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

[occipitallobe]

Good Seed and Omake Spreadsheet Rules:

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

If you write a new Good Seed, or write an omake, please update the spreadsheet if you have access.

If you do not have access, please ping a collaborator (Swordomatic, Alectai, Quest, TehChron, Insane-Not-Crazy, Humbaba, ReaderOfFate, Kaboomatic, no., BungieONI) letting them know what you want and they will update the spreadsheet here. To gain access, you will need a gmail account of some kind. Throwaway emails are fine (I'm using one for the spreadsheet), but to gain access it's as simple as sending me either your email via PM, via DM in Discord, or just in Discord's #spreadsheet-requests channel.

This is mandatory. If a Good Seed does not record their omake by pinging collabs (or just requesting access and editing things themselves - this is the preferred option), I won't give out awards. If a new Good Seed is not recorded here, they won't advance. By doing this it makes the whole thing manageable for me - it's gotten pretty unwieldy!

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Omake Writer Instructions:

There are four fields you need to fill out.

Omake Link, which is just a link to your first omake for the turn. This makes it easier for me to read them as I do the update - without this it's tough to know off the bat which omake were written this turn, and to properly

Requested Bonus, which is your requested bonus for your omake. You can leave it up to me if you like. You can see more info in the Good Seed infopost here.

Cultivation Aims. For those following unorthodox paths - higher than 9th Heavenstage or later than 7th Dao Pillar paths. Please put in what you are aiming for before you break through. I have left it as 'default'. If you do not edit it, I'll go with that.

Turn Notes - Do you want to do something specific? Enter a Secret Realm? Help the Clan out in some way? If you have something specific you want to accomplish on this turn, put it in turn notes so I can adjust your Fate around it.

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

 

[no.]

Gaius Antonius 71 - Celestial Inheritance​

The Quintia Estate's vault was a jealously guarded secret. Impregnable even to Core Formation intruders, it housed the second greatest collection of ancient, powerful treasures in the entire Golden Devil Clan, the first being the Grand Elder's own aperture.

Counted among its many oddities were several daggers of Celestial Bronze, brought out only for important rituals. They were certainly potent weapons, but such things were so precious that risking their loss simply wasn't worth it, not unless the Clan's numbers ballooned and the Quintia gained several more Elders from whom to extract the miraculous substance.

Each of these daggers was valuable beyond words, so priceless that the very idea their sale was not even worth considering. There was also, among them, an ordinary Gravebronze dagger - a fake.

----

The great thing about living in a desert is that it's very, very easy to hide something, even something very large and flashy. All one has to do is just walk, and walk, and walk, and keep walking some more, until they are so far from anything even remotely worth visiting that no one will ever stumble upon them or their works. This is less 'hiding through skill' and more 'hiding through brute force', but it remains the centerpiece of much of desert warfare because it just works so well.

A few hundred miles away from anything of note, Gaius rode on the back of a cart pulled by a Spirit Horse and began to drive it up to the top of a craggy hill. By his side was a familiar one-way barrel, containing a familiar fish, by his other side was a stone furnace five feet across, and at his hip was something he absolutely wasn't supposed to have.

A few years ago, Gaius had requested the use of one of the Quintia's ritual daggers for the purposes of mourning Jin Muyi, and his request had, with some grumbling, been accepted. What he returned after visiting the catacombs, however, was not the ritual dagger, but a perfectly-forged replica, made to his exacting specifications until it matched the original down to even the tiny imperfections and the wear of time.

This was the kind of crime that would be a heinous betrayal only if done by someone weak. Done by someone strong enough to properly make use of the dagger, it instead became an act which was immoral but not truly horrible. It all came down to whether he could make the family's (unwitting) investment of this dagger pay off down the line.

Hitching the horse near the top of the hill, Gaius fished out a scroll from his pack, and pondered what a despicable person he was becoming. The Gaius of thirty years ago wouldn't have dared to steal something so precious, but that was before recent events. The Gaius of today was tormented by stress and nightmares. The Gaius of today was more powerful than ever, yet also possessed an unhealthy body which grew a little more worn down every year. He had no choice; everything was to be used here and now, and after that he could calm down.

