Disciples of Red Dew Sect (Cultivation Riot Quest)
- Thread starter Arcanestomper
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
- Location
- Israel
Imagine them reaching elder level, they would end up licking mountains!
Stared with a Brother Llama now we have a Brother Goat. 🤣
Turn 15: Results
@LinkOnScepter
@alexthealright
@Expecting Me
@wrecksalot
@Jaguar2234
The tournament qualifiers have a lot in common with the tournament itself. The same arenas are used and more or less the same rules. Which is essentially that anything goes. The arenas are heavily sealed with formations to prevent any truly life threatening attacks. The difference is that there are no grand announcers, festivities, or cheering audience. This is a straightforward sect mission watched over by clerks and inner disciples.
The other difference is that the intent here is not to see who is the best fighter in the sect. Simply to weed out anyone who wouldn't put forward an adequate showing in the real tournament. As such rather than a full fledged bracket the disciples are given the opportunity to have fights with other disciples in their realm until the judges are satisfied that they have gotten a grasp of their overall aptitude.
There are many hundreds of fights as the disciples go out and many friendships and rivalries are formed over the month of qualifiers. However the fights that everyone is quietly watching out for are those involving the young dragons. That group of disciples that have showcased their brilliance in one form or another. Only a handful of them are competing in the qualifiers, as the elders have already quietly let it be known that these exceptional disciples will be in the tournament regardless, but they are among the fights that attract the largest audiences of other disciples.
The foremost of the young dragons is Liu Jin. Wielding a sword of ice he battles through a series of senior disciples whose collective experience and age dwarfs his own. He quickly defeats several of the weaker senior disciple before eventually being defeated by a fan wielding disciple in the mid soldier realm whose blasts of wind keep him from ever getting close. His showing is good enough to put him solidly in the middle rankings of the outer disciple. Very impressive for someone who has only been a soldier for a few months.
The other outer disciple among the young dragons is Cai Delan and he doesn't do quite as well. His tactical experience is much more suited to group fighting than these solo duels, and his combat techniques prove somewhat inadequate against the more senior disciples. He manages to defeat several of his opponents through guile, but is eventually overwhelmed by a disciple who disarms him with sheer power and speed. After the qualifiers are over one of the inner disciples draws Cai Delan aside and offers him a bit of encouragement. Saying that if he simply finds a better sword to replace his currently inadequate one he should perform much better in the actual tournament.
By contrast the other three young dragons dominate the outer disciples. It quickly becomes clear in fact that they have no real opponents other than each other. Which leaves the judges in a somewhat complicated position.
After some discussion they decide to have the trio fight one of the weaker senior disciples as a group. Technically not testing their solo abilities, but that is mostly a formality anyway. They clearly won't be an embarrassment to the Red Dew sect.
The resulting fight will likely tarnish the unfortunate senior disciples reputation for the next few decades. Jian Ke and Hawk Cyr immediately pressed the disciple hard forcing him on the defensive immediately. Though more out of surprise than real pressure. However before he could recover Tan Bo seemingly erupted out of nowhere having somehow managed to hide himself on the featureless arena floor.
At that point the outer disciple was on the defensive out of pure desperation having to fend off swords and fists from every direction. Much to his eternal embarrassment the trio are able to pound him into the ground whereas normally a soldier would be expected to be more than a match for ten outer disciples.
Not that it was a completely one sided fight. The senior disciple was able to dish out several devastating blows of his own that blasted the trio around the arena. And while this wasn't enough to win the fact that he focused on Jian Ke as the most dangerous of the trio meant that the unfortunate sword wielder ended up with a broken arm that the headers say will take another month to heal.
Liu Jin: 660 Spirit Stones, +1 Path of Sword
Cai Delan: 525 Spirit Stones, +1 Path of Leadership
Jian Ke: 150 Spirit Stones, Injured, +2 Path of Sword
Hawk "Primal Monkey" Cyr: 150 Spirit Stones, +1 Path of Fists
Tan Bo: 150 Spirit Stones, +1 Path of Preparedness
@LordEdric
@1Arthas1
By contrast the alchemy, carving, and forging qualifiers see considerably less enthusiasm from the sect disciples. Crafting treasures is not one of the core components of the Red Dew sect and only a hundred die hard enthusiasts are willing to test their skills against the other sects.
Ding Dong soon pulls well ahead of the rest of the disciples from the forging hall. Not only is he a young dragon himself, but he is also the secret inheritor of the Forge Elder, and has gleaned many insights from poring over the incomplete manuals. He is able to forge a jade sword which greatly impresses the inner disciples in charge of judging the various works from the forging hall.
By contrast Lucky Dong doesn't have quite as much separating his formation work from the other disciples. He only has the Red Dew School itself to go on after all. So his formations are the same as those of the other disciples. However he is able to execute them with more speed and precision than his peers, which earns him a commendation from the judges.
Ding Dong: 105 Spirit Stones, +1 Path of Blacksmithing
Lucky Dong: 90 Spirit Stones, +3 Path of Formation Breaking
@rush99999
To no one's surprise Hanyi spends the rest of the month on a drunken bender. What is a surprise is that it is a sponsored bender. The sect elders are footing the bender for reasons beyond the comprehension of the regular disciples. They don't need to understand to partake however and the pagoda set aside for the festivities sees many visitors.
