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

Voting is open
New Good Seed and Omake Rule Updates
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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.

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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.

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

Disciple Carvos is required to keep this document on his person at all times due to the number of incidents caused in a mere two weeks

" by you Carvos as for fuck sake you are going to give me aneurism with the sheer amount of them and DO NOT CALL ME SHORTY I AM TALL ENOUGH!!.


1. you to have a minder with you at all times

" and yes, unfortunately, that's me and no I am not a child I just look like this and I will have you know I am a foundation establishment I do NOT!!! Need protection you battle mad lunatic".




2 you are not to fight fellow Clansmen outside of training you have sent far too many to the healers they were starting to get overwhelmed. In a single day you!!! Yes, you managed to send eighty-four to the healers.

"Look, I know you love fighting and it's your source of growth - if you were any other cultivator you'd be in the gallows now. You're going to have to learn how to manage this curse you carry, otherwise, your career as a cultivator will be a short one. Understand?


3 you are to go the healers when you are wounded

" not KEEP FIGHTING WITH YOUR STOMACH OPEN TO THE WORLD AND YOUR GUTS HANGING OUT I DONT CARE IF YOU REGENERATE FROM KILLING THAT THOUSAND YEAR SAND LION WAS FAR ABOVE YOU IN POWER YOU UTTER MORON!!!!"


4 You are not to Challange the Grand elder to a duel to the death

"I have never been so embarrassed and mortified in all my life you are lucky that he found it amusing and knocked you out and i was the one who had to drag you away apologising."

5 you are now banned from escorting caravans or anything that involves guard duty

"Sigh… we really should have expected you to charge that emerald death spider I had to save your sorry hide then YOU JUST HAD TO CHALLENGE EVERY ONE IN THE CARAVAN GUARDS AND HOLD UP THE CARAVAN FOR THREE DAYS" 's

6 you are banned from any diplomatic escort mission and anything sensitive

"After the caravan incident, I just requested that you not be near anything important so we don't have a massive conflict because you wanted to fight a young masters,s retinue and the young master to the death I could see your lunatic mind turning the moment I mentioned it so put a stop to it.


7 you are to learn self-control

" That means you have to go to those lessons I don't care if they are boring for you im I will drag you there myself and I will take great pleasure in it"

8 you are not to tell mortals the glory of fighting

"No just no I do not want more of you the day there is more of you is the day the heavens have inflicted a new curse upon us so for the sake of sanity everywhere i'm putting a stop to this RIGHT NOW!!"



9 you are not to drink alcohol ever again

"Why do you have to be worse when you're drunk a happy you would be nice to happen to another person but why MUST A DRUNK YOU START CHALLENGING EVERY HOUSE YOU CAN SEE The damage you caused was obscene"


10 all requests must be done properly not interpreted on how you would like it

"You just had to drag that spirit beast to the one who requested it at this point I am not surprised anymore at least he liked the thought of it being fresh but you are not to do this again



11 your fellow cultivators are not weapons

"If you do that to me again you simple-minded batshit heaven-sent moron I will show you what a true beating a motherfucker with another motherfucker is LIKE"



12 Bronze skin dose not mean bronze weapon

"You are such a moron it hurts my head please don't do this again"

13 big guts is not a reason to start a fight with a spirit beast bigger and stronger then you

"Do I need to explain why you don't do this"

"and No Attacking a bigger one will not make me feel better JUST STOP!!!"




14 you must put time aside to contemplate your path

" fighting is not contemplation and I will be making you sit down and think what your Dao actually means your future depends on this"


15 you are to obey the clan's orders not wander off and do your own thing

"The fact that this is here shows how much of a moron you are please stop it or I will make you stop"


@ReaderOfFate here's other omake
 
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Getting people to cooperate in your science fair project costs resources and coordination. Maybe not much, but it's still going to get time-consuming. How do you convince someone you've never met to give you precise measurements of the shadow of a particular building at a particular time of day?

It's far from impossible, but if the character is really trying at this, it's going to consume some time and energy and one has to wonder how others react to that.

Yes, but my impression is that the "continent" is completely surrounded by a greater ocean, and that the sun would have to be passing into and out of that if it were to do so. Not just into some (ocean-sized) lake in the middle of the "continent"
He dosent really have to convince. He is s Cultivator and a Golden Devil. If he says something, mortals will listen.
 
It does bear reminding that even a Cultivator of the 1st Heavenstage is hilariously wealthy compared to mortals.
 
Someone bugging people and running experiments is what triggers your unreality sensor, after all the Good Seeds we've had so far?

Don't forget all of this happens over a 20 year timeframe aswell. It's never said response is instant.
 
Antonius Emmanuel Eleanora 61 - [Turn 7] [The Culture of the Blade Duchies]
You can probably add an 'as envisioned by Quest' after the title. Writing about Yahwen really made me think about the backstory of the Blade Duchies. When I say, really made me think about it, I mean really. This was the result. Hopefully it's an enjoyable read for people and doesn't drag on too long.

Antonius Emmanuel Eleanora 61
[Turn 7]
[The Culture of the Blade Duchies]

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Recommendations:

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The Blade of the Night - How To Keep Them Coming.
by A. Nimas.
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by Corvina Taurus and Auxilia Yahwen.
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The Culture of the Blade Duchies
By Corvina Taurus and Auxilia Yahwen​

The Blade Duchies of the Divided Mortal Kingdoms have a remarkably unique culture and great dao in swords. While practitioners of swords and sabers and various other types of weapons are hardly unknown, what makes them interesting is having an entire culture dedicated to using the same sword styles and pursuing the same dao for generations and generations. In order to better prepare those who might have to journey there or interact with its members or are merely looking for inspiration for their own dao, I have sat down with a member of that culture and written down the basics of their philosophies.

Before we begin, we must first understand the realities of those cultures and why both duchies are completely identical in culture and remain relatively stable despite bitter rivalries that have run for millennia. Whether through collusion and simply due to reaching the same conclusion from the same incentives, certain attitudes are highly encouraged in both duchies by the ducal elite. Those attitudes are quite simply, even the weakest mortal matters and of course, that the cultivation of the sword is paramount.

Sword Qi runs within the blood of even the common men and women of what is collectively known as the Sword Country. Even more so, the strength of their blood directly translates into the strength of their liege. The Duke's personal power comes directly from their people in a very real way and because of that, they are incentivised to protect those people. A very popular folktale about an honorable swordsman on a journey staying behind to protect the people from an evil blood path demon would be an example of the propaganda spread regarding this.

When it comes to the people, this folktale shows everything their liege would want them to learn. 'Protect the people' to his cultivators, 'The cultivators protect you', to his people, and 'The blood path is terrible and evil' to everyone who listens. Blood Path is particularly abhorred here as taking power from any mortal means taking the power of the duke. Practicing the Sword has a strong patriotic flair among the common man.

A common theme for all styles practiced by the duchies is their focus on control and non-lethal takedowns. Even with techniques that should be lethal, duels play out more like a game of strategy with move and countermove with the final lethal blow being enough to draw blood. Those who slay their enemies are looked down upon. On the surface, this is said to be because they prize mastery over the sword over all things. Ideas such as 'A master swordsman only cuts that which he wishes to cut' or 'A swordsman who fears the second battle doubts his own skill' are common refrains that reinforce this.

This is what points to potential collusion between the two Ducal Households as they seem to have developed a methodology that allows constant clashes between their forces without risking the lives of those forces. The proponents against this point out that the Dukes would not want their own forces to slay each other in domestic duels as each cultivator represents an important donor of sword qi, which means they would have developed such a culture anyway.

Regardless of the reason, this is the reality of the situation there. For most who're travelled through the sword country or interacted with their citizens, those are the things to keep in mind. Information on the ducal houses are less well-known, though the philosophy of their Seven-Part Dao will be touched upon later in this article. It should be noted that pointing this out or any other similarities to most members of the two duchies is considered grounds for a duel and should be avoided in any contact with said members.

With the basic description out of the way, let us discuss their three-part philosophy - The Philosophy of Man, The Philosophy of Earth and the Philosophy of Heaven each corresponding to their mortals, Qi Condensation rank and file and Foundation Establishment ducal household respectively. Please see the expansion of these philosophies below.

The Philosophy of Man

'Those who cannot bear the sword are meant to serve it.'

These words together summarize the Philosophy of Man. As it implies, the practice of the sword is paramount. Every child grows up playing with toy swords, every adolescent learns how to forge a true one and by the time they have reached adulthood, every man born and raised within the duchy can wield his sword well enough to defend himself. Those who have the talent to cultivate are accepted into the Household of the Duke and grow to form his nobility but those who cannot form their peasantry, serving them as their attendants, their farmers, their builders and most prestigiously, their smiths.

