Hmmph... this junior is a good seed [Cultivation Management Quest]

[Quest]

Antonius Emmanuel Eleanora 21
[Meeting the Team: Yahwen the Bladeless]​

Antonius agreed to meet Yahwen at one of the thermopylae. They were restaurants that served the large qi condensation population of the clan and the food they produced was cheap, delicious and filling. At Pleuron, they were particularly focused on traditional clan food as a way to attract the foreigners who might be visiting.

Rather than order something, Antonius took a table on the courtyard outside where he wouldn't be disturbed by the staff and brought his own food. It wasn't that he disliked the food they provided, it was more that he'd had it before and like his mother he preferred a little variety in his eating habits.

He'd been corresponding with Aunt Ariadne a lot recently and she had begun to recommend various new food products that she tried. While Antonius was glad for it, he also had a feeling she was missing his mother so he made sure to try whatever she sent his way quickly and tell her his thoughts.

This time, she had sent him a new form of rations a nutritionist from the 43rd legion was testing out. It was an interesting dish made from dried noodles mixed with spices that you could cook within minutes just by adding hot water.

It came packed inside a container called a 'cup' for some reason that was lined with a heating array easily activated with an infusion of qi. Just as the smell was wafting into his nose, a female voice interrupted his meal. "Is that noodles?" The girl asked him eagerly.

He looked up from his meal to see a beautiful girl with Divided Kingdom looks dressed in a bronze chiton - an traditional clan outfit. "Yahwen?" He guessed. At her grinning nod, he raised an eyebrow. "You work here as a waitress?"

She blinked at your question and then glanced at her outfit. "Yeah." She replied, smile turning sheepish. "I'm trying to get a job as a chef but I don't really have the skills."

Antonius shrugged. "Sorry, it's not a problem. I've done some waitering myself as an aspirant." He replied, gesturing for her to take a seat. "I just didn't think you would have any trouble getting work as a chef since you're a noodle cultivator of the ninth heavenstage."

"I was originally a sword cultivator of the Viridescent Blade Duchy," She explained while pulling up a chair. "I only recently decided to try and learn noodle-making."

"How did that happen?" He asked curiously. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that the Blade Duchy wasn't one to let cultivators go - especially if you reached the ninth heavenstage."

"I was supposed to go on a journey to hone my swordsmanship," She replied and then paused clearly trying to think of how best to phrase the next part. When Antonius raised an eyebrow again, she blushed. "Since I didn't know how to work or hunt, I ended up basically starving."

"And then your master gave you noodles to eat and you liked it so much that you decided to become his disciple?" He finished for her. "It's what always happens in these stories."

She looked down at the table. "Well, you're mostly right." She admitted wryly. "He didn't exactly accept."

Antonius blinked. "Which is why you are having trouble actually working as a chef." He realised. "Why did he refuse, by the way?"

"I was born with Blade Qi," She replied, sighing. "I've always honed Blade Qi and I was even going to pursue the Dao of the Blade. I think that perhaps he doesn't believe I have the dedication to pursue his arts after abandoning mine?"

Antonius floundered for a moment, taken aback by that deep admission by a stranger before responding with the first though that came to his mind. "Noodles?" He asked, pushing his own cup towards her.

She blinked and looked down at it. "I can try it?" She asks hesitantly. When you nod, she takes your chopsticks and takes it in with a loud slurp.

Antonius blinks at that before smiling. "Where did you learn to do that?" He asked her curiously. "I don't think the Blade Duchy had that habit."

"It's really good." Yahwen told him with a smile before she registered your question. Then she paused for a moment then shook her head. "They don't actually but I've seen Axe Clan do it and master does it as well."

"I know it as a way to show appreciation for good soup in the Shimmering Soup Sect," He explained. "I suppose it works for noodles as well."

"I didn't know it was from there," She holds her chopsticks in the air and looks thoughtful. "I just copied my master when we ate our meals."

Antonius frowned for second. "I have a question," He told her and then continued when she nodded. "Did you travel with your master or follow him here? Because I thought maybe the second but it seems to be more like the first?"

"He lets me travel with him." She explained, sighing. "He just won't teach me."

Huh. He was more and more curious about this master. "So wait, your master did this for his own meals?" He asked curiously. She nodded which made you smile. "I was told it was done to show appreciation for the chef. I wonder if it's normal for chefs to do that while having their own meals."

Yahwen thought for a moment and smiled. "I don't actually know," She admitted. "But my master is definitely the sort of person to praise himself."

Antonius smirked. "You know, technically I made these noodles." He joked and then froze as she looked at him with an intense look. "What?"

"Teach me." She said so intensely that Antonius nodded instinctively before blinking and shaking his head.

"Wait no," He replied quickly. "I was kidding. I didn't really make those."

"Oh," She replied, deflating.

Antonius looked at her and pulled out another packed cup of noodles from his storage ring. "It's a new form of instant noodle rations the legion is trying." He explained to her. "I didn't actually make it because it was ready-made."

She frowned at his explanation before looking down at her own cup. "What do you mean by 'instant'?"

"It means I can make it in minutes by adding hot water," He explained, then he pointed to some symbols scrawled on the side of the cup. "This one actually includes a simple heating array that can cook it just by adding qi."

"Arrays can do that?" She asked him, her eyes widening. "I always thought that they were only useful for battle and stuff."

"Oh yeah." He replied, as he handed her the cup and summoned some water into it. Then he demonstrated how to channel qi into it. "You'd be surprised at what cultivators can come up with in their free time."

He watched as she tried it and her eyes lit up as the water flash-boiled. "Now what do I do?" She asked, turning back to him.

He reached out and covered it up. "Just leave it like that for a minute and let it cook." He replied. He thought for a moment then added. "Feel free to keep the cups. They are meant to be reusable a few times if you need to cook something else in the field."

"Thank you." She replied, beaming at him. Antonius smiled back before stopping to think. Were they becoming friends?

"You are welcome," He replied cheerfully. "You should finish the other one while this one cooks."

She nodded. Then she looked down at the bowl and frowned. "You should eat as well." She said, offering him the bowl back.

Antonius raised a hand to stop her and shook his head. "Take both," He offered. "Consider them a gift. I can even order more for you if you want me to later."

She frowned. "Are you sure? I'd hate to take your food."

He nodded. "This way I get to open one more," He replied, grinning. "We can both try three flavors and food is always better with friends."

To his surprise, she quickly leaned forward and lightly hugged him with one hand. After a moment of hesitation, he awkwardly hugged her back. "Thank you," She said quietly, before pulling back.

He nodded awkwardly for a moment and grasped for something to say. "So," He said, as she began to eat. "You said you'd secured seats on one of the Shimmering Soup Sect's airships?"

She looked up at him and nodded. As she began to speak, Antonius pulled out another cup and began to prepare it. "My master won it in a cooking duel," She explained after eating a bite. "One of the reasons I wanted to go with people from your clan was that they might cause less trouble with the Golden Devil Clan."

Antonius nodded. There was the complication that Corvina predicted. "Your master wouldn't be coming?" He inquired and she shook her head. "Well, while that might make things tricky overall but I think the other members will be okay with dealing with that. Would you agree to meeting up with them at some point?"

She nodded. "You could meet up here." She offered. "That would work best for me."

Antonius nodded back. "I'll have to ask, but that seems fine to me."

She smiled for a moment. "So who are the other members exactly?"

"I think my aunt might have mentioned Corvina to you?" He asked her and she nodded. "Well, the last one is Xiao Yingzi. I haven't met her but I've been corresponding with her. She seems fairly serious and is apparently a shadow manipulator."

"A shadow manipulator?" She asked him curiously. He nodded. "Black hair, tanned skin, third sea looks?"

He nodded. "That's how she was described to me." He replied, an eyebrow raised. "Do you know her?"

"I think she might have been following you?" She told him, pointing a chopstick in a direction vaguely behind her. He blinked and turned but found no one there. "She was left when I spotted her."

"When did this happen?" He asked her with a frown.

"This was just before talking to you," She explained, apologetically. "I didn't really make the connection until you mentioned a shadow manipulator. I just thought she might have been practising a technique or something."

Antonius sighed. "Well, she was probably just checking up on me." He explained, smiling. "I'm meeting her later, so I'll bring it up then. Thanks for pointing it out."

"It isn't strange around her?" She asked, frowning.

He shrugged. "It kinda is," He admitted with a smile. "But I've learnt that cultivators have their own quirks. Checking up on someone before meeting them seems understandable to me."

She nodded before pointing at your cup of noodles. "I think it's done." She replied. "You should eat it before it cools."

Antonius smiled and nodded. He pushed the fourth member of this team out his mind until he officially had to meet her.

Right now, he wanted to enjoy his time with his new friend.

 

[Quest]

Antonius Emmanuel Eleanora 22
[Legion Readiness Report]

This document contains a review of the 43rd and 96th Legions and their current readiness in case of hostilities. For information on their composition before the trials, please see the relevant report here. It should be noted that this document is only available to the council and those authorised by them. If you have accessed this in error, please inform your nearest commander.​

Current Situation:

During the events of the trial, both of these legions have lost their legates and are adjusting to work without the leadership that they had expected. The 96th legion while having problems as can be expected in such a period of time is expected to transition smoothly.

The 96th legion had been a fixture of the clan since before we left the mountains. They have long adjusted to the reality of the trials and the risk of losing their Legate pre-maturely. The Taurus family maintains the position of heir to take over the position of Legate should the previous pass on.

The position marks a promising centurion who is expected to reach core formation and gains additional resources and responsibilities because of it. Before the last trials, there were three other Legates with ties to the family who had been former heirs however they all passed away in the battle.

The current heir is one Ariadne Taurus - a promising young centurion currently at the fifth pillar of foundation establishment. She is likely to reach Core within a century, possibly faster as the Taurus heirs have a strong tendency of rapid growth upon losing their legates - possibly aided by resources secretly sequestered for this exact reason.

She has a history of good service but has a noted tendency of favoring those she considers close. However, she has so far balanced duty with her personal desires incredibly well, though it remains to be seen if this continues now that she has full command over her legion.

The 43rd Legion in its current incarnation was created entirely by the late Legate Alcaeus. He was a powerful frontline fighter and a well-known philosopher. His legion is known to be personally loyal to him and his ideals. As such, it is unlikely to survive barring the rise of a new Core from its ranks.

Currently, it is working together with the 96th legion and is under Acting Legate Ariadne's unofficial command due close personal ties between it's previous legates and a strong figure to rally around among them. It is highly possible that the legion will simply dissolve in the coming decades or be absorbed into the 96th legion as many other legions were in their history.

The loss of such a promising legion will be felt strongly and can hopefully be avoided. It is recommended that Legate Ariadne's sympathies to the members of the 43rd legion be encouraged if circumstances permit to ensure that she keeps the legion separate. This will hopefully allow enough time to pass so that another legate may arise from several promising candidates to continue their commander's legacy.

Failing that, the absorption should be hurried enough to impart some of their current culture into the 96th legion in the hopes of curbing some of their more worrying tendencies. While the only nepotistic behaviour practised by them currently is the mass recruitment of family into the legion, this is only because of the nature of the past few legates.

This is tolerated because of the outstanding loyalty of the Taurus family and the potential of their personal arts when working with family. However, historically certain matriarchs and patriarchs have been known to go further and with a sympathetic matriarch, this may be a moment to curb their tendencies.

Currently, the 43rd is performing its usual duties of guarding the settlements and absorbing the lesser candidates from general training but it is difficult to say if the previous level of competence will be maintained with the loss of their legate. For now, it is recommended to watch their activities to see how the situation evolves before applying either of the previous strategies.

