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Forge of Destiny(Xianxia Quest)

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Orkus Majorkus said:
I wonder what Liling was able to do when she went into time out after pooping demon sunflowers all over the Sect during Thunderdome part deaux
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Probably keep cultivating with the help of the drugs from her grandfather. The only thing she might have lost access to were cultivation sites, and I suspect she might have gotten around that to some extent.

Nobody considered it more than a slap on the wrist.
 
TehChron said:
No he didn't

Zhiqiang taught him to focus on executing a perfect strike and to finish his fights quickly through them.

No techniques were involved, only a mindset.
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He never got around to teaching him his bullshit technique? Well that makes me feel a little better. I mean it still isn't good though. We are still going to have to leverage our advantages to beat him, and that means taking him at least a little seriously.
 
victor janus said:
He never got around to teaching him his bullshit technique? Well that makes me feel a little better. I mean it still isn't good though. We are still going to have to leverage our advantages to beat him, and that means taking him at least a little seriously.
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Most people do, that's the thing. We've also spent something like three weeks to a month figuring out what strategy is most likely to work based on what we know, so I figure there's very little actual interest in continuing to have serious strategy discussion about him.
 
TehChron said:
No he didn't

Zhiqiang taught him to focus on executing a perfect strike and to finish his fights quickly through them.

No techniques were involved, only a mindset.
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Its in line with Zeqing triggering the development of Diapason of the lost Traveler really. And probably whatever Sun Shao's special lesson for the Asura art is going to trigger.

Its a refinement, probably to one of his techniques.
Personal bet is that it gives him the option to condense an AoE or flurry attack into one god-fucking homing bolt.

AbeoLogos said:
I hope you're not counting that one with the ugly river eel :V
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We had two music tribulations, one with Zeqing, where it was to modify the song or freeze, and one with the Moon Rave, where failure would have meant we would have spent weeks or even months dancing to our deaths(or at least until an Elder steps in) in a drugged frenzy.
fictionfan said:
I think that Meizhen should be a bit ahead of Ling. We have made a point of sharing our good fortune with Meizhen regularly. We have shared every good cultivation site we have found with her. I think that we have shared a few arts as well.
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Cultivation sites mostly. And I'd bet what she REALLY got out of our relationship was the option to train with Renxiang after the...upset. Which Liling lost access to after the end of the rebellion, prior to that she spent much of the rebellion in running battles with Meizhen for XP.(which is a strategic loss considering Renxiang gets to do whatever she wants whenever that happens of course)

Hangwind said:
Which was the exact moment I began to dislike her.

"In this world, it's kill or be killed."

*Something goes wrong*

"Waaaah, Grandpa, protect me!"
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I figure it was more Noble Pride thing with her asking for help. Because her mission here for Sun Shao was to look strong and she's failed to do that well enough.
FixerUpper said:
Meizhen spent enough time on him half the reason we wanted his SL to decisively end was because it was obviously cutting into her cultivation time. :V
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Yep. Like, we didn't give enough of a shit about Renshu, to the point that we only checked because Meizhen NOT cultivating like a machine was worrying us.
 
veekie said:
Cultivation sites mostly. And I'd bet what she REALLY got out of our relationship was the option to train with Renxiang after the...upset. Which Liling lost access to after the end of the rebellion, prior to that she spent much of the rebellion in running battles with Meizhen for XP.(which is a strategic loss considering Renxiang gets to do whatever she wants whenever that happens of course)
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What week did we share the vent with her? I think that we can count how many auto successes it gave her.
Edit: We showed it to her on week 10 so it got her (40*5) 200 extra successes. About 2 stages of yellow.
 
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veekie said:
I figure it was more Noble Pride thing with her asking for help. Because her mission here for Sun Shao was to look strong and she's failed to do that well enough.
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I really hope we needle her with the knowledge that the Elders putting her in protective custody is the only reason she didn't end up worse off than Ji Rong.

It's also the reason I'm not willing to stay in the sect. It would have been one thing if they had chosen to stay neutral but some of the elders apparently were willing to favor a foreign noble against the Cai. Given Shenhua's reputation, I can't see that as anything but a BAD IDEA.
 
