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

Sitting atop a plateau far away from Qiguai settlements – deep in the mountains between the powers- was soothing, in a weird way, Zeno thought. For one the inhabitants of these mountains did not hunt him for sport, like that guy.

Appendix interjected. 'Though the mountain clans hunted each other quite well; even a nascent of the Yuan is said to have been injured'

'So, be prepared for ambush then?'

'Ha, as if the Clan knew of safe havens outside of the blood.'

'Fair enough'

With the spark off a flintstone and some hard wood under a bed of grass, a small flame is lit in the unimportant grove. Runes only few outside their Clan know lighting across the branches around them. With it, shadowy figures travel across the canopy, seemingly dancing among its heights. The same lights paint a picture in his minds eye and sets this bronze scion in a thinking mood; To reflect upon bitter defeat.

Hovering slightly above the base earth across the scion a pointer of paper points out the obvious. 'It wasn't all bad. Looking at your dantian, you gained multiple decades of cultivation in what, 15 years of trial travels? Why are you so?'

'I am not annoyed-'

'Poutiiing!'

The withering glare for that merely makes the bunny giggle more.

'Anyway. I got completely suppressed from beginning to end by this favoured guy. He… wasn't faster than me, but his hand fans were just ox shit. Crossing weapons with my saber allowed him to disable my bloodlines advantages and summon fists!'

Disbelieve laced its mental voice. 'From his, you know, fists? Like everyone else?'

Low rumbling of annoyance was his only answer as realisation slowly set in. The paper bunnies' ears moved upwards with gaping horror.

'What?! The fans?'

'Jup'

With desperation in the voice, it asks. 'Your cultivation?'

'Had to be rushed, because I had to flee into the gap instead of you know, going into the dimensional space prepared. Nearly died, if it wasn't for that thousand-year noodle medallion around my neck, but you know…'

Despite apparent horror, Appendix slowly nods in commiseration. Taking out a page from behind their ear and testing an inky finger it asks. 'Moving on from death dodging. What are the positives, the gains as some well oiled clansmen would say?'

'Well, I met a Void Immortal which was awesome. He was the reason I got so much cultivation. Couldn't talk much. Being in pain and him a spectre or something. Oh, there is also this mnemonic that the Void Immortal – Bora Seihyeong from the monster Islands- taught me.'

'And?'

'I have no idea what is does.'

'Seriously?' its ears faltering after that answer.

Holding up a hand Zeno tries to placate. 'Apart from a nice, but brief chat, I didn't use that time for nothing. Ruminating on the new pillar allowed me to come to terms with the [potential] we wield sooner than I expected.'

'So that Bora-guy helped your enlightenment of your dao so much, you got noticeably stronger than the average expert of your level, allowing you to use potential of any situation better than most to your advantage? Seriously?'

'Specifically the potential of portals, somehow. But, yes.'

'Is it good for combat?'

'Eh.' A wiggling horizontal hand destroys its last hope for a positive mood.

'Wow. Failing forward is annoying.' And Zeno could not rebuke that.

--

There are many things Alexandria doesn't like; the Bloodpath, unorganized armouries and late legionnaires. Thankfully she also has things that push her to live, like the growth of wood in her estate or watching young aspirants grow. ON these like these however the good and the bad involve aspirants. Most of the time she would enjoy seeing them fail, every, single, time. If it didn't result in her receiving her delivery late.

Watching from the side lines is easy in Foundation Building, as the senses are just better. Because of that, watching Aspirants walk along a curated trail of trials in the forest of ingredients just becomes an amusing sight to see them struggle to unravel the most basic of security-illusion wards.

'Finally found them. So, they weren't hiding from casual divination on purpose, the administrator just allowed the two aspirants who have problems to see through illusions to subtly dead-drop a package. What were the admins thinking smuggling the parasites to me with these aspirants of all things?' With that thought in mind Alexandria walked out of the camouflaged woods into unbelieving eyes, who responded by picking her up by the waist and demanding to know where the mortals went.

A flex of her arm breaks the grip and shocks these two fools long enough so she can say her piece. "Drop the bags and go. You are needed elsewhere, aspirant." Her right arm points to the distant path the fools couldn't see with a glare any legionnaire knows.

