Broken Adventure
- Thread starter theaceoffire
- Start date
- Crossover
- Status
- Location
- Dodging chaos dragons in Limbo
Well, I'd take a gander at world turtle. Only because it sounds like a good middle ground in terms of liked and hated, thus a good or bad ending doesn't matter that much.
Hidden One
Not the Boss, possibly a Playa
- Location
- Sol;Terra;EU;D;NRW
Its always Pug Season.
Also Duck Season.
Also Duck Season.
- Location
- Earth U.S.
I also vote World Turtle Season
I just personally don't like pugs, cuz they're a purely cosmetic breed and suffer a lot of health issues cuz of targeted breeding, but they are cute if pitiable.
So, do I want a Rabbit or World Turtle. Mobility, Awareness, High Energy vs Pillar of Support, Indomitable, Powerful, Sheer Size.
That's 2 very different things but I like them both. But then, while world turtles are appropriately awe-inspiring, rabbits are fluffy creatures of sometimes anazing ability, often targeted for percieved weakness.
TIS RABBIT SEASON MY FRIENDS!!
Edit: Rabbit season has been done Too much, and has an Icon. So I change to world turtle season, for a large boi who's always the Carry, literally.
So, do I want a Rabbit or World Turtle. Mobility, Awareness, High Energy vs Pillar of Support, Indomitable, Powerful, Sheer Size.
That's 2 very different things but I like them both. But then, while world turtles are appropriately awe-inspiring, rabbits are fluffy creatures of sometimes anazing ability, often targeted for percieved weakness.
TIS RABBIT SEASON MY FRIENDS!!
Edit: Rabbit season has been done Too much, and has an Icon. So I change to world turtle season, for a large boi who's always the Carry, literally.
Last edited:
Rabbit season
"Shh! I'm hunting wabbit…"
"Shh! I'm hunting wabbit…"
- Location
- Hiding under your bed
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Wabbit season(ing)!
- Location
- Hiding under your bed
- Pronouns
- She/Her
If we had a deer season I'd have a combination to equal jackelope. (Deer plus rabbit)
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I was recently re-reading Core Threads, and apparently Gordon Ramsey is a mutiversal constant.
Arc 2: Pets and Testing!
- Location
- Here
Something was going on.
The whole Burning Sword Sect knew it, a major situation was underway!
The number of new Sect members had skyrocketed... and they all had odd hairstyles and strange skin colors. Major construction was going on everywhere, but no one would explain why or what was being built. Those in the upper levels saw massive budget changes, with little to no excuses given.
In fact, the only reason people were not worried that this was some sort of internal betrayal and takeover was due to certain people clearly being 'in the know', and yet showing no concern!
And if the higher circles were worried, the underworld was going insane with fear and paranoia!
Gen had done what he always did best of course... over a dozen rivals were now discovering hidden funds missing, key spies captured or 'missing', stable bases undergoing unexpected inspections, and so forth.
He had not much more luck than anyone else when it came to teasing out the actual movements being set up in the Sect at the moment, but his criminal career was more focused on giving himself benefits even when he was unsure of current events.
No, this chaos was still an issue to himself and his people... Gen just had the confidence to leap into a cloud of chaos to earn some rewards from the deadly squall.
Aggression was key.
The more competition was disrupted, the more his foes and so called friends were distracted... the more his helpers could be free to wander. To send his feelers a bit further, a bit deeper.
Today he was a dapper man, his gray bowler hat and gray suit giving a soft aura of confidence for him to soak in... for him to feel something like stability.
His eyes looked nowhere, his gaze was absent, and today's cigar was from his personal hoard. Filled with cultivation herbs, but carefully treated to smell damn near exactly like the cheap stuff sold at any store.
Clouds of smoke escaped his lips as he watched the crowd gather.
People around who also were not looking in his direction were waiting for his choices, his direction... and what few scraps of info he could gather said that he needed to be here. Right here.
One of the Sect mouthpieces was walking up on the stage, and he needed to know if it was time to profit or flee.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
The crowd was of course gossiping, even as the Sect Messenger prepared whatever speech was prepared for today. There were a few theories about the upcoming topic, as always.
So and so had eloped with this person or that. This department had been caught in some major incident or scandal, or that organization was going to be getting more funding... or disbanded.
The mummers died as the older man stood tall. "May our glory and righteousness burn brightly!"
The crowd mumbled acknowledgement. He nodded. "There will be major changes in the Sect, so many that an official document will be available from any Department within the Burning Sword Sect as of today. I am here to provide some high level answers and a rough summary of the highlights."
The group got quieter as he stood tall. "First, an official token representing the Sect as a whole has been established." He held up a strange ring, made of wood and shaped like flames frozen in time. "There are many varieties, but after distribution every Sect member is entitled to one of our new Sect Rings."
Blank and curious gazes turned to the innocent looking item.
The announcer had a tiny smile. "It has been designed by our Burning Sage, and directly approved by our wise Patriarch... and it represents the future of our Sect as a whole."
...The looks were more than a bit skeptical now.
The ring flipped in his hand. "As some of you can probably guess, our Burning Sage has indeed made another miracle for our people: Every one of these Sect rings are ALSO storage rings."
Gasps filled the courtyard, tens of thousands of cultivators imagining the impossible cost of such a project!