Most can't actually bear an entire month of drinking and need to leave to recover after just a week or two. Though there are always more disciples ready to replace them, and many disciples gain a new found respect for Hanyi's sheer fortitude to be able to survive the constant alcohol.
Hanyi Huoshui: 150 Spirit Stones, +3 Path of Drunken Sage Insights
@SootCube
@fluxeal
@Floom
The team sets out to map the Qi flows of the barony led by senior disciple Gu Jin. With him are disciples Xìngyùn Xīng and Wuyin along with a number of lesser disciples whose fate it is to forever be nameless actors in the stories of other people. Their goal is to fully map out any irregularities in the qi that the elders will be able to investigate more thoroughly.
They first do a thorough pass over the more cultivated portions of the sect. The hills and grain fields in which the regular mortals live their lives. This yields no particularly interesting features. Though Gu Jin notes that the mortal villages are located on suspiciously regular sources of wood qi. In fact this entire section of the barony is very thoroughly laced with wood energy.
Next they head north checking the roads to the Azure Crack and its surroundings. The Qi in this part of the barony is far more earth aligned, but flows steadily between Red Dew mountain and the crack.
Finally the team looks towards the forest with trepidation. They can't map the whole thing of course. That would be suicide, but they can at least survey the outer forest. Gu Jin and Xingyun prepare their weapons while Wuyin leads her little band of disciple in an effort to cast a high level soldier technique with her new radiant mirror and the aid of Tien.
Once the disciples are prepared they head in. Fortunately the effects of the beast tide still linger and the forest is quiet for once. The guardian trees only lethargically attempt to kill the trespassers and the disciples have time between the hourly beast attacks to perform their qi survey.
The team falls into a pattern where Wuyin's group sets up a shield around their temporary camps, Gu Jin patrols the perimeter, and Xìngyùn Xīng meditates on the actual local qi. Unfortunately this places Xing in the center of the camp and that apparently leads the spirit beasts to view him as the priority target. They don't know what he is doing, but they want him to stop.
As such almost every spirit beast makes a point of trying to bite off pieces of Xing. Most of them don't succeed, but a dolomite mantis is able to sneak by Gu Jin and slash poor Xing up rather thoroughly before the other disciples are able to dispatch it.
Gu Jin: 1,080 Spirit Stones, 1 Path of Wood Insight
Xìngyùn Xīng: 150 Spirit Stones, Injured, +3 Whims of Fate Insight
Wuyin: 345 Spirit Stones, 3 Path of Change Insights
While he is limping back to the sect at the end of the mission Xìngyùn Xīng decides that he would like to be stronger, and also not in a serious amount of pain. At the night's camp he enters a state of meditation and detonates the qi in his dantian.
When he opens his eyes once again he has entered the forged soldier realm. HIs side no longer pains him for his flesh is unblemished and his muscles are filled with intense power. But far more interesting is that he can now see the signs around him. It seems obvious now that the girl tending the campfire will step into a pit later. That the boy hanging up cleaned robes is going to lose his stone purse.
There are omens everywhere and they are all bad. Xìngyùn Xīng is glad he isn't the only one who suffers such ill fates. He makes sure to tell the girl at the fire that the road ahead is rough, and picks up the boy's coin purse to return to him later.
Xìngyùn Xīng: Soldier Breakthrough, Injury Healed
Xìngyùn Xīng: Attributes Reset, Iron Fortune, Path of Bad Omens (+2)
Note: Xìngyùn Xīng reduces the injuries of anyone on the same mission as him.
@Oseanman
@SteelWriter77
@BadAtScreenNames
@Abyssius
@Uber_Fail_Dinesh
Mortals live short lives in the empire. This is something that everyone knows. They die to bandits, to spirit beasts, or just from old age. It isn't something most cultivators think about. Or even most mortals really. It's simply a fact of life. And because of this most cultivators don't consider what millions of mortals living and dying for thousands of years actually means in practical terms. Where do all those bodies go?
The answer that looms over the disciples when they respond to Elder Smiling Vulture's mission is the labyrinth of regret. It is a maze of catacombs and mausoleums built on top of layer after layer of even more ancient catacombs and graveyards. It looms just outside Roaring Furnace city like an artificial city, and is all the more impressive because cultivators were not involved. It is simply the result of many many generations of mortals needing a place to bury their honored ancestors.
Nobody really knows how deep it goes, not even the undertaker clan that maintains and expands it. But there are rooms of entire lost tribes living in the depths that have become ghouls in their desperation to survive. More pertinently to the disciples is the intense death qi they can feel the instant they step into the labyrinth. It is intense and potent, a valuable source of cultivation for certain paths.
According to the reports the sect has received some loose cultivators arriving for the tournament have decided to take advantage of the sect's hospitality to set up ghost cultivation gangs in the labyrinth. This cannot be allowed for two reasons. First ghost cultivators usually aren't satisfied with just a graveyard. They tend to start terrorizing the mortals eventually. Second, those are the Red Dew Sect's ghosts and the sect isn't going to just let some random loose cultivators take them.
