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.

 

[NotteBoy97]

Fierce Fang

Blood Covered Demon​

Fierce Fang was starting to wonder if he should regret his choices. Cause being chased around the desert by powerful Cultivators from another sea when he had just gotten over his crippling was not his idea of a fun time. He could remember the feeling of the weight of karma settling down upon him at the start of the year. It was a weight he intuitively knew he could never get rid of which was dangerous since it put a target on his back. He had a feeling he could mitigate it if he killed a Golden Devil betraying the Heaven cursed clan but Fang really didn't want to. Since that would be basically throwing away 100 years of his life that he had spent under the employ of the clan. For while his employment was not all sunshine and rainbows he was still thankful for all the opportunities they had provided him.

He wished he had at least had more time to prepare for the trials since his time in the Dragon Remnant Golden River had taken longer than he thought so he barely had a year to figure out a plan. Where some insane few decided that they would risk their lives to save others from the invaders, Fang was happy to just keep his head down and run from hideout to hideout. Not the most glamorous or honorable of things but Fang thought it would help him stay safe and unharmed. Which might have been a mistake since Fang was forced to be constantly on the run abandoning base after base as enemies approached.

Already he had sent back several weaker enemies that attacked him in groups like he was a mere beast they were hunting and been forced to run with his tail between his legs by those more powerful than him more times than he cared to count. It made him wonder if joining the madmen might have been the safer move since while they intentionally took the more dangerous road the fact they were all powerful and together would have given a good amount of safety.

But no use regretting what ifs Fang had to focus on traveling through the sandy hills to another hidden base after the last one nearly got him gored by a giant arrow that crashed into it. He was still covered in blood from that escape not having the time or the spare water to wash off. In fact he was worried about running out of water and food before he reached the supplies inside since he had to take a long route to avoid and hide from pursers. He had just exited another sandstone tunnel and climbed out of a rocky valley when Fang suddenly felt a pulse pass through him and the surrounding area. He wondered what it was when another pulse came and this time seeming to have started a little closer.
Fang realized this must be some kind of detection method and had to quickly decide what to do. He doubted he could figure out some way to hide or avoid this method in the little time he had left. He could attempt to run away but he didn't know what kind of range nor tracking his hunter had so he discarded the idea. That left fighting either to beat whoever was approaching if they were weak enough or to break or damage whatever they were using to find him before escaping once again. But before that happened Fang needed to prepare since he had an idea to get an advantage to surprise his foe with.

---

You are Khumba of the Furious Fists. Descendant of the Great and Invincible Ghatotkacha who was famed for slaying an uncountable number of demons and you were here in this blighted death land to do the same against the blasphemous Golden Devils. Already you had killed 10 using the Karma Detecting Orb your family had given you. You however were disappointed by how weak your opponents were even those few who were in the same stage were weak and cowardly preferring to run or attempt to destroy your talisman rather than facing their death with honor in a straightforward fight.

You were currently alone wandering the desert hoping to find some stragglers since you knew there would be no honor or glory to be found in the slaughter that fort to the west where the other trial goers were joining like mere vultures circling a corpse. The Karma Detecting Orb had just found another sinner of the Golden Devils via their heaven marked karma. So you quickly rushed in the direction it pointed you to catch the vile monster before it could escape your judgement.

You crossed many miles of sand in nearly as many minutes before you finally saw your prey. They were wearing a sand colored cloak that obscured their no doubt ugly features but you were thankful they didn't cravenly run away and more importantly they were at the same stage of Prana Gathering as you giving hope for a glorious fight.

To show your gratitude to your nameless foe you appeared before them in plain sight and gave an introduction. "Khumba of the Furious Fists stands before savage. Feel thankful that it is by my honorable hand that your life finds its conclusion. Now prepare yourself for battle so you might gain the barest measure of honor before I send you to King Yama!"

But shockingly the cloaked stranger didn't react to any of this and continued moving forward completely ignoring you despite walking right past you. It took you a few seconds to process this due to how absurd that someone could not notice or ignore you, the Great Khumba. You even wondered for a few seconds if you had used the wrong language but no you were sure you used the barbic tongue properly. This enraged you that some upjumped savage was slapping your face despite your magnanimous gesture in not smiting it where it stood. No longer caring about having honor with dumb beasts you decide to punch it to death without giving any warning. So you gather your prana into your legs and fist and lept towards the devil to smash its face, daring it to ignore that. Your fist was just a hair's breadth away from the back of the creature's head and it still hadn't reacted at all meaning it would die without even putting a fight a fitting end due to its arro-*PAIN*

Your thoughts were interrupted by a sudden burst of pain as you were sent flying back with a crack you swear was your nose breaking. But he noticed that the foe he was just about to kill had somehow turned around with his right fist raised in the air. Turning with such speed must have caused the cloak to be ripped away for you could now see your opponent.

It was a man but any defining features weren't visible because he was covered in blood. So much that it was a wonder you hadn't smelled it beforehand. You couldn't even tell his skin color for how much it caked his skin making it impossible to tell if was truly a golden devil or some kind other demon whose eyes seemed to glow red with a cold thirst for blood.

---

Fierce Fang was glad his luck was good and his ploy worked perfectly. He had been worried he would be running into a group of trial goers or someone at Foundation Establishment but luckily your foe turned out to be an alone 9th stager meaning you could actually fight them instead of having to run away. Even better he reacted exactly as Fang hoped, getting angry at being ignored and recklessly charging in close to attack. It was much better than the other likely scenario of being attacked at range since at least up close he could predict the attack and use the "Move Second, Hit First" martial art to land the first blow to a fool who charged without any caution.

Not wishing to let go of the momentum he had luckily gained nor giving this opponent a chance to breathe Fierce Fang rushed after his opponent throwing a flurry of punches their way. While he somehow managed to block some of the blows Fang's fists still found their way to many points on the trial goer's body. This caused the foerign young man to cough up some blood before seeming to make a decision causing his sides to start glowing with qi.

---

You were Khumba of the Furious Fists and you were on the back foot. The blood covered devil kept attacking and attacking not pausing for breath nor allowing you a chance to firm your stance to launch a counter attack. You realized if you didn't do something soon you would be beaten to death without even landing a strike in return which stoked the fire of your rage. You channeled this anger into the Six Fists of the Furious Asura blessing forming an additional four arms of glowing prana to fight with like the Asura of legend.

Having three times the arms of your opponent instantly turned the tide of the battle. You could now use four arms to block while still having your natural limbs ready to punish your foe without them having a chance to defend. For only sublime skill or overpowering strength could counter the simple problem of numbers and your foe's beast-like skill and strength was far from qualifying. Your superiority was so much that you managed to catch its left arm with four of your arms before breaking it in half and using the broken limb to throw the beast into a nearby sand dune. You used the temporary reprieve to steady your breathing before leaping towards the sand dune but before you could even tense your foot the dune exploded in sand as the broken devil charged out of it without regard to its broken arm.


The beast had obviously not learnt its lesson and was charging back. It pulled its right arm back obviously intending to make a repeat of its first strike where it struck you in the face. But it didn't seem to realize that was only because it was a cowardly surprise attack and would fail if used when you were prepared. So as he lunged forward with his right fist aiming at your face as you calmly waited to grab and break his remaining limb confident that this battle was over with your unquestionable victory soon to pass!