A swordsman's most favored servant is the one who can care for his sword. While every swordsman should theoretically be capable of doing it themselves, it often isn't practical. Every swordsman is trained in forging a sword worthy of their cultivation of course, but between cultivation, duels and training, they lack the time to maintain them. The most favored servants of a swordsman are those trusted enough to sharpen his sword, to hold his spares or other assorted jobs that the swordsman himself may not have time for.

It is a matter of pride for the peasantry to be skilled enough to hold these positions and those who fulfill these roles are never looked down upon. Being a cultivator is a matter of honor and it is well-known that any man skilled enough to challenge and defeat a noble in duel is welcome to take their place. Even the children of the nobility are not guaranteed to inherit their parent's place, though they do more often than not due to the greater resources and training afforded to them.

An extreme example of this is the Ducal Heir. In theory, the duke's son has the same chances as any within his household but in practice, most peasant children sponsored by the duke do not show talent until their tenth year with even the incredibly talented Yahwen only showing her own talent at the age of six. The duke's children on the other hand, live and breathe the sword since the moment they are born. With this and a degree of favoritism shown to them by their instructors, the Duke ensures that he is almost always succeeded by his children though theoretically the chance for even the lowliest peasant succeeding him exists.

Swordsmiths stand apart from the usual system and are considered the pinnacle of the Path of Man. While every swordsman is a capable swordsmith, it is hardly their focus. The greatest smiths are found not in the Blade Duchies but in the Dragon-Breath City Forge. Many nobles who either lack the talent or inclination for the Path of the Earth journey here in order to apprentice under the Great Swordsmiths and learn their secret arts.

They accept members from both Duchies as well as from the rest of the Divided Kingdoms who may prove worthy. Any who join must abandon their previous life and become a Swordsmith first and only then anything else. They practice even their own arts of cultivation, using the influence of the dragonbone underneath the city to grow to the heights of Foundation Establishment though they in turn do not benefit from the advantages their blood grants to those who reach it's heights.

Those considered adequate in their mastery of the art are declared journeymen and allowed to travel the Divided Kingdoms in order to hone their mastery. Journeyman Swordsmiths almost invariably return to their homes and the nobility hold an almost religious reverence for them, allowing them to serve as neutral arbiters. All important duels take place at the forge-beat of a smith who often utilizes the emanations of two sword-masters clashing to forge blades infused with their skill.

Those who consider themselves ready travel back to Dragonbreath City Forge in order to take the harsh tests of mastership in order to reach Foundation Establishment. Most fail and return wandering. Some perish in the attempt and the rare few reach the next stage. Masters remain within the city, honing their skill and only taking the orders of those who come to them. Even the clan buys from them, such is their skill. They only leave rarely when a master considers themselves reaching the pinnacle of their skill.

The Blade Duchies organize a grand tourney where all clash with the final duel being between the two Dukes who have reached the Great Circle of Foundation Establishment. The emanations of the duels are used to forge a great weapon coveted even by Core Formation and the weapon usually goes to the one who wins the duel. The weapon is a great treasure for the Blade Duchy who wins it whether to use or sell and usually guarantees that the winner will stand above the other until the time for another tourney comes.

Those masters who forge a weapon to their satisfaction attempt to reach grand-mastership through the tribulations of heaven, but so far none have succeeded. In the history of the Divided Kingdoms, no grandmaster smith has been born from the Blade Duchies. Nevertheless, the Philosophy of Man requires that they keep trying just as the dragon who left them the bone upon which the the City Forge is made once did and grew from a carp to become a dragon through great struggle.


The Philosophy of Earth

"The weight of the sword comes from the pull of the Earth. The Earth is formed by five elements."

For the ever-changing nobility of the Blade Duchies, it is not families that dominate the political environment but the Five Orthodox Schools of Swordsmanship or as it is known simply to its practitioners - the Orthodoxy. They represent five separate schools of thought whose pursuit dominates over all others and they take their names from the five elements of Fire, Air, Water, Wood and Metal that comprise the earthly world.

In theory, the schools of the Viridescent Blade Duchy and the Cerulean Blade Duchy are distinct but while they may have minor visual differences, by and large the techniques and philosophies used by both are largely the same. Due to the talents on both sides and constant duels, any new innovations are very quickly copied and added to the orthodox schools of the other side. This results in a bitter rivalry between the five schools of both the duchies, with innovation and counter-innovation being the norm.

The philosophies of the Five Schools are described below:

School of Metal: The Metal school of orthodox swordsmanship believes that the concept of the 'sword' is a limitation of the mind and all the weapons used by men as equally viable weapons. They travel through the Mortal Kingdoms and tend to study under masters of other weapons before incorporating techniques from other schools into their own. The personal styles evolved from this school can be incredibly varied depending on what their creators encountered, incorporating axe techniques, fist techniques, staff techniques, scorpion tail techniques, wing techniques and many others. Their unique characteristic is the ability to study the style of other weapons and incorporate them into their own.

School of Wood: Wood seems to draw from the Demon Apple Tree of the Demon Apple Duchy, if only in a theoretical sense though some swordsmen do seem to have gone to study it or from it. It is all about rooting yourself and standing your ground, while studying the exchange of forces whether that be physical or spiritual. The base school teaches cactus based techniques to increase one's stores of qi and favors deflections and parries, while personal styles may incorporate qi absorption or restoration as well as study other plants of the desert and incorporate their survival mechanisms.

School of Wind: Wind studies the heavens themselves in all of their glory. Their belief is that their ultimate and constant opponent is heaven itself and as such, they must refine themselves for that battle over all others. They value fast swordsmen who are never hit as none can survive the wrath of heavens and they value powerful swordsmen whose strike can match the strength of tribulation lightning. The personal styles created by this style mimic heavenly phenomenon and are more specialized to duels than any of their peers as they are concerned with only one opponent - Heaven itself. More practically, they tend to dominate in battles against peers as most duels come down to a single strike while the school of wind specializes in breaking through guards and never being hit in the first place.

The School of Fire: The school of fire for both duchies is based in Dragonsbreath City Forge and it's masters travel there to learn. They believe in honing themselves over all and care for their weapons personally to an incredible extent. An ideal day for a swordsman of the school of fire is spent fighting a duel or a battle and an ideal night is spent preparing for the next day. For all of Water's traditional domination of the dueling circuit, it is the School of Fire who fights the most duels overall and is also the one with the greatest rivalries against their opposite numbers. Their personal styles tend to be the most well-rounded and practical thanks to facing constant conflict and very often are simply just incredible refinements of the basics.

The School of Water: The school of water is the adaptable one and able to flow into any container. Their base styles rely more on hiding from senses and subterfuge while personal styles born from it are eclectic and hard to quantify as they tend to be unique. They are associated with both stealth and innovation. Rather than being swordsmen who can adapt, they tend to be more swordsmen who force others to adapt. They tend to enjoy clashes and exchanges of pointers with a unique theatrical approach to normal dueling tradition which only inflames their detractors. However, they also have a reputation for loyalty and are the Hands of the Duke. This has soured somewhat as from them originated the hated and abolished School of Blood and School of Poison, but destroying those heretics personally went a long way of restoring their reputation. They are the ones who least hate their counterparts, though a degree of professional rivalry remains.

Once you master all five schools, you must create your own interpretation of your favored school. Once you judge your personal style worthy, you must present yourself to the Duke to be judged. Should you be found worthy, you will be given the resources to reach Foundation Establishment and the ability to walk the Path of Heaven and become a true master as judged by the Blade Duchies.


The Philosophy of Heaven

"The only sword untouched by the earth is the blade of the mind. To reach Heaven, we must forge a blade with our own will."

Once a swordsman reaches Foundation Establishment, they are taken in and made a part of the Ducal Household. At this level, the swordsman follow the Philosophy of Heaven which believes that no blade formed of the earth can truly carve the path to heaven. While many do use physical blades, any who seek the hopeless quest for Core Formation all seek to forge the Seven-Part Sword. This is in essence the Seven Pillars, merely couched in a different philosophical language.

Rather than seven pillars, they have divided a sword into seven parts - the pommel, the hilt, the guard, the blade, the flat, the point and the sheath. What each part of the sword represents often varies between individual sword cultivators much as the pillars do, but they still take the form of the sword due to the bloodline and culture. The general philosophy behind each part of the seven-part sword can be extrapolated and is given below:

The Blade: The simplest and the first part of the weapon that is forged. It represents a sword in the simplest manner - a cutting implement. The goal of course is to master it until it will cut through anything and cut through nothing, just as the wielder commands. This is so simple a concept that even those within Qi Condensation can use it by invoking the memories within their blood. Use of this can heighten their skills and capabilities but constant use without the weight of a pillar behind them can damage their sanity.

