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.

 

[occipitallobe]

Mmmm. Soul Food.

I wonder if this sect ever "processes" an enemy cultivator body/spirit? Seems like something that would make sense. Immortal fertilizer, or just broken down spirit of an enemy to help nourish the Demon Ghost Graveyards and ensure the place doesnt lose potency.

Also

do I understand this place right in that this is basically a Noob Mine? Is it just that effort is not worthwhile for higher level cultivators, or is there some sort of restriction?

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It's just a weird place.

Most places are 'X level' strength. There's a big gap between each Great Realm, though.

So if you have somewhere that's too strong for Foundation Establishment and too weak for Core Formation, with rewards that would be really good for Foundation Establishment and worthless for Core Formation, the practical effect is that it's not very good for anyone.

Sort of like an RPG where every 30 levels you jump 30 levels - so you grind from Level 1 to 30, and then immediately jump to 60 once you get enough XP with nothing in-between. In that case, Level 45 enemies aren't going to see a lot of play.

 

[Liliet]

Behind that meathead exterior, there was probably quite a lot of knowledge lurking. Most of the time, though, he appeared to avoid hanging around the caravan, mostly "scouting ahead", though Castor

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unfinished sentence

anyway I love Castor and I love your writing <3

 

[TheDuke]

unfinished sentence

anyway I love Castor and I love your writing <3

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Ah, much obliged. Have a bad tendency to finish a sentence in my head without finishing it on the page, I find.

 

[Shard]

It's just a weird place.

Most places are 'X level' strength. There's a big gap between each Great Realm, though.

So if you have somewhere that's too strong for Foundation Establishment and too weak for Core Formation, with rewards that would be really good for Foundation Establishment and worthless for Core Formation, the practical effect is that it's not very good for anyone.

Sort of like an RPG where every 30 levels you jump 30 levels - so you grind from Level 1 to 30, and then immediately jump to 60 once you get enough XP with nothing in-between. In that case, Level 45 enemies aren't going to see a lot of play.

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Hmm. It sounds like those places would be good for people have have gone through secret stages and like though, as a consequence.

 

[LordEdric]

Around the Sect are many high mesa rocks, called the Qi-Draining Scarab Mesas. Anyone attempting to cross on foot will find themselves rapidly drained of Qi and killed. A number of Qi-Draining Scarabs live there, able to endure the harsh conditions, hunting cultivators who seek to cross them. Interestingly, this Qi flows south to feed a forest - but more on that later.

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im getting an idea on how to use this

Poison Waterfall Fields - Here is the border with Yuan Clan. The Poison Waterfall sprays mist for nearly a hundred li around it, killing any touched by a mere droplet. However, the fields it greens and the plants that grow there are of exceptional potency, and form the core of many recipes for the Sect. Gathering these herbs is extremely dangerous for them, but worthwhile. Many healing soups, the Limb-Regrowing Onion Soup, the Seven Flower Meridian Restoration Soup and so on have their key ingredients here.

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A whole waterfall of poison, how did I not think of this before. Evil ideas forming

 

[TheDuke]

im getting an idea on how to use this


A whole waterfall of poison, how did I not think of this before. Evil ideas forming

Click to shrink...

Always nice to see some of our good seeds working hard to earn us that "Demonic Sect" moniker.

 

[Mochinator]

Finally, there was the triplets. Unlike the other two, Castor had actually had the opportunity to converse with them, and found them to be quite the interesting individuals, though a bit…odd. They weren't really three people, for one thing. The concept still rather confused Castor, he had to admit, but apparently they'd somehow fused their collective Qi and consciousness together, with one mind controlling three bodies. Geryis they called themselves, and the fusion had allowed their Qi to become even greater then the sum of it's parts, and reach foundation establishment. Castor'd certainly seen the fruits of their unique constitution during the Spirit Beast attacks. Elementalist attacks were where their specialties lay. By using all three of their bodies, they'd thus far been able to produce a variety of different combination attacks, electrifying and freezing water, creating and controlling scalding scene, and even, at one point, creating a flow of magma to melt a pride of many-eyed lions.

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This is a interesting cultivation path. Regardless of if it's a Cultivation Technique that requires the 3 of them or a tech that allows the user to split into 3, both are pretty unique

"A Qi Condensation spirit beast is simply an animal that's been exposed to some Qi, little different from their natural counterpart. A threat still, sure, but a minor one. A Foundation Establishment Spirit Beast, though, is an altogether different story. A Foundation Establishment Spirit Beast is a creature that has spent most of it's life saturated in Qi, internalizing and feeding off of it, growing, evolving beyond any natural creature. Their intelligence has far surpassed any normal animal's, and though they still lack a human intellect, they're not far off now. The little quirks caused by their Qi exposure have evolved into devastating attacks, their natural attributes evolving into deadly weapons. Just as much as a cultivator of their level, and in many cases even more so, a Foundation Establishment Spirit Beast is a foe to be feared by any fighter below Core Formation. So, the nature of the beast itself aside, I urge the utmost caution throughout this mission. Underestimating this thing could, in no uncertain terms, be the death of you.

