BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Devoting omake points to Zhengui, which is apparently a thing we can do as someone has already given 2.
Forge of Destiny(Xianxia Quest)
- Thread starter yrsillar
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
Don't really understand this, can someone explain the second set? 40/55?
It tracks progress until Ling Qi's next point of qi. Our current base qi is 54 so we need 55 successes to get the next point, we got 40.
Isn't that successes to the next point of qi?
Thanks! Obvious now, the two were just similar enough that I thought we had another malus/drain or something.
Dude, use spellcheck.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
There's not much, it's pretty trashy in general. Has a lot of potential, but I think the only one that's widely acclaimed as actually good is Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices).
Others are various degrees of chinese fanfic in terms of quality. Some are decent light reading, some are entertaining romps, and most of it is execrable trash.
Basically, what Alectai said.
Given how fanfic tier the genre tends to be I usually just go for the vaguely self-aware comedy or parody stuff, because some of the tropes and the off-putting immorality (or maybe culturally incompatible morality?) exhibited by the protagonists can be hard to bull through.
History's Strongest Senior Brother is an interesting case because it more or less turns into the typical Xianxia thing after it runs out of targets for the initial conceit (the protagonist is a reincarnated genre aware guy from the real world who has to deal with other, more traditional Xianxia protagonists being disruptive garbage people), but by that point I had been reading long enough to be in the protagonist's camp and was just amused at him being terrible to others.
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I wouldn't recommend Way of Choices; I tried reading it but it just drags on and on and on.
If you are looking for good stories of this genre, I'd instead recommend:
Martial World
This is what I would call a "classical" Xianxia option. The story start with the protagonist finding a mysterious artifact, and then moving on to climb the ladder of cultivation and face all of the tribulations that such a journey implies.
Unlike many Xianxia The MC is reasonably nice and avoids the "asshole protagonist" trope that a number of Xianxia falls into, the story is well written/translated, and it is generally engaging and easy to read.
A Will Eternal
A relatively lighthearted, comedic take on Xianxia. Cultivation is still a thing, but the story focuses more on the escapades of the protagonist and the various amusing and absurd situations he finds himself in.
Savage Divinity
This is one of my favorite web-serials.
It isn't exactly Xianxia; the setting is of a similar type, but the story misses the relentless power-creep that is one of the defining features of the genre. In fact, while training is absolutely a thing, Arts and cultivation ranks AREN'T; instead, you gradually get stronger as you improve your physical conditioning, combat ability, and mastery of Qi techniques.
Instead of using a cultivation-esque setting as a backdrop for the climb-to-the-top, this story instead focuses on developing the characters, and showing us the trials and tribulations they undergo as inhabitants of this setting.
If you are looking for good stories of this genre, I'd instead recommend:
Martial World
This is what I would call a "classical" Xianxia option. The story start with the protagonist finding a mysterious artifact, and then moving on to climb the ladder of cultivation and face all of the tribulations that such a journey implies.
Unlike many Xianxia The MC is reasonably nice and avoids the "asshole protagonist" trope that a number of Xianxia falls into, the story is well written/translated, and it is generally engaging and easy to read.
A Will Eternal
A relatively lighthearted, comedic take on Xianxia. Cultivation is still a thing, but the story focuses more on the escapades of the protagonist and the various amusing and absurd situations he finds himself in.
Savage Divinity
This is one of my favorite web-serials.
It isn't exactly Xianxia; the setting is of a similar type, but the story misses the relentless power-creep that is one of the defining features of the genre. In fact, while training is absolutely a thing, Arts and cultivation ranks AREN'T; instead, you gradually get stronger as you improve your physical conditioning, combat ability, and mastery of Qi techniques.
Instead of using a cultivation-esque setting as a backdrop for the climb-to-the-top, this story instead focuses on developing the characters, and showing us the trials and tribulations they undergo as inhabitants of this setting.
- Location
- Where Jokes Die
Upon reflection, I'm not entirely certain on how I feel about our flute doing more damage than our knives. It's a mix between somewhat confused and "eh, it's a wuxia."
We are apparently punching them in the soul with blasts of music. So yeah.
Ok, let's talk dice.