The 96th legion has moved on to repairing the arrays damaged by the trials and though they are not as efficient as under the eye of Matriarch Wilhemina, the various contingencies of the legion have ensured that it runs smoothly enough to return to work without major issues. Given their current state, they are among the candidates who will go to the plains in order to fulfill our obligations to the Strength Purity Sect.

Due to their relative importance to the strategies suggested and the delicate diplomacy with a Righteous Sect, information on Acting Legate Ariadne Taurus is also given below.

Legate Information:

Title: Heir / Acting Legate
Name: Ariadne Taurus
Dao: Creation
Primary Style: Spear-usage and the Labyrinthian Thread
Skill-set: Combat, Arrays, Bronze-smithing, Alchemy

History:

Ariadne Taurus was born one hundred and eighty years ago. She is the great-granddaughter of the late Matriarch Wilhelmina Taurus of her own legion from her father's side and the grand-daughter of current Mystikos Xie Xinya from her mother's side. She had inherited a large amount of talent from both her core formation ancestors, though her own speciality was removed from either.

During the Taurus family aptitude tests at the age of ten, she displayed a talent for the family's Labyrinthian Thread Technique that uses bronze thread forged from their body to create powerful and flexible arrays in or outside of battle. Though most users of that art specialise in battlefield arrays, Ariadne Taurus took it one step further.

During general training, she showed an aptitude for spear-work and quickly abandoned the shield in order to pair her spear with the labyrinthian thread as both weapon and defence. This personal innovation turned her from one of the usual Taurus Family array experts to frontline combatant. She was treated more like a Specialist of the 96th legion than part of its First Cohort where users of this art traditionally go.

Upon graduating from training and being absorbed into the 96th legion, she took a chosen name as was custom among the Taurus. She took the name of Ariadne after the great ancestor of her family and the first Legate of the 96th Legion. Taking on the name of the one who created the Labyrinthian Thread was a polarising choice in the family at the time, but her obvious talent and rapid growth quickly quieted any whispers against her.

Most of her missions were taken as part of the allied 43rd legion because of her combat skill. As part of those missions and as part of her own training in bronze-smithing, she befriended the ambitious Ambrosius - a ward of the clan who sought to leave his own legacy to the clan. Though he was not a Taurus himself, he was given permission to learn some of their arts as a potential suitor to Ariadne's aunt.

Eventually, her aunt did marry Ambrosius however rather than taking upon the Taurus name, they chose to start their own family in order to pass on Ambrosius' name. The matter left them distant from the main body of the Taurus clan though it is known that Ariadne Taurus maintained a strong relationship with the couple despite her great-grandmother's feud with them.

This paid off during the first trials she was a part of. She volunteered to be part of the 43rd Legion Kill Teams in order to hunt down the Fifth Sea Hunters and though she was relatively successful, her squad was trapped in an ambush by some hunters. Her aunt and Ambrosius were part of this squad and died here while she survived. Though the exact sequence of events aren't known, it is speculated that this may have been due to them giving their life to protect her.

After this event, Ariadne was known to be distant from the clan proper as she processed her loss. She took to travelling the clan's territories and those of our vassals. She gained much fame as a spear-master and is speculated to have studied from a master of the art during her travels as her technique now differs greatly from the clan standard. She also began to show an interest in alchemy and arts of creation beyond arrays and metal-smithing.

This is speculated to be due to an appearance in an alchemy contest that takes place to help aid and improve new alchemists after the trials. Though she lost very quickly due to her lack of training in the broader aspects of alchemy, she was encouraged by the loss to study more of the creative arts available to her beyond her specialities. It is speculated that it was this sudden focus in non-combat arts and a distance from her family that allowed the next series of events to take place.

During the start of the Blood Cannibal conflict, she returned to active service in order to aid the clan in the coming battles. Rather than being placed in assault teams where her skills as a front-line combatant would be of use, she was assigned to protecting remote villages with admittedly important resources but fairly removed from the war effort.

During the protection of a village with a 96th Legion Trial Bunker, she was attacked by three unaligned righteous cultivators who were specifically aiming for her head. In a superb handling of the conflict, she single handedly repelled the attackers while turning one of them into an asset and capturing their leader.

The captured leader revealed the existence of a suspected Jiangshen spy who was acting as a legion auxiliary and directing the three cultivators in an attempt to weaken both the clan and the Blood Cannibals. She personally captured the perpetrator and delivered him to the Mytikos of the time.

The turned attacker was an archer known then as 'Arrow' and currently as Eleanora. She has proven a good asset to the clan as both an auxiliary and later an a proper member through marriage. She had reached the foundation establishment stage and likely would have proven a strong asset for the clan if not for certain recent events. The results of the event speak of both her skill and judgement.

She ascended to foundation establishment not long after this event at the age of seventy. Though she has always been a rising star of the Taurus clan, with her obvious talent and proven competence it was in this moment when she was declared the Heir of the Family. Her Dao is reported to be 'Creation' in an emulation of her ancestor.

It should be noted however that despite her being proficient at multiple forms of creation, she still retains a tendency to focus on more direct martial applications. It is speculated that her version of creation also has a more martial bent than is common though the exact information is unknown.

In the time before the current trials, she had stopped taking missions from the clan instead focusing on the administrative duties of her legion that were delegated to her by her great-grandmother. She continued to take joint missions with the 43rd legion and was often assigned as liaison between them.

During the trails, she lost both her great-grandmother and much of her family while also losing a close friend to a coma. Despite some signs of grief, she is still going strong and has taken control over two legions and kept them running through this difficult time. She is talented and competent - an asset to be watched and carefully guided.

Known Philosophies:

"Some people are more precious than others, but everyone of them has their worth."

"What we seek is not destruction and separation. Those have their place in the world but the ideal world requires something different. Building and binding- that is what we seek. Fix what is broken, build what is needed and above all we prize the bonds between us. Never forget that the one who stands beside you is family."

"Bronze is a metal - an alloy of copper and tin. The two metals are rarely found together. You require trade and reach to gather the materials and then skill is required to forge it. Still, it was chosen to arm our blood and bodies. What more do we need to prove that we are the best men?"

 

[Quest]

Antonius Emmanuel Eleanora 23
[Meeting the Team: Xiao Yingzi]​

Proper cultivation wasn't really necessary anymore for Antonius. In fact, it might even be a little counterproductive now that he had reached a point where he could break through. Reaching further would only make his tribulation more difficult. Despite that, he couldn't help but be fascinated by how the cultivation process had changed now that he was here.

The last time he had cultivated with Yixuan Shan, he had reached a point where the metaphorical bronze that represented his body felt completely polished. Now that he had begun studying the subject in more depth he realised that it was all a mental image he used to interpret the purification of his body.

After reaching the tenth heavenstage, that process didn't fully stop. His body was taking in impurities as a mere part of living and would likely continue to do so until he ascended. He still needed to spend some time every day purifying his body in order to maintain his current level of power. It was during these moments that he noticed something interesting.

Now that his body had become pure, the process was strangely meditative. Every now and then during his cultivation he noticed something - flashes of further purity not just on a physical level but in a spiritual one. It was incredibly tempting to chase after that just to see where it would go.

He didn't go after it, but that didn't stop his speculation. The late Alcaeus had often spoken about the connection between mind, body and soul. Antonius suspected that there was some truth in that. The mere act of maintaining such purity of body would eventually lead to purity of soul. And wasn't qi the aspect of the soul that most readily showed changes?

An interesting thing was that both body purification and dao purification in the thirteenth heavenstage took nearly a century to achieve but soul purification only took mere decades. It made sense that the eleventh heavenstage or qi purification and the soul purification of the twelfth heavenstage were both parts of the same process.

Qi purification merely showed the most immediate and obvious blessing while Soul Purification showed more subtle benefits like the thirteenth heavenstage above it. Of course, then it followed that a pure body and a pure soul could achieve a pure mind - a dao without any contradictions such as can only be found upon a Core Formation expert supported by seven pillars.

He could see how someone could get lost in chasing it. Perhaps in another time and place, he could have chased this himself but… no. Taking a deep breath, he tore himself away from that feeling. He had other responsibilities now and the Curse restricted him in these things besides.

His mind went to Physician Seneca's lifespan-increasing potions as an answer to his curse but he couldn't let himself dwell on that. Despite the possibilities, he had to focus on other things. He forced himself awake from his cultivation and looked up to Corvina seated next to him. The two of them had been waiting for Xiao Yingzi in order to meet her and finalise her recruitment.

"She's not here yet?" He asked, taking a moment to extend his senses to check if she was outside their home. Corvina opened a single eye to look at him and shook her head. She had been attempting her own meditations but she still hadn't truly grasped her dao.

She fidgeted for a few moments before opening her eyes fully and turning to him. "Don't sense her outside." She told him, likely tired of her current attempt."Are you sure you didn't sense her at all when she followed you?"

Antonius shook his head. "You know that I'm pretty inexperienced but I've been making an attempt to keep an eye out." He told her. "I didn't sense her at all during those times despite the realm difference."

Corvina nodded. "If she truly is that skilled, then it would be worth having her as an ally." She mused. "Still I'd like to see her for myself first."

"I'm looking forward to your assessment as well," He agreed. As a seer and just generally more experienced, Corvina had a far better sense of these things than he did. He paused at that thought and looked up at her curiously. "Actually, any advice for me?"

"You need to be more watchful," Corvina told him immediately. He blinked at her rapid response. "The Qiguai Doorway is dangerous in a completely different way from the Yuan Mountains. The latter just has cultivators and monsters as the danger. In Qiguai, the very environment is your enemy."

Antonius just sighed and nodded. "I get it," He replied, having gone over the same issues to himself. "And I'm trying to get into that mindset. It's just not something that I'm used to yet."

"Try harder," She told him seriously. "Historically, it is because of these lapses in attention that you die in the Qiguai Clan Doorway."

Antonius nodded again before pausing at a thought. "Wait, when you say 'you' do you actually mean me and that you've seen this happen?" He asked her with concern. "Or did just mean people in general?"

"Divination doesn't work like you are thinking," She replied with a touch of amusement. "I don't get visions of the future or even scry far-away things unless I use specific techniques. Without that, it's more like intuition. Something big like the lifting of curse was incredibly clear but usually it's more like a hunch that's hard to separate from my own feelings."

"So the second option?" Antonius confirmed after she finished.

"Yes," She replied with a smile. She paused as she tried to articulate her feelings. "Qiguai in general feels like… taking a steep shortcut up a mountain. There is that feeling of gravity that reminds me that I can fall over with a single mistake and drives me to be as careful as I can."

"Huh, is that why you are so cautious?" Antonius asked, gesturing at the house and it's traps in general. "I imagine the curse must have felt similar."

Corvina nodded. "The curse felt like a weight on my shoulders constantly dragging down the future." She replied, frowning at the memory. "You can see why it inspired a healthy degree of… well, paranoia."

Antonius smirked at her. "I didn't say paranoia."

"Yes," She replied, rolling her eyes. "But you thought-" She paused mid-sentence and turned towards the door.

"What's up?" Antonius asked her, extending his senses to confirm what he already suspected. First heavenstage with a touch of bronze and interestingly, a very hard to decipher aura. Was that her?

"She's here." Corvina replied, her eyes narrowed in concentration. "She's not exactly hiding but..."

"But?"

"She has… something else with her," She explained with a frown. "It's hard to sense, something like a… ghost? There is the faintest presence of something spiritual."