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I like this interpretation. It makes sense and clearly differentiates the Thinking Beasts and the Beasts with some unique attacks

"Alright! Thanks to some helpful investigation on the part of Argent and Castor, we've learned at least a little bit more about our enemy. The beaver, according to Argent's examination of one of it's hair, appears to be able to conduct Qi through it's fur, and even retain a remote charge. With that remote connection, it can use it's Qi to seize and manipulate the Qi of those the fur's in contact with. It's pretty useless against any sort of cultivator, due to our refinement and control over Qi, but for a mortal it's impossible to resist. With some effort, the beaver was also able to take control over an automaton that was being used in the mine, known as the Under-Light Miner. It's not a combat specialized automaton, but it's an extremely well-made piece of artifice, so it's combat ability is apparently around the level of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. This would've been a major kink in the plan, since we would've needed to divert one of our number to deal with it, but junior Mechanikos Castor presented a plan that he believes would allow a few of you Qi Condensation cultivators to at the very least immobilize it. Castor, you're up."

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This took me a 2nd read through to catch. I was wondering how the Beaver was able to control mortals and the puppet. But it using it's fur as transmitters makes me think of if Castor will do the same.

When they died their bodies seemed to simply curl up, dying as soundlessly as they'd attacked while two more of their fellows took their place, swinging their picks with wild abandon and no regard for their own comrades. When a blow was crippling they simply carried on with a sound. At one point Castor was almost brained with a pickaxe when a hand gripped on to his ankle with rictus force, one miner continuing his attack even after Castor had shattered both his knees. Still, though, they were in no true danger. Whenever a blow came too close one of the Foundation establishment cultivators stepped in. It was a surreal, silent battle, the dim blue magical light lending the scene and ethereal quality.

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That's pretty gruesome and really sells the whole Evil Puppeteer aspect of the Beaver. Something that i never thought i would say for a beaver lol.

Instead, with a series of whirrs and clicks Pollux's chest cavity opened, bronze jaws ready. As the tip of the pick sped into the opening they snapped shut, metal grinding against metal as Pollux was carried into the air, pick still caught on the bronze jaws. Castor grimaced as he saw the tip of the pick piercing out through Pollux's back, but he'd been more or less expecting that. Pollux's vitals had been rearranged shortly after he'd returned home from the Elastic Ape mission, wouldn't do to have such an obvious structural weak point.

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That's a interesting modification though i personally feel it seems to be of minimal use? Like i guess it's great for trapping a enemy weapon or launching a surprise attack, but it won't do much to Qi Spells ? I would have thought something like a Needle launcher or roped harpoon to pull Pollux into melee range would be more useful.

Close and closer Castor came, until, finally, he was only a meter or so away, even the blowback of the exchange forcing Castor to dig in his heels to remain in place. Then, in time with Pollux, he punched the beaver in the ruins of it's eye.

The reaction was instant. With a bark of pain, the beaver swung a paw out, smashing into Castor's chest, a purely reflexive reaction. Castor felt a crack, then a rush of air, and then…black.

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Pretty bold! But i gotta say, this is a way better reason to get wounded then just a straight loss!

 

[TheDuke]

That's a interesting modification though i personally feel it seems to be of minimal use? Like i guess it's great for trapping a enemy weapon or launching a surprise attack, but it won't do much to Qi Spells ? I would have thought something like a Needle launcher or roped harpoon to pull Pollux into melee range would be more useful.

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It's rather niche, yeah, Castor basically installed it exclusively for use against the Elastic Ape in that second omake and didn't really have any reason to remove it, since, as you said, it does have some niche uses. He does also have a dart launcher installed, which I think was mentioned in the first and second omake but, well, tranquilizers aren't very useful against an automaton.

 

[fictionfan]

Good Seed submission:

Alex and Ajex
They are twins, but really they seem more like one person with two bodies. Their cultivation is so intermingled that they seem to even share the same dao and core. Alex has a body of tin and Ajex a body of copper.

Cool things: They/he are one one person. They/he share qi freely with each other and fight as one. They also don't seem to need as much cultivation resources as you expect for two cultivators more like 1 and a half.

Current goal cultivation.
Effective combat strength 2 1st Heavenstage working well together.