Following the instructions on the scroll, Gaius first plopped down the small stone furnace, a simple contraption which generated fire directly from spirit stones. Inefficient, but when very hot flames were needed right away, it was helpful. Second, he placed a large, ceremonial bronze bowl on the ground next to the furnace. Finally, he opened a bag filled to the brim with a king's ransom in weird, expensive shit.

Platinum Root. Thousand-Year Spice. Rainbow Spider Cores. All sorts of rare, valuable ingredients, used in large quantities among more common regents, were used to inscribe a complex array circle around the furnace and the bowl, one which he copied from the scroll in perfect detail over the course of an hour, just to make sure it all went right.

Finally, every piece of the puzzle was in place, and Gaius wiped his brow as he looked over all of it; he really was going to get away with this. "Wish I didn't have to do this, but I can't afford to be ordinary, you know?" He muttered in the direction of Scylla's tank. "In those caves, I need something that can pierce Core Formation hides easily, and this was the only way to get it. Just being strong isn't enough for what I'm doing."

A weapon of Celestial Bronze was already incredibly potent, but possessed no properties other than extreme sturdiness and qi receptiveness, as well as making for unspeakably sharp blades. To truly make the weapon all his own, one which would grow even stronger should he exceed the strength of the original donor, and which would be a vessel for all arts, not just Weapon Arts, the Celestial Inheritance was necessary. Through this ancient practice, a Golden Devil could synchronize with a piece of Celestial Bronze and bond it to their soul and cultivation base. It was through this method that the greatest of Devil artifacts were born, and today the tradition would be continued through Gaius.

Resolved to see this through to the end, Gaius held the Celestial Bronze up to his forearm, and in one slow, smooth motion, dragged the blade across his skin, letting out a thick stream of blood, and held the wound above the ceremonial bowl. He began to grow dizzy, but did not let up until it was mostly filled - around two pints in total. Next, he plunged his hand into Scylla's tank and pulled her out, holding her body above the bowl. The Sacred Carp, knowing what to expect, remained still, but nonetheless winced as the ancestral artifact effortlessly parted her thick alabaster scales. Gaius drew the blade down Scylla's side, prompting a second, smaller tide of deep crimson which filled the bowl the rest of the way to the top.

Gaius' Companion Beast was not strictly required to be included in the rite, and in fact performing the link with two beings at once made it more difficult. Nonetheless, the sorts of tricks one could perform with bonded Celestial Bronze and the Beast Taming Arts together made it a worthy investment.

Cleaning the dagger off and then clamping it tight in a pair of tongs, Gaius slowly slid it into place above the furnace's roaring flame, then tapped an array on the handle of the tongs. At Gaius' command, the tool floated in a stationary position and held the dagger on its own. Turning away from the rapidly-heating artifact, Gaius began to fuel the Celestial Inheritance.

Pouring a seemingly endless stream of qi into the surrounding arrays, Gaius watched carefully as the array inscription lit up in brilliant red and gold, followed by new circles, each one encompassing the last. The first two concentric circles lit up near-instantly, the third after a few more seconds, and the fourth in just shy of half a minute, with each one going forward taking longer than the last to form. In less than a minute, Gaius found his own reserves growing dangerously low. Drawing on the spirit stones in the bag beside him, Gaius rapidly cycled the energy, which was immediately sucked out of him and into the arrays. Simply using spirit stones directly would not work; the Celestial Inheritance was a borderline Blood Art, and needed to draw the required qi directly from the body of the one being bonded.

More and more stones turned to dust, fueling the massive ritual as both Gaius and Scylla teetered on the edge of being sucked dry. When sixty percent of the bag was used and the glow continued to intensify unabated, Gaius began to grow worried. All of the Low-Grade stones had been used up, and the Mid-Grade stones were diminishing quickly as well. A seventh ring formed, then an eighth. They began to rotate, gradually increasing in speed as the glow of the array became more intense. So much for subtlety.