"Maybe that's the source of her techniques?" He wondered out loud. Yahwen did mention seeing her use a shadow technique. "She mostly seems like a fairly normal clans-woman to me."

"That's what I sense as well," She agreed. "It's… more of a hunch really and then speculation on top of that."

Antonius considered that in light of what they had just discussed. "I'll keep it in mind when I speak to her," He said finally or maybe it'll be obvious as soon as she shows up. They heard a knock on the door and he began to get up to get her. Corvina held up a hand to stop him.

"I'll go," She replied when he looked at her questioningly. "I'll need to guide her past the defences and I want to get a closer look at her first, before letting her in."

Antonius nodded and sat back down. He watched Corvina go into the corridor leading up to the doorway and closed his eyes to better track her. He focused on his sense of qi and hearing to track her distinctly ninth heavenstage aura and Xiao Yingzi's much smaller first heavenstage aura.

He heard the now-familiar pattern of her steps as they confidently moved through the many traps she had set up in the entrance hall until her aura stopped in front of the door. Then he heard the sound of the door opening.

"You must be Xiao Yingzi," He heard Corvina say. There was a pause and then she continued. "There are a lot of wards set up. Make sure that thing doesn't trip anything up."

Oh? So she discovered whatever she was suspicious about already and she didn't consider it anything dangerous. "I will ensure that it behaves," He heard a girl's voice reply. Xiao Yingzi's voice was very calm and collected. He felt her aura shift, indicating some motion but he wasn't good enough to spot what it was. "You must be Corvina Taurus, Senior Sister. I look forward to working with you."

There was another pause. She must have found something interesting in the girl. "Call me Corvina," The diviner finally said in return. "Now you want to stay in the middle here and walk over that thread-"

He felt them move closer to the living room as Corvina guided her past the traps. Corvina's footsteps were as sure as ever, though slower than usual to allow Xiao Yingzi's cautious and uncertain footsteps to keep up. Just as they reached the door however, Antonius felt a sudden surge of qi from their direction.

That was a trap going off, though only a basic barrier. He got up and rushed to look, leaning into the corridor to see if everyone was alright. A tanned third sea girl wearing standard-issue armor had just stepped back and Corvina was steadying her with a hand. Though the girl was frowning, no one seemed hurt so Antonius relaxed. "It's nothing serious," Corvina told him. "She just couldn't control her shadow."

At her hint, he briefly looked down at where a shadow would be. Her shadow was… huddled around her soles. Even in the low light of the corridor, it should have been lighter and longer than it was. Instead it formed a circle at her feet and was noticeably darker than the surroundings.

"I apologise for the disturbance, Seniors." Xiao Yingzi told them. "My shadow spirit escaped my control for a moment but it will not be a problem again."

Antonius was uncertain about that, but Corvina inclined her head in agreement. "Okay," He replied, moving back to make some space. "Come on in and watch your step." She nodded and Corvina took over, guiding her through the last of the wards. Finally, they were all seated in the living room - Corvina on one side with Antonius and Xiao Yingzi on the other.

As she sat in front of him, he took the moment to look at her properly. Now that he was closer, he could get a better read of her aura. It was still as hard to read as before now he could tell that something was off. Unlike his mother who also had good control over her aura, Xiao Yingzi's aura simply seemed dull.

As she glanced around the room cautiously, taking in the various traps and weapons Corvina had set up around them, he noticed that her shadow remained huddled at her feet in defiance of the light of the lamp in front of her. It almost acted as if it was nervous of the traps…

He was maybe starting to get an idea of how the shadow behaved. Before he could say or do anything though, Xiao Yingzi spoke first. "It is good to meet you, Senior Brother." She said, bowing her head. "I apologise if my investigations previously caused you any offence."

Oh, he hadn't really considered it that much of an issue. "Call me Antonius," He replied, waving her off. She looked up at him and he smiled."And don't worry about that. I get it. In the future, just feel free to ask if you have any questions."

Xiao Yingzi nodded and Antonius swore he saw her shadow loosen. "Thank you, Senior Brother." She said before realising what she said. She froze and more interestingly, her aura began to act up as well. Then the emotion disappeared and he would swear that he saw her shadow get a little bit darker. "Brother Antonius?" Xiao Yingzi corrected herself carefully.

Though that raised some suspicions, he couldn't help but nod encouragingly. He considered how to speak to her after she just acted. She seemed more comfortable with authority. "Tell me about yourself," Antonius asked her, channeling the way he had seen his father speak to his subordinates. "Why do you want to go to Qiguai in the first place?"

"I want to do my best to aid the clan," She replied. Her shadow was definitely relaxing at that, tentatively slipping back into its natural shape. "I believe that the best way to do that is to quickly gain in power."

Antonius nodded at that. He supposed his own power had opened up a lot of doors for him. "And you realise the chance of death in Qiguai, yes?" Corvina asked her before he could continue. The girl turned to look at her and Antonius took the moment to shoot Corvina an annoyed look. He was just getting started. "We are all in the ninth and tenth heavestages. You are only a first heavenstage. It'll be very risky for you."

"I do," She answered confidently. Antonius got the feeling she'd thought about this already. "I believe that with a group, the risk is manageable enough to be worth it."

Corvina nodded and glanced back at him, as if to hand control of the conversation. He just looked at her for a moment before continuing. "And what skills do you bring to the table? We'll need to go over this again in more detail later but I'd like to know what you can do."

Xiao Yingzi thought it over. "I am proficient in everything taught in the academy," She said finally. "But my unique skillset draws from my shadow. I can use it to cloak my qi, manifest it as a weapon and even use it as a scouting aid."

Antonius opened his mouth to say something. "Scouting aid?" Corvina asked, interrupting him again. Hmm. Noting her clear interest in this, Antonius just leaned back and let her take over. "Tell me more."

"My shadow can perceive the light falling on it," Xiao Yingzi explained. "It's not as reliable as sight but it's easier to use. I can stretch my shadow across a room or around corners to see things though the more I stretch it, the less reliable it becomes. I can also sense the qi of things it touches in more detail."

That sounded very useful. It might even be able to keep watch if it was active while she slept. "What is it actually? I've never heard of such a shadow creature." Corvina asked curiously.

"It's a desert shadow parasite," Xiao Yingzi replied. Antonius raised an eyebrow at 'parasite'. "I was infected when I was a child and then I developed a strong enough bond with it to use it as an asset."

"A shadow parasite?" Corvina repeated, more surprised than you were. Had she heard of it before? "I've never seen such one grow so powerful. I noticed you have control issues. Is it malicious?"

Antonius glanced at Corvina, wondering if she had figured out the emotional connection between Xiao Yingzi and her shadow. "It's curious and it wants to be used." She explained. "It's not malicious, it just doesn't know how to act. It's a creature of emotion and acts based upon that."

That pretty much confirmed it. Antonius was fairly sure that the shadow acted upon her emotion and not its own if it even had any. Antonius gave Corvina a meaningful look. "I would love to study it at some time," She remarked nonchalantly, inclining her head at him slightly in understanding. "It seems like quite a unique creature."

Xiao Yingzi seemed surprised by the offer but nodded quickly in acceptance. "I can be available whenever you need me to be, Sister Corvina." She replied and Corvina nodded. This way, they'll be able to make sure that there wouldn't be any problems with the shadow on the journey and hopefully aid the girl as well.

"Well, now that we have a good idea of your capabilities," Antonius finally said. "It's a good idea to begin preparing for our journey. I've received an invitation by Yahwen, our fourth member for our whole team to meet up at her workplace. Would you be interested in joining us, Xiao Yingzi?"

Xiao Yingzi nodded. "I would love to, yes." She agreed, before offering a suggestion of her own. "May I also suggest joint training to get a better sense of our combat capabilities?"

Antonius looked at Corvina who shrugged. "That sounds like a good idea," He told her. "Though we'll need to speak to Yahwne as well to see if she was interested. Do you have any thoughts on where we can train?"

"I am familiar with several local training grounds," She replied, her shadow deforming in what seemed like excitement. "And there were several guides that offered suggestions of places to visit in preparation of the Qiguai environment that we could go to."

"What about travel arrangements?" He asked her. "How would you suggest we travel there? I'm personally having some difficulty in planning a way to bypass the Yuan Mountains."

"You could use the airships," She answered immediately. "Or failing that, there is a clan of flying beasts that make their home there who might be willing to carry us for the right recompense."

Antonius raised an eyebrow. He had heard of the latter before but hadn't looked into it much after Yahwen offered them airship tickets. He was surprised that the girl had done this much research. "We have access to airships, but I would love to compare notes with you and see where we stand just in case. I have my notes in my room. Shall I bring them out here?"

Xiao Yingzi nodded while Corvina looked between them with bemusement. "You guys plan all of that," She said with a smile. "I'll be working on my divination in my room."

Xiao Yingzi stood up and turned to you. "Would you like me to aid you in bringing your items out?" She asked him and Antonius shook his head.

"There are more traps upstairs," He replied, looking to Corvina as she made her way to her own room. Xiao Yingzi nodded and immediately sat back down to wait.

"I will await you here, Senior Antonius." She replied and he smiled at her in response.He headed up to bring the things they needed to plan. Corvina was great to have on a tactical and defensive level, but she was absolutely terrible at logistics. He was looking forward to working with someone who could help him in these aspects.

 

[Quest]

Antonius Emmanuel Eleanora 24
[Mission: The Building Bear]​

The Building Bear was a dangerous creature. It was a bear of course, which meant that it was a muscular combatant capable of crushing the skulls of men. But worse than that, they mimicked the men around them. They had opposable thumbs like men did and built weapons, armor and even castles to live in. Apparently, they weren't normally that much of a threat. Their power and creations made them dangerous certainly but they never reached the power above qi condensation and removing them was a chore for seniors or even a challenge for particularly talented juniors.

They were originally the mad creation of one of the clan's own researchers during the time they still inhabited the mountains. The bears seem to have made their new home in the Yuan Mountains after being left behind but they still seem drawn to the clan. Every hundred years during the activation of the man-as-mountain array, the bear numbers would swell and excess numbers would be exiled to the clan's current territories. The chaos of the trials often gave these individuals time to build up and with the clan's own defences as inspiration, they built one-bear waycastles.

In the particular chaos of the current trials, one of the bears had reached a threat level beyond the point that ordinary qi condensation experts would deal with them. A team of experts or a centurion should be dispatched but with the bureaucracy as it was, that would take some time. As an expert of the tenth condensation with some further advantages, Antonius had taken the mission for himself to see how he fared. He felt like he had mastered the weapons that Yixuan Shan had granted him and it was a good opportunity to test them out in preparation for his journey into the Qiguai Secret Realm.

That was why he was wandering the desert under the noon sun in an area marked by a harried clan brother. Supposedly, the bear had created a castle that was hard to see with the eyes but still revealed itself by its tendency to attack any enemy that came within its sights. Rather than hide as others might have done, he approached the waycastle in the open. He was practically daring the bear to attack him as soon as it saw him and he was not disappointed. Luckily, Antonius was far from defenseless.

He had drawn from Yixuan Shan as inspiration for his wave-summoning and though there was much the silver-finned pipefish could do that he couldn't, Antonius had still managed to learn from him quite well. A twister of water surrounded him as he walked, capable of deflecting any attacks as the jade archer's arrows had been. It was a perfect set-up for the bear to take his attack and for Antonius to be fine with it. Still, he wasn't quite prepared for the form the attack took.

Rather than a projectile or even a spell, the first thing Antonius noticed was the water in front of him evaporating. If he hadn't felt the qi infused into it be affected, he would have been hit himself rather than having moved to one side and barely dodging the attack. With both Antonius and his twister out of the way, the ground where he stood had turned to glass.

