hissing fury that's spoiling in her guts- just- until they make it back to the ward Fortress. They run into a few more alliance columns on the way, but the Red Place is a sullen presence coiled at the back of her mind and she can't get it to do anything. That just makes it worse, of course. By the end of the patrol, she can feel Draconis eying her. Little shit. She wishes he wasn't so fucking *perceptive.* Doesn't matter, though. He keeps his mouth shut. As the gates swing shut behind them, she dismisses the squad and walks - not stalks – back towards her dorm.

The fort's pretty typical of the Line – ancient, dating back to the last demon annihilating war, but rapidly brought back to working order when the Altar Lord managed to redraw the fucking map and turn the Song Empire into an abattoir-come-buffet. Everything's practical, worn from regular use but well-maintained. She'd come to appreciate that in her time here so far, but GODS today it makes her want to murder someone. The officer dormitories have been split by sect, and the Golden Devil one is on the far side of the camp. She has to make herself stay calm the whole way. It'd be hard enough as it was, but the whole fort's on the boil, today in preparation for the caravan, so she's weaving through greenhorn juniors of every sect in the coalition the whole way. There must have been a tour change she hadn't known about, too, because far too many are gawking at her like they've never seen a blonde before.

"Is that-"
"I never thought it was true!"
"Are we supposed to take orders from that-"

That last one gets through. Before she can stop herself, Maria's turned and caught the speaker by the back of his robes. (Doesn't recognize the colours – some minor clan or power from the south, presumably.)
"What was that, soldier?" She growls. The junior pales. He's a skinny little brat, not much over the third heavenstage.
"I- my apologies, senior, I-"
"Captain. I am a captain, boy. That's our word for squad leader. Understand?"
"I-Yes, yes of course, honoured-"
"Say it back."
"Captain."
"Good. You going to tell me what you were saying now, or shall I beat it out of you?"
"I- My sect-"
"Will thank me for the favour of teaching one of their representatives how not to fucking embarrass himself in a coalition deployment. What. Did. You. Say?"
The boy looks around for support, but there's none there. His friends are staring at her like she's a hungry tiger they're not willing to bait. He looks back.
"…I… enquired if I… I had to-"
"To take orders from that."
"I- my apologies, seni- captain, I did not know the appropriate form of address-"

She lets her one good eye glare a hole through his head as he desperately fumbles his way through excuses and apologies. The skin over her knuckles is starting to twitch. How good would it feel, how wonderful, to beat this boy senseless and leave him out for the crows to pick clean?
But she can't. As is, she's pushing it. A junior speaking disrespectfully and getting humiliated for it? The righteous understand that. But this is war time. The boy in front of her, stupid as he is, is a resource – a life to spend on the battlefield. Hurting him wouldn't just take face from his sect, it'd fuck up deployment patterns while he recovered. That'd bring everyone down on her, the legate included.
She makes herself let go, finger by finger.
"Welcome to the Fearless Line," she growls. "Don't talk shit like that again." And sweeps away.

There's another few minutes of walking, and then at last she's in the grey light of the dormitory. The instant she's got the door closed behind her, she snaps. Her fists lash out like pistons, burying themselves in the wall a dozen times before a hand clasps on her shoulder and another on the crook of her arm.
"Hey, calm-"
But no. She's not going to be talked down again, not now. Maria jerks her head back without looking, and feels someone's nose break on the back of her skull with a satisfying crunch. There's a muttered curse, blurred through blood and swelling. The hands let go. She turns on her heel, brings her fist back, punches.
Only after it's landed, a heavy strike to the chest and shoulder, does she realise she's just decked Letha.

"…Oh fuck. Leeth." The anger doesn't vanish, exactly, but it's pushed back out of her brain. More than enough room for remorse. "I- Fuck, I didn't-"
"S'alright," mumbles Letha. She straightens slowly, pulling herself out of the agonized crouch she'd been stuck in. "It'll heal. Is healing, actually, look." She was right. Her nose was slowly knitting itself back together already, and the bruises on her chest (visible through the collar of her robe) were paling. Wasn't doing much for the guilt, though.
"Fuck," says Maria, again. "Fuck."
"Hush."
"I am so-"
"Irritated, yes, I can tell. That poor wall."

They turn to look at the crater Maria has knocked into it. Gods, she hopes it's not loadbearing.
"I- yeah."
"Bad day?"

Letha's gotten good at getting her talking. Or maybe she's just gotten more communicative. Either way, two words is all it takes to get everything spilling out.
"Fucking the worst. I was close. I was so close. And then we just- fucking-" she gives a frustrated roar, and buries her face in her hands. "I could almost see it, Letha."
"Poor dear," murmers her friend, petting her sympathetically.
"We pulled apart. I have no idea why, but we just pulled apart at the last second. Another day wasted."
"Have you tried speaking to Master Antonius?"

Maria shoots her a glance half-way between irritated and amused. Letha's odd pseudo-crush was the source of deep embarrassment for her, so of course it has to be teased mercilessly whenever it comes up.
"You are adorable."
"I – I merely-"
"You realise he's not exactly interested in anyone who doesn't have a cultivation manual tattooed across them, right? Even then he'd only want you as reading material."
"That is entirely irrelevant to what I meant!"
"Only if we discount the subtext."