When a ninth ring appeared, Gaius wondered if perhaps the compatibility was too high. He didn't know how many was the usual amount, but artwork of the Celestial Inheritance being performed generally showed between five and seven rings. A tenth ring appeared, and now the entire hilltop was contained within the circles. Gaius could hardly see a thing through this blinding light, and it almost felt like the earth was shaking, though that might have been his own exhaustion.

The Mid-Grade stones all used up, Gaius drew upon his last resort: a single High-Grade stone, a blazing knot of power so dense that to try and contain all its power would make any Qi Condensation Cultivator simply burst. "Really wanted to use this when I ascended…" Gaius groused, before squeezing the stone between his fingers with all his might. "If I can't take it all in, let's make it a little messier!"

The bright blue gem cracked, and qi burst forth from the rent in a massive torrent, lashing out at random. Gaius sucked in the rich, life-giving energy as it was released into the air, though much of it evaporated before it could be taken in. Finally, a tipping point was reached, and after a minute more, the circle stopped spinning. All ten of them locked into place like some wickedly complex mechanism, and the red and gold glow, previously so bright as to be near-white, faded to a dim crimson and amber.

"Ten circles… that would be a perfect synchronization, wouldn't it?" Gaius panted, slumping to his knees as he turned to the furnace, which still held the dagger burning within. It didn't melt, of course; Celestial Bronze was a half-liquid material already, returning to its prior, 'remembered' shape if it was damaged, melted or anything else. The fire was simply to heat the metal for the next stage of the ritual.

But how could the sync have possibly been perfect? Gaius would have to be a reincarnation or identical twin of the original donor to even have a chance. No, neither of those would be enough; to match perfectly, an identical body or soul alone would probably only get nine rings, wouldn't it? And with Scylla in the mix, the compatibility should have lowered somewhat as well. "Whoever you are, I'm obviously not you…" The Seeker muttered, getting back on his feet and staggering toward the furnace. "So there's no way it can be perfect. What in the world have you done?"

Grasping the tongs once more, Gaius withdrew the dagger, which now glowed with heat. The entire ritual was an unpleasant one, but this part might be the worst. His hand slightly trembling, Gaius reached forward and seized the handle, which immediately caused his skin to sizzle and cook in sickening fashion.

Gritting his teeth through the sharp pain of his searing flesh, Gaius held the yellow-hot dagger up to the sky. "By the grace of the ancients, I inherit your will. Protect and guide me, so that I may live up to your legacy. By my hand, all wickedness shall be cut. By my will, the enemies of the Imperator shall be driven out. Let the sleeping power be inherited now!"

With the incantation complete, Gaius plunged the blade into the bowl of blood, flash-boiling it. A red steam arose from the bowl, swirling and spiraling outward until it encompassed the array. Bronze-colored streams of qi emerged from the array, which quickly deteriorated and faded away. The crimson mist took in the massive amount of energy until it too was the color of bronze, then swirled inward.

Gaius held the dagger up to the sky once more as the blood-mist condensed further and further, seeping into the miraculous metal and spiritually binding it to both Gaius and Scylla. The grip lengthened, changing in shape to suit The Seeker's hand in either normal or reverse grip, and the blade's balance changed slightly, growing two inches longer and a bit thinner at the base. The hilt, previously fashioned to resemble a crashing wave on either side, changed in shape into a pair of feathered wings bound in thorny vines. Finally, the plain red jewel set into the pommel changed into a cats-eye jewel.

All grew silent, and Gaius allowed himself to fall onto his back, laughing. "Now this is a weapon! Fit to kill real monsters!" He held the dagger up to his eyes, watching the brilliant way it caught the rays of the sun. "So, what should I name you?"

——

I banged this one out real quick to get myself to a certain wordcount milestone, but like before I didn't want it to just be filler content. I figured I would use the space to pay off a bit of foreshadowing I laid out back in an earlier collab, and introduce an object which might become plot-critical later on, depending on how things work out.

