Forge of Destiny(Xianxia Quest)

[Thor's Twin]

Is it a Problem?

The tea trembled in Meizhen's hands, imperceptible to a mortal perhaps, but to one of her stature, it was clear and disturbing. It expressed, in her moment of solitude, the roiling emotions hidden within her gut. Anxiety, trepidation, and most disturbing of all, fear.

A sigh left Miezhen's mouth. This was the eve of the competition, the eve before she would portray her progress and the might of the Bai against her lessers. Her progress was satisfactory, and her accomplishments since coming here had convinced Grandfather and Aunt Suzhen to gift her even more resources to fuel her ascension. Whether their attentions were worth it would be determined over the course of a single week, and against some of the greatest talent of the Empire. The Cai and the Sun had left their scions here and it would be those that would determine her mettle.

Meizhen contemplated the emotions roiling within her, and most of them sprouted from the fact that her Aunt was coming to witness the fight personally. Fear of failing in her Aunt's eyes, trepidation at what the future held, anxiety that all she had worked for would be for naught. The future was vague and mutable, the past unchanging and uncaring, but the present could be wrought with her own power. Success was in her grasp, and the confidence needed to seize it would be crucial in the upcoming fights with Sun and Cai.

With a breath, Meizhen released the emotions, she had no need of them and they would only distract her. Purpose, conviction, and tradition. She would succeed, and that was all there was too it. Looking at the sun slowly falling beyond the horizon, Meizhen poured a fresh cup of tea and set it out on the dinner table. Ling Qi had requested a moment of her time this eve, and she should be arriving within a few moments.

A flickering of qi was the only forewarning that Meizhen had of Ling Qi's arrival, and that was only due to Meizhen knowing when and what to look for. They sat there in silence for a moment, both enjoying the tea prepared.

"So, Meizhen, I have a question about some basics of cultivation that might seem really silly, but I was hoping you could indulge me with an answer."

Meizhen took another sip of tea before responding, "Your base cultivation seems to be acceptable, what question might you have that needs answering now?"

"Well," Ling Qi began looking increasingly sheepish, "I was wondering if there were any penalties to not cultivating qi before the third realm? Like, if you don't cultivate it before the third realm will you not be able to cultivate it later?"

"That doesn't seem to be a question that has any pertinence to you," Meizhen replied. "I am not sure of any inhibition to cultivating qi after the third realm should a cultivator refuse to do so before then. If I may, what brings the question up?"

"Well…. I haven't taken any time to specifically cultivate qi yet, so I was concerned. Thanks for the assurance though!"

For a time there was merely silence. The slight sound of insects the only sound between the two. Finally, it was Meizhen that broke the silence.

"What."

"I haven't cultivated qi yet?" Came Ling Qi's hesitant reply to Meizhen's increasingly incredulous expression.

Meizhen quickly burned through qi to activate her various perception techniques. Ling Qi's elements, meridians, and stored qi was revealed to her, and there were no surprises. Elemental wise Ling Qi was still a confusing jumble, her meridians had not substantially changed, and her qi was still at levels that were better than one might expect knowing her background.

"I don't understand," Meizhen expressed. "There is simply no way for the amount of qi you have generated to have come without ludicrous pill consumption or a significant amount of time cultivating it."

All that Meizhen got in response was an increasingly large grin from Ling Qi. And with that smile came a terrible premonition.

"Ling Qi…," Meizhen ground out between clenched teeth, "What pills have you been using, and how many of them have you used?"

"I did some research, and they are called the Sable Light Pill. And I think I used five or six of them? I can't remember how many I used in the second realm, but I'm pretty sure it was only one."

Meizhen's hands moved upwards of their own violation, cupping her head in shock.

Ling Qi kept talking, seemingly oblivious to Meizhen's utter shock, "I didn't think much of it at first, but then a niggling doubt came up upon me that I was doing this all wrong and I would never be able to properly cultivate qi at all. I'm glad that doesn't seem to be the case."

Meizhen spread her fingers, and spoke in a glazed voice, "Ling Qi, I say this with complete sincerity and no ill intent, but you are an utter ditz. Only you, Ling Qi, could forget how many Sable Light Pills you had taken when a single one of them would be a treasure beyond the reach of all but the most wealthy and affluent baron houses. Only you, would not get only one, but at least five, and then become concerned that you wouldn't be able to cultivate qi properly. Only you would then bring this up on the eve of the inner sect tournament. I fear that the term 'Ling Qi-ness' is the only proper term to describe the amount of fortune and ditziness you seem to have accumulated and expressed."

For the first time Ling Qi looked concerned, "Is that bad? Did I make a mistake?"

Finally dragging her hands away from her face, Meizhen placed them around her teacup. Then, with a single gulp, Meizhen drained the rest of her tea, including the dregs, and responded, "No, you should be fine. I can not say that your qi cultivation followed anything close to what is normal or expected but it should not inhibit your further qi cultivation. Now, would you please make another batch of tea? I think I need something to calm myself after this discussion."

Spoiler: A/N

Well, here is another piece. Didn't do a whole lot in terms of editing, so there are probably a couple errors in there. Especially in the area of keeping it 3rd person point of view. Also, this piece was supposed to be on the more comedic side. Comedy seems to be a bit difficult for me, so I appreciate indulgences as I attempt to get better at it. As always, critiques and criticisms are welcomed!

 

[FixerUpper]

CULTIVATOR - 1 : Worm/Forge of Destiny

When Ling Qi woke up, the ground was very far away. One might even go so far as to say it was terminally far away if they could stand the pun. Blue eyes widened as her clothes flapped, the trailing hems like pennants caught in a gale, while far, far below lights twinkled in the steady profusion one expected of a city at night.

"What the sh-"

The profanity slipped out like a cockroach in the lobby of a fancy hotel.

To be fair to the metaphor, this hotel was falling at a height more expected of clouds than people. Unfortunately for this particular hotel, there were children present.

"Mother?" a voice asked sleepily.

"Big Sister," another voice corrected automatically, before yawning hugely. Something shuffled in her dantian and she felt qi pulse with sleepy excitement, quickly growing more awake.

"Look: Big Sis is flying really high!"

"Ah? Hey, lemme see!"

Ling Qi had the odd feeling that her little brothers were crawling over each other to peer through her eyes and fought to stifle a chuckle. With a bit of qi, her gown billowed outwards, wings unfolding darkly. And just in time: her qi sense might not have been the best, but it was hard to mistake the sudden surge of panic that battered at her senses. She looked - there!

Her little brothers were duly unimpressed with what they saw.

"It's the ugly river eel."

"Big Sis should let him fall, go splat."

"Splat! Hee hee hee."

"Be nice, Zhengui," she scolded, folding her arms inwards, flying forward, swift as an arrow. It was true that from a distance the honorable Heizui, third realm River Dragon, did somewhat resemble an eel. His long scaly body undulated, trailing water as it lost altitude.

Embarrassingly, though who was more embarrassed, Ling Qi wasn't sure, the dragon was screaming and didn't notice her approach.

"AHHHHHHHHH-"

"Heizui?" said Ling Qi, words torn away by the wind as she tried to speak in an appropriate volume.

