It may be a concession to ling qi. If ling qi does not support the government then she will lose the support of the second strongest cultivator in her faction. Honestly since cai seems to be a major political animal we may never know how she really things on certain things. All we really know about her is that she highly values peace and order currently, although that may just be her thinking this is how she needs to act, and she is a good enough diplomat and politician to get it done.
That is very true. Personally, my interpretation of Cai Renxiang is that she wants to be a fair and just ruler, but that could very well be a wrong interpretation. We don't know much about her, so much so that we consistently underestimate her and sometimes misinterpret her (sometimes quite severely, like that one time someone got angry at Cai Renxiang for offering us "just" 50 Red stones to do a mission for her, and assumed she was insulting us). I'd love to get to know her more, but she's too busy for that.
Maybe towards the end of the year when her obligations are less we can have a nice cup of tea and a calm conversation. Those provide a lot of insight into people.
That is very true. Personally, my interpretation of Cai Renxiang is that she wants to be a fair and just ruler, but that could very well be a wrong interpretation. We don't know much about her, so much so that we consistently underestimate her and sometimes misinterpret her (sometimes quite severely, like that one time someone got angry at Cai Renxiang for offering us "just" 50 Red stones to do a mission for her, and assumed she was insulting us). I'd love to get to know her more, but she's too busy for that.
Maybe towards the end of the year when her obligations are less we can have a nice cup of tea and a calm conversation. Those provide a lot of insight into people.
That would be really cool. One of our major weakness is our political power. Anything that boosts our political knowledge will also be great for increasing Ling Qi political power. At this point the only way to increase our political skills and knowledge, which I personally feel will become very important the more we interact with the empire and the inner sect, is to interact in a political way. Hopefully in a semi safe environment where mistakes are not harshly punished. Cai would be great for this.
If Cai Renxiang never cared about the poor she wouldn't have even cared about Ling Qi's "allowances". The fact that she considered it does shows she cares, because believe it or not monarchs don't come up with all their rules themselves. Cai heard Ling Qi out and approved of her consideration of the poor, which does mean that she cares to some extent to those cultivators.
I also don't understand your example there. If a cultivator is weak, then they'll remain within the safe spaces provided by Cai Renxiang. If they're going to duel someone, then they should go to Cai's enforcers and ask them for help enforcing the duel. If the enforcers weren't called in, then the duel wasn't "honorable" and thus the weaker cultivator could lodge a complaint. If Cai Renxiang knows what she's doing, then she would likely be furious with anyone "attacking" others outside of her safe areas and stealing their belongings in a less than honorable fashion. I'm sure if anybody tried abusing a tactic like that she would crush them for disturbing her government's laws of ensuring that banditry is not present in the sect.
Cai Renxiang's laws are purposefully only about the residential and key areas. Attacking people outside of them is working as intended.
Let me give a concrete example as to how it works: Li Suyin was beat up and had her stuff stolen before the rules were put in places. She literally cannot, under the rules, try to get her stuff back unless those are taken out of her thief's house. Nowadays, this means that if someone wants to beat up someone else they just have to target them when they are 'outside', then bring back the loot inside. Cai Renxiang would then protect the people who beat them up.
Another example is the degree of powers: someone rich doesn't mind losing a token in a duel. They have many. Someone poor only has the one. See how Li Suyin wasn't allowed to loot more than a couple of things from someone who crippled her. This means that it disproportionally hurt you the poorer you are as long as you do 'honor duels'.
We also know that you need to go outside to become stronger. You need to do sect jobs if you are poor, etc. This means that the weaker and poorer you are, the more you are hurt by her rules, while rich people and nobles with connections are much less hurt.
That is very true. Personally, my interpretation of Cai Renxiang is that she wants to be a fair and just ruler, but that could very well be a wrong interpretation. We don't know much about her, so much so that we consistently underestimate her and sometimes misinterpret her (sometimes quite severely, like that one time someone got angry at Cai Renxiang for offering us "just" 50 Red stones to do a mission for her, and assumed she was insulting us). I'd love to get to know her more, but she's too busy for that.
Maybe towards the end of the year when her obligations are less we can have a nice cup of tea and a calm conversation. Those provide a lot of insight into people.
My interpretation of her is also that she wants to be fair and just, just that her definition of fair and just isn't ours.
Likewise, I didn't get angry with her for offering 'just' 50 red stones and assumed she was insulting us. I said it was looking down on Ling Qi's time and not trying to woo us. That's a very heavy straw-man of my argument back then, which was "I really want to work for Cai Renxiang but it appears she is very clearly not trying to woo us and instead trying to check if we are worthy to work for her".
Man I hate to do this, but there's just too much going on. I will update tomorrow. Sorry about this guys. I won't let an update time stretch this long again.
The whole reason of Cai's establishment is to serve her goal of impressing her mother with the ability to impose order on the wide variation of cultivators that would be a part of the outer sect. That was the original purpose, and it would be remiss to lose sight of that goal when discussing what Cai believes is justice along with her future goals for the establishment.
The very first meeting was to achieve Cai's first goal, which was successful. The collection of stones from breaker of the rules was to be a detriment while also providing for medical expenses of the enforcers who might have been injured in any enforcement action that they had taken. The second meeting was the 2 Thunderdome where half of the "ruling" Council was evicted from power and stripped of any rights and protections they might have had under Cai's establishment. It was at this time where the duties and responsibilities of the establishment were increased to include tax collecting and fielding a more permanent enforcement force.
We know that Cai was working on this increase in power and responsibility before the 2 Thunderdome, so we can't say that the battle was the catalyst for the evolution of the government. This indicates that Cai's goal was always to go this route rather than simply enforcing peace in the outer sect. Which makes every meeting with her a stepping stone that she is using to move her establishment in a direction that she wants in order to reach an end goal.
Without knowing that much about Cai, there are still some assumptions that I am willing to make. Firstly, she wants to prove to her mother that she is worthy of the title of heir and should keep it for the unforeseen future. Secondly, she wishes to have as much strength as possible, both political and cultivation wise (indicated by her statement to Sun Liling about how cultivation level is not the only indicator of strength). With these two broad goals in mind, looking at what Cai's actions are might give insight on what her end goal of the establishment she is creating is, along with more personal goals she has.
First, it would be prudent to remember that not all outer sect members are reaching to become an inner sect member, we have been burned by this before with our conversation with Su Ling. However, I don't feel an issue making the assumption that Cai wishes to get into the inner sect, as it fulfills the two goals listed above. It gives her more legitimacy as an heir of a duchy while at the same time gives her more resources (such as tutors and trainers) for increasing her cultivation level while also increasing her accesses to individuals who are strong enough to make a wave in their respective families, allowing her to get more connections for future or current political machinations.
However, this does create a problem for us in trying to figure out what her end goal is for this establishment. Every moment that she spends on dealing with the government is not a moment preparing herself for the inner sect tournament. This indicates two things to me: that she is confident that she can succeed in getting into the inner sect, and that the time she is spending creating this establishment is more valuable than time spent in cultivation. The first is not so worrisome, as it is patently obvious that she is one of the strongest contenders for getting into the top 8 of the combat school. The second is more worrisome to us for trying to determine her end goal.
By spending these large swathes of time setting this up and organizing it she must value the establishment more than the cultivation that she could achieve in a similar frame of time. Admittedly, it could very well be done in her free time and as a way to balance herself from constant cultivation (like how we take sect missions as well as our more social activities), but the conversation with Xun Shi indicated to me that she was busy with setting up the government and not that she was busy setting up her cultivation.
