Well, we know from FVM and FSA that there is not a strict correlation between getting meridians and learning new techniques in an art, so I'm hesitant to say that we won't be learning new techniques simply because we won't be opening up new meridians. I can't think of any techniques that would be added though so I'm not against the idea that we won't be learning any new techniques for SCS and TRF.
[...]
For AM, I'm pretty sure that we will get a new technique, as getting a new technique with a new meridian has been a fairly consistent constant (although I may be wrong). In that case, I'm not expecting significant improvements to the passives or the already existing techniques. I expect those to come at AM4. Generally, though, we have seen that we either get a new technique with minor improvements or no technique and substantial improvements, I don't think we have ever gotten both.
The pattern I am seeing for new techniques is not actually about meridians, as we have had meridians without new techniques (SCS2) or techniques without meridians [FVM2, FSA3] but rather that most arts seems to follow a pattern of 'new techniques, improvement on techniques, new technique', what with ZB/FSA/SCS/FVM all getting a new technique at their third level. FVM is a bit of an exception in that it also got a technique in second level, but FVM is also very much a outlier in how it works, as musical arts seems to have slightly different construction.
We have also gotten significant improvement and new techniques for SCS3, and I think that is because the paradigm at yellow is 'stronger' than the one at red. FVM3, still being late red, was mostly about Elegy and didn't give us passive increase at all, but we also got an instant at that level (so technique improvement). That, and getting another technique at FVM2 probably meant that yet another new one on FVM3 was somewhat limiting.
OTOH, we did learn that FVM was later improved by its creator. I wouldn't be surprise if a latter version had FVM3 at early yellow, and significantly more passive upgrades there, as well as Dissonance instant, not just Diapason.
EDIT: That is, I think that if we get a new tech the improvement for the rest is 'less', but that is mitigated if we also get a meridian, and 'less' is actually not as big as before.
Formless Shade: ooo
Cost 8 qi
The user infuses their bodies with dark qi, and allows the edges of their existence to fray, blending with the night around them. Can only be used in low light or darkness. While active, the user gains a three die bonus to all attempts to escape from any effect that impedes mobility in any way, as well as attempts to bypass formations. in addition the user may move through spaces which would otherwise be too small for them, so long as they have line of sight to the destination. The user may also choose to ignore up to one point of damage from any physical attack that successfully hits them while this technique is active. This includes techniques that would otherwise pierce armor, unless it would effect incorporeal targets. lasts four turns
While we're talking about arts, I just noticed this addition to the technique's text. Hard to say if it's an oversight being edited in or Ling Qi expanding her technique through stunting. The latter seems unlikely given the first known application was via Qi Cards, so improvised tweaks weren't exactly possible. I think this is a case of Ling Qi becoming aware of an application not discussed in the jade slip itself.
@PrimalShadow This probably interests you given your Art history post.
So, I was looking at TRF, and what it actually does for us, and we might want to seriously consider putting some serious action investment into qi growth once we hit green. It seems that arm arts, so far, are primarily focused on dealing additional damage while also finding ways to get around the defense of qi and armor, and possibly soak. TRF as a tank art has the potential to block all of that type of damage, but it will cost us a lot of qi.
Now Ling Qi already has a lot of qi, and the Sable light pill week is going to give us even more, but investing in qi once we have the time seems like it will be beneficial. TRF rewards us for having large amounts of qi by allowing us to actually use all of it in a tight fight rather than having our health boxes ticked down from unblockable damage.
The problem with this is that I don't know how much is too much to have while in green, or when we should stop and focus on other things. We probably won't have time before the Inner Sect Tournament to actually increase our qi by more than 1 or 2 points and even then that might not be worth it if we could have leveled up SCS and FVM to 6. Hopefully, in the inner sect, we can find more powerful sites that let us grind qi by upgrading our arts, something like the celestial glade.
All in all, TRF, more than any of our other arts, rewards us for having massive batteries of qi. As people learn more destructive arts and more ways to bypass the qi negation, TRF will help us stay alive longer in order to wear them down with FVM and other attrition arts.
So, I was looking at TRF, and what it actually does for us, and we might want to seriously consider putting some serious action investment into qi growth once we hit green. It seems that arm arts, so far, are primarily focused on dealing additional damage while also finding ways to get around the defense of qi and armor, and possibly soak. TRF as a tank art has the potential to block all of that type of damage, but it will cost us a lot of qi.
Now Ling Qi already has a lot of qi, and the Sable light pill week is going to give us even more, but investing in qi once we have the time seems like it will be beneficial. TRF rewards us for having large amounts of qi by allowing us to actually use all of it in a tight fight rather than having our health boxes ticked down from unblockable damage.
The problem with this is that I don't know how much is too much to have while in green, or when we should stop and focus on other things. We probably won't have time before the Inner Sect Tournament to actually increase our qi by more than 1 or 2 points and even then that might not be worth it if we could have leveled up SCS and FVM to 6. Hopefully, in the inner sect, we can find more powerful sites that let us grind qi by upgrading our arts, something like the celestial glade.
All in all, TRF, more than any of our other arts, rewards us for having massive batteries of qi. As people learn more destructive arts and more ways to bypass the qi negation, TRF will help us stay alive longer in order to wear them down with FVM and other attrition arts.
I think that 'Tech can be invested with Qi to get stronger' is going to be a staple for every kind of arts (though not necessarily the arts we'll ourself have). The 'pay X for X damage' burn type ability is probably something quite common for DPS art, for example, and so on.
Qi being really super important has always been true, and isn't really changed with TRF. Yes, TRF means we have a way to counter unblockable damage via raw Qi, but it's not like raw Qi isn't super useful for so many things anyway.
Likewise, buff-dispels seems to be something that we'll encounter more as it goes on. Disruptive Star showed us a bit of that, but this last battle had the support able to cast AoE buff-dispels, and if we weren't steadily increasing our resolve/resilience it would have worked on us. So, I'd be wary of counting on a long duration buff as always being able to counter all our enemies' hits, especially as TRD is only oo, so currently very easy to dispel compared to our ooo techs if buff dispels follow disruptive star with 'dispel weakest buff' or AM with 'dispel oo or less tech'.
If anything, I'd say that FS is kinda rarer in being a long duration with flat DR without needing Qi investment. Hard to say, though.
Anyway, Qi is good. I am not just sold that TRF itself makes Qi more valuable to us than it already was.
Well, we primarily use qi for two things, techniques and defense. Because of this, it will almost always be the best stat to have more of, as it is through techniques that we do the most damage/defense/things, and qi absorption will absorb most of the damage that we take. TRF doesn't improve the use of techniques, but what it does do is that it improves the range of damage that qi can block.
An interpretation of TRD seems to me that any damage can be blocked by spending 3 qi. This blanket umbrella would seem to cover the additional damage that arm techniques seem to give. Without an art like TRF, the only defense to that type of damage is armor or soak. There are a multitude of ways to bypass armor, that doesn't involve qi, and we have seen only one really impressive soak art from the Shaman, and we don't know how much qi that costs or how long that lasts. To me, it seems like TRD gives us the ability to spend 3 qi to gain 1 soak for a turn. That might seem like an incredibly bad trade, but our health boxes are much harder to increase than qi and our health boxes are what determines how long we stay in a fight.
TRD simply allows qi to do more in a defensive setting. It costs more, but it allows the qi to block damage that it normally couldn't block and for that it increases the use of qi for us. If it increases the use of qi for us, then that qi becomes more valuable because it can do more for us. The situation might not always arise where it will do more, but the potential is there for when we need to block unblockable damage with qi TRD lets us.