Letha's blush is now verging on nuclear. Maria fights down a laugh. Still, better to stop now or she'll actually hurt someone's feelings. "I haven't told him about the Red Place, yet."
The change in topic is clearly the best news Letha's ever gotten, because she leaps on it like a starving panther.
"I thought you'd told him everything?"
"The slave stuff, yeah. Getting here. Not… the stuff in my head."
"Is it- do you feel-"
"No. Yes. Fuck, I don't – I've never even met him, Leeth. Clearly knows his shit, don't get me wrong, but… that's my head. The inside of it. Comes a point when shit is just too private."

They sat in silence for a moment after that.
"I suppose," said Letha carefully, "that it could be worse."
"Worse how?"
"…I don't know. I just wanted to say something reassuring."

That dragged a snort of laughter out of Maria.
"If he does decide he wants a woman, he could do so much worse than you."
"MARIA!"
"Sorry."
"I- The impropriety alone."
"I know, I know."
"Gods."

Another brief pause.

"Although-"
"Leeth."
"House Antonius were a good family! I'm sure father-"
"Gods above."
"Just- as a prospect, he'd-"
"I happen to know your dad wants you to marry someone nice."
"Master Antonius might be nice!"
"When he looks up from his books, yeah. You really want to live on thirty minutes of affection every seventeen years?"
"…I could change him."
"Leeth!"
"Sorry."

They're laughing now, though. Stupid, frivolous laughter disconnected from anything important. It's nice. They savour the moment while they can. Then, when they calm down, reality dawns.
"I… do have some news for you," said Letha, carefully. Maria shoots her a wary look. "Your letters."
"Yeah?"
"I have responses."

She sits up, stares at Letha.
"…And you didn't lead with that?"
"Don't-"
"What did they say?!"

Letha sighs.
"Well. The Sibling…"
"Leeth!"
"I- you must understand, they are in extraordinary demand."
"I know that."
"A literal legend, in fact."
"I know that too."
"So obviously a lot-"
"They said no, then."
"Well-"
"Fuck."
"No, wait. They didn't say no. But they didn't say yes, either."
"…What?"
"They- Well."

Letha pauses. When she goes on, she's picking each word carefully, eyes scanning Maria's face. "They said that you were… not ready yet. From their observations so far."
"…Not ready?"
"Apparently."
"I'm strong as a fucking ox!"
"I did in fact mention that to him. It's not your strength that's the problem."
"Well what then?"
"You… ah… Well, their exact words are, 'there is a foothill. Until it is conquered, the mountain is insurmountable.' Which is a little unclear, but-"
"No."

Maria's eye rake the wall, unseeing, as she thinks.
"He's talking about my dao," she says slowly. "About how I haven't seen it yet."
Letha's brow furrows a little.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I am. Only explanation. Makes sense, too – my head's going to be all over the place till I get it."
"I… don't think-"
"Come on, what else is it going to be? Fuck. Well, at least they know their shit. What about Shanshu?"

Letha hesitates again. Her eyes flicker to the crater in the wall, unbidden.
"Oh Gods," says Maria wearily. "That bad?"
By way of answer, her friend produces a small envelope. Written on it in broad, clear brushstrokes is "TO THE UNGRATEFUL IDIOT." She opens it, and pours out the contents.
Ashes. Dusty grey ashes. As they land, they form into words.

FUCK. RIGHT. OFF. SINCERELY, SHANSHU, STUDENT OF FIRE AND TRUE DAUGHTER OF XIN.

"So that's clear, at least," says Letha, quietly. Maria's glaring at the words.
"Ungrateful," she mutters. "Ungrateful."
"Shanshu is a very… complex woman. I'm sure-"
"Bitch grew up in a tower in Xin, she calls the ex-slave pit fighter ungrateful."
"Now-"
"Like she's ever known a day of hardship in her life."
"Maria-"

But it's too late. Because Maria's gone to her bed and yanked out the small chest where she keeps her personal affairs.
"I'll show her what fucking ungrateful is, now, ooooh yes," she growls.
And with that, Maria of the Golden Devils…

…begins a strongly worded letter.

---

...really not sure about this one. Still, at least it's done. @no. , I do not know why Letha is crushing on Gaius, it just came up, and I am very sorry. @ReaderOfFate @Humbaba @TehChron , may I have a threadmark, please?

Here's another figure, this one for a major character in our upcoming crossover event. I really love how he turned out. Think of this as a sneak peek of things to come.

Acupoint Awareness
To get 3rd heavenstage to 4th takes more then just doing more painful cultivation. Really cultivation is like exercise, but with both the pain and gain turned up to eleven. But getting to the fourth heaven stage takes more than that. We have to "become aware of our Acupoints". Which I have gathered are the places where we exchange qi with our surroundings and are different for everyone. The suggested method seems to be for us to meditate and 'feel' them. Really that seems like a great way to induce false positives and self hypnosis. If you get it wrong at first you would keep being wrong and make yourself more wrong. Then again that might be part of the reason this is a cultivation bottleneck.

