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.
Name: Samson Murus Cultivation Stage: Qi Condensation 10 Cultivation Age: 146 Health: Healthy Impact: +9 Starting Turn: 11 Current Age: 65
Cool Thing: Bloodline manifests extremely prominent metal plates making him look like a metal statue or construct of some kind but makes him ridiculously durable. Concept: Super tough guy who was young during the turn 10 trials and lived through an attack that hit his city. Watching other Devils die in droves instilled in him a desire to protect.
Omake List:
Turn I (11):
1. The Start (See Below) Turn II(12): 2. Dealings With Dealers of Death. Turn III (13): 3. Victory and Blood
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Smoke, always smoke, is what he smells when he first wake up. Even surrounded by a riot of other scents smoke is what he smells is even only for a fraction of a second. The sounds a distant second, ringing of combat, screams of the dying and the fighting. Sights, sounds, and scents no child should be exposed to, yet exposed he was, and he was not alone. There were hundreds, maybe thousands even of children who experienced what he did.
He stayed in bed a few moments longer as he centered himself, the dreams were always worse when he was stressed or nervous. And nervous he was for today was the day he became a cultivator of the Clan. Finishing his preparations he rose from his bed and stretched, his body creaked loudly. Today was the day he took his first step to making a difference, to save lives, to lessen the tragedy even a little. Maybe he would be able to accomplish little. Maybe he would be just another low level cultivator in the Clan. Maybe he'll die in the next trials, if he made it there at all. He hoped not, he would like to make a difference. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh, opening them he got dressed and made his way out of the house that had been his home for the past nearly 20 years.
The sound of fist striking face was not the expected meaty thwack but instead the sound of frying pan hitting a bell. He probably could have dodged the blow or at least mitigated it, but instead he let his opponent land the hit. As they reeled from having punched what was basically a solid wall, Samson moved in to take advantage of their distraction and threw a number of his own punches aiming at their stomach. They tried to put up a defence but it wasn't enough, Samson droves his fist into their solar plexus dropping them into wheezing pile.
"Alright that's enough, get back to the group."
The instructor called as he gazed impassively at the sprawled trainee. Xiao Long was scarred and maimed Foundation Building expert, crippled during the trials and losing a limb he decided to be an instructor while he got the means to heal himself. Getting up the trainee shuffled off to the side where group of half a dozen other disciples sat, all covered in bruises. Samson took the momentary reprieve to stretch causing his body to creek loudly. Taking on 7 other trainees had pushed him to his limits but he was he could take on another.
"Now then, trainee Samson, could you perhaps tell me why you felt the need to take every single attack your fellows sent your way?" Xiao asked with a note of reproach as he placed his remaining hand on his hip.
"Because I knew I would be able to take it." Samson replied evenly as he turned to fully face the instructor.
"Ah, I see. While it is true none of your fellows are particularly thin-blooded they wouldn't really be able to hurt you, I see my mistake." Xiao looked off to the distance looking thought full. And then he moved forward and drove his fist into Samson's stomach with the sound of a warhammer striking a shield. Much like Samson's own opponent he crumpled under the blow. "Now then, I moved no faster than a 1st Heavenstage cultivator but hit with the force of someone a few small realms higher, tell me trainee, could you take that?" He asked nonchalantly at the fallen man. "No? I didn't think so, while it is all well and good you can take massive punishment you need to learn to dodge because not every hit is one you will be able to handle so easily."
"Y-yes instructor." *Samson squeezed out between breaths. A few moments later and shakily got to his feet. "I w-will take your instructions to heart."
Xiao Long frowned at that. "Will you? Tell me something trainee, why did you become a cultivator of the clan? What drove to my tender teachings?"
For a moment Samson thought about not answering or giving some generic excuse, but thought better of it. "...The Trials, I want to help safeguard the cultivators of the clan." He said straightening his back and looking the instructor in the eyes. "I want to stop them from taking as many lives as I can and for each they do claim I want to take two of their own." He continued with conviction.
Xiao Long looked him over and nodded. "A good a reason as any. But tell me something, how exactly do you plan to save anyone if you are killed or crippled by the first idiot who has a Bronze Crushing Hammer or Blood Drinking Sword? Our durability is well known to our foes and they arm themselves accordingly. You will not be to help if you take every blow head on like a fool, do not martyr yourself so quickly. Learn to block, parry, dodge, and avoid every attack you can and only let them strike you if it can't be helped or will open a avenue of attack." He let out a breath after the scolding/instruction. He looked out across the training field at other groups in the middle of their own training. "You will rise and go far, I think, trainee, maybe you will be able to save many of our juniors...or perhaps not? I have been wrong before. Go join the the others." He said wrapping up his talk and turned to the still fresh group of trainees, pointing at a pair at random. "Alright you two get up and show me the results of my instructions."
Samson moved off to join the others who had already had a turn at sparing. He ignored their quite conversations as he mulled over the instructors words. He was right, for too long had Samson relied on his incredible toughness to see him through fights. This had worked while a mortal and even into the 1st Heavenstage... while against unarmed and artsless trainees. Of course the invaders and other enemies of the clan would not be so foolish as to fight like that. He had eyes but he could not see Mt. Tai and that would have to change. Samson breathed out as he felt himself fill with determination, he could not let himself die like a fool, he wanted to make a difference.
"Well I am proud to say you are now all officially not my problem any more. Well done to those of you who managed to complete their training. From now on you are all cultivators of the clan, you can accept jobs and travel our territory. Do us proud and continue your journey to immortality." Xiao Long said to the assembled remaining trainees, a small hint of pride to his words.
Samson let out a breath, it was over. He was free to do he willed, as long as it was within Clan law and his duties. He looked at the noon sun and started walking to collect his belongings since he needed to clear out of his trainee domicile. As he collected his belongings he mused on the future, it had been roughly twenty years since the last trials which meant the next would be in eighty years. Eighty years to prepare, to get stronger, to gather allies, to gather weapons, arts, and talismans to face the oncoming storm. Eighty years, more than four times as long as he had been alive, for a mortal it was their entire life. For a cultivator it was nothing, yet danger lurked around every corner and the clans enemies crept around in every shadow.
As he walked away from the training grounds to his new life he breathed in deeply, there was a hint of smoke on the wind. Maybe in eighty years he would be dead, or have made no progress in the long path of cultivation. He hoped not, he would like help protect the clan, he would like to make a difference.
Well here's a Good Seed that I was bullied into making by a certain feathered fiend who will go unnamed. I certainly hope I did everything right, please tell me if I messed anything up.
The Ninth Prince took a deep breath in, and a deep breath out.
It was finally time.
The trials were once more in full swing, and that meant death.
If Jin Shufeng was to be believed, it would mean his own death too.
Currently, the Hydra was fighting on the front lines against a group of Randhwa cultivators, their superior organization and mastery of formations meaning that the trial invaders' treasures and myriad advantages didn't overwhelm the Ninth Prince's legion.
In actuality, tokens were being shattered left and right, as the legion worked with ruthless efficiency, using the Ninth Prince's personal coaching on Fifth Sea strategies to overwhelm and defeat their foes, even as the Foundation Establishment Fang Leaders did battle with their counterparts on the Invaders' side, winning handily.
Normally, the Ninth Prince would be ecstatic at this, incredibly proud that his legion was doing so well.
But, even for the Ninth Prince, it was hard to feel good when one knew their death was on the horizon, with only a fool's hope of a plan for a chance of salvation.
But the die were cast, the plan was enacted, and all the Ninth Prince could do was wait, wait for his potential imminent demise with nothing else to occupy his time beyond killing any Foundation Establishment cultivators that came near him, absorbing their Trial tokens into his own trial iron body.
The Ninth Prince didn't have to wait much longer however.
An enormous burly man, bald-headed and wearing the robes and prayer beads of a monk following the way of Tathagata, landed amidst the battle, exceedingly careful not to harm a single lower realm on pain of being sent back to the Fifth Sea.
The Core Formation cultivator, for someone with that level of power could be nothing else, roared out a challenge, the shockwaves from his voice alone nearly enough to bowl some Qi Gathering cultivators over.
The Ninth Prince suspected that this Core's voice had enough strength to flay Foundation Establishment Cultivators to the bone, but obviously doing something like that would be grounds for expulsion from the trials.
"ANUSH NAAG, NINTH PRINCE OF THE NAAG!"
Fuck.
"I HAVE COME HERE TO SLAY YOU, AND YOU ALONE. IF YOU DO NOT COME BEFORE ME, WITH NO TREASURES OR MEANS TO SAVE YOUR LIFE ON YOUR PERSON, I WILL RELEASE A SHOCKWAVE THAT WILL INSTANTLY KILL EVERY CULTIVATOR HERE."
FUCK.
Playing on his desire to save people, yeah this guy knew his stuff, did his research.
The Ninth Prince was both mildly proud that a Great Circle Core had spent so much time researching him, and terrified that a Great Circle Core had spent so much time researching him.
Oh, shit, he was still speaking.
"THIS SHOCKWAVE WILL HIT BEFORE I AM SENT BACK TO THE FIFTH SEA. YOU HAVE TWENTY SECONDS TO START WALKING."
Well. This was it. No escaping, no hesitation.
The Ninth Prince took a second to hug his contracted beasts for perhaps the last time. "I know, I know. But we have no other choice, and I need you here to keep an eye on everything for me."
The Ninth Prince tried to smile. It mostly succeeded. "Alright, I love you too guys. But I need to get going, or this Core's gonna kill everyone."
With that, the Ninth Prince walked onto the battlefield alone, on a route that just so happened to take him past the battles of all of his Fang Leaders.
With quick swings of his spear, the Ninth Prince cut down his minions' opponents, and one by one, the Fang Leaders joined their boss on his walk.
As they walked, the Ninth Prince talked to them, one last set of orders before his potential demise. "You know the drill. Keep the Hydra afloat, recover my body, keep the Fang secure. I don't have anything more to say, you have your orders. Good luck soldiers."
As one, the Ninth Prince's lieutenants saluted, faces choked with emotion, before rushing back into the fray once more.
The Ninth Prince smiled softly. They were good soldiers. He hoped they survived.
Of course, it was all out of his hands now.
That was actually kind of freeing, now that the Ninth Prince thought about it. For once, no mistakes would be on his shoulders, no botched orders or wasted lives. The Ninth Prince was free, finally.
...Yeah, he fucking hated it. Give him responsibility over 'freedom' any day of the week.
Anyways, the Ninth Prince was currently about five feet from the Core Formation invader, the tall, broad man nearly twice his height.
"YOU ARE READY." It wasn't a question.
The Ninth Prince nodded somberly, before remembering something. "Oh, I do have one last request though."
"YES? DEPENDING ON THE REQUEST, I MIGHT EVEN OBLIGE."
"If you'd be so kind, don't hurt my body as you kill me? Just use that voice thing or some sort of Death Prana technique to send me to death without a scratch. I feel like the Hydra (my legion) would like to have it as a memory."
The giant thought for a moment, before nodding once. "ACCEPTABLE. THAT ISN'T TOO MUCH OF A HARDSHIP. I AM CURIOUS HOW YOU MANAGED TO MAKE PARENTHESES AUDIBLE BUT THAT QUESTION WILL BE UNANSWERED.
I HAVE ONE QUESTION OF MY OWN THOUGH, ONE I MUST ASK TO FURTHER MY DHARMA. ANUSH NAAG, ARE YOU AT PEACE?"
The Ninth Prince thought for a moment, memories of friends, of comrades, of family, of home flashing through his mind. Then, with a small earnest smile on his face, he answered. "Yes. Yes I am."
Anush Naag stepped forward one single step. "Yeah. I'm ready whenever you are."
"IT IS TRULY A SHAME I MUST KILL YOU. BUT DHARMA IS DHARMA." And with a twist of his fingers, as his lifeless body fell to the ground, as the Core Formation cultivator was whisked off to the Fifth Sea, as the Hydra legionnaires went near berserk trying to reach his lifeless corpse, killing every invader they could, as a hundred thousand butterflies flapped their wings and changed history, as Jin Shufeng sighed, whether in relief or disappointment not even he could tell…
Anush Naag, Transmigrator of the Seas, Former Nascent Soul, Terror of Jharkand and a hundred other titles besides, forever and always the Ninth Prince of the Golden Devil clan, died.
Xiao Yingzi 35
[Turn 10]
[The Technique Palace 3: Working with Corvina]
Nearly a hundred years ago, the trials happened. She saw part of the darkness that stalks the clan dissipate. It was the metaphorical wolf pack of misfortune that nipped at their heels in order to make them trip at the worst moment. With it gone, she could nearly breath a sigh of relief but it took with it her dao. She had invested in heaven's curses and now that it was gone, a part of her was gone with it.
Then fifty years after that, she felt another great shift. In the closing moments of the Blood Cannibal War, she noticed a change in the fox - that metaphorical manifestation of the curse of wealth was blinded. The thieving spirits were always there in mines and every source of wealth. But now they miss things. Veins of stone were missed entirely and sabotage no longer worked.
It was only in the new territories, not the ancient lands that they had grown used to but it was happening. The curse still existed but it was being interfered with. It was a continuous phenomenon that she could observe and understand. To compare it with its previous state, she only had to move geographically.
It was an ideal situation yet it still took her some time to understand and grasp it. Such was the depth with which this force was hidden. She saw it now. Or rather, she saw its absence and from that she had grown to understand it. With that understanding, she had achieved foundation establishment.
There were people in the clan - talented people who could reach the ninth heavenstage within a few short decades and then breakthrough immediately without slowing down. Corvina… was not one of those. She had hoped she could be once, but after breaking through at one hundred and thirty, she knew that wasn't that talented.
She had thought that maybe she had what it took to challenge heaven. It was why she had gone to Yuan and then after that to Qiguai. She had gained much from those experiences, yet she remained in the ninth heavenstage for over sixty years. She was the only true seer left in the Taurus family, destined for greatness but that greatness was yet to manifest in any worthwhile capacity.
She was hardly a disappointment. She was clever and she was competent. Her spiritual vision couldn't be any sharper. She was likely going to revolutionise the divination of her family but that she knew that she wasn't a true talent. Not like Antonius who was racing to the thirteenth heavenstage. Not like Xiao Yingzi who had reached Foundation Establishment within forty years.
So when three years ago, Corvina had received a letter from Xiao Yingzi of all people, she found herself interested. They had kept it touch since Qiguai but this was the first time she had requested help from her. The girl from whom she got the inkling of the thief-blinder, the fox-muzzler for the first time.
Her independent shadow had felt similar to what this heaven's shadow felt like. What connection did she have with it? She was curious and when Xiao Yingzi asked for a collaboration on a technique slip that was quite perfect for Corviina's skillset, she set time aside to work on it properly. It would definitely be useful for her, but she would be lying if she didn't want to see the girl and what became of her.
With a workable technique ready, she set it up on a table with her own version of the technique at its side. Then she waited for the girl to arrive for their meeting and posed as the best senior sister she could look like. What would she think of her after everything that happened after Qiguai? Ah, she wasn't there for that.
So would she still be a Senior Sister to her? Corvina found herself worrying remarkably about details that weren't important in the long run. Taking her breath, she reached for the jade slip of the original technique to distract herself. She'd need to know how to explain the differences to her perfectly.