Training kicking in, they straighten their back. "Sorry, Senior. But the sewage elder said not to drop the packages!" Alexandria does not move. She merely flares qi in her gravebronze glove.

"No buts. The flora you are supposed to prepare for Optio Nemo will dry out if you don't hurry. GO!" eyes from everywhere look at this pair of fools with amusement and the fools know.

"Y-yes, Senior!" With renewed fire under them they sprint beyond the labyrinth, their package long forgotten in Alexandria's hands.
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AN: Due to RL responsibilities I don't have much time to write this turn, but thankfully this will change soon.
words: ca. 960

Treasure: Cultivation Boost

@no. , @ReaderOfFate

"Open up! Open up!" The rough voice resounded throughout the village, loud enough to wake the heavens if they had not already woken. There were bangs throughout the town as doors were flung open and windows broken, men and women dragged out of their homes by five large burly men. They were all taken to the town marketplace, where stalls were ransacked and their wares taken, then tossed to one side with the goods, entire families huddling together in fear.

The architect of their state was a mustachioed man who twirled the same as he surveyed the people his brothers had pulled out in the night. "Oi!" He called out while waving his hands in order to get their attention. They all looked at him fearfully as he grinned down at them. "Is that everyone!?" There was a silence at his question and he growled. "I'm talking to you idiots. Are you everyone in the village?"

There were fearful whispers until finally, a muscular woman stood up from the crowd, a smith who had been pulled right from her smithy. "I think one man is missing." She reluctantly said, fearful for the child clutching her soot-black apron. "It's the healer. He's gathering herbs outside of the town."

There were whispers at that, though this time with a touch of hope. Perhaps the healer could save them? The thoughts went. "A medicine man, huh?" The man wondered out loud, just grinned wider and turned to his brother. "Oi Shui!" He shouted, causing the bored man standing next to him to perk up. "Go grab this healer! Tell him that some terrible bandits have attacked and someone has been hurt very badly."

Shui grinned back. "Yes, bro." He replied and turned to go, before turning back hesitantly. He looked towards the crowd for a moment and then bowed. "I am Shui of the Water. I will be one of your bandits for the evening."

The mustachioed bandit growled at him. "Oi! You can do that afterwards!" His brother grinned sheepishly back and the man pushed him in the direction of the forest, causing him to finally begin moving though he didn't hesitate to wave goodbye to the crowd before taking off.

The mustachioed man turned back to the crowd who had been muttering at that whole display, but no one said anything. He looked at the crowd expectantly. The smith resolutely kept her mouth closed, but a bespectacled man gingerly raised his hand. "Um… I don't think anyone is hurt?"

The bandit looked at him for a moment and then fell over laughing. Another bandit standing next to him, a bald, muscular man by his side smirked and slammed his foot into the ground, causing the earth to shake. The bespectacled man suddenly screamed as a stone shot out from under him and struck his chin.

As he fell to the ground and moaned in pain, the mustachioed man stood back up and began to brush off the sand, still giggling before forcing himself to calm down. "Well then." He said, addressing the horrified crowd and ignoring the man in pain on the ground. "Let's hope the illustrious healer arrives soon, until then let us keep your company! We are the Elemental Brothers!" Beaming at the crowd, he flicked both of his arms and summoned flames over them. "I am Huo of the Flame."

The brother who had caused the injury raised his own hand, clutching a loose fistful of sand and then crushed them into hard stone. "I am Tu of the Earth."

"Jin of the Metal." A blindfolded brother said, making his home in the blacksmith's shop to her grimace and sharpening a jian on her spinning whetstone.

A fat man consuming the village's harvest stopped mid meal and looked up as everyone focused on him. "Mu of the Wood." He quietly said, before returning to the meal.

"And the man who left to fetch your healer has already introduced himself." Huo said, closing his hands into fists and extinguishing the flames. "We will be your bandits for the evening."

The mutters increased as Tu cracked his knuckles. "So any challengers?" Huo asked, looking through the crowd. "No one wants to die defending their home?"

