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

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    • Good Seed and Omake Spreadsheet Rules:

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

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    • For whatever reason I keep thinking that a Core Formation cultivator with the Dao of Comedy would be an excellent assassin. By which I mean finding the core beliefs of others' daos and making a mockery of them, telling jokes that deliver a deadly seed of doubt to destabilize the target's cultivation like a poison made out of thoughts and words.

    And as for turning that against them ... well good luck trying to destabilize the belief that life is just one giant nihilistic joke.
     
    mastigos said:
    For whatever reason I keep thinking that a Core Formation cultivator with the Dao of Comedy would be an excellent assassin. By which I mean finding the core beliefs of others' daos and making a mockery of them, telling jokes that deliver a deadly seed of doubt to destabilize the target's cultivation like a poison made out of thoughts and words.

    And as for turning that against them ... well good luck trying to destabilize the belief that life is just one giant nihilistic joke.
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    "But the Turtle's disintegrating. What happened to the Sea Conquering Army? What happened to the dream?"

    "It came true. You're lookin' at it."
     
    no. said:
    Fighting games. Specifically actual, competitive, 2d fighting games, the kind that make lunatics like me say words like "frame data" and "rollback netcode" and "DP into fuzzy mixup". Oh, and also Super Smash Bros I guess. They're pretty cool if you have the right kind of brain worms.

    I'm bored, I wanted to procrastinate some more, and I've got fighting games on the brain. And so this concept was born: If the Good Seeds were characters in a fighting game, what kind of fighting game characters would they be?

    If a prominent good seed isn't on this list, it's because their abilities wouldn't fit into a 2d fighting game very well.
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    Heh. Kakos Alexikeravno isn't any kind of prominent (and I don't expect that I'll be able to generate the kind of output necessary to make him one). Still, if he was... he'd be a joke character. Shorter jumps, slower moving, lousy range, generally anemic damage... he has some pretty impressive block/parry tricks going on if you really know what you're doing... so, basically, if you can predict your opponent perfectly, then you can get out of almost anything without taking damage. He does have one pretty brutal finisher supermove, but it's slow to execute, short range, has a smallish hitbox, and is painfully telegraphed. Basically, this is the "if he beats you, you should feel ashamed of yourself" character.

    Some day he eventually hopes to be a zoner, combining trap setting, sprays of projectiles, and normals that are weak and relatively slow, but have a fair bit of reach and some decent knockback. He's really not there yet, though.
     
    As much as I enjoy seeing our deeply laid plans coming to payout and even more so when it is by us out gambiting our opponents there is something very satisfying about crushing an enemies long laid and expensive plan by sheer luck that looks like a clever scheme.

    Maybe Manuel should even say something like "It's is so very useful having an obvious and well known weakness. It makes all my enemies so predictable."
     
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    fictionfan said:
    As much as I enjoy seeing our deeply laying plans coming to payout and even more so when it is by us out gambiting our opponents there is something very satisfying about crushing an enemies long laid and expensive plan by sheer luck that looks like a clever scheme.

    Maybe Manuel should even say something like "It's is so very useful having an obvious and well known weakness. It makes all my enemies so predictable."
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    Always be two trumps ahead.

    Also, every time this whole thing comes up - where Manuel looks like a master schemer who has absolutely everything planned out, while actually being an insane gambler who has just enough preparation to cover his own bluffs far enough that no one pushes him past them, I am reminded of this:

    occipitallobe said:
    "I never used to make plans like this. They failed in humiliating fashion every time. You cannot imagine how gratifying this is for me."
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    That moment always makes me smile.
     
    I just had an idea. We are currently planning on giving the rightous path alliance a big bribe to look the other way when we crush the Jingshen. However what if we don't make it a straight up bribe and give ourselves an opportunity to get it back? That is to say we give all the money to the Strength Purity Sect under the terms they are demanding from the other members of the rightous factions. It would basically force the SPS to back us to the hilt in order to set the example to get the other factions to join their plan.
     
    fictionfan said:
    I just had an idea. We are currently planning on giving the rightous path alliance a big bribe to look the other way when we crush the Jingshen. However what if we don't make it a straight up bribe and give ourselves an opportunity to get it back? That is to say we give all the money to the Strength Purity Sect under the terms they are demanding from the other members of the rightous factions. It would basically force the SPS to back us to the hilt in order to set the example to get the other factions to join their plan.
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    The terms they're demanding from everyone else is "you give us all of your money, and you let us decide what missions your people go on, and which missions get prioritized." I'm... really not comfortable taking things that far.
     