Soul-Replenishing Heavenly Mantra:
Elder Amethyst
A signature technique of Gemstone Justice lovingly crafted to empower the sect's juniors. A series of meditative forms and mantras designed to beseech heaven for aid. It allows increased absorption of ambient qi for personal recovery. Even when the qi in the air is low, it still allows the user to refresh their minds and bodies. When practised daily while in the plains, it allows for the user to maintain their cultivation easily though not improve it. Can be adapted for use with spirit stones though only for recovery. This powerful recovery technique can be refined to the Ninth Heavenstage.
Recommended cultivation stage: Any.
Prerequisite technique: None
Successive technique: Specialized variants + UNAVAILABLE +
Difficulty: Trivial (Impossible For Golden Devils)
Then, soon Xiao Yingzi arrived. Her entrance was… memorable. It wasn't the girl herself, but what accompanied her. Corvina took a breath and turned her sight away, focusing on her physical form. She ignored… everything else to focus on her. She had grown used to that with the fox. "Xiao Yingzi," She greeted, getting up to move the chair for her. "Please take a seat."
"Senior Corvina," She replied with a nod, as constrained as ever and took the seat. "Congratulations on your breakthrough."
"Senior, you say." Corvina said, shaking her head as she moved back into her seat. "You are the one who has the higher cultivation at this point."
"You still have greater knowledge and experience." She replied, looking at her intently. Corvina smiled weakly as she noticed… that was also glaring at her. Xiao Yingzi continued unconcerned. "Even if I were to truly surpass you, I would still owe you gratitude for all you have taught me."
"If you say so," Corvina replied, laughing. "So… you've changed."
Xiao Yingzi looked down at her form and looked back at her, likely thinking that was what she was talking about. "A side-effect of my tribulation." She replied, dismissing it. That thing put a finger on it's lips to quieten her down. "I still have enough blood to draw in the curses so it is nothing to be concerned about."
Corvina frowned as she looked at her for a moment, forcing herself to focus on the girl herself who despite being similar mentally had otherwise changed greatly. Her skin was without the bronze that the girl had so painstakingly cultivated and there was also something to the way she came in, that spoke of skill that didn't belong to a foundation building expert.
Skill that she intuitively knew had to do with the dead, yet mobile aura around her form which she recognized belonging to Wills left behind by the dead. Yet this one was so chaotic and varied that they still formed a facsimile of the living. The spear she had won from Qiguai? Yahwen hadn't seen anything of the sort then, but that felt right. What she had later read of the man Teleos told her he would choose such an extravagant creation as his vessel.
Was he the cause for all of this? Was Xiao Yingzi a new masterpiece for him even after death? She felt a sense of anger overcome her.
She could see all of those other changes. The way the air thrummed around her and she unconsciously thrummed back, mimicking the rhythms of heaven. "That's a lie, isn't it?" Corvina asked, causing the other woman to freeze. "You have no blood, it was burnt out wasn't it?" A guess, but she had heard of the possibility. It would have to be a prerequisite… to this. "The curses target you not because of the blood because you are a perfect receiver of heaven's will. It doesn't need the blood to target you anymore. "
The shadowy figure behind her flinched at the accusation. She was a metaphorical existence, appearing as a bronze-skinned version of Xiao Yingzi but far too emotional and expressive to be the girl that she knew flinched at the accusation. She dropped like a doll with strings cut and fell on to the girl's shoulders. She hung on to them like a burden, before suddenly looking up in a look of dawning understanding. "I see." Xiao Yingzi replied, oblivious to her racing thoughts. "That must also be the reason I can use this."
To Corvina's surprise, she summoned a spark of electricity in her hands. Corvina blinked as she suddenly realised that this wasn't just electricity. "That was tribulation lightning." Corvina whispered with a frown. Then she watched as the shadow woman frowned and seemed to get smaller and more translucent in it's presence. It seemed to fade in the light... Something clicked into her mind. She remembered Xiao Yingzi's shadow - was this it - her? A conspicuous glance to the ground revealed was currently there, back lacked any of the life it used to have.
"Yes, if I could emulate a echo of heaven's will then it would explain many things about my abilities." She replied before pausing. The ghostly energy around her increased for a moment and the shadow scowled Xiao Yingzi's hand - no, at the storage ring there. Was that where she kept the spear? "I don't we should speak on this more. He said that you would know what he meant."
Corvina froze. Then suddenly everything clicked. Understanding filled Corvina and then with full understanding the idea horrified her. Once, Corvina had hoped to steal a piece of heaven's own dao when she was young and arrogant. Perhaps wrench away the very mechanisms for the curses on her clan. "I see." She said, not really seeing anything, She felt heat rush to her face as anger filled her.
How dare this long-dead Legate use her junior as a masterpiece? How dare he risk her like this? Because it was incredibly risky. She was essentially leaving herself as open and vulnerable as she possibly could in the hopes of wrenching away the enemy's sword when they attacked. No, it was far riskier than that. Xiao Yingzi was so open that heaven's will flowed into her freely - it could easily destroy her without trying. She was simply too insignificant to really bother paying attention to.
She opened her mouth to argue, to say something when the shadow looked at her with an expression that made her stop. The shadow firmly shook her head. That brought her up short and for a moment, her mind flashed to Antonius' musings that the shadow was her true emotions. If she's okay with it…. Frowning, Corvina found her mind in shambles. "So." She said, changing the subject in an attempt to grasping for something to say. "You don't entirely have an antagonistic relationship with heaven, do you?"
Xiao Yingzi looked at her with concern and the shadow reflected it. "I don't know." She replied, tilting her head. "I still feel the effects of heaven's curses and I'm unsure how that would effect the entire process. " Xiao Yingzi paused before replying and the ghostly aura around her rippled. The shadow behind her clung to her shoulders and tilted her head as if she was trying to hear something. "I do not wish to draw too much attention." She replied, shaking her head. "Not before I am ready."
Corvina groaned causing the girl to look at her strangely once more, another hint towards her ultimate plan. She had always considered herself to be knowledgeable about heaven, but this was beyond her. "I see," Corvina replied, feeling a strangely complicated emotion as she watched the girl. "Well, okay. I have a technique that works but it will take you some time to get the hang of it. I know you sent me alternative portions for the exercise parts of it so I've got something that will work with that."
"I knew I was right to come here, Senior Sister." Xiao Yingzi said, inclining her head. The shadow grinned. "I had expected you to know what to do in this situation."
"Hmm." Corvina reached out to a few notes from her desk and picked out one with a drawing of a fox on its surface. It had her insights on the curses of the clan and how to utilise that for the technique. "The base mantra works by invoking the blessings of heaven to make qi gathering more efficient." She holds out the note for her to read. "In our case, it would be best to try invoking the fox."
"The Fox?" Xiao Yingzi asked, looking confused. The shadow behind her looked more thoughtful. "I'm unsure of this spirit or entity."
Corvina paused, and gave her a sigh. She was still rattled. "It's my name for the Wealth Curse that's affecting our clan…. Though there have been some changes on it recently - changes that would be key to controlling it."
Xiao Yingzi read through the note and turned to her with a frown. "How will a curse help me with calling down a blessing?" Xiao Yingzi replied, frowning. "The only commonality is that they both originate from heaven."
"The fox is a curse already primed to stealing qi from spirit stones." Corvina replied, shaking her head. "It doesn't make the stones disappear but simply… lessens the amount of qi they hold. I'm not quite sure what they do with it, but they have been blinded recently and you should be able to manipulate those blinds and have them deposit the qi into your body."
"Thank you." Xiao Yingzi replied, smiling at her. The smile was a good one, but compared to shadow's fond, proud smile it seems like a pale imitation. "I think this may hold some keys to understanding my deeper abilities. When do we start?"
Corvina sighed. She needed a drink and to think about all of this, before she went any further. "I had a room set aside for you." She told Xiao Yingzi. "We'll start working on the technique tomorrow? With a fresh mind."
Xiao Yingzi frowned and the shadow behind her sighed. "I can continue, if you wish." She replied, looking at her intently. Then there was another ripple across that ghostly aura and she quickly nodded, changing her tack with the Elder's apparent intervention. "Actually, I believe that I may be tired after all. Have a good night, Senior Sister."
Abruptly, she got up and left the room causing Corvina to blink. She sighed and looked up at the shadow trailing behind her. The shadow didn't looked at her with concern as they were leaving and when she noticed her looking, she grinned at her. Slowly, she began mouthing words at her.
Corvina narrowed her eyes as she focused on what she was saying.
Don't worry. I'll take care of us.
She sighed as the shadow disappeared through the door. She had no idea what to do with this and as hidden as this shadowy entity was, she intuitively understood that merely talking about it would cause trouble. She needed someone who would listen to here without asking too much and would help her out in gaining more information. Someone she could trust to put Xiao Yingzi's interest first.
Her mind went to Antonius.
But with his current situation... that was too much to ask.
Her mind went to Yahwen. She would gladly come out of retirement for friend and she fit all the criteria. She wasn't even troubled by any preparations for the trials so she could dedicate her full time to this. She kept up her skills as far as Corvina knew and the next technique of Xiao Yingzi's list was a physical one. The former swordswoman was a the best teacher for that kind of thing.
She'd just have to call her out of retirement for the one friend she parted with in bad terms.
Amaranth Castellanos
Bonus: LST
Fate: Amaranth faced down the Trials as he had done before, and found himself almost wounded. Using his treasure in a fit of paranoia to avoid it, he stood at the very edge of the 13th Heavenstage.
Impact: 8 (+0)
Cultivation: 12th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 287 (+18)
Health: Healthy --> Lightly Wounded (LST Interrupt) --> Healthy
Antonius Emmanuel Eleanora
Bonus: Tribulation treasure
Fate: Antonius had a simple few decades before the Trials, cultivating excellently. It was in the Trials themselves that he won a minor skirmish with a trio of enemy cultivators, each equal in strength to him. However, two tokens were shattered through the judicious use of an ambush, and the third was killed, leaving with him a Blood-Filtering Qi-Cleansing Potion (+10 Cultivation-years), a useful tonic that allowed one to wash out many impurities from pills and the like, and smoothed the path of future cultivation a little more.
Impact: 9 (+0)
Cultivation: 12th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 254 (+38)
Health: Healthy --> Healthy
Anuka Vatatzes
Bonus: LST
Fate: Despite her near-death at the hands of two Fifth Sea Hunters, Anuka saved herself using a treasure she had picked up mere days before. Despite a cracked skull, the loss of a toe, and impalement on spear, she somehow found time to rise into the 9th Heavenstage. There is something more to her story, as well.
Impact: 1 (+0)
Cultivation: 9th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 61 (+4)
Health: Lightly Wounded --> Dead --> Badly Wounded (LST Interrupt) --> Wounded (End of turn)
Carvos
Bonus: LST
Fate: Carvos attempted to enter the Qiguai Secret Realm, but failed, attempting to fight one of the attendants before being thrown out and hunted back to the lands of the Clan. There, he fought a Trial Hunter who was about to kill a young fairy junior - and nearly died, being simply outmatched and taken apart. The use of a treasure saved him, and he was too badly wounded to continue on, or even to face another hunter. The young woman was saved, however, which was something.
Impact: 0 (+0)
Cultivation: 7th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 53 (+0)
Health: Healthy --> Dead --> Badly Wounded (LST Interrupt) --> Wounded (End of turn)
Diomedes Cestus
Bonus: LST
Fate: Diomedes found himself lucky in the Trials, fighting a few enemies hither and thither. One he managed to kill dropped a Ten Thousand Beast Feces Stench Bush (+1 Impact), a bush fed by the feces of some of the vilest Spirit Beasts to exist for hundreds of years. Its fruits, when thrown, could briefly overwhelm the noses of most cultivators, and took months to wash off.
Impact: 6 (+1)
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment 1-Pillar (Early)
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 100 (+0)
Health: Healthy --> Healthy
Gaius Antonius
Bonus: Healing Treasure
Fate: Gaius rose into the 12th Heavenstage just in time for the Trials. While some distance from the 13th, his aims in the Trials became a frustrating series of errors, as he found himself repeatedly out of place, unable to properly fight - neither being wounded nor inflicting much damage on the enemy at all.
Impact: 8 (+0)
Cultivation: 12th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 208 (+12)
Health: Healthy --> Healthy
Konstantinos Papadopoulos
Bonus: LST
Fate: Konstantinos entered the Cloud Demon Caves, suffering much and gaining more. Through wounds and misery, he climbed down through the first ten levels, gaining the Songblade (+2 Impact), a mystical blade he gained by slaying a set of Harmonious Rats. Such a blade would guard him against Demonic Tunes to some degree, as well as those around him. He found the Seven Darksilk Threads (+2 Impact), seven slender silken threads that would wrap around and strangle enemies of their own accord. He also gained much by the consumption of various elixirs left around, rocketing into the 10th Heavenstage. He gained the Plank of Invisible Wood (+2 Impact), a plank that was not only invisible, but made things behind it invisible as well, as though they were merely part of the landscape. Fragile, it was large enough to occlude an advance from a single angle. Lastly, he fought his way through the Qi-Draining Bats, terrifying enemies that could easily butcher any in Qi Condensation each. With trickery and cleverness he made his way onto the 11th floor, where a peculiar Lion Puppet brutally smashed him into the ground, using his last treasure. He retreated with his life, but also with something else he had retrieved from the chest guarded by the Bats...
Impact: 10 (+6)
Cultivation: 10th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 135 (+50)
Health: Healthy --> Crippled --> Wounded (LST Interrupt) --> Lightly Wounded (End of Turn)
Magnus Centenius
Bonus: LST
Fate: Magnus Centenius finally got away with it. Entering the Qiguai Secret Realm, he seemingly stumbled over a life's worth of luck in the space of a few months. Killing a scion of the Heavenly Time Shatter Sect who had bought a spot, he seized from them a Internal Library (+60 Cultivation), an artifact that allowed one to cultivate within it at thousands of times the normal speed. He used it immediately, knowing that it would likely have some security placed upon it that might activate once back in the Third Sea. He was hunted by two other members of the Noble Devil Alliance, both from the Noble Knowledge Sect. The first was turned upon and poisoned with relative ease, and Magnus found on the dead woman a slip for the Three Thousand Noble Poison-Eating Art. It let one eat poison to further one's cultivation, though only a limited amount - the backlash after overusing it would kill you. He seized their poisons and ate them all, (+40 cultivation-years). The final member played a game of cat-and-mouse with him throughout the sky-sea, Magnus eventually winning. He gained a Poison-Expelling Stench Pill, allowing him to expel some of the prior poisons and consume more to further his cultivation even more (+20 cultivation-years). He saved a substantial force of his own in the Trials, but was ultimately badly hurt and would've been crippled at the end of them if not for the use of a treasure.
Impact: 5 (+0)
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment 6-Pillar
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 311 (+137)
Health: Healthy --> Crippled --> Wounded (LST Interrupt) --> Lightly Wounded (End of Turn)
Maria
Bonus: LST
Fate: Maria suffered in the Trials, being wounded again and again, despite her ability with her clones. She 'died' time and time again, recovering only through the use of her abilities and eventually needed to use a treasure to save her second body. Of course, what she accomplished later was no small feat - nearly a thousand Qi Condensation juniors were saved by her.