The Flat: Once the blade of will has been forged and one has mastered it to the point where it will only cut when they want it to, one gains the flat. This is the sides of the blade, often used to deliver a blunted blow. Mastery of this requires one to master parry and deflection. Not only to turn the blade into a blunt instrument but to master how to manipulate the forces that it touches. Not only does this forge a second part of their blade, but it increases their control over the sword qi.

The Point: The tip of the sword, used for stabs. After one masters the flat, they gain the control necessary to concentrate the Blade Will not on an edge but on a point. The qi becomes far more focused, capable of piercing through things that the blade would be stopped against. This is considered the pinnacle of Blade Will and the next steps involve not improving it further but learning how to blunt the Point and to wield it safely.

The Guard: A far more advanced use of the blunt. Rather than as a weapon, it is deployed as a shield formed from the wielder's will. To master this aspect of Blade Will, one must be able to expand the flat and form complicated shapes in order to defend allies and defeat complicated attacks at the same time. When forming the sword dao, this is used to form the guard that protects a wielder from his own blade.

The Hilt: From this point on, one begins to Forge the Blade. The hilt is the part of the blade that allows one to wield it. Rather than simple manifestations of will, after this point the swordsman can summon a crude ghostly weapon to wield with their own hands, though it is easily dispelled. It is a strong reminder that they are not swords but swordsmen and they need a part to wield it. After achieving this level of mastery, all other steps become far easier to use.

The Pommel: Another step akin to the hilt. The pommel exists in a sword as a counterbalance for its weight and to prevent the weapon from slipping from the user's hands. Similarly, achieving this level of mastery allows the swordsman to create truly stable sword constructs. Some masters of this dao who reach this step have been known to fire swords as if they were arrows, making a rain of swords.

The Sheath: The final step is making the sword of will manifest constantly even as the swordsman sleeps or lies unconscious. At this level, the swordsman is truly accustomed to their weapon. The duke is the one who has a complete sword and has reached the Great Circle of Foundation Establishment. At the end of their life or when they feel ready, they challenge heaven in order to forge it completely.

None have succeeded so far.

One of the reasons why the Philosophy of Earth encourages innovation is so that every swordsman will form a new variation of their philosophy when cultivating the Philosophy of Heaven. Though of course, they are ultimately limited by their population there is still the hope that there is some possibility to surpass that. It is why the Sword Duchy is designed to constantly push their cultivators and never let them languish. It is why the cultivation of the sword is paramount and rank is decided by merit. Certainly, the Duke tries his best to maintain the power of his lineage but the Duke can and has given up his seat upon a defeat in a duel.

It is admirable how they struggle against their chains and challenge the heavens over and over. It is something that even us golden devils can draw inspiration from. And who knows? Perhaps one day they will have a Heaven-Defying Genius who will bring all of their dreams to fruition. It is something that is not unheard of in this world of ours after all. Until then they struggle and remain the vassals of the Divided Kingdoms who are in turn the vassals of us, the Golden Devils and so we will need to learn about them to properly do our duties.

Note from the Authors: It is our hope that this article has been helpful to the reader for whatever reason they have perused this piece. While there is currently no sequel piece planned to expand upon the aspects introduced here, readers who are seeking additional information in any capacity may send their questions to Waycastle Taurus where the information shall be forwarded to us if needed. Please include a return address and a general sense of your deployment schedule so that we may deliver our answers to you in a timely manner.
 
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Yes, but my impression is that the "continent" is completely surrounded by a greater ocean, and that the sun would have to be passing into and out of that if it were to do so. Not just into some (ocean-sized) lake in the middle of the "continent"
I have no idea what you are talking about at this point how does this get in the way of the boat observation?
 
Carvos - Carvos’ Day Out
Carvos day out

Everything that lives fights. Everything that Fights lives as sure as the rise and fall of the sun to the coming of the moon, everything fights. The reasons are many: the fight for space, the fight for food, for warmth, shelter, love and wealth. All of these are true. Everything dances on the edge of death. Most pretend it does not exist, going on without knowing that they are fighting with every breath.

If you Abandoned your fear and challenge, the strong you became mighty; if you kept moving forward and never stopped once to doubt, you would continue mighty. But if you retreated, you would age and you would fade. But if you Hesitated in the face of the foe for a moment and doubted you would die as sure as had cut your own throat.

But that was only one facet of the path to the mighty; the other was to develop a killer instinct. And the best way to develop that instinct was to fight, to crush your enemies Mercilessly in battle, again and again.


Thus, they would gain power. Thus, those who gained power and tested themselves. But did man fight to gain power or does he use power to fight


Blah, it did not matter to Carvos. All that mattered now was the opponent in front of him. Charging forward with a roar, using the Way of Battle to smash the berserk scorpion chimaeras tail aside to the left. He had gotten better at fighting, but head-on was the best. The Lion, head of the beast wretched and a stream of bile began to exit it's intended to turn him into a puddle of goo.

But that was what he was waiting for. Swinging his axe down right diagonally, he struck the beast in this way the head was displaced, in this way that its maw was facing at the main scorpion head. The scratch of agony from the beast was an ear-splitting scream. Pure sound pushed Corvos back; it was all he could do to stay on his feet. His grin widened and he took a difficult step forward, his leg trembling against the wall of sound the creature was producing in its agony.

Step by laboured step, The grinning Carvos advanced slowly towards his victim, who was thrashing in the sand in pain. The bible had spread across its chitinous body and green blood was oozing from its wounds. It was struggling, was beginning to weaken, along with the wall of sound. Seizing his chance, Carvos rushed forward, Rising his Way of Battle high into the air. With a bounding leap, Carvos descended like a wild comment.

"HAAAAHAHAH that was you have big guts, time to see what they look like" he yelled in glee just before he smashed into the beast, aiming for one of its many wounds. The axe bit deep Carvos's momentum allowing him to drag the axe downwards, ripping open the Chimeras side. The monster began to scream in pain again, but Carvos thrust his hand into the wound with a grunt of extension. It's still beating, the heart was ripped out.

The thing stiffened. The life that it had was leaving its eyes. But it's mad killer was not done with it. Tossing the heart, Carvos took his weapon in both hands and began to hack and hack until there was nothing but offal. When he had finished, he was standing in a mound of blood and flesh with the biggest grin on his face. The science that had descended after the fight was broken by an angry shout as a woman the size of a ten-year-old came barreling over the horizon


" CARRVOOSSS YOU BASTARD YOU DITCHED MEDITATION WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT DITCHING MEDITATION AND GOING OFF TO FIGHT THE NEAREST SPIRIT BEAST WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT DOING THAT"


Corvus sighed and turned to the diminutive woman, who was angrily tapping her foot at him and glaring at him with her emerald-green eyes

"Hello, Hera, you just missed the fight, it was fun!!" he exclaimed with a chuckle as he saw Her-as-left eyebrow begin to twitch violently.

"I DON'T CARE IF IT WAS FUN YOU FIGHT DRUNK FOOL YOU ARE COMING WITH ME RIGHT NOW" With incredible speed, Hera grabbed him by the ear and began to drag him towards the direction of Dawn fortress. Corvus huffed in amusement. This song and dance played out every day. He liked Her. At first, he did not like being given a minder after he had tried to have fun. But she had grown on him. She was diminutive, cute, strong and very easy to wind up. She would blow her lid at the slightest provocation. But mentioning her height was ill-advised and was a guarantee for her to beat you.

But Carvos did not care and had done it so many times just for the thrill of a strong opponent. She had gotten him to stop by tying him up, and threatening to leave him there for a decade. And so he relented. But that did not relent on ditching those boring meditation lesions. What was the point? He was better at fighting than thinking?

But now that he had his fun for today, he allowed himself to be dragged back by Hera for the rest of his lesions.

@ReaderOfFate hoping for A life-saving treasure if not meh
 
Someone bugging people and running experiments is what triggers your unreality sensor, after all the Good Seeds we've had so far?
Most of them are just weird. This guy? Different.

I think this guy pushes my buttons because I get the feeling that he's, like... trying to prove that he's somehow "better than the setting" in some way, as opposed to fitting in the setting. I've never been fond of self-inserts into established settings for that reason, with a couple of notable exceptions that get away with it by being crossovers whose better-than antics don't just come from their own personal virtues and knowledge.
 
Most of them are just weird. This guy? Different.