I could get a medical diagram. They are correct for most people especially with the blood of bronze. Still I want to make sure that I am not just deluding myself. I don't want to be one of the 1 third that get stuck. So I get a bottle of rainbow ink. Normally used because by adding qi to it the color can be changed with the change solidifying when the ink dries allowing for very decorative letters. It starts off black and moves through the spectrum until it turns white at full saturation. It is very sensitive to qi such that it is generally only black for a few seconds out of the bottle. Incidentally, I need to look into what these bottles are made of later.

Then I find the most qi drained part of the desert I can easily reach and set up a small hut deliberately designed to lack Feng Shui so as not to draw any extra qi in and mess with my readings. I don't know how someone could possibly try this outside the desert. Qi is even worse than sand in its tendency to get everywhere. I am lucky I guess.

The first acupoint I find is duh, my mouth. It would not make much sense to have a special breathing technique otherwise. The next two are my nostrils, no surprises so far. I am surprised that my eyes are acupoints. But I guess that makes sense as well. There are many forms of qi and some qi takes on aspects of light. I can see (pun totally intended) how I might absorb some forms of qi through my eyes. Then there are my ears. Is there sound qi or should I just expect every body cavity to be acupoint? My asshole is not an acupoint neither is my belly button. My genitals are acupoints, as are my fingertips and the parts of my feet that I walk on. There are many other acupoints usually in the center of muscle groups, but they are extremely minor in comparison.

Ok I am starting to put together a working theory. My acupoints have to do with how I experience and interact with the world. I have known for a long time now that qi responses to thought and states of mind. It is part of what makes it so hard to study objectively. Qi can change form in response to the environment that it is in. The art of cultivation is all about taking in outside qi and making it part of yourself. Does this change the qi's state? Obviously. My own qi acts differently than qi in the environment or even the qi of other cultivators in response to my will.

My theory is that qi is converted into my personal qi by my personal qualia. I have already found that pain can be used to power medical arrays. Pain is an intense experience that just about all things mortals have in common. It makes sense that the first stages of cultivation would make use of that. Pain is both common to everyone yet personal to the person experiencing it. Making it both easy to teach and work for everyone.

If my theory holds water then acupoint awareness is a matter of being aware of your own experiences. Observing your own qualia. Or in the words of Terry Practet who I am certain would have become a great sage in this world having 'Second thoughts'.
------------------------------
Acupoint Awareness or second thoughts as I prefer to think of it is amazing. Before I managed to develop them cultivation had simply been a matter of rote learning and powering through the pain with determination. Now though I can cultivate with purpose. I can see/feel the effects of each new thread of qi. It still hurts, but the pain now brings visible progress. It is pain with a clear purpose like digging out a splitter or setting a bone. Also I can see how all my experiences affect my cultivation. It isn't just pain any act which makes my own qualia forges the qi of the world into something that uniquely belongs to me. Pain is just the most reliable way to make intense experiences. I am building myself with every breath that I take, every step that I make.

@Alectai, @TehChron, @Humbaba, @ReaderOfFate

With the cart full of (mortal) gear and tools together with his youngest brother 'mister bull' or 'brother bull' (the little ones would not allow other names), that the brotherhood succeeds in buying kind of cheap, it is a 8 year old bull after all. If it does not become spirit animal probably will not live to see the next 10 years. The builder would think that he was being sentimental when looking at this bull and remembering his first, true, master and one of many 'teachers' that he learned cultivation from the spirit animal which he took so many lessons from. To think he had transcended the might and power of his master. A bull that reaches the enviable power of 3rd heavenstage. But now he is on the 6th​ heavenstage. Having so great amounts of powers force him to have much of his ignorance beaten out of his hard skull. Stuff like what is a heavenstage, better knowledge of acupuncture points for the QI flown, how said power move inside the body. How to use and even how to fight cultivators.

All of this is information that he had to acknowledge and learn. This grown, this world shaking grown that transcend the wildest dreams that his brothers had that not involve absurd amounts of luck. Otherwise, his Dao of Building would be damaged. Worse his little brothers and sisters would get the wrong impression of the life of cultivation when talking to him. Which they will when they truly start training and ascend. Of this he had no doubt. And he certainly would make mistakes teaching the little ones so he should do his best to avoid the ones that even him can see to make the next circle of grown/building of the brotherhood to be better than the one circle where he started. So many dumbs mistakes.

The acknowledge of the new reality is not just new thoughts that need to firm themselves in his thick skull, but also actions. This mission was, for him, a Old Gold level blessing. For he had doubts that he can now break and use as fuel/material to the brotherhood grown. He had, for his great shame, not help the building of the newest vassals' homes neither he had help with the roads to these new neighbors. He thought himself that would be too dangerous and that he was too weak, too lacking in talent and, if some disaster happened, that he would lose too many of his brothers when he rushes ahead like a bull and convinced them that is good work to be done there. So now that he knows, exactly, how absurd was his grown and witness the ascension of so many of his brothers to the first step of cultivation. Bringing so many happy tears with the knowledge that they can live for an absurd amount of time and many tasks and problems that hit the 'mortals' will hit they a bit less now.