The sect would bail out literally any high noble, just to different degrees. It wasn't favoritism over the Cai, because Renxiang had no expectation she'd be free to unlimited marginalization of Sun Liling, just the same as it was true in reverse. The safety net has never been fully neutral, but its bias is more class than politics.
 
AbeoLogos said:
The sect would bail out literally any high noble, just to different degrees. It wasn't favoritism over the Cai, because Renxiang had no expectation she'd be free to unlimited marginalization of Sun Liling, just the same as it was true in reverse. The safety net has never been fully neutral, but its bias is more class than politics.
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Agreed,

I'm sure the other three ducal scions and to lesser extent people like Han and Kang would have been afforded similar protections.
 
OneArmedYeti said:
Agreed,

I'm sure the other three ducal scions and to lesser extent people like Han and Kang would have been afforded similar protections.
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I don't think so, or if they do, it's pretty much invalidating their existence. Cai mentioned that raising talented commoners wasn't the focus of the sect. That means that most of their resources are going to nobles of one stripe or another so they aren't providing a counterbalance to the nobles. If they are coddling the higher nobles, then they aren't fulfilling their secondary purpose of training noble noble brats in politics. Instead, they're filling them with a false confidence that they can pull any harebrained scheme they want and it will all be fine. Reality is much harsher though, and if you go around pissing people off, you're going to disappear without a trace one day.

Like with Sun. The lesson she should have learned is that the many can defeat the one, and that being a bitch to those beneath you is a really good way to end up alone. If they had let her take her licks, she could have made some real allies in the sect and had the proper lessons on why the isolationist stance her family has is a problem. Instead, she's learned hubris and that Granddaddy is going to take care of it. I would say that, thanks to the soft balling she's gotten, her odds of rebelling against the Empire in the future have actually gone up. Dramatically.

In the end, if the sect isn't providing a counterbalance to the nobles or training them in how the real world works, what point is there to their existence?
 
Hangwind said:
I really hope we needle her with the knowledge that the Elders putting her in protective custody is the only reason she didn't end up worse off than Ji Rong.
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That'd be really dumb to say in public. If it were to be said...only Meizhen or Renxiang have the social status to do so.
AbeoLogos said:
The sect would bail out literally any high noble, just to different degrees. It wasn't favoritism over the Cai, because Renxiang had no expectation she'd be free to unlimited marginalization of Sun Liling, just the same as it was true in reverse. The safety net has never been fully neutral, but its bias is more class than politics.
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Pretty much. If Renxiang or Meizhen did something to the same extent they'd get the same.

They could literally get away with murder if they pushed it, though their family would be grossly embarrassed(which is a heck of a cost in itself).
 
Hangwind said:
I don't think so, or if they do, it's pretty much invalidating their existence. Cai mentioned that raising talented commoners wasn't the focus of the sect. That means that most of their resources are going to nobles of one stripe or another so they aren't providing a counterbalance to the nobles. If they are coddling the higher nobles, then they aren't fulfilling their secondary purpose of training noble noble brats in politics. Instead, they're filling them with a false confidence that they can pull any harebrained scheme they want and it will all be fine. Reality is much harsher though, and if you go around pissing people off, you're going to disappear without a trace one day.

Like with Sun. The lesson she should have learned is that the many can defeat the one, and that being a bitch to those beneath you is a really good way to end up alone. If they had let her take her licks, she could have made some real allies in the sect and had the proper lessons on why the isolationist stance her family has is a problem. Instead, she's learned hubris and that Granddaddy is going to take care of it. I would say that, thanks to the soft balling she's gotten, her odds of rebelling against the Empire in the future have actually gone up. Dramatically.

In the end, if the sect isn't providing a counterbalance to the nobles or training them in how the real world works, what point is there to their existence?
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I mean, the way the real world works is higher rank people get to play by different rules. The point of the sect as a training ground, of any training ground, is that the stakes are lower than the real thing, and high nobles already have lower stakes on an individual level so....

The sect also has a political purpose. The clans showcase their scions for prestige, and part of this is, yes, shielding them from publicly shameful consequences for their screwups. That's just how politics do, and it's always a balancing act. Shield them from too much, from too large of mistakes, and it's an embarrassment of its own. The fact remains, that all clans are expected to clean up after their kids via the exercise of soft power. High clans have more of that, unsurprisingly, so high noble disciples benefit more frequently and to a greater extent.