He gave a nod. "Indeed. What's more, this ring, the cheapest and lowest quality Sect identification token, is intended not for our Outer Disciples or even their servants... but for your friends, family, and servants back home. For civilians."
All eyes watched the wooden object flip in the air. The announcer nodded. "I have seen this for myself: The cheapest of rings are capable of absorbing Spirit Energy from the air and provide enough power to operate even for our loved ones with no talent or ability."
The ring vanished, a new trio now in his hands. "While wood and stone rings are for our people and others outside the Sect that help them, we ourselves will be using these: The Copper, Silver, and Golden Sect Rings."
He chuckled as the hungry people lusted over the objects. "Far stronger than anything that will be used outside of our people, these have so many abilities that I won't bother explaining them. Please look forward to the included documentation explaining them all when you receive your own."
The announcer stored away the props and stood tall. "Next, the Sect has established these Crystal Stations through out our territory... and more will be constructed over the next few decades. As some may already have guessed, they are related to these new rings we are now distributing: These not only can provide you your new Sect Token, but if you are robbed or somehow lose your storage ring, they can replace the missing Token... and regain access to your items previously stored away."
He waved a hand. "Again, the documentation explains it all, but essentially it will be much easier to protect your belongings, prevent stolen items from being extracted, and regain access even if your ring is destroyed completely. Please look forward to it."
A line of men and women walked in front of the stage as he continued. "Please direct questions to my assistants, and then please begin the process of requesting Sect Token Rings from the various Crystal Stations constructed in the area. Thank you."
...The community square descended into Chaos!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Adam had felt fairly smart.
The new spirit energy barriers were finally becoming fully active, the coverage was expanding over more territory than just the Sect and the local towns, and some clever Formation sympathetic relationship tricks had allowed distant Sect branch facilities to connect to the central system.
The barrier itself was also something he was proud of. Aside from the important stuff, he and Pat had added all sorts of fun features. Tracking of signatures, cleansing of local impurities, even low level conceptual repair and reinforcement of approved structures!
At the time, he had wondered why no one had bothered doing something this useful before!
...Well, now it was more obvious.
Right, so the issue is due to the composition of heaven and earth spiritual energy.
Imagine that all the energy available to access is like a... a river.
It goes in every direction and can pass through solid objects, but ignore that part.
The river is mostly made up of pebbles ranging from grains of sand to large grapes. Yes, that doesn't make sense, and they shouldn't float along, but they do... so ignore that.
As the pebbles bumble along, the weaker bits and less refined material falls apart or is crushed into liquids of every type. Again, ignore how impossible this is. These liquids are infinite in type, ranging from blood to oils to vinegars to all kinds of stuff.
As the liquids interact, some combine, some explode, some swap parts of each other... and occasionally, some of this liquid become gas. Thin whisps of gasses that are so rare and so unusual, that they are almost always unique to all nearby gasses.
Eventually, similar (Or extremely opposite) gasses build up into common clouds...
Those clouds are what cultivators have to absorb, sift through to find the right cloud for their specific needs, and then separate and use.
This is why normally, Sects would search for and find some rare place with certain 'treasures', either physical, spiritual, or locational, that would improve this horrifically slow process of 'refining' heaven and earth spiritual energy into something useful.
The form of the treasure didn't really matter. It could be a Formation created by man or nature or whatever, a herb, a Spirit Beast, a tear in reality, the echoes of a conceptually powerful battle... anything.
No, it was the actions of the treasure was the important part.
From what Adam could determine, treasures fell into certain categories: Collective, Attractive, Repulsive, and Catalyst. There were no doubt many more, but they were the four Adam had the most data gathered for so far.
Collective treasures traded time for power.
Over the course of many years, they would absorb relevant energies and refine them, allowing them to release all that power in a single burst that could even be more grand and impressive than what reality itself could generate!
Spirit herbs were the common example, many rare ones would gather power over millions of years and eventually learn how to transform, gain the shapes of animals or even cultivators, and so forth. This was why cultivators were able to benefit so greatly from pills... even the cheapest ones used ingredients that had collected energy for dozens of years.
Downside: It took forever to empower these treasures, and it was used up nearly instantly.
Attractive examples would be places like here, the Burning Sword Sect. The volcano below was so powerful, and had been so powerful for so many eons, that the area within its realm attracted and supported any powers or energies that were related to heat, weight, light, and so forth. Anything even tangentially related to volcanoes flourished here. Basically, Attractive Treasures didn't force a build up of energies, but allowed only certain energies to easily collect in one place.
Of course, this ALSO came with an obvious downside: Once the spirit energy pressure built up to a certain level, an Attractive Treasure couldn't over come the situation. Unless the gathered power was used up or pulled away, the thing became practically useless. This is a big reason why so many Sects try to get more members, so that fresh energy can be drawn forth as they cultivate.
Repulsive treasures were like Adam's old Asura Stone, now the Asura Eye. It generated a field of energy or something else that shoved any unacceptable power away from the area. When the Asura Stone was still in that Yin energy pool, everything else felt the world being shoved away from the location.
Example? Adam had felt the pulse of rejection literally MILES from the location, and if he hadn't absorbed the thing the range would have only expanded further no doubt.
Things like this were amazing if the limited energies permitted in that area matched your needs... but for everyone else this was a menace, and you would likely have whole Sect armies marching in to kick your ass if you allowed your Repulsive Treasure to shove away THEIR valuable Treasured locations and items.