    Sirrocco said:
    The terms they're demanding from everyone else is "you give us all of your money, and you let us decide what missions your people go on." I'm... really not comfortable taking things that far.
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    They are definitely going to settle for less than all the money. Also I think that our guys are good enough that we can get paid out more from the war chest then we pay into it.

    Edit: Also there is another layer. SPC doesn't have the CB treasure. We are actually better set to organize their scheme then they are. We can offer to HELP.

    Second Edit: Here is how I would expect it to look in mechanics. During the turn vote we get a buy option to contribute to the war chest. That same turn we get a mission to participate in the war. A success gets us that buy action back next turn. A triumph gets us more buy actions then we put into it next turn.
     
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    fictionfan said:
    They are definitely going to settle for less than all the money. Also I think that our guys are good enough that we can get paid out more from the war chest then we pay into it.

    Edit: Also there is another layer. SPC doesn't have the CB treasure. We are actually better set to organize their scheme then they are. We can offer to HELP.

    Second Edit: Here is how I would expect it to look in mechanics. During the turn vote we get a buy option to contribute to the war chest. That same turn we get a mission to participate in the war. A success gets us that buy action back next turn. A triumph gets us more buy actions then we put into it next turn.
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    Look, we can see what our options look like... once we're done with the Jingshen. I'm certainly not opposed to buying another slice or two of Righteous Path influence (especially if we can somehow finagle it into being allowed to reclaim the territory held by the Sorrowful Blacksmiths) but let's not get too excited about deals we haven't been offered yet. Among other things, it's going to depend on how well this turn plays out... in a few different ways. How well does the war against the Jingshen go? (It's doing pretty well for right now, but....) How well do we manage our "keep the SPS happy" missions? How do the various fronts in the Verdant Plains look at the end of all of this? What exactly is the Altar Lord's last contingency, and how well does it go off? It's all going to matter.

    Beyond that... honestly, getting paid concessions one scrap at a time might actually get us more than buying in full-throated. We'll have to see.
     
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    Maria Final - Epilogue
  • Sidestory
    • Epilogue
    Maria Final Omake​

    occipitallobe said:
    Enough.

    Time to end this.

    She felt power rise in her, accepting the blow that would come from her hand. A mere consequence of fate, the only way to deal with the ant before her. She had not chosen, merely seen the end of this and accepted it as the natural order of things. More power rose in her, enough for a strike at nearly full strength.

    Enough power to end the girl.

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

    Manuel watched, and waited. Moments before he had thought to save Rina Callista, but her uncanny ability to avoid Lady Jiao's lesser attacks had changed that. Jiao would need to use a proper strike to kill Rina, and that would leave Jiao open to a counterattack.

    If she had been the only Single-Pillar King of the Clan, matters would've been different. But a Foundation Establishment cultivator, no matter their talent, was an excellent trade for an advantageous strike on a Nascent Soul. So he waited for the blow to fall.

    Then, out of nowhere, a woman leapt up.

    Manuel's eyebrow raised. He had seen this young woman in a jade slip in a report.

    "Maria?"

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

    With inarticulate rage, the woman below her screamed.

    Jiao would not have normally taken notice of a Qi Condensation cultivator, except that her scream brought lightning and thunder from the sky.

    A bolt of dark-blue lightning struck down, and Jiao suddenly realised she was in the middle of a tribulation. If she didn't kill the ascendant...

    She struck down, a wave of force obliterating the Qi Condensation ant, the creature who had dared interrupt her! She felt a connection somewhere snap as her fist obliterated the soul that inhabited the body, every last piece of thing that had dared to interfere with her returned to the earth as it should be.

    Yes, it was interfering with a tribulation, but what choice did she have? As to balance out her act, Heaven struck at her, a bolt of lightning with power enough to level cities.
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    They should be dead.

    She knows this.

    So does she.

    They know it because they have watched their legion come apart, decimated by Jingshen Jiao, the hothouse flower herself, as she descends on them all. They know it because they can feel the warm, loving acceptance of their own death lapping at the beaches of their mind(s), waiting for them to step in and sink into a final, dreamless rest. They know this because they understand the mathematics of Cultivator warfare; Nascent Soul beats Qi Condensation, as surely as one thousand is greater than one.