Thus the mission. Several dozen disciples group up and follow the young dragons into the labyrinth. It does not take long to find the ghost cultivators. They were worried about being spotted by an elder and once they realize they are only being confronted by a bunch of peasants are much more arrogant.
They plant their ghost banners and unleash a storm of wailing ghosts. Bái Yǔ is prepared for this and chants the sutras of exorcism to banish this first stream. However the ghost cultivators were of course waiting for this. Dealing with exorcists is a standard precaution for such borderline cultivators. They bring out several ghost soldiers to deal with the meddlesome disciples.
What they are not prepared for is when the disciple leap into the fray to fight the ghosts directly. Between Sun Won's scripture punches, Hong Xing's qi punches, and Lín Guǐ's punches of pure fury the ghost soldiers are mobbed by the disciples and pummeled into exoplasm.
The ghost cultivators are taken aback. This is not how this is supposed to go according to the usual script. Still they can handle a bunch of kids. Their leader decides to pull out his trump card and release a ghost knight. Before he can though he is met with fire. Lots and lots of fire as Liang Xinyue proceeds to perform his signature technique and turn everything to ash.
After that the ghost cultivators main concern is joining their former cultivation resources in death. The ghost knight banner is quickly sealed by inner disciple Hu before it can unseal anyway and the outer disciples are left with the task of cleaning up all the ghosts disturbed by the proceeds. Though most of them run away once they realize the disciples are looking at them.
Bái Yǔ: 120 Spirit Stones, +1 Path of Exorcism
Sun Won: 120 Spirit Stones, +1 Path of Purification
Lín Guǐ: 75 Spirit Stones, +1 Path of Fists
Liang Xinyue: 300 Spirit Stones, +1 Path of Ash
Hong Xing: 135 Spirit Stones, +1 Path of Exorcism
@Worm_that_Walks
@Ghost in the sun
Shufen did not expect the immense welcome that Xìngyùn arranged for her. After getting permission from her own seniors she is happy to be shown around the Red Dew Sect. At least for a while. It doesn't take her long to ask where she can get some more action and inquire as to what Xìngyùn is actually doing.
Happy to oblige, Bingxi tells her all about the quest from the elders and the need to explore the Ancient Devil Forest. She doesn't notice that the more she talks about the dangers the more Shufen's eyes light up. Before long Shufen demands to explore the Ancient Devil Forest herself. And after double checking that everyone is armed and prepared, Bigxi and Cheng Nan agree.
Both of them are on high alert as the group enters the periphery of the forest. Fortunately things are still fairly quiet. Or at least that's what they thought right up until an oak spirt uproots itself and decides to stomp the impertinent disciples into the ground.
They are preparing to retreat when they are interrupted by excited laughter. Looking over they can see that Shufen has gotten a wild look in her eye. Metal scales cover her arms and she jumps forward to engage the Oak Spirit in combat. The disciples hurry to support her, but it soon becomes clear that she could probably have chopped the oak spirit apart on her own if.
Still the disciples' various techniques turn what would have been a hard fight into an enjoyable one and as Cheng Nan patches up what few injuries there were afterwards Shufen excitedly asks if there are any more of those as she lounges in her new oak throne.
In the end the disciples return from the forest with one smiling disciple of the righteous wildfire sect and one newly created cart full of wood furniture. It turns out the wildfire sect also knows woodworking techniques.
Cheng Nan: 165 Spirit Stones, +3 Path of Viscera
Bingxi: 90 Spirit Stones, +3 Path of Teamwork
@moon-llama
@Poofs
@Abensur
Most of the disciples are off doing other things, but there are always groups studying the Red Dew School. Luòtuó joins one and after examining the newly distributed secondary set of techniques, finds that many of them have to do with beast taming and how to fight beast tamers. This complements his own beast taming technique quite well and he has no trouble learning the new techniques.
He even has enough time to go aid his juniors. He helps disciple June Peng comprehend the new beast taming portions before moving to disciple Wan Tian and helping him to learn the fundamental stances of the Red Dew Sect.
Luòtuó: Red Dew School (Copper), +3 Path of Ruling
June Peng: Red Dew School (Copper), +1 Path of Red Dew
Wan Tian: Red Dew School (Clay), +3 Path of Bliss
@Epic Bygones
@Shadowolf235
@Vanestus
Not everyone is preparing for the tournament or training their bodies. Some people are training their spirit. Dotted around the sect are isolated pagodas where disciples can meditate when they want to consider the heavens in isolation. Now several of them are being used for their intended purpose.
Wu Ji Nin is considering all the questions he has asked around the sect and his investigations into Elder Sunflower. It hasn't led to anything concrete yet, but he feels he has gained insight into how such information can be obtained.
Daiki Inoue meanwhile is considering the archives. How almost everything seems to be stored in the scrolls and the wisdom of the ancients can be accessed if you just know where to look.