A boy stood up, eyes alight with defiance but his father pulled him down quickly. "Forgive us… Lords. He is a boy, he does not know what he does." The man quickly said, bowing his head to the ground and pushing the boy down as well. "Please take what you need and leave us be."

"I'm afraid we don't believe in the concept of lordship." Huo said conversationally. "So I will have to take something extra from you for the insult. Maybe an ear as a tax?" He nodded to Jin of the Metal, who rose from where he was sitting, holding up his blade menacingly.

As the townsfolk began to look at each other in anger, he continued. "And of course, the boy will need to die as an example. Alongside anyone else who tries to defy us." The townsfolk froze, and for a moment, no one said anything. Only the moans of the bespectacled man filled the air and as the townsfolk looked into Huo's confident eyes, for many of them their anger wavering.

Then the healer entered the scene walking at a brisk pace, with Shui of the Water running to keep up with him. "Oi! Stop! Not so fast!"

The man ignored him as well as the scene he had stumbled upon, instead seeking out the injured with a look of absolute annoyance. His eyes falling on the bespectacled man, he walked past the crowd who all moved out of his way and knelt next to his patient. "What was it for healing?" He muttered to himself. "Ah yes."

With a wave of his hand, green light filled the air and green spiritual vines grew from the earth, wrapping around the moaning man before growing into his body. There was a pulse of qi and the vines disappeared, leaving the man healed completely. "Thank you! Thank you!" The bespectacled man cried, trying to hold his savior's hand but the healer sniffed and shooed him away.

"I don't care and don't touch me." He replied, before turning to go. Mu of the Wood blocked his path, looking down on the man with a glare. The healer grimaced as he looked at the man. "What do you want? Before you say anything, my contract is with the village and if you can't pay my rates I'm not healing or doing anything for you."

"Little healer." Mu replied, looming over him. "That was a Wood technique, wasn't it? Show me how you did it right now and I won't break every bone in your body in order to make you show it."

"That was sorcery, you oaf." The healer sneered back. "I need nothing but my mind and the qi around me."

Mu laughed at that. "You are a puny mortal who hasn't even entered the first heavenstage. Don't lie to me. I specialize in reading life. Give me the artifact or I will take it from your dead body."

The healer scowled. "I am not a mortal. I am a Sorcerer, you oaf." He corrected vehemently. "I know more of the mysteries of heaven and earth than you will ever comprehend in your short and insignificant life. Now move."

Mu just grinned. "I think I will kill you now." He raised his fist to deliver a hammer-blow and there was a ripple of qi over his body, his skin taking on the brown and green tint of bark. When he struck down however, his fist halted above the sorcerer, halted by a shimmering shield in the air.

"Wood, right?" The Sorcerer muttered. "The destructive pairing of it would be… AHA!" He raised his hand, palm open and steel-gray qi gathered above it, spinning into a sphere that screamed with the sound of metal grinding into metal. "Metal Bolt."

The bolt shot into the bandit's skin, cutting his hand apart cleanly and as blood splattered on the sorcerer's aerial shield, he scrunched his nose. "Ugh, I'll have to recast that spell."

"You dare, boy!?" Huo said, running over to his screaming brother and glaring at the sorcerer with balls of flame burning in his hand. "I will destroy you."

The sorcerer blinked as he looked at him, as if seeing him for the first time. He glanced at the ransacked town market and then the huddling villagers and the bandits all glaring at him with killing intent. "Ah, did I walk into a bandit attack?" He asked, frowning. "Fuck. And I didn't even get paid for protection." He glanced at Huo. "I don't suppose if I heal your compatriot, you'd let bygones be bygones?"

As the ball of fire seared the blood off of his shield, he nodded in understanding. "Thank you for that." He said cheerfully. "Allow me to help as well." Holding up both of his hands, he summoned a ball of silent green energy and a ball of whirling blue. He combined both of them and then he shot them at Mu.

Once more, the same healing spell formed, but where the previous one had simply healed, this time the vines were thicker and stronger, reaching out for the man's previous hand and then pulling it back, before they were dissolved into healing energy. Mu stood up, eyes wide and began to touch his hand making sure it was still reattached.