It is my belief that this establishment has a much larger goal than what we have currently seen so far. There are three or so people who we know will be a part of the Cai faction (excluding Meizhen and us) should they get through the tournament as well. That is not actually going to be enough to establish a good group among the 16+ people getting through to the inner sect, especially since we don't know the actual size of the inner sect. This indicates a couple of options, to me, about what is running through Cai's mind regarding this establishment.
First, that it will last past when she goes to the inner sect, as by slowly feeding people who are supportive of her and her establishment through the tournament will allow her to form a strong inner political circle in the inner sect. Second, that there is something that forming a powerful establishment can do within the remainder of the year that Cai would not be able to do on her own, no matter how powerful she becomes. I just don't know what that would be. It could be that her mother has given her a directive to accomplish within the first year, or a hint on how to get better teaching and guaranteed entrance to the inner sect was given to her where the requirement was to form a powerful establishment.
It is my belief that this establishment has a much larger goal than what we have currently seen so far. There are three or so people who we know will be a part of the Cai faction (excluding Meizhen and us) should they get through the tournament as well. That is not actually going to be enough to establish a good group among the 16+ people getting through to the inner sect, especially since we don't know the actual size of the inner sect. This indicates a couple of options, to me, about what is running through Cai's mind regarding this establishment.
First, that it will last past when she goes to the inner sect, as by slowly feeding people who are supportive of her and her establishment through the tournament will allow her to form a strong inner political circle in the inner sect. Second, that there is something that forming a powerful establishment can do within the remainder of the year that Cai would not be able to do on her own, no matter how powerful she becomes. I just don't know what that would be. It could be that her mother has given her a directive to accomplish within the first year, or a hint on how to get better teaching and guaranteed entrance to the inner sect was given to her where the requirement was to form a powerful establishment.
First, there is an assumption that Cai Renxiang having tried to make an alliance of all the powerful cultivator didn't mean that she is trying to get a solid alliance of everyone that has the potential to get to the inner sect under her. It failed with Sun Liling and Kang Zihao and Ji Rong, sure, but she tried. She also is reaching out to older sect disciples, and her 'alliance' already has at least 8 people going for the combat track: Herself, Gan Guangli, Huang Da, Ling Qi, Bai Meizhen, Han Jian, Han Fang, Gu Xiulan. All of those are people she has reached out to with political ties. I am going to assume there is in fact at least 20 people she knows of that she has approached and who have the potential to make it. Likewise for the production track.
Second, I think it's very potential to note that not just her mother is watching: the sect is, too. She's showing off, sure, but she is a disciple. Like we are training both our cultivation and our skills, she is training her cultivation and political skills. This, right here? This is a great opportunity for her to experience trying to take over a 'state' and forming one with rules/etc. This isn't just about her mother judgining her, this is about her learning her ropes. This is a unique opportunity to try things out.
I'd say that if there is any long term plan it's making alliances and gaining some high-potential subordinate... but that we shouldn't under-estimate what she is gaining simply by doing the experience of creating her government. She doesn't need the government itself as much, I believe, as the experience of creating it.
See how Li Suyin wasn't allowed to loot more than a couple of things from someone who crippled her. This means that it disproportionally hurt you the poorer you are as long as you do 'honor duels'.
That's not... strictly true. Li Suyin was only able to take a single token because the other side had an ally on par with Ling Qi who was willing to make an issue of it. She only held off because the argument of "a token of victory" was too difficult for her to rouse her fellow older disciples to sympathy and she didn't want to risk clashing with the Cai faction.
Nothing so complex as how people are framing it. She's here to establish Order, not Justice or Equality. This, furthermore, must be done without being in a position of absolute power, she's strong but not unsurmountable.
This reflects in how she set up the rules, they allow conflict, they set boundaries that would be inconvenient for the strong, but not inconvenient enough that they decide that ignoring her order entirely is better. The weak factor in generally as an enforcement difficulty metric, she cannot hope to supervise everything, so realpolitik says she needs to offer them some reason to buy in rather than try to dodge the system.
That's be protection, safe zones, limited duels. While certainly the weak might benefit from the ability to launch mass sneak attacks on the strong, generally what this really means is that the popular(who are also the strong) gain a disproportionate disadvantage in that she had just set it up so that anyone who wants to rock the system and has the popularity/command to try would basically present themselves as Public Enemy.
Now long term gains?
This generation has a FREAKISH number of significant heirs and high talent monsters in it. Perhaps she started out intending to just demonstrate her ability and right of rule, but at this point it's clear that a big chunk of the people are going to be important in the future, whether in personal power or in politics.
Therefore it's a simple formula for success is to get future influential people used to seeing her as a source of authority, and furthermore to establish that she has a good track record with using it responsibly.
I still think that Cai knows the greater spirit living in her mother's outfit. The beast that helped her mother rise up to a white cultivator so young and that helped her destroy the original holder of the province. She knows this greater spirit exists and she knows it must be resisted. Thus she builds her army and bides her time.
I still think that Cai knows the greater spirit living in her mother's outfit. The beast that helped her mother rise up to a white cultivator so young and that helped her destroy the original holder of the province. She knows this greater spirit exists and she knows it must be resisted. Thus she builds her army and bides her time.
I mean sure Cai is a Satsuki expy, and her mother is likely to be a Ragyo expy, but I somehow doubt yrsillar is going to implement plot points from Kill la Kill. That way lies madness.
I'm still hoping for a Ryuko expy, but I somehow doubt she exists.
I mean sure Cai is a Satsuki expy, and her mother is likely to be a Ragyo expy, but I somehow doubt yrsillar is going to implement plot points from Kill la Kill. That way lies madness.
I'm still hoping for a Ryuko expy, but I somehow doubt she exists.
It is unlikely, but it seems like a pretty obvious possible plot hook if we end up going all in with Cai. I kind of think a Nui expy would be more likely than Ryuko expy at this point. Nui would obviously be a spirit poking around, whereas Ryuko would require transfer students to be a thing.
I mean sure Cai is a Satsuki expy, and her mother is likely to be a Ragyo expy, but I somehow doubt yrsillar is going to implement plot points from Kill la Kill. That way lies madness.
I'm still hoping for a Ryuko expy, but I somehow doubt she exists.
That's not... strictly true. Li Suyin was only able to take a single token because the other side had an ally on par with Ling Qi who was willing to make an issue of it. She only held off because the argument of "a token of victory" was too difficult for her to rouse her fellow older disciples to sympathy and she didn't want to risk clashing with the Cai faction.
I'm not sure, are you saying that things are even worse than I've been saying for poorer people under Cai's rules? I mean, I guess I was being being optimist. Rer-reading the scene in question:
"Stop," her smile faded as the older girl stepped forward, an ugly look on her face. "I think that is quite enough. If you think to bully my younger sister so, you will have to face me."
"It's pretty appropriate for the victor to take a token," Ling Qi responded dryly. "Are you really that poor? Or are you just being a sore loser?"
"And who do you imagine yourself to be," The girl replied. "I am Xu Qiao, eldest daughter of Xu, and I have accepted enough of your rudeness. Do not imagine yourself above your station. That little scrap of cloth does not put you above me."
"I am Ling Qi, and though I cannot say I have a clan to back me. I have made a friend or two," she replied dryly. She didn't miss the way that the enforcer pair which had been watching the duel stepped forward, nor the other two pairs standing with the crowd doing the same. "I will not say that I am above you, but don't you think you're being too much of a sore loser here?"