Liao Chuanli thoughts are more of a muddle. He has been mostly living day to day in the sect and taking things as they come. But still this is what the meditation pagodas are for. To give disciples time and space to put their thoughts into order and consider what the world has taught them. And so it is with Liao Chuanli. He realizes that he has actually done much to advance his original reason for being a cultivator. He has learned how to refine plants and beasts into materials, and seen how to gather them out in the wild.
Wu Ji Nin: Path of the Detective Enlightenment, -6 Path of the Detective Insights, +2 Path of Contemplation
Daiki Inoue: Path of Chronicles Enlightenment, -6 Path of Chronicles Insights, +2 Paths of Contemplation
Liao Chuanli: Path of the Refiner Enlightenment, -3 Path of Tea Insights, -1 Path of the Survivor Insight, -1 Path of the Butcher Insight
@HousePet
@DiscordOxymoron
@szymonmolitoris2
@Guest99
@Joker13
@AmeliaNyoom
@_Plague Doctor_
@CedeTheBees
Throughout the red dew sect the rest of the young dragons concentrate on their personal developments. They work and train seeking to refine their skills to better prepare for their future plans. Some learn to cook. Pan Tingfeng refines his recipes for preparing local dishes with a cultivator flare. While Gan Jia's current stall location can be identified by looking for the groups of mellow disciples watching clouds, leaves, and fascinating insects.
Some focus on their spiritual organs. They strengthen their innate techniques beyond what most disciples would care to. The Changjian learn to identify every color of qi they see in the sect at a glance from the common types such as yellow earth, to the uncommon orange of lava qi, and even the rare silver qi from their own spirit roots.
Through sheer mathematical precision Jiang Chen works out the optimal method to train his passionate heart. He alternates overusing his qi through it with predefined resting periods and soon finds that he can pump far more qi through his body. Riyadh's method to practice the same technique is less refined. He simply uses his mastery of time to isolate himself and spend quite a bit of extra time attempting various methods to train his heart.
And some follow their paths. In his courtyard Li has graduated to using a training boulder to practice his boxing techniques. He doesn't stop until he can reliably destroy a boulder in a single blow. Stan Li ventures into the archives and manages to find the recipe for a pill that is supposed to sharpen the mind and make studying far easier. He doesn't quite finish learning it, but he is excited about the possibilities. While in the forging hall Do Mwin practices the fundamentals of blacksmithing. She doesn't even attempt to make an artifact yet and instead focuses on refining various ores into ingots and seeing how they alloy into various spirit metals with more useful properties.
Pan Tingfeng: Red Dew Specialties (Clay), Red Dew Specialties (Copper) 1/3, +1 Path of Cooking
Gan Jia: Gan Jia's Herbal Dumplings (Clay), Gan Jia's Herbal Dumplings (Copper) 1/3, +1 Path of Cooking, +2 Path of Art
Changjian Meinu: Rainbow Eyes (Copper), Rainbow Eyes (Iron) 1/3, +3 Piercing Blade Insight
Jiang Chen: Passionate Heart (Silver), Passionate Heart (Gold) 2/3, +3 Path of Sword Insight
Riyadh: Passionate Heart (Copper), +1 Path of Time Insight
Li: Boxing Manual (Iron), +1 Path of Boxing Insight
Stan Li: Crystal Mind Pill (Clay) 2/3, +3 Path of Alchemy Insight
Do Mwin: The Soul of Metal (2/3), +1 Path of Metal Insight
Turn 15 Official Cultivation
@alexthealright
@Expecting Me
@wrecksalot
@Jaguar2234
The tournament qualifiers have a lot in common with the tournament itself. The same arenas are used and more or less the same rules. Which is essentially that anything goes. The arenas are heavily sealed with formations to prevent any truly life threatening attacks. The difference is that there are no grand announcers, festivities, or cheering audience. This is a straightforward sect mission watched over by clerks and inner disciples.
The other difference is that the intent here is not to see who is the best fighter in the sect. Simply to weed out anyone who wouldn't put forward an adequate showing in the real tournament. As such rather than a full fledged bracket the disciples are given the opportunity to have fights with other disciples in their realm until the judges are satisfied that they have gotten a grasp of their overall aptitude.
There are many hundreds of fights as the disciples go out and many friendships and rivalries are formed over the month of qualifiers. However the fights that everyone is quietly watching out for are those involving the young dragons. That group of disciples that have showcased their brilliance in one form or another. Only a handful of them are competing in the qualifiers, as the elders have already quietly let it be known that these exceptional disciples will be in the tournament regardless, but they are among the fights that attract the largest audiences of other disciples.
The foremost of the young dragons is Liu Jin. Wielding a sword of ice he battles through a series of senior disciples whose collective experience and age dwarfs his own. He quickly defeats several of the weaker senior disciple before eventually being defeated by a fan wielding disciple in the mid soldier realm whose blasts of wind keep him from ever getting close. His showing is good enough to put him solidly in the middle rankings of the outer disciple. Very impressive for someone who has only been a soldier for a few months.