Edit: speaking of the shaman, having notes on how he created those bird-like monstrosities in his bag would be interesting. I don't know if it is a technique we could learn, but having disposable scouts and minions to protect a location would be amazing.
Well, we primarily use qi for two things, techniques and defense. Because of this, it will almost always be the best stat to have more of, as it is through techniques that we do the most damage/defense/things, and qi absorption will absorb most of the damage that we take. TRF doesn't improve the use of techniques, but what it does do is that it improves the range of damage that qi can block.
An interpretation of TRD seems to me that any damage can be blocked by spending 3 qi. This blanket umbrella would seem to cover the additional damage that arm techniques seem to give. Without an art like TRF, the only defense to that type of damage is armor or soak. There are a multitude of ways to bypass armor, that doesn't involve qi, and we have seen only one really impressive soak art from the Shaman, and we don't know how much qi that costs or how long that lasts. To me, it seems like TRD gives us the ability to spend 3 qi to gain 1 soak for a turn. That might seem like an incredibly bad trade, but our health boxes are much harder to increase than qi and our health boxes are what determines how long we stay in a fight.
TRD simply allows qi to do more in a defensive setting. It costs more, but it allows the qi to block damage that it normally couldn't block and for that it increases the use of qi for us. If it increases the use of qi for us, then that qi becomes more valuable because it can do more for us. The situation might not always arise where it will do more, but the potential is there for when we need to block unblockable damage with qi TRD lets us.
I think it was @Shadell who put it right, there: TRD allows us to withstand extremely powerful single hit that would kill/Knock us out. However, those kind of hits are almost certainly not the way we would end fight.
Ling Qi constantly chooses to not use the 2qi damage absorption when fighting, simply because losing a fight because you have no Qi is a much more real risk than losing a fight through unblockable damage. TRD, like FS, let us block unblockable damage (E.G, things like Luminescent Star). This is really good, but TRD active use is not useful or a endurance fight. The passive use of mitigation of one damage level? that's useful for endurance. FS is very useful for endurance.
As said above, TRD's active use, when we use it for ourself (if we do get the ability to use it for others later) is extremely useful in the outlier cases where "bypassing damage" is the cause of loss. That is really useful, but it's an outlier case, not a "this is how most fight ends up" case.
Qi is really usually the deciding factor of "this fight is over" so far, not Healthboxes. As such, trading Qi for healthboxes is not a straightforward no brainer... however, TRD does allow us to indefinitely survive with 3 healthboxes left as long as we have Qi.
Qi is really usually the deciding factor of "this fight is over" so far, not Healthboxes. As such, trading Qi for healthboxes is not a straightforward no brainer... however, TRD does allow us to indefinitely survive with 3 healthboxes left as long as we have Qi.
Part of it is that, yes, but that is with 'better' Qi/Healthbox ratio of 2/1. Even then, a significant portion of our fights pretty much ended the second a participant got to 0 Qi before damage was made (Hong Lin, Worm Mimic, Sun Liling, Thunderboy, Third grade Bear), and the rest more or less ended after they got to 0 Qi but, as you said, helped to get there with damage (Shaman, Gu Xiulan).
I will say that the only time we have actually "lost" a fight and got knocked unconscious during it we still had 4 qi left. It would be nice to have to force us to use all of our qi before getting knocked out because at least that way we know we did everything we could have to win the fight.
On other news though, I am intrigued by the possibility of gaining instructions on how to build the crow-like things the Shaman had constructed. Being able to seed an area with them in order to scout or harass an opponent would fit nicely in our playstyle and wouldn't take up actions during combat. It would, however, take up actions during the week though.
That might seem like an incredibly bad trade, but our health boxes are much harder to increase than qi and our health boxes are what determines how long we stay in a fight.
That is not true. Our Health Boxes and our Qi BOTH determine how long we stay in a fight, and in fact there are a number of tradeoffs that keep the two roughly balanced.
For one thing, every can spend Qi to offset (most) damage - so if they are low on health damage goes to Qi and if they are low on Qi it goes to health. For another thing, expensive techniques let you burn lots of qi to do stronger actions, while cheaper techniques give you weaker options but conserve Qi. A cultivator is likely to optimize their technique usage to avoid running out of Qi if they are low, and to squeeze out extra effectiveness when they have Qi to spare.
So at the end of the day, for most purposes our endurance is basically the sum of our Qi and Health, not one or the other.
The exception here is when fighting cultivators who significantly focus on unblockable damage. If they can deal unblockable damage faster than you can burn Qi on useful techniques, you are on track to lose by KO before you use up all of your Qi reserves; that is inefficient. That is the point of unblockable damage; to be dealt fast enough that the end condition isn't 0 Health + 0 Qi, but just the first half of that expression. And that is what TRF helps us block.
"This is Han Fang. I guess you could call him my cousin too, but unlike that lazy cat, he'll actually be helping us out. Don't be fooled by his looks though, this guy is still a first year disciple like us." He added the last while clapping the other boy on the back.
So I now have a new head canon. Been on a bit of a representation kick recently and I realised how awesome it'd be if Fang and Jian were actually together. Generally lesbians seem to be the go to LGBT character. Probably part fetishisation and part, a decent way of giving more focus to female charcters. Gay dudes aren't as seen though, outside of media explicitly targeted at LGBT audiences.
In story, we have Jian who repeatedly rejects female suitors and makes them cry with Xiulan being a close friend who often helped in that. Fan Yu is a forced friend but Fang and Xiulan are the two he seems to really relax around. Xiulan though, makes him uncomfortable when it comes to her affection and the most emotive I remember Fang being (outside of general niceness and supporting Jian) was when his dissapproval of Xiulan's dissmissive attitude towards her betrothed. Xiulan is equally dismissive of Fang which could be a general lack of respect or maybe even because she sensed something?
Fang's description as a family member seems glaringly vague and then you have how close the two are and with Jian's rejection of all girls he knows, it could possibly fit. Seriously, they're kinda adorable. Would explain how upset Xiulan was and Jian's close friendship with her but how uncomfortable he is with her attraction. Could even fit with his less than impresive status in the family and Fan Yu's assumption that Fang would always vote alongside Jian. If Jian actually just had him adopted into the family to keep their relationship low key...
Really though, just seems an interesting twist I could imagine happenning in this quest and there always seemed to be much more going on in the Golden Fields Group that we weren't party to.
@yrsillar - just a thought but given Ling Qi is now being tutored by an Elder in the narrative; would you be willing to have an OOC question and answer session about things we as players have wondered about but which wouldn't necessarily fit into the story dialogue. Or subsequently you could have a pseudo interlude where our questions and the answers are reformatted into a conversation between Ling Qi and Jiao, although the latter requires a bit more effort and the answers could just be linked into the informational threadmark tab.
For one thing, every can spend Qi to offset (most) damage - so if they are low on health damage goes to Qi and if they are low on Qi it goes to health. For another thing, expensive techniques let you burn lots of qi to do stronger actions, while cheaper techniques give you weaker options but conserve Qi. A cultivator is likely to optimize their technique usage to avoid running out of Qi if they are low, and to squeeze out extra effectiveness when they have Qi to spare.
You cannot, however, run out of health while you have qi given adequate defensive arts that can prevent normally unmitigatable damage. As these are essential to not-dying, most every credible threat will likely have these (without them you're very likely to just keel over against any lucky blow). Limits on such would change the calculus dramatically.