The girls face reddened and she scowled out at the crowd. "Is this what the sect is reduced too? Kowtowing to the whims and authority of an unblooded heiress? Are we too allow ourselves to be cowed by our juniors so?"
Ling Qi maintained her confidence despite the grumbling from the crowd. She was a bit worried though. It was Li Suyin who spoke up next as she carefully removed the ring from Xu Jia's fingers. "My apologies if you mistook my intentions, Miss Xu. I of course intend only to take a reasonable token of victory," in an instant a small waterfall of spirit stones and pills fell from the ring, piling in front of the unconscious girl. "I am no bandit after all," she spoke in her usual quiet voice.
From what I can see, there is two scenarios here (maybe I am missing one):
The first is, that under Cai's honor duel you are supposed to only take a minor token, and as such pressing the issues would have people having more arguments against Cai corruption/whatever. In this case, as I have said above, it disproportionally advantage the rich (as they have more things).
The second seems to be what you are arguing for, that there are no clear rules, and as long as you have enough friends and are rich enough, you can force the one beating you to not dare take anything much. But if you are poorer and don't have said connections, this doesn't apply. This screw up the non-nobles even more.
Maybe I'm missing something here, as I had assumed it was the first without even thinking of the second (in good part because that's kind of bad planning), but I'd say the scenario of "rules disproportionally advantage nobles and rich people" is the best case scenario for the poor there.
Maybe I'm missing something here, as I had assumed it was the first without even thinking of the second (in good part because that's kind of bad planning), but I'd say the scenario of "rules disproportionally advantage nobles and rich people" is the best case scenario for the poor there.
That's basically it. The rich and powerful can quite seriously deal with an attack at home. Sure, they have more to lose, but they are hard targets. Easier even for the poor and weak to prey on each other and loot each other dry so that ONE of them may rise to be something.
No matter what the rich and powerful have an advantage over the weak and poor, but under this system they'd all advance mediocrely...whereas without the system most of them are fucked except for the most ruthless and most lucky of their number.
That's basically it. The rich and powerful can quite seriously deal with an attack at home. Sure, they have more to lose, but they are hard targets. Easier even for the poor and weak to prey on each other and loot each other dry so that ONE of them may rise to be something.
No matter what the rich and powerful have an advantage over the weak and poor, but under this system they'd all advance mediocrely...whereas without the system most of them are fucked except for the most ruthless and most lucky of their number.
I disagree that the rich and powerful can deal with an attack at home: not only are they not staying home all the time, and can't deal with thieves, but they not can they deal with a lot of people attacking them when they don't have back up at home.
Now, that might be different for the monsters, but the 'rich and powerful' here are people like Fan Yu, Hong Lin, Huang Da and so on. People who come from count+ houses and are main branches (well, Fan Yu and Hong Lin are not confirmed for main branch, but she is engaged to Huang Da who is, and Fan Yu's dad is close in status to Han Jian's dad). Those people are vulnerable to attacks at home, and that's where they have the most to lose.
Under Cai's rules, the not-politically connected can't attack powerful people to get a lot of their loots (unless they luck out when attacking someone outside who has all his resources), and if they are attacked anywhere they are screwed. Cai's rules don't, as far as I can see, do anything for them: it doesn't matter if they are protected at home as they don't have the resources to need their homes to be protected, and if they are challenged to a duel they risk losing everything.
The worst part is that under Cai's rules the new 'default' is attacking people when they are doing missions/etc (as it's the place that you are 'allowed' to attack without rules), and it's the poor that need to do those the most.
Yeah - there are two obvious points for relationship drama. Suyin is moving on to do her own thing, and some of us are fine with that, and some want to 'keep watch' over her. Meizhen is hurt, and that's a sore point we don't want to let sit... but we're also afraid to touch. One more bad roll could do some real damage.
We also have complex feelings about how far we want to be involved with Cai's government.
We fight over Han Jian and Gu Xiulan drama more than we ever fought over Meizhen and Li Suyin stuff as far as I can tell. Meizhen is pretty much 'always yes Waifu', and Li Suyin is 'no one really cares there'. Gu Xiulan and Han Jian have both huge fans and huge non-fans, so they are more polarizing.
It had only been a single day since the egg had hatched, and Ling Qi was already feeling a bit harried. Her spirits constant hunger and desire for her attention consumed hours of her time. She had run out of grade one cores in short order and been forced to put off research into his nature in order to get more.
There was a minor lucky break, when she had left him in the garden atop the still warm kiln to retrieve some things from her room, only to return and find that he had gotten into the wood pile. It looked like he enjoyed gnawing on the spiritually infused wood almost as much as the cores, given the smoldering end of the log she had found him under.
So she had that as a stopgap at least, it only took a bit of effort to break up one of the larger pieces and store the smaller sticks in her ring for his consumption while scooping the little snake turtle up in her arms
"What am I going to do with you," Ling Qi murmured, resting her hand atop the little spirits shell. His eyes, both sets of them, stared up at her guileless as his blunt claws scrabbled against the fabric of her gown.
Hungry, safe, cold. She could feel these vague sensations from the odd spirit though their connection. There was nothing so coherent as words, or even images, just jumbled and primitive sensation. It made her all too aware that she wasn't just dealing with an animal. Her previous assumptions had been shattered though, and now she didn't know what to do. She needed to research of course, but she could hardly leave him alone
The only person she might have trusted to watch over him was Bai Meizhen, but her friend was out right now as she had often been since last week. Ling Qi did her best to ignore the pang of sadness she felt at that. Which left bringing him along. She was wary of that though, despite her current circumstances… her instincts whispered that it was a bad idea to openly advertise her precious spirit to the sect at large yet.
Recalling Elder Su's lectures on the subject, she knew that it was a poor idea to dematerialize newborn spirits. Something about their self and identity not being stable yet. The opposite of things at the higher end, where the greatest of spirit beasts couldn't be dematerialized at all.
The little tortoise let out chirping cry, startling her from her thoughts, and bringing a chagrined smile to her lips. She wasn't going to get anything done just standing here. She would just have to follow old habits and take a more subtle approach to moving around for a little while. The serpent coiled atop his shell let out a plaintive hiss then, and the feeling of hunger projected in her thoughts intensified.
"Be patient," she said chidingly, brushing her thumb along cool, black scales. "I need you to hold still now, alright. I'm going to have to go out to get some things," she paused a moment, grimacing as she realized that he probably didn't understand her… and that she still hadn't given him a name. A few moments more of contemplation solved at least one of those problems. "Hm, maybe this…." she mused aloud, before furrowing her brows and concentrating her thoughts of the tendril of vigorous fiery qi tethering them together, doing her best to project her meaning. Safety, silence, the promise of food, and of course, affection, even if she hadn't thought of a name yet, her spirit was still absolutely precious to her, an irreplaceable treasure.
That thought made her blink, even as the spirit in her arms let out another chirping cry and withdrew into his shell, huddling inside. The little serpent took a moment, letting out a soft hiss and puff of soot before it followed suite. "That's a good child," Ling Qi sighed in relief, drawing on observations from her past in projecting a parental sort of tone. "Just hold on for a bit, okay?" Just said, trying to give a feeling of confidence and assurance.
She felt like she was onto something for a name, but she didn't want to make a hasty choice. Instead, she focused on getting what she needed. A light leap took her to the top of the wall around her home's garden, and a second brought her to a narrow alley where she could disappear without being noted.