On physical defense, as we discussed previously, we're pretty strong.
We can open with Dex 6 + Dodge 6 + TRF2 + Robe 4 + CG 6 + Tech 3 = 27 dice
And crank this up to:
Dex 6 + Dodge 6 + TRF2 + Robe 4 + CG 6 + DV 2 + TRD 3 + Tech 2 = 31 dice
With 2 more if we're in darkness, and 6 more if it's a projectile attack. Combined with the -5 debuff on our attackers, and we're pretty tank.
On physical attack, we're not bad. For Luminescent we have:
Dex 6 + archery 5 + bow 2 + fsa 2 + fz 3 + pin 2 + LS 4 = 24 dice right now, and we can stack a lot of defense debuffs beforehand.
Of course, FSA and FZ are still underlevelled right now, and once we get them up we can probably expect something more like this:
Dex 6 + archery 6 + bow 2 + fsa 3 + fz 4 + pin 2 + LS 6 = 29
Now, moving on to spiritual defense. There we can apply:
Resolve 4 + Resiliance 4 + Gown 4 + AE 2 + CG 6 + Serene Reflection 3 + Tech 2 = 25
If we're countering we can get Resolve 4 + Resiliance 4 + Gown 4 + AE 2 + CG 6 + Serene Reflection 3 + Tranquil Rebuke 3 + Tech 3 = 30...
Which is also good, and we have plenty of room to grow here anyway with levelling Resolve/Resiliance/AM/AE. This largely lags our physical because our stats here are lower - and that's likely to be true for most people given the difficulty of training resolve/resiliance.
Now let's look at spiritual attack.
FVM is: Manip 5 + Expression 7 + Flute 2 + Pin 2 + Tech 3 = 19 + 1 auto
AE is: Int 4 + Power 0 + Tech 2 = 6. This has a lot of room to grow obviously, so something like Int 5 + Power 5 + Tech 2 = 12? Maybe we pick up a darkness talisman somewhere?
But anyway, you get the point. Spiritual attack clearly lags behind everything else significantly. Oh, we have all out debuffs and stacking bonuses - but these are the techniques we need to land to get those in the first place. We can do this easily when fighting groups weaker than us, but if we run into anyone on par with us we could be in trouble.
The main reason for this deficiency is simple: lack of art synergy. Our defence benefits from SCS + TRF (+ FVM). Spiritual defence gets SCS + AM. Archery gets FSA + FZ...
In contrast, our spiritual attacks are solo arts. They have no cross-art bonuses to help us land them better - and when they're a cornerstone of our build, that's a problem.
So what's the solution? Well, for music we could just get more music arts, and this is definitely something we need to do. But the other gap in our build is spiritual support. We have ranged support. We have defensive support. We have debuff removers for those nasty spiritual debuffers. We soon have melee support. What we don't have - despite it being a core part of our build - is offensive spiritual support. If our build has a critical weakness, this is it.
So, I know we don't really have time before breakthrough to add more arts, but I would say that we really do need to get this before the tournament. So, once we breakthrough, I would strongly advocate for us getting an spiritual offense buff art.
Also another music art, but I'm hopeful we'll get that from bag and/or Zeqing.
On physical defense, as we discussed previously, we're pretty strong.
We can open with Dex 6 + Dodge 6 + TRF2 + Robe 4 + CG 6 + Tech 3 = 27 dice
And crank this up to:
Dex 6 + Dodge 6 + TRF2 + Robe 4 + CG 6 + DV 2 + TRD 3 + Tech 2 = 31 dice
With 2 more if we're in darkness, and 6 more if it's a projectile attack. Combined with the -5 debuff on our attackers, and we're pretty tank.
On physical attack, we're not bad. For Luminescent we have:
Dex 6 + archery 5 + bow 2 + fsa 2 + fz 3 + pin 2 + LS 4 = 24 dice right now, and we can stack a lot of defense debuffs beforehand.