An image of a magnifying glass concentrating the rays of the sun filled his mind. He lifted his hands up and used the motion to focus his water in the direction of the beam. Then he ran evasively, hoping to dodge just in case it penetrated his defense. As he ran, he occasionally felt the water in front of him boil and realised with some relief that his defence held.

Then a projectile penetrated the water and Antonius dodged, having sensed the waters part. He caught the image of a glass spear passing him as he moved, but he didn't dare look back in case his focus break and the focused sun beam penetrate his defence as well. Still, it caught his mind. Glass, possibly inspired by the Glass Spear Array. That would also explain how the bear's sun ray worked.

He grimaced, as he dodged more glass spears. In the desert, the bear would never run out of ammo and while the sun was up, he'd have that ray as well. He knew the direction they were fired in but he made sure not to neglect his defence in the other directions. A small amount of water was all around him and it was a good idea as it warned him when a sun ray struck from behind him.

He sensed it just enough to jump to the side and then turn around to catch a glimpse of where it came from. The glass spears. They were serving as mirrors to reflect the beam back towards him. This slow march towards the bear's castle wouldn't work. It was prepared enough that a slower progress suited it better.

As such, Antonius switched to a different tactic. Yixuan Shan also used his water to aid his movement and though Antonius was no Nascent Soul, he had made his own variant of that. He prepared to run. He turned to the left but that was just a feint as water was summoned under his feet and pushed him into the sky. He couldn't fly, but he could jump very well.

From this height, he could see the glittering glass castle of the bear and on top of it the bear itself stood - brown as the sand beneath him. He wasn't sure if castle was the right word, it was too small for that but that was still the image the building brought to mind. It had high walls in the clan style and a large door, with glass all of that made from the desert sand turned to glass.

It had spear-throwers lining the walls, each with a strange contraption lined with sand that he guessed reset the spear-throwers and provided new arrows. They were all controlled with wires that extended to the centre of the castle where the bear stood with a large mirror focusing sunlight on its enemies.

The castle was at once, a focusing mechanism and a method of using the desert's mirage to hide his location. It was no wonder why no other clan member had found him yet but from the sky his location was clear. Of course, Antonius was clear as well. An easy shot for that the bear was already adjusting to.

He could have used his water to push him around. It was more gliding and adjusting his fall than actually staying in the sky but it could have worked. Still, he had a better idea. Antonius took a deep breath and before the bear could react he blew out. Sand spilled from his mouth and a sandstorm filled the area below him.

The sand-spitting marble was meant to retreat but he could just as well use it to obscure himself from the enemy and stop the rays of the sun from reaching his weapon. Now all it had was the glass spears and anything else it had managed to hide inside the castle. Antonius frowned at that thought. Perhaps landing there wouldn't be the best idea. Rather than risk the bear activating another defence, Antonius pulled out his Fishbone Mourning Flute and brought it up to his lips.

Still flying through the air, he played. He wasn't a great player but he didn't need to be. To play this flute, he simply needed to empathise with the emotions of its original player. Chang-e played mourning songs and Antonius had much to mourn for. A dreadful song filled the air filled with notes of despair and a melody of ending. He felt the qi of the bear beneath him quaver at the song. It was a predator and a builder. What did it understand of the mortality of men?

His waters flowed around him, allowing him to pass through the sandstorm unimpeded. He was certain that the castle was capable of so much more but it's owner was slowed with emotion and blinded with sand. What hope did it have of finding him here? Antonius suppressed his qi to ensure that it couldn't find him that way and adjusted his landing towards the qi of the Building Bear.

He felt the qi under him quicken and try to throw off the spell he had placed it under. A roar shook the air and he felt the bear move enough to dodge his landing. Then he felt a clawed hand strike his face through the waters swirling around him. Rather than move, he deflected the attack with the water and moved in closer.

After all, the bear must have been thinking that it had the upper hand in melee but he was tenth heavenstage. He wasn't stuck with the bear, the bear was stuck with him. Removing the flute from his mouth, he drew his sword instead. His cut met the tight muscle and strong bone of the bear's stomach.

He ducked under the bear's counter-scratch, still hidden in the mist and cut its side. Again, it was too shallow. Normally, he would hit harder or even try to strike it with his water but he didn't want the bear to be thrown too far from him and activate some other contraption in the fort.

Since a simple sword wasn't working fast enough, Antonius went with the next plan - water pooled around the bear's snout and as soon as the bear roared again, he showed the water down its throat. The bear swiped at him desperately but he dodged the attacks easily, still hidden as he was under the sandstorm. He felt the bear's weight shift as it attempted to run, but he stabbed it's leg and hobbled it.

Its roar of pain was muffled by the water going down its throat. Once more, it's body shifted and this time Antonius realised that it was trying to crush him under its weight. Antonius dropped his sword and grabbed it by it's side. The bear was large but so was Antonius and he had learnt how to use his strength from his father.

He used his strength to lock the bear's claws and sat on it as it struggled to break free. Still, it was choking. He began to count in his mind. One… Two… Three… he felt it struggle with a final desperate strength but Antonius held firm. Then the bear collapsed and he still held it for a few minutes to ensure that the creature wasn't pretending.

After that, he stood up and shook his hands to get the tiredness out of them. What should he do now? He had to wait for the sandstorm to fade and then he had the whole castle to himself. He wasn't an array-engineer or an infiltration expert and he was leery of dealing with traps by himself after living with Corvina.

Maybe he could bring her and Xiao Yingzi here? They might appreciate any insights they could gather or might just know who to sell the location to. Though the first thing to do was to report his success to the clan and collect his contribution points. In theory, the clan would want to assign someone to examine it but he doubted the current bureaucracy would get to it in time and they would certainly prefer him to make their jobs easier.

Decision made, Antonius picked up the bear's corpse as proof and bent his knees to the ground, summoning the water needed to achieve his previous height. Then he jumped and once in the air, he used the water to once more slow down his fall as he reached the desert sand. He was outside the sand-storm now and he looked at the sky and marked his location. Then he took off running in the direction of Pleuron, his mind focused on a hot shower and a hot meal after fighting in a sandstorm.

 

[Quest]

That's top-notch creature design.

"What's the prognosis?"

"Gotta redo the entire foundation. Riddled with Carpenter Bees and Building Bears. Call your exorcist, but we can handle the rest of the job. I'll forward you my bid over the contribution board."

Click to shrink...

I should be sleeping right now but instead I'm writing this.

Antonius Emmanuel Eleanora 25
[Mission: Carpenter Bees]​

Yahwen was more than just a waitress, apparently she worked a variety of jobs - one of them being an exterminator. When she had called Antonius to take over a particular job because she needed to work double shifts at the thermopylae, Antonius had agreed. Why wouldn't he? He was in the tenth heavenstage and had several other advantages. He could handle a few pests. Plus, the job paid incredibly well.

Of course, he knew something was wrong the moment he turned up to the house at the address her supervisor had sent him. The house was buzzing with a sound akin to a thousand tiny chainsaws and it was accompanied by the synchronous beating of a thousand tiny hammers on wood. The entire house seemed to shudder with the noise.

"Oh good," The supervisor commented happily after looking him up and down. "You're bronze-blooded, so you've got better durability and you're even tenth heavenstage! That means that you're even tougher. It'll be much harder for those little devils to cut through you."

Antonius frowned. "What exactly is in there?" He asked the man. He was having a very bad feeling about this, enough that he was considering quitting but he'd come all the way here early in the morning and he was here in place of a friend. Those were the only things still keeping him here.

"Carpenter Bees," The man replied with a grimace. "The annoying little pests carry their queens on wooden palanquins and borrow into any dead wood they can find. They especially like processed wood that we use to make houses. If you don't find them in the beginning, they carve out an entire army of bees that wield splinters as blades and bear tiny wooden shields."

"Splinters don't sound that dangerous?" Antonius said weakly. He was tenth heavenstage, wasn't he supposed to be beyond that now?

"They can channel qi through wood," The supervisor warned. "Those splinters can even hurt Core Formation, though they wouldn't do much damage to them. Their real danger is their numbers. Once they start growing, they can swarm you and attack every bit of exposed skin to hurt you."

Antonius winced. "That sounds really dangerous," He replied. "And they feed on wood? This part of town is practically a buffet! Why haven't I ever heard of these creatures before?"

"They aren't native to the desert," The man answered with a scowl. "Some idiot foreigner must have brought it in and forgot to contain them properly. Now we have to deal with it."

Antonius sighed. Now he doubly couldn't back out since it might hurt the townspeople living here if the man had to get another helper. "You don't know who brought them in?" He inquired and the supervisor nodded.

"The owner of the house already died," He explained. "We're still going over the paperwork to see who it belonged to."

Antonius' eyes widened. "Someone already died to this!?" He asked the man, taking a step away from the house.

"He was barely first heavenstage and was probably taken by surprise," The supervisor replied. "You'll be fine in there since you'll be going in prepared."

Antonius frowned at him for a moment before steeling himself. "What do you have for me?" He asked, turning towards the man. "You must have something to give me, I hope."

"Of course," The supervisor nodded. He summoned some kind of protective bronze full-body safety suit and passed it to him. "Wear this before entering. It'll protect you from their attacks." Antonius nodded and took it from him. Then he pulled out a necklace and passed it to him. "This creates a field of qi around you that will shield you when the suit fails." Antonius paused at that but took it as well. Then the man passed him a small pill.

"What's this for?" Antonius asked, looking down at the pill suspiciously.

"That's for the poison."

Antonius blinked. "What poison? You didn't mention this earlier."

The supervisor shrugged. "It's not really poison. More like tetanus? Enhanced by qi though, so it's basically poison I suppose."

Antonius looked down at the pill and then at the protective garments that he'd been handed. "Do you have something for me that can actually kill these creatures?" He asked with a frown.

The supervisor paused at the question. "Oh, killing them is easy." He replied. "You just have to spray water on them. They'll fall to the ground and die. It's getting the water to them, that's the hard part."

Antonius blinked. "Did you say water?" He asked and the supervisor nodded. He lifted a hand and summoned a sphere of water into his palm. "Will this work?" Antonius asked him. "I can probably drown the whole house if you need me to."

The supervisor looked at his display and then looked at the house appraisingly. "The house is practically condemned anyway and we'll probably have to redo the whole foundation." He replied with a grin. "Do it, I'll handle the rebuilding and whatever else we need."

"To be clear, you'll still pay me the standard fee for this right?" Antonius confirmed. The supervisor nodded and he grinned.

He summoned a wave and then he made it bigger and bigger and bigger. Then he smashed it into the house and with a twist of his arms, he turned it into a twister to keep the water flowing. The house shattered as the water struck it and an army of bees wearing wooden armor and holding splinter swords poured out, straight into the water spout. Antonius made sure that they were all caught within the water and that none escaped.

Then minutes later, there were bits of houses and many, many bees fallen all over the courtyard where the supervisor and Antonius had both stood before. The supervisor would need to look into clearing that up and rebuilding the house but was happy to have finished the work without any problems.

Antonius was walking home with a whistle, having gotten paid for a whole day's work in just ten minutes and now able to return home and just go back to bed.

 

[Quest]

Might edit this later or give another part. It feels slightly incomplete at the moment. This takes place mid-turn 7 as opposed to turn 6 where Antonius is.

Antonius Emmanuel Eleanora 26
[NPC Interlude: Seneca 1]​

"This seed is a Good Seed."