Her first stop was the archive, where she acquired a few bestiaries to search through. Her second stop was a nice, isolated little stream she had found in her quest to find a decent swimming and fishing spot for Meizhen. She still had the fishing gear after, and she had gone back to her room to retrieve it already. Grade one fish weren't much smarter than normal ones, and she could easily fish and study at the same time. It seemed her best bet for acquiring cores cheaply and easily.
So, soon enough, she was settled on the bank of the stream with a fishing rod in one hand and a book in the other. Her spirit had poked his head out of his shell when she had stopped moving, and though he eyed the water warily, he soon let out a little chirping cry and trundled off of her lap to explore the nearby grass and underbrush. She kept an eye on him of course, but it seemed safe enough. This wasn't a dangerous part of the mountain.
Her efforts to discover exactly what he was were both successful and not. She had thought she had seen something about snake turtles before after all, and the bestiary she had borrowed quickly jogged her memory. She had a feeling that had dismissed the idea subconsciously in fact. After all, it seemed a little unreal that she had managed to acquire one of the four 'legendary' beasts, if the least renowned one. Dragons and pheonixes were associated with the Imperial houses after all, and the great tigers of the east had their own fame. She suspected it was one reason why Han Jian's family had the status it did.
The serpent tortoises though were not referred to nearly as often in tales though. Mostly because she lived in the far south of the empire, and they were apparently native to the far north. She had a feeling Xuan Shi's family might be associated with them, given the bestiary noted that 'Savage Seas' was the province where they were most common. As a constantly rainy, storm wracked archipelago of rocky islands, made of of sheer wave worn cliffs, it didn't sound very hospitable to her.
That was also where the bestiary grew less useful. They were apparently supposed to be creatures of earth and water, with a few listed subspecies which were mountain or heaven instead. There was nothing on fiery subtypes in the books she had taken from the archive.
She pondered that even as she went through the rest of the books, pausing to clean the occasional catch and offer their cores to her still unnamed spirit whenever he came trundling back to demand attention and pats. He gobbled up the cores and sticks of wood greedily, sometimes with a bit of squabbling between his two heads. By the time the sun was reaching its height though, he had crawled into the embers of the campfire she had built to roast the rest of the fish she had caught and fallen asleep.
It wasn't fruitless, she supposed, even if much of the information she had gotten was useless, since given his aversion to the stream, she doubted most of the habits and behaviors in the books could be attributed to him. Still, she knew for example, that although their heads might bicker and behave in separate ways, they weren't really separate entities, just two sides of the same mind. She could probably use some of the notes on their care too.
Ling Qi stretched her arms over her head and arched her back, working out the stiffness of several hours spent sitting still. She would have to move on soon, she had quite a few other things to do today after all. She just had to figure out what she was going to do with her spirit for the next few days, before she could keep him dematerialized.
She heard a creak then, and the rustling of leaves. A knife was in her hand in an instant as she jerked her head around to look at the treeline behind her. She blinked in surprise a moment later when Gu Xiulan landed lightly on the ground a half dozen meters downstream, giving her a peevish look. The hot tempered girl had changed her look a bit, with her hair no longer in a single braid, but instead a number of more elaborate smaller ones, held in place with bright red clasps and pins. Her spirit had also grown, reaching the middle threshold of the second realm.
"What in the world are you doing out here?" Her friend asked irritably as she strode up, hands on her hips as she frowned at Ling Qi. "You left me waiting you know," she added with a sniff and a toss of her hair. "You are lucky I bothered to look for you."
Ling Qi grimaced sheepishly, she had agreed to meet Xiulan over lunch hadn't she? She hadn't thought she was that late. "I'm sorry, I lost track of the time," she replied immediately, looking up at her friend apologetically. "How did you find me though?" She asked a beat later. She hadn't exactly told anyone where she was going.
Gu Xiulan huffed and dropped herself elegantly down next to Ling Qi, hands resting in the grass. Ling Qi caught sight of the other girls bare calves for an instant before Xiulan folded her legs to sit more properly. Still nothing, huh? "I am more than capable of tracking down a friend a know well, by their qi," Xiulan replied haughtily. "What in the world are you doing out here anyway?" She repeated her question, wrinkling her nose as she studied Ling Qi's face and then glanced down at the small pile of fishbones sitting by the campfire. "..." She could feel the other girls disapproval.
Ling Qi glanced away, flushing slightly, all too aware of the grease and soot spotting her lips and chin from her casual meal. She had meant to clean up before leaving of course. Ling Qi coughed into her hand awkwardly and dipped her other into the water, using the cool stream water to wipe her chin clean. "Well, I needed some small grade one cores and it seemed wasteful to leave the rest," she replied. "Since I needed to do some reading at the same time…" Ling Qi added, gesturing to the books sitting in the grass beside her.
Gu Xiulan leaned forward to glance across the titles and raised an eyebrow, a smirk starting to grow on her lips. "Oh? Looking into spirit beasts? I…" Her increasingly smug expression freezes as she narrowed her eyes, looking Ling Qi over more closely. "No, you already found one didn't you?"
Ling Qi cocked her head to the side curiously. "Is it that obvious?" She asked.
"Unless you have mastered a new fire art in the last day or so," she replied dryly. "Now that I think about it, I suppose it is rather obvious, given the source of qi that appeared in your yard a month back. An egg, or did you discover some old ritual while hiding in the bookshelves at night?"
"The first one," Ling Qi replied happily. She turned away for a moment, leaning over to reach into the embers of the campfire where her tortoise was napping. She scooped him up, unmindful of the still hot embers. He awoke at her touch, blinking up at her as his stubby little legs pawed at the air. The serpent part remained asleep and coiled on his back. "See? He just hatched, isn't he adorable?" She couldn't help but gush a little, as she presented her spirit to her friend, cradling him in her arms.
Gu Xiulan peered down at him with furrowed brows, expression going from surprise, to an almost ugly expression of envy, before quickly smoothing over into resigned irritation. "...Hmph. I am never going to surpass you in anything of any meaning am I?" Ling Qi blinked at the bitterness in her friend's tone. "Really, a snake-tortoise, of course you would manage to find something like that," it was gone by the time she was finished speaking though.
Ling Qi shrugged, not being really sure what to say as she settled him on her lap. "I think I'm going to call him Zhengui," she said instead, diverting the subject. "I've kind of been trying to figure out how to take care of him." She glanced down in surprise as the little tortoise let out a chirp and clambered down off of her lap, his snake 'tail' hissing irritably as the jostling woke it up.
Zhengui made another curious sound as he crossed the distance between Ling Qi and Gu Xiulan letting out a plaintive squeak as he butted his tiny head against her other girls leg. "Hm, I suppose he is rather cute," Gu Xiulan said ruefully. "That name may be a tad ill fitting as he grows though," she added as she reached down, running her fingers along his knobby shell. Ling Qi felt a flash some something like jealousy as he chirped happily and scrabbled at Xiulan's dress, trying to climb into her lap. "Oh? Are you cold little one? I suppose Ling Qi isn't the warmest girl…" some of her humor seemed to return as Zhengui nuzzled her hand.
"I can be plenty warm," Ling Qi grumbled, giving her tortoise a betrayed look as he snuggled into Xiulan's lap and his serpent head swayed, following the sparks dancing on her fingers.
