TheLastOne
Person of impeccable tastes (for destruction)
Clear shoe-in for sidestory status.
Forge of Destiny(Xianxia Quest)
- Thread starter yrsillar
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
Clear shoe-in for sidestory status.
You know, I have to wonder what the social dynamics of the Inner Sect are.
We've seen what happens in the Outer Sect - it is the metaphorical jungle. Those who are strong prey on the weak; and those who are weak must submit, flee, or subordinate themselves to others who will protect them. But can we really expect the Inner Sect to be like that?
Perhaps not. I see three points against this. First, there are two tracks for getting into the Inner Sect: the martial track and the production track - but if the Inner sect also consists of a "jungle", production-trackers would be pretty screwed. Without direct combat power, they would be the weak, and unless they find a backer immediately that would make them fair game to anyone wishing to benefit from the products of their work. Now, maybe that is the point, and Production Cultivators in the inner sect are inherently put into a subordinate position, but that strikes me as rather unfair. Then again, like isn't fair. Second, in the same way that production track cultivators come in weak, so do the latest batch of sect members. Surely, they aren't bullied and robbed as soon as they do? And last but not least, the Inner Sect is going to consist mostly of notables, unlike the outer sect which consists mostly of riff-raff. These will largely be people from important families, not commoners and lesser nobles. So with that in mind, the sort of casual violence we see in the outer sect probably won't be encouraged; and if/when it happens, it should at least be clothed in the veneer of "honor".
I speculate that the Inner Sect will function on a more structured system. Maybe the Sect Elders don't allow fighting outside of formal duels. Maybe they allow it, but heavily discourage it, which has a similar effect. Maybe the Inner Sect disciples are the ones who do the discouraging, perhaps similarly to what Lady Cai has set up for the Outer Sect. Maybe, the inner sect is organized into "houses", where new members are immediately inducted into a group and thus have senior brothers/sisters to stand up for them if they are bullied. I'm not sure; but I do expect to see structure of some sort there.
We've seen what happens in the Outer Sect - it is the metaphorical jungle. Those who are strong prey on the weak; and those who are weak must submit, flee, or subordinate themselves to others who will protect them. But can we really expect the Inner Sect to be like that?
Perhaps not. I see three points against this. First, there are two tracks for getting into the Inner Sect: the martial track and the production track - but if the Inner sect also consists of a "jungle", production-trackers would be pretty screwed. Without direct combat power, they would be the weak, and unless they find a backer immediately that would make them fair game to anyone wishing to benefit from the products of their work. Now, maybe that is the point, and Production Cultivators in the inner sect are inherently put into a subordinate position, but that strikes me as rather unfair. Then again, like isn't fair. Second, in the same way that production track cultivators come in weak, so do the latest batch of sect members. Surely, they aren't bullied and robbed as soon as they do? And last but not least, the Inner Sect is going to consist mostly of notables, unlike the outer sect which consists mostly of riff-raff. These will largely be people from important families, not commoners and lesser nobles. So with that in mind, the sort of casual violence we see in the outer sect probably won't be encouraged; and if/when it happens, it should at least be clothed in the veneer of "honor".
I speculate that the Inner Sect will function on a more structured system. Maybe the Sect Elders don't allow fighting outside of formal duels. Maybe they allow it, but heavily discourage it, which has a similar effect. Maybe the Inner Sect disciples are the ones who do the discouraging, perhaps similarly to what Lady Cai has set up for the Outer Sect. Maybe, the inner sect is organized into "houses", where new members are immediately inducted into a group and thus have senior brothers/sisters to stand up for them if they are bullied. I'm not sure; but I do expect to see structure of some sort there.
Su Ling and the Power of the Ninetail Arts
Su Ling And THE POWER OF THE NINETAIL ARTS
Elder Xin: "I don't know who I'm more disappointed in, Sun Liling for trying the 'impale their large intestine with plant spines' move after using it on her opponent before, or Ling Qi for not finding a counter to it in the months she had to find one. One lacks creativity, the other dedication."
Elder Yin: "Agreed. We should choose that kitsune halfbreed, her refusal to take this test obviously shows she's discovered the ancient Ninetail Arts and wishes to keep her overwhelming power a secret. Kitsune adore secrecy and misdirection."