All five brothers looked hesitant at that, before Huo slammed his head on the ground. "Forgive me, Lord!" He cried out dramatically. "Though I had eyes, I could not see Mount Tai! Please, forgive this Huo of the Flames! We shall retreat immediately and never return before you!"

The sorcerer blinked for a moment. "Did you say your name was Huo of the Flames?" The bandit looked up at him before nodding cautiously. "Of the Elemental Bandits? With a bounty out for them?"

For a moment, there was absolute silence. Then abruptly, Huo stood and began to run. "That's what I thought," The sorcerer said, grinning. "This might be worth it after all."

As the elemental brothers each fled, drawing upon their respective defensive techniques, the sorcerer considered the most effective method to defeat them. Then he grinned. Holding out both hands to the sides, he summoned five spheres of elemental magic over each hand. Then they combined into one black and one white crackling ball of energy.

"Here is a lesson for you to take to heaven, Elemental Bandits." The Sorceror said, grinning. "The elements are meant to be used in harmony." Bringing both hands together, he forced the balls together. "On one hand, the Yin of the Destructive Cycle and on the other, the Yang of Constructive Cycle - together, they form Lightning."

And so, heavenly lightning soared towards the bandits.


Xiao Yingzi watched what was occurring from afar as the rogue cultivator formed heavenly lightning from his sorcery. Oh, it wasn't true tribulation lightning by any measure but it was a good foundation. With some insight from his actual tribulation and he'd get there. Quite likely, the rogue cultivator was from the Xin Kingdom and eschewed even the slightest body cultivation for his qi spells which is why he appeared mortal to those bandits. He certainly had the mastery one would expect from such obsession. Her senses for recruitment tingled, as she considered if she could grab him for her century.

Greed and Intellectual Curiosity. That was what she needed to appeal to in order to gain a new cultivator for her legion. Smiling, Xiao Yingzi moved into the middle of the village - just appearing there to the shock of the villagers. "Fear not, fine villagers." Xiao Yingzi said, holding up her spear and summoning an orb of lightning into her hand. "For the legion is here."

"I will ensure that these fiends do not harm your village anymore." She replied, pointing her spear at Huo the only bandit who had survived the assault from the lightning spell. As the villagers cheered at her presence, she turned to the sorcerer who seemed to be eying the lightning bolt in her hand with a strange fascination. "As for you, Sorcerer. I believe you were talking about a bounty for these bandits?"

He blinked when she addressed him, before frowning at her. He was clearly aware of their differences in power and so now looked at her warily though he still couldn't help but look at the orb of lightning in her hands. "Yes, centurion." He replied, make a face of appeasement with none of the attitude he had displayed before. "I am happy to give up my claim on it, if you wish to stake yours of course."

A stake which, he left unsaid, she only had because of her power. Shaking her head, Xiao Yingzi tossed him a jade slip which hit his shield and then fell to the ground. After a wary look at her, he stepped forward and picked it up before frowning. "This is... contribution points?" He asked, frowning at her. He quickly smoothed his face and bowed. "Very well, centurion. I thank you for your generosity. Is it alright if I take your leave?"

Xiao Yingzi smiled. "That is worth twice as much as the bounty - taking to account the lower point-to-stone conversion rate for non-legionaries."

He frowned. "I see?"

"I have a proposal." Xiao Yingzi said, causing him to raise an eyebrow. "Consider that extra a bribe to hearing me out - you can keep it even if you don't accept." She didn't doubt that he'd still listen to her even if she hadn't paid him extra, but setting up incentives early was a good thing for her proposal.

"I'm listening." He said, looking at her with a strange mixture of wariness and interest. She didn't miss his continued side-glances at the lightning in her hand - lightning that she immediately dispersed, causing him to turn his full focus to her - he knew now that she knew of his interest and he was wondering what she was going to do with that knowledge.

"I'm in the market for skilled auxiliaries," Xiao Yingzi replied. "You'd be well paid and have a chance to research... well." She snapped her fingers and let a spark fly that disappeared into the air.

"I get to leave whenever I wish." He replied, the idea that he wouldn't join that offer not even considered. He was mercenary, but not someone who loved resources on their own merit then. This made him even more valuable to her - one who is bought can ever be bought again after all.