No, Adam had designed his Formation around the 'Catalyst' version of local empowerment.
The structured spirit barriers would force the river pebbles to collide more often, the liquids to mix more frequently, the gasses to collect more rapidly... and then, as the clouds of spirit energy were generated?
Collect the clouds, detect the powers within, filter similar or matching energies together, refine impurities out of the mess (Shove THOSE back in the river outside for future processing), purify the final product... and use the unwanted powers as fuel to continue the whole mess!
Theoretically, it was a self sustaining process that would not need Adam to hand hold the whole thing, which was important!
Realistically? It needed time.
EVERYTHING could be converted into usable energy eventually after being collected by his newly crafted barriers... but the simpler stuff converted faster and was worth almost nothing.
It took TIME for the complicated powers to be converted into something usable. Even with all the improvements to the Formation designs, this entire mess was like a massive engine with a very... very slow startup.
Right now Adam was cheating.
Rockette was stealing all the weaker energies from processing storage and directly imputing an equivalent amount of transformed Qi into the formation.
This allowed the barrier to focus on the more powerful but very slow super energy clouds being refined, get some real momentum going and ensure stuff would stay stable.
Sure, Adam was burning through Qi quickly, even if the new stuff was getting refined and collected much faster thanks to Rockette's talents... but he wanted this working FASTER, not twenty years from now.
So a week or two passed, he did some designing work on (With?) Core, he produced more and more Crystal components for the many Stations being set up everywhere, and just... felt more and more frustrated.
Eventually Adam threw up his hands, talked with Pat, and set up a massive pair of energy spirals directly above the Sect's barriers. Two cyclones of spirit energy directly smashing EVERYTHING into metaphorical powder.
To use the earlier river metaphor, he had basically installed the worlds scariest waterfall/whirlpool/blender combination directly over the largest collector node in the barrier network.
Sure, the pebbles were becoming powder, the liquid was exploding into steam, and the gasses were nearly liquifying again due to intense pressure before being gobbled up by the Sect Formation's Maw... but uh. Oh, right.
Don't fly over the Sect anymore.
Ever.
In the end, Adam and Pat added a bit of a weak physical deterrent and a illusionary warning above the Sect Barriers declaring 'No Trespassers'.
No point in wasting valuable energy, if someone ignored the signs they wouldn't be alive to complain later.
Adam shuddered. A bird had flown into that area before the safety warnings could be set up... Instant chunky salsa. Thankfully the gore also got refined before leaving a blood mist rain over the area. Gross.
Anyway, being forced to manually support the supposedly 'Self-Sustaining' Sect Barrier had really hit his confidence levels. Sure, once this big lug finished processing enough energy it would be able to speed up all the involved processes in an exponential fashion, until it hit the programmed limits and was able to both filter and refine all the nearby energies and release stuff more pure and useful...
But until then, he had to do hacks like this deadly as hell spirit energy grinder over the Sect. Just thinking about it felt both embarrassing and dangerous, like duct taping a chainsaw to a Roomba.
That was why the NEXT feature of this barrier was going to be tested using the Sect's test animals, rather than by Outer Disciples.
Adam felt a headache coming. "Why... what's up with these animals?"
Seriously, what the hell.
The Department leader seemed uncomfortable. Maybe because he was talking to Adam through Rockette's crystal displays? He was still stuck in the Crystal Caverns after all. "Sir, this is our remaining stock."
Adam looked over the... subjects.
There were less than a dozen. Rabbits, dogs, cats, ducks, geese, turtles, so on and so forth. Even some gold fishes. "Can't we use something less... Look, WHY do they look like this?"
Little Tianshi would kick his ass if he used these!
The man almost blushed! "Well, most of the rest of our test subjects have been requisitioned by the Formation Department."
...What? "Hang on, please."
A different crystal display floated up, showing the Sect Patriarch who was surrounded by paperwork. The old guy blinked. "Adam? Did something go wrong with the tests?"
He tried to have a calm breath. "Sort of. Do you know why the Formation Department has confiscated nearly ALL testing animals?"
The Sect Leader blinked... and a nearly invisible man handed him a report. "Ah. After we moved the entire Knowledge Pagoda library into the Tattoo network, we shifted all documents from the second floor upwards into secured storage."
He browed through the document. "It seems one of the committees felt it would be safer to leave traps and decoys on those floors to catch infiltration attempts. Our people will be safe since they no longer need to visit, and the Formation Department was incredibly eager to put all their new products into use."
Adam nodded. "Lots of traps?"
Pat nodded back. "As the Pagoda is located deep within the Sect, they needed many tests to ensure potential failures or even successes wouldn't damage the area." He blinked. "Are they out of subjects? I know it is difficult to breed healthy creatures with low intelligence levels in areas with high spiritual density, our research animal production has never been high."
Adam winced. "Not... technically?" He had Rockette show an image. "It's just..."
Pat... looked surprise. "Those are the most adorable animals I have ever seen."
The boy threw up his hands. "I KNOW! What the heck!? That pug over there has MASSIVE eyes! And I swear that turtle looks like a cartoon mascot!"
The man paused. "A what?"
Adam threw his hand to the side. "Not the point. What am I supposed to do here? Sister Quan would rant for hours if I accidentally killed one of these things! I'm scared to even introduce people to these guys, they would instantly try to adopt them! I would rather work on captured criminals instead!"