Currenttly at 1st Heavenstage of Qi Gathering

Omake click bait reward fate bonus

 

[BungieONI]

*pokes around in the threadmarks and gains Insight*

Oh my. So, quest has existed for less than three months and we're already up to 500k words if you include everything. Give it another two-three months and we might hit a million words total, which is absurd and amazing.

 

[fictionfan]

*pokes around in the threadmarks and gains Insight*

Oh my. So, quest has existed for less than three months and we're already up to 500k words if you include everything. Give it another two-three months and we might hit a million words total, which is absurd and amazing.

Click to shrink...

Might actually be enough to save the clan. The heaven's shadow smiles on them.

 

[Humbaba]

AN: I wanted to do something a bit more lighthearted amongst all the doom and gloom. So I decided that the contribution board format was perfect for a few jabs at our good seed's styles. Unfortunately the seriousness naturally increased towards the end. The first bolded section is taken from @occipitallobe 's intro to the contribution board in his explanation of the Simmering Soup sect. If anyone has any other funny essay title's I'd appreciate them.

Seeking Tips from Seniors: The contribution board

Welcome, Aspirant.

This is a public terminal of the Contribution Points Board. You may request items, a total of your points, recommended tasks for Aspirants with your skills, or record fulfilled tasks here. Please infuse a sliver of your will to access any function. If you are unable to properly separate a fragment of your will, you may use the Board further down. Please note there is a wait of approximately 9 hours to use the other Board at present.

Will accepted.

Searching for 'combat tips for juniors.'

Recommendations:

Using the Blood of Bronze: knowing your strengths and overcoming your weaknesses. Essay by Rina Callista. Access Cost: 15 contribution points

You can keep getting away with it - Mastering the poison arts by Minervina Barda Access Cost: 25 contribution points

Strength in Unity - The power of formations - Xiao Yi. 10 contribution points. Note this essay recommends purchase of the Formation Of Philoctetes. An official clan formation technique for cultivators of the first or second Heaven Stages. Please note this formation is not included in the purchase of this essay.

Never Alone - Adventures in beast taming. (Revised Edition: Keeping your fingers intact also available). by A. Vrastíras. Access Cost: 7 contribution points.

Applications of Force: Your Brain is also a muscle - A guide for body cultivators by Wei Feng. Access Cost: 5 Contribution points.

Select "Applications of Force"?

Essay purchased

Please note that you have gained access to this essay for the next seven (7) days. Permeant access to essays of this category may be purchased for permanent access for five (5) times the rental cost. If you would like to purchase reproduction rights for mortal dissemination, you will need to reach the 4th Heaven stage of Qi Condensation. To gain permission, contact Chronicler Heraclian and negotiate a price.

=========

Applications of Force: Your Brain is also a muscle - A guide for body cultivators

I am Wei Feng, and my favourite tactics are:

• Hit it harder
• Hit it somewhere softer
• Hit from ambush
• Hit it with a Water spell
• Drop something heavy on it.

If you think this defies the title of my essay, then I invite you to read on. Or leave if you believe your time and contribution points have been wasted enough.

Some who are just beginning on their path believe that they should master a thousand spells or know ten thousand tricks. Whilst it cannot be said this approach is wrong, for all paths may lead to the Dao, it is usually foolishness.

It is better by far to have a small set of tools known so thoroughly that you can apply them to any situation than to have so many specialised techniques that you cannot remember the appropriate one. To the body cultivator, our first and greatest tool is ourselves. Strength, speed, toughness. All these things the body cultivator will have in greater amount than their peers.

Yet battle is not simply about who is stronger, or tougher, or faster. All know this. In the Qi condensation realm, Body cultivators are often looked down upon by other types.

"You may be tougher;" says the sword cultivator. "But I can still cut you."

"You may be faster;" says the beast tamer. "But I am not alone."

"You may be stronger;" says the poison cultivator "But you cannot punch poison."

These things are often true. So, we must be more than our strength, our speed, our sturdiness.

Awareness is one part of it. A body cultivator is second only to a medical cultivator in their understanding of muscles. Learn to apply that knowledge not just to oneself, but to others, see how the muscles control the weapon, see the footwork that supports it, make use of that knowledge. If you have more stamina than your opponent, tire them out.

You must see all around you. You will not be unique in this. All types of cultivator must be aware of terrain. But you are not all types of cultivator, you are yourselves and must think of that. As you grow, you may find many walls becoming less impediments and more... suggestions. This can give you routes that a sword or poison cultivator may never consider.

Remember also that you are growing. This is the period in which you begin to discover your Dao. It is a fine time to experiment. An archetypical body cultivator may eschew ranged spells altogether. Many others find techniques or spells that fit with their style. Practitioners of Lion style martial arts may find themselves utilising powerful roars for example. Search out what works for you.