Impact: 16 (+0)
Cultivation: 10th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 173 (+11)
Health: Wounded --> Crippled --> Wounded (LST Interrupt) --> Lightly Wounded (End of Turn)
Ninth Prince
Bonus: LST
Fate: The Ninth Prince, of course, had his own tale coming to what was perhaps an end. In-between them, though, he entered the Qiguai Secret Realm. His adventures were grand and glorious, and involved chasing a thieving fish through hundreds of li of sky-sea. Eventually he caught the creature, and it granted him three wishes in return for its life. After the fish denied all wordplay for more wishes, the Prince ended up asking for power three times, figuring it was hard to go wrong on that front. It granted him power, boosting him into Late Foundation Establishment. (+70 cultivation). As it so happened, the fish was in fact the Princess of the Northern Fish Palace, and capturing her had given her father a great rage. A massive fish, almost seven li long, chased after the Prince, nearly killing him twice, leaving him saved only because he used treasure after treasure to escape the sky-sea. It was on his return to the Third Sea that he saved a single Foundation Establishment cultivator, musing on a saying 'to save one is as saving the whole world'. Shortly after this, of course, he died, though that is another tale entirely.
Impact: 18 (+0)
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment 5-Pillar (Late)
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 240 (+77)
Health: Healthy --> Wounded --> Healthy (LST Interrupt) --> Wounded --> Healthy (LST Interrupt)
The Builder
Bonus: LST
Fate: Prior to his entry into the Cloud Demon Caves, the Builder and his brothers came upon a peculiar artifact, the Amulet of True Will (+4 Impact). It allowed those who wore it when dying to transfer a fragment of their memories and Will into it, being able to offer advice (though not any strength) to those who wore it afterwards. His entry was fraught with problems, however. The Builder was caught in a small alarm trap left for Manuel's re-entry, and should have been killed almost instantly. Without the use of a treasure there would be no more Builders, though the original Builder died, leaving his legacy to the next.
Impact: 4 (+4)
Cultivation: 6th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 49 (+0)
Health: Healthy --> Dead --> Badly Wounded (LST Interrupt) --> Wounded (End of turn)
Ulysses
Bonus: LST
Fate: Ulysses was simply overmatched in his trials, using a recently-gained treasure to survive. Of course, that is not all there is of his story...
Impact: 0 (+0)
Cultivation: 9th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 102 (+8)
Health: Healthy --> Crippled --> Wounded (LST Interrupt) --> Lightly Wounded (End of Turn)
Wei Feng
Bonus: LST
Fate: Where others had heroic last stands once in their lives, such stands had become routine to Wei Feng. The Seventeen Last Stands he performed were impressive, and hurt him quite badly - and accomplished quite a bit! Still, after the eighth time they killed him his enemies began to become quite frustrated...
Impact: 15 (+0)
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment 1-Pillar (Early)
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 101 (+1)
Health: Healthy --> Badly Wounded --> Lightly Wounded (LST Interrupt) --> Healthy (End of turn)
Xiao Yingzi
Bonus: LST
Fate: Yingzi entered the Qiguai Secret Realm, and there she won no small manner of battles. Peculiarly, she was dumped into the sky-sea at its very edge, where the realm began to degrade and only the endless, deadly sea remained. Swimming from air-bubble to air-bubble, she managed to meet a massive whale, its eye alone nearly ten li in diameter. It looked her from the edge of twisted space, communicating to her the Path which it had followed through its song. To the creature, she realised, the Secret Realm was nothing more than a soap bubble perhaps to be popped. It stood above any cultivator she had ever seen, and was unfathomably old, as it sang to her its history. On its side it bore a great cut thousands of li long, scored by a brutal bronze weapon, the shining bronze from the blade still cracked and shattered in the cut - a cut still healing. Further down was a massive chunk of flesh excised that had been healed over, as though it had been simply scooped out by a spoon in ages past. The creature despaired, she realised, and had been alone for a very long time. She could not comprehend the least part of what it told her - merely that it was old beyond all reckoning, and had watched the continent itself grow from nothing, and eventually die. As she listened, it thanked her. With a mere swell of power her own cultivation grew (+60 cultivation-years), and it imparted to her the tiniest part of the Note of Despair (+10 Impact), a single song-note that when sung would wreak havoc on enemies, reducing them to despairing, gibbering wrecks. Only the strongest could resist it, and it could destroy an army if used. Of course, it rebounded upon the user and led them deeper into despair and self-destruction - singing the Note had not helped the whale at all. It sang to her its sadness on the death of its charge, the despair in the fact that it failed in all things it was bound to, but it was still alive. Yingzi shared that burden in the tiniest amount, and the whale was grateful. Of course, her deeds in the Trials were no small matter, either.
Impact: 19 (+10)
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment 4-Pillar
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 194 (+60)
Health: Healthy --> Crippled --> Wounded (LST Interrupt) --> Lightly Wounded (End of Turn)
Xiuying Ten Jiang
Bonus: Tribulation Boost
Fate: Xiuying's breakthrough was no small matter, and her rise into Foundation Establishment saw her firm her First Pillar with ease. Her tale was yet to be told, though...
Impact: 10 (+0)
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment True 1-Pillar (Fortified Pillar)
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 122 (+22)
Health: Healthy --> Healthy
Yang Fangxu
Bonus: LST
Fate: Fangxu was beaten savagely by several Hunters and was almost killed by a third. Despite their differences, Aristophanes saved her life - along with the judicious use of a treasure - and they escaped, though their full story was yet to be told...
Impact: 6 (+0)
Cultivation: 8th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 57 (+19)
Health: Healthy --> Dead --> Badly Wounded (LST Interrupt) --> Wounded (End of turn)
Zeno Angelus
Bonus: LST
Fate: Zeno cultivated with incredible focus, knowing the Trials were soon upon him. In the space of a few decades he rose into the Second-Pillar Stage, and from there, well, there are more adventures to be detailed...
Impact: 4 (+0)
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment 2-Pillar
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 146 (+46)
Health: Healthy --> Healthy
Manuel could scarcely believe it when he had first heard it.
Oh, he had checked the young man himself. Konstantinos (and wasn't that a mildly entertaining coincidence) had been free of any mental corruption he could sense, and teasing out all of his secrets - embarrassing or dangerous - had been the work of days. He'd kept the young man unconscious and isolated while he did it, ensuring anything he'd carried out would be easily noticed. An array on an abandoned mountain, set up with enough Spirit Stones to detonate the entire thing and purify the area - along with anything inhabiting the young man's body - had sufficed as security. Konstantinos had proven to be fine, and Manuel took a peculiar vial from Konstantinos - brimming with energy, radiating the sort of power that would be a sin for a weaker man to possess. Even he could not understand the first thing about how it was made.
An artifact for his own use, he had thought at first.
Oh, of course he compensated the young man. Spirit Stones, Contribution Points, a personal lecture in future at need - he festooned him with reward upon reward. If he didn't, nobody would ever give up such things to the Clan.
He'd dedicated Destasia to studying the vial Konstantinos had recovered, and ultimately the two of them had come to understand it.
The vial drew blood from... somewhere. It was pure blood, Destasia insisted. Pure blood - not drawn from any human being, any beast, anything that existed in the world. It was the very essence of blood itself, not mere Blood Qi or the like, something more.
And every hour or so, another few droplets came out of the vial.
At first they'd thought it was a Blood Path treasure, but it wasn't human blood. Anyone could drink it, and gain its power. Well, anyone with a low enough cultivation, or a mortal. It didn't respond even those a little way along the path of cultivation at all, which was a curious thing.
They'd considered diluting it and feeding it to all the Qi Condensation cultivators, or feeding it to the most worthy juniors.
It was Destasia who had come up with the proper use. For all her madness, her genius could not be denied. Manuel could ferret out secrets and trap someone in a web of lies, but properly understanding something and coming up with a new, creative use for it? It was hardly his forte. He followed a path of slow accumulation and learning. Destasia followed no real path at all, blazing into the wilderness of ignorance to find new knowledge on a whim.
The Blood of Bronze they took to infuse their bloodline was weak, a paltry thing compared to the true bloodlines of old. Mixing the pure blood - what Destastia had termed the Ascension Blood for some fool reason - with the Blood of Bronze enhanced it. Those infused with additional Blood of Bronze mixed with Ascension Blood purified their bloodlines, making them stronger. They regenerated more quickly, were harder to put down. Indeed, with the Technique Palace in tow, he believed his Qi Condensation cultivators would not only be the equal of any other cultivator in the Third Sea, but on average their superior.
More importantly, their use of formations was strengthened. By the initial testing, Manuel suspected the formations used by Qi Condensation cultivators would be enhanced by a fifth, and that was no small matter.
After the Builder had died, he had suspected that the Cloud Demon Caves would not be worth exploring.
But this... this was a treasure beyond imagining. What else lurked down there?
They regenerated more quickly, were harder to put down. Indeed, with the Technique Palace in tow, he believed his Qi Condensation cultivators would not only be the equal of any other cultivator in the Third Sea, but on average their superior.
More importantly, their use of formations was strengthened. By the initial testing, Manuel suspected the formations used by Qi Condensation cultivators would be enhanced by a fifth, and that was no small matter.
Magnus Centenius
Bonus: LST
Fate: Magnus Centenius finally got away with it. Entering the Qiguai Secret Realm, he seemingly stumbled over a life's worth of luck in the space of a few months. Killing a scion of the Heavenly Time Shatter Sect who had bought a spot, he seized from them a Internal Library (+60 Cultivation), an artifact that allowed one to cultivate within it at thousands of times the normal speed. He used it immediately, knowing that it would likely have some security placed upon it that might activate once back in the Third Sea. He was hunted by two other members of the Noble Devil Alliance, both from the Noble Knowledge Sect. The first was turned upon and poisoned with relative ease, and Magnus found on the dead woman a slip for the Three Thousand Noble Poison-Eating Art. It let one eat poison to further one's cultivation, though only a limited amount - the backlash after overusing it would kill you. He seized their poisons and ate them all, (+40 cultivation-years). The final member played a game of cat-and-mouse with him throughout the sky-sea, Magnus eventually winning. He gained a Poison-Expelling Stench Pill, allowing him to expel some of the prior poisons and consume more to further his cultivation even more (+20 cultivation-years). He saved a substantial force of his own in the Trials, but was ultimately badly hurt and would've been crippled at the end of them if not for the use of a treasure.
Impact: 5 (+0)
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment 6-Pillar
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 311 (+137)
Health: Healthy --> Crippled --> Wounded (LST Interrupt) --> Lightly Wounded (End of Turn)
Name: Janus Cultivation Stage: Foundation Building - 2nd Pillar Cultivation Age: 140 Health: Healthy Impact: +12 Starting Turn: 11 Current Age: 81
Cool Thing:Bloodied Bronze, Brilliant Battle
Janus has a sensitivity to bronze qi and an affinity for its techniques, almost to the exclusion of others.
Background: Born in the year 199 to Golden Devil parents, they - like countless others - were reaped like wheat in the centennial slaughter of the clan known as 'the trials'. Left orphaned as a child, Janus was taken in by a merchant desiring a child-sized servant to assist him in his duties, until he escaped at an early age. Surviving as a street child, Janus was eventually taken in to a house of the Filius Orphanages under the care of a woman named Helena. Willful, full of backtalk, and with an eye for weaknesses - of character or otherwise - Janus was consistently left behind even as other children were picked for apprenticeships, for monkhood and priestesses, and as house companions to only children.
Instead, Janus stayed behind, taking to the streets for friend and shelter both, growing up hard and learning harder lessons before being inevitably found and dragged back by an increasingly worried and exasperated Helena. Trying to instill skills of value and a more civil nature in the young boy, Helena fought to teach him numbers, reading and writing, and social mores in the hopes he might become a cointender, bookkeeper, or some other pursuit worthy of his sharp eyes and quick mind. Janus hated it, and fled to comfort in street life, growing from petty thief, to lookout, to petty thug. As his teenage years brought height and muscle, he quickly moved to guard, enforcer, and bodyguard for the city's merchant class and growing elite.
That is, of course, until his criminal behaviour catches the eye of the legions and his plans for the future are quickly and thoroughly derailed...
Starting Age: 101 Cultivation: Foundation Building - 2nd Pillar (140) Health: Healthy Impact: +12 End of Turn Fate: --
Starting Age: 81 Cultivation: Qi Condensation 12 (224) Health: Healthy Impact: +6 End of Turn Fate: Janus was given no easy mission on ascending to Foundation Establishment. For whatever reason, he took the tremendous risk of diving into the Poison Maze wholesale, seeking tomes on the Bile-Purging Vomitous Tree, one of the least pleasant trees to cultivate but also one that was a key ingredient in almost every poison purgative the Clan knew. They had long failed to cultivate the tree despite three attempts at taking cuttings, and so knowledge had to be found. A single tome that was reputedly hidden in the Noxious Pits was his goal.
Along the way, Janus was faced with a multitude of challenges, including poisonous mists, fanged lizards that burrowed up from underground, and hordes of savage creatures both humanoid and those mutated far beyond it. His progress was slow at first, but once he discovered an incredibly venomous worm that could spit poison, he taught himself to ride it, using a lump of meat dangling from a rod of bamboo in front of its nose to keep it travelling ever-onwards.
He descended into the Noxious Pits, seeking a man who was reputed to know the location of the tome. Upon arrival, the man - a mutated beast going mad - had written him a letter, begging him to take his daughter out of the Maze. She lacked a mouth, and her hands had been twisted into crab-claws, but she had memorized a cipher that would allow him to translate a copy of the tome the man had painstakingly scribed.
He took the mortal girl out of the Maze, sneaking her out, and avoiding a Core Elder who chased him for a day and a night before he was able to lose the powerful woman in the poison mists. Upon leaving, she gave him an artifact her father had given to her, asking him to take her all the way to the lands of the Golden Devils. The Fang of Speed (+6 Impact) was an artifact that could be used to piece your own flesh, enabling you to burn Qi at extortionate rates, but move at ten or twenty times your ordinary speed - and perception - for a brief period of time. An excellent trump card.
Starting Age: 61 Cultivation: Qi Condensation 10 (144) Health: Healthy Impact: +6 End of Turn Fate: Janus was naturally sent to assist with the trade and diplomacy efforts with the Strength Purity Sect. Where others offended, he schmoozed - somehow - his natural magnetism and offensiveness both charming the Strength Purity disciples he was hobnobbing with. After one particularly wild party, he ended up playing a game of what could best be termed a mixture of strip poker and paintball, managing to strip down a number of Strength Purity disciples, including one he was targeting in particular. One of the most jadely beauties of her generation, Underhanded Jab was much beloved by her fellow disciples, and so Janus managed to take forfeits - in cash, naturally - from her fellow disciples to prevent her having to strip down. Somehow he won round after round, a massive pile of treasures accumulating before him. Eventually it became double-or-nothing, and Janus won that too, though Jab called an end to the game there, so worried were her admirerers. Unbelievably, he had won forty-two rounds in a row, and that he allowed her to bow out in such gentlemanly fashion won him some admiration among the Strength Purity disciples despite his take.
Immediately afterwards of course he split the take with Underhanded Blow who had been in on the entire thing, gaining a huge pile of cultivation resources (+40 CY) for himself.