Of course, FSA and FZ are still underlevelled right now, and once we get them up we can probably expect something more like this:
Dex 6 + archery 6 + bow 2 + fsa 3 + fz 4 + pin 2 + LS 6 = 29
Now, moving on to spiritual defense. There we can apply:
Resolve 4 + Resiliance 4 + Gown 4 + AE 2 + CG 6 + Serene Reflection 3 + Tech 2 = 25
If we're countering we can get Resolve 4 + Resiliance 4 + Gown 4 + AE 2 + CG 6 + Serene Reflection 3 + Tranquil Rebuke 3 + Tech 3 = 30...
Which is also good, and we have plenty of room to grow here anyway with levelling Resolve/Resiliance/AM/AE. This largely lags our physical because our stats here are lower - and that's likely to be true for most people given the difficulty of training resolve/resiliance.
Now let's look at spiritual attack.
FVM is: Manip 5 + Expression 7 + Flute 2 + Pin 2 + Tech 3 = 19 + 1 auto
AE is: Int 4 + Power 0 + Tech 2 = 6. This has a lot of room to grow obviously, so something like Int 5 + Power 5 + Tech 2 = 12? Maybe we pick up a darkness talisman somewhere?
But anyway, you get the point. Spiritual attack clearly lags behind everything else significantly. Oh, we have all out debuffs and stacking bonuses - but these are the techniques we need to land to get those in the first place. We can do this easily when fighting groups weaker than us, but if we run into anyone on par with us we could be in trouble.
The main reason for this deficiency is simple: lack of art synergy. Our defence benefits from SCS + TRF (+ FVM). Spiritual defence gets SCS + AM. Archery gets FSA + FZ...
In contrast, our spiritual attacks are solo arts. They have no cross-art bonuses to help us land them better - and when they're a cornerstone of our build, that's a problem.
So what's the solution? Well, for music we could just get more music arts, and this is definitely something we need to do. But the other gap in our build is spiritual support. We have ranged support. We have defensive support. We have debuff removers for those nasty spiritual debuffers. We soon have melee support. What we don't have - despite it being a core part of our build - is offensive spiritual support. If our build has a critical weakness, this is it.
So, I know we don't really have time before breakthrough to add more arts, but I would say that we really do need to get this before the tournament. So, once we breakthrough, I would strongly advocate for us getting an spiritual offense buff art.
Also another music art, but I'm hopeful we'll get that from bag and/or Zeqing.
Arkeus
Crazy cat guy
- Location
- France
DV is the same but the damage for knives is higher currently thanks to slightly higher dicepool. Where Flute really shines is the ease-of-use, amusingly. This will probably change once we have AC and we can actually use techs with it.
Dex 6 + Throwing Knives 4 + Knives 2 + FZ 3 + Pin 2 + AtW 2 = 19 dice for knives.
Manip 5 + Expression (5 +2 flute +2 FVM) = 14 +1 cultivation successes for music blasts, so 16.5 dice (and counters early green cultivation on us).
- Location
- Where Jokes Die
I have now given up on all rational thought. I shall go with "eh, it's a wuxia."
Arkeus
Crazy cat guy
- Location
- France
I strongly agree we need more spiritual offense, and the disparity is even bigger than shown there: some spiritual tests are Composure (Dark Dreams had a lot of those) and get +2 from AM passive, but for those that are resolve we get +2 from both AM and TRF, so we end up with, on a normal first turn:
Resolve 8 + Resilience 4 + Gown 4 + AE 2 + GC 6 + Tech 3 = 27 dice. Yeah.... it doesn't lag behind physical, especially when we count that we can add specific AM techs on top of it.
I was just looking at clashes here. Tests are a whole 'nother kettle of fish.
AM's passives are just for tests. You'll notice that they didn't apply to the clashes in dark dreams.
- Location
- North Carolina
So something along the lines of Rippling Lake?
- Location
- United States of America
Not... quite. Rippling Lake is used to erode opponents spiritual defenses while buffing allies spiritual defences.
What we really want, and need, is the opposite of the first half. Something that buffs up the spiritual offense. Upgrading allies spiritual defenses is secondary that that concern (or upgrading their spiritual offense.