    The only reason that, as yet, they live, is the power of the world lord, strong, stable, lawful, that surges in disciplined currents from Legate Rina Callista. They are near enough to stand on its reinforcements. So they're alive.

    For a few seconds more. If that.

    The Hothouse Flower is still coming onwards. Throwing out blows that crack the earth and shatter stones like they're nothing, face serene as a monk. Eyes fixed on Callista. Jiao hasn't even registered them. Doesn't even notice they're here.


    Maria and Lyssa are wearing one body, today. Maria's. Lyssa took a shot from a Jingshen spirit cannon in the face. They're as they were when they first began.

    …We're already dead.

    No.

    Lyssa.

    NO. There's a way out. THERE HAS TO BE A WAY OUT.

    Can you see one?

    Are you *giving in*, you fucking idiot whore? Are you ACCEPTING this shit?

    What? No, I-

    We have come so fucking *FAR*, you asshole! We got out of the pits, we – we made it to the desert, we fought-

    I know.

    We have a fucking *DAO*! We have a dao *reaching* for us, trying to-

    Lyssa, please, just- I'm sorry.

    …

    I'm sorry. I get it. I do. You… you were the part of me that protected me. And now you can't.

    There must…

    There isn't.



    Jiao is closer now. They can see how she moves. They can watch her ready another blow. The part of them that has, for decades now, served as a soldier is dispassionately working out the chances of Rina's survival. Low. Very low. Callista is good, but Jingshen is better. A full fledged Nascent Soul.


    What do you think it is?

    Maria-

    Our Dao. If we made it. What do you think it would have been?

    …

    It always felt… angry, to me. When we got near it. And – sad, too? Like it…

    Like it was disappointed.

    Yeah.

    Like the world was supposed to be better than this, and it wasn't.



    Jiao's arm is still rising for another blow.


    Retribution.

    …Like Alexios?

    I think so. A dao of "how dare you."

    Shit. Yeah. That makes sense. How dare you.



    The Hothouse Flower's face seems to find deeper depths of stillness. Of calm.


    How dare you.



    Her blow begins to fall.


    HOW DARE YOU.



    Maria/Lyssa screams.


    She is already dead. She is already dead and *this bitch* is going to kill her. Worse, she's going to kill Rina fucking Callista, the hope of the fucking clan, the first of the Three Kings. Like that's fair. Like that's a reasonable fucking response given all of the shit the Jingshen have tried to snuff out the Golden Devils, the latest in a long line of fuckers more interested in some variation of "fuck you, got mine" than making the world even one hint more bareable.


    Well *FUCK* that.

    Burn her burn her BURN HER-



    She's felt the hovering might of her tribulation for years now, Heaven's wrath hanging over her, waiting for one wrong move. She takes a certain vicious satisfaction that her last act in the world will be taking that divine, impersonal hatred and making a weapon out of it.


    They close.

    Jiao's face flickers- YOU SEE US NOW, BITCH?! YOU PAYING *FUCKING* ATTENTION!? -and there is the briefest moment of realization.

    Then-


    Thunder, so loud it moves outside of sound altogether and they're deaf. Lightning, navy blue and crackling with celestial displeasure. And there's Maria/Lyssa, right beneath the bitch. She has two options – kill them, and watch heaven turn around and fuck her up in turn, or back off and gave Callista breathing room.


    They know it's not enough.


    But it'll do.


    Jiao chooses. Her blow strikes home.


    Die screaming.

    Die slow.


    They die.

    ---

    Hey folks. So, as a few people have mentioned already, I'm not going to be writing omake for Maria/Lyssa or Auspicious Nine anymore, and I probably won't be voting or following the quest either. My life is getting more and more complicated right now, and I don't have the spare time to devote to this game. I'd just scale back, but honestly I really enjoy writing this stuff and I don't have the self control to be sensible about this. Nine has already been adopted by @Insane-Not-Crazy , and I look forward to seeing what they do with my douchey little mad scientist. Maria and Lyssa, however, deserved a proper send off. @occipitallobe managed to give her an excellent final stand; dying in service to the clan, in the midst of a titanic battle, and saying "fuck you" to an asshole? Oh yeah, those are my girls alright. Once I read it I knew I had to give them one last send off.