Ergo, if you run out of qi you lose. If you do not run out of qi you do not run out of health (or you're, generally, a trivial opponent to the extent that solid planning won't matter most of the time). High bonus attacks means you can die near-instantly without active mitigation, so you will die when you run out of qi and your opponent doesn't.
Ergo, the goal of combat is to make the other side run out of qi before you do.
Ergo, we can model an action's value in a fight in our qi change relative to our opponent's.
If we use, say, 5% of our qi to attack and an opponent defends completely with 2% of their qi, we are losing. If a 0 qi default attack costs 1% of an opponent's qi to defend against and a 5% commitment to attack costs 5% of an opponent's qi (on average) we're still losing since we lost that 1% gain. Long term skills, a la FV, may have less direct effects. However, we can think of the penalties and turn qi loss as a net gain in qi both defensively and offensively, and model our qi usage without FV to see which is more efficient.
An individual might take a calculated loss of health, if they're secure that they'll live and the penalties won't matter, because an art requires injuries to work or you're confident you can take that without dying and this lets you save the more valuable qi, but none of this changes the fact that qi is all that really matters.
Now, if one entity in a fight has a means of shortcircuiting this calculus, e.g., unblockable damage that can't be mitigated or a non-damaging power that still wins (a death-touch or petrfication touch or the ability to seal an opponent's ability to use qi with a glancing blow) they very likely just win at their tier (unless opponents have the same, in which case it's rocket-tag and she who strikes first wins instead regardless of cost).
In this sense, once you have a big hit unmitigatable damage skill and the ability to block the same, your only real opponents with similar dice-pools to you are those who can negate this consistently. Presuming that all such common types of this, as we have seen so far, can be negated, they're effectively neutralized out and we get back into qi is everything and HP is pretty superficial. They end up being a "You must have this skill to ride" barrier to enter serious fights at a given level.
Pure dice, at least enough pure dice, can overthrow this by creating effective immortality for one side (they can't be hit, so don't need to bother about efficiency really or unmitigatable damage that will never land).
I don't think such arts are as common as you seem to believe. Certainly, I would need to see actual evidence to believe it - which you are very much short on.
Let me make an analogy. Lots of people have abilities that pierce armor. We've seen this effect on a number of weapons and a number of arts; it is something we can reasonably believe to be widespread. However, that doesn't mean everyone uses "armor-piercing resistance" effects as "essential to not-dying."
So if you accept that, what makes you think that because Qi-armor-piercing is a thing, "Qi-armor-piercing resistance" is something everything has to get.
I don't think such arts are as common as you seem to believe. Certainly, I would need to see actual evidence to believe it - which you are very much short on.
The only example of a dedicated defensive art we have seen has it. We're going 1 for 1.
Moreover, the other side of the effect is very common. We've seen it pop up several times now against cultivators, most everyone whose a direct fighter seems to have it.
Likewise, absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence. We know they exist. We know its very useful and found in low level arts (a mid-tier family's red level art, rather than, say, violet). We've seen one defensive art and that had it. Great sample size? No. But we have every reason to think its common and relatively little reason to envision it's not.
So if you accept that, what makes you think that because Qi-armor-piercing is a thing, "Qi-armor-piercing resistance" is something everything has to get.
Qi-armor-piercing is a common thing that moderately skilled red cultivators have. Qi armor resistance is a skill we've seen in arts aimed at red/yellow as well. We have no indication whatsoever that it is rare or hard to get. We do know that arts are actually relatively easy to distribute and TRF wasn't some super-amazing elite secret no-one-has-this art.
You then pretty clearly partition your people at a given level. There are those that have it, and that can resist big hits, and those that don't and can't do so very reliably. Maybe one partition is 10% of cultivators, or 5%. It doesn't matter, those are the real threats given the near-ubiquity we've seen of the offensive side in opponents we've faced.
Ultimately though, it doesn't matter. We only control Ling Qi's actions, and Ling Qi does have it, ergo the point stands for our behavior and action economy.
[X] Resources: 3 red spirit stones, 1 yellow spirit stone, 1 soul concentrating elixir, 1 rippling lake pill, 1 Stalwart Mountain Pill, 1 first level wood pill, 1-second level wood pill, 1-second level lake pill, 1-second level Mountain pill. (Total 1 yellow stone, 38 red stones)
[X] Overflow: Qi
[X] Spend time taking care of and raising Zhengui
[X] Train with Elder jiao (LOCKED)
-[X] Investigations
--[X] Argent Mirror
-[X] Formations
--[X] Try to figure out the locking formations on the bags you looted from the shaman
--[X] Question! How far should we progress in EPC before breaking into green?
[X] Train at the vent
-[X] TRF
[X] Train with Meizhen
-[X] SCS
-[X] Tell her of the Black Pool
[X] Continue Investigating Yan Renshu and Sun Liling's whereabouts
[X] Compose a letter back to mother
[X] Su Ling didn't look like she was in good shape, spend some time with her and try to see if you can help?
Number of voters: 1
The trial cave was not as she remembered it.
When Ling Qi arrived back at the site, she was not terribly surprised to find that the maze around it had been dispersed. However, she did find herself stopping to stare when she reached the entrance, and found not an empty, dimly lit cavern, but instead what seemed like a nobleman's sitting room. The dim lantern hanging over the pond remained, but now it cast its light over plush rugs and wall hangings that concealed the rough stone walls. As well as cushioned chairs and polished wooden tables holding braziers of smoldering incense lined the walls, and across from the door was an ostentatious divan seemingly carved from a single massive piece of white jade and cushioned with acid green silk padding, covering in gleaming embroidery.
The air was smoky and thick. She was certain that it would have left her coughing mere months ago, but for now her breathing was controlled enough that it did little more than make her eyes water. She peered carefully around, but saw no sign of the Elder yet. She very carefully did not let her eyes linger too long at the scenes of… revelry depicted on some of the wall hangings, interspersed with more normal scenes.
No, instead she found her eyes drawn to the one which hung over the divan, depicting a familiar red eyed woman, peering back over her shoulder with a mischievous smile on her lips. In the painting her gown was falling from her shoulders, and her hair was loose and unbound, but she could still recognize Xin, the spirit that given her the arts which had carried her so far.
Ling Qi stared at the image for a moment, the emotion in its red eyes making it seem almost alive. Maybe it was. It wouldn't be the strangest thing she had seen. It was distinctly uncomfortable though. Meizhen at the lake uncomfortable. That wasn't the kind of look she wanted to be on the receiving end of.
She carefully removed her shoes before actually stepping inside and finding a seat on the floor. Keeping her eyes on the rugs and the pond. She had an inkling that Elder Jiao was not a man who had a great interest in propriety, but this was beyond her expectations. In the end, it didn't matter, she still had to seize this opportunity with both hands.
It seemed she would have to wait though, so Ling Qi closed her eyes and began to meditate, beginning on the next stage of qi exercises for her Thousand Ring Fortress. If it had been a bit better, they might have been able to hold out long enough to win that encounter. For all that she had been given a pass though, Ling Qi was certain she had fault of her own. She was too reluctant to stop playing even once things were set up, worried too much about conserving qi. While Xiulan had gone too far, she should have been more aggressive… and less afraid to drop her flute. As it was now, it was nigh impervious to harm unless she was facing an opponent in a higher realm.
She reviewed the battle in her thoughts as she cycled wood natured qi, pushing it out through the channels in her body to suffuse the air, and soak into the ground beneath the rich carpeting. She was not sure how long she spent in meditation, but eventually she felt a subtle chill, and a feeling of presence, causing her eyes to snap open.