I think this guy pushes my buttons because I get the feeling that he's, like... trying to prove that he's somehow "better than the setting" in some way, as opposed to fitting in the setting. I've never been fond of self-inserts into established settings for that reason, with a couple of notable exceptions that get away with it by being crossovers whose better-than antics don't just come from their own personal virtues and knowledge.
Did you read his seed post? His cool thing IS being an SI/ Isekai character..... If you don't like it, just skip his stories, easy.
As for "better than the setting"..... Isn't that the core of cultivation?
 
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Did you read his seed post? His cool thing IS being an SI/ Isekai character..... If you don't like it, just skip his stories, easy.
I'm looking at this from an artistic standpoint, because I'm genuinely hoping to see a bit more development here beyond the level of the elevator pitch. Because that's the part where SI characters can become fun for me, so that's the part I actually look forward to.

There's some hope for that, I think, in that the most recent update in the series is a good sign- because it intentionally averts the most toxic of the ways it could have turned out. That would have been "protagonist knows some science and immediately figures out what all these dumb primitives from a millennia-old civilization don't know." We're NOT going down that road, it would seem, and I'm grateful for it despite my overall ambivalence about the character archetype.

As for "better than the setting"..... Isn't that the core of cultivation?
Yes, and no, but mostly no in my opinion.

It's like the difference between:

1) A story about a basketball player who aspires to be one of the best basketball players in the world, and
2) A story about a basketball player who thinks basketball is a silly game and would rather be doing something else, but has to keep playing basketball anyway because that's his life now so whatever, shrug.

There are a LOT of good things you can do with (1), and importantly, just "being good at what you do" is thematically simple. Because it's simple, you can fit more things in around it more flexibly. So you can tell lots of stories that aren't primarily about that exceptional skill, allowing you to characterize the tennis player more fully. The basketball player may be super competitive, or may be uninterested in actually winning or losing as long as they play the best game they can play. They may be arrogant or humble. They may be interested or disinterested in other human activities outside basketball. They may have some overpowering, compelling mantra that acts as the center of their entire personality on or off the court, or they may be a more complex individual. And so on, and so on.

There are a LOT of good things you can do with (2), but it's not simple. That kind of innate conflict between the character's desires and the thing they spend their time doing is more subtle and complicated. From an artistic perspective, the questions "how does this person feel about what they are now doing" and "how do they engage with this thing that for whatever reason is their life now" demand attention. Trying to ignore them just leaves the character feeling incomplete, hollowed-out, a vehicle that exists to Do Things without that extra dose of humanizing motivation. To get beyond that you have to explore the character, to make them two or three-dimensional rather than one-dimensional...

Which means getting more into the motives of how the person relates to the setting they're in, since that conflict of not belonging to the setting and not identifying with it is central to their characterization.

...

A good story about a fish out of water, even if it revolves around the fish's quest to recreate water or return to water, has to talk about how the fish feels about being out of water.
 
Yang Fangxu - Good Seed Profile
Yang Fangxu

One sunny morning, a young girl is unceremoniously kicked out of the Simmering Soup Sect despite her noted talent in cultivating the culinary arts. Some time later, she arrives, somewhat bedraggled, at the nearest Golden Devil outpost--and, after a polite request on her part, is recruited on the spot despite the bemusement of her new Clanmates.

The report sent ahead of her arrival at her assigned training grounds notes three things to the head of her training in regards to her temperament:

First, she possessed a kind, warm, and responsible demeanor for those around her regardless of rank, social standing, or even cultivation level. Her willingness to serve others the best meals possible that bordered on a strict sense of duty.

Second, that said heartening demeanor immediately gives way when (1) her culinary skills, (2) the extent of cooking as a cultivation art, or (3) her dedication to her customers is insulted, disparaged, or even hampered in any manner to a violent temper laden with curses and profanities that could even make the Archegetes blush.

And thirdly, a level of talent for combat which, while unexceptional compared to normal Clanborn Aspirants, was practically unheard of for a lower-ranking disciple of the Simmering Soup Sect. In addition to her near-fanatical bravery in the face of danger, this might allay some concerns considering the general weak-willed stereotype surrounding Simmering Soup Sect disciples.

Taken all together, the report concludes that it would probably be a good idea to assign additional efforts to instill her with discipline before she ends up mouthing off to and charging at a rude Cultivator three entire Heavenstages above her own. Again.

And so the first ex-Kitchenhand of the Simmering Soup Sect in possibly all of its short history ends up joining the Legions.

Overall High Concept: Little miss Gordon Ramsay is sick and tired of focusing on soup and only soup all day, gets kicked out after an argument with a particularly traditionalist Soup Master. Where most others see a world of inequality, injustice, and repression from the Heavens, Fangxu sees all of those things but also ingredients for the taking. Sees cooking as serious business(tm).
Starting Cool Thing: Talent in the Culinary Arts: Fangxu absorbed much during her short time with the Simmering Soup Sect, learning how to form recipes for extraordinary dishes out of special ingredients.
Starting Turn: 9

As of Turn 10
Age: 36
Cultivation: 38 years worth, Qi Condensation 4th Heavenstage
Impact: 6
LST: 1
Special: Imbibed Cycle of Four Transformations Soup--spit the poison of a Bitter Sand Snake, fly with the wings of a Thunder Eagle, unhinge and expand jaw with the bite power of a Three-Tailed Crocodile, and punch with the raw physical power of a Six-Armed Fury Ape for temporary periods at a time
Cultivation Goal: Orthodox Path into Foundation Establishment
Dao: Dao of Cooking...? (No one has been able to figure out the exact path that she's on. She's been keeping her thoughts largely to herself.)

Omakes by Chronological Period
Turn 9
How to Save Time in Introducing Yourself (Turn 9 Bonus)
How to Find Free Labor
How to Prepare For Lunatics Descending From the Sky (Part One) (Turn 10 Bonus)
How to Prepare For Lunatics Descending From the Sky (Part Two) (Turn 11 Bonus)

------

I see your poison masters, formation experts, isekai protagonists, and heaven-defying talents and raise you an idiot straight out of a cliche cooking anime.
 
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[chef's kiss]

Perfect.

[Is immediately beaten within an inch of his life by Chef Cultivator for daring to call that perfect]

But.

But but but.

[i}Does she have a big poofy hat?[/i]
 
Xiao Yingzi 14 - [Turn 8] [A Wholesome Friendship]
Xiao Yingzi 14
[Turn 8]
[A Wholesome Friendship]

"You are not a Golden Devil." The old swordmaster commented offhandedly as he struck her with a powerful killing blow. Xiao Yingzi did not answer, instead dodging to the side to avoid his sudden attack as he cleaved the place where she had stood.

She jumped away from him, trying to get her bearings as she saw the pit his strike had carved on the ground from merely the shockwave of his attack. If he hit me, I would be dead. Is this the difference between small realms in Foundation Establishment?

Elder Teleos' voice cut into her thoughts. He thinks you are an Auxiliary. Try to use that.

"You are a bandit engorged upon the blood of the innocent." She replied, scoffing with disgust she did not feel. "It will be righteous to slay you no matter who I am."

"Is that your excuse when working with devils?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as he brought his sword up for another strike. "You are just a mercenary, girl." He pauses for a second and grins. "No, what do they call their pets again? Oh yes, you are Auxilia."

She snarled to reinforce her act and rushed him, bearing her spear like a lance. He grinned and swung his sword to cleave her apart, but at the last moment she dipped her spear into the ground using it like a circus pole to throw her above his sword-hand and towards his neck.

His eyes fluttered in an attempt to follow her sudden switch in movement and before he could adapt, she drew a knife with her off-hand and swung it at his throat. He grimaced and forcibly jumped back, landing flat on his back and clutching his throat where she had managed a thin slice.

Immediately she held out her main-hand, causing the spear to spark with lightning and spin into her mailed hand with a metallic thump. Then as the charge grew into an electrifying flame, she threw it at his prone body with all of her strength.

He lifted himself off the ground with all four limbs and crawled backwards to avoid the attack, flipping to a stand just as the spear struck where he used to be, turning the sand beneath into glass spikes from the force and heat. He looked at that and grimaced.

He threw his sword at her like a dart, forcing her to dodge and then before she could close in, he tossed a bomb into the air that burst into smoke. Xiao Yingzi called the spear back into her hands and spun it around to clear it but by the time she was done, he was already gone.

You should still be able to pursue him with the Soul Farseer. The Elder noted. I doubt he expects that.

Xiao Yingzi considered that before shaking her head. I sense one more blood path signature and this one isn't killing and consuming him. This blood path cultivator had a son according to the intelligence we received, did he not?