Seneca remembered those words so long ago. It was Archigetes who uttered those words to him - not Manuel Konstantinos but Alexios before him. It had driven him in those early days, pushed him to reach Foundation Establishment at one-forty years of age. It was a time when he was so confident in his actions, a time when he thought that he might change the world. He wondered what the Seneca of then would say if he were to look upon the Seneca of now?

Then, he had faced his tribulation fearlessly with his dao so clear in his heart. Restoration - more than restoration of the body, but the restoration of the clan itself to its once lofty heights. Now, as his life creeps closer to its end and he reaches the last of his thousand years, Seneca faces a fear that chills him to the bone.

He remembers the lightning as it burns through his mind and electrifies his body. The killing intent of heaven was not like the hate of his human enemies but the inhuman will of an automaton, crushing an insect to carry out the distant judgement of Heaven Above. He survived that trial… that tribulation… but his mind was left shattered and his will was left broken.

It was Old Viggo - his Legate who sat beside him every night for decades to ward his dreams and push away his nightmares. Seneca didn't know why he would spend so long with a broken Centurion, but it was only his constant presence and encouragement that allowed Seneca to return to a semblance of his former self.

But the Seneca that returned was different. There was no fire in his heart and though his mind was as sharp as ever, he was not a man who could claim to restore the clan itself. He still performed his duties and he still lived his life, but his demeanor was akin to clockwork. Ironically, not very different from the will that so terrified him.

His cultivation was slow. Not due to a lack of talent but because he was simply because he tried to spend the most time he could for each of his pillars. He claimed that he needed to prepare to the best of his ability, but in his heart he knew that he truly feared heaven's judgement. To go through that once more was… not within his power.

Old Viggo passed in his own tribulations, failing to incorporate the lightning of heaven into his own dao. Instead it tore apart his body and left their legion leaderless. Perhaps in another world, Seneca could have gathered the courage to attempt the tribulation but it was not to be. Though the will of heaven surged in the back of his mind, waiting to be summoned forth he could not bring himself to take the risk.

It was Albus who ascended. He lacked the talent that Viggo possessed, but enough time had passed for his old friend to reach him. He wasn't a healer - not truly. He had studied the art to understand his condition - despite having the blood of bronze, his body was pale and silver. His eyes were blue and his skin seemed bleached. It turned out to only be a visual quirk, yielding no major benefits or weaknesses besides a minor sensitivity to the desert sun. Upon that discovery, Allbus' interest in healing waned and he drifted to alchemy. When he began to build his legion, he formed it with that in mind. Many of those who shared his sensibilities joined him in his legion and those that were left behind leaderless were assigned to other legions where their specialities might be useful.

Seneca should have been part of the second group despite his friendship with the new Legate but in his state, he was more attached to a close friend than pursuing his dao. There he studied alchemy and found the many useful creations that it allowed him. As he reached the end of his natural life, he learnt to create a Draught of Life that could extend it. As the trials and wars threatened his life, he forged life-saving treasures and Talismans of battle.

The thing he most dearly sought was Tribulation Treasures that would shield him from the wrath of Heaven and perhaps even allow him to ascend without facing that judgement. Alas, they were hard to find. Along the way, his friend died in the Trials and this time, Seneca chose to remain legionless.

To some he was simply Physician Seneca, Elder Seneca or perhaps even Seneca of Nowhere. To others, he was an Old Monster. He supplied many of the clan's legionnaires with his Draught of Life provided they were able to pay him or acquire the reagents. He was older than even most legates and was prepared enough that even those dreaded trials were only a chance to acquire more exotic reagents.

Seneca had changed once more. He wasn't a Good Seed. He wasn't the Broken Centurion. He had accepted his new life of extending his life. He had reforged his Dao - no longer the restorer but the preserver instead. He was skilled and old and he was content with his life. He could happily exist as he was for even a further thousand years.

Yet still he could escape the gaze of heaven. Though he had avoided it's lightning, it placed a limit on how far he could run.Even his extended life was reaching its end. He could feel that old fear once more, but it was different now. It wasn't the cold chill that shook his bones but a welling heat that stole his ability to think and made his heart beat so fast that it could have shattered. Heaven bound him now with a noose around his neck, that tightened with every passing moment.

Fifty years, that was all he had until he had to face down heaven's thunder. He didn't know if he could do it. He didn't know whether to search for tribulation treasures or prepare his will to allow everything that he had learnt to properly pass on. A part of him wished for him to do the latter. He did it, because it was only sensible in case he failed in the former but he knew that it came from a place of fear. It was just another excuse to avoid his fate. Another way to step away from the pain and fear that still made him instinctively flinch.

But a part of him rejected it. Perhaps it was a part of him that resonated with his new dao, that called for him to Preserve his life. Perhaps it was a remnant of that same young man who had sought to challenge the heavens or had the audacity to want to Restore the clan to its full former glory. He didn't have the same ambition, but this part of him rebelled against simply waiting to die.

When he saw the message on the Contribution Board by that youngster Destacia, he knew he had to accept it. A chance to become Core and though she mentioned a great chance of death, he knew from her inclinations that if she was performing the experiment, she likely thought that it was a valuable avenue.

To ascend with the full backing of the clan's resources and to a far greater chance than he would have on his own. He wasn't a fool. Destacia was after all never gentle in her manner. He knew that it would be painful and difficult and may well break him once more. But it would be over. He could recover if that happened. He had some time till the trials and he could stay back and recover if he needed to.

No, perhaps he didn't have to accept it. Perhaps he didn't want to accept it. He looked over the board and considered once more whether to accept it. Once he was a Good Seed, but he lacked the heart and ambition. Many called him an Old Monster but he was simply old now. So much was lost, but he still Preserved himself. Perhaps… he willed the board to give his acceptance.

It wasn't out of ambition or will or even fear.

He simply did not care for the consequence.

 

[Quest]

Antonius Emmanuel Eleanora 54
[Report: XCVI Legion Internal Structure]

This document contains a review of the internal structure of the 96th Legion and the capabilities of every individual cohort. This is a follow-up to the report given here. It should be noted that this document is only available to the council and those authorised by them. If you have accessed this in error, please inform your nearest commander.​

Head-quarters: Waycastle Taurus

The XCVI Legion is based out of Waycastle Taurus - owned and run by the family of the same name. Formed around a powerful Spirit Oasis, the castle supports a mortal population of two hundred thousand and the qi generated by this strange oasis is used to power the legion's powerful defensive arrays that protects the waycastle and it's people. Their most powerful and well-known defence is the Labyrinth that surrounds the city. It is a maze woven from blood-forged bronze threads that are run through giant stationery pillars that seem as if they are formed from thousands of tiny needles, each with a string travelling through it. The strings constantly change and readjust, causing the path through the labyrinth to change.

A cohort of diviners known as the Way-Finders are dedicated entirely to finding the path through and guiding people in and out of the maze. Without their aid, a person could wander through the maze's depths for years before finding a way out - that is if they survive the other traps and automatons that have been placed upon the maze's path. When under a siege, the legate and skilled centurions can take total control of the maze and shift it according to their whims to actively waylay their enemies and turn the passively defensive walls into razor-sharp threads that can slice through a foundation establishment cultivator and even harm a Core.

The qi of the spirit oasis and that of the legionnaires can be channeled into the maze, awakening ancient defences and powerful spirits that sleep inside. With a Core Formation cultivator present, it can twist space and time to harm their enemies or in one case, hide the waycastle entirely by making it seem like it wasn't there. Should a group of Core Formation specialists be present or perhaps a Nascent Soul channel their power into it, they can activate it's greatest defences such as the Automaton Taurus - the Lord of the Labyrinth who was forged from the remains of the same Nascent Soul Beast that gave the family its name.

Entry to the waycastle is restricted both in and out. Teams of wayfinders guide cultivators both in and out as necessary but the mortals that remain within the castle can often never see the outside world for generations unless seeking to become an aspirant.

Legion Structure:

The XCVI Legion's basic structure has already been covered in previous reports but in reminder: The Legion often acts as an extension to the Taurus family and recruits heavily from their own family and territories. There is an increased cost when requisitioning related personnel to discourage nepotism but the legion is able to bear that cost due to an internal tithe structure that exists exactly for this purpose.

The Legate of the XCVI Legion and the Matriarch or Patriarch of the Taurus Family are traditionally the same and their chosen successor who is known as the Heir is also designated Acting Legate should the Legate be absent or otherwise indisposed. The legion is focused on a variety of traditional roles each assigned to a particular cohort.

The details of the cohorts are given below:

First to Fifth Cohort -

These cohorts specialise Array-Engineers - specifically arrays of the type used traditionally in the clan. The original XCVI Legion consisted entirely of this and these skills were inherited when Ariadne Taurus became it's Legate and in the wake of her success, the legion became bound to her line till the present day. These cohorts contain most of the members of the legion and are responsible for the day-to-day array maintenance of much of the clan's infrastructure.

Though they are not the most glamorous of the Taurus Family's members, they are nevertheless the core of its income and prosperity.

Sixth Cohort -

This Cohort is descended from the projects of Legate Teleos who was the Legate of the legion before Ariadne Taurus. He was a crafter with the Dao of Perfection and one of his obsessions was perfection of the blood of bronze and its use in crafting and automation. Appropriately, this Cohort specialises in Bronze Smithing. The current iteration of the cohort focuses on the usage of bronze outside the body and it's safe extraction from a clan-member's body. The bronze can be alchemically modified for use in weapons, armor, clothes and creations of every sort. They have studied many of the common variations of the clan's gift and how those combinations can be changed to better serve the metal's purpose.

They can be approached for knowledge on the clan's bloodline and any maladies or aspirations thereof as well as for the crafting of equipment or automatons that is incredibly well-attuned to the clan's bloodline and qi.

Seventh Cohort -

This Cohort specialises in Ariadne Taurus' personal art - The Labyrinthian Thread. It is an elite form of battlefield array usage that requires talent in all three of combat, bronze-smithing and array-engineering. First, a user of the art must master bronze-smithing and the molding of bronze in wires and threads that can be infused with qi and used as the focus of a large variety of arts. Then they must master arrays that work with these wires and must be able to shift those arrays by changing the thread's positions at a moment's notice. Finally, they must learn to apply that to combat.

The unique traits of this art is its ability to be modified mid-combat and its ability to allow its users to synchronise their qi in a manner akin to the clan's formations. The users of this art are incredibly dangerous and can transform the very earth around them to become hostile to the enemy. They are the elites of the legion and though they are few in number, they are also the face of the legion. Every member of the Taurus Family learns this art though they may not be able to use it in battle.

Eighth Cohort -

This Cohort is dedicated to maze navigation. It was created when the Imperial Optimatoi moved to the desert and Patriarch Minos the Third began to build the defences of his waycastle in the form of the infamous Labyrinth. Every Legate since added their own batch of defences until eventually, those defences began to interfere with one another and even became dangerous to guests and the legion itself. Rather than remake it or dismantle it, the Legion created a cohort dedicated entirely to its maintenance, cataloging and navigation. Beyond the skills necessary for managing the Labyrinth, the cohort has also adopted divination to help them travel through the maze and guide others through it. After the Seventh Legion, the Wayfinders are the most famous and their name is synonymous with the Labyrinth itself.

Ninth Cohort -

The Ninth Cohort was created by Patriarch Teleos the Second who found he had a greater passion for alchemy in general over his ancestor's speciality of bronze. In what had seemingly become a tradition when a Legate with a new speciality ascended, Teleos II dedicated the ninth cohort to Alchemists. This legion is comparatively young and not particularly well-known among the clan. The Alchemists of the clan - barring their speciality in Bronze and Arrays - are only competent and don't particularly stand out in comparison to those found in the rest of the clan.