Year 43, week 31 Part 1
Plan Find Meridians]
-[X] Resources: 3x RS, 1x YS, Rippling Lake Pill (2), Stalwart Mountain Pill (2), Vigorous Sapling Pill (2), 2nd Level Pills for Lake + Mountain + Wood (18)
-- [X] Restock Restoratives: 2x Wellspring Pill (6), 1x Spirit Restoration Pill (15) (Total: 21)
-- [X] Make 2 Ossuary Scouts
-[X] Overflow: Qi
-[X] EPC Bonus: EPC
-[X] Spend time working with Zhengui to express his abilities
-[X] Train at the vent with Su Ling
--[X] AM
--[X] Training is nice, but you'd like to get to be better friends with Su Ling, perhaps you could see if she has any interest in music?
-[X] Train with Meizhen
--[X] EPC
--[X] You need to speak with Meizhen, about Cai's offer and the future in general
-[X] Train with the Golden Fields Group
--[X] TRF
-[X] Scout out Sun Liling's base of operations
-- [X] Free: Let Meizhen know we're planning to do this
-[X] Go on a trip to the spiders nest with Li Suyin
-[X] Try to figure out the locking formations on the last bag
-[x] Trade techniques with Han Jian, you can help each other work out the basics.
-[X] Resources: 3x RS, 1x YS, Rippling Lake Pill (2), Stalwart Mountain Pill (2), Vigorous Sapling Pill (2), 2nd Level Pills for Lake + Mountain + Wood (18)
-- [X] Restock Restoratives: 2x Wellspring Pill (6), 1x Spirit Restoration Pill (15) (Total: 21)
-- [X] Make 2 Ossuary Scouts
-[X] Overflow: Qi
-[X] EPC Bonus: EPC
-[X] Spend time working with Zhengui to express his abilities
-[X] Train at the vent with Su Ling
--[X] AM
--[X] Training is nice, but you'd like to get to be better friends with Su Ling, perhaps you could see if she has any interest in music?
-[X] Train with Meizhen
--[X] EPC
--[X] You need to speak with Meizhen, about Cai's offer and the future in general
-[X] Train with the Golden Fields Group
--[X] TRF
-[X] Scout out Sun Liling's base of operations
-- [X] Free: Let Meizhen know we're planning to do this
-[X] Go on a trip to the spiders nest with Li Suyin
-[X] Try to figure out the locking formations on the last bag
-[x] Trade techniques with Han Jian, you can help each other work out the basics.
"I know you can do it, just a little more!" Ling Qi called encouraging from her place at the edge of the clearing.
At the center of the gap in the small forest copse, Zhengui trembled, his shell glowing a bright emerald green. The grass at his feet was lit as well, faintly glowing a a distorted circle around the young spirit. On advice from Xuan Shi, she had decided to explore the ability a little more. It seemed that 'normal' xuan wu usually had some ability to manipulate their environment, altering currents, or creating small sinkholes, or at the higher end outright manipulating the weather or causing earthquakes, as well as sinking or raising islands.
In Zhengui's case, his ability seemed to mainly affect plants. They hadn't exactly figured out everything it could do yet though. It seemed to repair nicks and damage to his shell, though Ling Qi refused to test that any further. It extended his awareness, allowing him to feel things from further away, with greater effect if there were trees nearby.
Now they were seeing if he could actually manipulate plants more consistently. Ling Qi watched Zhengui carefully as the young spirit shook in place, paying close attention to the feeling of his qi so she could stop him if it seemed like he was overexerting himself.
The grass around him glowed and twisted, as if caught in a breeze, and the tortoises glowing shell briefly flared almost blindingly bright, a rippling circle of green qi flowing out in a rough circle. When it faded, Zhengui lay on the ground, his serpentine tail twitching as Zhen peered down at his other half, who lay on the grass, stubby legs splayed out.
The grass in that circle was several centimeters longer than it was everywhere else. "Good job!" Ling Qi said brightly as she quickly stepped crossed the clearing, her feet barely disturbing the still rustling grass even as it grasped weakly at her feet. She crouched at his side and scooped him up, he was getting big enough that it was a little awkward, but she smiled nonetheless."I bet you'll be able to do all sorts of fun things soon," she praised.
Gui opened his eyes, blinking tiredly up at her. That had taken a fair bit of his energy. "...Catch… everything," he chirped tiredly, nuzzling his head into the crook of her arm.
