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

[occipitallobe]

Good Seed and Omake Spreadsheet Rules:

Firstly, if you have questions about Good Seeds and the like please read here. If that doesn't answer your question please ping me in thread, or on Discord.

If you write a new Good Seed, or write an omake, please update the spreadsheet if you have access.

If you do not have access, please ping a collaborator (Swordomatic, Alectai, Quest, TehChron, Insane-Not-Crazy, Humbaba, ReaderOfFate, Kaboomatic, no., BungieONI) letting them know what you want and they will update the spreadsheet here. To gain access, you will need a gmail account of some kind. Throwaway emails are fine (I'm using one for the spreadsheet), but to gain access it's as simple as sending me either your email via PM, via DM in Discord, or just in Discord's #spreadsheet-requests channel.

This is mandatory. If a Good Seed does not record their omake by pinging collabs (or just requesting access and editing things themselves - this is the preferred option), I won't give out awards. If a new Good Seed is not recorded here, they won't advance. By doing this it makes the whole thing manageable for me - it's gotten pretty unwieldy!

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Omake Writer Instructions:

There are four fields you need to fill out.

Omake Link, which is just a link to your first omake for the turn. This makes it easier for me to read them as I do the update - without this it's tough to know off the bat which omake were written this turn, and to properly

Requested Bonus, which is your requested bonus for your omake. You can leave it up to me if you like. You can see more info in the Good Seed infopost here.

Cultivation Aims. For those following unorthodox paths - higher than 9th Heavenstage or later than 7th Dao Pillar paths. Please put in what you are aiming for before you break through. I have left it as 'default'. If you do not edit it, I'll go with that.

Turn Notes - Do you want to do something specific? Enter a Secret Realm? Help the Clan out in some way? If you have something specific you want to accomplish on this turn, put it in turn notes so I can adjust your Fate around it.

All other fields are for QM use to record character information to properly run the flow of the game.

 

[TehChron]

There's no way these guys arent interesting considering the stigma surrounding Demonic Soup Maker or whatever his name was

How do they survive that association? You'd think they'd have the biggest target on their backs in the region outside the Demonic Altar Sect.

[X] Simmering Soup Sect

 

[Liliet]

[X] Simmering Soup Sect

 

[Alectai]

I have only a little more to do before the Trials begin, but my mind isn't quite at writing them yet.

So: There are roughly six powers without much information regarding them at the moment, and I do love making maps and doing some worldbuilding. We've seen a bit of Shen Kingdom, and have a map of part of Hua Empire.

Given I do enjoy mapping and worldbuilding, I thought I'd do a map, some key locations, information and the like on one vassal - ostensibly to help writers set things somewhere, but in reality because I want to do a map but have no direct excuse at the moment.

Vote for one of the below, and I'll map it out and add some details. I have rough sketches for all of them, but you've ever wondered about any one of these vassals, here's your chance to find out more!

[ ] Xin Kingdom

[ ] Hong Xuan Clan

[ ] Peng Kingdom

[ ] Twelve City Alliance

[ ] Divided Mortal Kingdoms

[ ] Simmering Soup Sect

Click to shrink...

Oh boy, I get to learn about the Trials results after I've gotten back to work.

Fun fun fun!

(Actually I'm screaming internally but that's just life nowadays.)

[X] Simmering Soup Sect

 

[exerty]

The goatman are crated (or believed to be) from the transformation portal in Hua, I asked occipitallobe when we were at war with the devil bees about them and their territory (to know if we should plan for the war maybe spilling to there) and IIRC he said that the place is pretty much worthless, the qi is very thin (even for the desert) and they only survive because the goatman can survive on very little qi (they also have problems cultivating) , they also don't have a lot of mines and wealth (and what they do have is taken as tribute).

Click to shrink...

Hm... That puts a spinn on it that I need to adapt to certanly. So probably my cool thing needs to be somthing along the lines of blazing a path foward for them or somthing. None (well none widely known) have developed a viable path for them do to many factors by the sound of it would be neat writing a trail blazer for them.

Edit: Now how goat are they? Satyr or full on hybrid...

 

[occipitallobe]

[X] Simmering Soup Sect

@occipitallobe sory if this anoys you but do you have some lines to share on Goatman Tribes? Thinking of that being the orgin of my 1st Good Sead after these Trails.