"As long as it isn't during an assignment." She offered him. Ideally, she'd have him as a legionary - but that would require trust on both their parts... though she did wonder how much he could hold out once he realized the bronze of their blood was an element that was quite literally out of this world.

"In that case, what you offered me is a bonus and I still get to turn in the corpses for their bounty." He argued showing that he was indeed experienced. How old was he? She would need to have his history investigated. He was certainly someone who'd held power in the Xin Kingdom before he went rogue.

"That's acceptable on my part."

He smiled and nodded. "Then I believe that we have a deal. May I have a few hours to ensure that I have packed all of my things?"

"Take your time." She replied before turning to the villagers who had been watching their bargaining with hushed whispers. "I need to deal with the clean up."

With a bow, he retreated to his hut.
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Another extra. This was from when I was being flooded by ideas for a third seed, which I wrote a bit about before I finally got over the whole idea. Still, I figured I might as well post them. If anyone wants to use anything from this, feel free. (1908)

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Adding this into Xiao Yingzi's Centennial Selection Series.

Ajax Tripedes in Mountain Bell Expedition Part 3 - Into the Depths

The mountains that housed Mercury Falls Mine were immense, majestic, and something that Ajax would have dearly loved to take the time to appreciate them. When he was younger, he had always stared up at the mountains so distantly visible from his village. He had always liked mountains as a child, they were large, strong, enduring. Only the strongest of cultivators could lay them low, most often even then they were just scarred by the battles. The Silvery slopes of the Mercury Falls mine, with its glittering cascade of the liquid metal was an especially evocative example.

Sadly, Ajax was rather unable to truly appreciate the splendor of the mountain, even as he sped towards as best he could, rummaging around in his sack for another spirit stone to consume in his mad dash towards the mine. This was for a myriad of reasons. He was hungry, his stomach sent lances of sharp pain through his stomach at nearly all times, the brief meals made out of travel rations he had packed were not constant or near enough to one another to stop them from being nearly continuous. His mouth and tongue were dry, to the point of having a near parchment like consistency, and his waterskin was being strictly rationed out simply to prolong his time up and moving. His body was tired, rest was simply something he could ill afford given his circumstances, and while copious infusion of qi could help with it, going over a week without more than a few minutes of sleep was pushing his inherent hardiness to the point of breaking. His eyes were watering, his muscles burned, and his thoughts ran away from him in an inchoate slurry of sleep deprived stupidity.

He needed to sleep; this was quickly becoming a losing fight. However, there was a problem with that. Strike that, three big problems. Specifically, there are three ninth heaven stage qi condensation man eating assholes chasing him, harrying him. One who bore furs and had the aspect of a wolf, a starving mangy flea-bitten good for nothing sheep stealing mongrel of a wolf, but one whose sharp teeth and blood curdling howl that could shatter stone had to be respected. And by respected, Ajax meant strenuously avoid. Then there was his brother, Ajax had her the third member of their impromptu Mouse and Falcon party saying them enough for them to clearly be related beyond similar faces, but damn he couldn't remember them now. Moving on, his brother was wearing normal robes, but had the most outlandish feathered cloak over them. Frankly he would be stupid looking if not for the fact he could bleed on the damn things and created feathered blood wings, which could be used as blades or shot out in volleys. The worst part was that he could call them back before they faded, damns things had nearly taken ajax's eye out; instead he now had a bleeding wound over his eyes that obscured his vision horribly. Finally there was the group minder, who looked like a courtesan. Seriously Ajax could understand being an assassin and not having weapons or gear suited for mass battle, but having your chest so tightly bound and revealing so much skin was not okay. Still Ajax wasn't going to let THAT distract him, he had other concerns like those lashing.. tentacles? Cloths? Whatever they were. They were strong and fast and would very quickly make him half the man he was if she got close. They fact she could throw crystalline spears, ones that exploded even. Frankly her nearly ending him with one of those is probably how they are tracking him now, too many little cuts and abrasions, enough blood for the fucking mosquitos to keep scent of him even when he pushed himself. Still the worst part was whatever she was using to cloak herself, he could only detect her sometimes, and that was usually when she was moving at speed or preparing to attack, more by the utter lack of feeling of the area she would be in over anything else, which was inexact as hell and lead to far far too many close calls for his liking.