"I was better," Zhen hissed huffly, looking up at her with gleaming red eyes. "I did good too, right Big Sister?"
"Of course you did," Ling Qi replied, eyeing the black scaled snake with amusement. She had told him so when he had managed to sustain his fire breath long enough to actually do more than scorch the bark of the target tree, she had to dive in to save him from having the sapling fall on him, but that was fine. "Now, why don't I let you both take a break. I have some treats for you," she offered slyly.
Gui seemed to perk up immediately casting off his exhaustion in an instant as he wriggled in her arms. "Yay! Treats from Big Sis!"
She laughed to herself as she sat down, and withdrew the 'treats'. Since she had started getting stones from the pill furnace deal she had spent some of them on some grade two cores from wood and fire beasts, for this reason exactly.
There was no reason to be excessive, but she could afford to treat her little spirit when he was doing well. He needed a break before they started trying to work with his ash, which was rather more difficult, since it required both of his halves to work together. She continued to smile as Gui happily nibbled on the core in her palm, and Zhen coiled himself around her arm, resting comfortably as he swallowed down the cherry red core she had offered him.
The expression dimmed a little as she thought back to the meeting she had left just a short time ago. She still felt wrong footed around the heiress, and the meeting, for all that it had mostly been boring, and full of good news, had left her with a feeling of gnawing worry. Things seemed to be going too well. Resistance to Cai's efforts were dying down among the older students, and they had even been inducting some second or third years into the ranks of their enforcers. Older students were mostly not their concern since 'permanent' outer disciples were usually commoners like her who were essentially full time workers for the sect.
Yet Sun Liling remained, and it seemed she wasn't rushing out to attack anymore. It seemed that instead she was offering herself as a rallying point for anyone who refused to kowtow to them. Offering protection and supplies as well as open defiance. Three enforcer pairs had been trounced and hung up from the trees around the market in naught but their underwear and it had only been a short time since they began operating.
Fu Xiang had painted a picture of quite a tough nut to crack. Chu Song had definitely sided with Liling, along with a fair number of relatively strong second realms, as had several lesser players. It seemed Kang Zihao was in seclusion as well, which meant he was probably trying to break through to the third realm.
The fortress itself sat on a high cliff, and was Ling Qi noted sourly, surrounded by some kind of formation that left it constantly as bright as a high summer day. It looked like she had a reputation. They didn't have much more information beyond the basic external plan for the moment though. Fu Xiang was currently engaged with persuading away the production students in the market supplying them though.
"Big Sis?" she jerked a little at the feeling of Zhen hissing in her ear, his forked tongue tickling her cheek. "No worrying," the snake declared. "Will bite anyone who bothers Big Sis."
Ling Qi blinked, and then let out a short laugh, reaching up to stroke Zhen's smooth, warm scales. "Is that so? I'll be counting on you in the future then," she replied with a playful grin. "You'll have to work hard and get strong."
She could feel the determination radiating off the young serpent as he turned back to heckle his 'brother' for taking so long to eat his core. Zhen was a little more taciturn, and definitely more reckless, but it gave her a warm feeling to know that her spirit cared for her as much as she did him. She was sure he would keep his promise when once he had some practice in.
Spirit Upkeep reduced to 8
Even with copious amounts of food, Zhengui was still quite young and tired himself out well before noon, leaving her with time to pursue her other tasks. Meizhen had agreed to train with her that evening, but she had little else in the way of obligations today at least. She still wanted to prepare for most of her plans this week.
Which meant starting on a batch of scouting constructs. It was unpleasant work, even with simple mice. No matter that she was decent at it Ling Qi wasn't a big fan of breaking down her kills. The smell left over from boiling the bones clean was hardly pleasant either. Etching the formations into the tiny bones made her fingers feel cramped and sore.
Happily, the formation effects did the work of drawing the pieces back together in functioning order, and soon she had three mouse skeletons curled up in a pouch on her belt, ready to be deployed. A bit of testing showed that they could follow simple instructions with a caveat or two like 'go here and come back in ten minutes.'
With that done, she turned her attention to her second project, one which had been gathering dust in the hidden space under her bed for a few weeks. The last of the shaman's pouches had better protection than the others, and would take a lot of work to unlock safely.