"Hardly, Ling Qi," Gu Xiulan sniffed. She glanced to the side as if distracted by something. "Well, in any case, I suppose it is hardly impressive now, but I did want to show you something," she said after a moment's quiet thought. "Ling Qi, meet Linhuo," the air between them distorted and actinic sparks erupted from the suddenly heated air. A marble sized sphere of blue white fire appeared and quickly swelled, taking on a vague humanoid shape some fifteen centimetres high. Wings forms by snapping, sparking strands of electricity spread from its back, as it crackled like a campfire, somehow managing to convey a curiosity and cheerfulness with the sound.
Ling Qi studied the spirit with surprise as it fluttered closer, hovering a few inches from her face. Looking closer, she thought she could see the vague contours of eyes in the wisp of flame that made up its face… no, the spirits qi had a feminine tinge to it, it wasn't the right way to think of it. "Hello," Ling Qi said curiously, raising a hand unconsciously, the winged flame landed in her upraised palm like a butterfly, tickling her palm. She, the spirit Linhuo that is, was rather pretty, given the colorful embers that made of her form. "What is she, Gu Xiulan?"
"A Heaven Spark Fairy," Gu Xiulan replied with a tinge of pride. "My Elder Sister was able to get me a pass to leave sect grounds for a day. We went north, where a forest fire had been sparked," she continued, looking up from Zhengui with a smile on her lips. "It was beautiful, fairies like her are born when lightning sparks great fires, though they rarely outlive the blaze they are born in. Elder Sister Yanmei said that Linhuo would have great potential for future growth."
"She's cute," Ling Qi mused as the fairy wandered across her palm before buzzing back into the air to hover over Zhengui, flitting from side to side curiously, only to jerk back as the tortoise tried to take a nibble at her. "Hey, no biting," Ling Qi chided, reaching over to take her own spirit back, doing her best to convey disapproval even as she tucked him back into her own lap and ignored the little spirits plaintive squeak.
"She is quite a pretty little flame is she not?" Gu Xiulan said with a laugh, seemingly mollified for the moment, as her own spirit alit on her shoulder, let out an unhappy crackle as she gave the impression of glaring at Zhengui. "In any case, shall we get going? I do believe you still owe me a meal."
"Sure thing, sorry for making you look for me Gu Xiulan," Ling Qi replied as she pushed herself to her feet. This was nice, no awkwardness or strange concerns. At least she could still talk to Xiulan normally. The other girl was obviously bothered by her good fortune, but it didn't get in the way. She was glad for that, she wasn't sure what she would do otherwise.
It was nice to relax a bit and simply chat about idle things with the other girl over a meal, but soon enough they parted ways with a promise to meet the next day, and Ling Qi began to get back into her routine of cultivation, now with the addition of Zhengui either at her heels or in her arms. She continued to train with Meizhen, despite the awkward distance between them, and her friends renewed aloofness.
It made her sad, but there wasn't anything she could do about it, not really. Meditating at the vent at least remained peaceful. More than normal really, given that Su Ling had secluded herself, and Li Suyin was keeping odd hours. She was often alone at the vent, but it didn't worry her as it would have mere months ago. She wasn;t the strongest… but she was absolutely not an easy target or weak anymore.
Of course much of her time and attention went to Zhengui, keeping him from wandering off, or eating strange things, or any number of other troubles he tried to get himself into. She was glad she had gotten more patient since she began cultivating, or it probably would have driven her to her wits end.
One lucky thing was that Zhengui seemed to be very much a creature of the day, so by the time the sun had fallen and the bright half moon had risen, he was well asleep for the night, granting her the free time to get to the archive for a proper study session, while he snoozed atop the hearth. Recent events, her own actions, the vision she had after the battle, it made her worry about what exactly she was getting into.
She was never a particularly devout person, the only reason she had never stolen from a temple or a shrine was because it was obviously and objectively bad. People got cursed that way, she had seen it happen once or twice. Her knowledge about great spirits was quite low. She could vaguely recall her Mother making offerings to the Bountiful Earth, or the Stars of Mercy for health and good fortune, but those were things everyone did. It was just good sense. She hadn't exactly done any research on the matter, but she had picked up that those two were the most popular spirits among mortals, even if the average person only knew enough to avoid offending them.
She had made an offering to the Grinning Moon for the first time after observing some members of a street gang doing the same while talking about a big job. It had stuck with her, the sight of a half dozen dirty, rag clad men clustered around a crudely painted white crescent on the wall of an alley, burning sticks of expensive, for them, incense and rice cakes while praying for good fortune. When some fellow street rat had stolen her flute and pawned it off, leaving it sitting in a heavily guarded antique shop… she had felt the need for some luck herself, and for revenge against the ass who had taken it in the first place. She had gotten both.
What was happening was more than that though, more than a casual offering, and she wanted to learn more before she went any further. Which brought her once more to the seat across from Xuan Shi. This time the odd boy actually looked up from his book (Voyages Of Yu Long: The Thorny Heart).
She considered her approach for a moment, and decided that formality would be for the best here. She had gotten used to being casual again, but particularly with the upcoming meeting, she felt that she should probably polish her etiquette a bit again. "Brother Xuan," she greeted with a slight dip of her head. "Could I trouble you to speak with me for a time?"
He regarded her silently for a moment, but with a brief glance down at his book, he set it aside. "Speak Sister Ling, what troubles cloud your thoughts?"
He didn't exactly sound enthusiastic about it, but she supposed he never did. "Quite a few things, I won't trouble you with most of them," she replied dryly as she took a seat. "Do you know what this meeting is intended to be about?" She figured she could break the ice with something that would concern both of them, besides she was curious about a few things outside the moon.
He did that thing he often did, where he stared at her silently for several seconds before answering. "The words are not mine to speak. No storm lies upon the horizon to my knowledge," he drummed his fingers on the table top thoughtfully for a moment. "The vagabond has gone silent, the bloody princess remains caged, and the hound licks his wounds and trains, seeking ascendance."
Ling Qi took a few moments to parse that and nodded slowly. "That's fair," she replied after a moment. So the meeting should be untroubled, unless something else came out of nowhere. "You know, I think I understand everyone else, but why do you stand with Lady Cai?" She asked thoughtfully. "You're family is important enough that you don't need to subordinate yourself, right?" She had begun to pick up basic background knowledge at this point, Savage Seas might be the smallest province in the empire, but a ducal family was still a potent thing.
Once again silence reigned for a time before she received any response. "Ships do not spring from stone and barren cliff," he replied in a measured tone. "Few can match the quality of those built of the Emerald Sea's bounty," he added, a slight grimace crossing his features as he continued. "Masts line the straights as thick as graves, always more are needed to hold back the ravages of the Sea Folk."
That was… the name for the barbarians of the northern islands, out past the safe seas on the empires coast. She supposed that was a sensible enough reason to stay close to the Verdant Seas heir, relationships between major families were important for trade. She thought he wasn't telling the whole truth though, even if she couldn't place a finger precisely on why.
She hummed to herself in response, and this time it was her turn to remain awkwardly silent, she had kind of run through her topics for small talk. "Well, I guess I'll get to the point," she said after a minute. "You mentioned some interest in moon arts when we spoke last… could I ask you for a little information on the Phase Spirits, or some advice on which books to read about that?"
He furrowed his thick brows for a moment. "A strange request," he said after a much shorter pause. "The Guiding Moon is the matron of sailors and those who journey. It lights the night, providing safety and comfort, banishing darkness and showing one's true path when things lie occluded. Even here this should be known."