Elder Zin: "Yes, we'll go with her. She won't be able to hide her hideous might from the Elders in the Inner Sect..."
Elder Yin: "Agreed. We should choose that kitsune halfbreed, her refusal to take this test obviously shows she's discovered the ancient Ninetail Arts and wishes to keep her overwhelming power a secret. Kitsune adore secrecy and misdirection."
Elder Zin: "Yes, we'll go with her. She won't be able to hide her hideous might from the Elders in the Inner Sect..."
LATER
Su Ling tried not to tremble too visibly. It was pretty clear to her that someone was messing around, because the Inner Sect on this mountain was even crazier than the Outer Sect had been. Everyone seemed to accept the decision of the Elders who had summarily declared her one of the winners of the annual tournament to admit students into the Inner Sect despite her decision not to enter in the first place! And okay, this wasn't so bad, there was a lot more access to a lot more cool stuff than she'd expected. As absurd as it was that people believed she had these 'Ninetail Arts' they were pretty wary of getting into a fight with her as a result. Shame about Ling Qi not making the cut, but she was sure the girl would win next year.
It had all been going so well. Unfortunately, she'd run into a cute guy who she'd assumed was unattached that was interested in her. A commoner like Ling Qi, and he didn't care about her heritage, or her Arts, or anything like that. He liked the fact she didn't put on airs and hide her feelings and she had passion about the things that mattered. Unfortunately... His interest had been noticed by a pretty possessive bitch. Gu Xiulan's sister, who she'd decided to call MegaGu when she wasn't calling her MegaBitch.
And right now the fire-using girl was about to roast her like a chicken barbecue.
Su Ling swallowed. "Look, Lady Gu, or whatever... I swear I wasn't trying to seduce your boytoy. Could we just call this your win?"
In the background, Elder Jiao nodded somberly. "See? Even now she tries to keep her secrets. She does not fear Gu Yanmei, only the gaze of the Elders."
Su LIng gritted her teeth. It almost looked like MegaGu had been considering her offer, but the Elder's comment pushed her over the edge. She bit down hard on the urge to scream at him.
"...I refuse. Let us test your tricks against my passion, halfbreed. If there is any justice the gentle and noble Xan Wokai will see I am the only woman worthy of his affection, not a savage such as yourself." MegaGu raved.
She couldn't resist the urge to growl at that. Wokai was a really nice guy and didn't deserve a crazy bitch like MegaGu hounding him all the time. She'd wondered why the girl didn't already have a fiance arranged already until she'd learned the girl was essentially a crazier female version of Huang Da.
Elder Jiao gasped. "Oh. See? The foxgirl is making her move. But Gu Yanmei does not seem to see through her illusion..."
Su Ling blinked in surprise at that, but her opponent pretty nearly flipped the hell out, whirling around to look to her sides and behind herself. Fire was going EVERYWHERE, so she dived for the ground. "...Sssshhhiiiiiittttt!"
Gu Yanmei snarled, sounding more like an animal than a person, and Su Ling passed out as the heat just from being near all that fire overwhelmed her.
It had all been going so well. Unfortunately, she'd run into a cute guy who she'd assumed was unattached that was interested in her. A commoner like Ling Qi, and he didn't care about her heritage, or her Arts, or anything like that. He liked the fact she didn't put on airs and hide her feelings and she had passion about the things that mattered. Unfortunately... His interest had been noticed by a pretty possessive bitch. Gu Xiulan's sister, who she'd decided to call MegaGu when she wasn't calling her MegaBitch.
And right now the fire-using girl was about to roast her like a chicken barbecue.
Su Ling swallowed. "Look, Lady Gu, or whatever... I swear I wasn't trying to seduce your boytoy. Could we just call this your win?"
In the background, Elder Jiao nodded somberly. "See? Even now she tries to keep her secrets. She does not fear Gu Yanmei, only the gaze of the Elders."
Su LIng gritted her teeth. It almost looked like MegaGu had been considering her offer, but the Elder's comment pushed her over the edge. She bit down hard on the urge to scream at him.