"Well, at least you are not wholly blind still," Elder Jiao said dryly from where he now sat, or rather lay, leaning against the arm of the divan. His bald head was bare today, and he wore robes in an absolutely hideous shade of yellow that hurt her eyes to look at for too long.
"Greetings Elder Jiao," Ling Qi replied hastily, straightening her back and clasping her hands to bow respectfully to the older man. "Thank you very much for granting me the honor of your time."
He looked down at her with a neutral expression and then sighed, waving one bony hand dismissively. "Yes, I think that will be enough simpering for the moment. Get off the floor and take a proper seat girl. The chairs are not entirely for decoration."
"Of course Honored Elder," Ling Qi replied, rising quickly to her feet and moving to do as instructed settling herself in the nearest seat a bit nervously. She still wasn't comfortable with formality, and Elder Jiao's lax attitude made it hard to judge what was appropriate.
He watched her settle into the seat and smooth her gown nervously with her hands, a spark of amusement in his odd eyes. "You have decided what you desire to be instructed in I hope?" He asked, turning his gaze to study his fingernails, seemingly having lost interest in her.
"I had hoped to receive your instruction in the ways of improving my perception of the world," Ling Qi said, inclining her head respectfully. "More specifically… I have had trouble with unraveling the trails and secrets left behind by my enemies and was hoping for your insight in investigating such matters."
He looked up with a hint of interest. "Is that so? Not quite what I expected, but then again, I suppose you are playing at being half a spymaster for that Cai child, aren't you?"
"I am honored by your attention," Ling Qi replied, not quite daring to raise her head. "Yes, I have been performing a few small tasks for lady Cai. I have my own interests to seek as well though," she added pausing as she considered her next words. "The Grinning Moon has given me a task."
"Is that so?" He asked, not sounding particularly impressed. "And your second request?"
Ling Qi hesitated a moment, then drew the bundle of bags she had looted from the barbarian shaman out of her ring. "I humbly request instruction in the formation arts, so that I may break the seals upon these. The script is very complex, and I worry that my current skill is insufficient."
The Elder squinted at the unassuming hide bags in her lap, expression souring. "...You were the one involved in that little mess weren't you?" He mused aloud, straightening his posture a bit. "I suppose it speaks well for your luck that you are sitting here today and not lying buried in our new lake," he said in an irritated tone. "Well I suppose Sister Ying would not have allowed you to keep that prize if she sensed anything truly dangerous within," he added under his breath.
Ling Qi frowned, looking at the man in consternation. "Sister Ying?" she muttered under her breath, he looked far her junior, though his qi was near nonexistant to her senses.
Unsurprisingly, the Elder heard her and let out an amused snort. "Girl, if you still believe the appearance of age means anything, you have not been paying attention. Shi Ying looks as she does because she has always been a nosy old woman, even as an unblossomed girl," he said dryly. "I too remain as I always have, a refined gentleman of impeccable taste and charm."
It was a true monument to her self control that Ling Qi managed to keep her expression utterly neutral in the wake of that statement. Her gaze did not flick down to the monstrosity of a ministers robe the man wore. Not even for a moment.
She worried that he could sense her thoughts though, given the look he gave her during the uncomfortable silence that stretched in the aftermath of his words. "Hmph, children these days," he grumbled. An instant later he was standing in front of her, less than a meter away. She did not see him move, she did not see his form blur, or even feel a fluctuation of qi. He simply changed positions from one moment to the next. "Put that away and come along then, girl," he said neutrally. "I shall be assigning you some coursework to determine your formations skill for future lessons, so we will begin with honing your observational skills."
"Of course Elder Jiao," Ling Qi responded quickly hurrying to stand up and dismiss the bags back into her ring before following the older man already striding toward the entrance to the cave.
In the hours that followed, she was forced to strain her senses, and recall details far in excess of what she normally noticed. The number of leaves on a particular branch or the exact placement of stones on the side of the road were merely the beginning. To an outsider it might seem like she was simply following the man on an easy stroll through the upper mountain, answering a constant stream of questions, but to her, it quickly grew painful as she was forced to channel qi through her eyes and ears for far longer than before, until her head throbbed and her dantian grew empty.
In the end trying to track and catalogue every detail of her environment left her feeling bleary eyed and exhausted by the time the Elder waved her off and vanished, leaving her with only a thick workbook full of formations problems and questions to be completed by the day after next.
...Apparently tomorrow they would be adding her qi senses to the training efforts.
She spent much of the evening that followed working through the complex and difficult workbook, stopping only to meditate and cycle qi through the exercises within the Argent Mirror slip as she incorporated the insights she had gained that day.
As the sun rose over the horizon though, she set aside her work for other pursuits. She couldn't afford to sit inside and study all day. Zhengui's bottomless appetite at least saw to that. Given his growth and restlessness, she had decided to start giving him a more active role in things, but she found herself unsure of how best to do that. Especially given certain mismatches in their abilities.
There really wasn't any getting around it. Zhengui was very slow and lacking in agility. He was also very easily distracted, which brought them to the current situation.
"Don't go running off like that," she scolded, crouching in front of the no longer tiny tortoise.
"Sorry, Big Sister," his childish 'voice' reached her, as he gazed up at her with doleful green eyes.
"Wanted the sparkly bug," Zhen grumbled childishly, not looking up at her. "Could have caught it," he added sullenly.
"I'm sure you could have," Ling Qi replied evenly, keeping a straight face. "But this forest is dangerous, you have to stay close when we're hunting, okay?" They were down in the forest at the base of the mountain. There was a population of wood aligned hares down here, and they made for good eating for the little spirit, even if the meat tasted like wet tree bark to her.
Surprisingly, that wasn't the end of it. His serpentine head flicked its tongue at her. "Big Sister is boring. She doesn't let us do anything."
"Rude!" The little tortoise glared up at his other half. "Don't talk to Mo…. Big Sister like that!"
She watched the two bicker with some bemusement. That was the first time he had talked back to her in any way. She wasn't sure how to feel about that. Zhen was the more brash of the two, that had quickly grown clear. She had strong suspicions that most of the trouble her spirit got into was instigated by the little ruby eyed serpent. Well, not all of it, when it came to nibbling on random things Gui was the usually the guilty one.
She hesitated to scold him further though. It was true that she had brought him out here to participate, but her lack of certainty as to what his role should be had left her doing everything herself. She glanced briefly around the little sun dappled meadow they were in, considering. "Well," she mused, drawing out the word to get their attention. "If you're bored, I suppose I should give you some work too, huh?" She asked pleasantly, she recalled the scorched divots left throughout the garden, and a plan began to form. She needed to test his abilities after all.
Gui regarded her with rapt attention, and Zhen with reluctant interest as she continued. "If you want to help your big sister hunt, you're going to have to be able to hide like me. Do you think you can do that?"
He scuffed his stubby paws against the dirt, both of his sets of eyes looking uncertain. "... Can't reach the branches to be like Big Sister," Gui said, sounding embarrassed and worried. He was afraid to disappoint.
"Too heavy and slow," Zhen scoffed. "I could," he added proudly.
Ling Qi huffed and reached out brushing her fingers over Gui's eye ridge affectionately, even as she fixed Zhen with a stern look. "You'll need to work together," she said admonishingly. "I know who's been digging up the flowerbeds to get at the roots," she continued lightly, drawing guilt from the little tortoise. "So I want you to use that skill to bury yourself a little bit. I'll chase the food back here, and then you," she said, pointing to the black scaled serpent. "Are going to catch it, will that make you happy?"