The other outer disciple among the young dragons is Cai Delan and he doesn't do quite as well. His tactical experience is much more suited to group fighting than these solo duels, and his combat techniques prove somewhat inadequate against the more senior disciples. He manages to defeat several of his opponents through guile, but is eventually overwhelmed by a disciple who disarms him with sheer power and speed. After the qualifiers are over one of the inner disciples draws Cai Delan aside and offers him a bit of encouragement. Saying that if he simply finds a better sword to replace his currently inadequate one he should perform much better in the actual tournament.
By contrast the other three young dragons dominate the outer disciples. It quickly becomes clear in fact that they have no real opponents other than each other. Which leaves the judges in a somewhat complicated position.
After some discussion they decide to have the trio fight one of the weaker senior disciples as a group. Technically not testing their solo abilities, but that is mostly a formality anyway. They clearly won't be an embarrassment to the Red Dew sect.
The resulting fight will likely tarnish the unfortunate senior disciples reputation for the next few decades. Jian Ke and Hawk Cyr immediately pressed the disciple hard forcing him on the defensive immediately. Though more out of surprise than real pressure. However before he could recover Tan Bo seemingly erupted out of nowhere having somehow managed to hide himself on the featureless arena floor.
At that point the outer disciple was on the defensive out of pure desperation having to fend off swords and fists from every direction. Much to his eternal embarrassment the trio are able to pound him into the ground whereas normally a soldier would be expected to be more than a match for ten outer disciples.
Not that it was a completely one sided fight. The senior disciple was able to dish out several devastating blows of his own that blasted the trio around the arena. And while this wasn't enough to win the fact that he focused on Jian Ke as the most dangerous of the trio meant that the unfortunate sword wielder ended up with a broken arm that the headers say will take another month to heal.
Liu Jin: 660 Spirit Stones, +1 Path of Sword
Cai Delan: 525 Spirit Stones, +1 Path of Leadership
Jian Ke: 150 Spirit Stones, Injured, +2 Path of Sword
Hawk "Primal Monkey" Cyr: 150 Spirit Stones, +1 Path of Fists
Tan Bo: 150 Spirit Stones, +1 Path of Preparedness
@LordEdric
@1Arthas1
By contrast the alchemy, carving, and forging qualifiers see considerably less enthusiasm from the sect disciples. Crafting treasures is not one of the core components of the Red Dew sect and only a hundred die hard enthusiasts are willing to test their skills against the other sects.
Ding Dong soon pulls well ahead of the rest of the disciples from the forging hall. Not only is he a young dragon himself, but he is also the secret inheritor of the Forge Elder, and has gleaned many insights from poring over the incomplete manuals. He is able to forge a jade sword which greatly impresses the inner disciples in charge of judging the various works from the forging hall.
By contrast Lucky Dong doesn't have quite as much separating his formation work from the other disciples. He only has the Red Dew School itself to go on after all. So his formations are the same as those of the other disciples. However he is able to execute them with more speed and precision than his peers, which earns him a commendation from the judges.
Ding Dong: 105 Spirit Stones, +1 Path of Blacksmithing
Lucky Dong: 90 Spirit Stones, +3 Path of Formation Breaking
@rush99999
To no one's surprise Hanyi spends the rest of the month on a drunken bender. What is a surprise is that it is a sponsored bender. The sect elders are footing the bender for reasons beyond the comprehension of the regular disciples. They don't need to understand to partake however and the pagoda set aside for the festivities sees many visitors.
Most can't actually bear an entire month of drinking and need to leave to recover after just a week or two. Though there are always more disciples ready to replace them, and many disciples gain a new found respect for Hanyi's sheer fortitude to be able to survive the constant alcohol.
Hanyi Huoshui: 150 Spirit Stones, +3 Path of Drunken Sage Insights
@SootCube
@fluxeal
@Floom
The team sets out to map the Qi flows of the barony led by senior disciple Gu Jin. With him are disciples Xìngyùn Xīng and Wuyin along with a number of lesser disciples whose fate it is to forever be nameless actors in the stories of other people. Their goal is to fully map out any irregularities in the qi that the elders will be able to investigate more thoroughly.
They first do a thorough pass over the more cultivated portions of the sect. The hills and grain fields in which the regular mortals live their lives. This yields no particularly interesting features. Though Gu Jin notes that the mortal villages are located on suspiciously regular sources of wood qi. In fact this entire section of the barony is very thoroughly laced with wood energy.
Next they head north checking the roads to the Azure Crack and its surroundings. The Qi in this part of the barony is far more earth aligned, but flows steadily between Red Dew mountain and the crack.
Finally the team looks towards the forest with trepidation. They can't map the whole thing of course. That would be suicide, but they can at least survey the outer forest. Gu Jin and Xingyun prepare their weapons while Wuyin leads her little band of disciple in an effort to cast a high level soldier technique with her new radiant mirror and the aid of Tien.
Once the disciples are prepared they head in. Fortunately the effects of the beast tide still linger and the forest is quiet for once. The guardian trees only lethargically attempt to kill the trespassers and the disciples have time between the hourly beast attacks to perform their qi survey.