Intelligence 4, formations 5, specialty 1. 10 dice +6 auto
1 2 2 10 9 7 10 4 10 8. 6 successes. +6 auto. 12 total
1 2 2 10 9 7 10 4 10 8. 6 successes. +6 auto. 12 total
Picking out the characters stitched into the pouch with a needle took several hours and quite a few close calls that left her fingers tingling with the dangerous qi of the safeguards built into the pouch. Eventually though, the last of the protections fizzled and died, allowing her to safely open the drawstrings.
Her finds were quite disappointing at first. The pouch seemed like it was full of junk. There was a clay jar for of polished and painted anklebones, a torn headband worked with elaborate embroidery and beads, the broken halves of an unusably tiny bow, and other such things. They were all burnt or bloodstained too. Ling Qi couldn't imagine why trash like this would be so well protected. They weren't even broken talismans as far as she could tell. It was almost like...
No, he had been pretty unhinged, they were probably some kind of creepy trophy from his victims.
Still, she continued to dig through the contents, discarding scraps in her search for something useful. Finally, near the bottom, she began to find things.
Blood of Father Sky: Allows the user to reduce all second, third and fourth breakthrough rolls by five
Milk of Mother Earth: Allows the reroll of a single breakthrough roll, and on failure prevents lost progress. Effective on second, third and fourth breakthroughs
The twin vials, one a bright azure, and the other milky white, were obviously potent medicines, she could tell from the moment she unwrapped the little roll of hide they were hidden in. It took significantly more effort and wracking her brain for information Elder Su had taught to figure out what the effects were. When she did, Ling Qi couldn't help but grin.
Medicines that affected breakthroughs were rare and extremely expensive and rare, so much so that Elder Su had only briefly mentioned how to recognize them. She had to hide these and keep quiet about it. There was no way she wanted anyone knowing she had these.
...Well, of those who might want them right now, only Ji Rong and Kang Zihao were likely dangerous. There was no point in being incautious right now. The vials went into her storage ring and she stuffed the rest of the junk back into the bag. She'd dispose of it later.
It was already growing late by that time, and she and Meizhen were going to start sparring together soon, so Ling Qi elected to spend the remaining time taking a breather, she had been working hard lately, and a meal at a nice restaurant in the market was a good reward for that. She hadn't eaten anything since her treat run with Xiulan several days ago.
She was back by sundown to spar with Meizhen in the garden of course, and it was as rewarding as always. Her friends defenses were nigh unbreakable, and her senses were sharp, making Ling Qi work hard for any opening she could find and rapidly punishing failed attacks. She was also, Ling Qi found, to her chagrin, more than capable of still dispelling her mist, even without environmental tricks. Whatever earth art she used to drain away the melody's hostile qi into the ground was pretty potent.
For Ling Qi it also served as practice for actively taking in the lunar and stellar qi drifting down from the night sky. The next stages of Eight Phase ceremony demanded a more active mastery, and trying to absorb it even during a trying battle was pretty good practice.
And, in the end, it lead to the two of them seated on the porch overlooking the garden sipping tea and relaxing, which was always a plus in Ling Qi's book. They rarely had time to do that anymore, but Meizhen had seemed a little pensive, and she suspected that she knew why.
Still, she was a little reluctant to break the tranquil silence between them, so she simply sat for a time, leaning back and watching the stars and idly swirling the dark tea in her cup as she considered how to approach things.
As usual, she decided that it was best to be direct. "I'm going to guess you know what I got offered the other day?" She asked, looking at her friend's pale face out of the corner of her eye.
Meizhen showed no outward reaction, but did incline her head slightly, a few locks of her white hair falling down from her shoulder as she did. "Cai Renxiang offered you a position as her retainer," she replied quietly, before turning golden eyes her way. "Congratulations. It seems your talent has been recognized."
Ling Qi hummed noncommittally, taking a sip from her tea as she did. "I'm glad I guess. I'm just not sure what it really means," she said after a few moments of silence. "So I'm not certain what to think."