---

Fierce Fang was wondering if he should feel bad for his opponent; the boy was obviously a youth despite his achievement in reaching the 9th Heavenstage and so could only obediently walk on Fang's palm in regards to the battle's flow. Even the sudden addition of two pairs of arms was within his expectations for how powerful one from a more rich sea would be. So Fang let the young foreigner seem to get the upper hand and even let him break an arm to make him grow overconfident. It was maybe a wasteful and unneeded wound but with the Deep Sea Starfish Body Art it was one he could easily recover from. So when he charged towards his opponent with exaggerated movements that even a fool could block it was again part of Fierce Fang's plan.

For if one 'knew' where the right arm was going to attack and 'knew' the left arm was broken what would one need to fear? So when Fang struck with his right fist aimed towards the enemy's face and his left against their stomach in a simple Yamazuki technique the trial goer obediently blocked the upper punch while being completely ignorant of the lower one. For it didn't matter if you had six arms to block with if you didn't know you needed to block. So Fang's left fist easily found its way towards his target's un protected belly. The pain from such a sudden blow caused an opening in the defenses guarding the face allowing Fang's right arm to also deliver a dizzying blow.

This blow to the head stunned his opponent which Fang quickly took advantage of. He had decided he didn't want his opponent to pull out any last minute techniques or treasures that would prolong the battle and so decided to render his opponent unable to think about such things via continued blunt force to the forehead. Fang accomplished this via simply grabbing his opponents shoulders with his hands and then headbutting the poor fool with his own hard head. He didn't just blindly smash forehead to forehead Fang angled his head to alternating hits on the left and right sides of his foe's head. It wasn't any real technique for cultivator arts that use the forehead to attack are rare for some reason but Fang thought that causing the head to shake both left and right as well as forward and back would be better for his goal of concussing his opponent.

Of course his foe didn't let Fang do this without response. For while it was initially stunned the boy recovered enough after the 6th headbutt to attempt to dislodge himself from Fang's hold. But despite having 6 arms the boy couldn't do it due to Fang's steelike grip not budging and the arms being in an awkward position to push away with their full force. After 10 more headbutts of time the boy changed strategies instead using his multiple arms to continually strike Fang in hopes of getting release from the grip. But Fang had suffered the boy's full powered blows with little injury and these blows were closer to the flailing of a child than those previous blows they could not make Fang loosen his grip by even a hair. After another 20 blows to the head Fang's opponent was thoroughly concussed with even his extra arms disappearing into qi as the boy lost the concentration needed to keep them. Fang took this to mean he could stop head butting and so started to catch his breath and think about what he wanted to do. He could easily kill his opponent right now ensuring whatever treasures he had on him would remain behind but he remembered that capturing a trial goer alive would have him greatly rewarded by the Golden Devils. During these bare moments of thought Fierce Fang made a mistake; he treated the battle as won while also taking his mind off of his opponent.

---

You didn't know what went wrong. You had broken the demon's arm with the Six Fists of the Furious Asura and were about to break the other one when suddenly everything had changed like heaven and earth had switched places. The demon now had its arms on your shoulders in an iron vise-like grip that you could not escape from. You learned this as the demon did the most brutish thing imaginable using its own head to hit your own. It was completely uncaring of its own pain both what punches you landed to make it release its grip or its own self inflicted head trauma. As your fist grew weaker and weaker and the headbutts continued to increasingly rattle your head you realized something, you were going to die. It was with this realization that the ember of anger you used to activate the Fists of the Asura technique was smothered by the cold blanket of despair.

As you waited for the final blow whether from a final headbutt sending your conscious to oblivion or some other method of execution you once again pondered where you had gone wrong. Was it when you decided to strike off on your own befreit of allies and protectors? Or was it when you decided to attack this demon when it was just mindlessly walking? You couldn't know.

While it felt like those thoughts took hours to go through but in reality barely a few seconds had passed. That wasn't strange though since life flashing before your eyes was a common symptom of those about to die but what was strange was that the demon hadn't continued to attack him during your moment of distraction. You first wondered if it was a final mercy but as you opened your closed eyes and met the Demon's own you realized it was nothing of the sort. The Demon's eyes were merciless and without pity and you knew that it had stopped attacking so it could see the despair and life flow out of your eyes with demonic glee. It was just like the legends of the demons and devils who tortured and tormented those they captured before eating them. Oh Deva, was that going to happen to you? Were you going to be eaten alive feeling endless pain as the demon devoured you body and soul? No no nonononononononononononononon. Anything but that.

You renew your struggle in a panic desperate to avert your terrible fate. But what could you do? Even when you had the Six Fists of the Furious Asura you couldn't escape. But now with desperation to not be eaten you did whatever you thought would help. Your body went for the first and therefore simplest technique you knew of. One that you learnt so long ago your mind had forgotten it due to how basic and weak it was compared to your more dominating fist techniques. But despite all this the Prana Repelling Palm was one your body remembered in this moment. You poured all your Prana into your left palm not caring as it broke bones, boiled blood, and cracked marma. All that mattered was that the demon was repelled. As your palm struck the demon's chest you felt searing pain in your shoulders as the demon's hands literally ripped skin as their owner was sent flying away.

You slowly stood up trying to ignore the pain of your ruined hand and see where the demon went. The Demon hit and skipped on the sand three times before it somehow managed to regain control and started rushing back at you on all four limbs abandoning any pretext of humanity as it screamed with rage at you. It chilled your heart and nearly made you freeze in place for how horrifying it was but you managed to bite down your fear and grab your trial token with your remaining hand and crush it. In the instant it takes you to disappear from this cursed land you take one last fearful look at the Demon seeing its hateful eyes vowing your death should you ever return.

---

Dammit! Fierce Fang cursed himself for getting distracted at the last moment and letting his opponent escape. If he had just killed his foe the instant their arms faded or had just maintained his grip properly then he would be looting his reward for his hard work. But now the result was just the same as if he broke the token himself on that first exchange just with more wasted Qi to repair the damage he took. He wondered if it was because his strategy was too cautious which Fang would acknowledge is probably a little absurd given his opponent ran away in fear while he fought like a berserker. But it was the truth nonetheless since Fang's act as demonic berserker was intended to scare the opponent into either escaping or freezing up without risking too much in return. If however he had made a more bold act of playing the weaker party suffering blow after blow, much more debilitating than the ones he just took, in order to feed his opponent's ego and make him overconfident Fang felt he could have easily killed his opponent in one blow after they made a fatal error.

Of course that's once again just thinking about what-ifs cause Fang had no idea of his opponent's strength or temperament before the battle started. So while that strategy might have worked best on the opponent he just faced, Fang didn't know that ahead of time and so the decision to be cautious was still correct. The other problem of getting distracted with thoughts of victory before the battle was over was a more pertinent issue to think over. Fang disliked how he let his foe escape at the last moment but to be honest he couldn't really blame himself too much since keeping one's attention completely focused for an entire battle is a difficult thing to do even for renowned experts. He was just unlucky that a mere moment of idle thinking could lead to a turn around from a fight about to end in his favor. Cementing in Fang's mind that the trials are annoyingly unfair.

Oh well Fang thought after fishing a Spirit Crystal Filter Stick from his pack and smoking it to regain the qi that was wasted through the fight. It was annoying to lose a chance at some good treasures and loot especially since it would cost him some of his supply to be back at 100%. He should just treat this encounter as the junior boy's good fortune instead of grumbling like the old man he was. Anyways he needed to leave the area since while neither he nor his opponents used any flashy arts he wasn't sure the battle was unnoticed by some more 5th Sea Cultivators. So as Fang blew some impure black smoke out he continued his journey to his next hideout to wait out the trial acting for all the world to see as if he wasn't just in a fight.