Pat sighed. "I mentioned this before. Our Sect will not test anything on outsiders."
The boy grumbled. "Is this part of being a 'Religious Sect' thing?"
The Patriarch shook his head. "No, not alone. Cultivators sometimes survive ordeals and defy the odds with willpower alone... You are only considering the dangers involved with these next experiments. The threat to our people, or in this case adorable animals."
He leaned forward. "But what about the benefits? What is the absolute best case scenario that could occur here?"
Adam paused. "Uh. Something close to absolute luck I guess? Every action would lead to new opportunities that the target would just barely be able to accomplish, and... uh."
The old man leaned back. "And THAT is why we don't involve outsiders, more so than just because of the public relation aspect. Many evil or 'might makes right' Sects fall not due to arrogance or incompetence, but from their own test subjects and victims. If you torture millions, and only one becomes an all powerful vengeance demon... well, you get the point."
Sigh... well, it was a good point. "But seriously, what happened here?"
Pat placed the report down. "From what I can tell, the new formation data in the cultivation database has increased the advancement of our Formation Department like giving a tiger wings. The months of us setting up the Sect Barrier gave them plenty of time to refine their designs, test new features, create many advancements... and they needed to test them."
He sighed. "Any animal with a defect, or that was mean, or that was ugly... those were the first picked to be test subjects, obviously. Through the process of selection, the few animals you have access to are the ones no one could bear to work on, even with such a rich desire to advance their craft."
...What was he supposed to do? 'Hey, bring over that sheep with the comically soft and clean wool! No? What about the cat with nine tails, each a beautiful color and...'
No, this was a problem.
Adam hesitated. "Maybe... maybe I could reverse the testing method?"
Pat glanced up. "In what way?"
He passed on a revised testing schedule. "I was going to start by applying an 'Adventure Token' possessing 1% of my aura. Increase it to 10% if nothing happens, reduce it to 0.1% if a mess occurs."
Damn it, this would suck. "Instead, I can start at 0.01%... no, better be safe. Maybe 0.0001%? Ideally it would be an amount so small that NOTHING happens."
The old man nodded. "Sneak your way upwards to ensure the safety of the subjects for as long as possible?" He chuckled. "It would slow everything and delay the sale of tokens on the tattoo Sect Store, but that's fine. As long as you don't anger your disciple, friend, and new guardian squad."
Adam held back a snort. As if he couldn't feel the deadpan stares at the back of his head from his guards. They would NOT be impressed if Adam accidentally exploded such adorableness. "Hopefully it won't matter. Maybe they can even handle 50% or more of my aura signature when the 'Luck' drops on their heads... After all, this just affects how fast the events tumble down on their existences, it would take thousands of 100% aura decoys decades to get rid of this current mess."
And that doesn't even consider the possibility of Adam making that unseen 'potential adventure' mountain even larger later on!
Adam blinked as one of his guards (They still refuse to share their names, some sort of honor thing) passed him a note.
And groaned. "I got to go Pat, one of my traitor security detail members told the orphans about the animals. If I don't hurry they will all be gone before I get back."
He ignored Pat's chuckles as he turned to the other screen... yeah, most of the creatures were gone. Only the rabbit and pug were left behind, and THEY were being pet by Sister Quan and little Tianshi.
Marvelous.
~~~Broken Adenture~~~
Sister Quan was grumbling. "And you are SURE Mr. Fluffle Pants the First will be safe?"
Don't grumble. "Please just use the stick and poke the rabbit with the badge."
Everyone held their breath as the rabbit... well, he just ignored everything and was chewing some lettuce.
Then the badge touched!
...And it fell over.
Shit. "MEDIC!"
Sister Quan moved over... oh right, she was his nurse at one point. Was she a veterinarian too? "No wounds, no shock, no... huh. He just seems to be asleep."
...Alright? "But no injuries?"
She reached over and began pulling medical notes from her storage ring. Which somehow included pet care books at this point. Maybe the guards? "I... I think he had a cultivation breakthrough?"
Sister Quan turned to the (very) confused Department lead. "What do you have the animals cultivate?"
He shrugged. "We don't? It could mess up future tests!"
Adam sighed. "Right, so... spontaneous cultivation advancement without a cultivation method." He blinked. "And a harem?"
She looked up, confused. "What?"
Little Tianshi was already in cuddle central! "More bunnies!"
Adam held back a groan. "Right, so where did the four apparently female rabbits come from? I thought this courtyard was closed off."
Rockette floated her stone body over to the bushes, showing a hole in the ground... and a fifth rabbit came out and began to snuggle the unconscious Mr. Fluffle Pants the First (Clearly not going to be the last).
...Right. "Sister Quan, please retrieve your rabbit... rabbits. Little Tianshi, we are going to have to test a much weaker Adventure Badge with your pug."
The little one was nearly buried in bunnies. "Will I get more doggies!?"
Adam sighed. "Maybe?" Thank everything holy that he had started off testing with only 0.0000001% 'Adam Aura' saturation. "Please move your pet. Even if she doesn't get a harem, it shouldn't hurt her."
Tianshi nodded. "Mr. Whiskers says that her name is now the Notorious, Powerful, Unblockable Goddess. And should be referred to as such."
Why won't this day end? "Then please move Notorious P.U.G. so we can finalize the Adventure Tokens. I would like to actually leave my Martial Spirit this year."