Hmmm. The Elder gleaned the information from her mind. Yes, it would be wiser to wait for another time.

| | | | | | | | | |​

"We need to stop meeting like this." Wu Luoshan said, grinning as he held up the body of a Xin Kingdom Sorcerer. He had died defending his village and the fires of his sorcery still burnt what remained around them. "Maybe this time, we can have dinner." He gives her a smirk. "Or if you'd prefer, you can be my dinner."

She didn't bother replying this time, any advantage her ruse would have given her had long since evaporated in their repeated clashes. He grinned as she charged and tossed the drained, bloodless body of the sorcerer at her forcing her to cut it apart to get at him. He's trying to bait you, Her Elder's voice whispered in her ears. She didn't reply, having already realized that.

Wu Luoshan only grinned at her more as he noted her ambivalence at the carnage. He retreated through the burning village and hid among its buildings, knowing by now that he couldn't engage her head-on. "You know," He said casually, his voice coming from everywhere and somehow conveying the emotion despite the destruction and battle. "When I first met you, I'd just assumed you were some poor self-righteous sod who was maybe worth a few minutes entertainment."

Xiao Yingzi followed his presence with the passive sensory enhancement of her Soul Farseer, noting with a grimace when his aura split into two. She followed the one she considered the original. "Then you beat me like a drum." He replied, with some mirth in his voice. "I underestimated you, I can admit that."

"But can you blame me?" Xiao Yingzi felt the earth tremble moments before a blade of air cut apart a house to her side on the path towards her. She picked up her pace to move past before it hit her but she didn't move to the origin where a third copy of the bandit's aura had appeared. "I am reasonably proud of my skill in swordsmanship," He continued with false humility. "And I have a two small realm advantage over you. Who'd expect to lose with those advantages?"

There was a flash of qi at her side, a crude array activating as a few mortal bodies were consumed to create a sharpened pillar of blood. A wave of her spear and the spark of lightning leapt to burn them away. "I figured it was that spear." He continued as Xiao Yingzi chased him. "That's why I tried to grab it last time. Oof, wasn't that a mistake?"

"It stung a little, but it did give me a chance to see the spear." His voice echoed and she frowned as several more sources of qi appeared in her vision, each seeming like Wu Wuoshan. "That was a golden devil artifact and quite a powerful one too by the feel of it. You were a golden devil after all, weren't you?"

She kicked off a house and jumped towards the sky, while pulling out the Soul Farseer from a chain around her neck. "So I asked around a bit." He said, his voice quieter as it seemed more focused around the village. There was a dramatic pause. "Oh not this sorcerer. The fourth to seventh ones were just for my special dietary needs. It was the third one that squealed."

"Xiao Yingzi, a golden devil talent who had made it to Foundation Establishment in merely forty years." Drawing the Soul Farseer to her eye, she focused it on each of the qi signatures and as she had expected, they were all various manners of fakes. "That's a bit fast even for me and I'm a blood cannibal. I suppose it's on me for jumping to conclusions."

Xiao Yingzi focused her eye on the distance before her eyes fell upon the fleeing true body of the bandit she was hunting. He's too far away. Xiao Yingzi said, with building annoyance. He continues to elude me.

As I expected, the voice was a record of some kind set up in advance. Elder Teleos noted, the man's voice still speaking though Xiao Yingzi began to tune it out. Her elder's voice shifted to disgust. Ugh. He killed all of these mortals just for fun. So much life and potential just snuffed out…. There was a considering pause. Xiao Yingzi, he should still be in range of your spear throw, yes?

Xiao Yingzi considered that. He almost took my spear the last time we fought. She replied. I would not want to risk separating it from me at such a distance.

Her Elder sighed. Yes, it would be wiser to wait for another time.

| | | | | | | | | | |​

Now is the time. Elder Teleos said, a rare expectation in his voice as they traced the fleeing Wu Luoshan. It's been three years. What do you think, Xiao Yingzi?

Xiao Yingzi nodded in reply.

A second Centurion had been assigned to this - one Syntyche Theophylaktos who had great success in hunting down and ambushing the experts of their enemy. Though she hadn't met him, she had sensed him from time to time and with reinforcements from the shadows, it fell to her to be the bait.

It rankled to be found wanting but with the loss of her shadow made her capabilities in stealth less than useful against the caliber of enemies she now faced. "Wu Luoshan!" She cried, dramatically to Elder Teleos' joy. "This has gone on long enough! You shall not escape on this day! Not if my name is Xiao Yingzi!"

"AHAHAHAHA!" The laugh from Wu Luoshan was so unexpected, it even gave Xiao Yingzi pause. He stopped a short distance away and spread his arms wide, egging her on. "Then come at me, you craven witch! I am standing right here!"

Xiao Yingzi schooled her expression into a scowl. "You dare!?" She screamed, pulling back her spear to throw. "You are craving death!" Like the bolt of heaven's wrath, it flew true… and as always, the man dodged it by the barest inches.

Before he could turn and brag, the second part of the technique triggered as the lightning transformed the sand into glass spikes and shaped them to strike them in his direction. Xiao Yingzi grimaced as it merely grazed his cheek. I need to refine my control over the lightning. She noted before taking off after him.

Rather than stay and taunt her, the shocked bandit turned tail and ran. She could tail by the way he ran that he was panicking but after a few breaths his pace became even and he mastered himself. He's leading you into a trap, The Elder warned her, causing Xiao Yingzi to nod. She sharpened her senses and kept alert for any potential vector of attack.

When the trap came, it was not what she expected. Mid-run, the ground gave way beneath her feet opening up a trap of sharpened bone spikes beneath her. Sharpened from a spirit beast so it was natural and had no innate qi signature. The Elder analysed grimly. And likely poisoned as well by the looks of it.

She drew upon the instincts of her spear and stabbed it into the wall, stopping her descent and hung there for a moment. A touch of the wall showed some slip that resisted any attempt to cling on it. She could always jump out but… "I've finally caught you, you cautious bitch." She saw Wu Luoshan standing over her with his sword and gloating down at her. "Do you know how long I've tried to lead you away? But you never, ever take the bait!"

She let him gloat, figuring out her next step. She had her life-saving treasure for exactly such a situation but it was designed to function with her shadow and her shadow wasn't here. She grit her teeth. "And what do you mean by 'craving death'? It's courting death, you fool!" He continued, venting out three years of frustration. "Do you think I couldn't tell you were pretending? At least put some effort into it!"

The Lifeblood Of Seven Emotions, Elder Teleos recalled. It works by empowering your shadow through it's emotion-consuming capabilities and then causing it to expend the power to save your life. Hold it up and call for your shadow. It will come.

Xiao Yingzi frowned dubiously. Trust me.

She took a deep breath and looked up at the bandit who was fuming down at her. "You aren't even listening to me, are you?" He asked, scowling at her. He lifted his sword. "I'm just going to kill you."

If she jumped, he'd just strike her down. If she made any suspicious moves, he'd strike her down. Xiao Yingzi did the thing he might have found the most surprising and jumped into the spikes, causing Wu Luoshan to freeze for just a moment.

That was enough.

Just as she was about to be impaled upon the spikes, she drew out the Lifeblood from the storage ring and held it up. Please help? She asked, realising too late that she had no idea how to call up her shadow.

Then darkness exploded around her and crushed the spikes beneath her, even reaching outside the pit though she could sense Wu Luoshan already fleeing, that craven bastard. She froze at the sudden emotion in her thoughts but then she was occupied with landing as her shadow disappeared, leaving her falling to her back.

She turned around mid-air on instinct and landed on a push-up position, face perilously close to the ground which still held the remains of the spikes. She pushed herself up and inspected her body. You should be fine. The poison only touched your armor. Don't touch your face or body until you get the chance to wash up and you should be fine.

Xiao Yingzi nodded and extended her senses, feeling for Wu Luoshan. She felt the presence of the assassin who was working with her. But she didn't sense her target. I believe our target has been killed.

Good riddance. The Elder replied. As she considered the battle past, a thought occurred to her. Elder, what was that emotion I felt as the shadow appeared? She asked cautiously, though she felt like she had an inkling of the answer.

The elder sighed. I can't tell you yet. He replied. You know that.

Xiao Yingzi nodded. I had to fortify my first pillar, yes? A few more decades, Elder. I will have my answers. She replied, though it was a mere formality. She felt like she was beginning to understand and she felt like she had an inkling of the answer.

As you say, Xiao Yingzi. Her Elder replied with a cheerful note. He caught what she truly meant.

Xiao Yingzi inclined her head in agreement. Let's return to camp, Elder Teleos.
 