Finally, get to know yourself. A cultivator cannot hope to advance far if they cannot face the possibility of their own. Yet those who are reckless, thoughtless in their actions often merely hasten it. Learn when you cannot bear to stand aside and when you believe you can retreat if needed. Understand when a tactical withdrawal or feigned retreat can turn a loss into a victory.

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Addendum: The Blood of Bronze

Golden Devils are highly fortunate, for their bodies are already naturally tougher, stronger and heal faster. This may breed complacency amongst some. After all, you already enjoy such advantages.

I bid you do not forget the drawback of the Blood of Bronze. Its effects come at the cost of speed relative to your realm, and in battle, speed is life. Positioning becomes ever more important, as does knowing your own body and how your bloodline integration progresses. A Golden Devil of the strongest blood may find their arms impenetrable to swords or may even find themselves trapping the blades of an enemy between their bones, safe in the knowledge that they will regenerate.

Here is one of the areas where body cultivation can truly shine for Golden Devils. Body cultivation can allow you to again reach or surpass the speed of your cultivation stage, whilst multiplying your strength, resilience, and regeneration. Other essays detail the advantages and disadvantages of the Bronze blood more thoroughly, but I beg you remember both its great strengths and its weaknesses.
===========================

Would you like to find other articles by this user, or see a recommended list of similar articles?

No

Thank you for your use of the Contribution Points Board. Please note that basic training is in nine hours, twenty-five minutes. Missing training or being late comes with a commensurate penalty. You are presently one hour, thirty minutes from the training site. As an Aspirant, you are reminded that you still require near mortal amounts of rest. I would suggest you take this now.

Close

Jovian closed the essay in disgust. Another 5 contribution points wasted. There had to be a better way to search the contribution board than by guessing what was good from article titles.

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AN: I got a bit bored of my own seriousness at the end. So have someone else giving up in disgust too. Comments and criticism welcome.

Shout outs to @Alectai @Katana1515 @Mochinator who I explicitly mentioned. If any of you would like the mentions removed or amended please let me know.

Price explanation - Contains combat tips so considerably more expensive than basic primers outlined in the Soup sect description. All of these are probably too cheap to be honest.
Rina is pretty famous in the clan. So, her essay costs extra due to her fame. It works out to 45 hours cleaning (or 15 hours training) which is little over a weeks work to you or me.
Minervina Barda is a Foundation establishment cultivator, so worth more. Especially since she is very, very good at what she does. 75 hours of legion cleaning (around 2 weeks plus of work)
Xiao Yi's is very cheap to access for an essay by a foundation establishment because he would want it to be seen by as many as possible, with as many as possible learning the formation due to its lifesaving nature.
Wei Feng is a pretty average dude with nowhere near the fame of the others, who isn't even technically related to the clan. So his is dirt cheap.

 

[Nordlending]

This was great, and I am tempted to write a article like that later.

 

[fictionfan]

Might want to include an option at the end of "Was this article helpful to you?". Or the option to thumbs up or down.

 

[Humbaba]

Might want to include an option at the end of "Was this article helpful to you?". Or the option to thumbs up or down.

Click to shrink...

A rating system? That doesn't sound like any Xianxia library I'm familiar with. How would old fogies/terrible writers venerable seniors make contribution points from people reading their blather if people could see how unhelpful their articles were upfront?

Added in an additional paragraph of condescension from the contribution board instead.

Would you like to find other articles by this user, or see a recommended list of similar articles?

No

Thank you for your use of the Contribution Points Board. Please note that basic training is in nine hours, twenty-five minutes. Missing training or being late comes with a commensurate penalty. You are presently one hour, thirty minutes from the training site. As an Aspirant, you are reminded that you still require near mortal amounts of rest. I would suggest you take this now.

Close

Click to shrink...

 

[fictionfan]

A rating system? That doesn't sound like any Xianxia library I'm familiar with. How would old fogies/terrible writers venerable seniors make contribution points from people reading their blather if people could see how unhelpful their articles were upfront?

Added in an additional paragraph of condescension from the contribution board instead.

Click to shrink...

I thought that we were trying to defy those tropes?

 

[Neshuakadal]

Theoron Strophios: Beginnings

Sand stung. Not as bad as a beast's claw, or a bandit's dagger, but it stung all the same. Theoron shifted his scarf to try and better protect his face from the whipping pieces of sand. At his feet blood stained sand and a body were already being covered. Was he supposed to feel something? Anything at all as he watched the… thing that had consumed his life disappear under shifting sands? He just felt numb. This chapter of his life was over. What now?

