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Forge of Destiny(Xianxia Quest)

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DiceOfStupidity said:
It's a pity, that FSA won in a last vote. FSA is Yang art, and does not get bonuses from EPC. ASA is Yin art, and it does.

It's only 3 dice per roll just now, but with higher EPC levels it may be 10 or more. It will ultimately add to hundreds of dice added to rolls. ASA cultivation would be quite a bit more effective and faster than FSA.

<sigh> I just wish it was possible for Ling Qi to change her mind. (especially since she did not train it yes, and FSA won by one vote) :(
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Cheer up love , the good thing about having unlimited access to first floor is that we can go anytime to go get it.

Plus truthfully we aren't in desperate need for another atk art at the moment so it will likely be some time before we go back and get it.

However some people like myself would love to look for more exotic or music themed arts as well while we are there to see if we see anything we like better then ash or the ice ability.

We are sorely lacking on buffs and support abilities although that's supposed to be our specialty. .. whoops.
 
Thor's Twin said:
There is no guarantee that it will not be taken, and as a possible 15 point mission, we should at least try to do it. Also, if we get Meizhen in on the plan, then there will not be much that is in these mountains that could stop us from getting away. If the spirit monster is level 4 or above then it would be doing much more damage than a simple guardsmen or villager every now and again.
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I disagree with the bolded bit. We shouldn't be going after hard missions that don't suit us just because they offer nice rewards; that is just setting ourselves up to get screwed at some point.

And if you think about it, this mission is very much not something we are a good fit for. Ling Qi is awesome at sneaking around, pretty good at fighting things, and okay at social interactions - but she has absolutely no skill in investigation, which is what this mission requires. We have all of one dot in investigation, no applicable bonuses, and not even an art which would let us apply our cultivation to our rolls here.
 
DiceOfStupidity said:
It's a pity, that FSA won in a last vote. FSA is Yang art, and does not get bonuses from EPC. ASA is Yin art, and it does.

It's only 3 dice per roll just now, but with higher EPC levels it may be 10 or more. It will ultimately add to hundreds of dice added to rolls. ASA cultivation would be quite a bit more effective and faster than FSA.

<sigh> I just wish it was possible for Ling Qi to change her mind. (especially since she did not train it yes, and FSA won by one vote) :(
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Don't let those demons into your heart by regretfully looking on what is, and wishing for what could have been; that's the path of pointless tribulation!

In a less hammy phrasing; deal with it - no benefits from take backsies here could possibly outweigh the massive con that is re-opening votes, period.
 
Thor's Twin said:
Funny you should mention that! Here is my plan that I have been working on. I don't like it all that much, its light on resources, but it is what I think we need to do in order to survive the enemy cultivator.

[X] Plan Politics, the Necessary Evil
Resources
[X] 2 red stones, 1 Clear Wind Pill, 1 Steady Growth, 1 Bear Marrow Elixir
Major Actions
[X] Train by hunting with Han Jian and his group
-[X] FSA
[X] Train at the vent with Suyin and Su Ling
-[X] Spiritual
[X] Take a job
-[X] Investigate Disappearance
--[X] Ask Meizhen if she is able and willing
--[X] If not, then ask Su Ling
--[X] Attempt to do at Night if possible.
[X] Cultivate on your own
-[X] EPC
[X] Train with Bai Meizhen
-[X] Physical
--[X] Speak with Bai Meizhen, her... intense training methods have made things a little awkward between you
Minor Actions
[X] Attend the next 'government' meeting that Lady Cai has called
[X] Head to the market for some shopping
-[X] A combat bow
-[X] Yellow Soul Medicines
[X] Approach Xuan Shi in the archive. He is the only member of the council aside from Kang Zihao that you haven't had any real interaction with

Alright, so here is my idea for a gameplan of what we should be doing this week. If we can get FSA up and running, we will have a much better ability to do damage to whatever is making the people disappear. Since it is a 25 point mission, we need to take it or it might disappear. This is a basic plan to improve our combat ability while continuing to grind at spiritual and physical attributes. The difference in this is the shopping action and the approach to Xuan Shi in the archives.