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Yang Fangxu 1 - How to Save Time in Introducing Yourself
Yang Fangxu 1: How to Save Time in Introducing Yourself

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 48 hours to use the other Board at present.

Will accepted.

Searching for 'why is a girl cooking in the middle of my training area'

Recommendations:

A Very, Very, Very Short Introduction to Culinary Cultivation by Yang Fangxu (AKA that Aspirant cooking in the middle of and after training for no reason). Only 2 hours old. It only costs 1 Contribution Point.

Suggested tasks to fulfill to earn one Point - one and a half hours of cleaning Legionary equipment, half an hour of punching-bag trai--

Essay purchased.

Please note you have gained access to the essay for the next two hours. After that, access will reset. If you would like to purchase the text permanently, you may do so for two Contribution Points. Reproduction rights for mortal dissemination are not attainable at this time.

- - - - - -

Okay--first of all, I have permission. Written permission, straight from the Master of Disciples or however you spell her title in this accursedly complicated wriggly language that most of you have had the unfair advantage of learning before you could even walk. Look here, I'll even transcribe it--

To Whomever or Whichever It May Concern:

I, Destasia Duca, appointed Chartoularios Tou Kanikleiou by the Archgetes of the Golden Devil Clan do declare that Aspirant Yang Fangxu may continue her cultivation through the path of the Dao of Cooking as part of her training in the Legion, yadda yadda yadda--do be good dears and let the girl be, her art presents so many
opportunities!

Eugh, that lady creeps me out.

So, yes, when I politely told you (whichever one of the morons harrassing me you were) official permission, and you got in the middle of whichever important thing I was doing and accused me of 'slacking off' or 'stealing food supplies' or 'being mentally deficient' or whichever, I was telling the truth.

'Oh, but Fangxu!' you poor souls might exclaim. 'Why are you cooking in the middle of training anyway? I know you told us that it was for your cultivation, but that wasn't enough of an answer for me and I tried to p*** in the dishes you were trying to serve your next customers instead of getting out of the way!'

Let's start with a question: have you ever heard of the Simmering Soup Sect? In case you haven't like the geographically inadequate moron that you could possibly be, the Simmering Soup Sect is an allied Sect of your clan dedicated to making soup. Magic, qi-infused, poison-curing, lifespan-enhancing soup. You've heard of Alchemists, you've heard of Array Masters, and I'm one-hundred percent sure you've heard of Poison Masters considering what I've heard about two maniacs from a couple of generations above me, and this Sect is a Sect of Soup Chefs. I used to be one of them, and now I am one of you.

I am a Chef. Do you see that Very Important Capitalization? I cultivate by treading one of the myriad Daos of Cooking, and cook magnificently delicious dishes that defy nature itself. And I can heal as much as I can hurt.

'Okay, sure.' you might say. 'But what's the point of cooking when we have alchemy and poison cultivation, anyway?'

Well first of all, do your pills taste good? I f***ing doubt it. Do your poisons taste good? ...okay, yes, some poisons do in fact taste pleasant on purpose to lure people into eating them, but that's not the point here. To get to the point, I'm going to have to share a story.

Once upon a couple of months ago when I was still a disciple of the Simmering Soup Sect, a Soup Lord among Soup Lords took us to war. It was a rarity among rare occasions--here was a top Core Formation Elder grabbing a whole bunch of Foundation Establishment seniors to the lowest of Qi Foundation disciples and we were off to kill a bunch of spiders and grab a bunch of ingredients from the Spider Gate for stuff. It was awful--all of us felt like we were going to our dooms. Those spiders have a lot of poisons up their sleeve, and honestly half our deaths every year comes from the poor buggers who got caught in their webs. That s*** is terrifying.

Enter the Soup Lord. He, just as vulnerable to some of the strongest poisons of that place, mind you, pulls out a pot, gets a tiny spoon, takes a tiny sip, and smiles. And then his skin and eyes start growing bright blue with power beyond any measure.

'Wow!' you might think here, like I did. 'That must be some really rare, powerful soup! I bet it was only for himself, else everyone explode from that kind of overwhelming energy!'

Wrong.

To our surprise, the Soup Lord tells us to line-up, and has us all take sips just as tiny as he did, one-by-one, as a so-called preventive measure against the spiders' poisons. We're all shaking in our non-existent boots until the first guy, a 1st Heavenstage fellow like I am, drinks it, starts glowing, and doesn't explode. Well, okay then.

Then comes my turn. I taste it. It was the most delicious thing--sweet, succulent, warmth running down my tongue, filling my stomach and my heart and lingering in my mouth--then I recognized it.

Ya see, after a long day of work in the Sect, us disciples always reward ourselves with this nice sweet mango dessert soup. No special ingredients whatsoever, completely ordinary, still tasty. We loved that thing And yet this one somehow just blew it out of the water. Delicious, perfect.

And according to the Elder when I asked him, comprised of exactly the same ordinary ingredients.

???????????????????????????????

But how??????????????????????

That's all I wonder as I gather webs, my body completely ignoring any of the poisons thrown my way. That's all I think about even as that taste lingers on my tongue for hours on end. When several disciples' glows start to fade, one-by-one, until the taste stops lingering and my own glow fades away as well, I put it together.

Taste.

You might think the heaven-defying power of culinary cultivation comes from the qi in the ingredients used, right? I thought so too. But as I took notice of how the first disciples' whose glows wore off first were those who disliked sweet dishes the most, and those whose lasted the longest lingered on for almost an entire day, I started to think otherwise.

Think. Think carefully about the ramifications of this. Because while a powerful pill might be single-use, what might a dish so powerful in taste do when an entire army of cultivators has a bite? What might a dish do when it's tailored specifically to one person's taste, when aimed at increasing their cultivation? What might a powerful dish do when it's tailored to taste like everything you f****** hate?

I hope that answers your question, even if just a little.

'But what about the fact you somehow posted this on the contribution board?' you might complain next. 'Isn't that against the rules?'

Well, lackwit--let me introduce you to the concept of contribution board essay approval screening.

Do you see that word? S C R E E N I N G--it went through, SO CLEARLY IT'S ALLOWED. I didn't go through TWENTY different submissions editing this lousy thing to get this to pass through with no effort, I worked HARD on this s***. Even if I had to be told off for "inappropriate language," whatever the h*** that means and I have to censor my own vocabulary for no good reason since everyone speaks like they have a sodden boot stuck all the way up their a******* all the time. This is discrimination.

Anyway, I hope that answers all of your heaven-forsaken annoying questions. Just let me cook in peace so I can get you a meal, damn it. We all need it after all this work. AND STOP GETTING IN MY WAY.

End Essay.


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

Thank you for your use of the Contribution Points Board. Please note that basic training is currently ongoing. Missing training or being late comes with a commensurate penalty. As an Aspirant, I would suggest continuing whatever task you have been assigned.

---

Word Count: 1,439

Wow, I wonder how this thing passed the board screening. Maybe someone higher-up with an eye on Fangxu pushed it through? Huh.
 
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Good Seed Report 3 - The Apoikía Bucephalus
Antonius Emmanuel Eleanora

Bonus: Lifespan Treasure
Fate: Antonius Emmanuel Eleanora was somehow admitted to a purely administrative role, looking over thousands of pieces of paperwork and reports as he sought the poisoner of his parents. Why hunt by yourself when one could hunt through the hunts of others? In hunting down his enemy in desperation fashion he rapidly advanced his skills in reading and understanding paperwork, as well as both filing and retrieving it. His adventures in bureaucracy might not sound inspiring to the junior Legionnaire, but he turned out to have a flair for it, solving several logistical problems, as well as ensuring a key shipment of medicinal herbs was brought to the Longevity Storks in time for one of their Foundation Experts to be cured of a life-threatening disease. Over the course of two decades, he established himself as a powerful force not only against graft and corruption, but as the man to go to when the new allies of the Golden Devils needed matters expedited or looked into. While a good bureaucrat is hardly famous and often overworked, he assisted Elder Liu Zhang with several key matters, including keeping the movement of several aphrodisiacs for the elder quiet. These are not the things legends are made of, after repeatedly solving issues for the Longevity Storks, he was commended by Elder Liu Zhang and came to the attention of Elder Zimisce, who granted him a tremendous sum of Contribution Points in recognition of what he had done. With this he was able to spend points like water to advance his cultivation, and managed to leap into the Twelth Heavenstage.
Impact: 9 (+0)
Cultivation: 12th Heavenstage (16 from FB)
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 216 (+78)
Health: Lightly Wounded --> Healthy