Gui looked curious, pawing at the dirt thoughtfully, but Zhen gave an excited hiss of agreement. She stayed behind long enough to watch him, the little tortoises efforts were fueled more by qi than his little stubby feet, but it still took only a minute or so for him to hide himself in the tall grass, looking like no more than a particularly jagged stone with his shell sticking out of the dirt.
She smiled a bit when she felt a fluttering hesitant fluctuation in his qi. He was trying to ape the way she suppressed her own energy when sneaking. She thought a simple reassurance to him, and then set off to circle the clearing to flush their prey out, while keeping an eye out for anything actually dangerous approaching. It took a little time, but she eventually found what she was looking for, an oversized hare with earth toned fur nibbling away at some wild plant or another. She could have killed it with one shot from her bow, but that wasn't the point of this exercise.
Instead, her arrow thudded into the dirt beside it, and she flared her qi, setting the beast running in the desired direction. She followed lazily along, slipping through the branches silently and putting down additional shots as necessary to guide the beast. Shortly thereafter, it erupted from the brush into the meadow, and a final shot sent it swerving toward Zhengui's position.
A moment later, the hare let out a high pitched yelp as the loose dirt parted and a black shadow shot out, smoke rising from the hole as Zhen's fangs dug into the rabbit. Ling Qi almost winced at the noise the rabbit made as it convulsed, steam rising from the where the fangs bit into it's flesh, but a moment later she drew an arrow back as the hare jerked free and kicked Zhen in the head, knocking the serpent away as it resumed trying to escape.
However, there was no need, as the beast crashed to the ground, it's leg bound by a writhing tree root. This time the little serpent got it by the throat, and that was that.
Zhengui erupted from the dirt with a puff of dust and detritus, trundling excitedly toward her even as Zhen let out a displeased hiss, his lower half dragging him away from his still twitching prey. "I got it Big Sister!" he sent, accompanied by a happy chirp.
She dropped down from the tree, grinning as she moved down to crouch in front of him, pat his dusty shell."That was a good trick," she praised. "I didn't know you could do that."
"Hmph, just a trick," Zhen scoffed, radiating displeasure. "My venom killed it," he added, the thought had a slight taste of a childish whine to it.
"You did a good job too," Ling Qi said soothingly, pausing to reach up and stroke under the little serpents chin in the way that she knew he liked. "Your such a tough little guy," she praised, being able to tell well enough what he wanted.
He nuzzled against her fingers, and his tongue tickled her skin. "It was easy," Zhen bragged.
"Can we eat now?" Gui asked, looking up at her with hunger in his bright eyes. "Big Sister will get the core?"
"I will," she reassured him, glancing at the kill. "Just hold on while I divide it up for you, alright?" She would have to try some other things, and encourage Zhengui to keep trying new things, but it seemed she had hit on a method for including him.
Once she had let Zhengui eat his fill, she took him back home to rest, he still got tired out relatively quickly. Of course, with the advancement in his cultivation, she had a feeling that wouldn't last long. He was growing more energetic by the day and soon he would reach the late stage of the first realm. At that point, she would start bringing him with her, stored away in her dantian. Well, assuming he couldn't get the trick to changing his size.
That was a concern for later though. Right now, she had other concerns. The next few days continued peacefully enough as she continued training and cultivating. Meizhen was informed of the water site she had found, and thanked her for it, but neither had the time to go hiking with each other, they kept to training in the garden in the afternoons. Between her lessons with Elder Jiao and sparring with Meizhen, Ling Qi felt like she was making real progress on her suite of arts for the first time in a while.
Passive Effects
-Adds three dice to all tests and clashes to resist or bypass illusion effects
-Adds two dice to composure and resolve tests
-Adds two dice to survival, investigation, and empathy tests
-Allows the user to sense qi, out to one hundred meters away. The user may tell the cultivation realm of living things of their own stage or lower, and the realm of those higher.
Serene Reflection: oo
Cost: 5 qi
Instant
The user balances and cycles their qi, expelling external influences. Dispels a single negative effect of two dots or less from the user, and grants three additional die to spiritual defense against the effects caster for three turns.
Discerning Gaze: oo
Cost: 4 Qi
Instant
Channeling qi into their senses the user greatly enhances their ability to discern the truth of the world, gaining four additional dice on all perception and empathy tests for six turns, in addition if the user is under the effects of an illusion or other sense affecting technique, they receive an immediate attempt to break out of it, with a three die bonus.
Tranquil Rebuke: ooo
Cost 6 qi
Instant
Centering themselves, the user finds serenity, and in doing, rises above the world, as the mountain stands above the earth. Though this state is short lived, any spiritual technique which targets the user suffers harsh repercussions if their technique fails to find purchase. When used, adds three dice to the users spiritual defense. If the user wins such a clash, the attacker suffers one point of perfect lethal damage, as well as suffering a two die penalty to their own defenses for the next turn.
Fourth Reflection 23/120 Will require additional Head Meridian on next rank
Passive Effects
-Increases user's speed by 4
-Increases user's initiative by 3
-Add two dice to all stealth rolls
-Speed and initiative bonuses increase by two in low light, and three in darkness
-Stealth bonus becomes auto successes in darkness or low light
-User adds five dice to their first offensive clash pool if attacking first
-User adds three dice to all offensive clashes against unaware targets. Does not stack with first strike bonus
-User gains a one die bonus to physical defense in darkness
Trackless Escape: o
Cost: 2 Qi
The user becomes as a shadow, leaving no sign of their passage for up to three minutes. For the duration the user's speed increases by five. Mundane tracking is impossible. Applies a three die penalty to all qi aided attempts to track the user.
Crescent's Grace: ooo
Cost 5 qi
Instant
The user adds four dice to their defensive pool and increases their speed by 5. While active, the user ignores terrain penalties to speed and slopes of 45 degrees or less. User may cross water or gaps freely as long as their movement ends on solid ground. Lasts four turns. When not activated in low light or darkness, this technique costs an additional two qi
Formless Shade: ooo
Cost 8 qi
Instant
The user infuses their bodies with dark qi, and allows the edges of their existence to fray, blending with the night around them. Can only be used in low light or darkness. While active, the user gains a five die bonus to all attempts to escape from any effect that impedes mobility in any way, as well as attempts to bypass formations. in addition the user may move through spaces which would otherwise be too small for them, so long as they have line of sight to the destination. In addition the user gains one point of perfect defense. lasts four turns
Fifth Step 5/150.
Her lessons were not useful solely in that regard though. Elder Jiao's manner was irritating, and his utter lack of praise for her efforts was frustrating… but at the same time, she was learning. Learning to pick out a dozen visual details at a glance and parse sounds, smells and the feelings of natural qi. She was even beginning to learn how to read people better, through both physical and spiritual tells. She just wished he didn't phrase those lessons as commentary on how easily read and open her manners were.
It was with these lessons in mind that she continued her investigation.
Subterfuge
Manip 5, Subterfuge 2, Lessons 2. 9 dice +6 auto for cultivation
8 6 4 2 3 4 9 1 3. 2 successes. 8 total
Investigation
Intelligence 4, Investigation 2, lessons 2. 8 dice +6 auto for cultivation
5 9 6 2 9 8 8 4. 4 successes. 10 total
She began her search for information in the market, after having taken a bit of time to disguise herself to avoid any questioning getting traced back to her. She had fallen out of practice with such things, but she thought she did a pretty good job, spending a handful of red stones on makeup, clothes and other things. It helped that her usual wear was pretty recognizable in itself these days.