Tenth Cohort -

The Tenth Cohort was created by the late Matriarch Wilhelmina for similar reasons as Teleos II. She was initially a Way-finder who found that she had a talent and interest in divination. Upon becoming a Legate, she dedicated the Tenth Cohort to Divination. Unlike the Ninth Cohort, this one has fairly promising capabilities. This is due to the birth of several seers from Wilhelmina's bloodline and her unique approach to divination that predicts heaven's will by tracing it's curse. They have also developed methods to manipulate their fortune that relies upon the peculiarities of said curse.

It should be noted that their current future is uncertain. With the death of Wilhelmina Taurus, they have lost their driving force and with the removal of the curse weakening their foresight, their future remains uncertain.

Specialists -

The Legion also maintains a faction of Specialists who are not attached to any of the legions. They can be outsiders who were considered both loyal and promising or family who chose to pursue a non-standard skill-set. They are considered to be outside of the traditional deployment of the legion and are allowed to pursue assignments of their choosing. This was also introduced by Matriarch Wilhelmina who felt that if every Legate with a non-standard skillset created their own cohort, it would become rapidly unsustainable. As such, any who would wish to pursue these paths would simply be labelled specialists and allowed to do as they wish so long as they paid their tithe and maintained the dignity of the legion.

This has led to a larger acceptance of Auxiliaries into the legion which has caused several notable successes but also an incident where a Blood Path Foundation Establishment Expert infiltrated the clan. It is accepted that this programme has promise but should be subjected to a review to ensure that the incident was coincidence and no further vulnerabilities remain.

 

[Quest]

Going for lifespan treasure this turn.

This was originally something from after Antonius visited the Qiguai secret realm since I couldn't find the inspiration to write about said realm. I have since been inspired and also rewritten what was originally here. Since I want to save that for later, instead have something from Antonius' basic training.

Antonius Emmanuel Eleanora 27
[Sidestory - First Day of Basic Training]​

Should a man seek to join the Imperial Legion, he must first become an Aspirant. He must become one among tens of thousands and he must live away from family, from friends and from home. In the Dawn Fortress, he would forge a new family for himself. One more link in the chain of the legion.

But that was hard to imagine for young Antonius. This was the first time he had truly been away from his family and all that he could think of was the next five years looming over him. It was here in the heart of his clan, with the hustling and bustling of thousands of aspirants where he had first begun to feel alone.

His first day there was spent on training. It took place in a large meditation hall that was sheathed in bronze from floor to walls with other metals formed lines of unfamiliar symbols that connected together to form a thousand symmetrical circles.

Seated inside one of them, Antonius felt strangely isolated from the world. It was as the world physically mimicked the distance he felt in his heart. Though he could see around him, every sound and smell besides his own breathing seemed to be cut off. Even the increasingly familiar feeling of another's qi was absent, leaving him with only the qi that was flowing through the air.

As people began to settle down, he felt the instructors take their seats. An aging legionnaire sat on a raised dais at the end of the hall and next to him younger attendants stood at attention along the walls. The man took a moment to glance over every face in the hall and then he began to speak. His voice somehow carried across the room and Antonius heard him as if he was seated right beside him.

"The first step is breathing." He began, moving directly into the lesson. "Through this act, our soul draws in the qi in the air. It flows down our throats and pools in our lungs. It beats in our hearts and through our blood it nourishes our body. To draw the raw qi in the air is the most natural of the methods of cultivation."

Antonius took a moment to look around him. The assistants had begun to move from aspirant to aspirant. Many of them knew how to cultivate already - a blindfolded clan boy seemed at perfect ease, a woman dressed in flowing robes colored bronze had the posture of long training while others like a girl wearing a strange shadowy black cloak had already drawn an assistant.

As he looked around, he could feel the qi travelling through the symbols in the ground and the air beginning to grow richer with qi. Where before it was the familiar density of the thin desert air, now it grew thicker until it flowed like water and Antonius almost gasped as it rushed to fill his body. He took a deep breath to settle himself and closed his eyes to concentrate.

He let the qi flow through his body and turned his attention to the instructor, using his voice as an anchor. As the aging legionnaire spoke of the blood of bronze and how it flowed through the body, images were conjured in his mind. Glowing molten bronze being poured into a cast and then the same bronze moving through his body. He felt his body burn with heat as breathed faster and faster.

After an uncertain amount of time, his focus returned to his surroundings once more. The legionnaire's voice returned to sharp focus in his mind and he spoke of how their body would change with qi, growing faster, stronger and far more durable. The images these conjured were far less intense and Antonius found himself settling into a rhythm. He let the qi flow through his body as he had learned to do under the legate.

When he had first begun, he hadn't considered how much it mattered. But here and now, an old forgotten fact came to the forefront of his mind. The Organ Meat Desert where the clan made its home wasn't called that merely because of its natural landscape. It wasn't merely water that it lacked, what it truly lacked was qi. The qi in the air was thin and very difficult to cultivate with. But this much power in the air, it came so much more easily. With every breath, it rushed in to fill his body.

"Many of you are already aware of how to Breathe." The instructor continued. "And many of you are learning now. Your body must feel exhilarating as qi strengthens every part of you. The world feels vibrant, does it not? You can see it with the eyes of your soul. Though you cannot sense each other, I should be clear to you. Extend your senses. Picture it."

Antonius realised why he'd missed the man's aura when he first come in. It was strong and so easy to spot. It was so calm and controlled, standing out it in the free-flowing qi of the air. But it was also impossibly bronze and here in this fortress, it was almost the same as the world around him. But now that the man had called attention to himself, he was impossible to miss.

"Breathing is where the conscious and unconscious mind meet," The instructor explained. "This is why it is so important. Your body draws in qi naturally to sustain itself, but you must consciously control it to grow in power. Breathe in…. And release. Quiet your mind until there are no thoughts. Simply feel your qi. Draw it in."

So on it went. Antonius lost himself in the process. The bronzed room called to him and it was so easy to just focus on that. Every breath made him stronger and though it grew more difficult with time, it was a fulfilling exertion that he enjoyed. He got lost in the rhythmic pull of qi.

Then he felt a hand on his shoulder and awoke with a start. He glanced to his side to see one of the attendants standing next to him and frowning. "Is there a problem?" Antonius asked, still not fully awakened from his trance. When the attendant didn't immediately answer, he took the moment to look around him and noticed that there were far fewer aspirants in that hall.

Everyone that remained showed the same struggle he had felt in their cultivation. The blindfolded boy was grimacing while an attendant clasped his shoulders, and leaned in close with whispers of encouragement. The girl with the black cloak fidgeted as she meditated, but was still lost to the world. Only the girl in robes sat as she had before. Finally, he looked back at the attendant who still seemed to be considering what to say. "Am I doing something wrong?" Antonius asked him with a frown.

The attendant's expression smoothed out. "No," He replied, slowly. "Everything is fine. Please... keep up the good work, aspirant." The attendant nodded at him and then moved on to the others. Antonius felt him disappear from his esoteric senses and he followed his movements with his eyes for a few more minutes before returning to his cultivation. That had been a strange encounter but slightly encouraging.

When Antonius came to next, he was hungry, drenched in sweat and it had been over twelve hours but somehow Antonius felt fulfilled. For a moment there he'd forgotten his troubles and fears. As he followed the other aspirants out of the training hall, he had a smile on his face.

Cultivation was fun.

 

[Quest]

So last omake I said that I was going to come back to this later, but I got inspired and decided to do it now. First part of Antonius' journey through Qiguai and his eventual fate there. Also, threadmark please!

Antonius Emmanuel Eleanora 28
[Turn 6]
[Journey to Qiguai 1: Departures]​

Viewpoint: Corvina Taurus

While the ambience of Pleuron was never quiet, it always had a different feel during the day. As the waycastle woke and it's residents began to attend to their lives, the qi in the air was filled with a feeling of activity. To most, it was barely remarkable but to Corvina, who was attuned to these things it was filled with meaning.

It called to the bronze within her and urged her to join the metaphorical march of legion boots. It would be so easy to get lost in the rhythm of the city, just attend to her duties and forget about any worries that she might have.

But she couldn't today.

That irritated her.

She tried to ignore the feeling as she instead focused on their journey to the Qiguai Secret Realm. In her mind's eye, it seemed like a treacherous path over a bottomless chasm with the lure of gold on the other side. A single mis-step and they would fall to their deaths but if they could traverse it successfully…

She shook her head, trying to keep herself from being lost in the future. Instead she took a moment to look at what was in front of her.

The snail-back caravan that would carry them through the first part of their journey. Owned by an enterprising legionnaire, it would start from Pleuron to travel deeper into clan territory and then turn towards the Shimmering Soup Sect's territories.

Once there, they could utilise the tickets that Yahwen had to take a spot on one of the Airships heading over the Yuan Mountains and it would take them all the way to the Qiguai Clan Doorway.

There were a few places she could see where they would run into issues. This was only the second pass for this particular caravan and they could encounter a difficulty on the road. The tickets that Yahwen had were won through a competition and it was entirely likely that the original owners might make trouble.

Corvina had left most of these preparations to Antonius and Xiao Yingzi. She had her own preparations and it had also served to give her a sense of how both Antonius and Xiao Yingzi operated, though more so the latter than the former.

They were both talented, but incredibly young. Antonius was incredibly powerful and capable enough, but he lacked the polish that one in his level of cultivation would usually have. That couldn't be helped with his age.

But it was Xiao Yingzi who had surprised her. She took in instructions like a sponge and always sought to exceed expectations. When Corvina had mentioned her concerns to the girl, she had answered with several fall-back plans. Antonius had spared no effort on the preparation of course, but Xiao Yingzi's nature perhaps lent itself well to things of this nature. Every eventuality had been prepared for as much as it could be.

They had also taken enough time to train together, so they were familiar enough with each other that they wouldn't get in each other's way. They had done everything that they conceivably could and quite frankly, she felt like the odds were in their favor.

Still, she couldn't shake this feeling of irritation.

She spared a moment to glance at her companions. Xao Yingzi was studying the remnants of the Muyi Tree while her shadow stretched out like a trunk. Yahwen and Antonius were both lost in thought as they waited for the caravan to finish it's final preparations.

She sighed to herself.

She hadn't missed this part of being a Seer. It was exhilarating to have that constant sense of doom that followed their clan to be finally lifted after the trials but the Secret Realm brought out a similar feeling.

All she could do was prepare and hope that she was ready.

She closed her eyes, not for the first time since morning and focused on her storage rings. A mental vault opened in her mind and she could peruse everything that the rings contained. Slowly, she began to go over everything that she had prepared.

She had medicines of various types. Weapons should any of theirs be lost or broken. She had countermeasures for all of the known creatures they could encounter and spare tents, water, food and other things of that type in case they faced more environmental danger. If all else failed, an abundance of spirit stones would ensure that they had the power to face any danger.

She had divination equipment and protective arrays to guard them if they camped anywhere or simply needed to fight in prepared ground. Lots of bronze to make sure that she could always make use of her family arts. She took a breath and turned her mind from the ring and turned instead to her own self.

Her armor had just been refurbished and she had prepared new weapons. Her sword was there in case she got into melee and she had a bronze string running across her body in order to increase her durability however slightly while serving as a weapon in a pinch. She also had a bow if she needed to fight from range and it would help her deliver bronze arrows compatible with her family arts.

She was prepared. So well prepared. But she knew from experience that it was always the one thing she missed that was needed.