Juturna Cerintha
Bonus: Healing Treasure
Fate: Juturna spent her time as a merchant effectively, making enough money to heal her crippling and ended up selling many valuable goods to the Storks. During a particular trade mission, however, she was ambushed by a pair of Foundation bandits - Carnivore Culing and Big Xiaomen. Only the fact that they were being hunted saved her life, and she was left for near-dead, Badly Wounded.
Impact: 1 (+0)
Cultivation: 10th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 117 (+0)
Health: Crippled --> Healing Treasure --> Healthy --> Badly Wounded

Shiro
Fate: Shiro spent his time working with Juturna, and in the selfsame trade mission nearly lost his life, barely surviving due to the use of a treasure.
Impact: 0 (+0)
Cultivation: 10th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 114 (+2)
Health: Healthy --> Crippled --> LST Interrupt --> Wounded --> Lightly Wounded

Aretaphila Myia
Bonus: Tribulation Boost
Fate: Aretaphilia led a motley crew of Storks into battle several times, given command over a number of cultivators who were the dregs of the Storks, and even found a few former rebels from Cannibal lands. Seeking to forge them into something new that could withstand their old ways, she led them many times to recover stolen goods, fight bandits, and slay lesser Blood Path Cannibals remaining. They managed to recover an old heron emblem, a symbol of Fecundity Stork pride from a former marriage into the Blade-Heron Clan. A hairs-breadth away from breaking through into the 13th Heavenstage, she could feel it. A little more understanding of her Dao to purify it, and she would be there. Almost.
Impact: 13 (+0)
Cultivation: 12th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 286 (+31)
Health: Healthy --> Healthy

yan
Bonus: LST
Fate: Yan saved a Stork Young Master, Xu Huo from a Cannibal attack. They spent ten years hunting down bandits and protecting the Xu Family's caravans, and ultimately swore to help one another should they ever meet again.
Impact: 9 (+1)
Cultivation: 12th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 256 (+40)
Health: Healthy --> Healthy

Abel Angelus
Bonus: LST
Fate: Abel focused his efforts on his gunsmithing, and in an event that surely had to frustrate him, accidentally bound a lesser Fire spirit to his handcannon (+3 Impact), enabling him to increase the velocity and power at which the bullets were spat out. His focus on other things than cultivation meant he advanced slowly, barely making into the Second Heavenstage.
Impact: 3 (+3)
Cultivation: 2nd Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 28 (+7)
Health: Healthy --> Healthy

Konstantinos Papadopoulos
Bonus: LST
Fate: Konstantinos Papadopoulos. Author. Newshound. Publisher of some scurrilous rumors, to hear many say it. He began several newsletters in the Stork Lands, distributing information for low prices - subsidised by the Clan - to assist the Storks in moving into their new lands. At the height of his printing efforts, he employed a staff of almost twenty cultivators, including a Foundation Expert who wrote stories for him. With Spirit Stones flowing in, he found it easy enough to take a princely salary, and was able to use the immense resources to push himself into the 9th Heavenstage.
Impact: 4 (+0)
Cultivation: 9th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 85 (+56)
Health: Healthy --> Healthy

Matthaias Outi
Bonus: LST
Fate: Matthaias was seconded to guard a birthing town of the Fecundity Storks during his travels. A guard was urgently needed, and he was one of the only Devils available. As peculiar as it sounded, the Fecundity Stork Clan had many rituals and spells involving pregnancy, and such towns were guarded heavily. No men were permitted inside, for the use of Yin energies were crucial in accelerating and easing pregnancies for the Stork Clan. One particularly pesky peeper from a nearby village tried to sneak in many times, and Matthaias was forced to repel the mortal lad sixty-eight times, beating him soundly thirteen of those times and eventually was forced to take the more serious action of having him fined and sentenced to hard labour to repay the fine. He was sent to a nearby city a few months of travel away to prevent him from returning until he changed his ways. The Fecundity Storks managed to have an excellent next generation full of triplets and twins, and they granted Matthaias a store of cultivation resources for his excellent service.
Impact: 8 (+0)
Cultivation: 10th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 111 (+21)
Health: Lightly Wounded --> Healthy

Xiuying Ten Jiang
Bonus: LST
Fate: Xiuying was sent into the lands of the Storks, and there she found great friends. The Longevity Stork Clan used cooking as well as pills for their longevity arts, and while she did not gain the option of lifespan extension noodles, she did befriend a trio of powerful chefs. Suddenly she was sent hither and thither to gather materials, and ended up being gifted a Lifespan Ignition Pill (+20 cultivation), alongside a faulty Lifespan Philter for her efforts and friendship. The latter enhanced lifespan, but the effect lasted only a few days. However, the pill could turn the false lifespan into true cultivation, allowing her to stride into the 10th Heavenstage.
Impact: 10 (+0)
Cultivation: 10th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 110 (+35)
Health: Lightly Wounded --> Healthy

Xiao Yi/Jin Muyi
Bonus: Lifesaving Treasure
Fate: A most peculiar thing. Jin Muyi found himself hunting down the Seven Great Bandits, and seized upon two. Carnivore Culing, and Big Xiaomen. Both of them terrifying in their own right, it must be said that the arts of the Cannibals are not so effective on those who are not regular men. In battle they were both slain, and were sadly unable to bring out their weapon that they had worked on together. The Blood-Qi Cannon (+4 Impact), a mighty weapon to channel Blood Qi into a single tremendous shot. Changeable in size and able to use other forms of Qi, it was easily carried in Muyi's many vines, able to channel other forms of Qi into a single deadly shot from afar. Xiaomen's tremendous aptitude in weapon-forging availed him little in the end, as the power of Blood Qi to overwhelm a human being was not so effective on the plant-man.
Impact: 16 (+4)
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment 5-Pillar (Late)
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 244 (+9)
Health: Healthy --> Healthy

Savvas Nicolidis
Bonus: LST
Fate: Establishing his Second Pillar, Savvas was sent to hunt the weakest of the Seven Great Bandits, Alexios the Red. A former Golden Devil turned to Blood Path, Alexios was a murderer and bandit of moderate renown, and destroyed the town of Sacapolis. After thirty thousand deaths, Savvas was able to track him down. Savvas was beaten back and losing badly. Held aloft by the breeze at the most opportune time, an item flew down to him. From the vengeful ghosts of Sacapolis came the Resentful Flag (+3 Impact), a flag capable of summoning thousands of angry ghosts to kill the enemy of the wielder. With the spirits on his side, Savvas was able to beat Alexios, and kill him.
Impact: 5 (+2)
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment 2-Pillar
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 147 (+19)
Health: Healthy --> Healthy


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

Grand Elder, I must commend you. The Apoikía Buchephalus was founded, though your disciples were one and all sent off for missions amongst the Stork Clans. It was a tremendous show of trust for you to allow us to build so much of the city, and your aid among us will not be easily forgotten. A moderate success compared to what you hoped for, I must admit. Still, trust is slowly being built, and that's a good thing.

- Scrap of a letter read in a meeting in Year 172.

"Yes, I am aware that Jin Muyi slew the two greatest of the Seven Great Bandits. Yes, yes, I know. It doesn't matter, however. We lack the manpower to properly guard against the four who remain - the middle four. While the loss of towns has slowed to a crawl, it was only two years ago that Kanotta was razed to the ground. Eight thousand people and we couldn't guard it. A Moderate Failure, we simply cannot deploy the forces needed to hunt them down. The Storks are not my greatest priority, Centurion, the Coloniea are. The Bandits have mostly withdrawn into depopulated Stork lands, and chasing them there is both difficult and exposes us to unnecessary risk along our trade routes. The Storks will simply have to deal with the matter. They have Core Formation elders, after all. What else are Elders for? No, it's not a disaster, but a Moderate Failure. Nobody succeeds at everything, after all, and if our vassals are a little weaker than us, I doubt the Grand Elder will lose any sleep over the matter."

- Legate Pruthenian
 
Interlude - Sun Diaxiang
The poison clouds billowed in the air, a noxious green surrounding him.

Diaxiang coughed, and spat out a piece of bloody phleghm.

He needed to finish this quickly. He could feel the poison dulling his limbs, slowing him down.

The bow would well, if he could see the damned woman.

Her laughter echoed around him, and he cursed. He had hoped not to have to use anything, but he drew out a single blood-red stick-shaped piece of stone, and snapped it. His eyes bulged in their sockets, and felt as though they were going to explode. His veins throbbed and shuddered, but he could see her. Despite all the methods she'd used to hide and obfuscate, he could see her in an absolute sense. He'd devised this technique to deal with Konstantinos, but it would serve him here.

Drawing the bow, he left it small, the screaming skulls that made up its structure quieted, the bloodied tendons that formed the string hanging slack.

He nocked an arrow, and fired.