Starting Age: 41 Cultivation: Qi Condensation 10 (121) Health: Wounded Impact: +6 End of Turn Fate: Janus found himself assigned to a Century in the Clan's newly gained Eastern territories. One tasked with one of the first Caravans to set out from the newly founded Scorpion Trade Palace, no less. Granted the designation of Immunes, Janus was tasked with scouting ahead of the Caravan as it took a new route intended to cut through the fertile heart of the desert in the territories of the Heavenly Bandits. His instincts honed from his time as a street rat, combined with his relatively powerful cultivation made him ideal for the task, oftentimes providing the Expert leading them with life saving forewarning of potential dangers. Though wounded in a fight against multiple peak Qi Condensation Bandits in an unexpected ambush of his person, he found in their possession a cutting from the Enlightened Cactus, which once cooked and eaten boosted his Cultivation considerably (+20 Cultivation Years). Still, the rigors of the journey took their toll, and Janus found himself welcoming the familiar environs of the Waycastles upon his journey's end.
Starting Age: 21 Cultivation: Qi Condensation 10 (117) Health: Healthy Impact: +6 End of Turn Fate: Janus attempted to replicate his success from the Yuan Realm in the Qiguai Secret Realm. Hiding within it for some time, he managed to snatch a number of powerful and rare resources - nothing he could use, but things he could trade back with much value to the Clan. He robbed six powerful scions, and left whistling cheerfully. Unfortunately for him, as he left he was ambushed by three Foundation Establishment experts, stealing what he himself had stolen. They had joined forces to protect the interests of their juniors. They did not intend to kill him, merely cripple him for life. If not for the use of a treasure that would have been his fate, but he escaped, merely Wounded.
Starting Age: 17 Cultivation: Qi Condensation 1 (21) Health: Healthy Impact: +0 End of Turn Fate: Once a thief, always a thief. Once a swindler, always a swindler. Where others dived into desperate danger to try and seize the goods of the Yuan Man-As-Mountain Array, Janus took a more elegant approach. Take the treasures from those who already had them. A string of thefts, muggings, and one incidence of pure regular banditry were the cherries atop a sundae of crime. Janus never entered a single Trial. He considered it, and then ambushed a near-dead Jingshen scion returning from a powerful Trial, knocking him unconscious and taking his Thirty Ancient One-Year Ginseng plants, (+30 cultivation). This inspired him, and he created a series of traps that managed to separate a number of Yuan scions directly, disgusing himself and faking a presence as a powerful Core Formation entrant through the use of some trickery, scaring the cultivators into leaving their loot. From them, he gained four Revolution Lotus Petals (+60 cultivation), each enough to supercharge his dantian with masses of Qi, advancing him ever-further. Using his new, massively advanced cultivation, he robbed a weaker junior from the Sorrowful Blacksmiths, taking a rather peculiar Illusion Gudi (+3 Impact), the bone flute allowing the wielder to construct illusory landscapes and scenes that were paper-thin, but were otherwise incredibly difficult to see through. With this, he led three forces looking for revenge - Yuan, Jingshen, and the Blacksmiths to face one another, illusions causing them to fight one another. As the battle wound down, he filched a Jingshen Spirit Firework (+3 Impact), a firework capable of emptying a battlefield of Qi entirely, dismissing illusions and most area techniques and formations - and keeping them suppressed for fifteen minutes or so. It could be reused many times, merely needing Spirit Stones to power it. He managed to steal it before it could be used to fully dismiss his illusions and left, unharmed. He also raised a number of bandit cells in the Heavenly Bandit Kingdoms, meeting a group of bandits in the ruins of the Gotun Kingdom, and turning them into a useful, semi-loyal cell to the Golden Devils.
You learn a couple things when you're a street rat. If you put a knife to me, I guess I'd rank them like this: You don't mess with Legionnaires. Always respect the top dogs. Rely only on yourself. Keep your head down, and mouth shut. And do whatever it takes to stay alive.
I've been alive...damn, this is why Auntie Helena kept harping on about studying numbers. Quick count on my fingers, up to my toes- seventeen years, I've been alive seventeen years and I've been an orphan dog of the streets for about sixteen of them. Long enough that these lessons were hard-earned, beaten into me by serious turns of life and more than a few angry seniors. That was why my current predicament was so damn infuriating, and why these whimpering sacks of shit in the alleyway just had a spirited conversation with my knuckles.
See, I don't know what happened to my parents. And frankly? I don't give a shit. I've got bigger problems, practical problems, like "what am I gonna eat today?" and "what am I gonna eat tomorrow?" and "how do I keep that Pighead Romanallis from shitting in my soup pot?"
Metaphorically. If he dropped a loaf in my soup for real, city overseers or not, he'd be mysteriously turning up in the well within a week.
What the hell was I so pissed about-? Right, these numbskulls.
I gave one of them a kick in the ribs, the man curling protectively around the spot. "Please, Janus, we didn't- we didn't mean anything by it," he groaned.
"Then you should have kept your mouth shut and not said anything," I growled.
Yeah, I didn't really care about my parents or where they went. But it left me with problems most of my days were spent trying to solve. For at least another year, Auntie Helena was aggressively generous in her offer of three-square-and-a-bed at the local orphanage. It wasn't exactly great food and the bed was more sheet than mattress, but it covered rule 5. Despite how often she threatened to beat me like a rug with her freakishly strong old lady arms, her disapproval didn't stretch far enough to stop me from establishing a reasonably solid name for myself as the best enforcer in the city for...y'know, less than legal exchanges.
I needed some way to take care of myself, after all.
The other rules I more than handled myself: I stayed quiet; I did my work far from the damn orphanage; I very explicitly didn't say shit to anybody or look too hard at anything while I worked. I even kept my head down until I made myself top dog and now, when I'd managed to get a foot out and had a shot of making some real money with the real crimelords- uh, that is, merchants, legitimate merchants - I find out these punks from my last job were blabbing about me. To the Legions, of all things!
"Can't believe I vouched for you shits," I muttered, looking behind me to see if anyone was checking on us, but finding the narrow pathway clear. It wasn't an accident: people in Singing Beast Town learned not to look in on men in dark alleys at an early age, but I didn't really want to leave it up to chance.
"They just-" One of them coughed, flinching when I looked at him. "They...just wanted to know what you looked like."
"Oh, just that?" I said, squatting down. "Just what I looked like? Just figuring out how to identify me in a crowd?" I reached out and slapped him on the cheek, the guy flinching dramatically like he expected a proper punch. "Think, Marcus, think! You really believe they're asking what I look like to commission a damn statue in my honour?"
"Look, man, we're sorry," his friend pleaded. He was always the smart one - which was how I remembered who he was. The other two were Stupid and Dense, respectively. "We really didn't expect it to be a problem. Just...what do we do to square it?"
I looked at him for a moment, thinking to myself. "How much you got in your purse?"
==============================
Alright, I had a reasonable amount of stavraton stockpiled and the three stooges gave me a little boost on top. My current plan was get back to the orphanage, grab the stash there, head across town to raid my stockpiles, then try and get a ride out of the city with one of the merchant caravans. With any luck, the last time I'd see this city would be in the next few hours and I'd start a new life somewhere else.
Step one: sneak back inside. Normally I did this at night, trying not to make any noise and risk waking up Auntie Helena (or worse one of the little kids and their infinite questions), but it worked just as well in the early afternoon. Being taller than the usual man, and a little more physical, came in handy too. I reached up to the edge of the window, hauling myself into the orphanage with practiced ease. I tucked into a roll as I passed the edge, landing in a skulking crouched on the first landing of the stairs, then drifted to the second floor proper. Now I just needed to get into the bedrooms unseen-
"Yes, this is his bed," Auntie Helena said. "You're sure on the amount we agreed on?"
"Helena," a gruff voice I didn't recognize responded. "The Legions don't haggle. Frankly, the Legions don't do this. This is purely a favour from me to you."
Shit shit shit shit shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. She sold me out? Auntie Helena, the kind old soul who took everybody in? The one who fed me, and gave me a place to sleep? The one who told me to be careful, and not to beat people up for a living? The one who looked at me like I was a bad influence everytime I came back from a job with bloodstains on- okay, no, this made sense.
Shit. How do I even-?
"Oh, aren't you the kid we're looking for?" a woman asked from behind me.
"Goddamn it," I said, looking over my shoulder at the speaker, finding a black-haired woman in silver Legion armour staring back with a raised eyebrow.
"Damn, they weren't kidding," she said, blinking. "The hair's definitely a giveaway, you don't get that kind of shine without the Blood. Could do with a good wash, though." She reached out to grab me and I skirted back, rising to make a break for it- and she kept up like I hadn't moved, snagging me by the collar with hardly a breath of strain for my efforts. "I've got him out here!"
"Hey, don't- let go!" I yelled, grabbing her wrist and twisting, but her arm stayed firmly straight. "What the hell? I didn't do anything!" I yelled, throwing my hips to the side, trying to twist her weight around - but she stood stock still, the only response her grip growing a little tighter.
Footsteps marched out, heavy and plodding on the cheap wood floors of the orphanage. A thick-necked bull of a man glared down at me from inside a plumed helmet, a t-shaped opening in the front hiding everything but his nose and sturdy gaze that pinned me to the ground. I could feel them like points burrowing into me, asking questions I didn't have the answer to, unrelenting until-
"Yeah," the man said, turning to Auntie Helena. "No mistaking it. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, ma'am."
Auntie Helena- no, Helena smiled up at him, huffing. I missed whatever she said back to him, because the man gestured at us and the woman holding me hoisted me off the ground and onto her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The two of them vanished from my sight as I was carried away, but the heavy jingling of coins changing hands was unmistakable.
"Can't believe I got fuckin' rumbled like this," I muttered, somewhere between surprise, amusement, and anger. "Old lady played the long game on me."
"No idea what you're talking about, kid," the woman said, giving me a sudden spank that made me jump, as she hauled me back down the stairs. "But you're in with us, now. Don't try to run and all that. You've already pissed off the Centurion though, so...I guess run if you want. Probably won't be more pissed."
"Hey, lady," I said. "What are they giving you? I'll double it- damn, I'll triple it if you help me outta this."
She snorted. "Kid, that's…" She shook her head. "Alright, for future reference, don't try to bribe a Legionnaire. You're lucky I'm in a good mood today, or you'd really be in the shit."
"Hey, hey, it's not a bribe," I said, trying to convince her as we stepped out into the main street. "It's a-" She hurled me off her shoulder and I hit something hard and woody-sounding. I threw my weight into the toss, rolling back on my shoulder into a feral crouch. "Hey, watch it!" I glanced around, finding myself in the back of an open wooden cart with benches along the sides.
"Uh huh," she said, climbing into the back with me and taking a seat.
I cleared my throat, pushing myself to stand in the back, gesturing broadly with my hands. Damn it, she was so damn strong, I couldn't take her in a fight. Probably couldn't outrun her, either. This is why you don't mess with Legionnaires, ugh. I had to get her on my side fast, before the other guy came back. "As I was saying, it's not a bribe." She gave me an amused look, throwing one arm over the side of the cart. "It's a...gift, from me to a prospective friend. A friend who could really help me out right now if-"
"Sit down, boy," the man's voice rumbled, as he strode out of the orphanage and towards the cart.
I looked at him, irritated as my last plausible avenue to get away evaporated. "Why should I?"
"If you want to fall and break your jaw, I suppose you're free to do so," he replied, climbing into the back of the cart. "I imagine it would be an unpleasant experience being on that end of it, but you'd likely be healed before any further punishments are administered." He turned to look at the woman. "Why isn't he tied up?"
"He's just some kid," the woman shrugged, earning a flat look from the man. "...ugh, seriously? You've been such a slave driver since they put you in charge of the squad."
"It'll be our heads if he gets away before the centurion has it out with him," the man replied, closing his eyes as the female legionnaire made her way over and - in complete defiance of my struggles at keeping my arms away - grabbed both of my hands in a single swift swipe, binding them with a length of rope she had stowed at her hip.
I narrowed my eyes at him, dropping into a crouch then slumped against the benches on one side. Wasn't like it'd make my day any shittier at this point either way. "What the hell did I do to piss you guys off?"
"You broke the law," the man grunted.
"What? You don't have any proof," I said. I paused, frowning. "Wait, since when do the Legions care about that?"
"Not Mortal law," the man clarified, turning to look at me with one thick finger jabbing at my face. "Clan law. No cultivator can use their comparative advantage to abuse mortals in the way you have, no matter how small their cultivation base."
I blinked, holding my hands up. "Whoa there, guy, you've got the wrong man. I'm not a cultivator. I'm a petty thug, with a side interest in theft and smuggling. I'm not a-"
"First stage of Qi Condensation, kid," the woman said. "You've been beating up on mortals and taking their coins for months, from what I heard. And cultivation isn't exactly something you stumble into by accident."
"No, wait, but-"
"It's immaterial," the man said, thumping the side of the cart and sending us trundling forward. The horses moved off at the signal, apparently well trained enough to know how to get...wherever the hell we were going. "You can tell the Centurion whatever story you like. He'll handle it from there."
I frowned at that, gritting my teeth as I tried to digest this new wrinkle. I wasn't looking forward to dealing with this...Centurion. In my experience, people in charge of things were implacable bastards and the fact that I was apparently being held for some sort of heinous crime against 'mortals' seemed like the kind of thing they'd hold against me.
==============================
As it turned out, the Centurion didn't care about my story. Or me, particularly. I was entirely right, but the real implacable bastard in charge - a Legate or something - had apparently rolled me downhill onto this guy, and he wasn't exactly happy about having to clean up. The man had taken one look at me, and given me a pretty straightforward set of options: I could lose a hand for each crime, or be given a shot at joining the Legions as a penal conscript with the possibility of serving my way out.
Eventually.
Unfortunately, they counted my crimes at somewhere around-
Ten fingers, ten toes, start over on the hands.
-twenty six, which was considerably more than the amount of hands I was willing to part with.
That was how I found myself at some place called the Dawn Fortress standing in the front row of a barnload of people, dressed in a gray tunic and sack cloth pants, held by a leather belt, and sturdy sandals with not much else to my name. Everybody else was dressed the same, and if you think that's a comfort, we should play dice sometime.
I reached back, scratching the spot under my right shoulder blade where the Centurion had...done something. He said it would "keep me honest until I was somebody else's problem," something that'd probably be threatening if it was...threatening.
"Is there a problem with your equipment, trainee?" a voice asked from behind me, coarse and whisper quiet.
"No?" I said, looking back at the bald-headed woman who'd appeared there, favouring me with a sour look.
"Then stop scratching yourself like a farm animal. You're a Legionnaire. Act like it," she said, turning her head to look around at everyone else. How did she even get behind me? We've been out here for 10 minutes at least, waiting for someone to tell us anything. "That goes for all of you! Whatever you were before, wherever you came from, none of that matters."
She strode past me, dressed in a gray tunic as well but hidden under leather armour clad in bands of bronze, and thick bronze greaves on her shins. "You now belong to the Legion! You serve the Legion first and foremost! You serve the Clan! And when you serve the clan, you all benefit!" She turned her head, gazing across the crowd, meeting my eyes for a brief moment before she continued. "You've been sent here from all corners, from all walks of life, and from all sorts of families. From this moment on, none of that matters. You are Trainees, and you will remain Trainees until I see fit, whereupon you will be dispensed to your final Legions." Oh, hey, someone else pulling the 'until you're someone else's problem' deal. "Form into groups based on your row. Until you graduate from training or die, that is your squad. The person at the rightmost end of the row is your squad captain."
I glanced around, wondering how near to the captain I was, and frowning as I realized only one person stood to the left of me. That was some rank bullshit.