-5 Red Stones
Her purpose was to determine if there were any major purchases of cultivation supplies going out into the more wild areas of the mountain. She had exhausted physical trails last week, so this time she was going to try and pick up their economic one. At first it was a bit frustrating, but as she got back into the swing of things she began finding trails. The first few turned out to just be older disciples who had chosen to build freestanding homes out of the usual areas, but eventually she came upon something more suspicious.
There were several shops in the market which had been selling semi regular bulk shipments to disciples that, according to her efforts, should not have been able to afford them, or who had been among those who had run off in the aftermath of Sun Liling's return. Tracking their movements proved difficult however, and mostly lead to dead ends out in the woods… however a few times, she came upon sites that showed signs of being used as temporary camps, and from there, she found further traces leading her deeper into the wilder parts of the mountain, where, with some silent observation, she came upon the site of an early second realm disappearing into the side of a rock formation. Staying to deserve for a time, she witnessed something similar more than once, and in following said disciples she heard the name of Yan Renshu more than once..
Her first urge was to slip inside, but she restrained herself. As galling as it was to stop so close to her goal, she was wary of going into enemy territory alone. She hadn't truly suffered from a loss yet and she wasn't eager to find out what it was like. Which meant venturing into the enemy lair without preparation was foolish.
No, she would hold on and make plans for now.
While Sun Liling remained stubbornly hidden, along with her allies, she did manage to pick up a bit more watching the comings and goings of the base she had found. There were, from the looks of it, around ten to fifteen disciples residing there, most of which seemed to be production students, talisman crafters in particular. Her fingers itched at the thought of the loot that must be inside such a place, unprotected by the rules of the market.
However, much to her frustration, she could not get confirmation that Yan Renshu himself was inside merely from observation.
All too soon though, the time for her lessons with the Elder drew near, and she had to withdraw, she would have to continue observing and investigating in the afternoons to follow.
She was a bit nervous about today's lessons after all, she would be turning in the workbook the Elder had assigned her, and given the number of problems she had failed to answer or solve, she wasn't feeling confident about getting his approval.
That feeling only grew as she spent minutes sitting stiffly in one of the plush seats lining the room, watching the grey skinned man page lazily through the book. She was certain he was doing it on purpose to wind her up, there was no way the man really needed that much time to examine her work. She kept her gaze on her own lap rather than on the room around her; with the exception of the painting of Xin, the decorations changed every day, and today the hanging depicted disturbing images of twisted, misshapen spirits against backdrops of stars and disquieting underground vistas that hurt her eyes to look at.
Minutes ticked by in silence, and she could do little but endure and think. Su Ling had spoken to her earlier this morning, asking if she would be training at the vent. She was happy to find one of her friends seeking her out for once, and even more glad to have one of her training partners back. She was looking forward to spending time with her after this lesson.
"Your technical proficiency is somewhat lacking," the Elder's dry voice shook her from her thoughts. "And I cannot call any of your solutions, such as they are, inspired. Nor can I find among your work any particular specialization." His tone was neutral and bored. "What in the world do you want?"
She hunched her shoulders defensively. "My apologies for the penmanship. I will take more time in the future," she responded, even though she had taken more time than usual. "I'm afraid I do not know how to answer such a broad question though," a bit of irritation slipped in despite her best efforts, and she winced out how snippy her words sounded.
He scoffed, but thankfully did not sound offended, indeed, when she chanced a glance upward, she thought he looked a bit amused. "Then consider the context of my words, child" he replied, making the book vanish from his hands in a swirl of shadow. "What do you seek from the formation arts. I would hope you are not wasting my time here. Your skill is sufficient for day to day minutiae already."
Ling Qi hesitated a moment. "...Honored Elder," she began carefully. "I admit, most of my interest is in breaking and bypassing formations rather than crafting them," she admitted. "...You recall the bags I showed you the first day?"
"I do, I am hardly senile yet," Elder Jiao replied dryly, leaning back against the wall where he sat on the divan. "Is that truly all?" He asked, raising one hairless brow. "Do you find the formation arts so uninteresting?"
She was silent again, wary of the attention he was giving her, and the slight undercurrent of danger in the air. The atmosphere of the room filled her with nervousness. "Not as such," she replied, picking her words carefully. "They are versatile and broadly useful, but nothing I have been able to acquire is useful in the immediate sense," she admitted. "I just have so many things to do that spending time learning individual arrays seems…" she trailed off, not sure how to put it well.
He regarded her coolly for a moment before snorting. "Well, not an unexpected answer. The sort of arrays available in the archive are hardly the sort of thing to compete against the ability to shoot lightning from one's eyes."
Ling Qi blinked. "Is there an art like that in the archive?" she questioned curiously.
"I would not suggest it," he replied airily. "Very unstable, and difficult to aim besides. It can give the user rather terrible migraines as well." he flicked his sleeve dismissively. "The formation arts are a thing of infinite complexity… but its masters are not prone to sharing."
"So, the arrays in the archives..." Ling Qi said slowly. "They're just the things everyone knows, aren't they?"
"Quite so," Elder Jiao said with a chuckle. "Things that are used so commonly that no one is going to hide them. That is not to say that you cannot advance in the art using those materials however. Can you tell me how?"
Ling Qi frowned, her expression souring. "...You have to create them yourself, don't you, using the primers available."
"Or convince a master to teach you, yes," he replied. "I will inform you now that I have no inclination to do such."
Ling Qi smiled bitterly, the reminder that this was a limited training course was hardly welcome. "Of course, Honored Elder," she replied, inclining her head. "I would be happy merely to receive your insights into the foundations of the art."
He eyed her for a moment consideringly and then flicked his billowing sleeve again. This time, she had to hastily raise her hands to catch the scroll and brush case he had tossed at her. "Then pay close attention, child. I will not repeat myself."
Ling Qi hastily moved to unroll the blank scroll and prepare herself to take notes. She absolutely would not waste this.
Elder Jiao was, for all his irreverence, obviously an expert in this. She could barely keep up with his words on the interactions between the basic characters and the functions of their components… as well as the ways in which the characters could be altered in order to nullfiy or bypass their effects.
For the next few hours there was no sound except that of his voice and her brush, and numbers and characters danced behind her eyes by the time she staggered out of the cave. His words had given her inspiration though, and she fell upon the bags the moment she got home.
With a new eye for the difficulty of the 'locks' she was able to quickly divide the more difficult ones from the less secure containers, allowing her to work on those with less lethal countermeasures. The first bag was opened easily… but was also useless, containing only useless knick knacks. Strings of beads, a lock of dark brown hair, a polished bone hairpin, and other such things. No talismans, elixirs or anything else useful.
The next contained a rather large amount of crow bones, which was creepy, but equally useless. Only on the third did she find anything useful, three stoppered clay vials full of liquid. Two of them airy and light, and the third thick and black, they were potent elixirs. At the bottom of the bag though, wrapped in leather, lay a book with a pale white cover. It was full of text that she could not make heads nor tales of, it was crude and blocky, completely unlike the Imperial script.
Unfortunately, her efforts ended there. The 'locks' on the final bag stymied her, proving frustratingly unbreakable in their construction. Still, it was not a bad haul.