Although at this percentage, he would have to have millions of disciples using the damn badges for years to actually make a dent in this thing. So much for a quick fix.
The whole Burning Sword Sect knew it, a major situation was underway!
The number of new Sect members had skyrocketed... and they all had odd hairstyles and strange skin colors. Major construction was going on everywhere, but no one would explain why or what was being built. Those in the upper levels saw massive budget changes, with little to no excuses given.
In fact, the only reason people were not worried that this was some sort of internal betrayal and takeover was due to certain people clearly being 'in the know', and yet showing no concern!
And if the higher circles were worried, the underworld was going insane with fear and paranoia!
Gen had done what he always did best of course... over a dozen rivals were now discovering hidden funds missing, key spies captured or 'missing', stable bases undergoing unexpected inspections, and so forth.
He had not much more luck than anyone else when it came to teasing out the actual movements being set up in the Sect at the moment, but his criminal career was more focused on giving himself benefits even when he was unsure of current events.
No, this chaos was still an issue to himself and his people... Gen just had the confidence to leap into a cloud of chaos to earn some rewards from the deadly squall.
Aggression was key.
The more competition was disrupted, the more his foes and so called friends were distracted... the more his helpers could be free to wander. To send his feelers a bit further, a bit deeper.
Today he was a dapper man, his gray bowler hat and gray suit giving a soft aura of confidence for him to soak in... for him to feel something like stability.
His eyes looked nowhere, his gaze was absent, and today's cigar was from his personal hoard. Filled with cultivation herbs, but carefully treated to smell damn near exactly like the cheap stuff sold at any store.
Clouds of smoke escaped his lips as he watched the crowd gather.
People around who also were not looking in his direction were waiting for his choices, his direction... and what few scraps of info he could gather said that he needed to be here. Right here.
One of the Sect mouthpieces was walking up on the stage, and he needed to know if it was time to profit or flee.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
The crowd was of course gossiping, even as the Sect Messenger prepared whatever speech was prepared for today. There were a few theories about the upcoming topic, as always.
So and so had eloped with this person or that. This department had been caught in some major incident or scandal, or that organization was going to be getting more funding... or disbanded.
The mummers died as the older man stood tall. "May our glory and righteousness burn brightly!"
The crowd mumbled acknowledgement. He nodded. "There will be major changes in the Sect, so many that an official document will be available from any Department within the Burning Sword Sect as of today. I am here to provide some high level answers and a rough summary of the highlights."
The group got quieter as he stood tall. "First, an official token representing the Sect as a whole has been established." He held up a strange ring, made of wood and shaped like flames frozen in time. "There are many varieties, but after distribution every Sect member is entitled to one of our new Sect Rings."
Blank and curious gazes turned to the innocent looking item.
The announcer had a tiny smile. "It has been designed by our Burning Sage, and directly approved by our wise Patriarch... and it represents the future of our Sect as a whole."
...The looks were more than a bit skeptical now.
The ring flipped in his hand. "As some of you can probably guess, our Burning Sage has indeed made another miracle for our people: Every one of these Sect rings are ALSO storage rings."
Gasps filled the courtyard, tens of thousands of cultivators imagining the impossible cost of such a project!
He gave a nod. "Indeed. What's more, this ring, the cheapest and lowest quality Sect identification token, is intended not for our Outer Disciples or even their servants... but for your friends, family, and servants back home. For civilians."
All eyes watched the wooden object flip in the air. The announcer nodded. "I have seen this for myself: The cheapest of rings are capable of absorbing Spirit Energy from the air and provide enough power to operate even for our loved ones with no talent or ability."
The ring vanished, a new trio now in his hands. "While wood and stone rings are for our people and others outside the Sect that help them, we ourselves will be using these: The Copper, Silver, and Golden Sect Rings."
He chuckled as the hungry people lusted over the objects. "Far stronger than anything that will be used outside of our people, these have so many abilities that I won't bother explaining them. Please look forward to the included documentation explaining them all when you receive your own."
The announcer stored away the props and stood tall. "Next, the Sect has established these Crystal Stations through out our territory... and more will be constructed over the next few decades. As some may already have guessed, they are related to these new rings we are now distributing: These not only can provide you your new Sect Token, but if you are robbed or somehow lose your storage ring, they can replace the missing Token... and regain access to your items previously stored away."
He waved a hand. "Again, the documentation explains it all, but essentially it will be much easier to protect your belongings, prevent stolen items from being extracted, and regain access even if your ring is destroyed completely. Please look forward to it."
A line of men and women walked in front of the stage as he continued. "Please direct questions to my assistants, and then please begin the process of requesting Sect Token Rings from the various Crystal Stations constructed in the area. Thank you."
...The community square descended into Chaos!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Adam had felt fairly smart.
The new spirit energy barriers were finally becoming fully active, the coverage was expanding over more territory than just the Sect and the local towns, and some clever Formation sympathetic relationship tricks had allowed distant Sect branch facilities to connect to the central system.
The barrier itself was also something he was proud of. Aside from the important stuff, he and Pat had added all sorts of fun features. Tracking of signatures, cleansing of local impurities, even low level conceptual repair and reinforcement of approved structures!
At the time, he had wondered why no one had bothered doing something this useful before!
...Well, now it was more obvious.
Right, so the issue is due to the composition of heaven and earth spiritual energy.