    Good luck with the rest of the Quest, folks. Go kick Heaven's ass.
     
  • Sidestory
    • Xiuying Ten Jiang 26 - Yuan part 2
  • Sidestory
    • Xiuying Ten Jiang 26 - Yuan part 2

    The Thousand-Year Heavenly Noodle Soup Pot bubbled vigorously as its power continued to extract and concentrate the ingredients that had been placed inside it. Xiuying watched the boiling pot, removing the scum that appeared with expert timing and care. Her sweat had drenched her clothes, making them cling to her body, as she endured the heat brought about from the flames she was using to cook her latest culinary masterpiece.

    "Hmm, you know, a single bowl of the noodle soup you are making would have been enough to wage a small war between my juniors and a fair number of my peers as well."

    Xiuying paid little attention to the speaker, the ghost of an ancient weaponmaster that she had met in a bamboo forest while foraging for bamboo shoots. The ghost had been attacking anyone who came to their clearing in the forest by chance and it had yet to find anyone capable of giving it a good fight, let alone defeat them. Through the comprehension of the fifth precept of Sword Law, Xiuying's cuts were capable of cutting beyond just the physical. The duel had been fierce but having fought Long Min, Xiuying found the ancient ghost to be inferior to that swordsman from Saber Palace.

    After fulfilling the weaponmaster's last wish to have a fulfilling battle, the ghost had taken to following Xiuying around the secret realm. The ghost who went by the name of Sang Li proved themselves to be of little help beyond using their ghostly form to sneak around and scout out certain places ahead. Sang also had a tendency to ramble on about random topics that Xiuying had little interest in, much to her annoyance.

    "Indeed, those bronze aurochs were rare beasts back in my day. Being able to obtain one was a great feat considering how hard it was to find one. And yet to think that their population has increased to the point where you could throw in a herd's worth of prime beef cuts just for a pot of noodle soup. Truly an extravagance to behold."

    Xiuying continued to ignore the ghost, choosing to throw in another piece of spirit bamboo into the purple-orange flames. She'd never imagined that the piece of slag that she had found in that ancient battlefield had contained a sliver of Dragonfire. Though it was horribly hot, using that bit of Dragonfire to cook the noodle soup was sure to raise the quality of the final product.

    "Hmm, more beasts have come." Sang Li noted, not really caring since he was already dead. Xiuying on the other hand let out a sigh and got to her feet. Despite it being the middle of the night, her cooking was drawing in all manner of beasts to the hidden clearing that she was taking shelter in. Drawing her blade, Xiuying readied herself for battle as she felt the approach of several spirit beasts. With the heavenly noodle pot releasing such a rich mouth-watering aroma, dozens of beasts and a number of enemy cultivators had come to steal the result of Xiuying's hard work for themselves.

    With only one way into the clearing, the intruders were funnelled into the clearing one at a time, leaving Xiuying free to cut down each and everyone who appeared in front of her before they could mount a proper defence. The aroma of what was likely the most delicious noodle soup that Xiuying had ever cooked had driven those who had been entranced by the smell to almost mindlessly throw themselves into the clearing without any caution. The cultivators who unwisely tried to challenge Xiuying for her meal had their corpses thrown into the Dragonfire to help fuel the flames while the beasts were quickly butchered, their meat and bones added to the noodle soup.

    Spices and all kinds of condiments were thrown into the noodle soup as it cooked, further enhancing the taste. The small sips she took were filled with energy and savouriness and yet…

    "This noodle soup is missing something," Xiuying muttered as she watched the pot boil.

    "...I know what's missing, Lady Xiuying." Sang Li said, sounding solemn all of a sudden.

    "...Sang Li, what are you talking about?" From what Xiuying had picked up from Sang Li's ramblings, Sang Li was no cook so how could he possibly know what she needed to add to this particular noodle soup.

    "...Ever since you granted my wish, I have been trying to think of a way to show you my full gratitude. I thought of giving you the locations of hidden treasures within the secret realm but it has been so long that it is very likely that most of these treasures have already been plundered by others. I pondered on whether or not to give you my techniques and the likes but having seen the seemingly simple yet powerful strength of your Sword Law, I realised that my martial techniques will only weaken the purity of your cut. Here and now though, I believe there is a way for me to fully repay you for your actions."