2 Skyblood Elixir. Adds nine dice to the cultivation of wind and heaven arts, adds one fourth of successes to spiritual cultivation
1 Black Ichor Elixir: Adds nine dice to the cultivation of darkness and death arts. Each art trained this way procs a bonus qi cultivation roll, up to a maximum of three.
Pale Manual: a crudely bound tome with a pale white cover and crumbling pages. The text is indecipherable.
It did nearly leave her late to her meeting with Su Ling though, and so for now she abandoned the project to meet with her friend at the vent, to practice together.
Passives
+2 die to physical defense pools of the user and all allies within twenty five meters
+2 dice to stamina and resolve tests of the user and allies within twenty five meters
User gains a two die bonus vs poison and disease effects
Deepwood Vitality: oo
Cost 5 qi
Instant
The user channels their qi into the earth, spreading like a great tangle of roots to link with up to three allies. On activation the user and each target are granted one temporary health box and a two die bonus to physical defense for four turns. In addition if the user or an ally is under a negative effect, this technique clashes against the effects caster and dispels the effect on success. Temporary health boxes receive damage first, and disappear upon being used.
Ten Ring Defense: oo
Cost: 4 Qi (initial)
Instant
This user fills themselves with the vital qi of the great forests to protect themselves and their allies from harm. Grants the user a three die bonus to physical defense for three turns. In addition the first point of damage the user suffers each round is downgraded one stage. Aggravated becomes lethal, lethal becomes nonlethal, nonlethal is negated. In addition the user may expend three qi to negate 1 point of damage, even from attacks which bypass normal negation. This effect may be used on allies within range
Third Pulse 23/90
"Fuck, it feels like I hit the mountain," Su Ling grimaced as the practice blade fell from her hand. "I can't feel my fingers," she added with a wince as she shook her hand
"Are you alright?" Ling Qi asked, looking at her friend with concern, lowering her own hands from the guard position she had held them in a moment before.
"It's fine," Su Ling replied grumpily, glaring down at her trembling hand as if to still it by sheer force of will. "I guess I forgot just how ridiculous you are."
Ling Qi glanced to the side uncomfortably. Su Ling had actually landed a pretty good hit, driving her blunted blade into Ling Qi's gut while she was distracted trying to get the hang of the full activation of her Thousand Ring techniques. It just… hadn't mattered, between her physical cultivation and the layers of defensive qi woven into her flesh, she had barely felt it.
Was this what Meizhen felt like sparring with her?
Dismissing that odd thought, Ling Qi lowered her hands the rest of the way. "Why don't we take a breather then?" She suggested. "You still haven't told me what brought this on," she added. "I don't mind practicing with you," she hastened to add. "I'm just curious."
Su Ling huffed and bent down to pick up her weapon, twin tails swishing behind her with agitation. Ling Qi didn't miss the still unhealed wounds and patches of torn fur. "I need to get better at this. I've been relying on my illusions too much."
Ling Qi nodded in understanding, reaching up to scratch the back of her neck awkwardly. "...Yeah, I can understand how that might be a problem," she replied noncommittally, glancing away. She would keep her suspicion unvoiced. "That said… do you have an art lined up? Mundane swordplay will only get you so far."
The girls pointed ears twitched violently, and her expression grew sour. "Yeah, I have some points stored up," she replied gruffly. "Gonna go to the second floor. I just figure it's no good if my skills are still crap," she explained, but Ling Qi felt that there was something she wasn't saying.
"Have you considered a tutor?" Ling Qi asked tentatively as she moved off to sit down by the vent. She needed to cycle her qi a bit, and solidify the gains she had made with the art. "I can only barely hold a sword without stabbing my own foot, you know. I'm not the best teacher."
"It's too expensive," Su Ling replied quickly, sitting down herself to cycle. Ling Qi could see the bruises on her palm beginning to heal already. "Just getting an art is gonna cost me, you know?"
Ling Qi hummed in response. That was true. Inner Sect tutoring was pretty pricey. She didn't regret trying it herself though. "Well, if you think so…" she trailed off awkwardly, and an uncomfortable silence fell between them.
"What's bothering you?" Ling Qi asked bluntly after a few minutes, not sure how to broach the subject. "You've been really wound up," she added, looking at the other girl out of the corner of her eye. "It's not about sword arts."
Su Ling did not answer at first, keeping her eyes on the stars overhead. "I just wanted to hit something for awhile," she responded gruffly. "I got the damn silly idea to ask you, and all I managed was hurting my hands."
"Is someone bothering you?" Ling Qi asked neutrally, she would take care of it if so.
Su Ling snorted. "No, and if there was, I'd tell ya to stay out of it," she replied, slipping briefly back into accented speech. "The usual assholes aren't bothering me. I got someone else to sell my stuff through. Just… been thinking about things."
"That usually makes me want to hit something too," Ling Qi quipped. "...I'm guessing it has something to do with your breakthrough?" She added more seriously.
Her friends silence lasted a much longer time after that, but Ling Qi didn't say anything else. "I'm fucking tired of not having any choices on my path," she admitted, voice quiet. "Seems like I can only get stronger by being like that fucking fox. I'm pretty shit with a sword, you can see that."
"You're not great, but it's not like you've been practicing long," Ling Qi pointed out, knowing that Su Ling wasn't in the mood for pretty lies.
"Says the girl who picks up a bow and starts tagging bullseyes a few hours later," Su Ling replied dryly. "Nah, I've worked at it, and I can tell. I'm just not good with it. I wanted something that was mine, but all I'm good with are illusions and hunting techniques. On one hand I don't want to give up on the sword. On the other hand, I feel like an idiot wasting resources on something I'm not much good at."
Ling Qi didn't really have the experience to speak on such things. She hadn't really failed at anything she had tried her hand at since coming here. "I think it's too soon to begin giving up on things. Besides, what it comes down too is that you enjoy using a sword, right? It's worth doing just for that. We don't have so little that we have to put everything into just getting by anymore."
"Hmph, easy for you to say," Su Ling replied, but there wasn't any heat in it. "You ready to keep going, or are you just gonna sit around all night?"
Ling Qi looked back to see the other girl standing up and dusting off her pants, ready for another round. "Sure," she laughed. "I can always use the exercise."
The two of them practiced well into the night, and soon it became another part of her routine, meeting the vulpine girl in the evenings for sparring and cultivation, and the rest of the week flew swiftly by.
However, there remained one thing to do that Ling Qi had been putting off. Namely, composing a response to her mothers last letter, and in doing, thinking about what the woman had revealed. She honestly wasn't certain what to think of the idea of a younger sibling. Despite what she had told Zhengui to call her, she had only the vaguest ideas of what siblings were supposed to do.She was glad her… sister was apparently healthy, as was her mother, and that her support was helping them both. At the same time, she was even more unsure of what to say. The tone of her letters bothered her a little too. Her mother… was good at talking in circles and not saying what she meant. Ling Qi could remember that well enough. It was hard to tell what she was really thinking, especially through the medium of letters.
She wished she could meet her face to face again, and have a proper conversation. Unfortunately it just wasn't possible. She could pay for transport maybe, but the presence of her sister complicated things. A child that young had no business going on such a trip, and even without her travel between cities was deadly for mortals. They were just so… fragile.
That in itself was a slightly discomfiting thought. When had she started thinking of people that way? Ling Qi did not particularly care for that line of thought, and wasn't sure what to do with it frankly, so after a moment, she simply shook her head and set out to compose her letter.
Mother,
I was glad to hear back from you, even if the contents of your letter were a little shocking. I admit… I have little idea of what to do with the knowledge that I have a sibling. I am glad the both of you are healthy and well.