"I had a pretty spotty education," Ling Qi replied evasively, glancing away despite herself. "What about the Grinning Moon, and the Bloody one?"
"The waning and waxing crescents are dangerous spirits," he replied shortly. "Mercurial and unmerciful… yet not to be ignored. A captain who plans a night attack or ambush without an offering to the Grinning crescent is a fool," he shook his head. "I will not speak of the Bloody Moon, though it be in favor at court, such skullduggery is foul. Knowledge of spirits can be sought out on the shelves yonder," the broad featured boy pointed over her shoulder, indicating a set of shelves in the far right corner.
"Thank you for your time Brother Xuan," she replied politely as she stood up. "My apologies for interrupting your reading."
"It is no trouble," he replied to her back, as she moved off to begin her research in earnest. "Have care in your search."
Ling Qi paused a moment and then nodded, she wasn't sure why she would need to be careful, but she would take the warning to heart.
Rerolling 3
7 5 9. 1 success. 27 total
Third Star Achieved
7/60 Fourth Star
one fifth added to qi
+1 qi
4/36
An archery Art based upon the meditations of an Imperial General on the nature of shooting stars and meteor showers, and observations on certain spirits. Foundational art for several more advanced archery styles. Wraps the users projectiles in wind and infuses them with the wrathful light of the heavens allowing the user to strike down far away foes with powerful shots, piercing through armor and disrupting movement.
Passives
-Reduces all environmental penalties to attacks by two.
-Increase maximum range of bows by thirty meters
-Adds one point of armor penetration to all bow attacks
-Adds two die to the users pool for all bow attacks
Luminescent Star: o
Cost: 4 qi
Gathers and infuses elemental power into an arrow to be fired,adding three dice to the offensive clash and adding two additional damage on a successful hit. This additional damage may not be blocked by basic qi absorption.
Disruptive Star: oo
cost: 4 qi
A more complex technique, focusing on the heavenly aspect of the art, the user's arrow crackles with latent electricity and when it strikes home, disrupts the enemy's qi and nerves from the shock. Reduces enemy speed by five for two turns and forces a three success resolve test. On failure the enemy loses the effects of their lowest ranked persistent technique.
Meteoric Shower: ooo
Cost 6 Qi
A honing of the archers ability to fire quickly, explosively increases the archers speed for handful of moments, allowing them to unleash a blindingly bright volley in the time of a single shot. Allows the archer to fire up to four arrows with a single clash at a penalty of four dice. Arrows must be aimed at separate targets. Targets struck must succeed in a Wits test of two successes or be blinded
Fourth Star 6/60
Over the course of the next few days Ling Qi's routine settled, her cultivation improving steadily with the help of a reduced number of pills and elixirs while she practiced her other skills. She continued gaining further mastery with the bow, mastering a technique that allowed her to fire several arrows in rapid succession, among other things. In the evenings she studied, or played music, sometimes both, playing a light tune while deciphering particularly dense blocks of text, sometimes keeping Zhengui from trying to gnaw on the pages.
Her study of the moon phases bore fruit eventually, even as her studied forced her to grow more familiar with a number of other spirits and information about their worship. The Guiding Moon, or full moon was as Xuan Shi said, widely regarded well, known to be a boon to travelers and sailors in particular, it was associated strongly with divinatory techniques as well. If all the phases of the moon were related to mystery in some way, then the Guiding Moon was about 'revealing mystery'. The Hidden Moon, it's opposite, was just that, a spirit that thrived on secrets and lost or hidden knowledge. It was a spirit which hoarded and coveted knowledge and arts.
Information on the two crescents was more… difficult, older books seemed to match what she already knew, the Grinning Moon loved tricks and thievery, rewarding cleverness and ingenuity. The Bloody moon… well it was regarded as the spirit of assassins, of lives taken in the dark, unseen. Newer books painted it differently though. The Bloody Moon was regarded as the spirit smiling upon those who sought out and dealt justice to those who hid their misdeeds, and the Grinning Moon was one which smiled upon clever investigators who unveiled the foolish conspiracies of those who went against Imperial law.
It was… contradictory at best, and didn't necessarily fit what she knew, but she wasn't sure of what to make of it. The two half moon phases were regarded as one entity, the Reflective Moons. They were quiet and contemplation, self reflection and peace, and togetherness. Diplomats often invoked them at the beginning of volatile negotiations.
Information on the two gibbous phases was spotty, and despite her efforts she couldn't really find anything that mentioned them beyond the fact that they were associated with the full moon.
With so much to focus on, and Zhengui taking up so much of her time, she didn't have much time to tag along with Han Jian and the others, especially since they seemed to be getting busier themselves. She and Xiulan met for lunch each day of course, but that was an exercise in relaxation. Xiulan would brag about the duels she had won and Ling Qi would get pester her for thoughts on her clumsy initial attempts at composition. They avoided more serious topics.
Still, she did find a chance to get down to the training field and speak with Han Jian early on the day before the meeting with Cai. Unlike previous instances of meeting him like this, she arrived to see the ground being torn apart by the passage of Heijin, set to the sound of Han Jian's commands. She had seen the young tiger with them a few times over the past couple of weeks, going along with their hunts with a irritable sort of air.
It seemed the cub had acquiesced to actually following orders though, given that the two of them actually seemed to be practicing combined combat maneuvers. Ling Qi only watched for a moment before turning her eyes away and loosening her hold on her qi, she didn't want it to look like she was trying to spy on them after all. She loudly cleared her throat as well, but she doubted the sound would reach them through the dust and winds kicked up by their practice.
Zhengui watched the scene from her shoulder with curious eyes, it had taken some practice but he could perch there without falling as long as she wasn't moving erratically. It had taken a bit longer to convey to him that her hair was not edible. Both had been accomplished by now though. She glanced at her spirit to make sure he wasn't slipping and then raised a hand to wave to Han Jian, who had paused to look over at her, the golden glow around his shoulders fading.
"Ling Qi, I'm surprised you had the time to come this early," he said in greeting, lowering the practice blade in his hand as Heijin padded over to sit by his side. He eyed Ling Qi, or rather the tortoise on her shoulder warily. Their first meeting had involved Zhengui taking a nip at his tail. She was coming to learn that her spirit was a bit of a biter, in addition to being a little bit of a glutton.
"I guess I have been pretty busy," Ling Qi admitted. "It's been awhile since we've had a chance to talk on our own hasn't it?"
Han Jian smiled ruefully. "Yeah, things have changed a bit in the last few months, haven't they?" He replied easily, a touch of something like regret in his tone. "So, what's up? Looking to chat about what our lovely overlord is plotting this month?"
"Is that your type?" Ling Qi asked with a raised eyebrow and a slight smile. "I wouldn't have guessed." She bit back a comment about not letting Xiulan here him say that, not sure if it was appropriate, given how strained things were between them.
Han Jian gave her a flat look as he sheathed his sword and crossed his arms. "No. Not at all. Please don't joke about that kind of thing," he replied in a deadpan.
Ling Qi couldn't help but laugh a little and shake her head, drawing an irate hiss from Zhengui as he wobbled with the motion. She 'heard' Heijin grumble something in her thoughts, but he quieted with a sharp look from Han Jian. Something had changed between them since the battle with Liling.
Despite her humor, she had something serious to talk about though."No, I actually just wanted to know what's wrong. You've been distracted lately, and I'm pretty sure i've seen you signing things to Han Fang when the rest of us are busy. Are you planning to do something on your own?"