Imagine that all the energy available to access is like a... a river.
It goes in every direction and can pass through solid objects, but ignore that part.
The river is mostly made up of pebbles ranging from grains of sand to large grapes. Yes, that doesn't make sense, and they shouldn't float along, but they do... so ignore that.
As the pebbles bumble along, the weaker bits and less refined material falls apart or is crushed into liquids of every type. Again, ignore how impossible this is. These liquids are infinite in type, ranging from blood to oils to vinegars to all kinds of stuff.
As the liquids interact, some combine, some explode, some swap parts of each other... and occasionally, some of this liquid become gas. Thin whisps of gasses that are so rare and so unusual, that they are almost always unique to all nearby gasses.
Eventually, similar (Or extremely opposite) gasses build up into common clouds...
Those clouds are what cultivators have to absorb, sift through to find the right cloud for their specific needs, and then separate and use.
This is why normally, Sects would search for and find some rare place with certain 'treasures', either physical, spiritual, or locational, that would improve this horrifically slow process of 'refining' heaven and earth spiritual energy into something useful.
The form of the treasure didn't really matter. It could be a Formation created by man or nature or whatever, a herb, a Spirit Beast, a tear in reality, the echoes of a conceptually powerful battle... anything.
No, it was the actions of the treasure was the important part.
From what Adam could determine, treasures fell into certain categories: Collective, Attractive, Repulsive, and Catalyst. There were no doubt many more, but they were the four Adam had the most data gathered for so far.
Collective treasures traded time for power.
Over the course of many years, they would absorb relevant energies and refine them, allowing them to release all that power in a single burst that could even be more grand and impressive than what reality itself could generate!
Spirit herbs were the common example, many rare ones would gather power over millions of years and eventually learn how to transform, gain the shapes of animals or even cultivators, and so forth. This was why cultivators were able to benefit so greatly from pills... even the cheapest ones used ingredients that had collected energy for dozens of years.
Downside: It took forever to empower these treasures, and it was used up nearly instantly.
Attractive examples would be places like here, the Burning Sword Sect. The volcano below was so powerful, and had been so powerful for so many eons, that the area within its realm attracted and supported any powers or energies that were related to heat, weight, light, and so forth. Anything even tangentially related to volcanoes flourished here. Basically, Attractive Treasures didn't force a build up of energies, but allowed only certain energies to easily collect in one place.
Of course, this ALSO came with an obvious downside: Once the spirit energy pressure built up to a certain level, an Attractive Treasure couldn't over come the situation. Unless the gathered power was used up or pulled away, the thing became practically useless. This is a big reason why so many Sects try to get more members, so that fresh energy can be drawn forth as they cultivate.
Repulsive treasures were like Adam's old Asura Stone, now the Asura Eye. It generated a field of energy or something else that shoved any unacceptable power away from the area. When the Asura Stone was still in that Yin energy pool, everything else felt the world being shoved away from the location.
Example? Adam had felt the pulse of rejection literally MILES from the location, and if he hadn't absorbed the thing the range would have only expanded further no doubt.
Things like this were amazing if the limited energies permitted in that area matched your needs... but for everyone else this was a menace, and you would likely have whole Sect armies marching in to kick your ass if you allowed your Repulsive Treasure to shove away THEIR valuable Treasured locations and items.
No, Adam had designed his Formation around the 'Catalyst' version of local empowerment.
The structured spirit barriers would force the river pebbles to collide more often, the liquids to mix more frequently, the gasses to collect more rapidly... and then, as the clouds of spirit energy were generated?
Collect the clouds, detect the powers within, filter similar or matching energies together, refine impurities out of the mess (Shove THOSE back in the river outside for future processing), purify the final product... and use the unwanted powers as fuel to continue the whole mess!
Theoretically, it was a self sustaining process that would not need Adam to hand hold the whole thing, which was important!
Realistically? It needed time.
EVERYTHING could be converted into usable energy eventually after being collected by his newly crafted barriers... but the simpler stuff converted faster and was worth almost nothing.
It took TIME for the complicated powers to be converted into something usable. Even with all the improvements to the Formation designs, this entire mess was like a massive engine with a very... very slow startup.
Right now Adam was cheating.
Rockette was stealing all the weaker energies from processing storage and directly imputing an equivalent amount of transformed Qi into the formation.
This allowed the barrier to focus on the more powerful but very slow super energy clouds being refined, get some real momentum going and ensure stuff would stay stable.
Sure, Adam was burning through Qi quickly, even if the new stuff was getting refined and collected much faster thanks to Rockette's talents... but he wanted this working FASTER, not twenty years from now.
So a week or two passed, he did some designing work on (With?) Core, he produced more and more Crystal components for the many Stations being set up everywhere, and just... felt more and more frustrated.
Eventually Adam threw up his hands, talked with Pat, and set up a massive pair of energy spirals directly above the Sect's barriers. Two cyclones of spirit energy directly smashing EVERYTHING into metaphorical powder.
To use the earlier river metaphor, he had basically installed the worlds scariest waterfall/whirlpool/blender combination directly over the largest collector node in the barrier network.
Sure, the pebbles were becoming powder, the liquid was exploding into steam, and the gasses were nearly liquifying again due to intense pressure before being gobbled up by the Sect Formation's Maw... but uh. Oh, right.
Don't fly over the Sect anymore.
Ever.