"If you have a complaint? Talk to your captain. If you need help? Talk to your captain. If you need supplies, training, or anything at all? Talk to your captain." She put her arms behind her back, eyebrows raised. "Your superior's time is valuable. If you bring frivolous complaints to your captain and waste their time, they have...a reasonable degree of latitude in administering punishment. You will not waste mine. If I have to speak to any of you, I expect it will be to administer punishment. If there isn't punishment to be had, I'll give you one just so you understand the value of my time." She paused for effect. "Captains? If you have issues, you may come to me.
"I am Optio Tullia. Enjoy your training."
I saw her about four days later, staring at me with mild disapproval, my 'captain' standing beside her with half of his face a swollen bruise. I grinned at him, earning a fierce glare in response, and struggled against the ropes binding me to the wooden post, the sand shifting underfoot. "Hey," I said. "You think this half-assed torture is gonna make me respect you? You're a damn dog." I spat at his feet-
I gasped for breath, my throat feeling like someone had been sitting on it for a day. "Do not dare to be so vulgar as to spit in front of me, Trainee," Optio Tullia said, brusquely.
I coughed life back into my throat, staring at her through watery eyes. I didn't even see her move. What the hell was that?
"This is what I've been dealing with, Optio," Dario said. "He questions everything. He has no- no manners, no respect for anything!"
"Why-" I coughed, chuckling at his stupid angry face. "Why would I have respect for you? When my fists can do everything you can?"
Dario shook in place for a moment, clenching his hands. I'd had him figured out since our first conversation. He was soft, like the kids from the clean side of town, too unwilling to throw a punch back and just hoping it would all go away if he played nice. The kind that were willing to talk shit until you asked them to defend it, then they tripped over themselves to make you go away. I knew I'd have him throwing away the captain spot within a day, and none of these other shitlords deserved to be in charge either.
But then he didn't. He just...took it, getting more and more upset. He did weird shit in retaliation, like telling me to go run laps, or having my bed removed from the barracks. He even took away my shower privileges the last two days which, just...what the hell was his game?
Eventually, he got upset enough to take a swing at me and as a collector of fine swings myself, I felt like it'd have been a missed opportunity if I didn't let him see mine.
Fast forward 6 hours and the rest of the squad tying me to a goddamn log the size of a wagon wheel, before leaving me out here on a sand dune.
"You-" Dario said, pausing as the Optio held up a hand.
"Why are you here? You don't seem like the usual sort to join the Legions," she asked.
"Huh?" I said, frowning. "Nobody tell you? I'm here 'cause some dumbass thinks I'm a cultivator and wanted to stir shit up. Besides, why the hell wouldn't I want to? Nobody messes with the Legions."
Tullia looked at me, tapping one arm against her leg absently, clinking quietly like two coins tapping in a purse. "I see," she said. "And you have some...history with Dario here? Family conflict, or some other cause for enmity?"
"Me? Nah, I just met the guy this week," I said, wondering where she was going with this. "Haven't even known him long enough to hate him. That's what...ennity is, right?"
"What? But- you...all those things about my family. How would-?" Dario said, confused.
"Kid, all you silk pants are the same," I said. "Besides, you're a million years too early to face me. One little crack about your mother and your face does- that." He looked away, trying to twist his face into something neutral. "Don't worry about it. The way you look now, you should be happy she can't see-"
"You bastard dog!" Dario yelled, stepping forward and punching me in the gut.
I grunted, giving him a wry grin. "Better," I said. "I'd give you some pointers but." I struggled against the ropes to demonstrate.
"I- I apologize, Optio," Dario said, looking at me with his face twisted. "I lost control of myself."
She waved a hand at him. "If I thought it was unwarranted, I'd have stopped you." She looked at me pointedly. "You. Why are you antagonizing him?"
"Because I want him to give me the captain spot, obviously," I said, scoffing.
"You- that's it?" Dario said, confused. "That's why you've been...saying all this? Doing all this? You've been tormenting me for days without end! You didn't even ask!"
"Yeah, like you'd have given me if I'd done that," I muttered.
"I would! I don't even want it!" he yelled, throwing his hands up.
I looked at him, then at the Optio, then back at him. "Oh," I said. "Well, that's easy. You mind untying me then, so we can all go ho-?"
"You have an issue with how my squads are determined?" Tullia said, finger stilling against her leg.
"No, not really. Frankly, I don't care. But nobody just gets to be the boss of me," I said. The Optio raised an eyebrow and I swallowed, looking to the side. "Alright, but I can't take you in a fight. I can take him."
"I can't believe it," Dario said, putting one hand on his face. "All this...this pointless garbage-"
"You're a troublemaker," Tullia said, looking at me with a shine in her eyes I did not fuckin' like. "I thought you might have been…" she waved a hand. "An imbecile, maybe. Or some sort of base addict, suffering delusions without your vice. But I know what to do with troublemakers."
I leaned back, finding the log holding me here much more of an issue than it was a minute ago. "What...does that mean? You gonna let me go?"
"Oh no," she said, shaking her head. "No, no, no. I'm gonna throw you in a pit with the other troublemakers."
==============================
She wasn't kidding.
The Pit, as it was called, was a big damn hole in the sand. I didn't know how they kept the sand from falling in, but it was basically an indefinite training area dedicated to the century's least liked and most problematic people. The Optio just...threw them - us - all in, and wandered away, saying that "once we'd learned to behave and grown capable, we could get out and join the rest."
No idea what she meant by that, but this wasn't my first time in a prison. Although this one did smell unusually strongly of...a metallic tang, for some reason. Metal and blood.
Inside, the pit was a circle fifty or so feet across, littered with old damaged tents, cooking fires, and a few battered looking logs on cross-footed stands. Scattered between them all was a number of suspect looking individuals, eyeing me after my rapid arrival at the bottom. Luckily for me at least, the ground in here was a lot softer than up top. Wouldn't even have to pretend I wasn't hurt.
"Another one?" someone chuckled, leaning against a thoroughly beaten looking tent. "Weird to get 'em so close together. This one almost looks as tender as the other one."
"What's with the hair?" one of them muttered.
"You got a problem?" I called, knowing the answer to that question was always 'yes'. I pushed myself up to my feet from where I'd fallen, glancing up at the top of the pit some fifteen above and more than that to the side.
"Looks like the Legate's," the mutterer continued.
"Legate ain't got no damn hair," someone called from the side, and I glanced over, finding nothing but a pair of tents where the voice came from.
"Nah, he's got that beard," the mutterer said. "S'short, but it's hair. Sparkles like gold coin, in the sun. Got the same thing, this kid."
I glanced around, and started walking - slowly, deliberately, visibly relaxed - out of the center of the pit. This was a hot spot, but running out of it would make me a target. Still, nobody seemed to be overly interested in me beyond the usual "new thing, who dis" curiosity. A damn sight better than the last time I was in prison. A guy four times my size and at least 5 times my age had tried to slip into my cot and-
"Hey!" someone said in a loud whisper. I glanced around. "Over here!" I turned my head slowly to a particularly wrecked looking tent, spotting a pale white face with feminine features wreathed in black hair, and an arm waving me down.
I considered ignoring it - a lot of people made the stupid mistake of trusting a girl on their own, ignoring how often that was bait for the nine people with knives around the corner - then decided to give it a cautious approach. I kept walking, circling widely around the tent as I got closer, treating her with blatant suspicion as she came fully into view. "Yeah?" I said.
"The Optio threw you down here too?" she said, looking at me a little nervously. "Looks like your entrance went over better than mine did."
I watched her for a moment, eyes flicking to the usual spots on reflex: eyes, hands, waistband for purse, face, before finally looking at her in full. She was...another one like Dario. Soft hands, clean skin, no scars, and her hair was so glossy it was like the surface of water at night. I almost wrote her off as another useless one - then remembered how my 'captain' had thrown my expectations off.
She chuckled nervously, and I went 'fuck it'. "Yeah. She says I'm a troublemaker." I looked up at the top of the pit. "Whole thing seems like a big cock-up on somebody's part. They keep saying I'm a cultivator, but I'm just a guy who beats people up for money."
"Er," she said, looking at me awkwardly for a moment. She seemed unsure of what to say to that. "You...are one. Early Qi Condensation somewhere, feels like?"
"Yeah, they said that too," I said, frowning. "What the hell is qi condensation?"
"You- How do you not know what that is?" she asked, confused.
"Nobody told me, they just kinda accused me of being one," I shrugged. "Figured I should know if I am or not." I ran a hand through my hair, looking at her more closely now that she seemed a little less like the type to knife me in my kidney. She was short - not just shorter than me, which was typical, but genuinely short - with rosy white skin, dark eyes, and the exaggerated s-curve to her tunic that made often made women so effective as bait in the first place. "Look, I know how this works. What do you want for it?"
"Want for...what?" she said, frowning.
"The information. You need a bodyguard down here? I can do that," I shrugged. "Prison can get pretty nasty, and you don't look like the type to have any experience with that."
"Um, sure?" she said, looking around. "This...isn't a prison, though. Just a training ground."
I looked at her with one eyebrow raised, and didn't press her obvious lack of familiarity with prisons. "Alright. I cover you for one day if you tell me what it is, and we go from there?"
"Sure, but…" she paused. "Are you gonna want to know about Foundation Building too?"
I looked at her, completely lost, then nodded confidently. "Yeah. In fact, just tell me all the...things. We'll work it out from there."
==============================
Turns out I was completely ignorant. The girl - Jieyue, she said her name was - didn't exactly say that but...well, she was a real cultivator. Like, apparently she's been training for this since she was basically born, and she knew all the words, what they meant, and was willing to share them.
I wouldn't remember most of it, but I got the basics. Legionnaires and cultivators weren't magic demigods- well, they weren't just magic demigods, they were specialists. Like a guy who practices colliding with wagons all day until he's the guy you go to for wagon accident scams, or a smuggler who grew up on a farm and knows when to stockpile wheat and when to flood the market.
Except cultivators specialized in...breathing? I don't know, I kind of lost interest around that part. Jieyue said it had something to do with getting to know some guy named Yu En Truth, or some other stupid sage name, but the point was instead of making a bunch of stavraton and living in the lap of luxury, cultivators got to hurl farm animals and break tiles with their dick.
...I heard that last one in a bar after a job once. Some guy said he saw a Foundation Building legionnaire smash through a stack as tall as the table, and he was way too wasted to make a story that stupid up up.
I kind of wanted to try.
What was I talking about? Breathing, or whatever. I remember...when I was younger, when I was young enough that begging for coin was still a reasonable plan to get by, I found Aun- I found Helena sitting in her room with her eyes closed, just...not moving. At the time I didn't really get it, figured she was just sleeping in a weird pose, but the pieces finally clicked now. She was cultivating. She was a cultivator. Not a real one, or she wouldn't be an old woman running an orphanage in a town basically owned by some wealthy goons, but I watched her do that every week for years. Some of it must have taken, enough that she could manhandle me despite how thin she'd gotten over the years.
Stupid old woman. Hope she's got enough for food with the money she got from selling me.
...I'm not even as bitter about that as I thought I'd be.
Didn't really...explain me though. I mean Helena tried to make me sit down and meditate, said it'd be good to learn to 'control myself', but that never did anything for either of us. The only thing I even remember about that was that the whole place started smelling like blood and...metal.
Huh. Alright, that's a weird coincidence. Do I really believe in coincidences? No, that was usually what people blamed right before they got sucker-punched from the opposite direction-
"Hey!" Jieyue said, shoving me. "It's your turn to get food."
"What?" I asked, confused.
"It's your turn. To get food." She put her hands on her hips, leaning forward with narrowed eyes - and taking any impact out of it, since she was now looking up at me from a good distance below chin-height. I don't normally remember that I'm tall but, every now and then, I meet somebody new and it makes me reconsider my relationship with the world around me.
...no, she was just tiny like the rest.
"-and it's been three days...are you even paying attention?!" Jieyue said with an annoyed tone, pushing me in the shoulder again.
"Yeah, I'm listening, I'm listening," I sighed, running a hand through my hair.
Her eyes followed my hand and I followed her eyes, suddenly wary. She glanced back down and met my gaze, straightening up suddenly. "Anyway, just go. Just because I'm nice enough to teach you all this stuff doesn't mean you get to take advantage of me, y'know!"
I looked at her and put my hands on my hips, letting out a slow breath. I could point out all the people who I'd consistently caught eyeing her, despite us claiming a space in the more devastated section of tents; I could point out the seemingly infinite number of tiny scorpions that keep burrowing up through the sand at night that I've been dealing with for her; I could even point out the one pointlessly muscular redhead whose arm I had to twist when he got handsy.
Instead, I said, "Fine. I'll get lunch and dinner today. You just…" I raised my hands helplessly. "Stay where I can see you."
"I'm not a child, I can take care of myself," she said, pouting exactly like a child.
"The entire point of this agreement," I said, feeling the usual headache when I had to explain to a client yet again why me letting them do something incredibly dangerous would be entirely against the purpose of them hiring me as a bodyguard. "No, you know what, forget it. Do whatever."
I threw my hands up, walking away towards the centre of the Pit, absolutely sure she was sticking her tongue out at me as I left. I tried not to judge people too quickly, but Jieyue was pretty quickly establishing herself as some kind of brat. Parents probably didn't spank her enough or...whatever the hell they did to make you turn out decent.
I stepped away from the cover of the damaged tents into the broad area of clear ground at the center of the Pit, effectively unclaimed territory by anyone down here. I glanced around at the steadily increasing number of people, considering. Normally, I watched this happen from a little further away, the crowd gathering for the meal delivery like this. There were a decent number of them, but they didn't seem like they liked each other any more than I did. I just needed to avoid starting anything, and stand my ground when I was pushed.
Luckily, it didn't take much longer for the pit to darken, a massive sand-coloured tarpaulin suddenly stretching over the entrance. It sunk inwards like an oversized drop of water pooling on the ceiling, descending until it touched the ground and then unfolding outwards. The edges fell just in front of the gathered crowd with learned spacing, revealing a pile of baskets stuffed to the brim with breads and earthenware jugs full of water, wine, and soup.
Our feast from the Heavens, dropped in for the second time today.
Honestly, it was making me reconsider my thoughts on the whole 'Legions' thing. I was mostly just willing to stick around because, y'know, the whole "punitive hand removal" thing but this was some of the best food I'd ever had. The bread was soft and tender with a thin crust; the jugs had soup, thickened with potato and rice until it was rich like stew; and we had spring water. As in, water from a spring instead of a well! I'd overheard a couple of people complaining about the taste of the sawdust in the bread, but it was pretty consistent in how fine it was. The breads I used to buy had thumbnail-sized chunks of wood in them, more often than not. I didn't even notice the taste here. Ungrateful bastards should just give me their fill, if they're that unhappy about it.
We didn't really form a line so much as we shuffled forward in clumps, grabbing up our portion of food then making our way back out of the cleared area. I took a bite of the bread I'd gotten for myself and a long drink of soup from the jug, throwing a glance back behind me at the crowd as I walked away.
I paused, considering an idea, then looked around me. No one was watching. I crouched, wiping my mouth with my bread, then stacked the two loaves in the mouth of the container - and settled in to wait.
See, a lot of people think "oh, this guy's just dumb muscle, he's got no patience or appreciation for art" and half of that is true, but a fairly sizable chunk of all Muscle jobs are just waiting around. Security? Waiting for somebody to break in. Bodyguard? Waiting for somebody to jump your charge. Intimidation? Waiting for the job to end so you can go home.
That made me very good at waiting, and watching the group trickle down to nothing went by in no time at all. The last person had barely stepped off the tarp with their food in hand when the whole thing started to rise, rapidly folding back into a curled bundle as it rose into the air by the corners.