Theoron knelt and dragged a sack out from under the body. Tilting it over he let everything fall out onto the sands. Arranging things with his foot, Theoron took stock of his new riches. Most of it was worthless. A flute carved from wood. Colored stones for a variety of games. This map was worth something. Ah. Here it was. A cracked deep purple crystal. Near the top of it a small hole. The crack went from the top right to the bottom left, deep enough to almost cut the crystal in half.

The crystal had been his family's heirloom. A gift given to them by a wandering cultivator in eons past. If the stories were to be believed. Stories also told about a great conquering army slaughtering everything opposed to them. It's why their family names were different from everyone else. They had changed names to trick that army into avoiding them. Gramps had claimed this crystal protected the family. Theoron held up the crystal to the sun, letting light play across the small scratches in the surface. The crystal had failed in the one thing it was supposed to do, if the stories had any grain of truth in them, which Theoron had long doubted. Still, he thought, it was a reminder of home.

Theoron took a small string from his pack and threaded it through, then he hung it around his neck. For an instant the world split. Pieces of sand duplicated, and at his feet he saw his face staring glassy eyed up at the sky, which now contained two suns.

Sand stung the cuts on his arm as he fell backwards into the sand. Theoron blinked away spots from the near blinding suns. Standing up carefully he looked around. Yet the world was back to normal. Sand moved as it should without duplicating and the correct number of suns hung in the sky. Taking his sword he flipped over his latest kill. It was harder than Theoron would have liked, the body was already half buried. He studied the face, but it remained the face of the man who had burned down his home. He poked the body a couple of times to make sure. When he was sure the body was dead he kicked sand over it. Whatever had happened didn't seem to be happening again so Theoron tried to put it out of his mind. He was a cultivator now. Strange things were supposed to happen to them. With a shrug and a carefully emptied mind Theoron drank a fraction of water and wandered off into the desert.

It was several days later when he stumbled into an outpost. Everyone seemed tense, as if storm clouds were gathering only they could see. It sounded like a fight might break out soon. Between sips of generously provided water Theoron asked if he could join in. He was a cultivator and no one would turn down a cultivator willing to fight, right? There was a whispered conversation between the commander and several others. Theoron couldn't hear anything of what was being said, but judging by how red some of the faces were, it was pretty heated. Finally the commander back over, took his name and showed him a bunk to rest for the night. Theoron would start training tomorrow.

The bunk was alright, better than sleeping on sand, but it creaked strangely, making it hard to fall asleep. Or perhaps it was all the faces: bloody, burned, or disfigured drifting in his mind's eye that made it hard to sleep. It was how he found himself, with the moon high above, his sword resting across his lap. It was a jagged thing, chipped and cracked, rusted and worn. Yet, it was his sword now and he would take care of it. Better care than he took care of his family. Song of Steel's manual offered instructions on how to care for a sword. How to use a rag and oil. How to use a whetstone. Even how to bend qi in the sword to repair minor damage. Theoron wasn't at that point yet, but he had rags aplenty. All he wore now were rags. What was one more piece torn off? Long into the night Theoron guided a rag across the sword. As his rag drifted over his sword, memories of death drifted through Theoron's minds. When the morning call came Theoron hadn't slept at all, but his sword shined like a new, if chipped, star.

-----

Omake bonus requested: Fighting Across Realms
Theoron's family heirloom is a damaged death crystal. Etched with countless tiny runes the death crystal has one purpose. To show death. Twenty seconds before a killable foe would bring death to Theoron the death crystal will trigger, showing Theoron future steps he can take to give death first. Death can't save a life and so surviving the wounds sustained in such a fight would be up to fate. The crystal is so damaged it can only trigger once more before crumbling to dust.

@occipitallobe Theoron's first omake
Don't know if it's too late to get this bonus for the turn, but wanted to try.

 

[ReaderOfFate]

Omake bonus requested: Fighting Across Realms
Theoron's family heirloom is a damaged death crystal. Etched with countless tiny runes the death crystal has one purpose. To show death. Twenty seconds before a killable foe would bring death to Theoron the death crystal will trigger, showing Theoron future steps he can take to give death first. Death can't save a life and so surviving the wounds sustained in such a fight would be up to fate. The crystal is so damaged it can only trigger once more before crumbling to dust.

@occipitallobe Theoron's first omake
Don't know if it's too late to get this bonus for the turn, but wanted to try.

Click to shrink...

So, uh, are you absolutely sure you don't want to get a lifesaving treasure for the Trials? Your Good Seed is new, after all.

 

[Neshuakadal]

So, uh, are you absolutely sure you don't want to get a lifesaving treasure for the Trials? Your Good Seed is new, after all.

Click to shrink...

I am interested in my character being a fighter. Since the fight beyond realms bonus lets my good seed get a fight in his realm without a fate roll and trial combat happens in realm it seemed like a good fit for him.