    "Sang Li, what the hell are you - " Before Xiuying could stop the ghost, Sang Li's form twisted into the shape of a glowing blue ball floating in the air before promptly flying straight into the pot, phasing through the metal lid. Xiuying stared at the noodle soup which was now giving out a gentle blue glow.

    "Xiuying Ten Jiang! I give you everything that I am! With this, your noodle soup shall become complete!" Sang Li's voice cried out from within the pot. The Thousand-Year Noodle Pot then started glowing the same blue glow as the noodles themselves. "Now Xiuying! Take it!"

    With that, the pot lid was thrown straight up into the air as a beam of light erupted from the pot, reaching far up into the sky and temporarily lighting up the clearing Xiuying was in as though it was daytime. Before long, however, the light died back down and Sang Li's presence faded away as his essence merged with the potent concentration of Dragonfire-cooked auroch noodle soup. The pot lid landed right back where it was before looking none the worse for wear with Xiuying staring at the pot with a blank look of confusion on her face.

    "...You can cook ghosts? Were ghosts hygienic? Was this really alright? Would the noodles even taste good with a ghost cooked into them?" Xiuying had far too many questions about the whole thing. Xiuying frowned when her mind finally caught up with what had just happened. "But the noodle soup still needs to be cooked for at least ten minutes more before it is done!"

    Any further outrage over Sang Li's impulsive actions was quickly discarded when Xiuying sensed the presence of more monstrous beasts and more than a few cultivators approached her location. Letting out a long sigh, Xiuying shook her head as she turned to deal with this latest wave of hungry beasts and cultivators.

    More ingredients were soon thrown into the flames or the soup, ever slightly raising the quality and potency of the noodle soup born from dozens of bronze aurochs, the willing sacrifice of an ancient weapon master, a sliver of dragon fire from an old battleground. After a long night of fighting and cooking, Xiuying let out a breath of relief as dawn broke, wreathing the realm in a gentle light, revealing to her the full extent of the violence she had committed to those that had come to steal her food without permission.

    The Thousand-Year Heavenly Noodle Pot seemed to shimmer with a strange yet beautiful glow in the light of the morning sun. The aroma had disappeared yet Xiuying understood that it was merely contained within the soup, ready to unleash itself upon one who ate it with sincerity. The noodle soup was done and ready to eat. Swallowing her saliva, Xiuying carefully poured out the contents of the pot into a large bowl.

    Steaming out from the noodle soup was a veritable light show of ever-shifting colours, accompanied by the phantasmal images of fantastical beasts, a scene far more vibrant and alive than the usual flowing curtains of light that came with the usual Thousand-Year Heavenly Noodle Soup. The soup, unlike the usual soup, was not completely transparent. Instead, it was dark, so dark that looking into it was like looking into a void and yet dotted within this void were tiny blue lights, sparkling within the darkness like a galaxy of stars in the night sky. The way it shimmered, the way it rippled when Xiuying touched the bowl moved Xiuying's artist soul. An artist would have sealed this bowl of noodle soup in a preservation array and placed it upon a pedestal so that it would forever brighten the world with its beauty. However, it was a bowl of noodle soup and regardless of how beautiful it was, it was made to be eaten and not viewed as a piece of artwork. Wiping her drool with the sleeve of her clothes, Xiuying sat down before this magnificent bowl of noodle soup.

    "Itadakimasu!" Xiuying said as she clapped her hands together and she bowed her head slightly in reverence and gratitude to the noodle soup before her. It was a habit that her master had taught her when he started her training. Meaning something along the lines of "I am going to receive the lives of animals and plants for my own life", Xiuying felt it was a rather appropriate thing to say in regards to this particular noodle soup. Having shown her respect to the lives that had gone into this meal, Xiuying picked up her chopsticks and began to eat.

    Xiuying's body shuddered as the concentrated umami of the soup slammed into her being. The aroma that had sealed itself into the soup erupted forth from within her mouth, assailing her sense of smell with a fragrance filled with absolute deliciousness. Xiuying could even feel her stomach being filled just by a single sniff of this olfactory ambrosia. The essence of dozens of bronze aurochs that would have normally tasted greatly of blood and bronze had been alloyed with that of dozens or so other beasts and choice vegetables, removing the metallic taste and raising up the savoury meatiness of the auroch. A pleasant spicy aftertaste filled Xiuying as she ate, encompassing her body with a warmth unlike anything she had ever felt, no doubt a product of using Dragonfire to cook this noodle soup.