A/N: @occipitallobe Here's my omake hopefully done in time to get me my bonus for the turn. Sorry for being so late I've been writing this for a while (since before this turn even started) but I've really struggled to write. But I've finally finished it and so here it is. It's not as polished as I wish it would be but tbh it's just been draining to write so I just want it to over and done with.

Now for some trivia about the omake. Two of the moves Fang used were inspired by me recently reading Kenichi so I decided to steal some karate moves from it. Don't really have any trivia other than that.

Edit: Oh yeah what treasure I want. I request another Life Saving Treasure with whatever flavor you want. Surprise me.

 

[Katana1515]

Minervina Barda 14: Witch of Whitefish Lake Part 3

It didn't take more than a second to work out what had happened and I will confess, for a few moments I seriously considered letting nature take its course.

His death would be swift, if painful. It would serve as a fitting lesson to the other youths of the village. Almost a parable. The pampered youngster comes to a sticky end, brought about by his own foolish greed.

The moral of the story? Don't meddle in the affairs of sickly old women, we are subtle and fucking dangerous.

"This is going to hurt so much later." I grabbed my stick and my 2nd best cooking pot as I headed towards the door.

"Emilia, be a dear. Catch and Restrain." Propelled by a sense of righteous indignation, my beloved serpent propelled herself through the doorway after the thief. I trudge behind her, limbs shrieking with each step.

My frustration and arthritis aside blood runs thicker than water, however diluted the blood ties might be, everyone in this forsaken little town was family in the end. I had set out from this village all those years ago because someone shed the blood of the Barda family.
The Heavens would strike me down before I took those lives myself.

A little instructional punishment would be appropriate though.

A whole chorus of reedy shrieks told me Emilia had found her prey. I tottered gamely in that direction, almost breaking my fool neck on the bracken and shrubbery that dominates this region.

I have to school my expression somewhat as I come across a bizarre scene.

A gaggle of children were throwing rocks at poor Emilia and screeching at top volume. For her part the Snake was merrily munching on the lemon tart that had fallen to the ground after she wrapped her liquid coils around the young sneak thief, who looked like he was on the verge of fainting in pure horror.

A voice that had commanded Legionnaires in battle cracked out over the scene. "Shut up you pipsqueak's. Your caterwauling is giving me a headache, and the next one of you brats who dares throw a rock at Emilia gets the back of my hand."

The children fall into a terrified silence instantly. One little girl who is halfway through throwing a rock actually falls over into the dirt as she tries to pluck it back out of the air. It soars through the air and plonks off the Spirits scales. I know she doesn't even notice, but it still bothers me. I glare at the little troublemakers as I advance, pot in hand.

"Let this be a lesson to you...." I smack the first one over the head with the pot, sending him sprawling. "The next time some other snot suggests...." a back hand blow knocks the girl back into the muck a moment after she pulled herself back to her feet. "You pick on an isolated old woman, you might try thinking for your damn selves." I dealt a single ringing blow to each brat before the little gang ran into the distance clutching their bruises. They should sting enough to teach a lesson, but none had broken bones or the like. I might not have a Cultivators power anymore, but I did have more than a few decades worth of expertise still rolling around in my skull.

I turned to the ringleader, still trapped in Emilia's embrace. He had finally fainted and was emanating a foul odour. With a sinking feeling I leaned down and pulled back his eyelid. The whites of his eyes had turned a violent shade of green. "Couldn't resist having a bite before sharing with your little companions could you?"

I bid Emilia fetch the little shit into the house, while I started putting together a treatment plan in my head. "This is going to cost you, boy."

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On long summer evenings, Tassos and his buddies used to lounge by a campfire and tell scary stories. The protagonists of these stories inevitably met gruesome and vile fates, each more spectacular than the last.

It turns out owing your life to a madwoman was worse than anything their naive minds could come up with.

He had awoken on the witches kitchen table, stripped to his shorts and feeling like an Ox had stamped on every square inch of exposed skin. Both his skin and the table were covered in a black ooze. As he watched more of this bile was slowly *bleeding out of his skin.*

Weak as a newborn he turns his head to see his parents of all things. They are kowtowing before the witch, he can see his mothers tears dripping on the floor and the fixed paleness of his fathers expression. The Demon woman lounges on her ratty old armchair, somehow majestic with her Spirit Snake wrapped around her feet and a scrap of paper in her hand.

The last thing Tassos see's before collapsing back into blissful unconsciousness is the number on the bill.

"I am so screwed" he mutters before sleep takes him.

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The witches miserable hut and rough garden improve by leaps and bounds over the course of the next two years. The roof tiles are scraped clean and the broken ones replaced. Drafty holes are patched with caulk and the whole place gets a fresh coat of paint. The rickety fences on the property are mended and strengthened and the plants grow much better now a strong young pair of hands are available to bring them fertilizer each day.

Tassos, of course, was the source of these improvements. He didn't leave the bounds of the garden in the entire time and most of his old friends started talking about him as if he was dead.

He could be seen toiling away on the house and grounds at every hour of the day, his eyes haunted and posture hunched. The village elders would catch sight of him in the distance and nod their heads, while parents would tell their children to behave or they will 'sell them to the Witch Woman like that nasty little Tassos boy.'

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

It was a few days into Tassos's third year of indentured slavery that everything changed.

Almost despite himself, he had slowly adapted to his new life. Oh he was terrified of his odd Mistress, but she never seemed to go out of her way to be cruel to him.

The work was tedious but he had come to find a sense of satisfaction and pride in repairing the dilapidated little estate, and Minervina fed him well at least, she was an excellent cook.

The loneliness was the worst of it, he had always been a social creature. The Mistress spoke to him only rarely and he really didn't have the education to understand a lot of what she talked about. It mostly seemed to be about plants with far fetched sounding names.

Emilia kept him company most days. She seemed to enjoy following him around and watching him. His fear of her had mostly worn off this last year or so. Its hard to be scared of even a demon if you know it will merrily do tricks for a fresh lemon.

They were out weeding the garden when the Cultivator arrived. She was more glorious than anything the little village had seen before, sweeping into the centre of town in a glorious black carriage suited for an Emperor. Emblazoned on the side of it was the arms of the Golden Devil clan. Tassos sucked his breath in at that, he had always thought the stories of their ferocious overlords were just fables to frighten guillable children.

She stepped out of the carriage in a priceless silk dress clutching a cedarwood box bound in glowing sigils with her one good arm. The other sleeve of her dress hung empty, a war wound perhaps?

A few of the villagers dared to speak to her, but she strode past them like they were nought but mist, directly up to the Witches house.

A rebellious part of him hoped she was here to strike her down. He could see it now! This noble warrior would vanquish his tormentor and free him from bondage!

Instead he and the rest of the village were rocked to the core when this figure of inhuman grace approached the house and meekly asked. "My beloved mentor, are you home? I have the last ingredient you requested."

The door creeks open and the shrivelled form of the Witch can be seen inside beckoning to the stranger. "No need to make such a fuss Bi. Get in here and put the kettle on, we have work to do. Where is that boy? TASSOS, get in here."

Tassos heads inside, and is told to pack up his things and make himself scarce for a few days, as their guest will need his bed. He is graciously granted a leave of absence to see his friends and family for the first time in years.

As he moves his few possessions towards the door he catches a glimpse of what was inside the chest that Bi has brought.