 

[Mochinator]

*pokes around in the threadmarks and gains Insight*

Oh my. So, quest has existed for less than three months and we're already up to 500k words if you include everything. Give it another two-three months and we might hit a million words total, which is absurd and amazing.

Click to shrink...

Well, i'm disappointed that we're not hitting 500K of Omakes before the trials. We're only 50K away you slackers!

Using the Blood of Bronze: knowing your strengths and overcoming your weaknesses. Essay by Rina Callista. Access Cost: 15 contribution points

You can keep getting away with it - Mastering the poison arts by Minervina Barda Access Cost: 25 contribution points

Strength in Unity - The power of formations - Xiao Yi. 10 contribution points. Note this essay recommends purchase of the Formation Of Philoctetes. An official clan formation technique for cultivators of the first or second Heaven Stages. Please note this formation is not included in the purchase of this essay.

Never Alone - Adventures in beast taming. (Revised Edition: Keeping your fingers intact also available). by A. Vrastíras. Access Cost: 7 contribution points.

Applications of Force: Your Brain is also a muscle - A guide for body cultivators by Wei Feng. Access Cost: 5 Contribution points.

Select "Applications of Force"?

Click to shrink...

I love the titles! Minervina Barda's Article is the best. I have the image of people buying the article and opening to find her doing a riff of the Oldspice commercials.

" Look at yourself, now look at me You can be me with the use of Poison "

And that be the whole article. 25 contribution points for a life-changing article

Xiao Yi's is very cheap to access for an essay by a foundation establishment because he would want it to be seen by as many as possible, with as many as possible learning the formation due to its lifesaving nature.

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Yep! It was developed partially to help the weaker juniors stand a chance by mutiplying the effects of their attacks via a Poison Option so that's exactly it! Go ahead and use him in anyway you like, i really have no restrictions on how he can be used as long as there's no Timeline clashes

Jovian closed the essay in disgust. Another 5 contribution points wasted. There had to be a better way to search the contribution board than by guessing what was good from article titles.

Click to shrink...

I gotta say, the Search Option of the Contribution board is increasingly making me think that the Technique palace is not a Palace. It's a Database that we hooked up to our contribution board, kinda like University Library access

I am interested in my character being a fighter. Since the fight beyond realms bonus lets my good seed get a fight in his realm without a fate roll and trial combat happens in realm it seemed like a good fit for him.

Click to shrink...

Wow. Definitely the most aggressive mentality for a Good Seed we had so far! I'm sure he'll make a name for himself!

 

[BungieONI]

Theoron Strophios: Beginnings

Sand stung. Not as bad as a beast's claw, or a bandit's dagger, but it stung all the same. Theoron shifted his scarf to try and better protect his face from the whipping pieces of sand. At his feet blood stained sand and a body were already being covered. Was he supposed to feel something? Anything at all as he watched the… thing that had consumed his life disappear under shifting sands? He just felt numb. This chapter of his life was over. What now?

Theoron knelt and dragged a sack out from under the body. Tilting it over he let everything fall out onto the sands. Arranging things with his foot, Theoron took stock of his new riches. Most of it was worthless. A flute carved from wood. Colored stones for a variety of games. This map was worth something. Ah. Here it was. A cracked deep purple crystal. Near the top of it a small hole. The crack went from the top right to the bottom left, deep enough to almost cut the crystal in half.

The crystal had been his family's heirloom. A gift given to them by a wandering cultivator in eons past. If the stories were to be believed. Stories also told about a great conquering army slaughtering everything opposed to them. It's why their family names were different from everyone else. They had changed names to trick that army into avoiding them. Gramps had claimed this crystal protected the family. Theoron held up the crystal to the sun, letting light play across the small scratches in the surface. The crystal had failed in the one thing it was supposed to do, if the stories had any grain of truth in them, which Theoron had long doubted. Still, he thought, it was a reminder of home.

Theoron took a small string from his pack and threaded it through, then he hung it around his neck. For an instant the world split. Pieces of sand duplicated, and at his feet he saw his face staring glassy eyed up at the sky, which now contained two suns.

Sand stung the cuts on his arm as he fell backwards into the sand. Theoron blinked away spots from the near blinding suns. Standing up carefully he looked around. Yet the world was back to normal. Sand moved as it should without duplicating and the correct number of suns hung in the sky. Taking his sword he flipped over his latest kill. It was harder than Theoron would have liked, the body was already half buried. He studied the face, but it remained the face of the man who had burned down his home. He poked the body a couple of times to make sure. When he was sure the body was dead he kicked sand over it. Whatever had happened didn't seem to be happening again so Theoron tried to put it out of his mind. He was a cultivator now. Strange things were supposed to happen to them. With a shrug and a carefully emptied mind Theoron drank a fraction of water and wandered off into the desert.