"It is a rather distinguished honor," Meizhen replied, as quiet and elegant as ever. "A young lady in your position would not normally begin receiving such offers until you had some history of service behind you."
"That's not what Xiulan says," Ling Qi pointed out dryly. "Apparently I should be beating off suitors with a stick."
She would have missed it if she didn't know the girl so well, but she definitely saw her friends eyes narrow slightly. "Such might be the usual tactics of low noble rabble," she admitted, brushing a strand of hair from her eyes. "Happily, between your talent and associations, you have avoided being embroiled in the schemes of such trash."
"That doesn't really answer the question though," LIng Qi pointed out.
"It is not the same thing," Meizhen replied simply. "Cai Renxiangs offer acknowledges your ability, potential and character," The other girl turned her head to look her fully in the eye. "You may in time reach the heights of fourth realm at an early age, but even then, you would not directly answer to the heir of a province."
"I get that," Ling Qi replied, trying to work out how to state her reservations. "I just… it feels really fast. I don't even really know all my options yet. I… understand that I'm gonna be a noble, but I don't really know what that means, and how her offer is different. I don't know if it would be better than staying in the Sect, or…" she trailed off in frustration.
"I suppose you might find it fulfilling to remain in the Sect," Meizhen replied, frowning slightly. "It is not a dishonourable position, but…"
Ling Qi gave her a curious look. "What's wrong with the Sect?" She asked.
Meizhen remained silent for several long moments. "The Great Sects are somewhat new as a part of the Empire's governance. Sects have always existed of course, as centers of learning and competition for noble youth, but the power they hold now worries some, and it may be wise to consider that such a position may be… unstable."
Ling Qi frowned deeply, feeling like she may have missed something in her friend's words, but she could also tell that Meizhen didn't want to say anymore. "So… what would it be like then, being her retainer?" Ling Qi asked, changing the subject.
"You would likely be given a fief near the capital of emerald seas, or wherever the duchess elects to send her heir if she chooses not to keep her at court," Meizhen replied, relaxing fractionally. "You would be expected to perform tasks for your lord and attend her in official capacities, as you would in any other situation," the other girl continued. "However, you would receive rather more significant resources toward the building of your own house. Cai Renxiang has every reason to desire vassals who are more than the fodder new houses often become."
Ling Qi nodded, but her frown remained. "...Why have you never asked me to join you like that?" The words slipped out before she could really think about it.
Meizhen stiffened beside her, a trace of an unhappy expression marring her ethereal features. "Please do not ask me such things, Ling Qi."
Ling Qi looked down, feeling unhappy herself for bringing the atmosphere down. "I don't think I would mind so much if it was you," she said anyway. "I just… I don't really know her. How am I supposed to trust someone who never stops playing to the crowd? Who I know is trying to manipulate me into liking her now?"
Meizhen lowered her head. "I…" her friend trailed off, not looking at her. "I would enjoy showing you the Thousand Lakes, but you would not enjoy being under my family," she continued quietly. "And while I am a member of the main family, I do not have the authority to make such offers on a personal level," Ling Qi caught a flicker of something in her faintly glowing eyes. There was a 'but' there, left unspoken. "Cai Renxiang is a straightforward person, service under her would suit you well… and I think her good as well, for what that is worth."
Ling Qi watched her friend for a moment, and with a moment's hesitation, reached over to rest her hand on top of Meizhen's, looking away uncomfortably as she did so. "I'll give it some thought then," she said quietly. "But, Meizhen, you know I'll stay in contact no matter what, right?"
"...Of course you will," she couldn't see her friends face, but she could feel the warmth of her hand. "Thank you, Qi."
Ling Qi didn;t feel the need to say anything else.
Talent 6 + Stones 30 + Meizhen 5 + Starlit Meadow 5 + EPC 7 = 53
5 6 1 7 2 9 8 9 9 3 1 7 6 4 10 2 10 7 6 9 10 7 7 7 10 7 6 3 4 4 10 10 1 1 8 4 1 5 3 1 8 3 7 3 8 6 6 10 5 1 10 6 9. 21 successes.
72/150
Rerolling 7
3 7 8 8 2 4 5. 4 successes.