A heart, definitely human, as red and glistening as if it was fresh carved from a mans chest. His stomach roils as he watches it slowly beat before his appalled eyes as the two witches discuss it.

"It seems fitting that the same 5th Sea Elder you killed at Pleuron should be the source of your salvation Lady Barda." The newcomer coo's over the heart like its a baby bird.

"I didn't kill the Bitch, give the 13 their due, I just gave them a tool to do it with, the crazy bastards." Minervina is hunched over mortar and pestle, a long line of ingredients laid out on the table. "I do like the symmetry though, using a healers stolen heart to help control a poison. it will make the perfect foundation for the Malignant Nirvana Pill. Three days should be enough to see it done."

Tassos leaves the house at a quick jog, he would have sprinted, but he didn't want to risk catching the monsters attention.

He didn't know what exactly, but something terrible was about to happen.

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

It was the first light of dawn three days later that the lightning struck the house. Big black bolts of it, pitiless and unnatural. They were accompanied by demonic howls and ghostly chanting.

The Villagers crouched in their hovels and clung to each other, praying the heavens would spare them.

Tassos was the only witness, stood only metres away from the inferno. He was the only one to see Long Bi step out of the house a few minutes before the strike, the only one to see the woman stride out of the ruin of their old house.

His mind refused to process the differences. The clothes were the same greasy rags, but the person wearing them was different. The hunched old woman of his nightmares had been reforged into a devilish beauty with black hair that fell to her waist and the posture of a queen. Her skin was a radiant picture of health, tinged with the green of verdigris. She kicked over a burning post and laughed in joy. It was the voice that made it sink in, that spine-tingling laugh had not changed a bit.

He started to tremble as she caught sight of him and approached. He imagined a dozen terrible fates in that instant as she pulled a large sack out of the small pouch by her side and threw it at his feet. It landed with a metallic clink.

"You have been a good boy these past few years. Take the money and build me a decent hall would you? I might be back in a few decades."

With that the Witch of Whitefish Lake strides off towards the carriage and into legend.

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

Barda's back!!!!

This one seemed to fight me every step of the way. I will be coming back to redraft and edit bits tomorrow, but hope someone gets some joy out of it!

For rewards I think a second LST would be good. I will leave the exact details up to the author of her Fate!

 

[Humbaba]

@Katana1515

Threadmarked. As a heads up, both your previous omakes were titled as Minervina Barda 12. I've fixed it in the threadmarks but you might want to edit the post.

 

[Katana1515]

@Katana1515

Threadmarked. As a heads up, both your previous omakes were titled as Minervina Barda 12. I've fixed it in the threadmarks but you might want to edit the post.

Click to shrink...

Cheers, clearly I subconsciously decided an update 13 would jinx me. Its fixed now.

 

[Quest]

Cheers, clearly I subconsciously decided an update 13 would jinx me. Its fixed now.

Click to shrink...

Make sure you have an LST ready for this turn then.

 

[Garlak]

A heart, definitely human, as red and glistening as if it was fresh carved from a mans chest. His stomach roils as he watches it slowly *beat* before his appalled eyes as the two witches discuss it.

"It seems fitting that the same 5th Sea Elder you killed at Pleuron should be the source of your salvation Lady Barda." The newcomer coo's over the heart like its a baby bird.

Click to shrink...

... Literally using the heart of an enemy to work some witchcraft in order to heal and empower herself, and restore her youth and beauty.

Wow. How... how archetypically witchy. I am impressed. And amused. Definitely amused and impressed.

 

[BungieONI]

She kicked over a burning post and laughed in joy. It was the voice that made it sink in, that spine-tingling laugh had not changed a bit.

Click to shrink...

I N T E N S E
M U A H A H A H A H A H
E N E R G Y

 

[occipitallobe]

Aristoteles Kalokagathos
Omake Reward - N/A
Fate -Pursued his Dao, and broke through to Foundation Establishment.
Cultivation - 3rd Heavenstage -> FB (Early 1-Pillar)
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 100 years (+40)
Health - Healthy -> Healthy

Aurelia Xu
Omake Reward - N/A
Fate - Badly wounded at the end of the Trials, Aurelia was sent on a mission with to find two lost cultivators. Able to save Constants Herculius, she went into the desert to hunt the bandits who had harmed her kin. They hunted her in turn, killing her outright.
Health - DEAD

Castor Tyndaridae
Omake Reward - N/A
Fate - Slowly, ever-slowly. Castor managed to break into the 7th Heavenstage, his pace outstripped by many of his rivals. He knew not why he struggled so much, only that he did. In truth, it was his obsession with arrays. A man so meticulous and concerned with his work found less time to cultivate and pursue his Dao, though he did much good work repairing many arrays shattered and damaged during the Trials. Many such missions were poorly priced due to the chaos in the Clan, and he earned less from his efforts than he truly should have, unable to advance very far.
Cultivation - 6th Heavenstage -> 7th Heavenstage
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 53 years (+8)
Health - Healthy -> Healthy

Chen Rong
Omake Reward - N/A
Fate - Stepping ever-so slowly into the 3rd Heavenstage, Chen Rong managed to advance a little.
Cultivation - 1st Heavenstage -> 3rd Heavenstage
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 34 years (+13)
Health - Healthy -> Healthy

Chrysanthos Krimta
Omake Reward - N/A
Fate - Three Heavenstages and diligent cultivation, the lad of the Krimta family found himself an expert in the Qi Condensation realm.
Cultivation - 5th Heavenstage -> 8th Heavenstage
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 60 years (+22)
Health - Healthy -> Healthy

Constans Herculius
Omake Reward - N/A
Fate - Badly wounded at the end of the Trials, Constans found himself in battle repeatedly, unable to find the Contribution Points to advance. Several bad choices and missions later, and his eyes were carved out by a murderous bandit, only escaping due to his life-saving treasure.
Impact: 2 -> 2
Cultivation - 3rd Heavenstage -> 3rd Heavenstage
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 30 years (+0)
Health - Badly Wounded -> Dead (Massive overkill!) -> Crippled (LST used)

Damien Silver (DEAD)
Omake Reward - N/A
Fate - Badly wounded at the end of the Trials, Damien was sent on a mission with Constans. The two of them were tortured by bandits, but Damien was unable to escape, the proud Sword Cultivator's life ending beneath a torturer's blade.
Health - DEAD

Diogenes Aparámillos
Omake Reward - N/A
Fate - Cultivated in ordinary fashion. Sent to the Jingshen Clan for a mission of trade, ended up losing an exchange of pointers to a young master there, but was not badly hurt. Broke through to the 10th Heavenstage through diligent work.
Impact: 0 -> 0
Cultivation - 9th Heavenstage -> 10th Heavenstage
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 112 years (+24)
Health - Healthy -> Healthy

Dmitry Kascheev
Omake Reward - N/A
Fate - Ruminated on his Dao in isolation for twenty years, preparing to make a breakthrough to Foundation Establishment.
Impact: 0 -> 0
Cultivation - 9th Heavenstage -> 9th Heavenstage (1 turn to breaking through!)
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 60 years (+0)
Health - Healthy -> Healthy

Festus Sarantapechos
Omake Reward - N/A
Fate - A lucky encounter saw him draw the attention of one of the Core Formation mercenaries, who offered Festus some enlightenment, bringing his cultivation forward by decades. This bond with a senior helped him get resources and the like, and he managed to break into the 10th Heavenstage.
Impact: 0 -> 0
Cultivation - 9th Heavenstage -> 10th Heavenstage (1 turn to breaking through!)
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 109 years (+49)
Health - Wounded -> Lightly Wounded