"...I refuse. Let us test your tricks against my passion, halfbreed. If there is any justice the gentle and noble Xan Wokai will see I am the only woman worthy of his affection, not a savage such as yourself." MegaGu raved.
She couldn't resist the urge to growl at that. Wokai was a really nice guy and didn't deserve a crazy bitch like MegaGu hounding him all the time. She'd wondered why the girl didn't already have a fiance arranged already until she'd learned the girl was essentially a crazier female version of Huang Da.
Elder Jiao gasped. "Oh. See? The foxgirl is making her move. But Gu Yanmei does not seem to see through her illusion..."
Su Ling blinked in surprise at that, but her opponent pretty nearly flipped the hell out, whirling around to look to her sides and behind herself. Fire was going EVERYWHERE, so she dived for the ground. "...Sssshhhiiiiiittttt!"
Gu Yanmei snarled, sounding more like an animal than a person, and Su Ling passed out as the heat just from being near all that fire overwhelmed her.
JUST A BIT LATER
When she woke up, Su Ling found herself in Elder Jiao's hut. "Ow... My head."
Elder Jiao nodded. "It was quite a match. If not for your soul-devouring kitsune fire, you might have lost. As it stands, it appears young Wokai is the spoils of your victory."
The foxgirl blinked. "What? Seriously, what the hell are you playing at, old man? I know you know I don't have soul-devouring fire or whatever."
Jiao smirked. "I know no such thing. And Elders Xin, Yin, and Zin are convinced you have soul-devouring fire. Granted, they've been using some very experimental cultivation drugs lately, but if three other Elders state something is true who am I to disagree?"
Su Ling scowled. "Maybe somebody who's not off their nut on an extended drug trip?"
The old man snickered. "Well, are you planning to go to Gu Yanmei and confess to cheating then? I am sure she will not punish you too badly. And her and Wokai should be very happy together."
"NO! That bitch... Wokai deserves better than her."
MUCH LATER STILL
Ling Qi stood bravely against her enemy. It might have been suicide, but for Bai Meizhen's sake she'd face any foe. "Elder Sister Su Ling. Your tyranny over the Inner Sect will end. For the sake of my friend, I will triumph today!"
Su Ling sighed. "Oh my god, Ling Qi, could you be a bigger closet lesbian- OW! Crap! You can hit me?"
Ling Qi looked at her with some confusion, which might be justified if she hadn't figured out that Elder Jiao wasn't letting anyone win against her as part of some sort of prank war among the Elders. "Well, yeah? You're... Slower than I thought?"
"Well... Okay, take this!" Su Ling threw a couple of actual punches and kicks at her foe, which Ling Qi avoided with about as much trouble as if she'd choreographed them with the girl days in advance.
Not surprising given the psychotic overachieving lesbo had reportedly gone on some insane training binge and reached Cyan while Su Ling herself was still Yellow. But yeah, this was gonna suck.
About five seconds later as she was puking her guts out on the ground and hoping her kidneys hadn't just liquefied from sheer pain Su Ling decided that yes, this did suck.
"Um. Su Ling? Are you okay?" Ling Qi asked, concerned in her airheaded way as if the flute playing freak hadn't just nearly punched through her torso.
"Hate... Elder Jiao... So much."
Su Ling sighed. "Oh my god, Ling Qi, could you be a bigger closet lesbian- OW! Crap! You can hit me?"
Ling Qi looked at her with some confusion, which might be justified if she hadn't figured out that Elder Jiao wasn't letting anyone win against her as part of some sort of prank war among the Elders. "Well, yeah? You're... Slower than I thought?"
"Well... Okay, take this!" Su Ling threw a couple of actual punches and kicks at her foe, which Ling Qi avoided with about as much trouble as if she'd choreographed them with the girl days in advance.
Not surprising given the psychotic overachieving lesbo had reportedly gone on some insane training binge and reached Cyan while Su Ling herself was still Yellow. But yeah, this was gonna suck.
About five seconds later as she was puking her guts out on the ground and hoping her kidneys hadn't just liquefied from sheer pain Su Ling decided that yes, this did suck.