The team falls into a pattern where Wuyin's group sets up a shield around their temporary camps, Gu Jin patrols the perimeter, and Xìngyùn Xīng meditates on the actual local qi. Unfortunately this places Xing in the center of the camp and that apparently leads the spirit beasts to view him as the priority target. They don't know what he is doing, but they want him to stop.
As such almost every spirit beast makes a point of trying to bite off pieces of Xing. Most of them don't succeed, but a dolomite mantis is able to sneak by Gu Jin and slash poor Xing up rather thoroughly before the other disciples are able to dispatch it.
Gu Jin: 1,080 Spirit Stones, 1 Path of Wood Insight
Xìngyùn Xīng: 150 Spirit Stones, Injured, +3 Whims of Fate Insight
Wuyin: 345 Spirit Stones, 3 Path of Change Insights
While he is limping back to the sect at the end of the mission Xìngyùn Xīng decides that he would like to be stronger, and also not in a serious amount of pain. At the night's camp he enters a state of meditation and detonates the qi in his dantian.
When he opens his eyes once again he has entered the forged soldier realm. HIs side no longer pains him for his flesh is unblemished and his muscles are filled with intense power. But far more interesting is that he can now see the signs around him. It seems obvious now that the girl tending the campfire will step into a pit later. That the boy hanging up cleaned robes is going to lose his stone purse.
There are omens everywhere and they are all bad. Xìngyùn Xīng is glad he isn't the only one who suffers such ill fates. He makes sure to tell the girl at the fire that the road ahead is rough, and picks up the boy's coin purse to return to him later.
Xìngyùn Xīng: Soldier Breakthrough, Injury Healed
Xìngyùn Xīng: Attributes Reset, Iron Fortune, Path of Bad Omens (+2)
Note: Xìngyùn Xīng reduces the injuries of anyone on the same mission as him.
@Oseanman
@SteelWriter77
@BadAtScreenNames
@Abyssius
@Uber_Fail_Dinesh
Mortals live short lives in the empire. This is something that everyone knows. They die to bandits, to spirit beasts, or just from old age. It isn't something most cultivators think about. Or even most mortals really. It's simply a fact of life. And because of this most cultivators don't consider what millions of mortals living and dying for thousands of years actually means in practical terms. Where do all those bodies go?
The answer that looms over the disciples when they respond to Elder Smiling Vulture's mission is the labyrinth of regret. It is a maze of catacombs and mausoleums built on top of layer after layer of even more ancient catacombs and graveyards. It looms just outside Roaring Furnace city like an artificial city, and is all the more impressive because cultivators were not involved. It is simply the result of many many generations of mortals needing a place to bury their honored ancestors.
Nobody really knows how deep it goes, not even the undertaker clan that maintains and expands it. But there are rooms of entire lost tribes living in the depths that have become ghouls in their desperation to survive. More pertinently to the disciples is the intense death qi they can feel the instant they step into the labyrinth. It is intense and potent, a valuable source of cultivation for certain paths.
According to the reports the sect has received some loose cultivators arriving for the tournament have decided to take advantage of the sect's hospitality to set up ghost cultivation gangs in the labyrinth. This cannot be allowed for two reasons. First ghost cultivators usually aren't satisfied with just a graveyard. They tend to start terrorizing the mortals eventually. Second, those are the Red Dew Sect's ghosts and the sect isn't going to just let some random loose cultivators take them.
Thus the mission. Several dozen disciples group up and follow the young dragons into the labyrinth. It does not take long to find the ghost cultivators. They were worried about being spotted by an elder and once they realize they are only being confronted by a bunch of peasants are much more arrogant.
They plant their ghost banners and unleash a storm of wailing ghosts. Bái Yǔ is prepared for this and chants the sutras of exorcism to banish this first stream. However the ghost cultivators were of course waiting for this. Dealing with exorcists is a standard precaution for such borderline cultivators. They bring out several ghost soldiers to deal with the meddlesome disciples.
What they are not prepared for is when the disciple leap into the fray to fight the ghosts directly. Between Sun Won's scripture punches, Hong Xing's qi punches, and Lín Guǐ's punches of pure fury the ghost soldiers are mobbed by the disciples and pummeled into exoplasm.
The ghost cultivators are taken aback. This is not how this is supposed to go according to the usual script. Still they can handle a bunch of kids. Their leader decides to pull out his trump card and release a ghost knight. Before he can though he is met with fire. Lots and lots of fire as Liang Xinyue proceeds to perform his signature technique and turn everything to ash.
After that the ghost cultivators main concern is joining their former cultivation resources in death. The ghost knight banner is quickly sealed by inner disciple Hu before it can unseal anyway and the outer disciples are left with the task of cleaning up all the ghosts disturbed by the proceeds. Though most of them run away once they realize the disciples are looking at them.
Bái Yǔ: 120 Spirit Stones, +1 Path of Exorcism
Sun Won: 120 Spirit Stones, +1 Path of Purification
Lín Guǐ: 75 Spirit Stones, +1 Path of Fists
Liang Xinyue: 300 Spirit Stones, +1 Path of Ash
Hong Xing: 135 Spirit Stones, +1 Path of Exorcism
@Worm_that_Walks
@Ghost in the sun
Shufen did not expect the immense welcome that Xìngyùn arranged for her. After getting permission from her own seniors she is happy to be shown around the Red Dew Sect. At least for a while. It doesn't take her long to ask where she can get some more action and inquire as to what Xìngyùn is actually doing.