Click to shrink...

Goatman Tribes are barely even vassals. As demihumans they're unable to cultivate all that much, and they're useless to Blood Path and Beast Path. They occupy lands so thin in Qi most ordinary humans could barely survive, and pay small tributes in exchange for protection - mainly to ensure Xin Kingdom and Hua Empire don't steal what little wealth they have. There are a few rotating patrols that run through there, but garrisoning it might well attract the Devil Bees as much as protect the goatmen.

Click to shrink...

This is all I had from earlier.

Demihumans suffer from not being able to cultivate as humans or as beasts, and tend to be some of the weakest cultivators around. They basically occupy the least important land the Clan owns, have virtually no cultivation resources, and are only vassals because somebody has to be in charge of them. Largely the Clan occasionally patrols to ensure no Blood Path fiends are trying to use the poor goatmen for cultivation (though they're almost useless for it), and ensures the other empires don't wipe them all out.

Individually they're stronger than mortals as mortals, but their lack of cultivation aptitude cripples them as a power.

Usually demihumans are either wiped out or made into slaves - the Clan's practices of letting them keep some (incredibly marginal) land is basically the bleeding-heart liberalism of our time.

edit: They vary. Some might just have goat eyes or ears or hooves - or a single goat attribute, others might literally be goats with human heads atop them. The magic of forcible transformation isn't a science. It's not unheard of for them to have cultivators, though a Good Seed coming from the Goat Tribes would be the single greatest goatman cultivator in history.

 

[Nordlending]

[X] Divided Mortal Kingdoms

I have been playing around with this place being Demetrius country of origin before he was abducted recruited, but I have not gotten that far yet. So I want to know more lore

 

[Kingmally]

[X] Hong Xuan Clan

 

[occipitallobe]

The Colossus Footsteps Path Foothills

While this regional map is small, it is useful to the traveller. Two Spirit Stones is a bargain, friend! Let me call you Junior Brother, after all, this senior is assisting you.

Why, imagine travelling into the benighted lands of the Golden Devils without information at hand? Yes, yes, I'll explain everything as I go along. I have ventured there many times, you know, trading with those peculiar creatures.

You'll pay? Excellent, up front. Thank you.

Anyway, here's the map.

When you leave the Sorrowful Blacksmith territory, you'll find yourself at the Grand Mountainwall

This is a great wall, inscribed all-over with various arrays. It is not a defensive wall, but rather detects those both coming and going, marking their Qi signature. In this way the Golden Devils can tell who has paid the toll, and who has not. Many more arrays sit there, mostly for identification and targeting, as well as defense. The wall is not to be defended, strictly speaking, and one can simply walk around it. Of course, if you're caught, you'll pay twenty times the toll in penalties, and if you can't afford them? Why, the Devils will hold you hostage until your clan or sect pony up the ransom. Without the tokens they issue as well, staying anywhere in Golden Devil territory will be near impossible. I personally just pay.

After that, why not take a visit to Seven Trade Heavens City?

The last piece of civilization you'll see, friend. Many traders live here, hawking their wares rather than travelling further. Nearly five hundred thousand souls make their homes here, traders coming and going across the land. While it is under Golden Devil sovereignty, it is not in one of their cities and forts, making it cheaper to stay. Of course, the writ of the law runs thin there... unless you're a Golden Devil, of course. Nobody who's not a trader lives there, so the population is thin, but the trade opportunities are real. Many a trip I've made it to the City, done some good trades, and turned home.

Defending this all is the camp of the 353rd Legion.

They don't have that many Legions, of course. It's a weird tradition of theirs, but in this fortified camp almost a hundred thousand mortals live, serving twenty thousand cultivators. The first true bulwark against invasion. Outsiders aren't allowed in, but there's a small shanty town outside where you can sell things to the Legions. Legatus Alypius Lucaenus rules it. He's in Late Core Formation, so not a man you want to anger. Apparently he's nearly seven feet tall and almost as wide! One of the fattest men you'll ever see, something to do with his Dao. Gluttony? Consumption? I can't remember.

Apart from that, there's the Whirlwind Tree.

A magical tree, not uncommon. This one calls up whirlwinds, and can teach those friendly to it the ways of manipulating the wind. Rumor has it the Devils pay it well in tributes so that it will raise up massive sandstorms against invading armies. May be worth meeting, but I never have.