"Um. Su Ling? Are you okay?" Ling Qi asked, concerned in her airheaded way as if the flute playing freak hadn't just nearly punched through her torso.
"Hate... Elder Jiao... So much."
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Haha, Wow, my sides. have 3 points for that one @drake_azathoth Just hold on to them until after the event.
Anyway I am locking up, whats our winner?
Anyway I am locking up, whats our winner?
Thanatanos
PvP Lover, Assasin Player
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I hadn't considered it before, but Su Ling is kind of hilarious in how she really doesn't buy into ANY of this cultivation nonsense... If I were an Elder looking to play a joke, she'd be a tempting target.
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- Location
- Cyberspace
I've been thinking about the level of prowess of disciples and some related issues regarding the sect and the setting - and, in general, I feel like "outer sect disciple" is more or less Yellow/Silver territory. That's not to say there aren't going to be Greens or Reds that show up, but they don't stay in the Outer Sect for long, one way or another. So, speculation ahoy!
EDIT: Mind you, I'm not recommending Ling Qi rest on her laurels or anything of the sort. She needs to determinate her way into greater fame and fortune - she's probably not going to be able to play the "hidden dark horse", so she needs to race even faster ahead to dodge attempts to suppress her.
Thankfully, the candidates for said suppression at the moment are somewhat limited - Kang Zihao, Sun Liling and her second. But this will probably change, as older disciples start to enter the picture. One or two might already have grudges against her (from younger siblings), while some more might want to try and topple Cai Renxiang through removing her supporters**.
Tutoring (both for mechanical boosts and for cultivation advice) - I've been pushing it already, but the incidental advice on what is generally expected for someone making it to the Inner Sect through the tournament, what areas she's falling behind in, cultivation goals and opportunities she might not be aware of are a fairly urgent priority in my mind.
How many meridians might a genius advancing to Green have? How much qi? Are there many trials, or did Meizhen find the only one out there? How many outer sect disciples typically show up to the tournament?
** Ling Qi hitting Late/Late will probably be enough to fend off most of those kinds of attempt; at that point, she's effectively peer to most of the older outer sect disciples and not an easy target to bully.
Part of this is thinking about the hierarchy of cultivation - there's an unusually small number of stages in the setting - seven in each of the two tracks, with the eighth being either an "out of play" peak or a whole different setting (and thus out of scope for this quest anyway). White is the foundation of a major clan (See the Sun and Bai backstory) or major sect and a very powerful asset for the Empire. Violet is probably the peak for non-major sects and moderate clans - the Argent Sect's most advanced cultivator is probably Violet at the latest. For some reason I'm blanking on the label for the 5th realm, but that's probably where most of the powerhouses are in the Empire, and most of the Elders in the Argent Sect.
The sect has outer, inner and core disciples, as well as elders. I'm not sure if core is a proper category, or is just "the top X inner sect disciples", but I wager they might hover around Cyan. Inner Sect feels like Green territory - particularly with Argent Soul's assistance lasting until the breakthrough to Green and Argent Genesis being an Inner Sect-exclusive cultivation art (plus note the reaction of older disciples to Cai Renxiang's attempt at a government; she's Late Yellow/Silver - if there were many Greens among them, their actions would probably be far less cautious). On the lower end, after only five months or so there's a solid number of the new outer sect disciples breaking through to Yellow, and I'm guessing most of the rest (those who stay) will do so before the end of the first year. So... outer sect is for Yellow/Silver cultivators.
I say "those who stay" for a reason. In general, there are three axes to judge disciples on; talent, background and determination*. Those who come from a cultivator family or have wealth will have a head-start and/or an easier time getting cultivation resources... and are more likely to have expectations of success laid upon them. Those who are talented will rise to Yellow fast. Those who are determined will work hard; given a year, even those with below-average talent can probably break through given sect resources. Those who are lacking in these categories will become discouraged and will almost certainly leave the sect - after all, a Red cultivator can still find good work (in comparison to mortals). Li Suyin almost left - I'm guessing quite a few had similar bad moments or got weary. So... first year aside, I would say that there's going to be no Red outer sect disciples.