Said brothers only give him more and more happiness. His four 'sworn brothers' help with the plans for the village where he will live for the next five years. Which is also a thing that mind-blowing that amount of time is now only a small amount of his possible lifespan. Anyway, with some (well paid) mortal messengers. And talks with the managers under the mayor of the city where he and most of the brotherhood lives, the travelers that had being there, businessmen and any brother or sister that wish to add a idea to the plan. It was decided to cause as massive impact as possible, to truly go beyond while still obeying the instructions given to him. "protect this village" said the clan member point at the map on his hand and the relevant part of contribution board with said mission, he was happy enough that he now could slowing read said mission or read at all to be complete honest. Said tired legionary continued, "you will start in a month and for the next five years you will do your best to aid them while guarding the village" I nod with a large smile on my face while my sister/third brother, which was not a fool, and like myself sense how tired he was. So, with her amazing cooking and a nice rocking chair we succeed to make this clan member to rest for a bit. To gather his strength. So, with a smile on my libs and with third brother asking the more insightful/hard questions. We got who in the administrations to ask for more questions, how to use the contribution board and where we could find a map as nice as the one, he had shown us. The third question was a bullseye. It seems the reason this clan member was select to distributed board missions was that his family had centuries of working with maps. With many succeeding improvements thanks from having 'bird eyes' of regions using formations or other opportunities. And let me tell this, having some other elderly among the brothers truly help the initial talk with the patriarch of said family later when we trade. The fact if we truly succeed would reflect well on them also help. Oh, and the fact that the builder could pay well for a map help too.

So here they are, him with some carts full of resources with more coming from his salary from the legions, he was also with a 1th formation master that he had (well) paid with some points for a month of his work in the village and to help the safe return of any mortals when he decided to leave said village, with him there also the 6th​ brother with his good (in the brotherhood opinion) teaching skills that comes from his fifty years of life, 6th​ brother had succeed in becoming a cultivator just five years ago, which would pretty shameful if he had use any evil rocks to do so, the 7th​ brothers and his laws books to help with legal matters, for this mission he will be his second in command, with his impressive skills from eighty years of life and with the great powers of a 2th heavenstage and since he will stay on the center of the village for the most of the time, so this is brother would like to survive and sound the retreat/command the others, if some monster and/or evil cultivator monster decide to kill them, anyway, this poor brother of his had to use some stones in the past, but they love him anyway he is family (brotherhood) after all. With them there also 3 other of brothers that succeed in reach the first heavenstage. In their old age. Still the brotherhood is having talent after talent passing the first step, most with the middle-aged men and women and elderly that had tried cultivating in the past and only need a little push, were the ones that succeeded the most with the help of the brotherhood. Stuff like this show the difference of using and not using the evils rocks to cultivate. Because the 'average' cultivator in the clan reaches the first heavenstage at the age of 21. Like he had. His sworn brothers demand that he dictate his thoughts, training and everything else they could think. The poor hands of the second brother. Fortunately, he shared this thankless work with the other people in the brotherhood. Allowing the builder to work while sharing his thoughts. They discover with that he does a small amount of Qi gathering even sleeping and working. He also request that all member share some of their thoughts for this growing archive with some key words and thoughts. those key words were select from all cultivators that help them. selecting the 20 most used words that first come to mind.

Well returning to this 'expeditionary force', there were a small group of 'mortals' brothers and sisters that are with them to try a new life that have some good (compared to the brotherhood in general) farm skill and they even have a teenager in the group that is going mostly to led the young by example in the way of cultivation and show that some good behavior and daily tasks can give young brother some evil rocks… and admittedly in this group two among them had less than terrible bloodlines. Anyway, The Blood of Bronze was extreme thin and weak in the brotherhood in general. And having new blood is a good thing in general too for small places like the one they are going.

They also bringing military rations so that brothers and he could train for the military life style (doing other things in that direction too if they have the time) and for the future trials to come, some good tea herb to plant, some (really shitty) cultivation 'herbs' to also plant (they even brought some fungi), food that they thought could survive, some hen and a rooster and farming tools and other kinds of tools. And some horses to help them move all the stuff and to help someone to escape if the clan formation is not enough. He had even request that part of the revenge protocol/the Breaker protocol 'tax' that he paid to be reserved to murder any bandit/spirit animal if they are killed on this mission. But that is unlikely, that mission would probably never be posted, the reward is too weak coming from just some months of a percent of a 6th​ heavenstage salary. Still the money they have reserved (from the future salaries) for more resources, tools and even people should work better. Because, sadly enough, even in the clan land mortal resources and lives are kind of cheap. Anyway, he will cross his fingers that 6 months of (half) of his salary can convince a 3rd or 4th ​heavenstage that is good at formations to cover what the one with them could not do for lack of skill and power.

Oh, they had enough evil stones to power said minor formations, so long as they are only use in emergencies for the most cases, and to help jumpstart some of the villagers there that is either close to the first step of cultivation or talent enough to reach that impressive mark quick enough. There an incredibly good chance that a lot of his (future) salary not serving as fuel for the little brothers in the brotherhood will be use here.