Still even with three man-eating blood sucking monsters each of whom could probably kill him alone chasing him down, he had made progress. Well, he hoped it was progress, he had been moving this way for an incredibly long amount of time filled with tedium and short spurts of blooming terror when his pursuers felt like trying to bring this chase to an end. During those moments he had to really get moving, and dug into the sack he was given, using the spirit stone he was given to keep enough qi in his system to escape. Escape towards the Mercury Falls mine. There he could hopefully lose them in the hellish terrain, wandering spirit beasts, Qi false signatures from the ore and more. AS long as he, in particular avoided the Core Snake that reigned deep in the mountain. He didn't care if the shit-monkeys ran into it though. Them getting snapped up all in one gulp sent a giggle coursing through Ajax's frame, until he tensed up, using his locomotion technique to cross a short span of distance, as a crystalline spear longer than he was tall punched into the dirt until it was level with his knee. That was a sign he needed to get his ass moving and pronto!

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Hua Mei was annoyed. The primary source of her annoyance was once again abusing his ever-dwindling cache of spirit stones to move away from her at speed, one she could keep up with for a time, but ultimately such would be fruitless and require her to go depopulate another nearby village to do so, and the longer she had to chase down this gnat the less and less feasible that was. Frankly, if she thought she could catch and kill the gnat before her reserves ran too low and left her open to the mercies of her fellow hunters, she would have done so in an instant. Still, while the brothers might be close enough to take such a risk with each other, no one was willing to take a risk with the three of them together in proximity. So, they had to wait, keep pursuing the frustratingly resilient gnat at a halting pace and hopefully drive and deprive the man until he made a mistake. Something he had no done yet, and they were fast approaching Mercury Falls mine. This in turn means they were straying far away from their set hunting grounds. If this was a decoy someone else could slip through. Still if they turned back now... Such a thing was not permissible, not for their pride nor the mission. So now all she could do was wait, and hope he fell soon.

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The Entrance to the Mine loomed ever larger in Ajax's sight, periodically. It was hard to keep looking at any one point for long when he was getting rushed by all three of his hunters at once. They really did not want him to get into the Mine, and they had pulled out all the stops. The Wolfish one had turned from simply being inspired by mangy wolf into being more of one than a man, and he was trying to run him down. Those claws and fangs were something Ajax did not want a part of, and sadly his sling was in tatters after a near miss. Damn shame would have been perfect for cracking this guy's skull just a little. Then again his brother had donned a bird skull mask, and those stupid fucking blood feathers he was shooting increased in both number AND speed. Even spamming Stride as often as he was he'd been hit more than a few time. He probably looked like a damn partially plucked turkey at this point, worse they were siphoning off his blood, because he could FEEL them trying to do so. Trying being the operative word since it seemed like something inside of him was clogging those literal mosquitos up. Still it sucked, literally and figuratively. The last one hadn't changed that much by the metrics, probably because she was less fighty and probably more stab in the backy. Her crystalline spears, which damn well might be scabs given how the Blood path were fucked like that, simply exploded, which they already did, but the fragments from the first explosion exploded. AGAIN! When the Imperator took a piss it came from great heights indeed, because of course one explosion was not enough.

Still despite their best efforts he had his sack even though it had taken glancing blows from their techniques. At this point he was just grabbing handfuls of the spirit stones contained within and crushing the things, because he did not have time to be careful or picky anymore. HE needed raw qi in excess of anything he had ever handled before so but the fives and tens did his sackful of spirit stones deplete in his mad dash into the mine with three cannibals hot on his heels. He couldn't stop to appreciate the scenery, but there was little enough to appreciate in the dilapidated ruins of the main and only known to man entrance of the mine, the Structures built around it were gone, either rotted to nothing or cleared out by the serpent that called this place its home. The Quicksilver that once got this mine created had been cleared out too, leaving only small and mostly collapsed side passages and lots of rock. Still the only thing Ajax DID notice was the sudden change in efficacy of his sensory technique, Bat's Unerring Ear. Here with so much stone surrounding him it was so much clearer, and he immediately put it to good use dodging the savage attacks of his hunters. For even though this was a mine entrance he was utterly dwarfed at it's scale, for it was almost thrice as tall as he was and many times more wide. There was still more than enough room to maneuver when taking into account his uneven bursts of speed to keep from being too easily lead and turned into an Ajax Kebab.