Han Jian's smile faded a bit. "You've gotten perceptive, haven't you?" He asked rhetorically, glancing away. "I do things outside the group too you know."
"You do," Ling Qi acknowledged. "I should know after all," he had met her alone in the first month after all. "I just thought I could offer some help."
"It's something private," Han Jian answered quietly. "I think we both know everyone has to have their little secrets too."
This time it was Ling Qi who broke eye contact. Given that she had been disappearing along with Bai Meizhen and her other friends every day for months, some conclusions were obvious. He had never brought it up before though. "That is fair," she admitted, it made her a little sad, but she had never mustered up the resolve to try and work something out between the two groups. I didn't mean to pry. I really did just want to see if you needed help with anything."
"I know," he replied with a slight shrug. "You're a surprisingly honest girl when it comes to some things Ling Qi," he replied, a hint of a teasing smile coming back to his expression. "...I do have to look out for my charges first though," he added with less enthusiasm. "We are in competition, you know?"
"I know," Ling Qi acknowledged. How could she not? "Well, I guess I can only wish you good fortune then," she said with a slightly forced laugh. "How does this affect everything else?"
"We won't be around for hunting next week, I think," Han Jian replied, turning to head toward the benches at the edges of the training area. Ling Qi followed him, falling in beside the boy. "After that… well, I was thinking we would start exploring some more dangerous areas, less focus on hunting and more on discovery, you know" he continued easily. "You're welcome to come along if you have the time."
"Sounds fun," Ling Qi replied breezily, just because they had to compete didn;t mean they couldn't still be friends. "Did you have a location in mind?"
"I was thinking the upper peaks might be a good spot to start, there has to be a few things hidden up in all that snow, you know?" He said lightly, seemingly relieved that she had taken the conversation well.
Ling Qi blinked, then let out a small laugh, drawing a curious look from Han Jian. "Well, you're probably not wrong, but let me tell you a story about a little girl and a blizzard…"
She didn't much appreciate her plight being laughed at, but… it was nice. She was glad Han Jian was understanding about her keeping secrets, it had been a minor worry in the back of her head for a couple of months now.
The end of the week, and the day of the the council meeting both came quickly after that, days going by in a flash as she focused on cultivation and training. Unfortunately things with Meizhen didn't really improve. The girl showed up for their training sessions, but vanished just as quickly thereafter, brushing off attempts to draw her into conversation.
By the time the last day came around, Ling Qi had decided to simply give her the space she clearly desired. This meant of course, that she ended up walking to the meeting alone. Given the hours she kept, it was perhaps unsurprising that she ended up arriving early to the meeting given it was set only a bit after sunrise.
More surprisingly, and less pleasantly, she found herself at the pavilion with only Huang Da and Xuan Shi yet present. The studious boy didn't look to be any help either, sitting with his hands clasped across his stomach and his head down, face hidden by his wide conical hat.
"Good Morning, oh lovely night lily," the blind boy greeted her as she ascended the steps to reach the table. Ling Qi narrowed her eyes at him, there was something off about his demeanor. He seemed vaguely sulky to her, in the way he slouched at the table. She couldn't help but stare at him assessingly for a moment, mid yellow and mid silver, it seemed, though the second seemed recent. She was pulling well ahead of him then.
"...Good Morning," she replied a touch sourly still eyeing him suspiciously as she took a seat a few places down from him. "Have you given up then? I haven't seen you for months. Not exactly convincing me you're interested, you know?" She asked flippantly, while still watching him for reactions.
She saw his hand clench into a fist as he looked away. "My apologies Ling Qi, I had such plans… but it seems your beauty has outshone me. I have been ordered directly by my father to cease pursuit," he sounded extremely unhappy. "Alas, it seems it was not to be…"
She gave him a suspicious look but did not otherwise respond beyond making a small sound of acknowledgement for his words. No longer how she looked at it, that declaration set off all sorts of alarms. The creep didn't seem like the type to give up easily, so that 'order' must have been pretty serious, and what would provoke that kind of thing? She had a feeling she would need to watch her back.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Cai Renxiang and Gan Guangli. The light that shone aroun the girl was brighter now, and her presence seemed even weightier, her qi radiated from her like the light of a star. The other girl had definitely broken through to the third realm, but it wasn't complete like Meizhen's yet. Gan Guangli for his part, was firmly at the late stage of the second realm as far as her senses could tell. He was also dressed differently now, wearing white and gold under lacquered steel armor. Heavy spiked pauldrons rested on his shoulders and armored greaves and gauntlets concealed his limbs, only his head remained bare.
Ling Qi's gaze was drawn to the third person with them though, a short thin boy with feathered black hair and and light green and loose robes, a scholar's cap rested on his head, and he walked with easy confidence in Cai Renxiang's shadow, hands clasped behind his back. He wore square framed eyeglasses, which was strange, as no cultivator should need such a thing, perhaps they were a talisman? Ling Qi met his grey eyes for a moment and received a smile in return. He was at the peak of second realm, close to the verge of breakthrough.
Cai Renxiang for her part nodded politely to each of them as Gan Guangli pulled out a seat for her. The new boy seated himself at her side. The others arrived shortly afterward, with Meizhen arriving last. She still sat beside Ling Qi, and even nodded to her… but Ling Qi couldn't help but feel the distance between them.
She was sure Cai Renxiang noticed as well, given the way her stern gaze briefly passed between the two of them.
She did not comment though, instead moving to begin the meeting. "Good Morning," she began curtly, looking at each of them in turn. "Allow me to open the second official meeting of this council, and extend my apologies for the interruption of the last. I appreciate the support of each one you in this difficult period." Ling Qi did her best to be polite and attentive as the girl went through the necessary pleasantries. "Before we begin to attend to our business, I must first introduce our new member," she continued, nodding to the faintly smiling boy at her side. "This is Fu Xiang, he will be representing the interests of the previous year's outer disciples."
The scholarly boy bowed his head to the rest of them. "Thank you for having me," he said cooly. "I am glad to be given this opportunity to prevent chaos and conflict. I do hope we can all get along," he continued. It was a bland introduction for a somewhat bland boy… but Ling Qi felt that there was something more to him, a sharp edge that belied his friendly words.
Still, she played her part, playing back a polite greeting along with everyone else, even as she shared a glance with Han Jian, she wasn't alone in her suspicion. Cai Renxiang continued speaking once the greetings were complete. "The focus of our next months efforts will be twofold, first we must ensure reduce princess Sun's ability to cause chaos is curbed as much as possible, since she cannot be entirely pacified," the faintly glowing girl began. "Miss Ling and Miss Gu have made some efforts in that direction already," she acknowledged. "But we cannot cease putting pressure upon them. Her primary conspirators are still at large however. Fu Xiang, I believe you have information on that matter?"
The older boy inclined his head slightly. "I do, the rebel Ji Rong has been seen among the older years. It seems he has endeared himself to a certain… formidable lady, by the name of Chu Song. Unfortunately, as a ruffian herself, she is unlikely to listen to reason and hand him over," he replied smoothly. "For now, I would suggest patience, dealing with that girl and her friends would be a poor decision for the moment, it would be best to leave it until we have further support among my fellow yearmates."
"Thank you, in regards to Kang Zihao, his location is well known. Huang Da?" Cai Renxiang continued after a beat to allow them to digest that.