I fucking moved.
There were a few words hurled at my back as I passed but I didn't hear them or stop to think about their message. I leaped as I got near the tarp, barely snagging the edge as the whole thing started to rise above head height. I hauled myself up, fighting the flapping edge of the fabric until I could roll into the bundle of cloth with a grin on my face, watching the opening of the pit approach.
I never thought I'd be this happy to be back in the sun, but it's amazing what two days in a literal hole in the ground will do. How was that for 'growing capable'?
Suck it, Optio Tullia.
==============================
"That was the dumbest shit I've ever seen," a voice chuckled from somewhere nearby.
I blinked, pushing myself up from-
The ground? Why was I on the ground? Where the hell was I?
I looked around, trying to blink clear vision back into my eyes as the darkness around me resolved into dark earthy walls, rising dozens of feet into the air to the circular edge of the Pit. The same place I was about to make my escape from- and damn it, now I remember, what the hell just happened?
"Oh, he's getting up," another voice said, this one raspy and high pitched.
"Where...am I?" I asked, shakily, pushing myself to my feet with effort.
"Come the fuck on, kid," the first one said. "The 'dazed traveller' bit? At least try a little."
I straightened my back at that, rising in one smooth motion and glancing around at the trio of people around me, ranging between squatting beside and leaning against the tents as they watched me. They were non-descript men for the most part, dressed in dirt-stained versions of my own clothes and with the usual mix of light scars that came from a life truly lived. Though, one of them favoured a bare-chested approach that made me think they might not be living it much longer.
"Alright," I said. "Are we gonna have a problem, then?"
"You've already got one," he said, chuckling again. He thumbed a hand at the bare-chested one, who seemed to be glaring at me for...some reason. "Besides, after what you did to Paipai there? I'm legally obligated to beat you down."
"Who?" I asked, looking at the man in confusion. He seemed more upset by that, for some reason.
"Don't play coy," the second rasped. "It's one thing to not be interested, but you didn't need to go that far."
"Damn sure ain't enough holes around for the tent poles," the first man lamented. "And with his good hand gone until the medicine kicks in, he keeps asking for help. It's gross. And I'm holding you responsible."
I looked between them, then back at the man. I genuinely had no idea who he was, but admitting that seemed like it wasn't helping my case. "Would it help if I apologized?" I said, shaking my head. "I didn't mean to do...whatever I did."
I probably did mean to, but lying was a survival tactic.
"Too late for that," the second one rasped. "Should've thought of that before you decided to show off for your girlfriend."
I frowned, looking at Raspy, then back at Shirtless as his red hair sparked a faint memory. Was...he...the one who tried to grab Jieyue's-
"She wouldn't even have noticed, man," Giggles said, shrugging. "Could've just let him get a hand in, then quietly moved along and everybody'd have been better off. But no."
I froze for a second, processing. "Wait," I said. "Are you...saying he was trying to touch-?"
"You know damn well what he was trying to touch," Raspy hissed. "Walking around with an ass like that. The sun is still out!"
What? What did that even mean- no, move on. "Right, well, play stupid games," I said, looking between the three of them. "So, how about-?"
The three of them stood straight and looked in one direction, and I watched them in suspicion for a trap. After a tense moment, I turned and followed their gaze. A tired looking man walked towards us from deeper in the tents, his hair a wild brown mess that fell over his face just enough to accentuate the deep bags under his eyes. He looked tired and drawn, the beginnings of lines around his mouth and eyes making him seem like a prematurely aged young man, but he walked evenly and completely relaxed in a way that made me tense.
"Kid," he said, coming to a halt a dozen paces away. "What the hell was that?"
I raised an eyebrow. "I was trying to escape," I said. "Thought that'd be obvious."
He looked at me, slowly raising a hand to scratch the back of his head. His eyes didn't leave me, steady and unblinking the whole time. Finally, he said, "You really think everybody here's an idiot, huh?"
What? "What?"
"You don't think anybody's tried that?" he said, tilting his head to the side. "We're just all...here, sitting around in the bottom of a desert sandpit because we like the food and the company?" He shook his head. "Please."
"I-" I raised a finger, then let it curl. "...alright, fine. That's on me. But this place wasn't exactly inspiring confidence. You're in charge, then?"
He shrugged. "I'm as in charge as I can get away with," he said. "Why, you want the job?"
I narrowed my eyes at him.
He chuckled, the sound much deeper and more resonant than his speaking voice. "Not exactly a fight for it, kid," he said. "This is a training ground in the Legions. You know what being in charge means?" He looked at me patiently, watching for-
I shook my head, realizing he wanted an actual answer.
"It means you're responsible. And based on that look in your eyes, I'm guessing you don't know what that means." He held up a hand when I opened my mouth. "Oh, I'm sure you think you do. But I recognize your eyes, kid. The streets recognize their own." He put his hand down. "You aren't out there any more. The rules are different in the Legions. You rise or fall together, and the guy in charge falls first."
"You're a real smart guy, huh," I drawled. "What were you, a lookout? Numbers guy? Boss' kid?"
He laughed at that, throwing his head back, chest heaving for a dozen seconds before he got himself under control enough to get words out. "Boss' ki- oh wooow," he chortled. "No. No, I was the boss. Last guy tried to have me pushed under a cart when I was 14, so I did him in first. Took over the town, and ran it until my kids started looking at me like an obstacle too, so I left them to it." He shrugged. "Figured I might as well join the Legions. Two years later…" He looked around pointedly.
"Uh huh," I said, tapping my finger impatiently. "I appreciate the history lesson, but what was your point?"
"The point," he said, looking at me tiredly again. "Is that your stunt wasn't the brightest of ideas, and it cost us a half-meal for dinner for trying it. And not everybody is too appreciative of you wandering in here and looking down your nose at them, just 'cause your blood runs a little thicker."
What? "I'll keep that in mind," I said instead, filing that away as a question for Jieyue. "There anything else?"
He sighed, scratching the back of his head as he looked at me. "Alright, I see you're not getting it," he said. "But it's fine, I needed to remind everybody why we don't do shit like that and Xiaohu said you did...something or other to upset them. Sorry, kid, but a light working over's in the cards for you."
"That's fair," I said, shrugging. The trio around me grinned maliciously, Giggles cracking his knuckles and Raspy licking his lips. "I just hope-"
I spun around, throwing a jab at Giggles' nose. The man flinched backwards to dodge, hands coming up to block. I grinned, opening my fist instead to grab his wrist, yanking him forward into a hard right hook that cracked his jaw and crumpled him.
"Xiaohu!" Raspy yelled.
I let go, half turning on one foot. I raised the other leg, lining it up with Raspy and unloaded, just far enough away to get full extension on the kick. The man's eyes widened as I lashed out, rising off the ground to crash into a tent.
"Hraaagh!" the last one yelled, darting forward, face literally red with fury.
"Hey," I said, swaying to one side as a punch came in. "No hard feelings?"
"Choke on-!" he replied, gasping suddenly as I drove my knee into his ribs.
"Damn, I'm trying to be nice," I said, clubbing him with a double axe handle as he bent over, flattening him as he tried to catch his breath. "No need to be an asshole about it."
I glanced around, looking at the three men laid on the ground, and raised my eyebrows in mild appreciation. Even more so than normal, that was pretty clean. I wasn't even feeling winded, really.
"...honestly," the man said. "Getting beat by a kid who can't even weave his own qi. Are you guys really serious about getting out of here?"
I half-turned to look at him, shifting back around Shirtless' prone form on the ground so I could watch them for sudden movements. I wasn't down to get rabbit-punched by a guy I thought was out of the fight. "I think this is the part where I threaten you and you let me go if I don't beat you up," I said. "But we can skip all that, and I just quietly walk away now."
"Yeah," he said, shaking his head. "No. Then everybody's going to come over here to try and start shit." He sighed heavily. "I never realized how tired I was of this bullshit until I finally got away from it."
I tensed slightly, watching him for a sign of movement, but he just...stood there. He didn't raise his hands or even step closer, but it was like the air around him was getting thicker with danger. Even from where I stood I could feel the difference, like the air was turning to a sticky sludge, an overpowering smell of blood and metal-
My eyes widened as a blurry shadow formed above the man, towering over us at nearly twice our height. I hurled my body to the side, narrowly avoiding a dark line of force that speared forward and punched a hole in the ground where I was standing. "What the fuck?" I yelled, turning to look at him. "What the fuck?!"
"Not bad," he said, raising his eyebrows at me. "But you missed the second one."
The shadow's second arm completed it's rotation, slamming down on me from above, a round disc on its arm falling like a hammer of death towards my head.
I threw my arms up to block-!
==============================
"Seriously," Jieyue complained, setting my arms with splints made from a broken down pair of tents nearby. "I can't believe you tried to escape like that." She frowned, giving me a quick pinch on the forearms that made my entire torso light up with pain. "And without me! That's mean! You're lucky Mr. Bai was there to break your fall, or you'd have gotten worse than broken arms."
I glowered at that, the memory of 'Mr. Bai' and my arms still fresh in my head. One moment I was facing that...freaky shadow thing, the next thing I knew, I was waking up with my tunic missing, and Jieyue poking my injuries.
"Don't give me that look," she said, leaning back to sit on her heels. "The one time I send you for food instead, and I end up hungry and having to fix you up! If you didn't want to go, just say so!"
I looked at her, then looked away, taking a deep breath - and letting it out.
My arms really goddamn hurt.
"Jieyue," I said. "What's...thin blood?"
She paused, looking at me for a moment. "That depends on the context," she said slowly. "Usually, it means someone who didn't inherit the clan bloodline strongly." I looked at her blankly. "The...Blood? Of Bronze?" I stared. "...oh my god, we are not doing this now."
I closed my eyes, thinking. If that was thin blood… "Then thicker blood has a stronger Blood? Like...whatever's better than Bronze?"
"No, it's all Bronze," she said, shaking her head. "Just...better? Why are you asking me all this, anyway?"
"No reason," I said, wincing as she poked me in the bruises on my face. I opened my eyes to glare at her and she smiled sheepishly. "What's qi weaving, then?"
"Weaving? Did you get one of the clan's old devils to lecture you or something?" she said, laughing. I looked at her confused. "Sorry, it's just an old term. It's um...like when you shape your qi to do things. Like techniques, or the formations."
"Oh," I said. "And those are like...sword tricks, or cow-"
"Angry Cow-Hurling God Fist, yes," she said, giving me the side eye. "I still don't think that's real."
"That's because you've never had to smuggle aurochs," I replied absently, thinking. That...shadow giant...was a technique? And...I had qi too, right? So...I should be able to do that.
But how?
"You okay, Janus?" Jieyue asked, leaning over until she was directly in front of me. "You seem a little...out of it."
"Mm," I replied, shrugging and feeling my arms surge with pain. Jieyue said there'd probably be medicines with dinner, based on some other people who'd gotten hurt, but it seemed like a real bad deal that I was a Legionnaire cultivator and still could get my arms broken.
She patted me on the shoulder sympathetically. "It's...it's okay to feel bad if somebody said bad things about you," she said. I looked at her incredulously, but she kept going. "It's- it hurts, but it's not the end of the world. Even if you have thin blood, it's good enough for the Legions." She smiled bitterly at that. To my horror, she found room to continue. "Ah, not that you have thin blood or anything! I mean, your hair is really bronze and you don't normally see that in 1st Heavenstage, so you probably have thick blood or at least thick enough that it shows so I'm sure you're gonna be really good-!"
"Jieyue," I said, and she stopped suddenly, freezing in place. "I'm fine. My arms just hurt."
"Haha, yeah," she laughed, leaning back. "Right, of course you are."
I looked at her, knowing there was something behind that, but too focused on ignoring the pain from my broken arms to really think much harder than that.
"You know, if you really want to get out of here, you should be practicing the Hoplite Formation," Jieyue scolded me. "I mean, it's been like three days and I haven't see you try even once!"
"Practice the what?"
"You know, the Hoplite Formation! The standard technique of the Legions?" Jieyue looked at me like I was clueless. "Makes an illusionary ancestor guardian that obeys the will of the formation? Has a spear and shield?"
A spear and- that thing was what I was supposed to be practicing? How the hell was I supposed to do that? "Why do you think I would know that? How would I even know how to do that?"
"It's in the manual!" she huffed, folding her arms.
"The what?"
"The- this!" She reached into the folds of her robes, pulling out a shining piece of jade, about a finger long and inscribed with...characters, I guess? Fuck, if she expects me to read that then-
She pressed the thing to my forehead. Uh.
"What was this supposed-?"
Knowledge flashed into my brain, as I suddenly saw myself in places I had never been, fighting people I'd never seen, twisting an...energy that I'd never known about into a cultivation technique I had only seen for the first time earlier today. The clarity was startling. The casual ease of it was incredible.
The proportions of the limbs were wrong: I could feel the elbows too high up on my arms, and the legs longer than my own, the memories fitting uncomfortably. The fights were too amateurish: I didn't know the weapons or the attacks, but they were roundabout and flashy, an emotional overtone of disdain throughout it at all instead of the sheer conviction of needing to win.
But the energy...it didn't matter that the rest of it wasn't quite right, for me. The way it circulated from deep in my stomach, below and behind the rumbling pit of gas and fullness, then surged outwards along 8 major paths of coursing power. The way it branched and split, then again, then again, until it was like my entire body was being brushed on the inside by fine hairs of fire and vivacity. I could feel this, and it felt good.
It felt damn good.
"Ow, fuck!" I yelled, jerked out of my thoughts by a sudden stinging pain in my left arm. I raised them defensively, glaring at- "Jieyue, what the hell are you doing?"
She moued at me. "I'm tending to your injuries," she said. "Your broken arms? Mind putting them down so we can get on with it?" She waved a hand at them and I grimaced, lowering them delicately. She held them steady, and smeared a pungent smelling yellow ointment on them from a ceramic tub. "So many scars...You must have been such a reckless kid. Why didn't you ever get these taken care of?"
"You can't get rid of scars," I frowned. "That's what makes them scars."
She looked at me strangely. "Any decent doctor could make Golden Cocoa Butter Lotion, Janus."
"Yeah, I'm sure that's great news for people who've been to a doctor," I muttered.
"Wait," she said, pausing to look at me as she delicately worked the ointment into my fingers. "You've never been to a doctor? What were your parents thinking? I mean, it's normal-"
"Don't have any," I said, telling she was winding up to some speech or other. I'd seen enough street proselytizers to recognize the look. "Never did. And I think I came out alright without the doctors."
She didn't say anything after that for a while, just rubbing the yellow sticky muck up to my biceps, before packing away the tub. "You should be fine by morning," she said, quietly.
"Huh," I said, blinking as I held my arms up. "Pain's gone. I hear that normally takes weeks." I'd never broken an arm myself, but I'd doled out enough for tales of the experience to get back to me. They were all true: it sucked. "Thought you said we wouldn't get that stuff until dinner got dropped in."
Jieyue looked up at me, then at the half-empty jug of fish head soup beside me, then at the starry sky twinkling through the hole of the pit. She looked back at me, and nodded. "Yep." I looked up at the night in confusion. "You really got sucked into that jade slip. I thought you were just being focused, but...was it your first time using one?"
I looked at her, then pointed at myself. "I'm a regular guy," I said. "I didn't even know what a jade slip looked like, I just heard about them in the occasional bar story or from a market swindler." I shook my head. "Shit, I was worried you were gonna ask me to read it and then I'd really be stuck."