"-HHHHHH-"

Her qi lashed at the buffeting winds, stifling them with a thought. "Honorable Heizui!"

The long screams tapered off before they transformed into a vigorous coughing fit. The lights were distressingly close at this point, but, if Ling Qi were right, they still had around fifteen seconds left before either of them went, as Zhengui had so colorfully put it, 'splat'.

"Cultivator Ling," he said, trying to affect a sort of regal anger. "What is the meaning of this - this trickery?"

She shook her head. "I do not know. But before we speak of it - would you like some aid?"

He looked like he wished to say something - but then bowed his head, teeth gritted. "I would… appreciate the favor."

She swooped beneath him. Pushed up. Grunted. He was heavier than he looked. And he looked like a ten meter long dragon.

"This is going to be tricky," she informed him, both hands pressing upwards somewhere along his many coils. Strength had never been her, heh, strong suit and while speed counted for a lot in duels and in combat, when it came to slowing the a ten meter, several ton dragon, strength was the relevant metric by which the task could be judged.

"We are still falling," Heizui noted neutrally.

"Yes," said Ling Qi, grunting with exertion.

"Rather fast."

"I know."

"I thought you were stronger than this?" He sounded almost disappointed.

"Shut up," muttered Ling Qi.

The lights were really rather large now and the city below the grandest she'd ever seen, with high, vaulting buildings that strode dozens, maybe even hundreds of meters into the sky and lights steadier and more radiant than any mortal lantern she had ever seen.

That was relevant because besides Heizui who stood out like a bonfire to her senses, there was barely even a hint of qi to help anything she saw along. Only the slightest drips and drabs of qi existed as the paper-thin stuff of life, the ambient qi that anything living would have had.

Still, it wasn't half as relevant as the ground which did, it had to be admitted, have the majority vote when it came to priorities.

Mortal Ling Qi might have aimed for the water that surrounded the city, believing it to be the soft option. Outer Disciple Ling Qi would sooner gnaw her own arm off then fall into a large body of mysterious water where she couldn't sense the slightest hint of qi.

Instead, she aimed for the city. She wasn't picky: anywhere would do.

Three heartbeats before they hit, Ling Qi wrapped her wind around a throwing knife and tossed it straight down. It sliced into the ground and stood, pommel up, where it had been thrust.

Then, gale force winds blasted downwards, linked between herself and her focus, cracking concrete, knocking down poles that spat showers of electrical light and, and pushing strange metal carriages aside that made them beep and howl in distress. Some of the locals were also bowled over, but being mortal, that was only to be expected.

It slowed their descent just enough that when they landed, Ling Qi's knees had enough time to buckle and then the weight of an entire dragon landed on her back and she felt her feet punch straight into the ground, the dark, stone-like substance shattering around her. Then the dragon buckled and she hit the ground, hard enough to draw blood and stun her.

Hard enough so that the storage ring on her finger, made loose by the desperate flight downwards or her last technique, was dislodged and bounced off into the darkness.

Then the shouting started.

----

There were many things Armsmaster expected from an emergency call at what Clockblocker would colorfully refer to as 'Ass o'clock' at night.

"There's a goddamn dragon by the Docks," was par for the course.

"No, not Lung, I would have known it was Lung, it's fighting with Lung-" was a little worrisome and

"No, it's not Dragon, it's an actual fucking dragon. Like Leviathan's thinner, longer, prettier brother," was definitely new.

He put his tools down onto his workbench and put on his helmet. The heads up display winked to life, displaying relevant information in a pleasing blue light. "Please direct further commentary to Console."

"You bet your ass I'm going to-"

Armsmaster muted Assault: a speech-to-text protocol would have his words scroll across his HUD, highlighting certain keywords. He switched to a different channel. "Console, this is Armsmaster."

"Armsmaster," said Battery dryly. "I understand Ethan reached out to you already?"

"Yes," he said simply, suiting up, frowning at the use of a first name. Battery had been trained by Legend - she should have known better. Gloves, then vest, then armor, went on one after another in precisely timed motions. A press of a button had the garage door opening and his bike warming up.

"The situation has become something of a clusterfuck."

He grunted his acknowledgement, inspecting his halberd for a moment before splitting it into its component halves and swinging them onto his back where they stuck with a magnetic 'clik'.

"Lung's ramped up… significantly. Stage Two about to go Stage Three."

He revved the engine. "The new trigger's not pulling back?"

"Triggers, and no."

Armsmaster frowned as he took off, the ramp out of the garage shooting him into the street. "A mass event?"

Mass triggers were notoriously predictable and notoriously unstable. Armsmaster himself had only met two and they had always come with baggage. 'Kiss or Kill' was the cutesy academic term being thrown around these days. A 'KoK up waiting to happen,' was what the grunt-level PRT called it.

"Possible, but unlikely."

"Ratings?"

"Right, getting to that. The dragon's got Leviathan's water echo, the ability to turn the water into ice and enough strength and durability to take on and swing Stage Two Lung around like a rag doll."

He did some quick math. "Brute 7, Shaker 6?"

"Brute 6 for now. Then there's a… turtle snake that can spit fire. It's the size of a small car. Also, it can lift small cars and throw them, if not very well. Tentatively rated at Brute 4, Blaster 3."

"Turtle snake?"

"Literally a giant turtle with a snake where the tail would be."

"Huh."

"Yeah, I know. Last of the powerhouses is a girl. Looks ethnically 'Asian', but has what Ethan called 'Vampire Sparkles.' I'm not sure what it means."

"I will assume glitter is involved somewhere."

"She's fast. Not Velocity fast, but faster than Ethan and faster than me. Flies, though Ethan's pretty sure it's due to her costume, something about wings. Punches hard enough to leave cracks in concrete. She disappears, sometimes, Ethan thinks she might be teleporting. She's got some sort of… flying song sword. Also, sings really well. And all the time."

He raised a brow as he roared through a red light. Those were a lot of fairly disparate abilities to have in one package. "A tinker? Musically inclined, perhaps?"

"We can't be sure of anything right now, Armsmaster. In any case, she was fast enough to knock out Oni Lee, and appears to be their leader. Water dragon knocked Lung down at one point and she clearly interceded so as not to kill him."

He blinked. "That makes no sense."

"I know."

"Does she not know how his powers work?"

By now he was close enough to hear the effects of the fight. Lung was roaring, as was bestial voice, presumably that of the other dragon. There was a flash of light and the roaring… stopped.

Armsmaster turned a corner and slowly came to a stop.

He saw an alert on his HUD and unmuted Assault.

"Armsmaster, you seeing what I'm seeing?"

He blinked and fought the temptation to rub his eyes. "Yes. I believe I am."

It was a rave. In the middle of the street. Techno light and music blared. Revelers, crowded the street, spilling out into alleyways and storefronts. The smell of incense and sweat and sweet was incredible. And Lung, closer to ten feet tall than six, covered in armor plate, was being whirled from dancer to dancer.

"The fuck?" asked Assault.

It was a good question and one he had no answers to. Still, it was working: Lung was ramping down. What the fuck indeed.

"Prep for containment. If this works, we'll have him."