A moment later he heard a thud, and a scream.

The poison clouds began to lift, and before him stood a young-looking woman with brown eyes and short black hair. Her forehead was large, and her arms slender. Peculiar things to note, thought Diaxiang. Probably some sort of mental poison.

He strode over, and grabbed her by the neck, holding her in the air in front of him.

"Lin Gengxin. Mistress of Seven Poisons, Witch of Decay. The men of yours I took told me you were an incompetent, whoring yourself out to whatever Core Formation man washed his dick the least last week."

None of which was true, but he was curious to see how she'd react. She was desperately young to be a Nascent Soul, only a little older than his former apprentice, so it was important to test her mettle.

She gasped and choked, unable to speak as his hands cut off her air.

Diaxiang tightened his grip, as though Corpse Gulper were in front of him. That idiot boy. All the talent in the world, and a mentor to raise you as high as the Heavens, and what? You betray him for power you were going to get anyway?

His grip tightened more, and he heard the crack of bone breaking.

He had thought he was over that, but no. It still hurt.

Letting go, Gengxin fell to the ground, her neck clearly broken, an arrow piercing her stomach. The former was rapidly fixed, Nascent power flowing through her body to heal the superficial damage, the host for the soul easily subordinate to its will.

She smiled.

"Old Cannibal. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but it doesn't really matter. All seven of my poisons run in your veins, now, and your death will come as surely as-"

Diaxiang sighed openly.

"Yes. You're young, you're very smart. You've tricked me. The fact that I've lived over a thousand years and stand here completely unafraid of your poisons despite charging into the middle of them is completely meaningless."

She smirked.

"Whatever countermeasures you've taken, my poisons can kill anybody."

Fine. It was going to be one of these moments. Beat the junior down until she acknowledges your superiority, and then make the offer.

After thinking about it for a moment, he exploded, his body turned into a rain of blood.

A few moments later, another Blood Clone flew towards Gengxin, this one unpoisoned and fresh. It would cost him a little, but establishing dominance was important here.

He smiled.

"Yes, that last body was quite dead. Your poisons can kill any single body, but I possess many. Are you ready to talk?"

She looked around, and tried to dart away, flying up into the sky.

Diaxiang hooked his hand in a motion, grasping towards the arrow in her stomach. Honestly. Give a master such as himself access to your blood and assume you could run away? It was insulting, more than anything.

All the blood in her body began to move towards him, keeping her from moving in one agonizing moment after the next. She strained to fly upwards, and blood began to flow out of her nose, bruising under her skin, blood blisters boiling on her arms and legs before popping.

She returned to the ground, looking at him balefully.

Diaxiang considered killing her, but rejected the idea. She was still young. She'd either learn, or he'd kill her.

"Lin Gengxin. While I am a man given to gloating, you are not an enemy so established I feel the need for it. I have come here with an offer, and I am not trying to kill you."

"...could've fooled me.", she mumbled.

"I visited Xia Xinyue, the second of the Hateful Twins."

"We're not twins! That bitch-"

"I am aware you are not twins."

Diaxiang's hand twitched. How could a woman over two centuries old be so immature?

"As I was saying. I am aware you are not twins. Xinyue has agreed to my plan. The question is now whether you agree as well, or whether you are an impediment and must be removed."

Gengxin hissed at him angrily, before looking thoughtful for a moment.

"So?"

He stretched, and sat down nearby.

"When I was a young man, I realised the problem with the Demonic Sects. Co-operation is difficult, and despite our superiority in general, we tend to fail because we are unable to work together. Our very strengths are our weaknesses."

Gengxin looked at him, eyes mocking.

"Every child knows this. You can't change a truth simply by recognizing it."

He smiled.

"Yes, but the path to changing it lies through recognizing it nonetheless. Let me speak plainly. The Devil Bees have long lacked a leader, and long lacked the ability to move out en masse. Yet with me here, this will change. With three Nascent Souls, the former jockeying for position between two will cease to be. We will make a simple agreement - to strike out into the Verdant South with all of our strength, seizing lands and cities and consuming all we find, or the one who betrays this agreement will be killed by the other two. In that time we will advance our strength, and I will carve out a new Battle Blood Cannibal Sect in the finest lands in the entire region."

She looked at him.

"And what do I get from this?"

His smile widened.

"If you aid me, and aid me well, you will be able to advance into Mid Nascent Soul. I have no desire to rule the Devil Bees, and consequently the one of you who gains my favour will have a tremendous advantage in seizing the entire Abyssal Devil Bee Sect. You will have an opportunity to gain power without being suborned at home. After all, if you were to raid now, you both would be able to undermine the other."

She shook her head.

"And if I refuse?"

"Xinyue begged me to kill you and simply rule the Sect as its new leader."

Another lie, though the girl would likely believe it. They hated one another, after all.

"She believed it would be easier to suborn and kill me as my second in command - as opposed to competing with you to consume and conquer the lands of the cattle in the Plains."

Gengxin rubbed her head.

"If I disagree now, you'll kill me anyway. Doesn't look like I have much of a choice."

Old Cannibal grinned.

"You have a choice, Mistress of Seven Poisons. What's more, you have an opportunity. Why not take it? If I'm lying, you can always simply try and kill me later. But if I'm telling the truth..."

His voice trailed off.

"Mid Nascent Soul...", she mumbled.

He had her. Not that he'd ever doubted.

Far away from his Blood Clone, he rubbed his real hands together with glee.

First the weak and indolent cattle of the Verdant South. Then the Saber Palace.

And then, once he was done with all of that...

"Konstantinos."
 
... Well, at least he's going to go for the Saber Palace first.

But the Verdant South getting hit is not good. Nor is the fact that Old Cannibal did not merely manage to get the poison master of the two working for him, but that he got both Nascent Souls working for him. Manuel was expecting him to have to kill the poison-user and rule over the other one; instead he gets both.

And, 3 Nascent Souls? Mid Nascent? And he'll have 200 years to work on them (the ceasefire was 200 years right? though his subordinates aren't limited to that ceasefire, just Old Cannibal, but Old Cannibal might prefer to not risk them getting killed and so keep them back anyway) and teach them subtlety and to not make the same mistakes that Child Corpse Gulper did, which let him be suckered into being killed by two Old Monsters? Not fun.

It looks like we're on a rush to get more Nascent Souls for the Golden Devils not just because of the Jingshen, but because of Old Cannibal too. At least we have more of a time limit for this one. On the other hand, it's going to be Mid-Nascent Souls, not just a Mid Nascent and 2 Early Nascent. Also, they're planning to hit the Seven Divine Sabers Palace first, and who knows how that will go. (Though admittedly, the Devil Bees apparently did well the last time they did that. And this time they have Old Cannibal in charge too, so that's bad.)

And of course the Verdant South getting hit is going to be not-great for the Great Battlefield too.
 
Why isn't there a worried reaction, Minervina and I are only FB level poison masters we can't help with a NS level master, she could wipe out most of the clan herself
 
So we might end up needing to team up with the Altar Lord after all, since the alternative is Old Cannibal forging a Blood Empire and turbofucking the Golden Devil Clan into dust. Without us cutting support to the Righteous Sects to open up some slack in the battle lines, Altar Lord can't do much to derail this, and we're in no way ready to deal with this level of firepower being thrown at us.
 
So we might end up needing to team up with the Altar Lord after all, since the alternative is Old Cannibal forging a Blood Empire and turbofucking the Golden Devil Clan into dust. Without us cutting support to the Righteous Sects to open up some slack in the battle lines, Altar Lord can't do much to derail this, and we're in no way ready to deal with this level of firepower being thrown at us.
This isn't being thrown at us, it's being thrown at the Righteous Sects first. We're allied with them so that's an issue but not as much as being attacked directly.
 
He's not even going after the strength purity sect, who are working with us - he's going after sects like the divine sabres who see us as Demonic as Blood Path is. It does leave us an opportunity however - if all three of them go campaigning into the Verdant plains, then there's room for us to snag bits and pieces off the mountains without direct intervention. Doing so does risk whoever is left coming after us with Old Cannibal once the two centuries are up, but if they get defeated in the Plains? No matter.

Also, damn Gengxin is green. As old as Minerva, and she's not made it out of Foundation yet! Although I have a feeling Minerva wouldn't fall for the blood clone trick as easily- that might just be a virtue of having better information flow than the Devil bees have undoubtedly. Doesn't sound like them to run spy networks, let alone keep archives or records of past fights.

The SPS elder who let Old Cannibal run away to the Devil Bees is gonna be kicking herself when she sees this though, that's a whole new warfront meanings you can't expect any reinforcements from the South for awhile.
 
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