She blinked at me. "Wait, you can't read?"
"What good's reading? Can you eat words? Or spend them?" She half-gaped at me in horror, and I felt the urges to roll my eyes and shake my head at her. "Actually, Jieyue, can you do me a favour?"
She moued. "You mean aside from getting food for you? And taking care of your injuries? And apparently teaching you how to be a cultivator? And-"
"Okay, another favour. By Old Gold's saggy-"
"Don't you finish that!" she yelled, waving a hand at me before clamping both of them on her ears. "That's-! Filthy! You're filthy! Why would you ever insult the Grand Elder like that?!"
"The- wait, Old Gold's a person? The one in charge?" I hmm'd thoughtfully. "I never knew that guy had a name." I looked at Jieyue. "Hey, you think he's really as saggy as they say? I hear he's supposed to be like...older than mountains, but then he'd be dragging through the dust-"
"Okay, you need to be stopped," Jieyue said, with visible disgust. "What did you want?"
I tried not to grin as she gave in without haggling more, distracted from the issue by a little needling. I swear, it was too easy with these people. "I wanted to practice that...Hoplite Formation thing," I said. "But it needs multiple people, right? You mind?"
"You- you want me to help you?" she said, surprised.
"Well...yeah, who else am I gonna ask? The tents?" I raised an eyebrow. "If you don't want to, I-"
"No, no, I'll do it!" she nodded.
"-can...okay, great." I pushed myself up to my feet. "Then let's go."
She reached up slowly, holding her forefinger back with her thumb, and flicked it against my wrist-
"Agh, fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-" I groaned, my entire arm suddenly on fire with pain.
"I'm not doing that for you twice," she said, shaking her head. "Especially not after you insulted Grand Elder Konstantinos. Maybe in the morning, if you get breakfast, and you're really nice to me." She smiled at me sweetly and, grudgingly, I adjusted my opinion of her to include a certain level of conniving.
Maybe she was alright after all.
==============================
"No, keep your eyes closed, and focus on how the qi feels when it approaches you…"
"Why are you being so weird? It's like being hugged! Just accept the qi!"
"No, that's- you need to mix the two amounts of qi evenly, so- wait, no, it's not stable!"
"Okay, let's try going on a count, like music. I'll start. One…"
"How can you be bad at counting?! It's counting! No, it- I'll do it! I'll lead! Just give me your qi!"
"That's right. Slowly. Slowly...I said slowly, slowly, aaaaaah!"
"Hot sand on a shingle, this feels incredible! Now, we need to focus on stabilizing it, you see how the edge is super wiggly? We're bleeding qi."
"Okay, almost perfect. Now we just need to...wait, why do you have that look on your face?"
==============================
"Janus, come ooon," Jieyue said, pulling me by the arm.
I was unrelenting, striding across the pit towards the fistful of tents Bai and his goons had claimed for themselves. I made the point of walking through the empty space in the centre of the pit, drawing attention to myself as I marched towards our confrontation. We were approaching the lunch hour by my reckoning, and the eyes that were already turned towards the area followed me with murmured interest as I went. Perfect.
Jieyue was there too, I guess, since she refused to let go.
"We can't bother Mr. Bai!" she complained. "He's already got people he's mentoring!"
I spared Jieyue a glance, wondering where her strange and warped viewpoint on the world came from.
"We can just practice the Formation by ourselves! We've almost got it perfectly! Let's just go back!"
Her trying to persuade me to leave did a better job of announcing our presence than I could have, as I saw Raspy's head pop-up from behind a tattered tent and immediately grimace. He ducked back down quickly.
Good, that should save me a couple minutes.
"Jieyue, shut up for a second," I said, reaching up to pry her fingers off my arm.
"Don't tell me to shut up," she replied, before - mercifully - shutting up.
Raspy, Giggles, and Shirtless emerged from behind a tent, although Shirtless had gotten past his name. In fact, the blue and white tunic he was wearing seemed...familiar-
That bastard stole my shirt while I was unconscious.
...alright, that was funny enough I wouldn't make a big deal about it. Besides, slapping Bai in the face by beating up his goons again would be counter-productive.
But if I caught him alone, I was taking all his clothes.
Jieyue hummed some tune under her breath nervously, still pulling on my arm but also managing to hide behind it somehow, as the surliest of the three addressed me. "Come back for another beating, kid?" Raspy growled.
"No, I'm not here for you," I answered, walking towards them while staring over their shoulders.
"And what makes you think you're worth the boss' time?" Giggles asked.
"You couldn't stop me either way," I said, shrugging slightly. I walked into arm's reach and the three of them tensed, preparing for me to do something, but I just walked even closer until there was just enough space between my chest and Shirtless' to fit an open palm. I looked down at him, tilting my head to the side slightly. "Nice shirt." He smiled, warily. "You gonna move?"
"Kid, you really gotta learn some goddamn subtlety," Bai muttered, crawling out from inside a nearby tent, catching me by surprise. He pushed himself to his feet with a big yawn, stretching his arms into the air. "I thought you were a street kid, but you're just blustering into everything like a Legionnaire."
"I am, aren't I?" I shrugged.
He paused, looking at me, then looked away with a smile. "We are, aren't we?" He shook his head. "What'd you come looking for me for? And you brought Young Xie with you, hello miss!"
Young Xie? Who was he-
"Ah, hello, Senior Bai," Jieyue replied, stepping forward and giving him a very proper bow. "I apologize for the rudeness, but Janus really wanted to speak to you."
Bai waved a hand. "It's fine, it's fine," he said. "How are you coming along? Have you made any progress since our last talk?"
"Yes, thank you," she said, bowing again. "A lot, actually. Your advice was very helpful."
He laughed, gesturing for her to straighten up. "That's what old fogies like us are for, Young Xie," he said. "I only hope that you might remember Old Bai and his family when you become a Nascent Soul yourself, eh?"
"Ah, that's, er," Jieyue said, flustered.
Bai turned to me, amused as she fought to get a hold of herself, clearly evaluating me. That was fine - I had let them talk and was prepared to wait patiently however long it took, because we both knew the game. He was testing my patience. Someone who came to fight wouldn't wait for you finish your conversation, and someone who came to talk-
"So, young man," Bai said, putting one hand to his chin. "We haven't introduced ourselves." I nodded, and opened my mouth, but he beat me to it. "I am Bai Yuzhen. Third Heavenstage of Qi Condensation."
I took the gesture as offered, the respect of introducing himself first. "I'm Janus, a foundling. First Heavenstage of Qi Condensation." I took a breath. "Boss Bai," he raised an eyebrow, "I'd like to be part of your crew."
I bowed at that, ignoring the indignant yell from Raspy. Bai looked at me searchingly, and asked, "Why?"
"You're the strongest person I've met," I admitted, remembering the razor-like gust of wind from his Hoplite's first stroke - and the crushing feeling of being ground into the dirt, a titanic weight collapsing on me from above, as I realized I got taken by the distraction and the second blow demolished me. Jieyue and I could manage a decent enough Hoplite of our own, and she said the detailed musculature and fine detailing on our gear was a sign of real progress for us, but it lacked...impact. "In my life, I think. I don't know what's coming next, but you seem like you have an idea of how to handle things."
He stared at me for a long moment while I held the bow. His lips started to quiver and I worried I'd said something and tripped over a scorpion in his history, until he started belly-laughing, genuinely holding his stomach as he went. I looked at him, lost.
"The- the strongest," he wheezed. "The strongest!" It took a while for him to get himself under control, wiping a tear from his eye that left me feeling...embarrassed for a reason I couldn't place. "Kid- Janus. You've got eyes, but you're confusing Mt. Bai for the real deal."
"What do you mean?" I frowned.
"I'm almost fifty, kid," he said, still smiling broadly. "Closer to fifty five, since I've been in this damn pit for so long. And I only just broke through to Third Heavenstage in the last month." He raised his eyebrows. "I'm not strong. I just started the race before you."
"But- Senior Bai, you've given me good advice," Jieyue said, startling me. Damn, I forgot she was here. I didn't know she could be quiet for that long. "The entire reason I can form a solid Hoplite now is thanks to you."
Bai waved a hand, dismissively. "That was life advice, Young Xie. I may not be strong, but I'm definitely older than you. Old enough that I've made plenty of mistakes, and can help you through some of the obvious ones."
"I don't understand," I said, straightening up and letting my hands drop. "So you're...turning me away?"
"Damn right I am," Bai said, seriously. "Why are you in the Legions?"
I blinked, surprised at the question. I didn't exactly want to admit- well, fuck it, Bai knew what the real world was like. "They pegged me for some crimes, really juiced my record," I said. "Said I had to join or lose my hands."
"You did what?" Jieyue said, horrified.
"What'd they say you did?" Bai raised an eyebrow.
I shrugged. "Lots of petty theft. Public violence. Loitering. One case of watering down alcohol."
"Alright, you earned it for that last one," Bai said, rubbing his chin. "You saying you didn't do it?"
"No, but-. They're saying I'm a cultivator and I can't use that to oppress mortals," I muttered.
"That's true," Bai nodded. "That's why the Legions don't arrest guys like us." I frowned. "Well, guys like me."
"But I'm not a cultivator!" I complained.
Bai smiled at me. "Aren't you?"
I opened my mouth, and shut it.
"You know, you can retire from the Legions," Bai said. "You only need a certain minimum of service once you pass training here. Afterwards, you could leave and do...just about anything you want." He shrugged. "Plenty of ways for a cultivator to make money and live comfortably without living like we did."
I...forgot about that. I thought you were in for life. The Centurion who'd pressed me into this, he'd said something like that, hadn't he? I'd just kind of pushed the thought aside. 'For life' was just how the gangs in town usually did it, but...maybe the Legions weren't just a giant gang? Crazy. And...I wasn't sure if I'd take it. To a certain extent, I liked getting into fights and if I couldn't fight normal people anymore - didn't that make the Legions the best place for me?
"Why would anyone retire from the Legions?" Jieyue asked. "It's an honour to serve the clan. Everyone should be proud to be a Golden Devil!"
"Why does anyone join the Legions in the first place?" Bai asked her, quietly. "I hate to disappoint you, Young Xie, but not everyone joins for reasons as noble as yours. Some people just want to eat to live. Some of us are running from problems in our lives. Some just want to hurt people, and the clan has enough enemies that the Legions are a good way to do it."
I glanced to the side at that, accidentally locking eyes with Jieyue as she did the same, looking as uncomfortable as I felt. I turned my head forward again, looking at Boss Bai. "Why did you join? Even if your kids wanted your spot like you said, you could have just taken your cut and moved towns."
He inhaled. "My wife was a Legionnaire," Bai said, wistfully. "She retired before I was born, to start a family." He chuckled. "Lucky me she had bad luck with men. Me included." He paused, tilting his head back to stare at nothing. "You kids know about the Trials?"
"No," I said.
"Yes," Jieyue answered.
"You can explain it to him," Bai waved a hand. "But...I lost her, then. Strong woman, throwing her life away for juniors she didn't even know. Left me and the boys." He shook his head. "Most surprising thing I'd seen from her, and I've seen her dip eggs in fish sauce. I don't get it all. But damn if I won't learn."
I frowned, holding my thoughts back. She died for people she didn't even know? Now there's a dumb choice. Nobody was gonna thank her for that.
The right side of my back itched.
"She was brave," Jieyue said, quietly. "And a hero."
"She was a fat, grumpy old woman who farted in her sleep," Bai replied, and I snorted. "But your words honour her."
We stood there for a moment in silence, the rest of them looking solemn while I resisted the urge to say something. Until, "I don't believe you."
"Janus!" Jieyue scolded.
"Oh?" Bai asked.
"That you're weak," I said, shaking my head. "I don't believe it."
"You want me to prove it to you?" Bai said, amused.
"That's right," I said, feeling outwards with my qi like Jieyue had drilled into me.
"What if I just took a dive?"
"Then you ruin the image of a sleeping tiger that you've built up, and have everybody else to deal with." I said. Damn it, what was Jieyue doing? I needed her to accept my qi and work with me. She was still faster than me at structuring the formation, and I needed her to take the lead-
"Ah," Bai frowned. "...alright, you've got me there." He touched the side of his nose, a slow smile spreading across his face. "Fine, then. Fellas?"
I looked around, eyes widening as the smell in the area thickened, the odor of blood and metal growing cloying as Bai's goons moved closer to him, the Hoplite starting to grow up around them. That smell...it was qi! That's what I've been smelling! The whole pit was laced with it, the qi was pouring off us as we formed our formations- Helena, and my meditation! That was how-
Oh, there's Jieyue. About time. "Let's fucking gooooo!" I roared, our Hoplite spring up around the two of us, facing down Bai's larger but less clear shadow spearman.
"Why are we doing this?" Jieyue asked nervously.
I didn't have time to respond when Bai lashed out, his spear shooting forward at our formation's torso! Jieyue shrieked, swinging the shield to intercept the strike, the force rebounding to us and sending us staggering.
"Wasteful, Young Xie! You know the body isn't real!" he yelled.
"Stop giving us advice, goddamn it," I muttered, glancing over at Jieyue.
"I'm fine," she said, resettling our stance with shield and spear raised.
Bai stabbed out again, aiming for our spear arm, but Jieyue adjusted to let the blow go through the fake upper arm while our spear stabbed back at him directly!
His shield was already in motion, bashing the blow aside, his spear changing course to aim at us where we stood. "Why are you standing still?"
"I can't block it in time!" Jieyue yelled, our shield arm twisting around too slowly-
I grabbed her by the shoulder and hauled, jumping to the side!
-to block the spear, but the whole formation vanished as we lost focus. Bai's spear burrowed into the ground, leaving a hole in the ground as he retracted it, gesturing for us to redo our formation.
"He's right," I said shakily, feeling the backlash from the formation breaking as my joints all ached. "We can't just stand still and try to trade hits with him, he knows how to use the Hoplite better than we do."
"O-okay," Jieyue nodded. "Then what do we do?"
"We run around and try not to get stabbed," I said. "Hopefully, stab him first."
"You- it's not that easy!" she complained.
"Never said it was easy, but it is simple," I shot back, already feeding her my qi again.
The Hoplite sprang up around us - and immediately threw the shield down in front of us, blocking Bai's spear jab!
"Move!" I yelled, grabbing Jieyue's arm and running sideways.
I wish I could say we pushed him to his limits or made a good run of it, but he just stood in one place, throwing out his spear whenever we slowed down and parrying every strike with his shield. We were mirrored in stance, spear facing shield and shield facing spear, but his shield was nimbler than our spear and his spear cut more forcefully than we could block. He used both the damn things like weapons too, forcing us back until our heels were touching the clearing at the centre of the pit. People watched us from other sections, chuckling derisively at us for daring to challenge Boss Bai.
"Knew he wasn't weak," I panted.
"That's, that's great," Jieyue gasped back. "Can we stop now?"
"Alright, kids," Bai said, as if he heard her. "This is the last round. Think you're ready?"
"Bring it on!" I yelled back.
"Please don't," Jieyue groaned.
"Then here!" He dipped his shield, scooping up tents. "We!" He flung them at us, the broken poles and tattered cloth spinning through the air! "Go!"
We reached over, throwing our shield up and stopping the rain of debris, dull ringing sounds filling the pit with each impact. I glanced across at Boss Bai, spotting glimpses of the man between the falling tents, grinning with folded arms despite his failed attack- no, it was a distraction!