We know that there are better pills and medicines than Bear Marrow Elixir at the shop for Yellow cultivators, Zhou told us that much after his test. I would like to move on to the more expensive medicines that are available to Yellow cultivators than having to rely on the pills from the Red stage. We know that we don't know how good these better pills are or how expensive they are. We have the ability to find out and so we should take it now or lose out on turns where the medicines could have helped us.

The next little bit is approaching Xuan Shi in the archives. We are apparently the target of a powerful cultivator (or wealthy one) who wishes to besmirch our good name rather than deal with us directly. We don't know who it is, but the more allies we can get on our side before the cultivator has the opportunity to smear our good name the better. We are diving head first into the world of sect politics with this action, and when you enter the battlefield of words and hidden daggers, the more people you know who aren't gunning for you the better. I don't like Xuan Shi personally, but he comprises a major player at the table and we need him on our side as much as possible before the enemy cultivator has a chance to strike again. So far he has been a neutral party, but hopefully, we can use a common interest in formations to form the first social connections and develop a camaraderie with him.

Politics is a terrible, terrible business to be in, but the best way to survive is to grow as strong as possible and to get as many friends on your side in the process. If that means having to talk to the dude who speaks in rhyme and verse who likes being by himself then so be it.
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Yeah, looking back at this, you should purchase and use White Hart Elixir and Flowing Rivers Pill. Both are useful for what we're trying to do here.
 
DiceOfStupidity said:
It's a pity, that FSA won in a last vote. FSA is Yang art, and does not get bonuses from EPC. ASA is Yin art, and it does.

It's only 3 dice per roll just now, but with higher EPC levels it may be 10 or more. It will ultimately add to hundreds of dice added to rolls. ASA cultivation would be quite a bit more effective and faster than FSA.
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two points.

First, it is possible for Ling Qi to change her mind; we haven't actually cultivated FSA, and we could always go back and get something else instead. It isn't like the second arm meridian wouldn't prove useful eventually. That said, I for one would be very much against such a state of affairs, to avoid the precedent if nothing else.

Second, I assume that we kinda want a Yang art at some point to balance us a bit, and if we are training a Yang art now is absolutely the best time. Like you said, the bonus from EPC is only going to grow, which means that training a Yang art later is going to be even more inefficient than training one now.
 
PrimalShadow said:
Ling Qi is awesome at sneaking around, pretty good at fighting things, and okay at social interactions - but she has absolutely no skill in investigation, which is what this mission requires. We have all of one dot in investigation, no applicable bonuses, and not even an art which would let us apply our cultivation to our rolls here.
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We did pretty well investigating the fake Ling Qi this turn.

Plus, it's a two person job. Li Suyin is pretty smart and Su Ling is experienced in the forest. Either one of them would be helpful for our investigation.
 
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PrimalShadow said:
Several points.
  1. Why the lackluster pill use? No White Hart Elixir to boost Physical and FSA? No Flowing Rivers Pill to push us towards Mid Yellow on week 20 instead of 21?
  2. I see that you are okay with Gu Xiulan going off on her own?
  3. Wouldn't it be better to level up FSA a bit and see its capacities before buying a bow?
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So to address your points in order!

1. This is primarily the beta plan at the moment. The resources can be fine tuned as we move along in the discussion, since getting more dice makes me happy and makes other people happy. I'm hesitant about the flowing river pills because we are not cultivating a water art at the moment and that is half of the benefit, and 3 extra dice in Spiritual cultivation will not make much of a difference in the coming weeks.

2. I am actually ok with Xiulan going off on her own. I'm not happy about it, but she is an individual who wishes to create a name for herself and seek a challenge. I would rather us not be telling her to slow down when we are still speeding around at the moment. Despite her headstrong appearance, she is intelligent and knows when to pick her battles and why she should target a specific individual.