After all, to truly protect someone one most give said person/people tools to help themselves, ways to gather money, knowledge in general, knowledge of management, which loops to jump with the administration, which loops to not jump to not piss them off, how to write with good handwriting and in a way that your superior likes and having power so that this world full of trials do not murder you by fart at your direction. Oh, and never, ever piss Old Gold. No one can protect you from that. But he really doubts he will need to reinforce that last thought in the village.

Still this trip is already helping by show him how much he still needs to grow, after all this, mortal, bull is pulling their cart weight better than he can (the horses too). He needs to cheat with QI boosting just to keep pulling his part, the bull certainly will have a better foundation than him, since he is showing a way to breath to the bull that is the closest to his master way of doing so that one can do with a human respiratory system. So, this 'super charge' QI air and experience could make a new 'cultivator' if he works in the farms around the village with mister bull long enough. Plus, if the 'mortals' refuse to eat some of the plants/bugs that they could find or not wishing to pull dirt/earth in their mouths that had little, insignificant amounts of QI for some reason or another (like really tiny evil rocks) well the bull or some of the brothers would. And 7th​ brother too since he sometimes eat/absorb those evil rocks energy. He still loves that guy.

"Hahahaha, you are doing a great job mister bull" he said while doing some back massage on the bull when he stops for a little bit. It seems that he had more stamina than his young brother. He will continue to use something called 'Pavlov?' to build the grown of the bull in a good direction. where the fourth and fifth brothers discovered that he not sure. only that It was in the isekai session of informations one can buy info in the clan. Amusing enough informations of the care and cultivation of bulls and superior breeds like aurochs are kind of cheap in the clan. Some cultivators said is because Old Gold has positive bias on them. Or is something he want us to think. So, we should think that information is true to avoid the collateral damage that pulling the spies he wants to pull from one of his centuries old plans.



Shake his Head and allow some QI to booster his regeneration. He yelled.

"hahaha, we are almost there. Thanks, you all for your good work!" he said with another big smile on his face.

"Yes, first brother!" his brothers answer in choir-like replay. This is also something he need to adapt himself to. He thought.
word count: 2283 (counting everything)
@Humbaba another omake for the pile^^

Gaius Antonius Omake #40: Crucible in the Sky, Part 4

The sun was beginning to set, and once again Gaius came upon a bizarre obstacle, this time a tantalizing three miles from the peak. He could clearly see the castle now, its glittering lights guiding him onward like a guardian constellation. In his way was was not an enemy, but a field. He had tried walking around this threat, but found to his dismay that there was seemingly no path through.

In a ring all around the mountain just below the peak, the soil was incredibly fertile. From this soil grew bizarre metallic plants. Long, thick vines covered in huge blade-like thorns writhed when anything approached, slashing the instant it came into range.

"Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, thrice is conspiracy." Gaius remarked, pacing back and forth. tendril lashed out at him, coming short of his face by a couple of inches. Gaius, who had long since memorized the exact distance at which they could attack, was unphased.

Once again, Gaius turned his gaze to the same object which had taunted him with its presence for the past few hours: a coffin. Specifically, a large black coffin inscribed with protection, flight and guidance arrays. The implication was clear: 'get in here to be carried past the blades'. As if Gaius would trust such an obvious trap - whoever planted those two monsters had probably but that coffin there as well.

Gaius pondered for a moment. "Alright then. But just how sharp are you?" If they were individually weak enough, then perhaps Gaius' Blood of Bronze and body arts would be enough to render him invulnerable to their attacks. Then he could just stride on through. Turning to a nearby boulder, he squatted down(wincing as half a dozen injuries complained at him) and hoisted it over his head. With an overhead toss, he lobbed the large stone into the path of the tendrils.

Pure steel, as sharp as a masterwork sword, sliced the boulder into geometrically perfect chunks as it passed over. As expected, those tendrils were not benign, but actively hostile to anything that moved withing range. Just great. Not only that, but the force of the cut was terrifyingly potent.

The path was completely untraversible; even a man of bronze would be sliced to pieces on those living, gnashing blades. Only this vessel would take him up safely, and it wasn't opening. That baleful red light blared continuously, floating an inch above its surface.

ONE MAY PASS

"I'm not getting in a fucking coffin." Gaius complained aloud, diving beneath the ground yet again to search for any weak spots in the field of blades' defenses. No luck; the roots went down over one hundred feet and densely filled the earth, entwining with each other and forming a wall of organic razor wire.

Gaius surfaced again, and rolled back on his heels, falling onto his back and staring up at the deep blue sky. The red light of the evening poked at his peripheral vision, but he didn't have the energy to roll over. "One may pass? I'm the only one here! Bastards, leaving ghosts and frogs around. Now I'm to get in a coffin."

"So it says, then: one may pass." A woman's voice said behind Gaius. He jolted to his feet and turned to behold a strange looking Cultivator, a tall woman dressed in a suit of complex plated armor. It reminded Gaius a bit of the Legionnaire's lamellar, but the segments were larger and more sloped, designed to deflect blows aside rather than simply disperse the impact. At her hip hung a long and beautiful sword in a style he didn't recognize, and her heavy boots made a soft clink every time she took a step.