Now, don't go anywhere near Nascent's Fall.

Listen. When the Golden Devils were driven out of the mountains entire, they had four Nascent Souls. Now, they have one. Two of them died here, fighting to guard the Clan's retreat. Apparently three Righteous cultivators died alongside them. The massive craters and burning smoke here come from old Alexia's Dao of Crippling, ruining the lands here as she killed her enemies. Terrible dangerous place if you're not of Core Formation. Apparently they use it to operate their irregulars out of - the Devils, I mean. In the event of an invasion. They know the ways through, but it's a dreadfully dangerous place for anyone else.

You say you're a bit of a tourist? Why not visit the Ice-Qi Caverns?

A good attraction, this one! The Ice Maidens of Hu Lin City left the Plains when their city was destroyed, and set up shop here. The Caverns only support a few Foundation cultivators, but apparently the maidens are beauties one and all! Ice cold, though, and sworn to never touch a man. Pity for you, eh, junior brother.

What else lies off the main road?

There's the Blood Mask, but it's under constant guard and visiting will get you killed. Apparently it's the mask of an old Spirit Severing cultivator in the Great Circle, who infused her will into it. Teaches anyone blood path if they want to learn. The Clan tried to destroy it, but it almost killed a Nascent Soul and did kill four Core Formation elders four or five centuries ago. I wouldn't mention that if you ever meet Old Gold, though, he's apparently a bit prickly on the subject. That's where the crack comes from, anyway.

The Cursed Mushroom Clan. Mushroom cultivators! Little mushrooms, growing in a cave into big mushrooms, and consuming Qi and becoming sentient. Their strongest is only at Foundation Building, but they're mightily skilled with curses, and apparently offer their services to the Devils in exchange for protection. You're not forbidden to trade with them, but their sense of humor is said to be... esoteric.

Anyway, the main thing are the Waycastles. They used to be towns and the like back in the day, but the Golden Devils have fortified them. Inside you'll find trade posts for Spirit Stones, magical Qi generation fields - turning Spirit Stone Qi into Qi more easily accessible by Plains cultivators like you and I, and supplies. Each one sends patrols up and down the road, and I'd say the average Waycastle has maybe... one hundred to maybe three hundred thousand mortals in it. It differs a lot, but most of them are below five hundred thousand. They're massive cities in their own right, usually ruled by a Legion - or a Golden Devil family holding it for them.

Seeing those bizarre Arrays of theirs turning sand into proper soil, bringing water and rain and the like... amazing. They're self-sufficient in food, like little pieces of the Plains laid down in the Desert. I recommend seeing one in full, though after that they do tend to feel mostly the same.

Thrake is small, a hundred thousand. Mightily fortified, though. Acrocorinth is around two-fifty thousand, thanks to nearby lakes. It sits directly over a Spirit Stone mine as well. Nothing major, but an enterprising mortal can easily make something of himself there. Pleuron is the gateway to deeper Clan territories, and hosts two hundred thousand. Very standoffish, Pleuron. Apparently the blood of Bronze runs strong there, and so you see a lot of cultivators from there. Not huge fans of outsiders.

Named? Oh, they're all named after the families that run them. Officially under Legion control, of course, but often these things are subcontracted out to other Legions officially, and given over to various families unofficially.

Anyway, Junior Brother, best of luck! Remember me when you come back rich, with new stories to tell and new scars to show!

 

[exerty]

Question would entering Sand Whirlpool Tower need specal premisions/requitements or somthing and I guess the place would have the same increase in danger and reward but to mutch lesser degree? As I understand it its a minor seactet realm but its also relatively close to Goat Tribes (I dont see Goats having any) so it might be of intrest to my character.

Edit: Re read the Good Sead info post got my answers.

 

[RebelYell]

[X] Divided Mortal Kingdoms

This seem's interesting

 

[occipitallobe]

@exerty

Not really.

Sand Whirlpool Tower is worth about as much as just regular Golden Devil training. It's considered a secret realm for the Hua, but keep in mind the Hua top out at (early) Core Formation and in practical terms are irrelevant. There are ~50 Legions, the Hua could maybe fight 1/3rd of one. They're a nothing power, and if their secret realm was worth anything, it wouldn't be a Hua Secret Realm - it'd be a Golden Devil one.