Hektor Sarantapechos
Omake Reward - N/A
Fate - A Centurion doing a Legate's work. Only in Mid Foundation Building, but Hektor found himself as Acting Legate for a years as no higher-level Foundation Building Experts could come to the south to help due to a bureaucratic failure. It was in this time he faced down an early Core Formation blood path rebel. In six battles they faced one another, Hektor with the formations and Legion, the rebel with the power of a Great Realm. Able to chase and hedge in the enemy, Hektor was the anvil for two allied Core Formation cultivators hammer. He held against the Core Formation rebel until the mercenaries arrived and slew the enemy, but his meridians were shattered, and he was left crippled in doing so.
Impact: 6 ->6
Cultivation - Foundation Establishment 3-Pillar (Mid) -> Foundation Establishment 3-Pillar (Mid)
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 161 years (+0)
Health - Healthy -> Crippled

Juturna Cerintha
Omake Reward - N/A
Fate - Jurturna was another beneficiary of an elder, a mercenary seeking to show good faith with the Clan while they were weak. With her mentor's guidance, she rose drastically, gaining what would have taken others three decades. Her own cultivation and efforts slackened some, but such is the effect of powerful friends.
Impact: 1 ->1
Cultivation - 7th Heavenstage -> 9th Heavenstage
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 87 years (+37)
Health - Healthy -> Healthy

Lihua Kokkinos
Omake Reward - N/A
Fate - Lihua, poor girl, found herself still crippled and unable to do much. Her strength weakened, and no cure to be found, she spent twenty years in quiet isolation.
Impact: 1 ->1
Cultivation - 9th Heavenstage -> 9th Heavenstage
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 60 years (0)
Health - Crippled -> Crippled

Lin Fan (DEAD)
Omake Reward - N/A
Fate - The ever-wounded Lin Fan travelled into the Great Battlefield, seeking battles and riches. Unfortunately for him, his demonic nature and demonic tunes had him mistaken for a Blood Path cultivator, and a Core Formation Elder found and slew him. Only afterwards was his Golden Devil background discovered, and a payment for the wrongful killing made.
Impact: 1 ->1
Health - Wounded -> Dead

Nicovas Ceruleus
Omake Reward - N/A
Fate - Nicovas progressed into the 9th Heavenstage, and began working on his Dao, looking to ascend into Foundation Establishment.
Impact: 0 ->0
Cultivation - 8th Heavenstage -> 9th Heavenstage
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 60 years (+5)
Health - Wounded -> LW

Peta and Wajo
Omake Reward - N/A
Fate - Despite their horrific wounding, the two spent much of the following decades recovering and caring for one another. This closeness sent them on several safe trade trips. It was there Wajo's keen nose smelled out a Brightsilk Honey Herb, a magical herb capable of being distilled into a pill to help one's cultivation soar by nearly six decades worth of work. Buying it for one-millionth of its true value, the two hurried home before it could be discovered that it was not a mere regular Brightsilk Herb. If Peta's wounds had not been so severe, the two would've made it into the 11th Heavenstage with ease. As it was, the two stood at the top of the 10th Heavenstage.
Impact: 4 -> 4
Cultivation - 9th Heavenstage -> 10th Heavenstage
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 150 years (+62)
Health - Badly Wounded -> Wounded

Shennong
Omake Reward - None requested. Gave LST.
Fate -Young Shennong finally began to rise. On a trip with one of the Thirteen and her bear, he discovered the deception that had been wrought. In return for his assistance in buying the herb without alerting the owner to its true value, he was given an offcut of the pill, something useless to someone with the power of the 9th Heavenstage, but enough to save a 2nd Heavenstage cultivator like him a decade of work. With that, he worked incredibly diligently, using that initial boost to work his way into the 9th Heavenstage.
Impact: 0 - > 0
Cultivation - 2nd Heavenstage -> 9th Heavenstage
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 69 years (+44)
Health - Healthy -> Healthy

Su Cheng
Omake Reward - N/A
Fate - Su Cheng cultivated diligently. What more to be said? No great encounters or problems, but no acts of heroism.
Impact: 0 - > 0
Cultivation - 3rd Heavenstage -> 6th Heavenstage
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 49 years (+19)
Health - Healthy -> Healthy

Tie Jin
Omake Reward - N/A
Fate - A mournful fate for Tie Jin. Attempting to fight a Three Poison Scorpion, he was stung on the foot. He dragged his way back to civilization, but the poison had progressed too far and no doctor could save him. He died over the course of six days in agony.
Health - Healthy -> Dead

Zeno Angelus
Omake Reward - LST
Fate - Spent a considerable time babysitting the daughter of Jin Muyi after his transformation, striking up something of a friendship with the terrifying plant man. Together with Muyi, obtained the memoir of his ancestor from the clan archives, revealing a peculiar dance technique. Ascended to the 4th Heavenstage, his attempts to teach this technique to his legion comrades perhaps distracting him from achieving his full potential this period.
Impact: 0 -> 0
Cultivaton - 1st Heavenstage -> 4th Heavenstage
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 36 Years (+15)
Health - Healthy -> Healthy

 

[Ptolemy]

Oof, several of them dead. That's a shame.

 

[Katana1515]

Oof, two of them dead. That's a shame.

Click to shrink...

Worse I think, my eyes might be failing me but I count 4 dead in that post! Not to mention a few high profile cripplings!

Truly the Heavens are cruel.

 

[George]

Oof, two of them dead. That's a shame.

Click to shrink...

that's four dead...
what a depressing update

also was this 'extra super overkill dead' that overrides LST healing 2 stages mentioned somewhere in the posts about the rules revamp? it feels really unfair to tell people that an LST guarantees they get badly wounded at worst then have this surprise outcome.

Lifesaving Treasure - Triggers if you are Wounded or worse. Improves your results by two steps. So Death -> Heavily Wounded. Wounded -> Not wounded. Crippled -> Wounded. Guarantees you will not die on a turn where you are holding one. Heavily recommended to have at least one if you don't want to die.

Click to shrink...

 

[Uber_Fail_Dinesh]

...NOICE.

Just saved myself a metric butt ton of work. Thanks whoever sacrificed a goat to aid me!

 

[Shard]

that's four dead...
what a depressing update

also was this 'extra super overkill dead' that overrides LST healing 2 stages mentioned somewhere in the posts about the rules revamp? it feels really unfair to tell people that an LST guarantees they get badly wounded at worst then have this surprise outcome.

Click to shrink...

From what occi has said, such super overkills will be clearly telegraphed im advance, so we would have to choose to do them.

 

[Marlin]

@occipitallobe did Daedalus Khimara get skipped by accident from the Good Seed Report, or did I screw something up?

 

[Juugo]

Zeno lives! *. *
As far as I am concerned the scary plant man and his (not) dead daughter saved me from a gruesome death by accident.

