Allies who we've already definitively passed. We joined them when we were weaker then any of them, but we don't exactly own them for that - them taking us on helped them pass the first test. The second test was individual, and we passed the third with a by.
The training we got from them? Again the almost certainly are also benefiting from that, training against techniques they wouldn't otherwise see and getting raise attriutes and skills that they wouldn't challenge agaisnt each other. We also aren't losing that training even if our relationship devloves.
Thunderdome fight? We've invested a bunch of actions into raising our relationship with Xuilan, and what's damaging it at this point is us blowing past her in cultivation. Guess what? that's going to keep happening. She isn't a contender for the inner eight slots, not unless she comes across some major luck. Like, people were arguing it was screwing over Suyin to try and share the vent with Jian and company because they're competitors for the Inner Sect, and I was scraching my head because... no. None of them are making inner sect through combat. Suyin might through production.
The big benifit they bring is that we're all about the debuffs, so any ally is helpful for drawing attention and doing damage as we set that up. But they aren't special for that, and they're becoming less useful there. We'll soon have spirit buddies, we're starting to do missions with Meizhen, and Suyin and Ling are buffing up.
If we could make an alliance with Ji Rong without drawing undue trouble? It's actually something worthwhile to think about. It might be more worthwhile then the actions needed to juggle Suyin's and Jian's teams against each other. The only problem is if it might annoy Meizhen. Not sure what she thinks of him.
And no, he's not getting written off. That's exactly what I'm talking about when I say wishful. "Ji Hong has been crippled by this setback and is about to die. All the Green Cultivators will be given a by so that they don't take all the top spots." These are wishful. Getting into the inner sect is a 1%er thing. Actually, it's more like a .08%er thing. You either have to be a high noble with decent talent and a decade of resources poured into making you a monster, or you need a mix of absurd luck and a ton of talent.
Like, maybe if you made peak Green or beyond you would be given a by via apprenticeship. There might be secret tests on the mountain you can find that give you a by, I'm interested in looking for something like that. But we need to start making ourselves a monster, that or accept being the victim of monsters.