On a nearby rooftop Taylor Hebert, first-time hero out on patrol, retreated, glad that someone else had saved the children. On a different nearby rooftop, the children in question watched for a moment longer before retreating, glad that their boss had arranged for backup of that tier. Deep within the bowels of a secret underground lair, their boss had a massive headache and was contemplating the generous application of Advil or perhaps morphine to help it along.

Elsewhere around the planet, holes in reality opened up, depositing cultivators and spirit beasts at whimsical locations and elevations.

Some fell to their deaths.

Some asphyxiated deep within the earth.

Some survived.

And some woke up covered in garbage while a unfamiliar tune was played in a familiar way, looking up at an odd, goggle-clad mortal wearing dark clothes spun out of spidersilk.

"Um?" said Li Suyin as the girl in question offered her a hand. "Thanks?"

The girl spoke.

"I'm afraid I don't understand-"

The trash by her feet shuffled a bit.

Li Suyin had already grabbed the mystery girl and jumped ten feet as the pile of trash exploded upwards, a white wolf the size of a horse slavering and snarling. It was followed by one, then another, then another, frost spreading in their wake as the alleyway crystallized with ice as they made their way out and deeper into the city.

"Oh shit," said Taylor Hebert.

-----

==> NEXT

A/N: I'm so sorry @yrsillar. =3=;;

 

[FixerUpper]

Would love to see your interpretation of Sun Liling's conversation with Ji Rong after he breaks out of the confinement. (Maybe a mini fight too, Like Ji Rong is pissed off and comes out swinging, so Sun Liling blocks or something like that).

Click to shrink...

Post-Confinement Conversations

This was how it went down.

One second he was going to shut Hat Bastard down so hard that he'd be kissing his own ass, the next reality jerked sideways. The sun leapt into a different position in the sky, the temperature spiked by five, six degrees and the damn turtlefucker vanished. In his place was a grinning, scary-as-shit redhead.

This was a problem because his body, being faster than his brain, was reacting to the unforeseen with its usual speed and made a solid effort in trying to punch the teeth out of her mouth.

This being Sun Liling, this did not work.

She caught his fist in one hand and punched him with her other.

It was a ridiculously simple motion. The fingers of her right hand encircled his fist, knuckle to palm, dragged him forward and off balance, and then her left punched over his arm, straight into the jaw. He felt his brain rattle in its cage and then he was seeing stars and tasting blood and staring into the sky.

She leaned over him, grin like a shark on her smug, smug face.

"Been a while, Rong."

He struggled to rise, but his entire body seemed to be of the opinion that it wanted to stay down for a little longer. He flopped for a bit. "Fuck off, Sun," he said, breath a wheezy rasp, I said no already."

She poked him with the toe of her boot.

"You don't get it, Rong. It's been like a year since Xuan Shi locked you up in his formations. Our blessed little Lady Cai was pissed at you for breaking her rules."

He felt his heart miss a beat. Let himself breathe in and out as he forced himself past his body's whimpering protests and turned onto his stomach, then leveraged himself onto his elbows and with a huge exhalation of effort finally sat up. Sun offered him her hand and he slapped it away before standing up.

He glared at her, straight in her pretty eyes. "You're fucking with me."

She buffed her nails and shrugged in an elegant, careless motion. "I made it to the Third Realm while you weren't around. Most of the notables did. The rest are fucking useless as per expected."

He wanted to deny it, but with how fast she moved and how effortlessly she had laid him out, he had to admit that yeah, she was Third Realm. Didn't even need an Art to see that. Then it crashed down on him: a year, an entire fucking year wasted. Xuan Shi would be that much stronger, there was no way that he'd be able to catch up, not with the gap of a year that loomed in between them, not with a guy that could just put you on ice for a year at a whim, what the double bloody shitty-

"Fuck. Fuck!" he yelled.

"Was it you?" she asked curiously.

It took him a moment to put it together. Right. His 'crime.' "Does it even fucking matter at this point?" he asked tiredly. "You know what it's like. A man's reputation follows him everywhere. Ain't any point in trying to change people's opinion of you when it's already been made."

"Says you."

"Yeah, well, you can fuck off. I'll handle this."

"With no resources? No plan? No strength?"

It was the last dig that got to him. He turned to her, grimace on his face whisper of rage roaring in his throat. "What the fuck do you want from me?"

Her shit-eating grin didn't waver a millimeter. "Same as always. I want life to be interesting. And I want your help to make it interesting."

"How?"

She plucked something out of thin air, and like a stage magician, revealed it to be an elixir. She tossed it to him. "It'll make you strong as anything for a few hours, but side effects include nausea, fainting, vomiting and burst blood vessels."

He weighed it in his hand, looked up, licked his lips. "What'll it cost?"

"Your naivety."

He blinked. "...what?"

"Dude, you've been frozen for like two weeks if that. I was - like you put it - fucking with you."

"...you, you what?"

"Seriously, it's only been two weeks. But man, you should have seen your face-"

The next hour was spent with Ji Rong trying and failing to land a blow while he increasingly looked like he was put through a meat grinder. He did manage to get in one good blow. Also, spat blood in her face. She broke his arm in two places.

Worth it.

 

[FixerUpper]

Suggested it before but us failing the first composure test with Meizhen and ending up living with Liling.

Click to shrink...

Alternate Roomiverse: Sun Liling Part 1

Ling Qi woke up and panicked, trying not to drown. Her hand went up, but she was sinking, falling, and-

A sudden change in the light woke her up properly.

She blinked blearily. Wh - where was she?

She looked around. It was a room. Biggest room she had ever slept in. The bed beneath her fingers was soft beyond belief, made it feel like she was sleeping on one of those soft confections that nobles ate. Was this silk? Something rarer and more valuable than that?

What was going on?

"You are a riot, Qi," a girl said from the side of the room near the windows, clad so scantily it would have been obscene if not for the many scars which decorated her flesh, almost like tattoos, that would have made her look clothed even if she had been wearing nary a stitch. Ling Qi hadn't the slightest clue how she had failed to notice her. "Got bad dreams?"

"H-huh?" she said, clutching the blankets closer to herself.

"Ha. Adorable. Get yourself woke and then join me downstairs for breakfast. I wanna run something past you."

"Um. Okay," she said.

Ten minutes later (she had running water! and her own bathroom! and a box of somethings that were in theory supposed to help her look prettier but in practice just served as a reminder about her mother's less salubrious intentions about pushing her towards a future occupation) Ling Qi had woken up sufficiently to remember the events of the past day.

First, she had been sent to the Argent Peak Sect. She was now a disciple. Second, she had become roommates with Sun Liling who was apparently some sort of princess? Sun Liling hadn't said so or anything and didn't even begin to act like a proper princess, but she'd heard the whispers and the fact that Sun Liling had casually chosen the biggest possible building she could find had definitely helped in cementing the impression. She was rooming with royalty.

Royalty that was letting her down a bit when it came to what she thought royalty was supposed to act like. Sun Liling reminded Ling Qi more of a gang leader than a noble. Someone who lead because she was the scariest, craziest, strongest person around rather than because she had inherited her rank and wealth through luck and chance. There was not a single action that Sun Liling had performed that could not be understood through the lens of a swaggering bandit chief or a prone-to-explosions-of-violence crazy.