    Most importantly, however, was the sheer amount of qi that had been infused into the noodle soup. Xiuying could feel Sang Li's spiritual essence binding the qi from all the beasts and cultivators that went into the making of this dish, preventing any of it from leaking out and being wasted. With each bite, each sip, each mouthful of this noodle soup, Xiuying could feel her cultivation grow. Vaguely, Xiuying could sense her comprehension of the Royal Words building up within her.

    With this bowl of noodle soup, Xiuying's strength and cultivation would grow by leaps and bounds.

    Soon, she would be ready for a rematch.
     
  • Sidestory
    • Do keep in mind, while raw numbers aren't necessarily the be-all, end-all, they're not nothing.

    I'll be doing another update of my Coordination Center after I take a shower and get myself tidied up, but yeah, we're coming up to the wire before the mission results are locked in so the rest of the War Turn can be resolved.
     
    Sol Zagato said:
    So clamor needs FE the most?
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    From the sound of it, "Clamor" may or may not need it- it's worth checking which of the Foundation Establishment Experts working on the mission are 'notables' with extraordinary abilities (e.g. very high Impact or Single Pillar), and which are, say, 'merely' good seeds.

    What's really lacking, apparently, is Qi Condensation for "Clamor...?"
     
    Lipp Galanis in: Entirely Too Much Soup
  • Sidestory
    • Lipp Galanis in: Entirely Too Much Soup​

    When Lipp brought his dishes to Elder Duca he expected to hear an insight into life's peculiar march from simplicity to complexity. Instead she sent him to the Simmering Soup sect for the next three years. Was this meant to be a reward? A punishment? A trial? A simple misunderstanding? It's impossible to tell.

    From a personal standpoint it's very inconvenient, costing Lipp most of his banked Contribution Points and a few personal favors just to find reliable people to monitor ongoing experiments. It also rankles a bit to ride in the caravan as one of the protected instead of doing the guarding. But given that at the moment Lipp is vulnerable to many things, including groups of three or more mortals, he has to tolerate it.

    Still, as the caravan gradually makes its way towards Mogui City, Lipp's apprehension turns to excitement. Though it's a bit early to be journeymanning, there are many things to see and learn in the Simmering Soup Sect's lands. First and foremost, the Hundred-Li Soup Pot. Lipp desires to examine it in great detail. Take some measurements. Run his hands over its insides. Lick it a few times. This relic is a key to understanding the nature of the Soup Chef's deed. Related, Lipp hopes to find the secret to un-cooking a soup. It's a bit of a long shot, but with this many soup chefs in one area one of them has to have figured out how to undo a mistake. And of course, Lipp hopes to perfect his Primordial Soup. So many projects, so little time. Now Lipp is beginning to wish his exile was longer.

    When Lipp arrives in Mogui City, it tempts with ten thousand aromas. But many of them come from soups with Foundation and above level ingredients, too powerful for either Lipp's system or his money pouch. The Galanis family is not without resources, but Lipp isn't the only seed they've sown, and his stipend is stretched to the limit by his sundry projects. There is more than enough left for normal travel rations, but to get the more exotic dishes, Lipp will have to ply the curiosity of the city's chefs.

    And so it goes. He trades news from the Golden Demon sect for a bowl of ramen with naruto. A few tips on proper fish tank maintenance get him a sweetfish stew. Agreeing that tea is technically a soup gets him a cup of tea. Just like they do everywhere, the cooks in this place love to cook and secretly want everyone to eat their dishes. Figure out how to give them an excuse, and you'll never go hungry.

    The outcome is mixed. On the one hand, no one's heard of un-cooking a soup. The closest approximation is one cook's advice on how to absorb excess salt, and that's fairly useless. When it comes to perfectly salting water Lipp truly believes himself to be the equal of even a Souplord. But the Primordial Soup has more possibilities. Back home Lipp's cooking might have been unique, but out here there are entire kitchens specializing in bacterial soups.

    And just like that years pass by in a flash. The Simmering Soup sect has insights unheard of in the Golden Devils. Where Lipp had to isolate microbial life by straining everything else out, they cultivate it. Usually in nutrient-rich water, but sometimes in more exotic ways. One kind of bacterium can only live on top of a special mold; another multiplies inside the digestive tracts of fish. By mixing and matching the still-living bacteria it's possible to create anything from a digestive aid to a deadly poison. But not a turtle. Not yet.