It's still a neat place to go, though.

 

[TimEd]

[x] Peng Kingdom

Peng is the fish/bird thing right?

 

[exerty]

@exerty

Not really.

Sand Whirlpool Tower is worth about as much as just regular Golden Devil training. It's considered a secret realm for the Hua, but keep in mind the Hua top out at (early) Core Formation and in practical terms are irrelevant. There are ~50 Legions, the Hua could maybe fight 1/3rd of one. They're a nothing power, and if their secret realm was worth anything, it wouldn't be a Hua Secret Realm - it'd be a Golden Devil one.

It's still a neat place to go, though.

Click to shrink...

Was just thinking that Goatman Tribes, Hua Empire and Xin Kingdom would be the place where I would patrool and take missions most of the time.

As another question should I put a goal of my 1st 20 years actualy convincing the Golden Devils that this random ass goat man is worth training and spending resource on (because most of the time goat man arent worth it) or should I just substatute the inital training with diving in Sand Whirlpool Tower and then Aproach the clan in my 2nd 20 years and secure a spot as guest cultivator when I have had some growth and obiously have some promise? (If rolled deacent) Or is that even posible to do that. Yeah I know mostly narative fluf that should be obious.

 

[Gore17]

Demihumans suffer from not being able to cultivate as humans or as beasts, and tend to be some of the weakest cultivators around.

Click to shrink...

Is this a case of legitimate inability, or could, in theory, a new cultivation method specifically for them be discovered/created?

 

[Mochinator]

Was just thinking that Goatman Tribes, Hua Empire and Xin Kingdom would be the place where I would patrool and take missions most of the time.

As another question should I put a goal of my 1st 20 years actualy convincing the Golden Devils that this random ass goat man is worth training and spending resource on (because most of the time goat man arent worth it) or should I just substatute the inital training with diving in Sand Whirlpool Tower and then Aproach the clan in my 2nd 20 years and secure a spot as guest cultivator when I have had some growth and obiously have some promise? (If rolled deacent) Or is that even posible to do that. Yeah I know mostly narative fluf that should be obious.

Click to shrink...

I think it would be better to build that into the backstory. So have the encounter be why he attracts attention from the Clan as a Good Seed. You can fluff it as him stumbling across a medicine that allows him to cultivate like normal humans.

Depending on what is the Unique point, the medicine could also grant him stuff like Cultivate Faster or Iron body or whatever you want. Basically, i don't think you need to waste a turn to get him to base level with the other Good Seeds since all good seeds start at the same point.

It can all be his backstory which you can flash out as the first omake of the turn for the Omake Bonus

 

[ninjastar]

[X] Simmering Soup Sect

 

[LordEdric]

Magnus Centenius
​

Magnus Pt. 12 - Obligatory Training Montage

Magnus would have said he had Heavenly Luck if he were born into any other clan, so maybe the devil's luck. He had avoided any direct combat during both conflicts in the last century. In the battles with the Blood Cannibals, his legion was not assigned to the front lines. Against the Devil Bees, he was promoted to Wine Quartermaster and later on, busy producing bacterial poisons and did not have time to fight directly before the battles ended. While this was great for keeping him save, the lack of combat has weaken his fighting strength. There are only a few years left before the Trials and while the battle puppets will help, Magnus felt his use of them was lacking.

Magnus decided to get help from the strongest person he could, his fight loving big sister Maxima. Maxima loves fighting at the front lines, the feeling of her life hanging on my a thread, and honing her skills in the forge of battle. Her one minded slaughter of her enemies had given her great amounts of contribution, that she used to boost her cultivation so she could fight more. His sister was already at the 9th Heaven stage 100 years ago, and recently reached the 12th Heaven Stage ready to break through after the trials.

"GET UP! 1000 MORE SWINGS!! THEN WE SPAR AGAIN" thundered Maxima as Magnus quivered on the ground in a puddle of his own poisons. Magnus had been getting slapped around for the last hour, and "warming up" for 2 hours before that.

"Sis, I don't think I can move right now." Magnus groaned painfully.

"Your still conscious, that mean you can still do more, but if you feel you can't. We can stop here. You can just join me in my personal workout tomorrow instead." Maxima grins darkly.