The sect didn't just decide arbitrarily to afford Sun Liling greater protections than the average disciple; doing so is as a direct consequence of what the Sun want. So no, your suggestion that this is evidence of the sect failing their purpose as a training ground for nobles is groundless, because it is only through the actions of the entities sending kids to the sect for training that different standards of treatment are being applied. The sect is serving as exactly the training ground that those who sponsor their children to it want it to be.
 
It's more that while the Sects are supposed to counterbalance the noble houses, that's something that mostly comes into play at the post-training stage. At the point we're at, the Sects are basically Cultivator High School, and naturally, the students who have parents who are donators (And more importantly, respected by a lot of their other donors) are going to get the kid gloves treatment if they start shit, because you don't want to cut off a good portion of your income. Though there's a limit to how far that goes--and if she pulled a stunt like that a second time after being sternly warned it was inappropriate, then her position probably wouldn't have saved her.
 
Hangwind said:
I really hope we needle her with the knowledge that the Elders putting her in protective custody is the only reason she didn't end up worse off than Ji Rong.

It's also the reason I'm not willing to stay in the sect. It would have been one thing if they had chosen to stay neutral but some of the elders apparently were willing to favor a foreign noble against the Cai. Given Shenhua's reputation, I can't see that as anything but a BAD IDEA.
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Okay, what? I mean, it's pretty clear from people's reactions that this was a thing that happened, but I don't remember it at all. Please remind on details?
 
AbeoLogos said:
I mean, the way the real world works is higher rank people get to play by different rules. The point of the sect as a training ground, of any training ground, is that the stakes are lower than the real thing, and high nobles already have lower stakes on an individual level so....

The sect also has a political purpose. The clans showcase their scions for prestige, and part of this is, yes, shielding them from publicly shameful consequences for their screwups. That's just how politics do, and it's always a balancing act. Shield them from too much, from too large of mistakes, and it's an embarrassment of its own. The fact remains, that all clans are expected to clean up after their kids via the exercise of soft power. High clans have more of that, unsurprisingly, so high noble disciples benefit more frequently and to a greater extent.

The sect didn't just decide arbitrarily to afford Sun Liling greater protections than the average disciple; doing so is as a direct consequence of what the Sun want. So no, your suggestion that this is evidence of the sect failing their purpose as a training ground for nobles is groundless, because it is only through the actions of the entities sending kids to the sect for training that different standards of treatment are being applied. The sect is serving as exactly the training ground that those who sponsor their children to it want it to be.
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Except, as I understand it, that's exactly the sort of thinking sending them off to a sect is supposed to deal with. Because, as Meizahn and the Bai in general testify, it causes problems. More, it makes the sects an active destabilizing influence on the Empire as a whole. In this case, Sun is much more likely to be a problem in the future now. Again, why do they exist if they only cause problems? Remember, they thrive only because of the patronage of the Empress.
 
Hangwind said:
Except, as I understand it, that's exactly the sort of thinking sending them off to a sect is supposed to deal with. Because, as Meizahn and the Bai in general testify, it causes problems. More, it makes the sects an active destabilizing influence on the Empire as a whole. In this case, Sun is much more likely to be a problem in the future now. Again, why do they exist if they only cause problems? Remember, they thrive only because of the patronage of the Empress.
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At worst the sect has accomplished nothing. How can you seriously argue that it's made it worse? It's not like she'd have gotten harsher treatment sitting in the western jungles. These things are relative, but you're applying absolutest standards that don't work once you put the sect in the actual cultural context. Like you say, the Great Sects aren't the most popular things among nobles. This is the exact reason that they have to play softball with the rich kids. It's never about the one interaction, it's a matter of maintaining the balancing act overall, which means caving to status because to do otherwise is to invite a crisis going to the very heart of the sects' existence as an institution.

Sirrocco said:
Okay, what? I mean, it's pretty clear from people's reactions that this was a thing that happened, but I don't remember it at all. Please remind on details?
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This conversation is all about when Sun Liling rebelled against Cai's council. Elder Ying (iirc) showed up because Sun Liling had planted weird flowers and punished her by removing her from the mountain for a while. The Elder also limited the loot that the winners were allowed to extract from the princess during the event and presumably stopped things before Meizhen could melt her insides with venom. A lower status disciple would have received a harsher punishment for seeding the mountain with weird foreign spirit flowers and less protection. Hangwind is suggesting this was some kind of political statement in support of the Sun specifically, where the rest of us are arguing it's the kind of deference afforded to the greatest clans as a matter of, begrudging, course.
 