 

[ObsidianNoir]

Qinglong Shu 9 - Planmaking

Elder Lang was quite concerned. He knew someone of his status shouldn't be so biased, but after spending a bit of time with Shu, relatively speaking, he came to care for her beyond a Good Seed. Thus, when he heard the news of her old family losing someone, he immediately awaited her arrival. Going after her immediately would be counterproductive. A Cultivator had to learn how to cope with their rage, their sorrow, in their own ways. But if she went past the time limit, he would catch her broken remains and mend them. Fortunately he didn't have to do so. WAiting at the front gates, he saw the Qi Condensation student arrive. Tired. Eyes red. Exhausted, in both body and soul. He sighed as he descended slowly, before landing right in front of her.

"Oh, you silly girl."

She flinched, instilled discipline kicking in as she was about to lower her head.

"Forgive me, Elder. I…"

He raised his hand immediately, making her freeze up. He frowned at how hoarse her voice was. Then he ruffled her hair with a soft smile.

"It is alright. Come inside."

She sniffed but suppressed her tears. Or rather, she only sniffed because she ran out of them. Soon enough, they were in his private quarters. Lang made some tea for her, which she thankfully drank instead of refusing it. Her exhaustion must have made her 'barriers' weaker. Good. This way, they could address the scar in her heart before it turned into something worse. He waited patiently as she sometimes sipped from her tea, only the silent night extending between them. But eventually...

"...Does it always hurt so much?" She looked up, her hands shaking. "To lose someone to cruelty?"

He didn't know the details and a part of him that was not jaded wished he never would. Looking outside the window, at the estate, at the clan he had joined he slowly shook his head.

"'tis the life of us Golden Devils," he said gently, his voice carried by a soft gust. A scoff escaped him as he shook his head. "Heaven has made itself known to despise us. Thus, cruelty is part of our life."
"Will it hurt less?" She asked, proving how oh so young she was. He could lie to her. But he wouldn't do that. Instead, he sighed and nodded.

"Always. But it will never vanish. And that-"

"Is a good thing," she whispered, interrupting him, but both of them paid no mind for the breach of etiquette. She looked up, a weak smile on her face. A phantom of her usual enthusiasm, but it was better than nothing. "Yes... thank you."

He hummed thoughtfully before putting his own cup down. He could sense it. The bubbling rage beneath her skin. The focused, narrow thoughts of her mind. Not to mention her eyes.

They haven't gone back to normal, human, red eyes since she got here. It was a quirk he always found a little bit unnerving yet intrigued. He wondered what techniques and deeds the Four Beast Alliance did to create that little trait. Still, those were thoughts for the future. For now, he had to make sure she wasn't going to do anything foolish. Her old family most likely did a good job, but it was always better to be sure. Thus, with a stern tone, he rose up to his feet, arms crossed behind his back.

"We cannot divert resources for a manhunt. I hope you understand. With the current events... " He trailed off, but Shu nodded in understanding, her eyes dulling a bit.

"Hm. I never expected any help for this anyway."

Lang frowned at Shu's words. His glare caused her to flinch as he walked up to her. Towering over her, he shook his head.

"That is a foolish line of thought. I know you by now." He put a hand on her shoulder, having to kneel down a bit. "Do not try to fight a Foundation Establishment Expert without help. Have patience when time is freed up. When you have grown."

Shu didn't respond. Didn't nod. Lang waited patiently, for her explanation of why she didn't want to accept his words.

"I know it makes the most sense. This clan prides itself on cooperation." She looked up, despair in her eyes. "But... I don't want it." She shook her head and growled a bit. "I don't want outsiders interfering in this. Maybe I will change my mind in the future but... As of now?" Her voice vibrated, her eyes glowing with Qi that she recovered. "Qinglong Min is mine."

Foolishness. But understandable foolishness. He just had to keep a closer eye on her. Be wary of her movements else she would run off on her own. Perhaps he had to prepare some of her peers to support her. His mind wandered to Chang, her rival, before he discarded it. No way she would accept his help at this stage, unless he massively misinterpreted their relationship. With a sigh, he removed his hand and moved back to his seat.

"Very well. If it helps, I am certain you will win once you enter the same Stage. With the Single Pillar-"

"I'm not going to ascend."