Magnus jumps up and starts swinging his sword is the energy of a person who hadn't been training for hours.

"See, I knew you had more strength in there" Maxima's grin turns in to a sweet smile.

"What strength, I had to use a restorative pill to heal enough to move you crazy single Amazon " Magnus grumbles under his breath.

Maxima's smile turned a bit brittle, "I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear that. What exactly did you just say?" Clouds suddenly cover the sun, while the temperature drops dozens of degrees. Magnus freezes in place as he realizes he said that out loud.

"U-u-u-um, thank you my beautiful, kind, sweet older sister for helping this weak, foolish, little brother with my training" Magnus desperately uses compliment and groveling on his sister.

"So, not only does you sword skills need work, your flattery is pathetic as well" It's not effective.

"SMOKE BOMB!!!" Magnus panics and uses a paralyzing bomb to slow his sister down while running away.

Maxima simply uses her Qi to catch the bomb and throws it into the air. Before using her movement technique into appear in front of Magnus.

"Tsk Tsk Tsk. Foolish little brother. Did you really think it would be that easy?"

"No, but it was worth a try."

"No it wasn't." Maxima states ominously as she drags Magnus into her personal training building. For the next week, the servant avoided the building as cursed wails came out nonstop.

"For being the smart one, your really stupid sometimes Magnus." Markus comments from outside the building praying for his twin. "Acting like every boy she every liked by running away screaming just pisses her off, and the running bring out her beast-like instincts."

"Who is a ugly scared beast who drives away boys like some soul devouring monster?" Maxima comments from behind him.

Markus, being the genius of the family, says nothing, but quietly walks into the building to join his brother. All life missing from his face. Soon, new wails join the first one.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@occipitallobe

This was suppose to be a bandit killing montage as Magnus practices with his puppets, how did this end up an anime martial arts comedy?

 

[ReaderOfFate]

There's the Blood Mask, but it's under constant guard and visiting will get you killed. Apparently it's the mask of an old Spirit Severing cultivator in the Great Circle, who infused her will into it. Teaches anyone blood path if they want to learn. The Clan tried to destroy it, but it almost killed a Nascent Soul and did kill four Core Formation elders four or five centuries ago. I wouldn't mention that if you ever meet Old Gold, though, he's apparently a bit prickly on the subject. That's where the crack comes from, anyway.

Click to shrink...

So, a quick question. We have no way of knowing this IC, but I'm pretty sure saying this OOC won't give us an undue advantage.

By Great Circle of Spirit Severing, do you mean the Second Severing and this cultivator hadn't made their Third Severing to reach Dao Seeking before death, or is this actually a Third Severing cultivator, an individual who tried and failed to reach Dao Seeking, and was forever stuck in Spirit Severing until her death?

 

[exerty]

I think it would be better to build that into the backstory. So have the encounter be why he attracts attention from the Clan as a Good Seed. You can fluff it as him stumbling across a medicine that allows him to cultivate like normal humans.

Depending on what is the Unique point, the medicine could also grant him stuff like Cultivate Faster or Iron body or whatever you want. Basically, i don't think you need to waste a turn to get him to base level with the other Good Seeds since all good seeds start at the same point.

It can all be his backstory which you can flash out as the first omake of the turn for the Omake Bonus

Click to shrink...

Nah. Not going to do a copout of a pill and sudenly human speed cultivation as it likely wont be reproducable in extra low resource region the goat tribes live. More thinking of somthing like this.

Paradox of Beastmen Scripture. A new mostly unproven cultivation method born from Embrace of beast within and Supremacy of men scriptures. The component scriptures generaly agreed upon to be below averige trash cultivation methods that only the most pitifull souls cultivate because the merchant that sold them was an no good scamer. So it only makes sense that Goatmen picked them up. Only with long hours of contemplation and generations of work was it compieled and the contradicting wievs and concepts brought in harmony in somthing invaliuable and specialised to beastmen and worthless to regular humans and beasts.

This way if my character dies I can passon a will or somthing to be inherited.

Now I think that I simply will be sent to Golden Devils as a dipomacy tool and proof of concept to be put trough the paces to prove that my people have enough worth to maybe inctease the support to the trbes a bit if I do good enough.