"So I'm not the only one who made it up here..." Gaius mused, eyeing the mysterious woman warily. "But I must say, I don't recall seeing you in the courtyard. I would have remembered that armor if I did. He observed her face closer, and was struck by the unusual bone structure and eye shape. This woman didn't look like a Third Sea native, but didn't look like a full-blooded Devil either. The first answer that came to Gaius' mind was that the woman was a foreigner, but that couldn't be right. How could a foreigner get into a secret realm in the Third Sea that only opens one day a year?

"You didn't see me at the entrance ceremony? Well, I certainly didn't see you either; I'd have remembered someone so strange-looking..." She remarked with a tilt of her head.

"I don't suppose we came in through different entrances, then?" Gaius concluded with a snap of his fingers. "You somehow got to the Qigai Realm from your sea... or I left my sea and got into your realm."

"It wouldn't be the strangest thing to ever happen. Take yourself, for instance. Skin of living bronze. Hair of living gold. So you are real." The woman spoke some language he'd never heard, and a second voice spoke inside Gaius' head, tinny and artificial and in his own tongue. "I've heard the legendd, but this is my first time seeing one of you in person. Conquistadores from another star." She eyed him in curiosity and fascination, inspecting the slight sheen glinting off his face.

"Another star? I'm not sure you've got the right person." Gaius shot back, resting his hand on the pommel of his remaining sword. He didn't even intend to do it; the intensity was shooting through the roof, and The Seeker's instincts were already preparing for a battle.

The woman shrugged, the plates of her armor rattling slightly with the movement. "Perhaps. The world is large, after all; maybe you only resemble the legend."

"Sure, maybe." Gaius huffed, not paying Sophia's words much mind. "More importantly, what's the deal with this coffin? I apologize, but I can't quite find the energy to be polite today, I'm sure you understand."

"It seems obvious to me what 'the deal' is, ser." The woman smirked. "Only one person can ride it up to the peak."

"And you're just going to trust that it's not a trap?" Gaius questioned with a raise of the eyebrow.

The foreigner shrugged. "If someone wanted to lay a trap, they could have hidden it far better than that. For that reason I believe it's genuine, and I'm afraid I must beat you down until you give in, then ride it up."

"You're awfully polite for someone with such cruel intentions." Gaius teased, Adjusting his stance and slowly drawing his blade. One-handed swordsmanship wasn't his preference, but it was a common way to fight for a reason. Close-ranged attacks with the dominant hand, leaving the other free to execute all manner of techniques. The sheer versatility of the style made it hard to read. That would level the playing field, since Gaius had no idea what this woman could do either.

This was, of course, a lie Gaius told himself, to cope with the fact he was beginning to lose feeling in his left arm; his shoulder had been jostled far too many times after being reset, and he worried it might pop out of place again soon. But this woman didn't know that; perhaps he could keep it a secret for the first few exchanges. Countless battle strategies played themselves out in his mind, most of them ending in him getting cut down. Damn it all, there had to be a path through this...

"Cruel? There's nothing cruel about this, I am being honorable. Only one of us can take the path upwards; injured as you are, I could have bombarded you from a distance." The foreigner tittered, clearly having fun with this. "But that would prove nothing at all; if I were so cowardly, surely I would be doomed to be a Squire forever."

Gaius raised an eyebrow, beginning to slowly pace around this strange warrior in a manner not dissimilar to a wary tiger. "Squire, eh? So that's what your people call Essence Gathering. Fascinating - I would love to speak with you on all matter of things, but I must enter the castle."

A dangerous look passed through the other Cultivator's eyes, before her helmet snapped shut over her face automatically. It was a bizarre piece of art, the front sculpted in the image of a human face, twisted into a look of guilt and penance. "So you will fight on, despite those terrible wounds? You are a gallant man indeed. But I'm afraid I have to be the one to enter; I need what's in there. I, Sophia Fidalga, shall remember you for the rest of my days."

Gaius sunk into a low stance, qi pooling in his legs. "Keep dreaming. I'm the one who'll be telling my friends about the time I defeated a foreigner!"

For the third time that day, Gaius entered a duel, as the two Cultivators launched into a furious exchange of blows. Each mighty attack was met with a masterful defense. Every step bacck was mirrored by a step forward. It was like an intense, passionate dance.

Being a Body Cultivator came with many perks, one of which was the skill of assessing other people's health. Gaius' extensive and thorough knowledge of the human body was second only to that of a dedicated Cultivator physician, so he could tell that Sophia was also injured, though not as much as him. His superior senses only made these deductions even easier.

The slightly harder exhale when she pivoted on her left foot told him that ankle had been hurt. The slight wobble when she guarded against his attacks spoke to him of her fatigue. And, of course, there was that slightly dark spot beneath the tunic of her armpit. Sophia had probably attempted to hide the wound from prospective foes by repairing the cloth, but a little bit had seeped through the bandages.