Until now, Sun Liling had been... nice. Strange, but nice. Ling Qi kept expecting the other shoe to drop and it was with some trepidation that she made it down the stairs. Would Sun Liling expect her to act like a servant? A goon? A mook? Something worse? She didn't know, and it was with regret she considered how she had shied away from the white-haired girl who, if nothing else, looked like a girl that kept mostly to herself instead of invasively walking into a girl's room as she slept.

Still, privacy was not something she had expected on the streets, so it wasn't like it was something that had been taken away from her. She'd merely have to hone her reflexes until Sun Liling couldn't surprise her like that.

When she went downstairs Sun Liling had finally thrown on something more substantial and sat on the table at the patio, toying with something in her hand. It was glass and liquid, glittered like expensive alcohol, throwing out little bits of gold to play over the princess' face.

She seated herself in front of Liling. When the princess didn't speak, she broke the silence.

"What's that?"

Sun Liling looked up like she was seeing her for the first time. "This?" she set it on the table and pushed it between her hands with the dull, rounded sound of glass moving on glass. "It's an elixir. S'called Blood Erupting Elixir. Mostly because mortals who consume it generally, well, erupt."

"They what."

"Erupt. Like, have you heard of the fire mountains to the North? Yeah, like those. Blood everywhere, it's disgusting."

Ling Qi carefully didn't note that she didn't sound disgusted though.

"I see," said Ling Qi.

"It's a kind of poison, but also a kind of medicine. Have you ever been to the West? No? Well, it's an amazing place. Literally everything wants to kill you. There are outhouses out there where the flies feasting on shit are actually the second leading cause of death after unidentified maurauding spirit beasts. It's a hard place to grow up in. Makes the people there strong."

Sun paused in her little game of passing the elixir to herself.

"You remember how I said living with me was going to be exciting?"

"Yes."

"Well, I don't want to disappoint." She pushed the elixir across the table. "Here, take this. If you don't die I promise your cultivation will explode in potency."

"And if I do die?" Ling Qi said dryly, accepting the elixir, but not drinking it.

"Best you don't. It'd be awkward for everyone. Especially me."

Ling Qi considered her roommate. She had gone from her grave, 'this is me while serious' face and was now watching what Ling Qi would do as disinterestedly as a cat trying not to show interest in a piece of meat she was holding. Ling Qi remembered how Sun Liling had tried to challenge her last evening and how she'd managed to hold her ground. She, too, remembered how Elder Jiao had told her that killing other disciples was strictly off limits.

She was normally not this reckless, but Ling Qi was tired of being pushed around and of being scared. If she was going to be here at the Sect, she needed to take risks in order to gain power.

She broke the seal on the elixir and downed it in one gulp.

At first, she felt nothing and was furrowing her brow in perplexity when a sudden pressure, like a punch from inside her aimed directly at her heart shook her body. She collapsed, gurgling. Her head felt flashes of blinding heat and painful cold. Breathing became an effort.

Sun Liling's smile grew wide and pointy.

"My girl, you and I are going to get along great."

==> Part 2

 

[drake_azathoth]

Su Ling And THE POWER OF THE NINETAIL ARTS
​

Elder Xin: "I don't know who I'm more disappointed in, Sun Liling for trying the 'impale their large intestine with plant spines' move after using it on her opponent before, or Ling Qi for not finding a counter to it in the months she had to find one. One lacks creativity, the other dedication."

Elder Yin: "Agreed. We should choose that kitsune halfbreed, her refusal to take this test obviously shows she's discovered the ancient Ninetail Arts and wishes to keep her overwhelming power a secret. Kitsune adore secrecy and misdirection."

Elder Zin: "Yes, we'll go with her. She won't be able to hide her hideous might from the Elders in the Inner Sect..."
​

LATER
​

Su Ling tried not to tremble too visibly. It was pretty clear to her that someone was messing around, because the Inner Sect on this mountain was even crazier than the Outer Sect had been. Everyone seemed to accept the decision of the Elders who had summarily declared her one of the winners of the annual tournament to admit students into the Inner Sect despite her decision not to enter in the first place! And okay, this wasn't so bad, there was a lot more access to a lot more cool stuff than she'd expected. As absurd as it was that people believed she had these 'Ninetail Arts' they were pretty wary of getting into a fight with her as a result. Shame about Ling Qi not making the cut, but she was sure the girl would win next year.

It had all been going so well. Unfortunately, she'd run into a cute guy who she'd assumed was unattached that was interested in her. A commoner like Ling Qi, and he didn't care about her heritage, or her Arts, or anything like that. He liked the fact she didn't put on airs and hide her feelings and she had passion about the things that mattered. Unfortunately... His interest had been noticed by a pretty possessive bitch. Gu Xiulan's sister, who she'd decided to call MegaGu when she wasn't calling her MegaBitch.

And right now the fire-using girl was about to roast her like a chicken barbecue.

Su Ling swallowed. "Look, Lady Gu, or whatever... I swear I wasn't trying to seduce your boytoy. Could we just call this your win?"

In the background, Elder Jiao nodded somberly. "See? Even now she tries to keep her secrets. She does not fear Gu Yanmei, only the gaze of the Elders."

Su LIng gritted her teeth. It almost looked like MegaGu had been considering her offer, but the Elder's comment pushed her over the edge. She bit down hard on the urge to scream at him.

"...I refuse. Let us test your tricks against my passion, halfbreed. If there is any justice the gentle and noble Xan Wokai will see I am the only woman worthy of his affection, not a savage such as yourself." MegaGu raved.

She couldn't resist the urge to growl at that. Wokai was a really nice guy and didn't deserve a crazy bitch like MegaGu hounding him all the time. She'd wondered why the girl didn't already have a fiance arranged already until she'd learned the girl was essentially a crazier female version of Huang Da.

Elder Jiao gasped. "Oh. See? The foxgirl is making her move. But Gu Yanmei does not seem to see through her illusion..."

Su Ling blinked in surprise at that, but her opponent pretty nearly flipped the hell out, whirling around to look to her sides and behind herself. Fire was going EVERYWHERE, so she dived for the ground. "...Sssshhhiiiiiittttt!"

Gu Yanmei snarled, sounding more like an animal than a person, and Su Ling passed out as the heat just from being near all that fire overwhelmed her.
​

JUST A BIT LATER​

When she woke up, Su Ling found herself in Elder Jiao's hut. "Ow... My head."

Elder Jiao nodded. "It was quite a match. If not for your soul-devouring kitsune fire, you might have lost. As it stands, it appears young Wokai is the spoils of your victory."

The foxgirl blinked. "What? Seriously, what the hell are you playing at, old man? I know you know I don't have soul-devouring fire or whatever."

Jiao smirked. "I know no such thing. And Elders Xin, Yin, and Zin are convinced you have soul-devouring fire. Granted, they've been using some very experimental cultivation drugs lately, but if three other Elders state something is true who am I to disagree?"

Su Ling scowled. "Maybe somebody who's not off their nut on an extended drug trip?"

The old man snickered. "Well, are you planning to go to Gu Yanmei and confess to cheating then? I am sure she will not punish you too badly. And her and Wokai should be very happy together."