3. Note that I am not actually buying an expensive bow. I just think that we should get something that is better than a mere training bow now that we have 2 dots in it. Also, regardless of how good FSA is, we should get a decent bow because we are really good at learning how to use one. We will be using the bow for the foreseeable future, might as well get one that isn't a training bow.

PrimalShadow said:
And if you think about it, this mission is very much not something we are a good fit for. Ling Qi is awesome at sneaking around, pretty good at fighting things, and okay at social interactions - but she has absolutely no skill in investigation, which is what this mission requires. We have all of one dot in investigation, no applicable bonuses, and not even an art which would let us apply our cultivation to our rolls here.
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Well, I understand that we are not good at investigations, but that is why it is a two person mission. We can get someone with us that is good at investigation and can also handle themselves in combat. We also have AMA which does give us some increase in perception should we trigger it, so we are not completely useless at tracking. So because it is a two person mission, that is why I was looking at Meizhen (who seems fine at tracking if finding the Elder's test is any indication) or Su Ling (who is the most active hunter we know of at the moment, if she can't track it than no one can).
 
update said:
That feeling had only grown, when she had punched an arrow through the shoulder of a Black Steel Bear and caused the powerful grade two beast to stumble and crash to the ground
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I knew I had seen the Black Steel Bear somewhere before and as it turns out...

yrsillar said:
It was cracked, there was a hair thin fracture on the eastern face. Probably from the attack by the Black Steel Bear that had tested the perimeter a few weeks back.
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This was from the very first update.

The continuity in this quest is nuts. Bravo @yrsillar, bravo.
 
Thor's Twin said:
Him, I'm not too sure about it being easier to befriend him after Cai berates him. We don't know for sure if she will do that, we also don't know if Xuan didn't ask Ji Rong about what happened and Ji Rong agreed that he had done it. Also, it might be wise to warn him ahead of time about the topic should Cai be berating him, that way he can appreciate our advance warning and be prepared not to lose to much face.
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Fair enough. I would be more interested in helping Gu Xiulan loot people, but putting him in our debt would definitelly help us.
 
Thor's Twin said:
So to address your points in order!

1. This is primarily the beta plan at the moment. The resources can be fine tuned as we move along in the discussion, since getting more dice makes me happy and makes other people happy. I'm hesitant about the flowing river pills because we are not cultivating a water art at the moment and that is half of the benefit, and 3 extra dice in Spiritual cultivation will not make much of a difference in the coming weeks.

2. I am actually ok with Xiulan going off on her own. I'm not happy about it, but she is an individual who wishes to create a name for herself and seek a challenge. I would rather us not be telling her to slow down when we are still speeding around at the moment. Despite her headstrong appearance, she is intelligent and knows when to pick her battles and why she should target a specific individual.

3. Note that I am not actually buying an expensive bow. I just think that we should get something that is better than a mere training bow now that we have 2 dots in it. Also, regardless of how good FSA is, we should get a decent bow because we are really good at learning how to use one. We will be using the bow for the foreseeable future, might as well get one that isn't a training bow.


Well, I understand that we are not good at investigations, but that is why it is a two person mission. We can get someone with us that is good at investigation and can also handle themselves in combat. We also have AMA which does give us some increase in perception should we trigger it, so we are not completely useless at tracking. So because it is a two person mission, that is why I was looking at Meizhen (who seems fine at tracking if finding the Elder's test is any indication) or Su Ling (who is the most active hunter we know of at the moment, if she can't track it than no one can).
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Actually, if we sacrifice Flowing Rivers pill this week and the next we lose an average of 3 dice. Which results in us getting to 118/120 for spiritual in Week 20. This means that Flowing Rivers can get us to Mid-Yellow a week sooner if we use the calculations from the averages. I think it's worth it.
 
Hmm, I think... I like this for now.