In the end, Adam and Pat added a bit of a weak physical deterrent and a illusionary warning above the Sect Barriers declaring 'No Trespassers'.
No point in wasting valuable energy, if someone ignored the signs they wouldn't be alive to complain later.
Adam shuddered. A bird had flown into that area before the safety warnings could be set up... Instant chunky salsa. Thankfully the gore also got refined before leaving a blood mist rain over the area. Gross.
Anyway, being forced to manually support the supposedly 'Self-Sustaining' Sect Barrier had really hit his confidence levels. Sure, once this big lug finished processing enough energy it would be able to speed up all the involved processes in an exponential fashion, until it hit the programmed limits and was able to both filter and refine all the nearby energies and release stuff more pure and useful...
But until then, he had to do hacks like this deadly as hell spirit energy grinder over the Sect. Just thinking about it felt both embarrassing and dangerous, like duct taping a chainsaw to a Roomba.
That was why the NEXT feature of this barrier was going to be tested using the Sect's test animals, rather than by Outer Disciples.
Adam felt a headache coming. "Why... what's up with these animals?"
Seriously, what the hell.
The Department leader seemed uncomfortable. Maybe because he was talking to Adam through Rockette's crystal displays? He was still stuck in the Crystal Caverns after all. "Sir, this is our remaining stock."
Adam looked over the... subjects.
There were less than a dozen. Rabbits, dogs, cats, ducks, geese, turtles, so on and so forth. Even some gold fishes. "Can't we use something less... Look, WHY do they look like this?"
Little Tianshi would kick his ass if he used these!
The man almost blushed! "Well, most of the rest of our test subjects have been requisitioned by the Formation Department."
...What? "Hang on, please."
A different crystal display floated up, showing the Sect Patriarch who was surrounded by paperwork. The old guy blinked. "Adam? Did something go wrong with the tests?"
He tried to have a calm breath. "Sort of. Do you know why the Formation Department has confiscated nearly ALL testing animals?"
The Sect Leader blinked... and a nearly invisible man handed him a report. "Ah. After we moved the entire Knowledge Pagoda library into the Tattoo network, we shifted all documents from the second floor upwards into secured storage."
He browed through the document. "It seems one of the committees felt it would be safer to leave traps and decoys on those floors to catch infiltration attempts. Our people will be safe since they no longer need to visit, and the Formation Department was incredibly eager to put all their new products into use."
Adam nodded. "Lots of traps?"
Pat nodded back. "As the Pagoda is located deep within the Sect, they needed many tests to ensure potential failures or even successes wouldn't damage the area." He blinked. "Are they out of subjects? I know it is difficult to breed healthy creatures with low intelligence levels in areas with high spiritual density, our research animal production has never been high."
Adam winced. "Not... technically?" He had Rockette show an image. "It's just..."
Pat... looked surprise. "Those are the most adorable animals I have ever seen."
The boy threw up his hands. "I KNOW! What the heck!? That pug over there has MASSIVE eyes! And I swear that turtle looks like a cartoon mascot!"
The man paused. "A what?"
Adam threw his hand to the side. "Not the point. What am I supposed to do here? Sister Quan would rant for hours if I accidentally killed one of these things! I'm scared to even introduce people to these guys, they would instantly try to adopt them! I would rather work on captured criminals instead!"
Pat sighed. "I mentioned this before. Our Sect will not test anything on outsiders."
The boy grumbled. "Is this part of being a 'Religious Sect' thing?"
The Patriarch shook his head. "No, not alone. Cultivators sometimes survive ordeals and defy the odds with willpower alone... You are only considering the dangers involved with these next experiments. The threat to our people, or in this case adorable animals."
He leaned forward. "But what about the benefits? What is the absolute best case scenario that could occur here?"
Adam paused. "Uh. Something close to absolute luck I guess? Every action would lead to new opportunities that the target would just barely be able to accomplish, and... uh."
The old man leaned back. "And THAT is why we don't involve outsiders, more so than just because of the public relation aspect. Many evil or 'might makes right' Sects fall not due to arrogance or incompetence, but from their own test subjects and victims. If you torture millions, and only one becomes an all powerful vengeance demon... well, you get the point."
Sigh... well, it was a good point. "But seriously, what happened here?"
Pat placed the report down. "From what I can tell, the new formation data in the cultivation database has increased the advancement of our Formation Department like giving a tiger wings. The months of us setting up the Sect Barrier gave them plenty of time to refine their designs, test new features, create many advancements... and they needed to test them."
He sighed. "Any animal with a defect, or that was mean, or that was ugly... those were the first picked to be test subjects, obviously. Through the process of selection, the few animals you have access to are the ones no one could bear to work on, even with such a rich desire to advance their craft."
...What was he supposed to do? 'Hey, bring over that sheep with the comically soft and clean wool! No? What about the cat with nine tails, each a beautiful color and...'
No, this was a problem.
Adam hesitated. "Maybe... maybe I could reverse the testing method?"
Pat glanced up. "In what way?"
He passed on a revised testing schedule. "I was going to start by applying an 'Adventure Token' possessing 1% of my aura. Increase it to 10% if nothing happens, reduce it to 0.1% if a mess occurs."
Damn it, this would suck. "Instead, I can start at 0.01%... no, better be safe. Maybe 0.0001%? Ideally it would be an amount so small that NOTHING happens."