76/150
Meadow: One fifth of successes added to qi cultivation
+4 to qi
44/55
5 6 1 7 2 9 8 9 9 3 1 7 6 4 10 2 10 7 6 9 10 7 7 7 10 7 6 3 4 4 10 10 1 1 8 4 1 5 3 1 8 3 7 3 8 6 6 10 5 1 10 6 9. 21 successes.
72/150
Rerolling 7
3 7 8 8 2 4 5. 4 successes.
76/150
Meadow: One fifth of successes added to qi cultivation
+4 to qi
44/55
The next day, Ling Qi set out to begin working on getting a better idea of how to approach Sun Liling's fortress, and the disposition of it's occupants. The fortress itself was a pretty grand sight, for something constructed in secret over a matter of weeks. It occupied one of the mountains many cliffs, a bit too low to fall within Zeqing's snow shrouded territory, but high enough that there was very little plant growth.
Ten meters walls of stone rose in a curtain around a trio of squat square roofed buildings of dark red stone stone. As Fu Xiang reported, at each corner and halfway down the length of each of the four walls, a globe of brilliant, blinding light stood atop a bronze stand or hanging from a similar sconce. Shadows were reduced to ragged scraps in its vicinity, not nearly large enough to take advantage of.
It had to be a special property of the lights too, since otherwise the overlap at least should have left some spots where the shadows were long. She felt oddly tingly when she approached too, it felt as if channelling dark qi was more difficult the closer she got to the place, like trying to lift a limb held down by a great weight.
She could still do it, but it would tire her out faster.
For now she was satisfied with letting her scouts check around the perimeter, while following those who left the place discreetly to learn their patterns. It was fairly fruitful, in that she found a couple of equipment stashes for the ones on ambush duty, which she would either raid or report to Cai later, she wasn't sure.
Checking back on her scouts revealed that the disciples on duty on the walls were unpleasantly disciplined in the regularity of their patrols and attention to their surroundings. Her scouts had seen several birds get shot down just for flying within a few hundred meters of the walls. The approach lacked any cover higher than a tree stump or a mid sized rock too. She was leery of trying to enter herself without further intelligence.
Her scouts proved useful for this, allowing her to observe the interactions at the gate closely enough to pick up the system of pass questions they were using with returning disciples. She could probably disguise herself well enough to get in… probably. Her skills at that kind of deception hadn't advanced the way some others had.
After careful consideration, Ling Qi decided…
[] Disguise herself and enter through the front door. No need to play with walls and traps
[] To aim for one of the small but impossible to remove gaps in guard coverage and sneak in.
[] To remain outside and slip a scout onto returning disciples, with orders to return in an hour. At least one would make it out, surely?
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- Location
- The Temple of the Winds
I note that a big reason why Ling Qi is to tank-y is because of the epic Violet Lotus Gown .
The more normal "Soothing Streams Gown"* only gives 1 def dice.
*now that i think about it, that thing would make a great gift for Ling Qi's sister: a little def, +1 charm and self-repair would be pretty damn awesome for a mortal kid, and probably motivate her to towards cultivation. Also it's kinda useless to us.
Mom should be handy enough with a needle to make it fit the young girl. And it will give her (do we know her name ?) an other possible goal in life than prostitute.
We need to get the little girl into the habit of cultivating from a young age. Meizhen started at eight so young age isn't that much on an issue.
I mean, "did you brush your teeth?" doesn't have the same impact as "did you spend an hour cultivating before going to bed?".
The more normal "Soothing Streams Gown"* only gives 1 def dice.
*now that i think about it, that thing would make a great gift for Ling Qi's sister: a little def, +1 charm and self-repair would be pretty damn awesome for a mortal kid, and probably motivate her to towards cultivation. Also it's kinda useless to us.
Mom should be handy enough with a needle to make it fit the young girl. And it will give her (do we know her name ?) an other possible goal in life than prostitute.
We need to get the little girl into the habit of cultivating from a young age. Meizhen started at eight so young age isn't that much on an issue.
I mean, "did you brush your teeth?" doesn't have the same impact as "did you spend an hour cultivating before going to bed?".
[x] To aim for one of the small but impossible to remove gaps in guard coverage and sneak in.
Yolo
Yolo