"NO! That bitch... Wokai deserves better than her."
​

MUCH LATER STILL
​

Ling Qi stood bravely against her enemy. It might have been suicide, but for Bai Meizhen's sake she'd face any foe. "Elder Sister Su Ling. Your tyranny over the Inner Sect will end. For the sake of my friend, I will triumph today!"

Su Ling sighed. "Oh my god, Ling Qi, could you be a bigger closet lesbian- OW! Crap! You can hit me?"

Ling Qi looked at her with some confusion, which might be justified if she hadn't figured out that Elder Jiao wasn't letting anyone win against her as part of some sort of prank war among the Elders. "Well, yeah? You're... Slower than I thought?"

"Well... Okay, take this!" Su Ling threw a couple of actual punches and kicks at her foe, which Ling Qi avoided with about as much trouble as if she'd choreographed them with the girl days in advance.

Not surprising given the psychotic overachieving lesbo had reportedly gone on some insane training binge and reached Cyan while Su Ling herself was still Yellow. But yeah, this was gonna suck.

About five seconds later as she was puking her guts out on the ground and hoping her kidneys hadn't just liquefied from sheer pain Su Ling decided that yes, this did suck.

"Um. Su Ling? Are you okay?" Ling Qi asked, concerned in her airheaded way as if the flute playing freak hadn't just nearly punched through her torso.

"Hate... Elder Jiao... So much."​

 

[PrimalShadow]

Partial Omake: If Arts Could Speak (scene 1)

FADE IN:

In Ling Qi's mindscape, an hour before daybreak.

NARRATOR
As Ling Qi sits below the moonlit sky, cultivating by the Argent Vent, we catch a glimpse at her inner world.
​

ARGENT MIRROR is sitting cross-legged in the background, peacefully cultivating. Wisps of silver-colored mist are periodically drawn from the surroundings, moving in meandering circles before finding their way to her dantian.

FORGOTTEN VALE MELODY enters from stage left, grumbling under breath. Dark mist bellows from her robes, slowly spreading through her surroundings.

FORGOTTEN VALE MELODY
(muttering)
It's not fair how everyone dispels things nowadays. First that Blood Princess, now the River Spirit.
And on top of it all, my music sounds so much worse without a proper flute.​

SABLE CRESCENT STEP arrives, sneaking silently through the mist in FVM's wake.

FORGOTTEN VALE MELODY
How am I suppose to be demonstrating my worth with all this?
I should have been up to the plate as soon as Ling Qi advanced her cultivation. Instead, I've been upstaged by the new upstart. She is even working to secure a fancy new site for him this week.
Rubbish. I was supposed to be the primary art. Me!
​

Having closed the distance, SCS leaps forward, taking FVM down with a tackle hug.

FORGOTTEN VALE MELODY
I was here first, and I'm just so much more refined, and - EEEEP!
​

SCS sits on FVM's back, pinning her arms to her sides.

SABLE CRESCENT STEP
(grinning widely)
Gotcha! You've got to spend less time brooding and more time paying attention to what is going on around you.
​

FVM struggles momentarily, before relaxing.

FORGOTTEN VALE MELODY
(Muffled)
I wasn't brooding. Lemme up!
​

A wolf muzzle condenses out of the mist, snapping at SCS's arm. However, instead of closing on flesh, they close on liquid darkness, which immediately flows back to reform SCS's arm.

SABLE CRESCENT STEP
(Still grinning)
Nope! That was totally brooding. You were getting all mopey about not getting enough attention. Even if I couldn't hear you talking to yourself, you really think I can't tell?

FORGOTTEN VALE MELODY
...so what if I was? I haven't had a chance to grow for a month now. A MONTH. I was really looking forward to advancing again! And then this ruffian comes around and suddenly he is the big game in town. Am I just supposed to be okay with being delegated to the sidelines like this?

SABLE CRESCENT STEP
(Puts on a stern face)
Look here. A hunter's got to be patient. You aren't being sidelined - Ling Qi just needs to help the new guy a bit so he isn't all weak and wobbly. We'll have our day soon enough, no need to fret.

FORGOTTEN VALE MELODY
(grumbles)
...I still don't like it.
​

SCS shifts off of FVM's back, giving her a hand up.

SABLE CRESCENT STEP
You are very special, and we all love you. You don't need to worry so much.
​

FVM blushes deeply, stuttering for several moments. She has yet to release SCS's hand.

FORGOTTEN VALE MELODY
(quietly)
Uh, that, well... I guess I'll try.

SABLE CRESCENT STEP
(grinning again)
That's the spirit!
​

In the background, the sky can be seen to start taking on a pinkish hue. FVM and SCS turn to look.

FORGOTTEN VALE MELODY
Would you like to watch the dawn with me? I know you burn easily, but I should be able to manage some shade.

SABLE CRESCENT STEP
I'd like nothing better!​

FADE OUT​

 

[PrimalShadow]

Partial Omake: If Arts Could Speak (scene 2)

FADE IN:

In Ling Qi's mindscape, at sunrise.

​

ARGENT MIRROR is still calmly cultivating in the background. Off to the side, SABLE CRESCENT STEP and FORGOTTEN VALE MELODY sit together shrouded in a layer of mist, watching the sunrise.

FALLING STAR enters from stage right, stretching and rubbing his eyes. He is rather shorter than everyone else in the scene, though it doesn't prevent from for carrying an oversized bow on his shirtless back. FVM shoots him a glare as he passes her.

FALLING STAR
(yawning)
About time to start the day, I suppose.
​

ZEPHYR'S BREATH enters from stage right, moving to join FS.

ZEPHYR'S BREATH
How can you say that when its daylight already? Everyone else here manages to keep proper nocturnal hours, you know. Majority rules; the right time to start the day would have been twelve hours ago.

FALLING STAR
(yawning)
What?

ZEPHYR'S BREATH
Oh for Qi's sake, you are hopeless. Element of intellect, my foot.
Tell you what. I've got this neat trick that will wake you up right and proper. Wanna see?
​

Without waiting for an answer, ZB unleashes a concentrated blast of cold air right into FS's face.

FALLING STAR
(sputtering)
H-hey! I didn't deserve that!

ZEPHYR'S BREATH
(snickers)
But it sure woke you up, didn't it? You should be grateful! Like you said, its time to start the day - can't be off sleeping!

FALLING STAR
Hmph. How'd you pull that off, anyways? Temperature control isn't really supposed to be your thing, is it?
​

ZB gestures to the a icy-blue pin in her hair.

ZEPHYR'S BREATH
Its the talisman. Gives a bit of extra "oomph" to what I do along the temperature domain. It's pretty nifty; have't you seen me wearing it?

FALLING STAR
Yeah, but... haven't you been wearing that since I got here? I feel like I would have remembered a talisman applying this sort of effect.

ZEPHYR'S BREATH
(shrugs)
Eh. It is easy enough to overlook. Also maybe I've been forgetting to use it just a bit...
​

As they speak, FS goes through a series of stretches, before reaching for his bow.

FALLING STAR
Tell you what. How 'bout I show you a trick of my own? You'll like it.
​

FS draws and sets an arrow, and then aims his bow into the air at a 45 degree angle, ready to release.