It was several days later when he stumbled into an outpost. Everyone seemed tense, as if storm clouds were gathering only they could see. It sounded like a fight might break out soon. Between sips of generously provided water Theoron asked if he could join in. He was a cultivator and no one would turn down a cultivator willing to fight, right? There was a whispered conversation between the commander and several others. Theoron couldn't hear anything of what was being said, but judging by how red some of the faces were, it was pretty heated. Finally the commander back over, took his name and showed him a bunk to rest for the night. Theoron would start training tomorrow.

The bunk was alright, better than sleeping on sand, but it creaked strangely, making it hard to fall asleep. Or perhaps it was all the faces: bloody, burned, or disfigured drifting in his mind's eye that made it hard to sleep. It was how he found himself, with the moon high above, his sword resting across his lap. It was a jagged thing, chipped and cracked, rusted and worn. Yet, it was his sword now and he would take care of it. Better care than he took care of his family. Song of Steel's manual offered instructions on how to care for a sword. How to use a rag and oil. How to use a whetstone. Even how to bend qi in the sword to repair minor damage. Theoron wasn't at that point yet, but he had rags aplenty. All he wore now were rags. What was one more piece torn off? Long into the night Theoron guided a rag across the sword. As his rag drifted over his sword, memories of death drifted through Theoron's minds. When the morning call came Theoron hadn't slept at all, but his sword shined like a new, if chipped, star.

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Omake bonus requested: Fighting Across Realms
Theoron's family heirloom is a damaged death crystal. Etched with countless tiny runes the death crystal has one purpose. To show death. Twenty seconds before a killable foe would bring death to Theoron the death crystal will trigger, showing Theoron future steps he can take to give death first. Death can't save a life and so surviving the wounds sustained in such a fight would be up to fate. The crystal is so damaged it can only trigger once more before crumbling to dust.

@occipitallobe Theoron's first omake
Don't know if it's too late to get this bonus for the turn, but wanted to try.

Click to shrink...

I like this boi. I wish to see more of him.

Well, i'm disappointed that we're not hitting 500K of Omakes before the trials. We're only 50K away you slackers!

Click to shrink...

I think I'm going to crank out an omake of Ferenike using the contribution board terminal while recovering.

 

[Mochinator]

I like this boi. I wish to see more of him.


I think I'm going to crank out an omake of Ferenike using the contribution board terminal while recovering.

Click to shrink...

I'm hoping someone who can do Food Reviews cranks out a Omake on the Top 10 Soups you have to drink before you die article for the contribution board

 

[fictionfan]

So, uh, are you absolutely sure you don't want to get a lifesaving treasure for the Trials? Your Good Seed is new, after all.

Click to shrink...

Makes more sense to get a lifesaving treasure if the seed makes more progress. Not that much to save yet. I am sure he has plenty of other good seed ideas.

 

[LordEdric]

I love my baby, but she refuses to let my write, when she gives me an hour or two, I think I'll open a wine tasting restaurant

 

[BungieONI]

Ferenike 18 - A Bit of Light Reading​

Ferenike sat on a stool in front of the medical wing lobby's Contribution Board terminal, humming contentedly as she poked Qi into the arrays carved into it. The terminal itself out here in Winding Pillar City was a stubby obelisk shaped into the traditional Clan style of a perfect cylinder rising from a pyramidal base and caped with an inverted pyramidal shape. On the flat top there sat a stone bowl and a bronze colored fire burned inside of it.

She was quietly perusing it as she recovered, arm in a sling, stitches in her abdomen, and pain soothing arrays wrapped around her torso. First to check on one of her long term interests.

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Welcome, Tessarian.

This is a public terminal of the Contribution Points Board. You may request items, a total of your points, recommended tasks for Tessarians with your skills, or record fulfilled tasks here. Please infuse a sliver of your will to access any function.

Will accepted.

Seeking lore on the Ninth Pillar?

Recommended: An essay by Chronicler Decimanus Sarantapechos, a compilation of eight volumes which collate all of the sparse legends about the Ninth Pillar discovered by the Clan and annotated with current theories. A collection of all current work, ninety five years old. Already purchased for permanent use.

No other entries have been added since you last searched for documents related to this topic three months ago.

Purchasing essays on the Qi nature of the Organ Meat Desert?

Recommended: A compilation of studies by Senior Mechanikos Henricus Poplicola titled Qi Density Variation In the Clan's Core Territories On a Seasonal Basis Over Two Hundred Years. Two hundred and fifty years old. Costs eight Contribution Points.

Compilation Purchased.