Even with a newfound advantage the slightly more cramped confines were surely going to lead him to his doom if he didn't find what he was looking for... THERE IT WAS. The main shaft taht had been dug into the mountain, downwards, ever downwards to procure more fulminating Mercury, as well as anything else of Value this pocket of the Tortoise corpses had for human use. The chamber around the gaping wound in the earth was so big even with his sensory technique he could only barely perceive the walls of the opposing side, and it was here that he needed to be. Grabbing one last handful of Spirit stones which he promptly shattered and absorbed to keep moving he leapt into the gaping abyss below him, hanging in the air for a split second before gravity took it course even as his pursuers stopped, yelling out, "Fuck Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu" the shaft giving his words an echoing quality even as he started to plummet.

The Shaft itself was likely deep enough he could fall for hours if not days before he reached the bottom, but that was not his actual objective. No, his objective was to get enough speed that he would reach the other side of the vertical tunnel so he could arrest his fall and find somewhere to rest and recover. That's why he had gathered up so much speed and momentum, and now all he had left to do was wait for the pay off. Without falling asleep. With nothing else to do and the novelty of falling already getting old. Why does he do this to himself?

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"We're going to have to chase him down there aren't we?"

"If we don't bring back a body at least we're going to get punished."

"Fucking Golden Devil."

"Quite."

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Ajax was barely awake. You would think that falling to a messy death via an enormously huge mineshaft would engender some sort of ability to be attentive and looking for ways to avoid or at least ablate that fate. Which, to be fair, he normally would be doing with extreme vigor, however he had gone many days without sleep and now without something to keep him awake other than the howling of the wind past his eyes his ability to keep his eyes open was taxed severely. Thankfully the cramping he was enduring from over a week of constant exertion was helping him keep focused and awake, at least for now. Hopefully it wouldn't bite him in the ass now that he was nearing the opposite edge of the abyss he was falling via a combination of time, momentum and the subtle narrowing of the shaft itself. Which was good, because if it narrows abruptly, he'd probably have gone splat onto the rocks, which would be bad. Putting aside such thought as a possibly very grizzly death, Ajax took out a handpick, a tool he had taken to bring along to sample ores and rocks in a local area should one be of possible use for his hobbies. It'd be put to the basic same use, but in a rather more extreme way. Specifically, he was going to need it to break his fall and slow his descent. Channeling Qi into his arms for earth shaking blow he swung out his arm at the wall, and prayed the pick would hold long enough for him to slow and redirect his fall.

Metal and rock screeched in his ears even as he felt his momentum rapidly slow and then cease, the pick holding out long enough to transfer enough of the force into his arm to cause it to pop out of socket, even as the handle was wrenched out his hand by the force. Still, that was enough for him to get his legs against the surface of the wall and channel qi into his movement technique one last time, changing his direction from a near certain fall to the bottom of a rocky pit to landing face first onto the floor of a fortuitously nearby tunnel. However even a relatively benign landing taken wrong can inflict damage, and the last thing Ajax thought before he landed on his face was, "Oh Crap."

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Ending this part here since it's been an utter bear to work on. 2433 words.

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Escaped.

The word was bitter on her lips.

Wei Ning had dyed her hair green this time, and sorted it into two neat pigtails either side of her head.

In light of everything else, Bloodhammer had escaped? To Old Cannibal? She shook her head, pigtails flying left and right. No, better to think it through from the start again. She had never been good at this - striking through everything in her way was how she functioned, not... twisting her thoughts into knots to understand what was happening. Oh, she could do it. She just found it grated, not quite in line with who she was. With how she should act.

It had all started with the boy from the Golden Devils. Some Qi Condensation thief, somehow causing disaster.