His eyes widened for an instance, his head snapping towards her, before they became normal. Outrage filled him, not at being interrupted again, but at denying her own growth. But then it dawned on him and he calmed down. He almost felt sheepish. Ah, yes. It was almost time, wasn't it? He shook his head with a sigh. Not going to ascend yet. Well, it was unlikely she would make it in time to breakthrough anyway, so it was the only logical conclusion.

"Hm. You wish to support your fellow Qi Condensation Cultivators during the Trials then? It is your only option barring great fortune. A commendable attitude as well, but a dangerous one."
Shu let out a scoff, causing him to raise his eyebrow.

"It is nothing so noble." She looked up, smiling a bit. "I won't ascend. Even after I survive the Trials. Even if its many eons after that. Not until I killed her."

"Revenge is a dark path to follow," he warned her with a dire tone. To his surprise, she let out a giggle and waved her hand.

"Oh, it isn't revenge. Not completely." She paused before shrugging."Well, I guess at the start I was filled with bloodlust. But now?" She put a hand on her chest. "It's my duty. Simple as that. I can't break through until I defeat this foe. This traitor."

Duty. The chains she put on herself. The standards she defined herself by. She lived by duty. It was a trait that Lang worried, for that was not her Dao. He knew that at least. But then, Shu shook her head.

"No. Forget all that."

She looked up with determination. Standing up, she flexed her fingers before putting her fist against her palm.

"Taking care of good ol' auntie is my Tribulation. I need to find out why she did this and then break her neck, destroy her Dao piece by piece and then let it turn into dust. No entity beneath or above the Heavens can decide otherwise." "This I pledge, as a Devil of this Clan."

Ah... he wanted to object so much. But one's path, one' Dao... it was theirs. If she thought that she couldn't ascend until dealing with this, he would believe her. It was dangerous. Stupid even. But that was the life of Cultivation, wasn't it?

"Then we have a lot of work to do." He gave her a pointed look. "Don't expect your growth to be the same as the last two decades. The further you go, the more agonizing the progress is."

"That's something I'm willing to accept," she responded, her voice more lighthearted now at his acceptance. He smiled before rubbing his beard with a thoughtful look.

"You have two Life Saving Treasures, so the Secret Realm should bring some good fortune, unless the Heavens really hate you." He pointed at her. "Still, we should prepare you as much as we can. Tomorrow early, the usual spot."

"Thank you, Elder Lang," she said, lowering her head. Thus, she left, catching up on some well deserved sleep. Lang looked at her retreating back before shaking his head a bit.

"No need for thanks. You are, after all, my personal ward."

For now, he had to plan. The beginnings of a schedule formed in his head. It was unconventional, but when was the Golden Devil Clan known for the Orthodox? His approach for training was simple. They couldn't speed up her Cultivation at this level unless they risked things. Fonts had their limits after all. And she was already going to risk her life in a Secret Realm. Thus, Lang decided to give her what she could always need.

More tools. More, more, more. So many until her brain got sick of them. For others, it would be a waste of time. Crippling overspecialization in surface level techniques. But he had faith in Qinglong Shu. Faith, that the many small pieces would become a massive monument in her soul, a wide arsenal of weapons that could strike down even someone above her raw level.

 

[Nordlending]

Demetrius Ceres - Digging a deeper hole.


It was a good day to be in Camp Demetrius. The sun was shining, the sand was powdery, and the hole in the ground was getting deeper and deeper.

It was a good day.



"Boss, there is someone here who wants to speak with you." Julia Septimus bellowed as she entered the camp, followed by a fat cultivator wearing expensive clothing.

"Young Master Yin Ru Jingshen." Demetrius responded upon seeing the new arrival. "I suspected it would be you when I felt the tremors in the earth. What is the esteemed son of the raisin at the top doing in a place like this?

"You know exactly why I am here, you morally bankrupt woodcutter." Yin Ru Jingshen responded. "When the homeless make a camp in your backyard, you make them disappear. The aura of poverty is disturbing our cultivation."