Good, he could press her on those weak points to even the score, because by the Imperator, did he need to even it. In terms of sword skills, the two were equal. Actually, Sophia might be a little better. Her movements were fluid, efficient, sharp and wickedly fast despite the heft of her armor. Aggressively using her shield to stop his attacks cold just as he began then, she pressed him backward, her vicious blade nipping at his limbs and his chest.

Yes, her sword skills were indeed a little better than his, and whatever alloy that armor was made from, it was lighter than it looked, whilst being as tough as a full set of Gravebronze. A grazing blow send Gaius' sword skittering off Sophia's breastplate, and in response she kicked him full force in the chest, sending The Seeker to his back.

Gaius flipped into the air, narrowly dodging Sophia's finishing thrust, then landed on a rock and leapt into the air again. With these injuries, it was best to end things quickly: he would strike her full force, and his superior strength would break through. As simple as anything in the world.

As if it would be that easy; a baleful red light emanaded from the back of Sophia's shield, which rotated until the bladed bottom extended over her knuckles. Flames erupted from the top, nearly wrenching her arm forward before she braced against the thrust.

"Let's see how you handle this!" She boasted, making a punching motion at the still-midair Gaius. The shield detached from her arm and flew, on track to slice The Seeker in two. He put his sword in the way, attempting to deflect the heavy projectile, only to be shocked by the sheer force of the attack. The flying shield was knocked aside but his sword was knocked out of his hands.

Gaius landed in a crouch and drew two knives, parrying Sophia's thrust to the side. Once again they struck at each other back and forth, over and over, but with such a disadvantage in reach Gaius couldn't do much. Still, that didn't mean he'd just let this woman butcher him. Not a single attack of her's landed in a meaningful way, as Gaius moved completely onto the defensive, materializing an Aegis anytime his physical movements were not enough.

"Just fall already!" Sophia yelled, kicking Gaius into a rock and rotating her shield again to punch the blade right through his midsection. Gaius managed to summon and interpose his sword in time, but exhausted as he was, lacked the strength to push the Squire away.

Propulsive flames began flickering to life at the top of Sophia's shield again. Gaius braced his other arm against the flat of his sword and pushed with all his might, wrenching Sophia's arm aside and sending the enchanted weapon flying away above his shoulder. It smashed through the rock, kicking up a cloud of dust, which Sophia used to her advantage to dodge Gaius' retaliatory strike and fall back. Two seconds until it came back for another pass.

Gaius went on the offensive, hoping to hammer through Sophia's guard, but she proved as proficient with two hands on the weapon as with one, fending off Gaius' furious barrage. His time up, The Seeker leapt into the air, jumping over the flying shield, which had come back to skewer him from behind.

Sophia took a moment to catch her breath, cracking her neck menacingly. "You're good, ser, very good indeed. How about this, then?" She said, jumping a short distance and landing atop her shield. "They looked at me like I was a lunatic for comissioning a flying shield instead of a sword. But even a Squire has enough control to fight while riding a shield. Prepare yourself."

Holding her sword in both hands, Sophia flew at Gaius again and again, riding in to strike him and then pulling away to prepare for another charge. Relatively simple tactics, but the sheer speed of her movement and the precision of her attacks made it a deadly approach. Gaius was knocked around over and over, as Sophia flanked him again and again, the Squire's blade crashing against sword and Aegis alike.

There wasn't enough damn time to recover from a hit before she was already setting up the next, and Gaius could feel that his stamina would give out at any moment. And so, when Sophia swooped in for another pass, Gaius submerged himself under the ground and let the flying shield pass over him, grabbing the Squire's ankle and pulling her off the treasure.

Sophia tumbled painfully across the ground before righting herself and finding Gaius nowhere to be seen, suddenly, The Seeker energed behind her. On instinct, she spun around to stab down at him, only for her blade to impact the Aegis, which repelled her away and sent her skidding backward. Gaius, already moving, zoomed behind his opponent and once again emerged to hack at the Squire. With a wince-worthy squelch, The Seeker's blade chopped through her armor and bit more than two inches deep into her flank. She turned and stabbed at him again, but by that time he had already wrenched his blade free and disappeared into the ground again.

Sophia clutched her side and hopped further up the slope, close enough to the blade tendrils' striking range that he couldn't attack he from behind. "You think you can hide from me? Show some dignity!" Sophia snarled, raising her sword up to the sky. Then, she flipped the blade over, stabbed it into the ground and struck the pommel with her palm, producing a sound like the ringing of a ten-ton bell. The ground around Sophia exploded, flinging Gaius into the air. His Aegis broke from the impact, having stopped any serious damage. Sophia launched her shield again, and again Gaius was sent spinning to the ground from the recoil of deflecting it.

Sophia's shield returned to her, where it reattached to her gauntlet. Advancing on Gaius, she slashed at him again and again, battering his guard aside before slashing him in a diagonal line down his chest. Gaius stepped back, saving his life for the time being, but it was a painful cut nonetheless. Shit, how much blood had he lost already?

"Looks like this is about over... on your end, that is." Gaius chuckled, leaning on a wall for support and holding out his sword with his free hand.