I enjoy my life here, in the sect, but it does have its own troubles. I have made a few friends among my fellow disciples. I had never thought I would end up mingling with nobility, but my best friend is a member of a ducal family. She has helped me a great deal in fitting in. I had some trouble with a very insistent boy for a time, but that trouble seems to have passed.
Right now I am training hard to prepare myself for the end of the year tournament, as well as supporting my allies own efforts. Much of my time is also spent taking care of the spirit I have bound. Would you believe that I hatched a xuan wu, Mother? I did not even think them real before coming here. Zhengui is adorable, if endlessly hungry, so his care can be taxing. It is well worth it though. He is growing so fast though.
Oh! I seem to have discovered a real talent for archery as well as music. I cannot thank you enough for the lessons you gave me. I do not think I would be where I am now if you had not taken the time to teach me the flute.
I did miss those lessons, very much.
So in turn, let me ask you Mother. How are you, what are you doing now that you no longer need worry about money? I admit, I do not really know you as well as I should. I would like to rectify that though.
Ling Qi
It had taken a few tries, but eventually her letter was composed and sent. She was a little unsure about blatantly discussing cultivation business with her mother, and she certainly wasn't going to tell her about the fights she had been in, but this… it still felt like something a child should write to their parent.
She would look forward to the response, and perhaps in the not so distant future, she would find the occasion to visit Tonghou city again. She wondered if any of the guards would recognize her when she did.
She hoped so, if only to see what their expressions would look like.
Elder Jiao Major action is locked in until completion. One Minor and one major locked
[] Spend time taking care of and raising Zhengui
[] Train with Elder jiao (LOCKED)
-[] Select two subjects to train(must be techniques or skills Ling Qi already has)
[] Train with Zeqing
[] Train at the vent with Su Ling
-[] Any
[] Take a job
-[] Specify
[] Visit the Archive
-[] Search for a technique
-[] Study formations
[] Train with Meizhen
-[] Select an Art
[] Continue Investigating Sun Liling's whereabouts
[] Infiltrate Yan Renshu's hideout
-[] Do it on your own.
-[] Inform Cai, get 'official' help
-[] Ask Meizhen to back you up
[] Cultivate on your own
-[] Physical
-[] Spiritual
-[] Qi
-[] Meridian (which one?)
-[] Art(Which one?)
[] Try to figure out the locking formations on the last bag
[] You haven't had much time for Li Suyin lately, and you have a mysterious tome, maybe the two of you could work on deciphering it?
[] Have a chat with Han Jian, it has been some time since you trained together, see what is occupying him
[] Meizhen is going out shopping for something at the market, though she hasn't mentioned what. Tag along?
[] Find Fu Xiang and speak with him, perhaps you could collaborate on the Sun Liling problem.
[] Xuan Shi seems to be busy setting something up at the council meeting pavilion, perhaps you could help him out?
AN: Holy Writers Block Batman. This one fought me every step of the way. Hopefully I can write more easily for the next one.
I will update the front page tomorrow, after I've gotten a bit of a nap.
A moment later, the hare let out a high pitched yelp as the loose dirt parted and a black shadow shot out, smoke rising from the hole as Zhen's fangs dug into the rabbit. Ling Qi almost winced at the noise the rabbit made as it convulsed, steam rising from the where the fangs bit into it's flesh, but a moment later she drew an arrow back as the hare jerked free and kicked Zhen in the head, knocking the serpent away as it resumed trying to escape.
However, there was no need, as the beast crashed to the ground, it's leg bound by a writhing tree root. This time the little serpent got it by the throat, and that was that.
Zhengui erupted from the dirt with a puff of dust and detritus, trundling excitedly toward her even as Zhen let out a displeased hiss, his lower half dragging him away from his still twitching prey. "I got it Big Sister!" he sent, accompanied by a happy chirp.
we shall train him well, and he shall learn the value of patience, surprise, and overwhelming firepower. None will be able to stand against the surprise Xuanxu!
Edit: He's going to be like an antlion, but for people.
Well, Jiao continues to be a grumpy old man, news at 11 I'm sure. He seems to not be very taken with Ling Qi being polite - but then, he seems to be grumpy and disapproving of everyone and everything, so better he consider her timid and stilted than rude and impudent. I'm vaguely feeling like perhaps something else instead of Formations would've been a better choice - he seems particularly grumpy that she doesn't have a passion for the art.
Argent Mirror Third Reflection - now *this* is what I was craving (and holy crap, that +30 from Elder tutoring was useful here). Bonus to Survival, Investigation, Empathy, Composure and Resolve now... does it require an actual technique to be able to apply auto-cultivation to rolls, or does it getting bonuses from an Art suffice? I can't remember off-hand...
All techniques are instant, Discerning Gaze lasts for six turns, more dice... and Tranquil Rebuke. It's an instant defense against spiritual techniques that can cause a *backlash*. I assume 'perfect' lethal damage can't be ablated? Regardless, the damage and defense penalty could be a major game-changer - not just in the mechanical effects but because a backlash could cause hesitation to use the same or another technique repeatedly.
Another head meridian, but lots of successes to go until then. Not a whole lot of time if it's focused on (and, seriously - I think this is an art that definitely *should* be capped ASAP; leave Current to improve with the auto-successes and get this cleaned up), but far enough to fit a meridian in easily enough.
Sable Crescent Step... I believe the speed increase on Trackless Escape is new, and very well-suited. Crescent Grace got a dice boost to defense, I think... and can now be invoked in light (if with a bit more cost). Might be some other improvements I overlooked. Not bad, not bad.
Spirit is now 1/3 of the way to the breakthrough cap, investigation skills are increasing, and Ling Qi now has a place to visit and loot (woohoo!).
Formations isn't going to be Ling Qi's passion, perhaps, but that might change once she's less frantic (ie, next year). Still one bag to go... but so far... eh, the elixirs are pretty potent and useful for Ling Qi, but the text is probably something she'd need to get translated much much later. Also, there's a lightning eye art in the archive... heh!
Thousand Ring Fortress... man, this turn is just advancing art after art, isn't it now? Some extra negation with some extra payment... were the techniques Instant before?
EDIT: Need to sleep; will think about plans tomorrow. I like continuing Investigation training, but feel like it might be better to pick something other than Formations for the second. It might signal a lack of interest in Formations to the elder, but I feel like there's some other areas he might be a major help with.
On the gripping hand, it's probably an area that he'd give the biggest boost to... and there's one more bag to open (and some formations to unravel)
Infiltrating the hideout... tempting, especially with Sable Crescent Step improved. And, if that's done, alone (best stealth) or with Meizhen (firepower overwhelming) appeals more than report it in and have done with it. Renshu is Ling Qi's business more than Cai Renxiang's... now, if Ling Qi can find Sun Liling, *that* is something to report in and be done with it.
... although I'm not sure Ling Qi could be stealthy enough. Hmmm...
Lightning eye would be cool, since we wouldn't need to drop our flute* but I'd almost prefer a combo fire/ash/darkness beam attack just for the elemental synergies.
*@Yrsillar can we attach the flute to a string that's tied to our neck or wrist? That way we can drop the flute without really dropping it.
Ah, I really really want this action... Xuan Shi has been really quite nice to us when he hasn't needed to. I want to repay him for that. Well I also really want to see him again cuz I think he's interesting but it's doubtful anyone else thinks that. If it helps, he's from a family powerful enough to negotiate a marriage contract with the Bai.