FALLING STAR
How far do you think I can shoot this arrow?

ZEPHYR'S BREATH
Uh. With your new bow? A bit under 200 feet, or somewhere thereabouts.

FALLING STAR
Ah! You'd think that, wouldn't you? But I'll let you in on a little secret.
You know how an arrow falls after you loose it? You know what makes it do that? An environmental effect.
And you know what you call an environmental effect that gets in your way? An environmental penalty.
And you know what my Art does to environmental penalties?

ZEPHYR'S BREATH
But... that... NO. That isn't how it works. That isn't how any of this works!
​

FS smirks, starting to channel Qi into his weapon. Wild winds whip up around him, and the arrowhead is set alight with arcs of electricity. Calmly, FS turns, looking ZB in the eyes.

FALLING STAR
Oh? Well. I guess we'll see.
​

Without breaking eye contact, FS releases, firing the arrow into the air. At this point, he and ZB both turn to watch the arrow fly, bursting higher and higher... before leveling out, and plummeting down once more.

FALLING STAR
Huh.​

FADE OUT​

 

[Thor's Twin]

Hmm... It would be a little sad if I didn't at least try and post an Omake in the month of July. So, I wrote the very first section of a larger omake that has been bouncing around in my head. Hey, at least this time the guy isn't a street rat or a prisoner!

The Good Doctor: Part I

I dreamed. I knew it was a dream for the events playing out before my eyes happened in the ancient past when I was younger, brasher, and more arrogant from the qi coursing through my veins. I also knew that this was a dream for it was exactly the same dream I had been plagued with for 100 years now. This was the dream of when I killed the traitor Zu Dao, my best friend, and brother.

Abruptly, I was awoken from my nightmare by the sound of a hesitant knocking at my door. Understanding flashed within me as I realized that it was only 3:00am in the morning, well before I was normally roused from my seldom bouts of slumber.

I called out to the messenger, "One moment, I wish to be presentable before hearing the esteemed message you have been tasked to bring me."

I briefly flexed my qi to cleanse myself from the sweat that always followed the nightmare and began quickly readying myself for the message. Finally placing my gloves over my blood stained hands, I opened the door to greet the messenger waiting outside of my room.

"Greetings, I'm sorry the message had to wait for me to become presentable, who desires my attention at such a time and could not bear to wait or use more prompt means of communication?"

The messenger looked pale and ragged, it seemed that he had no desire to be here either. However, when he spoke it was with the presentation of the seal of authority, "The Emperor, long may he live, has requested your presence in his court at your earliest convenience."

I nodded at the messenger and began to walk briskly to my room in order to wear clothes fit to be presented in front of the Emperor, long may he live, himself. After finishing my preparations, I walked to my balcony, faced the direction of the Imperial Palace, stepped up on to the railing and flexed my qi, summoning the air and heavens themselves. In an instant, I was before the gate of the Imperial Palace, in all of its splendor.

I made my way through the familiar corridors of the Palace, moving past guards, servants, and sycophants as the court of the Emperor grew ever closer. Eventually standing in the vestibule of the court, I nodded to the guards who had been guarding the entrance. Without a sign of acknowledgment, they turned and pushed open the great doors and when there was enough room for me to pass I began walking forward. The moment before I crossed the threshold, I flexed my qi and the world slowed to a crawl. With my sense of time distorted to such an extent, I could comfortably assess the situation and see if there were any clues as to the reason the Emperor had called the head of his ministry of health to be presented in front of him.

Emperor An was, of course, sitting on the Dragon Throne with the court room filled at the sides with murmuring sycophants plotting, betraying, and all around trying to win the tightly spun political games that they were always playing. Of more interest, was the few individuals that were talking to the Emperor, all of them were either from the newly acquired province or from regions that boarded the province. In other words, pardoned traitors. A weary sigh vibrated through my cranium. There was a good chance that it was politics, actually, it was almost always politics. I hated politics.

Time snapped back into focus again as I crossed the threshold, walking briskly through the opened center directly towards the Emperor. Reaching the appropriate location in front of the Emperor, I bowed deeply to him and stated my appearance before his presence "Zu Hao presents his unworthy self before the Imperial throne. You have willed my presence before your majesty and as such, I have arrived."

The Emperor waved away the men who were around the base of his throne and began to address me, "We have been notified that your ministry has been failing in the task that has been required of you."

That did not sound particularly pleasant, for I had no idea what matter he was addressing. Without missing a beat I responded, "I am humbled that your majesty would take the time to check on the workings of a ministry as lowly as ours, however, nothing has been brought to my attention in regards to where I have failed my duty. If his Excellency would be so gracious as to instruct me as to where my ministry has failed, then I will do everything in my power to correct the oversight."

"It has come to our attention that in our western provinces a plague has been allowed to spread, unchecked by your ministry of health. What say you to this failure of yours?

"That it is a failure of my ministry, and as its head, I will accept responsibility for the plague and seek to do everything in my power to correct this failure," I responded, quickly thinking of an opportunity to be salvaged from this debacle. "If it would be pleasing to Your will, I will personally go to the west to investigate and curb this plague in order to save face for this failure of mine."

I sensed the Emperor give pause, considering the offer. Before this calamity, I had been in favor with the Emperor and he could likely see how this situation came about. It would be a simple matter, expensive but simple, to bribe every one of my agents in the western regions to stay silent about the plague for a time while sprinting messengers ahead to inform the Emperor of my "failing." The Emperor would have been forced to dismiss me if I had fought against the news and it would have shamed me to simply accept responsibility. Losing a trusted servant at court would have been a blow that the Emperor would have had little room to deal with especially after his handling of the Sun incident. Hopefully, with this way out that I had given him, I could remain alive and in my position, and the Emperor could retain my service and loyalty in his court of vipers and sycophants.

After a moment of deliberation, the Emperor spoke, "We are pleased by your willingness to correct this error of yours. However, while you are gone, who would continue your duties as the Head of the Ministry of Health? Your talents and skills are nearly without peer, who would you have taken up the mantle you wear while you are in the west?"

I calmly stated the final part of the plan I had just concocted, "My personal assistant, a man who is known as Huang Biming, has enough skill to hold the position until I return. Should he encounter a problem that he is not prepared to handle, he is easily able to communicate with me despite any distance between us and I will be able to guide him on the proper course of action."

"We declare it so," spoke the Emperor. "Prepare your things to travel to the Western provinces that have so recently come under my authority in order to stop the plague from spreading and to destroy the root of such a danger to my Empire. Order Heung Biming to take up your position as Head of the Ministry of Health until your return. We have willed it, and so let it be so!"

A messenger standing to the side of the court bowed deeply to the Emperor and approached me. I handed him the signet ring denoting my position as Head of the Ministry of Health and told him where to find Huang Biming. As he raced off to impart the news to him, I bowed once more, deeply, to the Emperor and took my leave. I had a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it. I needed to see which of my agents had been bribed and inform the Ministry of Integrity of their identity, I needed to find who had bribed them and report those individuals to that same ministry, and I needed to stop a plague that was apparently sweeping the Western provinces. I had no idea what the plague did, where it started, or where it was probably heading to. I also had been tasked with not only stopping the plague but also destroying whatever had caused it, or at least identify the cause enough so that it could be prevented from happening again. I kneaded my temples as a painful pressure built up between them. This was going to be a long, difficult, and tiresome "vacation" from the politics of the capital city. I flexed my qi when I left the palace and once again I stood on my balcony. It was time to do what I do best, save the Empire from disease and filth. And traitors I suppose.