Happy to oblige, Bingxi tells her all about the quest from the elders and the need to explore the Ancient Devil Forest. She doesn't notice that the more she talks about the dangers the more Shufen's eyes light up. Before long Shufen demands to explore the Ancient Devil Forest herself. And after double checking that everyone is armed and prepared, Bigxi and Cheng Nan agree.
Both of them are on high alert as the group enters the periphery of the forest. Fortunately things are still fairly quiet. Or at least that's what they thought right up until an oak spirt uproots itself and decides to stomp the impertinent disciples into the ground.
They are preparing to retreat when they are interrupted by excited laughter. Looking over they can see that Shufen has gotten a wild look in her eye. Metal scales cover her arms and she jumps forward to engage the Oak Spirit in combat. The disciples hurry to support her, but it soon becomes clear that she could probably have chopped the oak spirit apart on her own if.
Still the disciples' various techniques turn what would have been a hard fight into an enjoyable one and as Cheng Nan patches up what few injuries there were afterwards Shufen excitedly asks if there are any more of those as she lounges in her new oak throne.
In the end the disciples return from the forest with one smiling disciple of the righteous wildfire sect and one newly created cart full of wood furniture. It turns out the wildfire sect also knows woodworking techniques.
Cheng Nan: 165 Spirit Stones, +3 Path of Viscera
Bingxi: 90 Spirit Stones, +3 Path of Teamwork
@moon-llama
@Poofs
@Abensur
Most of the disciples are off doing other things, but there are always groups studying the Red Dew School. Luòtuó joins one and after examining the newly distributed secondary set of techniques, finds that many of them have to do with beast taming and how to fight beast tamers. This complements his own beast taming technique quite well and he has no trouble learning the new techniques.
He even has enough time to go aid his juniors. He helps disciple June Peng comprehend the new beast taming portions before moving to disciple Wan Tian and helping him to learn the fundamental stances of the Red Dew Sect.
Luòtuó: Red Dew School (Copper), +3 Path of Ruling
June Peng: Red Dew School (Copper), +1 Path of Red Dew
Wan Tian: Red Dew School (Clay), +3 Path of Bliss
@Epic Bygones
@Shadowolf235
@Vanestus
Not everyone is preparing for the tournament or training their bodies. Some people are training their spirit. Dotted around the sect are isolated pagodas where disciples can meditate when they want to consider the heavens in isolation. Now several of them are being used for their intended purpose.
Wu Ji Nin is considering all the questions he has asked around the sect and his investigations into Elder Sunflower. It hasn't led to anything concrete yet, but he feels he has gained insight into how such information can be obtained.
Daiki Inoue meanwhile is considering the archives. How almost everything seems to be stored in the scrolls and the wisdom of the ancients can be accessed if you just know where to look.
Liao Chuanli thoughts are more of a muddle. He has been mostly living day to day in the sect and taking things as they come. But still this is what the meditation pagodas are for. To give disciples time and space to put their thoughts into order and consider what the world has taught them. And so it is with Liao Chuanli. He realizes that he has actually done much to advance his original reason for being a cultivator. He has learned how to refine plants and beasts into materials, and seen how to gather them out in the wild.
Wu Ji Nin: Path of the Detective Enlightenment, -6 Path of the Detective Insights, +2 Path of Contemplation
Daiki Inoue: Path of Chronicles Enlightenment, -6 Path of Chronicles Insights, +2 Paths of Contemplation
Liao Chuanli: Path of the Refiner Enlightenment, -3 Path of Tea Insights, -1 Path of the Survivor Insight, -1 Path of the Butcher Insight
@HousePet
@DiscordOxymoron
@szymonmolitoris2
@Guest99
@Joker13
@AmeliaNyoom
@_Plague Doctor_
@CedeTheBees
Throughout the red dew sect the rest of the young dragons concentrate on their personal developments. They work and train seeking to refine their skills to better prepare for their future plans. Some learn to cook. Pan Tingfeng refines his recipes for preparing local dishes with a cultivator flare. While Gan Jia's current stall location can be identified by looking for the groups of mellow disciples watching clouds, leaves, and fascinating insects.
Some focus on their spiritual organs. They strengthen their innate techniques beyond what most disciples would care to. The Changjian learn to identify every color of qi they see in the sect at a glance from the common types such as yellow earth, to the uncommon orange of lava qi, and even the rare silver qi from their own spirit roots.
Through sheer mathematical precision Jiang Chen works out the optimal method to train his passionate heart. He alternates overusing his qi through it with predefined resting periods and soon finds that he can pump far more qi through his body. Riyadh's method to practice the same technique is less refined. He simply uses his mastery of time to isolate himself and spend quite a bit of extra time attempting various methods to train his heart.