Hangwind said:
Except, as I understand it, that's exactly the sort of thinking sending them off to a sect is supposed to deal with. Because, as Meizahn and the Bai in general testify, it causes problems. More, it makes the sects an active destabilizing influence on the Empire as a whole. In this case, Sun is much more likely to be a problem in the future now. Again, why do they exist if they only cause problems? Remember, they thrive only because of the patronage of the Empress.
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Uh, no?
Like their identity as Ducal Scions are inherent to them, barring an event likely to result in their death they will always be ducal scions and enjoy family backing of one. They can be checked by OTHER Ducal Scions, but can only be hampered by anyone else.

This is entirely realistic for their political environment, and a stabilizing influence because the big family scions are spending years together in an isolated environment. This builds stronger inter-clan connections in future generations, rather than the natural feudal result, which is that clans interact mostly with themselves and a small pool of vassals and close allies being fostered with each other.
 
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Fate of the Forgotten
  • Apocrypha
    • A/N
    Another omake for the omake throne @yrsillar ! This omake takes place sometime around Cui Interlude. Please enjoy and any critiques welcome!

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    Fate and Fortune of the Forgotten


    I desperately tried to muffle the moans of pain my body seemed intent on sharing with the world. I struggled to make as little noise as possible while curled in a corner of my tiny dirt cave. The pair of Rimefur wolves sniffing and prowling outside were making life far more exciting then it should be in my humble opinion. Letting out a sob as I heard the wolves start chasing something else I relaxed with relief. With shaking hands I pulled out my small diary.


    Day 3 After Attack: The poison in my leg is continuing to cause excruciating pain even after three days. For three days after that horrific Bai had ambushed my party I have lain here in pain. I guess I was somewhat lucky though. Once Bai had realized that I had no information she wanted she turned her "loving" and "caring" attention to my party members and forgot about me. If I had known that the group who approached me worked for that scum Yan Renshu I would have never accepted their offer. I was so desperate though. So desperate for an edge. Something, anything that could be a seed for growth. I still have no idea for what I should strive for. Should I strive for a craftsman? Create wonders like the spirit barrier around my small village? Perhaps I should strive to master the staff as a warrior. Oh spirits… What would the village elders think of me? To see the village's staff lay here in the mud with me. They always took such care of it and now it is just getting filthy like me… Oh spirits.. I. I shall sleep now. Perhaps tomorrow will be better.


    Day 4 After Attack: The pain seemed a little less today! Not nearly small enough to walk on though.. Watching the rain fall outside my little cave was a very soothing experience. I have started again my cultivation practice. This experience, this painful painful experience, has shown me how pitiful I was before. I was comfortable being at late red and gold. I am normal I cried in my heart. I am not a freak like that Ji Rong or that Ling Qi! I was happy being normal. Now here I lay in this muddy filth, trapped. The forest around me is filled with beasts far stronger than me. I have given up on my "friends" coming back for me. While they may have received far more attention than me, they also had healing pastes and pills that I would have never been able to afford. Yet even with all of that they could barely walk much less support someone who could not walk at all. So they left, leaving a promise that they would bring back some healing supplies. A promise they have seemed to forgotten about… I.. I shall cultivate some more than sleep. Thank you for being here diary while no one else is.



    Day 5: I am currently practicing formations in the dirt at the back of this cave it shall keep me busy whil [the writing cuts off abruptly and the rest of the page is splattered with blood]


    Day 7: The wolves came back. One managed to sneak his jaw down close enough to grab my leg while I was writing in you. No, No, I don't blame you diary you couldn't have known. Luckily they grabbed my bad leg so I still have a good leg! I beat the wolves off with the village's staff while a wolf gnawed and twisted my leg around. I managed to staunch the bleeding yesterday. However it now rests at an angle that to my untrained eye is not normal. It looks far from normal... I.. I am scared.. I. I don't want to be trapped here for the rest of my life. I..I..[ the rest of the page is stained by tears]