[X] Plan For Progress

I voted for Ashen Shadow, but I don't feel a need to get it right now. I prefer the Han Jian to the Su Ling action at present. I also prefer hunting the Condor more than investigating disappearances, since Ling Qi sucks at investigating. And I definitely think we should fight and maybe loot some people with Xiulan first, before we consider shop votes for a bow.
 
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archangis said:
Fair enough. I would be more interested in helping Gu Xiulan loot people, but putting him in our debt would definitelly help us.
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Yes, I would like to loot people as well, but if we already have one specific enemy that is out to get us, I would rather not make more enemies at the moment. That is why I have my plan as Politics, the Necessary Evil. There are other things I wish to be doing, but until we have a foundation in the council that won't be attacking us because of a face stealer then we are going to be having problems.
 
Thor's Twin said:
The resources can be fine tuned as we move along in the discussion, since getting more dice makes me happy and makes other people happy.
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So fine tune them? What is the hold up? :p

Thor's Twin said:
I'm hesitant about the flowing river pills because we are not cultivating a water art at the moment and that is half of the benefit, and 3 extra dice in Spiritual cultivation will not make much of a difference in the coming weeks.
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We would be buying 3 dice for 6 stones. Given that standard spiritual cultivation is 37 dice + pills, I think that it is fair to say that an action gives about 40 dice of spiritual cultivation, which means that we would need to be able to earn 80 stones in one action to make the pill's purchase of dice profitable. I think that the moonfill action has show that even if you count sect points as only 5 stones each (and arguably they are worth more than that), we can get something like 75 stones in an action reasonably easily, and that was before our latest Art upgrades. Point being, I think that the pill on its own is a reasonable buy, even if we only use it for the 3 bonus dice to cultivation and weren't trying to rush anything.

But we ARE trying to rush something - we currently need 43 successes to get to Mid-Yellow, which means that it should take just about two actions. The extra six dice over two turns of using Flowing River Pills could actually make the difference in the few successes we need to hit Mid-Yellow, which upgrades this pill from "neutral" to "must-have" in my eyes.

Thor's Twin said:
3. Note that I am not actually buying an expensive bow. I just think that we should get something that is better than a mere training bow now that we have 2 dots in it. Also, regardless of how good FSA is, we should get a decent bow because we are really good at learning how to use one. We will be using the bow for the foreseeable future, might as well get one that isn't a training bow.
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I don't mind getting a "starter" bow; something with a higher DV and -1 Qi to Wind arts for 30-50 stones would be perfectly fine by me right now. However, people have talked about dumping 100-150 stones worth on a bow right now, and I'm less enthusiastic about that, especially if it means we don't get the bow immediately.
 
Thor's Twin said:
Yes, I would like to loot people as well, but if we already have one specific enemy that is out to get us, I would rather not make more enemies at the moment. That is why I have my plan as Politics, the Necessary Evil. There are other things I wish to be doing, but until we have a foundation in the council that won't be attacking us because of a face stealer then we are going to be having problems.
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I actually quite like your plan, minus the Bai Meizhen bit which I a) don't see her as being in the mood to accept except as a favor to us b) has a high chance of ending poorly, but if your heart is set on it, I only see it as advancing the storyline so I can get behind it. But if you're going shopping anyway, why not include a survey for hands-free instruments like @veekie suggests?

Ideally, it won't even actually cost stones, the plan for having our current antique flute modded was to purchase a cheap temporary flute. Buying cheap, mortal instruments that are hands-free seems like an addition that has no downsides. (we finally get hands-free option, we don't need to debate endlessly over which instrument is the best for its cost, etc.)
 
pheonix89 said:
Hmm.
Point.

Ok, three combat art cultivations and EPC. That's worth popping a Snowy Peak and Starlight. Since that's two qi rolls, pop a Darkmoon and a Qi Expansion pill. Starlight creates a physical roll so add phys boosters (Bear Marrow, White Hart). Darkmoon creates a spiritual roll so add Flowing river.

Flip a couple things around to fix my miscount.

Hmm, I think I have a revised version.