"What? Isn't a man allowed to lay his claim on the soon-to-be-free-real estate?" Demetrius responded as he pretended to inspect the area. "This place is pretty great. There is only this minor rat infestation remaining."

"It seems you forgot to mention the kettle of vultures flying in the air? or perhaps you didn't see the need? We are working on removing them, and they won't be here for long. "

"We will see. The real fight has yet to happen."

"I haven't missed our talks," Yin Run said, looking at Demetrius in disdain. "When I heard you got burned alive, I was ready to propose to the woman who did you in. Sadly, it seems the wedding bells will have to wait."

"As much as I would enjoy inflicting you upon her, love is something best-shared amount equals," Demetrius responded. "You should search the contents below our latrines. You might find the love you are looking for."

"As much as I would love to see a Golden Devil bathhouse, I fear it disagrees with the things I consider worth my time. "

"Fear not. We are all well aware of your distaste for personal grooming." Demetrius responded. "I assume that was the reason you arrived here alone?"

"I didn't see the necessity to bring my subordinates with me. They are still children, and your face might give them nightmares." Yin Run responded. "and it's not like I need assistance to deal with likes of you and the hole you have been digging."

"Hole? What hole? I can't see any holes. Your lack of talent must be affecting your head." Demetrius responded as he waved his hands towards the poorly disguised giant hole in the ground.

"Are you suggesting everyone in my family is suffering from this so-called lack of talent? Those are fighting words."

"Of course not. I would never proclaim that there was something wrong with your inbred family. Some of my best equipment is Jingshen. I know your worth." Demetrius responded. "We have committed no sins."

"What about a corpse showing your sins to the world?"

"There is no such thing here."

"What about the corpse in the dune over there?"

"Oh, that corpse. Funny story that. We were sitting in our camp doing nothing. Then this sick Jingshen guy showed up. He coughed up some blood, then died. Nothing we could do." Demetrius responded with a deadpanned expression.

"and the ax wound on his skull?"

"Those were the symptoms. Poor guy."

"and the other 81 buried corpses?"

"Oh no, it's contagious. Julia, tell the men to equip their helmets. We need to stop this airborne disease in its tracks.

"I see. You want this fight to happen. Where does the scheming of the Golden Devils end." Yin Run muttered. "Let me show you the power of a pure Jingshen."


Yin Run Jingshen equipped his scimitar and entered a combat stance.

Demetrius Ceres likewise entered a combat stance, ax in hand.



"This reminds me of something." Demetrius said, "Do you remember the time you fought that powerful bloodbath Cultivator on The Great battlefield, and I arrived as your reinforcement?"

"How could I forget. You started cheering for the enemy and even joined their betting pool."

"Good times. It's a shame you won, the odds favored you, and my payout would have been fantastic if he ate you." Demetrius said as he shook his head. "It was a mistake on my part. I shouldn't have let my hopes for the future cloud my judgment."


"First Slash of the Desert King: Desert Wind
"Demetrius Swing 1: Murder Ax to the Face"

"Second Slash of the Desert King: Sand in the moonlight."
"Demetrius Swing 2: Murder Ax to the Spine."


a/n
What's this? A long-time rival I have never mentioned or alluded to before. How strange.

 

[Simon_Jester]

That was excellent.

 

[Faraway-R]

Seconded. It's about as amazing as the shovel gang (from Iliad Quest) in terms of black comedy.

Not to be confused with politically correct (bleh) skin color allusions.

 

[shibosho]

Xiuying Ten Jiang 28 - Yuan part 5

He shouldn't have allowed Xiuying Ten Jiang to live.

If Long Min had known that this would happen, he would have ended Xiuying's life honourably as befitting a proper swordsman. Instead, having faced dozens of weaklings that had refused to accept Long Min's mercy and sought to fight him again only to die by his blade, the swordsman chose to let her live in humiliation and regret, confident that he could easily crush her again and end that particular annoyance.

What Long Min got instead was a swordswoman who was his equal in both cultivation and the way of the sword.

No, that wasn't right.