That irritated her so much.

********​

Viewpoint: Yahwen

She had been on the road for as long as she could remember. From the moment she left her home to journey the lands, she had wandered - never staying in any place longer than she had to. The roads across the Mortal Kingdoms were the closest things she had to home. It was the thing that she felt she had known the best after her swordsmanship.

So why was it that when she was returning to the road, it suddenly felt so very alien to her?

Her right hand reached to her belt, where it grasped only empty air. She tightened her fist and slowly brought it back to her side. After a moment's thought, she summoned her staff to her side. Something to hold on to made her feel better.

It was funny how the object most associated with her travels was what helped her relax. The bronze-capped bamboo staff was once a walking stick she won in the first duel she fought once she left her home. It was her instructor - a foundation establishment elder she defeated in a duel of skill.

It was a time when she was so sure of herself, despite having seen nothing of the world. She had set out in the hopes of creating her own personal style. Mantras were important, her once-teachers had said and so were themes. She decided to pick the first thing she found interesting in her journey.

It was the distant drifting clouds.

Be the cloud that drifts over all untouched. Her younger self had devised. She sighed at the sheer arrogance of a girl in the first heavenstage considering herself untouchable. The mantra had helped her steel her mind as she made her way over through the Divided Kingdoms.

Her mantras were supposed to center her but they didn't work now, they hadn't since she had put away her sword. She knew herself enough now to realise that it wasn't the clouds that had centred her, but the familiar weight of the steel in her hand that gave her comfort.

She had thought that she had gotten over her dependence but now that she was leaving the familiar surroundings of Pleuron, her hands itched once more to grasp steel.

She took a moment to adjust her grip on her staff.

Her single-minded devotion had nearly gotten her killed. She would have starved by the side of the road if not for the kindness of a stranger who fed her and brought her to the Golden Devil Clan.

A home really was a strange thing.

Pleuron was never meant to be one. It was just a place to stay while her rescuer performed the duties that he was hired by the clan to do.

She was never really welcome. Pleuron was always hostile to outsiders and that was before it was broken by invaders. But they were a fair folk and once she was granted the rights of an auxiliary, they were happy to give her fair pay for her work.

She'd gotten a place to live, steady food and she'd even made some friends.

When was the last time she had friends?

She hadn't achieved anything here. She hadn't touched her sword, she had barely cultivated and the next realm was further than ever. By now, she had planned to have been in foundation establishment yet that part of her that pushed her forward was almost quiet there.

She was… strangely enough… content.

Now that she travelled to the Qiguai Great Realm, she couldn't help but wonder what was the point. She abandoned swordsmanship already. Her chance at greatness. She had originally hoped to find something new there… but she was already happy.

So… what was the point?

As her hands itched, she wondered why she would want to go through all of that again instead of just turning back, heading to her room and getting some sleep?

Her eyes fell upon the friends that she had made here. Antonius - young and driven to save his dying family. Xiao Yingzi - so eager to prove herself and even willing to die trying. Corvina Taurus - so easily annoyed but still willing to stick by you.

Really, it was because they were leaving and she wasn't sure how much Pleuron would be home if they weren't there to lighten her day. If her home was hitting the roads, she might as well accompany it.

Besides, she couldn't very well leave them to fend for themselves, could she?

********​

Viewpoint: Xiao Yingzi

Once there lived a hero of their clan. They had no family save a spirit beast who was their only companion. They were a loyal legionnaire who had even sacrificed their emotions in order to better serve the clan. They had even gone so far as to sacrifice their very life in order to grant a miracle for the ideal they served.

This was the story of Xiao Yi, one of the fallen heroes of the clan. In front of Pleuron stood the Muyi Tree. - the remains of the hero Xiao Yi who had guarded the waycastle from its enemies with seven duels in seven days. Then he had sacrificed himself to create a tree that continued to guard the entrance to the waycastle even now.

Of course, it was no longer here. Barely years ago, it ripped itself from the ground in order to protect a member of the clan who was threatened and though it called itself Jin Muyi, the rumours thereafter and the presence of Qing Yun, Xiao Yi's companion proved that the tree was the hero reborn.

Now all that remained of his presence were the cracks on the earth where he had ripped himself out. Once there were also the vines and the roots that had been left behind but they had been long since removed by enterprising legionnaires.

As she stared at the remains of the tree and waited for the caravan to be ready, Xiao Yingzi wondered what she should think of the man and his story. He had unknowingly influenced her life so strongly. There were so many connections and parallels between them.

She had seen his defence of Pleuron as a mortal and it was entirely possible that if he had let the gates fall, then she wouldn't be alive today to be of any use to the clan. Her entire operation was almost certainly inspired by his own condition, perhaps the Elder of Disciples testing whether his emotionlessness was what allowed his feats.

They also both had spirit beat companions, though hers was far more spiritual than his. They had both given up their emotions in service to the clan. They were both orphans who had chosen the clan as their new family. Even their names of all things were strangely similar.

She glanced at her shadow which had stretched towards the sun in defiance of convention. As if to mirror her own thoughts, it stretched thick like a trunk with it's end splitting into several branches. Every moment, it would deform in the light before shifting into a new variation of branches.

Much like her shadow was only able to mimic the shape, she was also different from the clan's hero. Different especially in one crucial aspect. Where she was weak, Jin Muyi was strong. Strong enough to guard her home for seven days against so many enemies and then to live to tell about it. Strong enough to make a difference. Strong enough to be irreplaceable.

In Qiguai, she could seek that same strength. The power to defend the clan and to prove herself a success like no other. She knew what kind of service she wanted to give the clan and finally, she was on the road to gain the power to give it.

She glanced at her seniors - all individuals who had greatly aided her journey so far, all individuals with incredible power and she gripped her spear tight in anticipation. She could do it. With them, she could truly do it.

She would show Elder Destacia that she was a success.

********​

Viewpoint: Antonius Emmanuel Eleanora

What is best in life?

Antonius had read those words before in the journals of a man he'd never actually met. His grandfather was someone who lived a hundred years ago, having passed away in the last trails but his words were still passed down in his family.

His grandfather's answer had been "Food to fill the stomach, mead to fill the heart and friends to fill the soul."

Antonius wasn't sure if that was the same answer as he would give. For one thing, he wasn't much of a drinker though he did want to try really drinking himself out one day. But he could certainly appreciate it's wisdom.

After all, weren't some of the best moments of his life spent trying out new food with his new-found friends? Well, one of them at least. Yahwen would appreciate new food as much as he could but Corvina preferred tried and tested flavors while Xiao Yingzi didn't particularly care.

He took a moment to glance at them, all busy with their own thoughts and preparations. He couldn't help but smile at how obvious they were.

Xiao Yingzi amusingly was hyping herself up while staring at the remains of the Muyi tree. Corvina was fretting as she always did when she wasn't distracted and Yahwen was just clearing her head as she sometimes needed to.

He was looking forward to introducing them to his parents once he got back.

As had become a habit, his hand went to the silver necklace under his armor. It had a silver scale that was the last weapon and keepsake that Yixuan Shan the Silver-finned pipefish had left him. Right next to it was a broken arrow-head made of jade that belonged to his mother and a simple bronze circle that belonged to his father.
Neither were as useful as the scale. The arrowhead was a piece of his mother's art. It required training from birth but he'd only started seriously training after he had begun cultivating. The bronze circle was just a medal that his father's legion gave out to those that performed well in some manner or the other.

But it helped center him.

It was like a piece of his parents was with him on his journey.

As their caravan called for them to board, Antonius glanced at his friends all with their own hopes and worries. Whatever happened, the Qiguai Secret Realm would change their life forever.

Of course, they would have to get there first.

 

[Quest]

Not completely sure if this works, but it's late and the more I write the more it grows. It's already divided into two mitosis-style. I need to post it before it grows anymore.

Antonius Emmanuel Eleanora 29
[Turn 6]
[Journey to Qiguai 2: The Journey Begins]​

After the recent trials, the clan's administration was gutted and many of the centurions were left picking up the pieces of their fallen legates. Many also took the opportunity to bring their own unique spins on the niches required by the clan and the result of one of those was the Snail-Back Caravan.

Meant to be a better alternative to walking to Mogui City, the caravans were drawn by a walk of Marathon Snails. As the name implied, the giant snails could maintain their speed for months at a time unlike what the mortal creatures would imply, they were incredibly fast - capable of matching the pace of an average cultivator in the ninth heavenstage.

For clan cultivators who were slowed by the Blood of Bronze, the snails could travel both faster and longer. They could be easily guided by the leading alpha who was bonded to the centurion in charge of this endeavour, making it fairly ideal for the journey.

Of course, it was the caravan's first trip along such a long route and it would head out of direct clan controlled territory. That was probably why they had chosen to make the trip to Mogui City at this particular time. With many heading to Qiguai, they would have many powerful cultivators willing to lend a hand in case of danger.

Antonius had already taken a look at the wagon assigned to him and the snail who's back it was built on. He'd been assured by the junior guiding him that the room would be steady regardless of terrain (barring steep inclines) and he wouldn't have to pay any mind to the creature but he still couldn't help but keep an eye on it as it… mostly stood there not doing anything worth mentioning.

After a few moments of watching the creature carefully, he decided to go bother one of the others. He didn't really need to unpack or anything given their spatial rings but he knew that the others still preferred to set up their own space.

Corvina had probably already begun securing the place and setting up whatever she needed for divination. Xiao Yingzi also required a particular ambiance for her own cultivation art and he wouldn't be surprised if she had set up traps of her own when she had taken Corvina as something of a role-model in that regard.

He had no intention of stumbling upon anything either of them had come up with, so both of them were out. So in the end, Yahwen was the only one left. Knowing her, she was putting up all the things she had collected in her time in the clan. A lot of the stuff she found was something only she found interesting, but she had a few gems.

Her wagon was right behind him on the caravan train and was basically the same as his. They were designed so that it was hard to sense what was going on inside and he still wasn't sure if it worked the other way around so he knocked to let her know that he was there.

"Antonius. Come on in." Yahwen sounded distracted as he entered and the first thing he saw after entering was her bent over on the floor, scribbling something with chalk on the ground. When she didn't react to him immediately, he let her work instead looking at the room around him.

She certainly claimed it as her own, he thought to himself with a smile. The room was rather small as rooms went but it was still big enough for a single cultivator to live comfortably in but hers was already feeling constrained.

It was basically filled with junk that she had taken out for whatever reason. The desk was filled with a stack of the instant noodles he had once recommended to her and just next to them he saw a container she had bought off an array student that purified water.

She'd been buying a lot of things from the array experts rebuilding Pleuron's defences but most of them were less than useful - like the torch that was lying on Yahwen's bed. When lit, it burned with a black light that supposedly revealed hidden things but so far it was just a normal, if strangely colored light.

The only clear space was where Yahwen was working and Antonius bent down to get a closer look at what she was doing. "You do realise that you were probably ripped off for like half of this stuff," He commented once he was on her level.

"Weren't you the one who introduced me to arrays?" She idly asked, without looking up from her work. Antonius looked closer to see her drawing a large circle with some odd symbols along its circumference.

"I just shared noodles with a fellow noodle lover," He replied with a smile. "I blame Corvina for introducing you to array makers. She's a seer so she knew exactly what she was doing."

She paused in her efforts and looked up at him with a frown. "Can you think of any way to blame Xiao Yingzi?"

Antonius thought for a second and shook his head. "No, actually. Nothing plausible."

"Huh," She considered it for a second more before returning to her work.