 

[occipitallobe]

Amaranth Castellanos
Omake Reward - Healed
Fate - Healed, and cultivated. To say Amaranth was not famous after his deeds at Pleuron would be a lie, but it took many years for him to recover. After a decade, he pursued his cultivation with incredible vigour, but made only ordinary progress. With few adventures and the like to speak of, he was bent on making up the time he had lost.
Impact - 7 (+0)
Cultivation - 10th Heavenstage (no change)
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 131 years (+11)
Health - Crippled -> Healthy

Daedalus Khimaira
Omake Reward - Trib Boost
Fate - While Daedalus made great strides in his Dao, he too was a victim of the relentless poor payments from the Contribution Board. This chaos in the Clan meant his ordinary work paid poorly, and he could hardly shift his profession. Under-resourced and under-paid, he advanced only a little.
Impact - 2 (+0)
Cultivation - 9th Heavenstage (no change)
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 96 years (+7)
Health - Healthy -> Healthy

Fierce Fang
Omake Reward - LST
Fate - A dragon among men, they called him. From his deeds to his recent cultivation, it was all an extraordinary thing. He discovered a Blue Dragon's Reverse Scale (LST), a treasure of immense power. It had killed all others who had touched it with raw force. It was his transformation, however, that allowed him ever-greater progress by taking the scale. Absorbing the Qi of a pure dragon in a way other cultivators could not, he rose up into the top of the 11th Heavenstage in a single leap, unassisted by his own cultivation overmuch. The sheer power allowed him to forge a path onwards with lightning, incredible speed, rising to the top of his group of cultivators. Where previously he had bene mediocre, Fang was mere moments away from achieving his 12th Heavenstage goal and beginning to consider his Tribulation. The remaining power in the Scale was not much, but would summon a ghostly dragon to his aid only once, flying him away from any danger with incredible speed.
Impact - 4 (+0)
Cultivation - 11th Heavenstage (+1 Heavenstage)
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 202 years (+97)
Health - Healthy -> Healthy

Savvas Nicolidis
Omake Reward - Tribulation Boost
Fate - Meditating on his Dao for nearly twenty years, it was a chance encounter with an elder from the Sorrowful Blacksmith Sect that allowed Savvas to break through. The elder's great-granddaughter, a mere mortal, was one the elder doted on immensely. Savvas saved her from an attack by a Blood Path bandit in the foothills near the mountains, and in return the Core Formation elder offered to stand as his Dao Protector for his ascension into Foundation Establishment, allowing him to break through without the danger and effort another cultivator would've required. It cost the elder time and cultivation, of course, but he was so happy with the return of his beloved descendent that he was willing to perform this service.
Impact - 3 (+0)
Cultivation - 9th Heavenstage -> Foundation Establishment 1-Pillar (Early)
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 100 years
Health - Healthy -> Healthy

Tasos Basilakes
Omake Reward - Cultivation Boost
Fate - The archer was one of so many who found growth after Pleuron. Unlike many it was not a fortuitous encounter, but in this case an error in his favour. For almost ten years, scouting missions in his level of strength (above Qi, but below Foundation) were drastically overpriced due to the chaos in the Clan's administrative systems. There were almost none who could take on these missions, and so the overpricing was not found or address. Over the course of the following twenty years Tasos earned nearly ten times his wage that he in truth should have, gaining massive cultivation from the incredible resources he was able to access. Missions paying at near Foundation Establishment level for a mere Qi cultivator meant Tasos became rich very quickly, and invested nearly every Spirit Stone back into his growth, able to pour resources into the bottomless hole that was cultivation. He once considered an attempt to inform the Contributions Board, but his attempt aborted after waiting nearly two weeks for a meeting with an administrator that was repeatedly pushed back and eventually cancelled. He conceded that it was best to take the opportunity as it was. While he did not find the wood he sought, he found a clue. An expensive clue. The Man-Eating Cherry Trees of Turtlebone Mountain were a dangerous sort, but could be carved while alive, as he sought. Such a journey would be dangerous in the extreme, of course.
Impact - 10 (+0)
Cultivation - 10th Heavenstage (+1 stages)
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 165 years (+77)
Health - Healthy -> Healthy

Theron Strophios
Omake Reward - LST
Fate - Theron fought, and fought, and fought. Killing and fighting bandits for nearly ten years, he was rewarded with three massive caches of stolen Sprit Stones, each enough to help skyrocket his cultivation. Killing bandits was a chore, in truth, and he faced only those weaker than him, protected by a Foundation expert who led his team.
Impact - 1 (+0)
Cultivation - 8th Heavenstage (+7 stages)
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 63 years (+42)
Health - Healthy -> Healthy

Simon Euaerizo
Omake Reward - None Asked For - gave Lifesaving Treasure
Fate - One of a new crop of Seeds found in the mad dash to replenish our numbers after the losses of the most recent trials, young Simon is someone to watch, if for no other reason than his suspicious origins as a potential infiltrator. The risk is miniscule however, as that would require Old Cannibal be of mind to recruit mortals of the clan to raise for long term schemes, or for others of his Clansmen to be capable of such in the first place.

That fact, along with the Condensed Marrow Elixir and Blood Clone Substitution Pill we found among his effects, makes it unlikely that he was dispatched. Upon taking in the boy and sorting through his belongings, the Euaerizo's showed the medicine to him, which caused him to break down crying tearfully about his mother, revealing his true parentage to the family. His mother's final gift served him well, clearing his path of cultivation in an instant, and letting him reach the cusp of Qi Condensation within a mere 20 years.

Truly, family is a powerful thing Grand Elder.

Impact: 0 -> 0
Cultivation - 1st Heavenstage -> 9th Heavenstage
Tribulation - 2 turns from passing into Foundation Establishment.
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 75 Years (+54)
Health - Healthy > Healthy

Sun Yi
Omake Reward - N/A
Fate - +10 cultivation
Perhaps the strangest of our newest crop of seeds, Sun Yi is perhaps the single greatest oddity of all - a Goatman with a spark of actual talent. He is not some heaven-sent genius by any means, but his above-average results may mean that our vassals to the Far South have come up with a new Cultivation method that may make them capable of easing the burden of their defense as the time nears for the Blood Cannibals to make their move. Perhaps not encouraging on its own, but the ability to redeploy more valuable assets elsewhere without worry is just one more scrap of strength in a time when even the most meager of potential must be taken advantage of.
Impact: 0 -> 0
Cultivation - 1st Heavenstage -> 5th Heavenstage
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 40 Years (+29)
Health - Healthy > Healthy

Lastly, but not least.

Aretaphilia Myia.
Omake Reward - +10 cultivation
Fate -
The Myia girl. Yes, Grand Elder. My report? One of the last of her generation to enter Qiguai, success or failure aside, she has oft been compared to the Callista girl. Good blood, good family, good progress. Of late she fell far behind her erstwhile rival, but who can foretell the future? Apparently she linked up with a small troop of our disciples and offered to boost their power in return for a split in resources. Where others were seeking out great singular opportunities, in her report she states she swept the place clean. Robbing fairly from our foes, seizing resources, and finding a hundred if not a thousand useful little things. Even after her return, the estimation is she made enough to boost herself through forty years of cultivation. Her progress otherwise was faster than normal, but many of our juniors have benefited from her leadership. Apparently some young master of the Jingshen Clan was there, and threatened to rape and kill her - she states he sought revenge for the Myia girl seizing a Three-Lined Herb first. He killed one of her subordinates in the Realm, and she slew him in return. He had a flying treasure allowing him to escape, but she has some counter to flight, and was able to kill him and take his Amplification Stone (+2 Impact). Useless for most - considered an expensive toy for those who are not Demonic Tunists, in truth - but it allows her to amplify the distance at which her musical arts may be heard and take effect, albeit at a significant cost to her endurance when used. Nobody knows, and the Realm is beyond scrying - there's no need to offer potential reprisal to Jingshen to protect her.
Impact: 11 -> 13
Cultivation - 10th Heavenstage -> 11th Heavenstage (+1)
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 212 Years (+64)
Health - Healthy > Healthy

- - - - - -

And with a postscript of apologies to...