Now, the upper end. Breaking through to Green means a mild to moderate advantage over the other outer sect disciples - and yet, it means stalling out without access to Argent Genesis or a similar level of private cultivation art. That's going to be frustrating - moreover, the advantage over Late Yellow isn't going to be strong enough to be certain of victory in the tournament. Plus, if you struggled to make it to Green, getting to the inner sect means you'll be starting the struggle all over again as the "low man on the totem pole". Do you really want to get back in to the stress of the competition, knowing that those more talented than you will open a wider and wider gap? Resources are hard to come by - your monthly allowance is insignificant for your needs (you can't even cultivate with it), and doing chores for the sect will lose appeal over time.
Meanwhile, you have opportunities outside - for one thing, unless you spent five or six years getting to Green, you're eligible to receive an Imperial Writ. You're likely to get some attractive offers from assorted noble families to marry in or join them as an elite guard. If you're already part of a noble family, you almost certainly have a good position waiting for you at home. You could be a pretty big shot outside - if you're unsatisfied with your talent or fortune, you could wander and try to find mystical treasure.
Or perhaps you've become content with your lot - take Su Ling, and subtract the desire to get away from it all. You've got a reasonable life here in the Argent Sect - perhaps you'll take up a support job, or get into a routine of sect missions and spending the points on stones for luxuries. You know you wouldn't thrive in the competitive inner sect, so you're not going to try. Perhaps the sect has some side track of advancement - similar to the "outer sect elders" seen in some other settings, who are "dead ends" that serve the sect but aren't really eligible to advance to the inner sect.
Of course, there'll be those who aren't content and won't quit - but they're liable to have made it in during their first year, or perhaps their second after a close loss the year before. Of those remaining, a few will come down with death/severe injury from risking too much and a few more might follow opportunities elsewhere.
I feel like the ones showing up to the tournament will be (1) those who evaluate themselves as among the top eight or (2) those who think they might get lucky. Add in a sprinkling of those who want to test themselves or have their own reasons. There'll be people evaluating their chances against the geniuses of the freshmen over the next few months - to some extent, if there's fights between the years, those will be noticed. If Gu Xiulan and Ling Qi start challenging their seniors - and winning - that'll probably depress the number of competitors in the tournament. The three front-runners hitting Green before the year's half-through (I expect Cai Renxiang to break through fairly soonish) is going to be a little intimidating, I think - especially if Cai Renxiang manages to successfully suppress the older disciples who are starting to grumble about her getting uppity. If Ling Qi and a couple others from her class also break through, then that's going to be almost eight Greens in the new class. Or even if none of them break through, but they display the ability to keep up with Greens, that'll effectively be the same thing as far as the other disciples are concerned.
But that's reaching far, even for the original speculation; there's not been a whole lot about the culture of the rest of the outer sect, how the tournament is viewed or similar lore displayed to Ling Qi and us so far.
* A fourth being fortune - someone who's clever, perceptive or simply lucky could do far better than their evaluation might otherwise suggest.
The sect has outer, inner and core disciples, as well as elders. I'm not sure if core is a proper category, or is just "the top X inner sect disciples", but I wager they might hover around Cyan. Inner Sect feels like Green territory - particularly with Argent Soul's assistance lasting until the breakthrough to Green and Argent Genesis being an Inner Sect-exclusive cultivation art (plus note the reaction of older disciples to Cai Renxiang's attempt at a government; she's Late Yellow/Silver - if there were many Greens among them, their actions would probably be far less cautious). On the lower end, after only five months or so there's a solid number of the new outer sect disciples breaking through to Yellow, and I'm guessing most of the rest (those who stay) will do so before the end of the first year. So... outer sect is for Yellow/Silver cultivators.
I say "those who stay" for a reason. In general, there are three axes to judge disciples on; talent, background and determination*. Those who come from a cultivator family or have wealth will have a head-start and/or an easier time getting cultivation resources... and are more likely to have expectations of success laid upon them. Those who are talented will rise to Yellow fast. Those who are determined will work hard; given a year, even those with below-average talent can probably break through given sect resources. Those who are lacking in these categories will become discouraged and will almost certainly leave the sect - after all, a Red cultivator can still find good work (in comparison to mortals). Li Suyin almost left - I'm guessing quite a few had similar bad moments or got weary. So... first year aside, I would say that there's going to be no Red outer sect disciples.