Long Min could not acknowledge Xiuying Ten Jiang as a swordsman in the same manner that he was a wielder of the sword. The way Xiuying Ten Jiang was unlike anything that Long Min had ever encountered. In their first duel, he had caught a glimpse of the true nature of Xiuying's sword style but had dismissed it as nothing more than a curiosity after he had defeated her. Now though, Long Min was forced to face off against the full might of Xiuying's Sword Law.

Only his skill and mastery of the sword, alongside other techniques, kept him from being instantly slain. There were no probing attacks, no feints or barrages of attacks. Every single swing of Xiuying's sword was aimed solely to end Long Min's life. His first attempt to block such strikes by putting the most durable tent post in the camp between him and his opponent almost resulted in his death as Xiuying simply cut through it as though it was nothing by tofu. Enchanted gear had fared much better but quickly suffered damage that should not have been possible.

Long Min could only deflect her attacks or force Xiuying to abort her swings to defend or evade his own. His sword suffered from Xiuying's unnatural cuts, despite the immense amount of resources and effort Long Min poured into its creation. This was particularly galling since as far as Long Min could tell, Xiuying's own sword was just a normal blade that one could buy at any mortal blacksmith or arms merchant. It wasn't even well-maintained, suffering from both chipping and cracks in its structure. Yet in Xiuying's hand, such a worthless blade was a match for his masterpiece.

However, that was not the most miserable part of fighting this lunatic.

Like most fighters, at some point of his training, his body became infused with the necessary reflexes and instinct that allowed them to do battle at their full potential. The mind becomes nothing more than a guiding hand that directs the body to strike as needed.

Long Min was skilled in the art of reading his opponent's moves. One of his favourite techniques was the Heart Under Blade Resonance which allowed him to read the fluctuating emotions within his opponent as they fought, adjusting and predicting their actions, even when they've suppressed their emotions.

This was not the case with Xiuying Ten Jiang.

Every time Long Min made eye contact with his opponent, he struggled not to recoil in both fear and disgust. Looking into Xiuying Ten Jiang's eyes was like looking into a vast bottomless pitch-black abyss. Each time he had tried to read his opponent, he found himself drowning in that dark abyss. Worse was the fact that it was not empty as he had originally thought when he first fought Xiuying. No, what he experienced was an all-encompassing obsession - a singular desire towards perfecting the Cut.

Mindless.

Relentless.

Ruthless. The body moved as one, completely driven by a terrifying desire to cut down the opponent before her.

It was a purity that Long Min had never seen before and it frightened him, he who had devoted his life to the way of the sword. He could only see Xiuying Ten Jiang as a blasphemer to all that he believed in.

It was his duty to rid the world of this insane swordswoman.

And yet no matter what he did, he could not deliver a decisive blow.

Disarming Xiuying Ten Jiang was simple at first, thanks to a technique that Long Min was rather fond of. However, whenever she was bereft of her blade, Xiuying simply changed from a mindless yet skilful machine to a ravenous beast, clawing and biting at him without a care for her own wellbeing, up until she got back into reach of her sword. The largest wounds Long Min had managed on Xiuying's person were done during these short periods of unarmed combat. Yet each wound done to her was paid for in both flesh and blood.

Even unarmed, Xiuying sought to rip out his throat with her teeth, gouge out his eyes with her thumbs, tear out his heart which in fingers, and other brutal killing methods that a proper swordsman would never think of using, at least not when they were unarmed.

Getting caught off-guard by her brutality had cost Long Min dearly. His right eye had been plucked out for his hubris, his left cheek had been ripped open by Xiuying's teeth, and his right shoulder had a chunk bitten out of it. In return, he had pierced one of her lungs, sliced off half of her left hand, and shaved off the flesh of her left shoulder.

Worse, after the third disarm, Xiuying's sword could no longer be separated from its owner. Despite whatever messed-up trance she was in, Xiuying was learning as she fought Long Min.

So far they had been fighting for close to an hour and despite the terrible wounds they had been dealing with each other in equal measure, neither of them letting up even an inch.