His Hoplite stabbed out with it's spear, the weapon now in the opposite hand and slicing towards us.
"It's on our bad side!" I yelled, Jieyue swinging our shield and spear around to try and intercept the strike. We caught it, just barely, when I caught a glimpse of the shield arm rearing back. "Jump!"
"What?"
"Fucking jump!"
I bent my knees and threw myself into the air, Jieyue just clearing the ground when the Hoplite's shield dug into the ground below us. But it wasn't enough, now we were stuck in place-!
"Good luck, kids!" Bai yelled. "Remember Old Bai!"
His Hoplite heaved, the shield flexing upwards to catch us on the surface, and hurled us upwards! Our formation broke as Jieyue and I drifted apart from each other in the air, breaking into the open sunlight in seconds, the desert below us spinning wildly as the world came into view.
"Janus, your hand!" Jieyue yelled, stretching out to me in the air.
I threw my hand out and my qi with it, the Hoplite bursting into life around us at the last second, throwing its shield into the ground with savage force. We hit the shield then the ground like heavy carpet falling from a roof, tumbling for a dozen feet before finally coming to a bruised halt. The seconds stretched on as we fought for breath, my heart thundering in my ears.
"Are we," Jieyue coughed. "Are we alive?"
"I should say so," a woman's voice said. "A fine example of a Hoplite, too. I knew the Pit would bear fruit some day."
I glanced up at the shorn head of a woman staring down at us with faint amusement, the short blonde hair reflecting a halo around her with the noon sun overhead.
"Optio?" Jieyue asked, pushing herself to her feet.
"At ease, Legionnaires," Tullia said, "You've likely banged yourself up good after that fall. A much flashier exit to the Pit than I planned for, but I'm glad you've finally gotten over your fear of leadership, Miss Xie. You were directing that Hoplite, weren't you?"
Jieyue nodded, then fell back against the ground, breathing wordlessly. I pushed myself up, rising to my feet and staring back in the direction of the pit. "I'm going back," I muttered.
"I beg your pardon?" Tullia asked.
"The Pit. I'm going back."
"Hardly. Getting out was your graduation from basic training," Optio Tullia said. I glanced back at her. "New Legion posting requests came in, and you've officially been assigned to one."
"Didn't get out. Got forced out," I said.
"Immaterial," she replied. "The arrays on the pit only deactivate once a formation of a certain quality is produced. If you hadn't managed it, you'd have been rendered unconscious and fallen back inside."
I grit my teeth, looking back out towards it. 'I got played,' I thought. 'You win this one, boss.' I dropped to the ground, crossing my legs, and sighed.
"When do we leave for our Legions, Optio?" Jieyue asked.
"Once you've recovered from your flight," she said, amused. "And it's one Legion, in this case. You'll be deploying together."
I glanced over, meeting Jieyue's eyes as she propped her head up. I looked away and heard her head hit the ground. "Great."
==============================
"Oh, are these our cute new juniors?" a tall muscular woman asked, grinning down at us. Well, at Jieyue, who she was towering over despite bending at the waist to meet her. "They're so small!"
The trip had taken us almost two weeks, meaning I'd actually spent longer travelling than all of my time as a Trainee at the Fortress, but the roundabout route the wagon had taken to drop off each person at a Legion had at least shown me that - as suspect as this motley band of individuals seemed right now - there were definitely worse places. We basically got handed tokens of identification and told where to find our squad, in this massive pseudo-city sprawl they called a Legion. In contrast, I'd also seen a massive crowd of people racing around a massive fence, screaming for anti-venom and medics, while concerning snaps and hisses came from whatever the hell was on the other side of the barrier.
But they gave us a giant scorpion instead of a horse to get us through the next leg of the trip, so that was cool.
"I'm not small, you're just huge," Jieyue pouted.
"And they're cute and sassy too!" the woman chirped. She threw me a look from the corner of her eye, her smile growing devious. "But I'm not just huge."
"You're, uh, a little close," I said, leaning away from the ample bosom threatening to take my head off if she even thought about turning left. She was dressed in the standard issue tunic and belt, slightly oversized from the look of it, and nothing else but simple thong sandals. Her ponytail of red-brown hair was probably my size, and held in-place by a half dozen waistbelts as well.
"Yeah, lay off, Aelia," another woman's voice called. I glanced over to see a tanned porcelain blonde dotted with freckles oiling a bow taller than her, pausing briefly to throw us an appraising look. She was dressed in some sort of stripped down version of the armour, like scales on a v-necked tunic. "Kid looks like he'll have a stroke if a woman so much as breathes on him."
I exhaled loudly through my nose. "Sorry, I didn't realize this was the cunt conference," I said, earning me a glare - a pair of glares, as Jiyue joined in - and a loud bark of laughter from...somewhere. "We were told to report to a Remus."
"The captain's over there," the tall woman - Aelia - said, straightening up and pointing a thumb over her shoulder. We leaned to the side to look around her, spotting a pair of men with flutes sitting on a large rock and another man lying in its shade. A white cloth draped over the top third of his face, and his head was fanned by a cloud of silky black hair. "Oi, captain! We've got company."
"I heard," the man in the shade called, waving a hand for us to approach.
Aelia stepped to the side, gesturing for us to go by with a wink. "Keep hold of your knicks, yeah?" she said cheerily. "They tend to go missing around the captain."
"I don't appreciate that kind of character assassination," Remus yelled as walked closer.
"Good one sticking it to Hua," one of the men on the rock grinned at me, raising his bald eyebrows in appreciation. His head was completely hairless but perfectly even in its golden tan colouration, and it was really hard to read his expression until I focused on eyes. They were lively and mirth-filled, screaming his mood to the world. "Anybody on her bad side is a friend of mine."
"Fuck you, Junius," the archer - Hua, I guessed - responded.
"Please don't get them started," the other man said, putting down his flute to rub his temples. He had a remarkably square jaw, and a thick braid of black hair the width of my wrist, though his complexion near identical to Jieyue's. "They'll be at it all day."
"Too late," Remus said, sitting up with a rueful smile, the cloth still covering his eyes and forehead. It...looked like he was using his armour as a pillow, but I couldn't see how that would be comfortable. Although I guess doing it in the shade meant it wouldn't be a hot pillow. "Absolutely the worst paired cultivators I've ever seen." The captain shook his head, as Hua and Junius spat acid remarks at each other.
"Good morning, Legionnaire Squad Captain Remus!" Jieyue said, bowing to the man. "I am Xie Jieyue and I have been assigned to your squad. I'll do my best to live up to your expectations!"
I rubbed the back of my head, craning my neck. "Janus. What she said."
"Ah, my cute little juniors," he grinned. "Who'd you piss off to get saddled here?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
"Well," Remus said, pointing at himself. "I'm crippled. Chun here is the seventh son of a seventh son." He pointed to the distressed man with the flute, staring at his arguing partners. "Junius and Hua ran away from their families. Aelia got disowned. And Lucius...well, when you meet him." He shrugged. "So if you're here, the trend implies you did something and got thrown out."
"No family to have issues with," I shrugged.
"Oh? An orphan?" Remus asked.
"Maybe. Could've been abandoned, if you really want a story," I said. I glanced at Jieyue who seemed unsure of what to say, and moved on. "You're crippled?"
Remus grinned, hooking a thumb under the edge of the cloth and raised it to reveal a mass of bulging veins across the middle section of his face. They ran from ear to ear and around his eyes, the orbs themselves fully white. "Completely blind, my friend."
Oh, that...hm. That put a hamper on my plans. Not because it was harder to steal a blind man's position, but because it would be harder to keep it. It already seemed like the squad liked him and they'd have gotten used to him being in charge, so now I'd be fighting uphill against their protective desires.
...no, hang on, I just went through this. What the hell did that D-whatever guy say? Just ask?
"Hey," I said, interrupting a conversation he'd struck up with Jieyue. "How can you be a good captain if you're blind?"
"I...don't think that was very polite," Jieyue murmured, looking around nervously.
I hadn't realized how loud the argument between the other two had gotten until all the noise stopped, the gazes of the squad turned to me with disapproval and different amounts of threat behind it. Remus just smiled, teeth dazzling. "Why, you want the job?"
"I might," I said, nodding.
"Well," he grinned, holding up two fingers. "I don't have many conditions. See, taking over the squad means being responsible for all these cute strays I've picked up. That means you need to earn their trust."
I glanced around at the obviously mistrustful faces, letting my hand drop from my hair to my neck. "And the second?"
He grinned wider, and-
Guh, it was like a massive hand was pressing down on me, pushing me to the ground, making my knees tremble under the weight-!
-he held up his second finger as the pressure vanished. "You need to be stronger than me."
I panted for a second, wiping off the sudden beads of sweat on my forehead, and nodded. "Got it," I said, forcing myself to stand upright, the memory of the weight almost as heavy as the weight itself.
"Good!" Remus yelled, folding the cloth into a band that he tied beneath his waterfall of hair. "Now, we need to treat the newbies! Let's get some pork!"
"Can't," Aelia called from where she stood, shaking her head. "They banned us after I ate the dinner service, remember?"
"The whole thing?" Jieyue squeaked.
"I'm a big girl," Aelia winked at her, folding her arms and making her chest jump- I let my eyes roam back around, having already beaten level-0 weaknesses a long time ago.
"Right," Remus frowned, thinking for a moment. "Roast chicken?"
"Nah," Junius shook his head, holding his chin in thought. "Old Aggy kicked us out after he caught you with his daughter."
"That was ages ago!" Remus protested, and I raised an eyebrow at him in question. He wiggled his eyebrows at me, throwing me a grin.
...wait, how did he know I was looking-
"Yeah, but then you hit on his wife last week," Hua replied, her voice flat.
Remus tapped his jaw. "Hm. Maybe just a drink, then?"
"Lucius," the squad chorused.
"Right, the pint-puppets," he said with a grimace. "Alright, then let's go hunt some food!" he yelled, vaulting to his feet. "Carry me, Aelia!"
Aelia rolled her eyes, striding over and scooping Remus up onto her shoulders. "Comfy?"
"A little, oof, a little uneven." He adjusted himself in place and waved a hand at the rest of us. "Come, my followers! We ride!"
Jieyue's shoulders slumped as Aelia set off at a brisk walk, the rest of the squad packing up to follow behind her. "I...I really thought I'd just join a normal squad," she said sadly.
I looked at her, raising an eyebrow, then put my hands behind my head with a shrug. "I dunno. They seem alright to me."
==============================
Bonus: Golden Devil Trading Cards - Janus
Howdy, folks; long time listener, first time caller. This has been a fun excuse to write some stuff again, so I'm happy to be a part of this. I'd like an LST as the omake reward, please. @Alectai
Magnus Centenius
Bonus: LST
Fate: Magnus Centenius finally got away with it. Entering the Qiguai Secret Realm, he seemingly stumbled over a life's worth of luck in the space of a few months. Killing a scion of the Heavenly Time Shatter Sect who had bought a spot, he seized from them a Internal Library (+60 Cultivation), an artifact that allowed one to cultivate within it at thousands of times the normal speed. He used it immediately, knowing that it would likely have some security placed upon it that might activate once back in the Third Sea. He was hunted by two other members of the Noble Devil Alliance, both from the Noble Knowledge Sect. The first was turned upon and poisoned with relative ease, and Magnus found on the dead woman a slip for the Three Thousand Noble Poison-Eating Art. It let one eat poison to further one's cultivation, though only a limited amount - the backlash after overusing it would kill you. He seized their poisons and ate them all, (+40 cultivation-years). The final member played a game of cat-and-mouse with him throughout the sky-sea, Magnus eventually winning. He gained a Poison-Expelling Stench Pill, allowing him to expel some of the prior poisons and consume more to further his cultivation even more (+20 cultivation-years). He saved a substantial force of his own in the Trials, but was ultimately badly hurt and would've been crippled at the end of them if not for the use of a treasure.
Impact: 5 (+0)
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment 6-Pillar
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 311 (+137)
Health: Healthy --> Crippled --> Wounded (LST Interrupt) --> Lightly Wounded (End of Turn)
Finally, I had turn where I did better then Minervina. Plus I saved a bunch of people again and even avoided getting crippled this time. I need a few more years like this one.
Finally, someone is jealous of me. But seriously, you had a pretty good turn too, you got a lot of impact. Except you Rina and Minervina, the other foundations who didn't save juniors had a rough time. Most of the saving juniors Foundation Seeds did really good this turn, or nothing happened to them(also good).
Finally, someone is jealous of me. But seriously, you had a pretty good turn too, you got a lot of impact. Except you Rina and Minervina, the other foundations who didn't save juniors had a rough time. Most of the saving juniors Foundation Seeds did really good this turn, or nothing happened to them(also good).
Eh. I did SR for the Culti so i could get the luck boost from 8 pillars. While Impact is good narratively, it still means i have to stick to the Orthodox path.
Eh. I did SR for the Culti so i could get the luck boost from 8 pillars. While Impact is good narratively, it still means i have to stick to the Orthodox path.
It works only for new cultivators--sub 4th Heavenstage, but it lasts them a good while, even if the big benefits fall off the table in Foundation Establishment.
Still, it's a giant boost to our overall combat strength because the majority of the bump and grind is still done by Qi Condensation--who ours are now approaching the toughest in the Region.
It works only for new cultivators--sub 4th Heavenstage, but it lasts them a good while, even if the big benefits fall off the table in Foundation Establishment.
Still, it's a giant boost to our overall combat strength because the majority of the bump and grind is still done by Qi Condensation--who ours are now approaching the toughest in the Region.
Hmm this suggests that a new New Seed that took the Unorthodox Path to the 13th Heavenstage timed for the next trials could narratively be a real irritant for the invaders.
Hmm this suggests that a new New Seed that took the Unorthodox Path to the 13th Heavenstage timed for the next trials could narratively be a real irritant for the invaders.
The Blood of Bronze they took to infuse their bloodline was weak, a paltry thing compared to the true bloodlines of old. Mixing the pure blood - what Destastia had termed the Ascension Blood for some fool reason - with the Blood of Bronze enhanced it. Those infused with additional Blood of Bronze mixed with Ascension Blood purified their bloodlines, making them stronger. They regenerated more quickly, were harder to put down. Indeed, with the Technique Palace in tow, he believed his Qi Condensation cultivators would not only be the equal of any other cultivator in the Third Sea, but on average their superior.
More importantly, their use of formations was strengthened. By the initial testing, Manuel suspected the formations used by Qi Condensation cultivators would be enhanced by a fifth, and that was no small matter.
This is a Minor Plot Coupon, gained in the Qi Condensation levels, for those curious and not on Discord. There's 3 more levels of the Qi Condensation layer to be cleared as well.
Damn. That boost is good. Here I am on the sidelines thinking of who among the Good Seeds could go into the Caverns next and perhaps win something better. My omake is sitting at 100 for the past two weeks. Gonna stop lurking and dip my toes in the lava
I already did Yuan for FB last trial. I have no SRs left hence me giving up on 8 pillars since gaining 200+ culti years without SRs is probably about 5 - 10 turns
I already did Yuan for FB last trial. I have no SRs left hence me giving up on 8 pillars since gaining 200+ culti years without SRs is probably about 5 - 10 turns
I already did Yuan for FB last trial. I have no SRs left hence me giving up on 8 pillars since gaining 200+ culti years without SRs is probably about 5 - 10 turns