Antonius studied her circle for a few seconds before finally realised he had no idea what he was looking at. "Some kind of array?" He finally asked.

"Kinda. It's a dueling circle for matches where you can go out of bounds.," She replied, still working. "Mostly sumo but also some forms of blade duels like quick-draw."

"What's sumo?"

"Basically two men trying to push each other out of a circle. It started as an axe clan thing but the dragons really loved it and made it super-formal."

"Oh we have something like that for wrestling." He crossed his legs to get more comfortable and then turned back to her. "So why are you making that in here?"

She didn't answer right away, instead taking the time to add a few final touches to the ring before turning to him and sitting across him. "Take a look at this." She reached out to some of the things on her bed and handed him a top.

"What does this do?" He turned it around a few times before giving it a spin. It spun pretty fast, but that was more to do with his strength than any virtue of the top itself.

She gave him an annoyed look before picking it up and putting it on her palm. "Like this," She replied, holding her hands up and Antonius looked at it curiously.

At first nothing happened and then he noticed Yahwen channelling a small amount of qi from her palm. The top jumped to a point and slowly began to spin staying in her palm and moving in a deliberate eight.

"How are you controlling that?" Antonius asked curiously. He extended his hand towards hers and then looked at her expectantly.

"Sure, here." Her hand didn't even twitch as the top jumped from her palm to his. It landed with a soft impact before quickly running out of power. He copied Yahwen and channeled his qi outwards from his palm and sure enough, it began to spin again.

It spun as it drank from the qi radiating from his body but refused to move from its initial position. All he got from it was a tickling sensation. How did she control it? As soon as the thought came to his mind, the top jumped from his hand before smashing into the wall.

He looked to Yahwen in confusion and noted her smirk. "What was that?"

"You have to think at it," She replied, grinning as she retrieved the top. "You know how you do that intent thing in battle? Kinda like that."

He raised an eyebrow and took it again. This time he deliberately focused on how he wanted the top to move and sure enough it formed a triangle in his palm. He willed it to stop and almost immediately, it froze and fell to the side.

"That's interesting enough." He agreed, handing it back to her. "Why the circle then? Are you trying to test how it would last in purely ambient qi?"

She blinks and turns to him with a startling lack of comprehension. "What?"

"You know, like… this is the desert... " He raised his hands to illustrate before he realised he couldn't think of how to illustrate this. "My first thought was how it would function in the plains which already have their own ambient qi. I thought you were testing that."

She shook her head.

"Right. So what were you thinking of?"

She gave him a grin and with a flourish she held up her hands, both having a top spinning on them. "I had an idea for a game we could play." She answered and paused.

"What game did you want to play?" He prodded with a smile.

The tops jumping from her hand as he asked and she turned to him with deliberate flair. As the tops clashed in the air, she answered. "Sumo Top!"

He raised his eyebrow as one of the tops spinning away in his direction. "I have no idea what that means," He replied honestly, as he caught the top and let it ground out it's speed in his hardened palm.

She gave him a look of childish dismay.

"Tops, dueling circle, first top to get thrown outside loses?" He guessed after a moment's thought.

"Yes, that." She said, pointing at him with the chalk to emphasize her point. "We'll be doing that but with tops! Sumo Top!"

"Sumo Top." Antonius repeated as he studied the top in his hands. "So we'd be channeling qi into the tops and trying to push the other person's top out. Would having more qi translate into more power?"

"Nah, the tops have a top speed." She paused here for a moment and he gave her a slight smile. "A mortal could probably reach it. Not really an effort for us."

"So it'd be a game of control and strategy then." Antonius mused. Yahwen's eyes widened as she realised that. "So have you tried the circle out? "

"Nah, I'm doing it from memory." She replied, looking at the ring with a frown. "I still need to figure out how to make it work."

"Maybe ask Corvina?"

As if in response, there was a knock on the door and he felt the presence of two familiar auras right outside. Yahwen grinned. "I'll do that."

||||||||||​

"I win. Again."

Corvina's voice came from above them, having claimed the bed as a prize during one of the several games they had played. The ring array had been replaced with one of legion design and several candles had been placed around it in order to prevent Xiao Yingzi's shadow from interfering.

"Why do you always win?" Yahwen complained from the opposite side of the circle. At some point, she had decided to lie upside down, with her legs leaning on the wall and her head resting on crossed hands. "We've played several times and you just keep winning."

Corvina just gave her a smug smile. "Who knows? It's not like I'm a seer with a speciality in reading and manipulating intent. That would be absurd."

Yahwen stuck her tongue out in response.

"You know, that makes sense." Antonius commented as he looked between the top in his hand and Corvina's top still spinning in the ring. "You basically react to external qi like the tops, right?"

"Yeah, I can be pretty sensitive to those." She agreed, giving him a cautious look.

"So you can basically get drunk on qi?" Yahwen asked with a grin.

"Of course not," Corvina scoffed.

"Definitely." Antonius answered, grinning back. Corvina turned to him with a scowl. "You should have seen her this one time. She was basically zen and couldn't stop smiling."

"Really?" In second, Corvina was sitting upright and looking at him with interest. "What happened?"

"So this was right after the trials-"

"Antonius, you do understand we share an apartment, yes?" Corvina voice cut in, smooth as silk. He glanced at her and grinned at the flat look she was giving him. Yahwen looked between them with interest while Xiao Yingzi stared between all three of them with a frown.

"Yes, what about it?" He said, smirking at her. She deflated as she realised he was deliberately annoying her.

"Just checking." She replied, this time with a sweet smile. "How about we play another game then? Somewhere one of you guys can win, yeah?"

Antonius smiled back, but let it go. "Sure, why not? What do you think?" He asked, turning to Xiao Yingzi.

Yahwen slumped as she realised the story wasn't being told and everyone turned to Xiao Yingzi, who froze at the sudden attention. Even her shadow retreated from it's attempt at breaching the sumo ring and retreated under her. "We could play cards?" She answered after a moment.

That caused the rest of the group to pause. "Do we have cards?" Antonius asked out loud, turning to Yahwen who would be the most likely one of them to collect useless useful stuff.

"Hey, don't look at me." She points at Corvina. "Isn't she the one who actually has the most stuff?"

"My things are actually useful," Corvina replied automatically but her eyes were distant, her attention on her spatial ring's inventory. Then she finally looked back at them. "I don't think I have any playing cards, but!" She held up a finger. "I do have cards for divination if you're up for a reading."

"Ooh." Yahwen shuffled away from Antonius and moved towards her. "Do me first."

Corvina ignored her and instead focused on Xiao Yingzi. "Well?"

"Oi."

Xiao Yingzi turned to Corvina with a thoughtful expression. "Will this be an accurate prediction, Sister Corvina?"

"Oi."

Corvina shrugged and summoned a deck of cards in her hand. "Probably not. I never really use them and reading the future is unreliable as it is."

"I see," Xiao Yingzi replied, dismayed as the seer began shuffling her hand. "Knowing the future would have been useful."

"Oiiii."

Corvina flinched and turned to Yahwen with an accusing look. "You poked me."

"No, I didn't." Yahwen replied, holding up her hands as an expression of innocence.

"With your qi." She clarified with a glare.

"Can you prove it?"

"Well… no." Corvina frowned and looked at her for a moment.

"Now you're doing your aura-thing on me." Yahwen noted with a smirk. She leaned back. "It's not going to bother me, you know."

Antonius looked between them and laughed. "Aren't you two supposed to be the older and wiser ones?" Corvina turned her glare on him and Yahwen stuck her tongue out at him. "Shall we return to the reading? I'm curious about mine too."

"Yes, why not?" Corvina replied with a huff. "But I'm reading Xiao Yingzi's first."

"Sure," He agreed with a grin and Xiao Yingzi shuffled forward to get a look at her cards.

"You don't need me to sit in front of her or channel qi or something?" Yahwen asked Corvina curiously as she began her reading.

"I could do that," Corvina agreed with a smirk before settling in even more comfortably on the bed. "But that would mean getting out of bed."

Yahwen just shrugged in response and craned her neck to try and get a better look at the cards being dealt. "What'd she get?"

Corvina held up palm to tell her to wait as she placed the last card on the bed. Then she took a second to read the result before frowning. "I'm… not sure. Hold on."

Corvina summoned a book from her storage ring and began to page through it cautiously. Xiao Yingzi stood up and walked behind Corvina to take a look while Antonius leaned in close. Yahwen frowned as she found the sight of the reading cut off from her.

After a moment, the seer turned towards Xiao Yingzi. "Dog shit luck." She read out loud, her fingers tracing the words in the book.

"What does that mean?" Xiao Yingzi asked her with a frown.

"It sounds terrible." Antonius added, leaning closer to read the entry for himself.

"Lemme see." Yahwen said, pushing him aside and finally getting a look at the book.

Corvina shook her head. "It's complicated. Sort of an eye of the storm situation. Worse everyone else's luck, the better her luck becomes. More or less."

"That sounds weird," Antonius replied, shoving Yahwen back. "Doesn't that basically mean that her fate is left to chance?"

"Everyone's fate is left to chance technically," Corvina replied and then she turned to Xiao Yingzi with interest. "It does mean that some force is taking an active interest, even if that interest is a strange one."

Xiao Yingzi nodded. "I will keep that in mind for the future. Thank you for the reading, Senior Sister."

"Do mine now." Antonius cut in, easily ignoring Yahwen's attempt to push him now that he was prepared. "I'm curious to see how mine goes."

"Sure." She said and dealt the first card. Her forehead creased as she placed the second one and then she turned to look at the book again. When she placed the third card, her expression turned incredulous.

"Is something wrong?" Yahwen asked, cutting in from next to Xiao Yingzi where they had both made enough space for each other.

"Wait," Corvina replied, frowning. "I need to confirm this."

All three of them watched as she placed two more cards and then looked at the book again, before sighing and turning towards Antonius. "So what's the verdict?" He asked, leaning towards the book out of curiosity.

"See these cards?" She said, pointing at the first two cards on the bed. "They are the same as these." She pointed to the illustrations of the same cards in her book. At his look of confusion, she elaborated. "They are basically jokers. You don't really use them in a reading but the possibility exists that they can be shuffled in the deck to allow for particularly extreme fates."

"So either terrible or amazing then?" Yahwen said, leaning over to look at the book.

"Definitely amazing!" She exclaimed cheerfully, turning to Yahwen so quickly the latter flinched back. "I was worried when I saw the first joker, but the second pushed it to incredible territory. Stupendous territory."

Antonius grinned. "I'm pretty lucky then?"

He jerked back his head when she whirled on him. "Lucky? Do you have any idea how rare this is? This is the stuff you see for protagonists in stories. If you weren't - y'know" She raised her hand to indicate her skin."I'd almost say you were favored by heaven. This much good fortune doesn't come by so easily!"

"Really?" He asked, heart feeling strangely lighter. Then he shook his head. "Let's not let it get to our heads. Like you said Corvina, cards are unreliable and even if they weren't, no future is inevitable."

Corvina looks at him and slowly nods. "You're right. I shouldn't get carried away." She turns around and moves to get out of the bed. "I think I need a break. I'll be heading back to mine."

Antonius nodded and got up. "Then I'll be going too. The day was pretty tiring."

Xiao Yingzi looked between them and then nodded, getting up as well. "May I borrow that book, Senior Sister?"

Corvina nodded at her and smiled, moving to leave the room as Yahwen caught her by her sleeve. "Wait! What about my reading?"

Corvina considered Yahwen for a moment and slowly pulled her sleeve from her grasp.

"Future is hazy, ask again later."

Then before anyone could react, she rushed out the door.