 

[Mochinator]

Xiao Yi [Firsts]

As her sword clashed against his Ji, Xiao Yi felt the familiar motions assert themselves. Palm-strike dodged by her simple sway, the rebuttal kick at his knee deflected by his Ji, the back and forth between the two of them appearing like a choreographed dance. The final part of the set that usually ended their spars approached, the finale that usually left them both stunned but reeling with laughter.

Except that this was no longer a spar but a death duel. The simultaneous sounds of flesh being pierced. Both of them dropping to the sands to the sound of Qing Yun's mournful wail.

Xiao Yi watched the color fade from Gui Xing's face, her pale skin going from the vibrant color of milk to the graying white of shattered bone. His spear had made a ruin of her heart and lungs as much as her sword had diced his lower intestines.

The difference was, only one blow here was fatal.

Lying there in her regal, sapphire blue Saber Palace armor so quickly turning red, Gui Xing... smiled.

He felt his eyes begin to blur, then burn.

"You do have..." she said, and her voice was so thin, so hoarse, and so very different from the softly humming warrior he had first espied on that dune of sand, chopping down Blood Sect Cannibals, " very... beautiful eyes..."

It would have been easier if it had been hate.

He found himself yelling. Yelling at the soon-to-be-deceased, at the traveller who had shared his journey, at the warrior woman who had had his back, and maybe, and most importantly, he was telling at the only other fool present in this lonely corner of nowhere that was the Organ Meat Desert.

"You idiot," he said. "You incomparably short-sighted, arrogant, foolish-"

She laughed, weakly, and a trickle of blood escaped her mouth.

"Devil," she whispered, "you almost sound like you care."

"I did not want it to come to this," he said.

"But it did," she said.

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

Her words were heavy, labored: it would not be long now.

"Xiao Yi... I will not ask for you to not desecrate my corpse, but... if our friendship meant anything at all to you... will you... stay with me... until the end?"

He dropped his still bloody weapons. They landed with small puffs upon the sand.

He sat and held her hand and suddenly found himself weeping. Weeping as he had not since he was a child. Tears and snot rolled down his face, disappearing into his beard.

"Is it so painful for you to be kind, Devil?"

Again, he shook his head, but her eyes had dimmed and his had blurred. Still, she struggled, cupping his cheek with one cool, slim hand.

"Xiao Yi, please be..."

The hand fell.

He shook her once, as a child might shake a beloved pet, then twice as a parent might shake a child.

And then, gently, carefully, he lay her down.

And then he was howling his grief out into the world, essence exploding around him in a golden banner that tore through the silent dunes.

------------

He remembered the first time they met,

She was standing alone against the pack of Blood Cannibals humming a song filled with joy as she drove them back and back again. Xiao Yi didn't know why he moved to save her. Perhaps it was her sheer lust for life that radiate around her or perhaps it was that it would be a pity for such a brave warrior to die to these jackals purely because they wore her down. All he knew was that he moved and found himself back to back against her as they stood against the pack before the world broke down into blurs of motion and the splash of blood.

The first words she said to him,

" Hey there stranger, thanks for the help! i owe you a drink, the name's Gui Xing. "

The first inn they visited together,

She was so bold, so full of life. The way she entered the biggest inn in town and demanded their best wine after the fight. The cheerful way she poured him a toast and demanded he drink. Of how she coaxed out his story of traveling in search of a Refining Master and with a grin proclaimed them to now be a duo until she could pay back the debt of saving her life. Of her calls for more wine to celebrate their victory and how she kept forcing him to drink.

The first time Qing Yun met her,

" So that's your best partner eh? Well, he better watch-out, i'm here now and i'm gunning for that spot! He better put in some effort an- Hey! Hey! Hey! Get him to stop biting my armor! I'm a poor wandering cultivator and this is literally all my fortune! HEY XIAO YI, DON'T WALK OFF TILL YOU CALL THIS BRUTE TO OPEN HIS JAW! "

The first spar they had,

Sword clashing against Ji. A palmstrike launched dodged by a sway of her waist. A kick at his knee deflect with the butt of his Ji. Taking a kick to the chest as she used the deflect to whirl and lash out with her other leg. Catching and locking her next sword slash with his Ji's blades and pulling her in for a headbutt. Pain at realizing that her head was as hard as his. Laughter erupting at realizing that they were both reeling from the collision and in no mode to continue.