She didn't know exactly why the Golden Devil diplomat had crippled her most useful woman helping keep control of the Federation, despite the claimed reason. It was absurd. Crippling an Elder over a sub-par Qi Condensation Disciple? A transparent and stupid ploy, and once that nobody would merit.

She had naturally demanded repayments, and had sat worrying about them for months on end. Even if the repayments came in... the diplomatic repercussions were going to be huge. Oh, there was some talk of closing ranks around the Devils, about cutting off trade, about sanctioning them - but they needed the energy supplies that came from the east too badly. The best she could do was levy a large penalty, and in all honesty she had feared when she hadn't heard back for a few months.

Then the extra payments had started flowing in.

That had been hugely relieving. No war - or at least no hostility - with the Devils as of yet. The Blood Defiance Federation was raring for vengeance, and in part threatening to break off because they felt themselves unprotected. The chief among their representatives crippled in their halls of power by an outsider who spoke such cruel words to them? No, they had demanded vengeance and it had been all she could do to talk them down to reparations. Of course, most of them did not truly want vengeance, merely to force Strength Purity to spend strength enacting it, and thereby weaken their hegemony. Decades of an uneasy peace in the south and north for most meant that the Federation was as-ever losing focus, each member Sect jostling for position.

Still, they obeyed. For now. And that would be enough to win.

Bloodhammer had fled, and Weeping Anvil had boasted of some 'measure' he had taken to 'throw back the reprobate'. Given there was only Strength Purity or the Devils to aid him, even an idiot could see what he had done. A deal with them of some sort. No wonder he demanded to pay so little for entrance into the Blood Defiance Federation, despite his intransigence. She doubted he'd join them, but she could see his problem. The Blacksmiths were surrounded by two greater powers, and needed some surety of their independence, especially now they were weak.

She sighed. There was still time. The only real concern was a strike on the Pass itself, but that could be countered with the Nascent Souls from the Federation who now obeyed her - or at least pretended to from time to time.

Old Cannibal seemed uninterested in the war almost entirely, and infighting among the Demonic Path had once again taken place. Ma Altan had worked out some... agreement with the Noble Knowledge Sect, joining them in return for something her best spies were desperate to discover. In return, the Poison Maze surged endlessly, consuming the lands that were once the Ma Clan.

The Demonic Altar were beyond quiet, and the new Grand Abyssal Love and Peace Sect - a name she refused to countenance - was busy building mortal cities, or 'hives' as they were being named. Preparing mortals for harvest, trying to make their presence sustainable. Not that it mattered, with the Favored rising. She let it be - in a few hundred years at this pace they would simply be able to win, and Old Cannibal's measures wouldn't matter.

She didn't know what was happening, but with a little time all would be made well. Heaven had favored them, and she felt as though the threats were simply to be endured. She could organise expensive and bloody attacks and gain little, or hold onto to what she had, striking strategically, occasionally. A strategy the pack of malcontents the Blood Defiance Federation called Nascent Souls would easily follow. And once her new disciple - Liu Tenchang, the Favored Fist of the Heavens - rose into Nascent Soul, she felt it would be simple enough to declare him her successor, and start sweeping the Blood Path away entirely.

Inaction was painful, but containment was difficult enough. She had to protect the mortals under her auspices, prevent the fall of any more allied Nascents, and maintain the supply of Spirit Stones. The longer they went without fighting, the more favorable it was for her. More Spirit Stones to supply her cultivators when they returned to war, less cultivators falling, less Blood Path enemies arising. She wanted to simply go punch the filth who oppressed mortals and their fellow cultivators into nothing, but...

Patience.

She'd never been very good at it, but the longer she sat on her hands, the better things got for the Strength Purity Sect. More time to consolidate the various Sects and Clans into one cohesive whole, more time to build up supplies, to let the Blood Path burn themselves out. Time for her Favored to rise. If her enemies united, they could truly bring her down. All it would take would be an unrelenting assault upon the Strength Purity Sect by all the disparate Demonic powers, and the Blood Path could likely cripple or kill her. Oh, they'd pay a price, but it'd mean an end to the Federation, and the world would be thrown into war once again.

If they were happy to wait, so was she.