Sophia twirled her beautiful blade in one hand, pacing back and forth and searching for the perfect opening. "Bold words for a man who can barely stand. Surrender this duel and let me take the coffin; I must find the scepter. Through it, my dreams will come true."

Gaius laughed, thoroughly amused at how similar they were. "Those words you're saying... they sure sound familiar. You feel the same way." Sophia finally noticed the faint glow beneath Gaius' hand but by then it was too late; the Aegis on the wall repelled Gaius toward Sophia before she had a chance to react.

Gaius flung himself low and twisted around in mid-air, stabbing the knife through Sophia's forearm and into the shield's inner array inscriptions. A loud whining sound emerged from the treasure and Sophia gasped in horror. The result was immediate and violent, a small explosion battering the Squire and breaking off the top half of her shield.

Both combatants were flung away, Gaius crying out in pain as his shin smashed into a rock and let out a very ominous cracking sound. Sophia got it even worse - the remains of her shield's propellant array flared to life in a chaotic death rattle, dragging her all over the place and slamming her into the ground and surrounding boulders. By the time the sputtering flamed died out, The Seeker was yet again on his feet, his motivation to win bottomless as ever.

The squire pulled the warped blade of the knife from her arm and tossed it aside, her blood dripping out of rents in her armor and onto the ground from a dozen spots. She watched as Gaius slowly limped toward her, amazed at his tenacity. "Gaius... you're so strong. I'm shocked that a dead sea could produce someone like you."

This would be the final exchange, both fighters realized simultaneously. This intensity simply could no longer be contained. In the next clash, one would be defeated, both would die, or their martial arts would collapse entirely under the weight of their exhaustion, degenerating into a feeble brawl between two apes.

How many more seconds would it be before the moment? A mortal's reaction time was about 0.25 seconds. One who rigorously trained for combat could bring it down to 0.2 seconds, or even 0.15. A Qi Condensation cultivator could achieve an even shorter time of 0.05 seconds. On top of that time to react, it would take an additional 0.01 seconds for a Qi Condensation brain to send the signal to move.

Sixty miliseconds. The first to move would have that much time to get into position; not long enough to be worth giving up the counterattack. And so, they predicted, simulating hundreds of potential exchanges in a furious mental battle.

Strike too soon, and leave yourself vulnerable. Strike too late, and lose the momentum. Only the most perfect timing would do. Ever so slowly, Gaius approached Maria. He did not take a stance, instead leaving his hands at his sides and trading defense for secrecy. Just a few more steps, and he would be in the optimal range of Sophia's sword. From this distance, the tinny sound of his opponent breathing within her helmet seemed to fill the cosmos, mixing with his own breaths and overpowering all other sound.

Gaius took the final step, and the entire world dissolved into a storm of motion.

Sophia lashed out with a one handed lunge, her fastest attack in this whole duel, and Gaius threw a jab, so etherial, quick and precise that it may as well have been a beam of light. The two attacks were thrown simultaneously, but the unarmed one, unladen by an object, was just a tiny bit faster. With pinpoint accuracy, Gaius' jab caught the bottom of Sophia's chin. The impact threw off the Squire's aim just a tiny bit, and Gaius jerked his head to the side as the edge of her blade sliced into the side of his neck. It was far, far, far too close to his cartoid artery; Gaius didn't even wish to contemplate how much he was courting death today.

Armor can't protect a person from everything. Its purpose is to ward off damage from the outside, but even the greatest protection cannot stop internal damage. Gaius threw a right hook, hitting Sophia's chin from the other side. Whiplash set in from the change in direction, causing the foreigner's brain to shake, but Gaius wasn't done. He stomped on Sophia's foot to hold her in place, then delivered a left hook, striking the same spot a third time. Two ov his fingers dented ominously, yet more bones beginning to give way from the abuse, but he ignored his body's warning.

The Squire's knees buckled from the repeated concusions. She threw a desperate shield bash to drive Gaius back, but he blocked with both forearms and held his ground. His broken arm was in agony and his exhausted muscles screamed for rest. Not yet, just a little bit longer.

Gaius' foot shot up. The kick was so swift and fierce, it was like a lightning bolt in reverse, returning to heaven. Agony lanced down Gaius' big toe as it smashed into Sophia's armor, hitting that single weakened point and driving the entire force of his leg into the underside of the foreign Cultivator's chin. With an eerie silence, she collapsed to the ground in a heap, defeated.

"...I really won?" Gaius marveled, slumping over the casket. He gingerly climbed inside, careful to avoid aggravating his knee. Every movement hurt; he had never taken this much damage before. Slowly, the lid began to slide closed, entrapping Gaius within the darkness.

Through a mechanism he couldn't even begin to understand, The Seeker ascended even higher. The viscious living blades hacked and scrabbled at the outside of the vessel, creating a horrible screeching which filled echoed around in the tiny space. The Seeker couldn't help but tense up, so great was the anxiety in his heart and the sound in his ears. It wouldn't be much longer now.

----

And so Gaius' harrowing journey continues. I'm not entirely happy about this fight. It's got a lot of cool moments I love, but the bits in between the highlights feel weak and lacking in impact.