    The cooks Lipp studies for are often intrigued by the concept of an even more refined soup, but the practical application is lacking. Cutting the bacteria apart kills them and prevents them from doing the things they do while alive, and those are the big selling point. Besides which, the cutting is expensive.

    Lipp does almost make progress on that front. After about a year of all soup all the time, he begins craving solid foods. And while not technically disallowed, the consumption of anything that hasn't been dipped in hot water is at least heavily frowned upon inside the Sect territory. Still, all the ingredients are there. Lipp gets together large croutons, some fish, and a few peaches, which should provide all the mouthfeels he's missed. To get them ready in secret he has to buy his own knife, which leads him to start a conversation with a knife sharpener. Next thing you know, she gets super excited about a blade that can cut the smallest thing imaginable, so the starts sharpening a knife. First on a grindstone, then on an oilstone, then on steel. Then on satin and silk. And finally on the breeze at dawn and the light of a new day. The resulting knife is so sharp it cuts air itself, creating a void in its wake. But it's completely impractical for bacteria, as Lipp explains several times, failing to dissuade his enthusiastic new friend.

    Still, it proves useful much later, when the city suffers another of the periodic attacks by lelfovers. Turns out that any time a bowl of soup is poured out, it carries a feeling of resentment with it. When enough soup and enough resentment gathers in one place, terrible creatures form and attack the populace.



    Fighting these creatures off proves to be one of the most harrowing experiences of Lipp's life, but they do lend credence to his theory that soup can spontaneously form life.

    Once the creatures are defeated and the ensuing (soup-based) celebration is finished, Lipp finally feels it's time to visit the Hundred-Li Soup Pot. If his other ambitions didn't work out, at least he can get up close and personal with one of Soup Chef's tools.

    Any cultivator wishing to come inside the pot must prove his mettle by serving a soup dish to an examiner. Rejected applicants can come back as many times as they want, but no one gets in until they get a success.

    Drawing on all of his bacterial cooking experience, Lipp prepares soups made from fermented foods, and in only a month he produces a soup of rotten fish, yogurt, and wine that the examiner judges to be Barely Adequate. He is then made to wait until the next shipment of ingredients goes into the pot so that he can go with it.

    As it turns out, the lip of the pot is connected to its bottom by a hundred-li tower of wood and rope. And while it's technically possible to walk down the stairs, the smarter way is to get into one of the giant wooden platforms lashed to the side and slowly go down with a mountain's worth of ingredients as a giant stone counterweight goes up.

    From the moment Lipp enters the pot, he is overwhelmed by its Dao. He gains a whole new awareness of himself, not as a man, but as a chunk of meat which, if boiled, could be an ingredient in soup. The same is true for the other ingredients piled alongside him. Lipp thought that after two years in the Sect's lands he was already trained to view every food as a potential soup ingredient, but that was just with his head. Now, he sees it with his heart.

    More importantly, he understands the pot's effects in all their simple purity. Knowing the Soup Chef's reputation, some part of Lipp expected the pot's walls to bleed or its bottom to be a portal to a shattered reality. Instead it is exactly what it's meant to be - an item to draw out the maximum flavor and nutrition of any soup inside it. A Dao powerful enough for a whole sect to rise around it, and Soup Chef created it as a means to an end. That fact alone is enough to make Lipp shiver.

    Lipp has a year to spend in here. How many centuries would it take for him to find a way to counter the pot's effects, or to make one of his own? How many millennia to attain power and mastery on the level of Soup Chef without resorting to his methods? A daunting task indeed, but to build a mountain you have to pile up loose sand, grain by grain. The Dao of Soup awaits.
    ----------------------
    A/N: 1422 words.
     
  • Sidestory
    • Year 225 - The Harem Offensive
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    • Jiao spat out blood for a moment, and felt the spear go through her heart.

    Moments later, she died, her corpse hanging uselessly on the old man's spear.

    She woke up hours later, screaming. The Spirit Corpse her father had built for her was a powerful one, a thing made of aborted clones and Spirit Stones fused together to form pseudo-meridians and the like, an immensely variable thing that could let her grow back into herself once more. It had cost an immense amount, but Father had prized her too much when she'd risen to Nascent Soul.