The old man nodded. "Sneak your way upwards to ensure the safety of the subjects for as long as possible?" He chuckled. "It would slow everything and delay the sale of tokens on the tattoo Sect Store, but that's fine. As long as you don't anger your disciple, friend, and new guardian squad."
Adam held back a snort. As if he couldn't feel the deadpan stares at the back of his head from his guards. They would NOT be impressed if Adam accidentally exploded such adorableness. "Hopefully it won't matter. Maybe they can even handle 50% or more of my aura signature when the 'Luck' drops on their heads... After all, this just affects how fast the events tumble down on their existences, it would take thousands of 100% aura decoys decades to get rid of this current mess."
And that doesn't even consider the possibility of Adam making that unseen 'potential adventure' mountain even larger later on!
Adam blinked as one of his guards (They still refuse to share their names, some sort of honor thing) passed him a note.
And groaned. "I got to go Pat, one of my traitor security detail members told the orphans about the animals. If I don't hurry they will all be gone before I get back."
He ignored Pat's chuckles as he turned to the other screen... yeah, most of the creatures were gone. Only the rabbit and pug were left behind, and THEY were being pet by Sister Quan and little Tianshi.
Marvelous.
~~~Broken Adenture~~~
Sister Quan was grumbling. "And you are SURE Mr. Fluffle Pants the First will be safe?"
Don't grumble. "Please just use the stick and poke the rabbit with the badge."
Everyone held their breath as the rabbit... well, he just ignored everything and was chewing some lettuce.
Then the badge touched!
...And it fell over.
Shit. "MEDIC!"
Sister Quan moved over... oh right, she was his nurse at one point. Was she a veterinarian too? "No wounds, no shock, no... huh. He just seems to be asleep."
...Alright? "But no injuries?"
She reached over and began pulling medical notes from her storage ring. Which somehow included pet care books at this point. Maybe the guards? "I... I think he had a cultivation breakthrough?"
Sister Quan turned to the (very) confused Department lead. "What do you have the animals cultivate?"
He shrugged. "We don't? It could mess up future tests!"
Adam sighed. "Right, so... spontaneous cultivation advancement without a cultivation method." He blinked. "And a harem?"
She looked up, confused. "What?"
Little Tianshi was already in cuddle central! "More bunnies!"
Adam held back a groan. "Right, so where did the four apparently female rabbits come from? I thought this courtyard was closed off."
Rockette floated her stone body over to the bushes, showing a hole in the ground... and a fifth rabbit came out and began to snuggle the unconscious Mr. Fluffle Pants the First (Clearly not going to be the last).
...Right. "Sister Quan, please retrieve your rabbit... rabbits. Little Tianshi, we are going to have to test a much weaker Adventure Badge with your pug."
The little one was nearly buried in bunnies. "Will I get more doggies!?"
Adam sighed. "Maybe?" Thank everything holy that he had started off testing with only 0.0000001% 'Adam Aura' saturation. "Please move your pet. Even if she doesn't get a harem, it shouldn't hurt her."
Tianshi nodded. "Mr. Whiskers says that her name is now the Notorious, Powerful, Unblockable Goddess. And should be referred to as such."
Why won't this day end? "Then please move Notorious P.U.G. so we can finalize the Adventure Tokens. I would like to actually leave my Martial Spirit this year."
Although at this percentage, he would have to have millions of disciples using the damn badges for years to actually make a dent in this thing. So much for a quick fix.
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- Location
- From the moon
I can't stop laughing at the spontaneous harem thing. Just wtf...
- Location
- USA
You are alive woot woot!! And a day before my birthday too!!
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
...is the "minimum" result for non-cultivating, non-intelligent animals the same as the minimum result for a theoretical adventurer? Like, would a 5th order second stage human cultivator have a different threshold for getting a quest than a third order first stage human cultivator, who themselves has a different threshold than the animals currently being tested? Their own cultivation could interfere with it, or having sentience may raise the threshold, or some such. Human testing will be needed, and at multiple cultivation levels, ranging from "not a cultivator" to "Literally the Patriarch".
I am reminded of The Accursed, the ROB of a fairly well known quest series here on SV, who offers indentured servitude contracts that last for something like 681 octidecillion years.
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
I am not exactly tuned in the quests forum. Can you link the the first quest in the series, or the author so I can find all their quests with the search function? It seems like it would be interesting.
Prismatic Glaive
Friend to the Owl of Civilization
That rabbit is now the MC of the first ever Rabbit Xianxia story.
> A reject (because too cute)
>mysterious man helping him (Adam)
>Spontaneous advancement
>Harem
Now he only needs a sworn enemy
> A reject (because too cute)
>mysterious man helping him (Adam)
>Spontaneous advancement
>Harem
Now he only needs a sworn enemy
I cannot recall the name of either.
What I can recall is that, you should prepare yourself to experience salt without end, because the quest author is both entirely unforgiving and entirely without fucks regarding player complaints, while being an amazingly good writer.
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
I think I found it. A Simple Transaction 1 by Rihaku. A highly cursed ROB can give some of its curses to another, lightening its burden, and in the process will grant the receiver immense power or potential growth, at their discretion. The potential growth option requires you take the Geas of Indenture, which is the near-nonillion-year contract. Depending on the system used, that is either 10^30 or 10^54 years.
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That's the one!
Tisaku
Head Chief Thinkomancer
- Status