 

[Thor's Twin]

Alright, so you can thank @Arkeus and SAO abridged for the ideas that spawned this omake. The previous omake regarding Jin Qianhao got me thinking what would happen if someone met Zhengui as a grown spirit beast and what their reaction to his name would be. After that, the idea got away from me, so here you go! I hope that you enjoy the story, and as always, critiques and criticisms are welcomed!

You May Call Me

Jin Qianhao was having a terrible day. Barely dodging the phantasmal creature's claws as he dashed ever deeper into the maze that created this whole trial. This trial was ridiculous, there was absolutely no need to create unstoppable mist monsters to defend this maze, no reason at all! His partner who came with him to this trial took one look at the difficulties that laid within and just ran away, so now he was all alone against relentless monsters that coalesced out of the mist itself. At least the reward was solely going to be his at the end of this trial, if he made it through.

There, a glimmer of light piercing the fog! Stumbling as his leg seized up in pain through a claw grazed his shin, he made a break for the beacon of hope in this madness of a maze. Finally, finally there was an end to this trial, and he would get the reward, and then that stupid Hao Bo would regret leaving him in that maze.

As he passed through an archway, he felt a thin ripple through the air. There was no fog or mist here, no sign of impossible monsters, just clean fresh air in this large cavern. It was at least 30 meters in radius and formed a perfect circle. There was a hole at the top of the cavern which showed the night sky in all of its glory, the stars and moon shining through to provide illumination of the whole cave and a dais in the dead middle of the cave. No one else was here though, it was just him, the cave, and… those weird pools of water at the edges? That was strange, what were those and how did they relate to this trial?

Walking over to the closest pool he noticed that it was incredibly shallow and that the base of the pool was made from a combination of black and white stones. Predominantly white though, in the shape of a… crescent? Yeah, it was a crescent. Dashing over to the other pools, he noticed that each of them was made of the same white and black stones but in various different amounts each forming a pattern like that of the moon.

Eight pools, eight phases, all of them in a perfect circle around a huge dais in the middle made of that same white stone. It was also growing slightly darker as a sound began to permeate the cave, the sound of grinding stone. Looking at the source of the sound, he stuttered to a complete halt, the hole in the top of the cave was beginning to close. A cover was slowly moving to block out the sight of the stars and moon. Jin Qianhao began to panic. There appeared to be a time limit, he needed to figure out this puzzle before the cover completely blocked the hole at the top. The problem though, was that he didn't have any clue as to what the puzzle was and so he had no idea as to what the answer could be!

He needed to calm down, not every heist went off perfectly and panicking right now was the worse thing he could be doing. Taking several deep breaths, he used his perception art for the first time, he didn't have much qi left after the maze, but if there was a pattern of qi here then it might give him a clue as to what the puzzle was. Nothing but the cover was glowing in his vision. Why was the cover closing the hole though, it wouldn't hurt him, and he would never have been able to jump out of that hole at the top anyway.

"Master," a quiet voice whispered to him, "the pools seem to be connected to the phases of the moon. Might it be possible that you must choose the pool that corresponds to the current phase of the moon?"

That… was not a bad idea. Better than anything he had come up with at the very least! Sending quick feelings of gratitude and thanks to the quiet spirit within his dagger, he glanced up at the hole. The cover was speeding up, it would only be a couple of minutes before he lost vision of the moon.

Looking up, he saw the phase of the moon which was visible, a half moon was visible tonight. Last time he went on a heist the moon was fuller than it was right now, so that meant it was in the third quarter. Running towards that pool he looked for any sign of a clue or a button or lever to press to complete this trial. There was nothing just glimmering water over smooth stone. Plunging his hands into the shallow water, he tried to find a divot in the stone, anything. In the stillness that followed his failure to find a divot, he noticed a lack of sound that had been permeating the cave, the sound of grinding stone.

Glancing back at the cover in fear he saw that the cover had not completely closed off the hole, but had stopped progressing. He had made it, now what was left was to figure out where the exit was and what prizes there might be in the trial. Suddenly his sight was blinded by a flash of light and qi, coming from the dais.

"Master, be careful… and don't make any sudden moves," his spirit weapon carefully informed him.

Gazing in awe at the huge tortoise that had appeared on top of the dais, he quietly spoke back, "I completely agree."

The tortoise was huge, with jagged pyramids rising from his shell and an emerald gleam in his eyes. He could feel the heat from the tortoise's breath, where the tortoise head was a mere eight meters away from him. A calm, rational voice could be heard within his terrified internal screaming that the tortoise had at least a 20-meter radius for his shell. Furthermore, his spiritual sense was telling him that this spirit beast was at least in the 6th realm, a monster of power and unstoppable force. So far, the tortoise was just gazing at him apparently waiting for something to occur? Manners, of course, manners.

"Greetings honored one, my name is Jin Qianhao, may I know what to call you?" Politeness never went to waste after all, and this would give him some time to calm down and think.

A deep rumbling sound began in the throat of the tortoise, "We have many names, Barbarian Slayer, Mountain Eater, Sea Burner, Forest Defender, The Burning Hunger. The legends we have created are countless and the titles we have accumulated are numberless. However, you may call us Zhengui!"

There was a beat of silence after that proclamation. His brain had grounded to a halt that the Tortoise's name was literally "precious" and was probably a pun off of tortoise beside.

Taking a deep breath, he continued the greetings "Thank you for honoring us with your name, Zhengui. The name is sure to strike fear and terror in all who oppose you."

He felt the physical wince in his spirit weapon and knew that he had just royally screwed up.

"Well, it shouldn't! The name should have people stunned in disbelief, not running in terror! It literally means precious!"

Taking a deep breath to calm himself again, he looked at the tortoise and calmly said, "I have no idea how to talk to you."

Alright, so he might not have been exactly calm and rational thinking at the time he said it, and his spirit weapon certainly agreed with that. There was a lot of shouting and screaming inside of his head about how he was about to be tortoise food and that she would be stuck in the belly of a spirit beast for who knows how long and why in the world would you say that! He calmly noted that it was quite unlike her to be this loud and this verbose, and she responded with exclamations about how he was totally going into shock over this ordeal.

As this argument was raging on in his head, he heard a soft hissing noise, sort of like a chuckle from a snake. Then he saw it, a giant snake meandering through the pyramids of Zhengui's shell.

A soft hissing noise came from the snake, "come now Gui, leave the poor boy alone. He has certainly had an ordeal coming through the maze by himself, and I'm sure he would like to move on to the next part of the trial. Oh, and by the way, Jin Qianhao, your reaction is perfectly natural in the face of Gui's rambunctiousness"

"Zhen! Why must you ruin my fun all the time? I was going to have a verbal spar with him and he was going to come to realize just how amazing we are and how honored he should feel in our presence and then he would begin to go into shock and then we could have sprung the last part of the trial on him and he would have failed! It was going to be perfect!"

