Disciples of Red Dew Sect (Cultivation Riot Quest)

[X] Zao Zao (The magnificent)
-[X] Attempt to learn Storm Lungs

Omake - In. Out.

Wu Ji Nin sat and focused on his breathing.

In. Out.

His Qi rushed through his chest, pulsed in time with his heartbeat and rumbled in his belly. It was swirling and dancing around him, as well, he knew, but he couldn't see it right now. Wu Ji Nin was deep in meditation, sitting in lotus position, and his eye were closed.

In. Out.

His mind was sharp and clear, and only the most intrusive of thoughts ever broke through his concentration. An image of Yong Jiahao's smile. Worries about Elder Xuan. The memory of roots erupting from the earth. A sense of pride in the face of grateful mortals and fellow disciples alike. The flash of claw and fang, and the bitter smell of blood.

In. Out.

Even then, all these mental phenomena arose and fell away naturally, with him paying only idle attention to them. It was a kind of detachment that seemed to be serving him well in his current endeavor, as his focus needed to be on the task at hand.

In. Out.

Cycle after cycle. Day after day. Wu Ji Nin would push forward in his cultivation journey. He would break his way past Peasant. He would grow into a powerful Soldier. May the gods have mercy on the fools standing in his way.

But in the meantime...

In. Out.

OMAKE - Meditating in a Freezer

Liu Jin stood before the one of the sects senior cooks, his hands clasped in a fervent plea. "Please, Elder Brother" he implored, his voice earnest with determination, "grant me access to the cold realm for my meditation."

The senior cook regarded him with a mixture of curiosity and skepticism, accustomed to requests of a more culinary nature. "Meditation in the freezer room?" he echoed, eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"Yes, Elder Brother" Liu Jin affirmed, his gaze unwavering. "I seek to understand the essence of ice, to understand its mysteries in preparation for my breakthrough to the soldier realm."

The chef paused, considering Liu Jin's request. Though unconventional, there was a sincerity in the cultivator's eyes that gave him pause. "Very well," he relented, finally nodding. "But be warned, the cold can be unforgiving. Are you sure you're prepared for such an ordeal?"
Liu Jin nodded resolutely. "I am, Elder Brother. The chill will be but a trial on my path to enlightenment."

With a gesture of assent, the senior cook led Liu Jin to the freezer room, where shelves of ingredients lay shrouded in frost. As the door closed behind him, enveloping him in a cocoon of icy air, Liu Jin sank to the floor, his mind focused on the task ahead.

In the frigid confines of the freezer room, Liu Jin began his meditation, his breath mingling with the chill as he delved deep into the essence of ice. Through sheer force of will, he sought to unravel its secrets, to become one with its crystalline purity.

Hours passed in silent communion, the freezer room a sanctuary of stillness amidst the tumult of the world beyond. And as dawn's light filtered through the frosted windows, Liu Jin emerged from his meditation, his spirit ablaze with newfound understanding.

With a grateful bow to the senior cook, Liu Jin departed, his heart brimming with determination. For he knew that armed with the insights of ice, his path to the soldier realm lay clear before him.

The Journeys of the Horsemen and Associates (Part 2)

Day 7 (Part two)

I forgot to mention previously the terrain, allow me to fix that mistake, I can see an endless field of wheat crisscrossed by animal trails and which reflect the dawn light in the most beautiful manner. Truly this view has been the highlight of our journey so far and has more than made up for the smell of rotting fish seems to be sticking to me.

We're going to set up camp in a cave we can see up on a cliff face and see if we can't catch one of those Spirit Owls as a meal, I saved some of the honey from the beehive incident so-

Day 8

We were making steady progress until we were set upon by a golden honey badger the size of a farm house, luckily nobody was hurt but it chased us around for an hour before we managed to hide up here in the cave mentioned in my last entry.

The beast was still sniffing around this morning but we threw some torches down and those scared it off when the grain fields started burning.


Day 9
I now know what Mist Owls are. I hate them.

This morning we climbed down the cliff face and finally started the second stage of our journey with good speed. Then at about midday a pair of shadows fell across us and we were suddenly under attack.

Luckily I wasn't caught by surprise and dodged the Owl's talons, ducking under them before holding out my sword and letting the infernal bird impale itself with the force of its own dive. Unfortunately the beast was immense in size and I had underestimated my own strength, leaving me pinned underneath it while the rest of my companions slew its partner.

They didn't even have the good grace to taste good, they were entirely too wet and slimy, meaning it was a complete waste of time to drag them behind us for the rest of the day until we arrived at our current camp.

Day 10
We're still eating the Mist Owls and I have to admit that the taste is growing on me a little bit, you just need to slather it in honey and cook it till it burns and then you have something that goes fine with rice.

Progress along the trail has been good, War beat a weird looking snake to death when it tried to bite him.