    Day 8: Should this be found I Zhi Ruo the girl from Xia Tun village write my will. I curse … [ the will goes on for some time cursing some and blessing others with small items]


    Day 9: I got quite the scare and surprise yesterday! While I was practicing some formations and digging out the cave further there was a little pop! I turned around as quickly as I could (which to confide in you diary is now quite slow with my mangled leg in the way) and saw a small animal next to me. It was a small creature, that almost matched the description of an Emerald Sea's mole! It would have been a perfect match if it wasn't for the horrific claw marks across half of it's face. I could even see parts of it's skull! I managed to stop it's bleeding with some of the cleaner bandages with me. Poor thing.. I hope he makes it.


    Day 13: The mole woke up today. I fed him some my supplies. He seemed to like them a great deal. He managed to find a ticklish spot on my good leg. It.. It felt good to laugh even if just for a while. For now he is just laying on top of me. It feels good to have some other source of warmth here in this muddy cave.


    Day 16: During the day the mole disappeared. I was very sad but even as I lay crying he came back! He managed to pull an edible root back through a small tunnel he made!

    We shared it with great gusto. He managed to attack that ticklish spot again even as I tried to avoid him! What started as a miserable day has turned into a wonderful day!


    Day 17: I have broken through into yellow soul. To celebrate my friend went and found some berries nearby! The bestiary wasn't lying when it said that the Emerald Sea's mole is amazing at finding useful plants! It almost felt like a party with red juice covering both of our lips. What a great day!


    Day 18: My friend kept pushing himself into my stomach today. A little confused I finally realized that he was asking for me to bind him. The choice to bind little Ying Yue was the best choice I have ever made! We may both be cripples but now that we can talk to each other I think everything is going to turn out alright!


    Day 20: It will not be alright.. I broke through into silver today but without water nearby to wash in, it has been a most miserable day. Even Ying Yue agrees that my stench is terrible. I need to figure out a way to get rid of this terrible terrible stuff.


    Day 21: I managed to get a formation series set into the wood above me that seems to nullify the smell. Well I have not yet gotten rid of this...stuff..(it now sits in a pile in the corner of the cave) at least the air smells just like the forest around us. Now.. that is an idea.. If I…


    Day 23: We have managed it! With Ying Yue bringing me various plants and the formations I have memorized from the archives I have managed to construct my first unique formations set! What a rush! What excitement! I have decided on the path I will take going forward! The formations make us blend into the forest. In a small bubble around the formations, which I have managed to carve into my staff, animals will only notice the forest as it should be. It will be as if the forest and all that dwell in it forget about us! They will not notice us as we hobble towards safety! While it will not work on anything with significant intelligence or even with anything that is a good deal stronger than us it should get us back to safety and the doctors! Hopefully the formations work...


    Day 24: My staff worked on some small rabbits today. Ying Yue and I carefully got out of the cave and hobbled towards a rabbit Ying Yue felt. The test worked beyond our wildest dreams! The rabbit didn't even notice us until I reached down and touched its neck! Then it started running. When I no longer was touching it the rabbit slowly stopped and looked very confused as if it had forgotten everything which had just happened. This should work!


    Day 25: Were back. Oh thank the spirits we are out of that hole. I was crying with happiness as I hobbled back into my home and washed. Oh I washed! Ying Yue was so happy too. The last I saw him before I started writing was him stuffing himself on the small garden that has grown out of control. Oh.. he has just crawled into my lap and fell asleep. What an amazing day.


    Day 26: Bad, bad news today. My leg will be mangled for a very long time. The price to fix my leg now is ludicrous. Something I will not be able to afford for a long long time. The same for Ying Yue injuries. If we had gotten to the doctors before the tissues started to scar it might have been more manageable. Ahh.. [ the ink jerks around for a bit] Ying Yue hahah.. He.. He attacked that ticklish spot again. It is no use thinking on those thoughts. I will refine my formations until I can walk safely through the most dangerous of woods finding the rarest of plants with Ying Yue. Before this ordeal I may have been lost, now though my path is clear. Before the future looked murky and terrifying. Now with Ying Yue the sun has broken through the overhanging leaves. As long as I have Ying Yue by my side I can accomplish anything. I will no longer be forgotten!
     
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