Syntyche Theophylaktos
Omake Reward - LST
Fate - Theophylaktos. It was the name, Manuel had decided, that had led him to gift the opportunity to the girl. A sense of guilt following the death of his disciple, one he gave in to briefly. He had a peculiar sensation that a particular mission would have excellent luck around it, and so he arranged for it to happen into Syntyche's grasp. The Eight-Nine Ghost Mine is a dangerous place, and a Core Formation elder was lost in the bottom of it a few hundred years ago. The upper levels yield few Spirit Stones, and until a particular Qi Detection Array had shown a new vein opening up, it had been abandoned entirely. As it was, a scouting team had been recruited, of which Syntyche was one. Of the thirty cultivators who entered the mine, twenty-nine died. She lived only due to the Mortal-Seeming Cloak (+6 Impact), a tremendously powerful cloak that made one seem as a mortal when worn. As only the least of the ghosts attacked her, she was able to escape. The Cloak makes one immune to Qi senses below Core Formation, and, in addition, cloaks the killing intent of the cultivator using it from any below Core Formation. Such an item can be used as an immense boon to an assassin, or an ambusher.
Impact: 2 -> 8
Cultivation - 9th Heavenstage (+4 stages)
Cultivation-Year Equivalent - 67 Years (+22)
Health - Healthy > Healthy

 

[occipitallobe]

Whew. Finally done (I think) with the Good Seed report for this turn. If there are any issues, problems, people missed, instructions missed, anything of that nature, let me know and I'll get it addressed. Next up (though probably not today) is the turn update.

 

[occipitallobe]

To be honest, when I heard about a completely different universe's concept being brought into the quest, I was vaguely hesitant as to how it'd turn out.

I really shouldn't have been.

"What's dual cultivation?" made me laugh out loud, and the story itself is funny, entertaining, and enjoyable. Xiuying is a beautiful cinnamon roll of goodness, and her interactions with her teacher are just fantastic.

I still have a list to recommend at some point, but this one definitely caught my eye this turn.

If you're new to the thread and just want to read something without delving into some of the intimidating novels (notably - Ferenike's story is longer than the main story thread, and once you exclude Good Seed Reports and the like is substantially longer as stories go) here, Xiuying is a great read. I rate her noodles four swords out of zero - because there's no such thing as a sword, of course.

Go read it here.

 

[Liliet]

Eirene of Nowhere thirteenth omake - journeys of the mind​

Studies and research, teaching and learning.

This was the lifestyle Eirene of Nowhere had hoped for when she'd first gone to join the Clan, with so much trepidation and uncertainity if she was doing the right thing. Coming up with new healing methodics alongside the Clan's best, testing them and training in old ones. Managing the Clan's newest crop - this part was a surprise, truth be told, but a very much welcome one. Racking up Contribution Points for the Legion that had taken her in and never imposed much demand on her time, trusting her own judgement and discretion. Playing, singing and dancing in the time that was left free from that, forcing her qi into new patterns and mastering the peaceful techniques that her beautiful scarf made so much easier.

Yet still there were differences from the sedentary and reputable lifestyle she'd envisioned. Her cultivation had taken a step beyond the orthodoxy, her music providing benefits on entirely unexpected scale, with her long-dead cultivator teacher's aid. She was one of the Clan's hope and pride, and she was expected - she felt very much obligated to keep pushing herself beyond the limits of what was easy and ordinary and expected. The longer she spent in the capital, the more anxious she felt that she wasn't doing enough - oh, all the hours in her day were spent productively, but ultimately, a single Qi Condensation cultivator couldn't really do that much. The best aid she could be to her clan was work on her personal development, and that had - not stalled, exactly. It was proceeding at the expected pace... and nothing more than that.

That didn't feel like enough. Never had, if she told herself the truth; but now it was more than just a dreamer's whim.

At the very least, she owed her teacher a visit.

The Clan did not impose on its cultivators' time overmuch, preferring a system of incentives for steering them. She took a couple of missions on the way to where she was going, and off she went, traveling.

***​

The Clan was recovering.

It was visible everywhere in the lands she visited, frantic activity and reconstruction, high energy and novelty of the likes she had not seen before. Bright open future, people forging new destinies in the ruins of the old; it was reassuring and worrying both, because in a century's time - less, now - the Trials would come again, and what then? Would these waves of destruction and renewal spur their growth, or would they leave them diminished time after time, until they were finally wiped out completely?

Once upon a time, Eirene would have said that this wouldn't happen within her lifetime anyway; that this wasn't going to be her problem, no matter what the Heavens had in store. These days... these days, more and more things felt achievable. And more and more things felt like her responsibility, if not now, then one day. She wandered among mortals, her qi under tight control and light illusion making her bronze skin look lighter and with a more human texture. Cultivators could recognize her anyway - she didn't bother masking the illusion itself from qi senses - but in a crowd, she didn't draw a second look. Crowds weren't really her native place, though - Nowhere was, and so into nowhere she went, abandoning populated cities and well-traveled paths in favor of out of the way villages and nomadic settlements moving from oasis to oasis as they formed and dried out. Eirene of Nowhere, enjoying these people's lack of knowledge about specifics of anything that happened during the Trials, enjoying the practicality of her skills' application, enjoying asking for lessons in this craft or that in exchange for her aid. And every single person she talked to, thinking her a youngster yet most of them younger than her, patronizing and friendly, felt in their ignorance like they were hers to protect.

She encountered some bandits along the way; she avoided the more dangerous Foundation Building experts and smashed the Qi Condensation gaggles before legionaries had time to get to them. Fighting was not something she particularly enjoyed, not after Pleuron, but Blood Path was Blood Path. There was no coming back from that, and sometimes wanting peace meant needing the bigger stick.

It was her healing, though, that truly developed in the midst of this wasteland. A treasure received from a grateful ancestor; a handful of field medicine tricks picked up from people who've not had the luxury of access to tools and ingredients common in the capital; a deeper understanding of what health problems tended to plague mortals outside of the Clan's protective aegis. Her songs took on a more thoughtful tint, in these months, halfway towards learning how to express deeper truths and more profound patterns. She showed her teacher, when she reached her; the woman still sat in the same crack, playing the same melodies, and was amused and grateful for the visit, for all that she still avoided telling Eirene anything about herself. She listened to her tales - Eirene preferred the smaller, more mundane ones, avoiding the topic of Trials and the clan in general, for she was still not quite clear what the woman's relation to all that had been - offered some of her own, just as mundane and low key, yet still with no small insights. Her Dao wasn't quite Eirene's, Eirene understood, but there was enough in common that it felt like a single day spent in the woman's company helped consolidate her gains over the last... had it been forty years? It had.

Eirene left at dawn at the woman's bidding - apparently her apparition wasn't so stable as all that, and the magic that allowed her to persist, to hold memory and interact with others relied on long periods of inactivity, of existing as little more than a trembling shade playing the same memories over and over again. She left, leaving her teacher in her vulnerability, not promising to return - she was superstitious, she discovered, about promises she wasn't truly sure if she'd be able to back.