Ferenike made a happy sound as she sunk her points into purchasing that, and then twelve more on purchasing it permanently. She didn't care about disseminating it to mortals so she ignored that option.

Purchasing essays on the Dragon-Lines of the Organ Meat Desert?

Recommended: An essay by Cartographer Xuduo Heliu, an intermediate text on the subject suitable for your expertise Tessarian. Only a year old and thoroughly lists other relevant texts in its indices. Costs seven Contribution Points.

Essay Purchased.

Essay accessible for the next day. Permanent access will require purchasing it for fifteen Contribution Points.

Permanent Access Purchased.

---

Unseen Rivers, an Essay on Dragon-Lines in the Organ Meat Desert by Xuduo Heliu.

Most Aspirants of the Clan will understand the bounds of the Clan's territories, and what landmarks denote our vassal kingdoms or the various enemies which surround us. With a little more effort they might learn of the span of the entire Organ Meat Desert, from the foothills of Turtlebone Mountain to the Qi-Draining Desert and the Third Sea.

Very few go to the effort of understanding the three dimensional nature of the Desert, treating it simply as a rumpled sheet or blanket spread across the world. This essay will detail a part of that three dimensional nature by exploring the Dragon-Lines that pass between Spirit Stone deposits deep beneath the sands and which wind in celestial patterns through the skies.

As noted in other research by Chronicler Shazi and others, the Dragon-Lines flow westerly out from the desert and the sea towards the mountains. As they progress west they turn towards the Verdant South regions and coalesce, running together and intermixing. On my travels in those lands I have seen the lines strengthen, swelling like rivers until they surpass their previous strength by more than ten and sometimes even a hundred times, in particularly potent areas.

This sheer power makes them easier to perceive and manipulate by those with the appropriate arts, examples of which are detailed in Appendix A. As they run they curve and begin to swirl inwards towards Turtlebone Mountain. All Dragon-Lines flow towards that monolithic edifice and its Heaven piercing peak.

An anomaly in the Desert, which shapes the flow of its Dragon-Lines across its entire span, is the Qi-Draining Desert. There are no Dragon-Lines in that cursed place, and the Dragon-Lines I have mapped carefully flow around its edges. This leads to one disquieting secret about the Qi-Draining Desert; it's borders move, minutely shifting away from the Dragon-Lines as they draw close, and flowing into the space left by their absence. Luckily the Qi-Draining Desert is not expanding and this shifting is both incredibly slow and subtle on cultivator time scales. That said it is still dangerous to live within ten li of the border for mortals as it has been recorded to shift overnight fast enough to swallow small communities entirely and slay them.

Now then. Even at their weakest the Dragon-Lines shape the Qi distribution in the air of the Desert, and dousing techniques that seek them out can lead to rich Spirit Stone deposits with only a bit of luck. This demonstrates a principle of the cultivator world, found in everything from the tiniest grain of rice to the largest mountain. Qi shapes Qi and through that the world.

In further sections of this essay I will detail my own experiences shaping and manipulating Dragon-Lines for use in my arts and spells...

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Ferenike was humming a cheery tune, one finger dancing lightly in the air as she cross referenced half a dozen dense scholarly essays and studies, seeking answers about what she had done twice in her life and in where she might be able to go from there.

Her Invasion of Heaven and the technique she was tentatively naming A Thousand Spears Divide Creation were advancing steadily. More effort and time was needed for it to satisfy her, but with her drawing upon her invested shards, which she was using her recovery time to slowly build back up after expending them in her last fight, and the spiraling energies of the Sun and the Desert sands she was coming closer. She suspected that reaching beyond them to draw upon the dragon lines was her next step.

It made a part of her giddy. There was simply so much that the Qi of the Desert itself could help her with, even as thin and diffuse as it was. in her idle fancies she had wondered what her style might be like in the Green Scale Plains where the Qi was so much denser.

It had seemed strange to her at times how much her progression revolved around her connection to the world, the Desert where she had lived all her life. But after so long, and so many fights, and her steady climb to the peak of Qi Condensation, things had begun to become clear.

It was why she had introduced herself as the 'Golden Scorpion' recently, why her personal style evoked the strikes and shape of the Desert's scorpion now, and even why she believed in the idea that each of them was a grain of sand which might someday become a part of the storm. She was very much a part of the world, as an active and dynamic entity. Intimately connected with this place she called home, and to represent it was a source of strength and confidence.

Within her, she could feel things unfolding, a complex vision seen in a mosaic of glassy shards which laid out the long path in front of her. Hope, as strange as it was during the horror of the Trials, could not be stifled in her soul.

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@occipitallobe I think this is my shortest omake, but I am happy with it. Some light reading and philosophical musing seemed apropos.