The first time She saved his life,

A moment of carelessness. The claw made of blood driving to his heart. His body still in the midst of striking another foe. The brief thought of Ah, this is how i die. The ringing that rang out over the dunes as her sword parried the claw away and her riposte tore the Cannibal's throat out. The way she quirked her brow and him and said " Guess we're even now eh? Actually, you know what, i think you owe me. I could have beaten that pack on my own but i definitely saved you here. Guess it's your turn to follow me around now! Lucky for you i have no place i need to be! " His own laughter at her announcement.

The first time they fought together as partners,

A Late Foundation Establishment Blood Path cultivator pretending to be a Immortal that could raise the dead to ignorant mortals. Of sending Qing Yun to guard the sacrifices and bring them out as they work together to destroy the awoken dead he sent at them. The desperate battle to buy time until all the hostages were away and more destructive techniques could be bought into play. Working in tandem with Gui Xing, him making opening with his spear and her using the openings to destroy the false core. Being thrown back by the foe. Buying her time and leaving his back open to her, trusting her to not let him down. The Seven slashes of Saber Qi radiating a Core Formation strength that broke through the enemy's guard and decapitated him. If he had been suspicious then and left, would today not have happened?

The first time he knew he was in love with her,

Sharing his past over the nights at camp. Telling her the little bits of his birth clan that he still remembered. The way they started the day. The prayers made before the hunt begin. The legends of the clan and their ties to their partners. The way his parents treated him. The way he was teased by his older cousins. The way he was dotted on by the Clan members. Breaking into tears at the pangs the memories bought up. Her calm acceptance of his loss of control. The warmth of her embrace and the moment the thought of not having her by his side filled him with dread. The understanding that He was in love with her.

The first kiss they shared,

Dragging her drunken self up the stairs to her room like usual. Fending off the arms searching for more wine. Ignoring the calls of being a ungrateful servant. Fumbling to get the room key from her waist. Blushing slightly at the place she choose to hide the key in instead of her waist. Getting the door open and shoving her into the room. Turning to leave and being grabbed by the collar. Being pulled into a kiss that left him red and hearing the door slam shut.

The first joyful year they had,

Blissful moments of waking up with her in the morning. The complaints from Qing Yun at their flirting. The joy when passersby claim they look good together. The laughter at how they were behaving. The wistful smile that came up when she describe her stern but funny father, her talented little sister and her graceful mother and how much they would love to meet him. The thoughts of spending time together year after year until they were both old and withered. The snake coiled around his heart whispering that he was living a lie, that she only loved Xiao Yi the Wandering Cultivator and not Xiao Yi the Golden Devil.

The first hints that the beautiful dream could not last,

Messages from the Clan warning that the Trials were coming in 5 years. The realization that he was no closer to his goal of finding a Refining Master. The act of reading and burning the letters sent by the Clan and his friends. Slight glimpses of her doing the same, leaving the nights to be filled with moments of leaning against each other and tossing letters into the flames. The understanding that both of them were not who they claimed to be. The simultaneous unspoken decision to keep things as they are and push the truth back.

The moment the dream shattered,

Hearing " Senior Sister Gui Xing! " from a Saber Place cultivator in blue robes. Feeling her whole body freeze at the call and her sliding her hand out of his before turning to face the Saber Palace cultivator. The chill in his heart despite Qing Yun's attempts to calm him down as he watched the two converse. Leaving in dead silence and setting up camp for the night knowing that things would not remain the same.

" I am Xiao Yi. A Clansman of the Golden Devils. I am on a journey to reforge my weapon as preparations for the Trials that plague my clan. I love the Wandering Cultivator Gui Xing and would like to bring her into my Clan as my wife. "

" I am Gui Xing. A Cultivator of the Divine Saber Palace. i am on a journey to temper my Dao heart by exterminating the evils walking on the Demonic Path. I love the Wandering Cultivator Xiao Yi and would like to bring him into my Sect as my husband. "

As the two truths rang out, the two stared at each other. Each willing the other to give in, to give up and follow the other so that some elements of the dream could be preserved. An hour passed, then two, before both accepted that the other was too stubborn and loyal to abandon everything for love.