[x] Plan Ash Burst
-[X] Use From Inventory: 2 red stones, 1 Clear Wind Pill, 1 Snowy Peak Pill, 1 Darkmoon Pill, 1 Starlight Elixir, 1 Qi Expansion Pill.
-[X] Buy and Use: Bear Marrow Elixir, White Hart Elixir, Flowing Rivers Pill, Steady Gropwth Pill (24 red stones)
-[X] Train by hunting with Han Jian and his group
--[X] Falling Stars Art
-[X] Train with Bai Meizhen
--[X] SCS
--[X] Speak with Bai Meizhen, her... intense training methods have made things a little awkward between you
-[x] Visit the Archive
--[x] Get Ashen Shroud Art
--[x] See if you can find an art for hands-free instrument playing while you're there
-[x] Train at the vent with Suyin and Su Ling
--[x] Eight Phase Ceremony
-[x] Cultivate on your own
--[x] Spiritual


Minor Actions
-[X] Spend more time with Han Jian fleshing out your understanding of noble politics
-[X] Attend the next 'government' meeting that Lady Cai has called
-[X] Make sure Gu Xiulan does not bite off more than she can chew with her scheme

Net results: 2 Spiritual rolls w/ 7 and 10 pill dice, 1 phys roll w/ 10 pill dice and qi overflow, 2 qi rolls w/ 11 pill dice, and a whole bunch of boosted art rolls.


Edit: SHIT I somehow miscounted actions. Have to drop AM to get to five.
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First page says that we have 40/40 for SCS, so no need to train it. If you switch SCS to AM or to Lung that should be fine.

However, your plan gets us to mid-yellow, which is the only plan doing so.
It appears Katreus' also does?

[x] Plan Ash Burst
@yrsillar, you forgot +6 auto-success to second Qi expansion action, and +2 spiritual auto-success to real spiritual training.
 
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EPC... There's no statement about Moon element?

FSA, double Arm ready, can be learned next turn. Ugh, Ling Qi is warning that learning a second Arm Art might be wasting time, when we ought to level the one we got to usable levels first. So sad.... Ash Constructs...

SCS, ouch. But omake points just covered that, I guess.

Meizhen training Ling Qi in the Bai way... Ouch.

Suyin firming up, nice. We should continue studying Formations with her, and possibly spend Sect points in shares to learn under the same Formation senior. Also, re-check the kiln's Formation thingie.

Hmm, puppet incident... Black earth, silver dust, china doll... Definitely a production cultivator, or a formation one... The puppet itself can't play flute very well, so we have abit of insight there... Which production student that can make dolls, has some Heaven and Earth Arts, and just recently learned the flute?

We should avoid Xuanshi next week, as per people's prediction that Ji Rong going mobile again...
. . .

Ji Rong: "RRRRRAAAAAGH! FREE! FREE AT LAST! NOW WHERE IS THAT BAS- Wait- Who? You're... Ling Qi, right?"
A long haired Ling Qi: ". . . Brother Rong, it has been ten long years."
Ji Rong: "W- WHAT?!"
Ling Qi, dour and solemn: "We have been waiting for your revival, Brother Rong. Had Brother Shi's words not reached you in your captivity? He had tried relentlessly to contact you, trying to find a way to break the additional seals imposed on you. He was desperate... We are desperate."
Ji Rong: "W- what? What is the meaning of- Why would that bastard try to- Wait, desperate? . . . Was?"
Ling Qi: "The Empire faces its greatest threat yet, Brother Rong. The Sect is broken and scattered. Many of us are gone... But the clouds and the moon have whispered, that you are to be its- To be its- Its- Pfft." +cracks up laughing+
Ji Rong: "Whu-"
Ling Qi: "Oh, spirits, your face! "
Ji Rong: " . . . Wut."
Ling Qi: "It was only a month! Ha! Psyche!" +CRESCENT GRACE+
Ji Rong: "You! Get back here, you bitch! AARRGH!"

Just kidding.

Anyway, people suggested that Ji Rong might be falsely accused as well, but let's wait and see.