At the words "failed," Jin Qianhao forcefully rebooted his thoughts, which had just unhelpfully been going in a loop of "not a tortoise, it's a Xuanwu," and focused on what the important part was. That there was going to be another part of the trial, and this Zhengui, or at least the Gui part, wanted him to fail. He had come this far, he wasn't going to fail now!

"Honored Zhengui, may I proceed to the next part of the trial? I would hate to waste any more of your time."

Both of the quarreling heads turned to peer at him. In a creepy unison of rumbling and hissing voices, they said, "Of course you may proceed! The next part of the trial is quite simple really, all you have to do is enter the center of the dais within two seconds, after we leave of course. Quite a simple speed test really."

He was still at the edge of the pool, which was about 29 meters away from the center of the dais with a 1-meter radius. That meant he had to cross about 28 meters in two seconds, and he didn't have enough qi for his movement art after using his perception techniques. He couldn't do it, it was impossible! His spirit weapon began whispering encouragements and telling him to start moving right now, that the timer hadn't started and he could shorten the distance before Zhengui left.

As always, she was a source of rationality in the madness that this trial had become and so he started running. Immediately, Zhengui vanished, only leaving an afterimage of their wide smiles. The timer had started, and failure was not an option. Pumping his legs as fast as he could, he ran as fast as he could and then in an explosion of effort he leaped forward, arms outstretched to reach the pulsing middle of the dais. Then, in a flash of light, it was over. He had failed.

Both of he and his spirit weapon were quiet for a moment, commiserating over the failure with his face buried in the… grass? Softly he heard the sound of music playing and grass rustling in the wind, neither of which had been in the cavern. Looking up from his position in the dirt, he saw a tall woman putting down a flute while sitting on a boulder in the field. Turning, she made eye contact with him, nodded briefly in acknowledgment before moving her eyes towards a monstrous boulder which looked suspiciously like the Xuanwu that he had met before.

"Zhengui… did you tell the trial taker that he had to reach the dais in a time frame?" The woman, who could only be the elder orchestrating the test, spoke to the giant Xuanwu.

A deep rumbling came from the Zhengui, punctuated with a hissing chuckle, "You should have seen his face! It was in a pure panic like he couldn't believe what we had told him, which he really shouldn't have, I mean, really? A simple speed test? When have elder tests been simply about speed? I guess he couldn't have known that if this was his first test, but he could have figured it out if he wasn't in such a panic. Speaking of panic, the face he made! Priceless!"

Groaning, he dropped his face back into the grass. At least he completed the trial, and it appeared that the Elder was going to give him the prize personally. Probably meant tutoring then, he just wasn't sure how much he could endure being within Zhengui's presence after this ordeal.

 

[Chaoswilldevour]

Hey, a rando omake, as in literally, Yrs, you won the die roll. Should really be studying for HSC on Wednesday, but I really needed to take a break for an hour or two, and I can't exactly start on NaNoWriMo yet. On my phone, so spoilers are a pain not worth the effort, sorry.

A Most All-Encompassing Treatise Regarding The Cultivation Of Certain Immortal Arts Of Varied Efficacy Not Wholly Conforming To The Imperial Standard, by Scholar Imang

Chapter 1, an excerpt

"When discussing non-standard arts and their debatable superiority to those in mainstream use, certain individuals of questionable debating practice cite the case of the Immortal Monks of Keihoka Qilang. These persons, wether naive or actively malicious in their deceit, claim that might of the monks supports the teachings of the Keihokan Sect, and in this they commit the third fallacy. The monks, if they were to be believed, claimed certain occultic "truths" to be universal laws. These "truths", henceforth suppositions, are three.

First, that there is inherent value in sacrifice, that all things obey a specific balance ordained by a supernal being above even the spritual realms, given the observed evidence of the supposition holding in those realms. Thus, the giving up of potency in one field results in enhancement elsewhere. Though clearly tainted by devoutist zeal, this First Supposition, that of Karma, is the one with the most evident truth among their teachings. If the religious trappings of overarching destiny are removed, and the principle applied solely as it relates to cultivation, it does seem to hold true. To be clear, this can be seen most prominently in the case of certain cultivation arts, wherein the user sacrifices some quanta, be it vitality or some other such thing if personal value. These arts consistently outperform other arts - even when it is obvious that no especial energy is being funneled into the Art Technique. A very interesting example to this scholar is an art acquired from a Keihokan splinter sect, which upon use, worked into the matrices of the technique, the user is prevented from jumping. This in no way relates to the Art's purpose of bolstering vitality, but nevertheless has a curious effect. Apparently composed by the Sect Elders, it composes one of a set of four - an unhampered version of the art, and a pair of celerous arts with and without that same restriction of limiting leaping. While I did not waste the effort to learn all of the set, the elders were more than willing to have a disciple demonstrate. Even though the integration of such a restriction merely complicates the art, it is inexplicably easier to learn, requiring less potency of body and spirit to master, and far less effort. Increasingly intriguing, when the vitality boosting art is compared to the movement techniques of the other art, the difference is even more obvious, two whole steps beneath the other. While one must be on the watch for unwholesome bias, the elders claim that this disparity is a result of Karmic principles in action - while any art is enhanced by the integration of a restriction, when this restriction more directly opposes the inherent purpose of the Art, the enhancement is amplified. Hence, healing, which requires little movement receives only a relatively small boost, while a movement art, which is intended to enhance ones ability to move is immensely improved by the onerous limitation of remaining ground-bound, even when the principle element is fire.

Some readers may question the credence I lend the claims of these elders, as did I at first, but a further investigation (which the elders were eager to facilitate), revealed the implausibility of a hoax. For such a small Sect, not number one hundred total, there was an uncommon density of peer-quality arts - if you were to ignore the restrictions. There is no sensible method by which eight elders could hope to create so many such arts, and such a quantity would be ludicrous discovery of chance. In addition, unlike certain contemporaries of this scholar, this one understands the mentality of the devout - namely that the insincere elder that lurks in the ten Fén plays of the peasant is an unusual character, and it is often far more practical to assume that fanaticism is genuine than a given con-man having mind-occluding arts such to give one of the Emperor's Fingers issue.

With these observations it is a rational conclusion to deem the Monks sensate in this and inching upon the truth in their contemplation, namely that even when a limitation to an Art should serve to inhibit, it will quite often result in an enhancement. The preferred model proposed by this scholar is that of a wineskin, full to bursting. By imposing a restriction, applying pressure to our "wineskin", we cause it to bulge elsewhere from our grasp - the wineskin stretches, increasing in total size, though the wine contained within is of equal volume prior to applying pressure. This model does not, however, account for, fully to this scholars satisfaction, the more abstract consideration of why limitations more pertinent to the arts intended purpose (notably revealed among other arts of the Keihokan Sect, it is the arts purpose the limitations seem to relate proportionally to rather than its function) are more effaicious in their enhancement. Perhaps, if delving into less concrete and more abstract models, a limitation occupies, or possibly imposes, a region of negative conceptual density, giving the arts primary expression more "room to grow", as it were. This, of course, in turn, provokes the question of, with this in mind, that a cultivator might..."