Now, the upper end. Breaking through to Green means a mild to moderate advantage over the other outer sect disciples - and yet, it means stalling out without access to Argent Genesis or a similar level of private cultivation art. That's going to be frustrating - moreover, the advantage over Late Yellow isn't going to be strong enough to be certain of victory in the tournament. Plus, if you struggled to make it to Green, getting to the inner sect means you'll be starting the struggle all over again as the "low man on the totem pole". Do you really want to get back in to the stress of the competition, knowing that those more talented than you will open a wider and wider gap? Resources are hard to come by - your monthly allowance is insignificant for your needs (you can't even cultivate with it), and doing chores for the sect will lose appeal over time.
Meanwhile, you have opportunities outside - for one thing, unless you spent five or six years getting to Green, you're eligible to receive an Imperial Writ. You're likely to get some attractive offers from assorted noble families to marry in or join them as an elite guard. If you're already part of a noble family, you almost certainly have a good position waiting for you at home. You could be a pretty big shot outside - if you're unsatisfied with your talent or fortune, you could wander and try to find mystical treasure.
Or perhaps you've become content with your lot - take Su Ling, and subtract the desire to get away from it all. You've got a reasonable life here in the Argent Sect - perhaps you'll take up a support job, or get into a routine of sect missions and spending the points on stones for luxuries. You know you wouldn't thrive in the competitive inner sect, so you're not going to try. Perhaps the sect has some side track of advancement - similar to the "outer sect elders" seen in some other settings, who are "dead ends" that serve the sect but aren't really eligible to advance to the inner sect.
Of course, there'll be those who aren't content and won't quit - but they're liable to have made it in during their first year, or perhaps their second after a close loss the year before. Of those remaining, a few will come down with death/severe injury from risking too much and a few more might follow opportunities elsewhere.
I feel like the ones showing up to the tournament will be (1) those who evaluate themselves as among the top eight or (2) those who think they might get lucky. Add in a sprinkling of those who want to test themselves or have their own reasons. There'll be people evaluating their chances against the geniuses of the freshmen over the next few months - to some extent, if there's fights between the years, those will be noticed. If Gu Xiulan and Ling Qi start challenging their seniors - and winning - that'll probably depress the number of competitors in the tournament. The three front-runners hitting Green before the year's half-through (I expect Cai Renxiang to break through fairly soonish) is going to be a little intimidating, I think - especially if Cai Renxiang manages to successfully suppress the older disciples who are starting to grumble about her getting uppity. If Ling Qi and a couple others from her class also break through, then that's going to be almost eight Greens in the new class. Or even if none of them break through, but they display the ability to keep up with Greens, that'll effectively be the same thing as far as the other disciples are concerned.
But that's reaching far, even for the original speculation; there's not been a whole lot about the culture of the rest of the outer sect, how the tournament is viewed or similar lore displayed to Ling Qi and us so far.
* A fourth being fortune - someone who's clever, perceptive or simply lucky could do far better than their evaluation might otherwise suggest.
EDIT: Mind you, I'm not recommending Ling Qi rest on her laurels or anything of the sort. She needs to determinate her way into greater fame and fortune - she's probably not going to be able to play the "hidden dark horse", so she needs to race even faster ahead to dodge attempts to suppress her.
Thankfully, the candidates for said suppression at the moment are somewhat limited - Kang Zihao, Sun Liling and her second. But this will probably change, as older disciples start to enter the picture. One or two might already have grudges against her (from younger siblings), while some more might want to try and topple Cai Renxiang through removing her supporters**.
Tutoring (both for mechanical boosts and for cultivation advice) - I've been pushing it already, but the incidental advice on what is generally expected for someone making it to the Inner Sect through the tournament, what areas she's falling behind in, cultivation goals and opportunities she might not be aware of are a fairly urgent priority in my mind.
How many meridians might a genius advancing to Green have? How much qi? Are there many trials, or did Meizhen find the only one out there? How many outer sect disciples typically show up to the tournament?