And some follow their paths. In his courtyard Li has graduated to using a training boulder to practice his boxing techniques. He doesn't stop until he can reliably destroy a boulder in a single blow. Stan Li ventures into the archives and manages to find the recipe for a pill that is supposed to sharpen the mind and make studying far easier. He doesn't quite finish learning it, but he is excited about the possibilities. While in the forging hall Do Mwin practices the fundamentals of blacksmithing. She doesn't even attempt to make an artifact yet and instead focuses on refining various ores into ingots and seeing how they alloy into various spirit metals with more useful properties.
Pan Tingfeng: Red Dew Specialties (Clay), Red Dew Specialties (Copper) 1/3, +1 Path of Cooking
Gan Jia: Gan Jia's Herbal Dumplings (Clay), Gan Jia's Herbal Dumplings (Copper) 1/3, +1 Path of Cooking, +2 Path of Art
Changjian Meinu: Rainbow Eyes (Copper), Rainbow Eyes (Iron) 1/3, +3 Piercing Blade Insight
Jiang Chen: Passionate Heart (Silver), Passionate Heart (Gold) 2/3, +3 Path of Sword Insight
Riyadh: Passionate Heart (Copper), +1 Path of Time Insight
Li: Boxing Manual (Iron), +1 Path of Boxing Insight
Stan Li: Crystal Mind Pill (Clay) 2/3, +3 Path of Alchemy Insight
Do Mwin: The Soul of Metal (2/3), +1 Path of Metal Insight
Turn 15 Official Cultivation
| Peasants | Cultivation |
| Hawk "Primal Monkey" Cyr | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Lung Doji | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Hanyi Huoshui | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Wu Ji Nin | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Li | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Riyadh | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Changjian Meinu | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Wuyin | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Hong Xing | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Luòtuó | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Liao Chuanli | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Pan Tingfeng | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Daiki Inoue | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Gan Jia | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Liang Xinyue | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Ding Dong | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Jang Hui | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Yu Siyuan | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Jian Ke | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Jiang Chen | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| June Peng | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Tan Bo | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Cheng Nan | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Zao Zao | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: 6/10 |
| Lucky Dong | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: 2/10 |
| Do Mwin | Tempered Heart: 7/9 |
| Bingxi | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: 1/10 |
| Stan Li | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: 1/10 |
| Sun Won | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: 0/10 |
| Lín Guǐ | Tempered Heart: 8/9 |
| Bái Yǔ | Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Wan Tian | Tempered Heart: 5/9 |
| Soldiers | Cultivation |
| Liu Jin | Forged Spine:26/40 |
| Cai Delan | Forged Spine:26/40 |
| Gu Jin | Forged Spine:35/40 |
| Xìngyùn xīng | Forged Spine:28/40 |
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LinkOnScepter
The One who Strangles Concepts to death
- Location
- Interwebs
Huh. Didn't think I would distinguish myself amongst the others in that. Well done everyone.
Li: Now I need a sparing partner
LinkOnScepter
The One who Strangles Concepts to death
- Location
- Interwebs
Hello there.
Who's your character
Yeah sure who's your and my PC needs a different kind of training
LinkOnScepter
The One who Strangles Concepts to death
- Location
- Interwebs
Hawk Cyr. The other one who helped in the fight against the Senior Disciple.
Let's see it says you have a gold rank body but low skill sure. We can spar next turn do I would suggest you pick up some kind of martial art for your PC
LinkOnScepter
The One who Strangles Concepts to death
- Location
- Interwebs
If you want. I'm trying to become a body cultivator, but haven't gotten the insight needed to breakthrough yet.
Sure lets do it
- Location
- New Jersey
The newest one Wan Tian, he has a star body art and I just finished the Red Dew training, though tbh that might have to wait depending on how long until the tournament, I need to test myself in these qualifiers.
Okay so wan tain and hawk soar with hawk next turn
BadAtScreenNames
Killed a man in Reno just to watch him die
- Location
- the (currently) United Kingdom
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Lin Gui: Elder brother! Elder brother! I volunteer to fling my fists against yours in a desperate balance of skill, violence and oblivion!
Okay so next turn pc Spars with Lin and Hawk
@Arcanestomper Can I get paid in soldier spirit stones instead of peasant spirit stones please?
Yes, you can.
I might have misunderstood how creating an enlightenment works. I thought you picked 9 Insights of any kind you had and lost them all to create an Enlightenment you wanted (possibly limited by reasonableness or justification, i.e. no Sword Enlightenment from 5 Sleep and 4 Reading Insights unless you're quite creative).
Could you clarify the system?
Yes, that is essentially how it works. But I decided that spending an action should help fill in a few insights too.
Ah, so I lost 6 Insights while keeping the remaining 3 I used, and I got 2 new ones as well. Did I get that right?
Can you create an Enlightenment without spending an action on it and, in that case, without getting new insights/a discount?
And why did I receive a Detective Enlightenment instead of the Investigation Enlightenment I asked for? Or was that a mistake?
Can you create an Enlightenment without spending an action on it and, in that case, without getting new insights/a discount?
And why did I receive a Detective Enlightenment instead of the Investigation Enlightenment I asked for? Or was that a mistake?
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CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I thought we had to use an action to make an enlightenment? Can I just do that right now if I wanted?