***​

Andronike. She missed Andronike so badly. Her first true friend, her mind immediately went to her after she parted with her teacher. She'd grown close to Andronike in pretty close succession after meeting the woman; learned and created, following the path dotted for her on the map with her own feet. The woman had been so earnest in her honor, in her devotion to the Clan, her family, in her protectiveness of her juniors. She'd encouraged Eirene's rise without seemingly even a single thought about Eirene overtaking her, about treating it as competition. Eirene gained a few insights into that, she felt, as she watched young Aliki - little Aliki, she'd say, but the girl was several heads taller than her - prance around, oblivious to the absurdity of her meteoric rise from, apparently, eating a single scorpion as a means of disposing of the body without wasting resources. One should not waste food; a lot of potential food for Aliki was being wasted every day as apparently their elders were electing to be cautious about the girl's unusual abilities. Eirene could understand that, considering that the girl's childishly detailed account did not so much as hint at any potential limits to her growth. Still, if her opinion was ever going to be asked on this, she knew she'd back allowing Aliki to develop to the hilt. The girl deserved every benefit of doubt, and threats had more of a tendency to develop out of those jilted and stifled, in her opinion, than those supported and nurtured and trusted.

Still, the naivete was a double-edged sword, and Eirene at least did her part in attempting to teach the girl to navigate the big, confusing, not-conductive-to-naps-all-the-time-at-all world without tripping over nasty surprises - to herself or to others. Do no harm, do as much good as you can - Aliki's straightforward simplicity was charming like few things Eirene had encountered. She simply did not draw much distinction between "good for me" and "good for others" - good was good and bad was bad, and that was that. She'd learn to, one day, Eirene knew, but when that day came... Hopefully she'd have enough of a foundation in caring for others that she'd stick to that anyway, as a conscious choice this time.

Eirene hoped that maybe one day Aliki would look back and think of her the same way she thought ever more frequently of Andronike Kairos, her teacher in that ever difficult art of meeting people.

And she hoped that she herself would live to make everyone who'd ever taught her anything proud.

end omake​

 

[Olivebirdy]

I'm thinking about making an omake of Juturna, my tireless Peace Daoist just going around and solving issues-- X Family has a grudge against Y Family, so Juturna creates a positive incentive for Y family's Young Mistress to be the source of a reagent that X Family desperately needed, which forces a private thank-you, which in turn lessens the resources they both require to compete with each other, freeing up the lands they're monopolizing, which allows young herbalists to experiment, making their own families happy and creating a growth of a new market that she's invested in.

Thing is, I need to build up her backstory a bit, go through her Fates. I'm thinking that maybe she was working as a diplomatic liason in the North, near the magic blood trees? I'd like to eventually go mess with the Magic Oak Tree.

 

[Katana1515]

Perhaps part of it could be acting as a sort of peacemaker and counsellor in the aftermath of the trials? Their has to be lots of grieving families and grudges against the clan elders (That are left!) After all those deaths?

 

[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.

 

[Sol Zagato]

Building Bear

Click to shrink...

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."

 

[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.

 

[Juugo]

Idea for my next Omake: The Platoon goes on a mission and find out Blood path Bandits try to spring an ambush and they can avert that through careful scouting and use of the [Phantasmal sight]

Blood Path Cult cleaning​

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March towards a shrinking Oasis town in the middle of the night. That´s all I am thinking. Oh, who am I kidding. Marching is so boring and tiring. Why can´t something exciting happen?

"Stop muttering Fleetfeet and look up ahead. Look, finally an Oasis and good food ahead!"

"Yeah, yeah. Will the food be the best foodstuff you ate in you entire life as well? Her crooked grin would normally be a better sight than sand, if more than just the moon shone down upon us.

"Of course, Fleety! My mouth will have forgotten all about the taste of the meal at the end of the day. The meal we are about to eat in this town has to-"

"-give you energy for the punishment you two are getting for not following marching procedure. Stop fooling around, get back into formation and shush!" The Commander orders with a harsh wisper and we, of course, comply. Why are we marching at night without light, though?
_____________________________________________________

A few hours later our Squad of 12 crested over another large dune, which would normally allow us to see the village, but we will manage, somehow. I am sure.

"Zeno, can you dance Phantasmal Sight with three others and reveal to us the town hall?"

"Um, I think so?" With the approval given by the commander Alexandria, Derek, Herc and myself dance the art Phantasmal Sight. Thankfully, the events, which will be shown at our feet, don´t glow as harshly as the radiance of our famed legion formations. No one likes getting ambushed, not even us.

Before long a Whirlpool of shadow qi forms into a moving picture of a small room, painted haphazardly in dark colours. In spite of the perfect clarity of our beautiful art of qi our the Commander confirms that we are indeed undetected and only then allows us to stop dancing. It is easier to counter the backlash by a paranoid enemy while we are still in motion after all.

While the Commander looks at the working, those who aren´t on guard duty line up in a single file. I wonder what has her so captivated? We did this song and dance in our training literally all the time. My inattentiveness gets crushed soon after by the exultant cry of the Commander. "We are in luck, comrades! Tonight we crash a dinner party and not even my peaceloving Grandmother will be able to compain!" Her jolly demeanor relieves some tensions I didn´t think existed before. Must be stress.

"This, my dear comrades is an ambush and we are about to crash it. To be precise it´s common blood path ritual, which uses unsuspecting idiots like you to fuel an orgy of blood and bones. Now Comrades where do you think the actual inhabitants are?"

"Are they caged underground, beneath a deep maze, locked behind bars, which are guarded by two really tall earthworms that anyone that moves?!"

"Eh, no Sylvi. They aren´t" I could have sworn the commander tried to reach her nose in frustration. I must have imagined it. A commander like her does not do that.

"Most of the inhabitants of this town are in fact sleeping unaware in their homes. Only the sacrifices and all our targets are in the town hall."

"Awesome, only our commander could have figured that one out!"

"No Derek, if you bothered to actually look, all of you could have put it together. The bandits are the only ones in the village with a bright-as-day house in the middle of the night and no is outside the hall is drinking or shouting. There simply is no party without a few drunkards outside the main hall. Not one!"

"Oh." and a slow nod is the only reply Derek gives to this crushing assesment of his skills. Can´t blame him.

"Let´s get to work!" With that said I clear our qi working with a quick hand gesture and we beginn our quiet walk towards the village hall.
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Once there, we break open the front gate of the village hall and form up. This building is just big hallway for us. How convenient. While we form up in the hallway the Blood Path scum shares with us his last words.

"Who dares disturb the meal of the most Exalted Lord Longtail?!" Dark spittle flies on to the bulbous belly of this creature. Disgusting.

"I am Commander Zhi of the Golden Devil Clan and our mission is to root out all Blood Path Bandits we encounter. That includes usurpers of Golden Devil Authority like you!" With spears raised at him his tone changes and his followers slowly form up behind him.

"But an Inspector from the Golden Devil Clan shouldn´t arrive for another Decade! Followers, these are obviously intruders upon this Land, which our glorious Leader graciously bestowed upon the Golden Devils so they too may learn to enjoy the exaltation of Blood! Crush these infidels!"

With these Orders given by the enemy, we raise our qi formation up and advance. With strength these creatures will never learn we break their waves of flesh and before our formation reaches the end of the hallway our enemies lie defeated in pools of their own blood and guts. Now there is only cleaning left to do, by us. Was talking really worth it?

"Ugh, sand doesn´t smell so horrible."

"Shut up Fleety and start cleaning."

It really wasn´t.
__________________________________________________
My Omake for this turn. Word: ca. 900.
Omake-Reward: I would like a cultivation boost if possible.
@BungieONI , @Mochinator

And now @FixerUpper I hope my attempt at slimming down is noticeable?