We were attacked by another pair of Owls at twilight, fortunately they managed to escape before they were slain, saving us all from another few nights of Owl meat.

Day 11
We're out of Owl meat. Thank The Baron the gods.

We encountered another Badger at noon, I think we had encroached on its lair and it was trying to defend it, we gave a good fight but were chased off the road when its mate appeared and I decided that it wasn't worth the risk of injury, calling the retreat there.

We hid in grain for perhaps an hour before we emerged from the from concealment and killed them in an ambush, although there were several close calls.

On a related note, we have some proper shelter for the night, who knew badgers made such roomy homes?

Day 12
It was with heavy hearts that we left the relative safety of the badger brurrow, we had only been awoken once last night when something burrowed past our shelter and shook the earth above us as it passed by. We're making good progress so far today.

We got ran off the road by a giant bunny rabbit. It isn't any better in context. We're circumventing it by scaling a cliff beyond the reach of its fire breath and climbing along the side of it until we're out of its territory.


Day 13
Things have hit a snag recently. 6 Mist Owls have been circling us since the early morning, we can't outrun them and the closest shelter is a day's time away, fortunately they haven't attacked us yet but things could be bad, I've been assigned to watch the skies and will return to update this Log tonight.


Day 15
We should have been watching the fields.

The owls weren't gathering as hunters. They were gathering as scavengers waiting for scraps, it was perhaps an hour after my previous update.

We didn't even notice that Death was missing until we felt the wind from the scythe-like limb that had ripped him out from the middle of the party.

Frankly it was pure luck we managed to get Death out of that spider-thing's mouth* and run like we did and it was even more lucky we managed to find a cave with two exits that it was too big to follow us into.

*Called a Grain Terror if I remember correctly.

After we take a moment to catch our breath in this cave we'll continue and try to get some distance from the Grain Terror before we set up camp, Death is bleeding profusely from where it cut him and there's no way he's going to be able to walk unassisted until he gets proper treatment.

Day 16

We never managed to set up camp, it charged through the cavern's entrance and hasn't let up no matter what we've tried to shake it off our trail.

If someone finds this travel log then

We're carrying Death using a stretcher, switching between carriers as we go, things are looking dire.

Day 17
Our luck turned for the better today, although not before it got a lot worse.
Andras was nearly devoured by yet another Grain Terror which leapt from its burrow and although he avoided its scythe claws it poisonous fangs grazed him, leaving him hallucinating and unable stand.

Luckily before this second Grain Terror devoured us the original one attacked it, trying to drive off the rival to its food. We managed to escape in the confusion and set up camp for the first time in 3 days.


Day 18
We found a road to the Jade Claw Barony, I'm worried this might be the illusions of some new beast trying to entrap us.

We actually met a friendly caravan traveling to the Jade Claw! They have enough guards to ward off anything weaker than a Grain Terror and a place on the cart for our wounded.

Now all we need to do is keep our mission secret from absolutely everyone we're traveling with.

This will be… interesting.

Jiang Chen Omake - Meditations on Failure
Jiang Chen was sat in a field, legs crossed, sword lain across his lap, just gently breathing. He was scheduled to study under Elder Nianzu, to perfect his swordsmanship in time for the coming Beast Wave, and the following tournament, in just a short time, but for now, he meditated, and reflected upon his path. Until recently, his road had been clear, Swordsmanship, Math, those two ideals were to be the basis for his understanding, from which all else would bloom, but lately, something had infected his usual thoughts, a new chain of logic and understanding beginning to form, one he was unsure he was comfortable with... Failure.

He was unsure just what moment had triggered his connection to this path, whether it was when he was crushed beneath trees, his defeat in the Tournament, his general failure to perform above his peers, or a combination of all of these things. "Talented", they called him, a "genius", or so they said, yet among all the other geniuses of his generation, so far he had simply proven himself to be mediocre. Average. His bids for recognition, to stand as one of the leading disciples of his generation, had all ended in failure, even as he neared the peak so many others already stood upon.

So, Failure. What was it, to him? An old friend? A bitter rival? An idea? A teacher? A tool? A weapon? All these thoughts and more spiralled through his head. The Path lay in front of him, but the road was covered in loose gravel and fallen trees, was the best way he could describe his path to understanding, every step along it risked making him stumble, his contemplations taking him in wayward directions as he tried to focus on navigating what lay before him. Indeed, it seemed the only way to truly make progress on this path... was to fail. It was not only a necessity, it was an inevitability.

Jiang Chen's eyes opened, an answer to his questions sparking in his eyes. Failure is Inevitable, regardless of ones own powers, it comes to them eventually. To understand Failure was to understand not how to avoid it, but how to survive it, and how to unleash it upon ones foes. With a lighter heart, Jiang Chen stood up, and stretched. He picked up his sword, and made his way to Elder Nianzu's lecture. Failure may be inevitable, but he would let it take his foes first.