    Now she moved around in a corpse studded with gems, the air of the grave hanging over her. It felt weak, like a single use of her Nascent power would crumble it into pieces.

    In theory, she would recover to being able to act within a year or two. To regain her full power would be a matter of decades - perhaps three or four. A disadvantage she didn't see them overcoming so easily.

    Descending into the Underworld Spirit Palace she felt the presence of her father. He had come when he had been informed of her 'death', and had apparently abandoned the southern front to do so.

    He reached her with alacrity, tearing through walls and doors and furniture to do so.

    Despite being wizened and small, he came up to her, floating in the air, cradling her and stroking her hair tenderly.

    "Jiao'er, Jiao'er. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I never should have put you up against that old monster. I-"

    She shook her head. This was what was, she thought. To deny the past or even to regret it was not who she was.

    "It's fine, father. I gained important information and survived. How was the battle to the south?"

    With that, his face contorted.

    "The Golden Devils have been concealing power from us. A second Nascent Soul arose, their diplomat. She's not especially tough but she managed to bind our injuries together using some sort of technique. It would only hurt me one-third as much as her, but she kept throwing herself at me, daring me to come and be wounded at the price of her life. I considered it, but then I heard what had happened to you and knew it was a trap."

    Jiao nodded, thoughts racing through her head. The whole thing made sense, now. The jaws of the trap snapping shut. Konstantinos had his own measures, and on learning that they had not gained their new Nascent Souls yet had chosen to use his strength against their weakness.

    "Father, he possesses a Spear."

    That was odd. The word itself seemed to carry gravity and importance she had not intended.

    "This Stone Spear-"

    She cut herself off. That was bizarre and worrying. The strong intonation and importance of the words were undeniable, but she hadn't tried to speak that way. She had tried to speak ordinarily, simply.

    Junjie looked at her.

    "So this stone spear, what about it?"

    She tried again, and gave up as the word came out the same way. She had to tell him, even if she was compromised in some way.

    "The Spear... it is a weapon that does not miss. I do not know why I was not quickly poisoned to death, but my suspicion is it cannot carry poison for some reason. It can be blocked, but I lack the power to do so reliably. It can also block any attack I can muster, and I suspect any you can muster as well, Father. Whatever it is, it makes Konstantinos terrifying on the battlefield. Both of us together would be necessary to have a chance at victory, I think. Both of us at full strength."

    Junjie tapped a foot on the floor as he sunk to the ground once more, thoughtful.

    "So the Legion I most recently destroyed is meaningless." he said offhand. Jiao counted that as well - the Golden Devils had lost perhaps twenty-five thousand cultivators since this war had begun, but sacrificing so many for her near-death was an excellent trade for them.

    "They can simply tear through the outer regions, Manuel Kontantinos opening every city and fortification himself. I'll try my best to counteract him, but your loss means he knows he can act with relative impunity. There are still places I can potentially stop him. Still, they are not many, and they require me to be luckier than I typically am."

    Junjie's hands balled up.

    "They need Spirit Stones to pay off Strength Purity, and so they need to capture mines. I managed to hold the Heavenly Beauty Palace, but only because the Spirit Cannons there are capable of warding off an Early Nascent if she does not know where I am and must act carefully. I left one of my Nascent-Grade Spirit Puppets there, though that will only hold her for a short while in the best case."

    His hands clenched.

    "We have been driven to the brink, daughter. Removing one of us from play while they secure the region allows them to lay siege to the Underworld Spirit Palace and prevent any tribulations from arising. I will attempt to waylay Kontantinos at Wangshen Fort where I might be able to fight him. Beyond that, I will delay him and allow you to raise a much-needed third Nascent Soul. If we can achieve that, the war might still be won."

    Jiao's eyebrows raised.

    "Father, if we raise some ingrate and they betray us-"

    He cut her off with a wave of his clenched fist.

    "We are losing now, daughter. We did not see the trap, but we are in it now. First, we find a way out. If that happens to weaken the Jingshen Clan, so be it. Better to weaken than die. Prepare the candidates as best you can, I'll try and delay the Legions."

    With that, he was gone. Jiao dragged herself upright. She felt her strength pulsing faintly - no doubt she'd still be able to bring any dissidents into line, but this was terrifying. From assured victory to the brink of defeat. How had it come to this?
     
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