** Ling Qi hitting Late/Late will probably be enough to fend off most of those kinds of attempt; at that point, she's effectively peer to most of the older outer sect disciples and not an easy target to bully.
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Woops! That changes the calculations a bit... but not that much on the lower end. The Argent Sect isn't a major sect, I believe, so I'd still put it at "zero or one Prism/Orichalcum, a couple of Violent/Adamant, then elders at Indigo/Steel, core at Cyan/Iron, inner at Green/Bronze, outer at Yellow/Silver".
- Location
- The Star Kingdom of Manticore
From Smelting 1 section 3 paragraph 6 "The Argent Peak was a major sect in this region, but at court it was considered to be one of the less crucial points in the empire's defense, particularly with the stirring of the barbarians in the north and west, and the difficulty in reining in the western lords themselves."
So Argent peak is at least a major sect in the area. How it compares with other sects in different areas we don't know. However it does at least garner attention at court.
- Location
- Cyberspace
I'd consider that to be non-major on the Imperial level - not insignificant, but no White/Divine cultivator. Although I suppose it depends on if "less crucial points" is in the meaning of urgency/attention, or if it includes significance.
Arkeus
Crazy cat guy
- Location
- France
Given the context, it means "the war on the border is less urgent than the ones on the western and northern fronts".
Still, iirc there is something like 3 great sects in the Emerald Sea province, so I expect there is to be something like 21+ great sects in the Empire. That's a few of them.
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OTOH, the formation of the Sect was confirmed to be by a supreme badass beating back a barbarian incursion, wasn't it?
I suspect that its a White guy.
Where did yrsillar add that new level?
In the cultivation tutorial:
Imagine a pure Lake, Wind, Moon elder.
He would have to be White just to survive the other elders trying to get rid of him.
Arkeus
Crazy cat guy
- Location
- France
Everything else is speculation from people thinking it tailors to either the 8-diagrams or other chinese system.
Arkeus
Crazy cat guy
- Location
- France
I'm not sure if you said it as a joke- I kind of took it as one- but we do know that healing crippling injuries are enough to significantly hurt a lesser noble's household's finances, to the point that unless you are the heir an injury like Li Suyin's is simply too expensive to heal for most noble houses.
Obviously, a sect will have better resources than a simple noble house, but I don't think it's to the point of 'Provide what might be hundreds of green stones of healing for fights of the outer sect disciples'. Clearly I don't know how much that would cost, but I think a minor noble house should still have hundreds of green stones, especially as green stones are still 'can be reliably exchanged for without problems'. Such healing might cost even more.
OTOH, it's also possible Elder Su is that powerful and doesn't need to use secondary resources to heal people.
Codex
Fantasy Addict
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I would just like to state one point:
That line is from a canon sidestory. Yuan He, the leader of the Argent Sect, killed the Great Khan Ogodei, who's the strongest barbarian we know of in-story, as well as the person who united all of the warring barbarian tribes together, most likely through strength. I suspect Yuan He might be White/Divine.
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Is there any gm commentary on the change? Just curious.
Personally, yeah, I was feeling it could use another level. Mostly to differentiate between "one of the top ranking cultivators" and current Bai patriarch.
TheLastOne
Person of impeccable tastes (for destruction)
- Location
- USA
Just caught up on this quest, and wow is it good. Amazing job @yrsillar .
So question for the thread - what the hell is up with Ling Qi's good fortune with Spirits? Obviously Xin giving us that slip way back during the test is the foundation of a significant amount of her current power, and the tortoise egg looks like it will also be huge. But also just little things - Ling Qi seems to have had a lot of positive interactions with spirits. What's the current speculation of the thread about this?
So question for the thread - what the hell is up with Ling Qi's good fortune with Spirits? Obviously Xin giving us that slip way back during the test is the foundation of a significant amount of her current power, and the tortoise egg looks like it will also be huge. But also just little things - Ling Qi seems to have had a lot of positive interactions with spirits. What's the current speculation of the thread about this?
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
It just seems that they like our humility? It's not a common trait among Cultivators, so it's probably refreshing to see one who genuinely is trying to be polite and respectful.