Hmmm, looking for fights with Gu Xiulan.

Ling Qi: "No, no, no, no... We should do this carefully, Xiulan!"
Xiulan: "Ugh, alright! Well, what do you propose to do then?!"
-some time later-
Sun Liling: " . . . "
Gu Xiulan: +stunned+
Ling Qi: "Um, I did the right procedure... Right? Uh, let's me try that again. Ahem. Princess Sun Liling! We are Ling Qi and Gu Xiulan, your peers of age if not strength, and we have invited you here to this arena to seek instructions in martial valor!"
Sun Liling: +thinned lips twitch then perks up into a wide manic grin+ "Well, you two got guts, at least."
Ling Qi: "Ah... That's acceptance, right? Well, let's get ready, Xiulan!"
Gu Xiulan: +also starting to grow a manic grin before cackling+ "You're a brilliant edge in the depth of night, Ling Qi!"
Ling Qi: "Thank you?" +starts FVM+

And combat is joined.
 
Tbh I don't like the politics vote either.

While I want to talk to bai I think right now isn't the time to ask her to go on a mission with us when she has elder training task and other responsibilities as well as breaking through to green soon.

I very much think we should take su ling instead and it would be far more useful, or even li suyin.

Also I really don't like the "hands free instrument thing" because it just feels like people are trying to game the system, have their cake and eat it to.

Bells are cool accessories, but I honestly Like our flute. He'll id like other real instruments as well. I want to be known as the songstress not the dancer.

People are gonna wanna get bells so we can use bows at the same time and honestly it really isn't too big of an issue to switch between flute and bow right now as we only have one bow art. And we have a storage ring
 
[X] Plan For Progress

Tentative vote for now, since I'm gonna be away from my computer for pretty much the entire afternoon.
 
Oh I just noticed. For the first time in months; since we started the Quest actually; there is absolutely no Li Suyin action.

yrsillar said:
[] Make sure Gu Xiulan does not bite off more than she can chew with her scheme
[] Spend more time with Su Ling, learning harvesting techniques and getting to know the girl better
[] Spend more time with Han Jian fleshing out your understanding of noble politics
[] Approach Xuan Shi in the archive. He is the only member of the council aside from Kang Zihao that you haven't had any real interaction with
[] Huang Da has been quiet these past weeks, it's making you nervous, look into what he's been up too.
[] Speak with Bai Meizhen, her... intense training methods have made things a little awkward between you
[] Compose a new letter to Mother, try to get her to open up a little about her new circumstances
[]Attend the next 'government' meeting that Lady Cai has called
[] Head to the market for some shopping
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I think this means that Suyin is happy for now. She needed a lot of support to end up like this, but the poor girl was mutilated, traumatized and had her worldview destroyed. She's never had high self-esteem, and it got worse as she latched on to us and started comparing herself to us. These issues, her dependency, low self-esteem and other problems are still there, but after everything, it seems like Suyin finally has a goal. She has something to strive towards, and hopefully with a lot of self-reflection, as she looks over our advice with the help of Argent Mirror, she should hopefully better herself.

I'm sort of satisfied with the conclusion to the Suyin actions (for now, because we know they'll come back). Let's hope she gets better.
 
Codex said:
Probably because we needed to talk to people not investigate a crime scene. It's why I'm advocating Su Ling, she's going to help us with the investigation portion quite significantly.
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Would it be possible to convince you to join Xiulan? Her plan is to challenge people fairly, until we get people challenging us. I like this personally, because it makes us proactive and also gives us a passive income in the form of challengers. It also gives us an idea of what our build lacks as we go through the fights.

Now, on enemies. Everyone one worth fighting on our year is either friendly with us or is already targeting us and with this mystery cultivator targeting us? This will actually disprove that. Rather than someone who ambushes weak red cultivators, we'll present ourselves as honorable, if audacious.

It's about controlling the narrative, which I think this helps us do.

Also, think of the loot.
 
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