"The dog cowers in his kennel, licking his wounds," Huang Da replied smoothly. "The actions of our wonderful ladies Gu and Ling have cost him support, and the actions I took in support of their efforts have done more still," he replied proudly.
Ling Qi glanced briefly at him, she wasn't sure how to feel about the boy taking his cues from her. She didn't miss the frost in Bai Meizhen's eyes when she glanced at the boy though.
"Well, it's not quite so clear cut," Han Jian pointed out, cutting in smoothly. "My own sources have seen him creeping out into the mountains. He was scene entering the new den of the wolf pack we drove out.I strongly suspect he has something to do with the attacks on those using the site we acquired a few weeks ago."
Ling Qi furrowed her brow, she hadn't noticed anything of the sort despite meditating there. She would have to be more careful in the future.
"I see," Cai Renxiang said, resting her fingers against each other. "Good work Sir Han," she replied after a moment. "I had been told they were merely spirit beast attacks… we will have to resolve this," she said decisively. "Is there any other information on Sun's rebels?" She asked, giving everyone else a chance to speak.
"There has been discussion of supporting her among my peers," Fu Xiang replied lightly. "Many of them a quite spiteful, and resent the imposition of order upon them. While the princess is by all accounts somewhat reckless…"
"She is not a fool," Bai Meizhen replied coldly. "The Sun do not fail to take advantage of rebellious sentiment."
"Quite," Cai Renxiang replied. Ling Qi blinked in surprise when a smile that could almost be called warm briefly appeared on the heiress' face, directed at Meizhen. "Which leads into the next topic of discussion, the expansion of my authority over the remaining outer sect disciples."
Ling Qi sighed and leaned back in her seat as conversation ebbed and flowed, she paid attention, but there was little she could add to the conversation. This talk of favors traded and potential weak points in factions was all a bit above her head. At least it seemed like Cai Renxiang had a plan for the troubles Han Jian had worried about.
Eventually the meeting wound down, moving on to less vital topics, like the council's finance. As a direct member of the council, Ling Qi would be receiving a salary of twenty five red spirit stones a week, simply for wearing the band and owing assistance to any other members in trouble. She had a strong feeling it was meant to be mostly symbolic, but with Zhengui devouring her previous source of weekly income she wasn't going to complain, her finances were starting to get rather tight. The clothing she had promised was on its way as well, and would be delivered at the end of the following week
+25 Red Spirit Stones
That thought was a bit bizarre in itself to her, and she found herself contemplating the vast differences in circumstances as the meeting reached its conclusion.
"Your efforts and time are all appreciated," Cai Renxiang spoke as she had throughout the meeting, clearly and decisively. "You are all free to leave as you wish," Ling Qi held back a sigh of relief as she began to stand, along with Han Jian and several others, when the heiress surprisingly continued speaking. "Miss Bai, could I ask that you remain behind for a moment? There is a matter I would discuss with you."
Ling Qi glanced between them but didn't pause. Going by the flicker of surprise on Meizhen's face, she hadn't been expecting it either. "That is acceptable Lady Cai," she replied slowly as she stood along with everyone else, including the heiress.
"I am glad, would you accompany me then?" The long haired girl replied formally. "I am afraid I must ask that we speak on the move."
Ling Qi saw curiosity in many gazes, but despite the knot of uncertainty in her stomach she didn't say anything as Meizhen glided past her with only a brief acknowledging nod. She was curious what Cai wanted to talk to her about, but she had no real reason to follow and listen in. Shaking her head, she began to turn away.
"Miss Ling, may I speak with you for a moment?" She glanced to her side, where Fu Xiang was approaching with a friendly expression.
"Is there a problem?" She asked, a bit more bluntly than she intended. The little scene between her friend and Cai was still itching at her thoughts.
"No, not at all," he replied, gesturing dismissively. Ling Qi saw over his shoulder, to where Han Jian lingered signing something to Han Fang, he caught her eye and offered a smile. She appreciated the gesture. "It is just that I have come to understand that you are the one to speak to in regards to subtle matters," he continued pleasantly, drawing her attention back to him.
"I suppose you could say that," she replied warily. "Huang Da isn't bad either," the words tasted like ash, but she felt the need to say it.
He pursed his lips and glanced toward the steps which the blind boy had already descended, strolling away. "I would prefer not to entrust more than necessary to a Huang, if it is all the same Miss Ling," he said after a moment's consideration. Ling Qi could understand that.
"Alright," she replied, crossing her arms as she turned to face him. "So what is it?"
He eyed her consideringly over the top of his glasses for a moment. "There are a number plans I have for furthering the council's power that could use your touch. I hoped to invite you out to speak of them, perhaps over tea," he replied pleasantly. "Not now of course, I would not be so presumptuous."
Ling Qi stared at him for a moment, but then shrugged uncomfortably, feeling awkward. "...I'll consider it. My schedule is pretty busy."
"Of course," he replied with a dismissive flick of his sleeve. "If you could find the time, I would deeply appreciate it."
She nodded once, and made her excuses. It looked like things were going to be heating up again. At least the curse should be out of her system soon.
Strength 5/20
Dexterity 26/35
Stamina 5/20 training
Intelligence 5/25 Studying
Resolve 15/20 Meizhen
Composure 20/20 New dot gained! Meeting, general
Academics 7/12 Study, Xuan Shi
Craft 3/6 Turtlecare
Occult 6/9 Study
Politics 9/9 New dot gained, meeting
Survival 7/12 turtlecare
Animal ken 3/6 turtlecare
Empathy 12/12 han jian, meeting
Expression 10/15 fvm practice, general music
Socialize 6/6 New dot gained! Meeting
Dodge 6/21
Throwing knives 9/11
Archery 10/11
Resilience 10/9 New dot gained
Swords 3/3 New dot gained
Relationship Changes
Han Jian: oo
-Friend
[] Spend time taking care of and raising Zhengui
[] Help Cai's people deal with Kang Zihao
[] Take your lessons with Elder Ying
-[] Select two subjects
[] Train at the vent with Suyin and Su Ling
-[] Any
[] Take a job
-[] Specify
[] Visit the Archive
-[] Search for a technique
-[] Study formations
-[] Research the moon element and the phase spirits(counts as cultivation of EPC)
[] Cultivate on your own
-[] Physical
-[] Spiritual
-[] Qi
-[] Meridian (which one?)
-[] Art(Which one?)
You have THREE minor actions. TWO minor actions may be traded for one additional major one. In addition, up to one additional minor action may be attached to a Major action as a subvote, provided both involve the same character.
[] Gu Xiulan is itching for conflict, and you wouldn't mind doing something a little dangerous either, have a little girls day out
[] You want to try and patch things up with Meizhen, but she's still avoiding you, even more than last week, figure out where she's spending her time.
[] Confront Meizhen directly the next time she comes home. You are going to talk to her.
[] You've asked for help a few times now, try just chatting with Xuan Shi without seeking help
[] Speak with Gan Guangli, it can't hurt to get to know him better, and you can see how things are going for Cai's group
[] Head to the market.
[] Try to figure out the locking formations on the bags you looted from the shaman
[] Continue swinging by the medicine hall to have lunch with Li Suyin, you'd like to make sure she's still doing well
[] You haven't seen Su Ling since she secluded herself, find the fox girl and bring her out to relax, whether to celebrate or commiserate
[] Meet up with Fu Xiang, it can't hurt to hear him out
[] Look into Ji Rong's current circumstances, you are curious despite yourself