" My Clan has given me everything. A new home, a chance to cultivate. Juniors to cherish. Comrades to fight for. Friends to drink with. They gave me the chance to meet you and i cannot give up on them now, on the eve of our greatest trial. "

" My Sect has given my family everything. My Father's position as a Clan Elder. My Sister's training to be a Alchemist. My Mother's life from giving birth to me. They put their trust in me and let me roam freely, allowing me to meet you and i cannot betray them or my family now. "

The last night and moment together,

With neither willing to give in, the duo were filled with mutual understanding of what daybreak will bring. As they laid in each other's arms for the final time, the last confession between the two sounded out beneath the stars.

" My name is Xiao Yi and i love Gui Xing a Cultivator of the Divine Saber Palace. "

" My name is Gui Xing and i love Xiao Yi a Clansman of the Golden Devil. "

------------

As he laid her body down into the grave, Xiao Yi made sure to tidy her clothes and remove all traces of battle on her. Laying one last final kiss on her lips, he stood up from his knee and started filling up the grave before leaving the site where he lost his love. Leaving behind only a single rock carved with his final words to her

" Here lies Gui Xing, a woman who's misfortune brought her to meet me. She was my love and my foe, i shall seek you in our next lives. "

As the sound of Xiao Yi's footsteps start to fade, the silence was broken by a thump before a shadow fell over the grave. With a wave of a hand, the ground parted revealing the unblemished body. A brief flash which soon faded leaving nothing behind but a spoken statement trailing off in the silence.

" Stupid girl, not using any of the Life-Saving Treasures i gave you. Now it's up to Heaven on if we can bring you back.... "

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Mucha Thanks to @FixerUpper for the snip and the inspiration it bought forth. First time i'm writing romance/tragedy (If this counts lol) but the bittersweet moment brought up by the Snip remained with me through the writing process and i hope i managed to convey that.

I have no idea on if i will bring Gui Xing back but left myself a out just incase. I can see the narrative opportunities of having her live, just a matter of if i can write it to my liking.

@occipitallobe I like this to go to Fate Roll please.

 

[RebelYell]

The Noble Knowledge Sect are basically mad scientist's right? The goatmen might have a slight interest in them, if only because they could have something for their dilemma.
I'd imagine it'd still be a deal with the devil with what they've been and up to along with everyone hating their gut's but it's still an option.

Edit- On further thought, wouldn't the Goatmen be exempt from the trial's since their not actually part of the Golden Devil clan?
After all if they don't have the blood of bronze, are so out of the way, and don't even give good ingredient's from their body, why would anyone bother taking them out?
If they can somehow be uplifted cultivation wise, we might have another flood dragon ally that can operate for us bypassing heaven's karmic backlash and the trial's.

 

[Alectai]

The Noble Knowledge Sect are basically mad scientist's right? The goatmen might have a slight interest in them, if only because they could have something for their dilemma.
I'd imagine it'd still be a deal with the devil with what they've been and up to along with everyone hating their gut's but it's still an option.

Edit- On further thought, wouldn't the Goatmen be exempt from the trial's since their not actually part of the Golden Devil clan?
After all if they don't have the blood of bronze, are so out of the way, and don't even give good ingredient's from their body, why would anyone bother taking them out?
If they can somehow be uplifted cultivation wise, we might have another flood dragon ally that can operate for us bypassing heaven's karmic backlash and the trial's.

Click to shrink...

Our vassals do seem to be exempt already, that layer of disconnect seems to keep them from being caught up in our bullshit luck.

 

[exerty]

Our vassals do seem to be exempt already, that layer of disconnect seems to keep them from being caught up in our bullshit luck.

Click to shrink...

Good point.

By the way how dose somthing like 9th Prince participating works? Like he was in the meating and all but he dose not in fact have a drop of blood of bronze. So how would he and others like him be treated by the contest? Or dose anyone that directly serves the clan counts for the trail.

@occipitallobe

 

[Quest]

Good point.

By the way how dose somthing like 9th Prince participating works? Like he was in the meating and all but he dose not in fact have a drop of blood of bronze. So how would he and others like him be treated by the contest? Or dose anyone that directly serves the clan counts for the trail.

@occipitallobe

Click to shrink...

Oooh. Same question, but specific to our hired Auxiliaries.

 

[Anders]

[X] Simmering Soup Sect