However, as he locked blades with Xiuying yet again, Long Min noticed that Xiuying's sword was reaching the limit of its durability. An opportunity was coming up and there was no way in hell that he was going to miss it.

Striking again and again, Long Min's sword clashed with his opponent's own blade with sparks flying and the sound of clanging metal ringing out around them.

Suddenly, as Long Min had been expecting, the blade on Xiuying's sword broke off. The stress of combat between two cultivators had been too much for the simple sword. Long Min's face lit up in triumph. For a split moment, Xiuying seemed unbalanced and that was when Long Min struck.

Perhaps he had been too eager or maybe Xiuying's instincts saved her from a fatal blow. In any case, Long Min's sword came down and though she managed to step back at the last moment, a large cut appeared from Xiuying's left collarbone down to her waist. Though it was not deep enough to be a killing blow, the spray of blood coming from the wound meant that the match was over.

Without a proper sword along with that massive wound, Xiuying could no longer fight against Long Min.

Filled with relief at his victory, Long Min failed to notice Xiuying steadying her footing and gripped what was left of her sword with both hands. The ground cracked and shattered as Xiuying Ten Jiang swung down the broken sword in her hands.

Not expecting the attack, Long Min was left wide open as Xiuying's Cut fell upon him.

It was only by chance that Long Min did not die. Instead, due to Xiuying's wounds, the Cut came at a bad angle, relieving Long Min of his sword arm. His sword that he had spared no expense to create was cut in half despite its incredible sharpness and durability. For a moment, Long Min stared at Xiuying blankly, not comprehending what had happened.

Then as though remembering what it was supposed to do, blood spurted out from the small stump that was left of Long Min's dominant arm.

"Aaaargh!" Long Min screamed in pain as he clutched the bleeding wound, falling to the ground and flailing about as the pain from his many wounds finally caught up to him. Even when his eye had been ripped out, he had not uttered a single groan. However, with the loss of his sword arm and his beloved sword, Long Min had reached his limits.

Xiuying simply looked down at Long Min with the same disconcerting blank stare, her arms still held out after the final swing of the duel.

Then with a very slow blink, life returned to Xiuying's eyes.

"Guh!" Letting out a sharp gasp, Xiuying fell to her knees, barely managing to plant what remained of her sword into the ground to keep herself from toppling over to the side from exhaustion and agony. Taking in deep gasping breaths as she circulated what qi she had left to fix her punctured lung long enough to keep it from spiralling out of control, Xiuying watched Long Min as he cried out in pain, rocking side to side as he tried to stem the bleeding from his shoulder for a little while before grimacing in pain and reaching into her pouch of holding to retrieve some healing medicine. Though they would do little for the large wounds she had suffered, they would at least keep Xiuying alive long enough for her to get out of the Secret Realm by her reckoning.

After what seemed like hours, Long Min finally stopped flailing and laid on the ground in resignation.

"Xiuying Ten Jiang. You have defeated me. Now slay me so I may die an honourable death." Long Min said or at least that's what Xiuying thought he said. It was kind of hard to tell with half his face torn off.

Xiuying stared at Long Min before gritting her teeth and forcing her body to move. Wounds that were beginning to seal quickly reopened as Xiuying moved towards Long Min's still form. As Xiuying's shadow moved across Long Min's face, the swordsman sighed and closed his eyes as he awaited the final blow. Thus, he was surprised when he felt a cool liquid smelling medicinal herbs splash across his face. Snapping his eyes wide open, Long Min saw Xiuying pouring medicine over his wounds before placing his severed arm on his shoulder and holding it in place as a healing adhesive was plastered over where the cut happened.

"W-What are you doing!?" Long Min demanded, not believing his eyes.

"...We're even now." Xiuying simply replied. Long Min gaped at his enemy in shock. "You spared my life so I'll spare yours."

"...I refuse. I refuse to live with the humiliation of - " Long Min began, not wishing to live on while suffering the shame of defeat.

"Quiet. Losers have to listen to the winner. So live. Live on so that we can have our third match and final match." Xiuying said, cutting off any further attempt of refusal from her opponent. After making sure that Long Min's arm could eventually be properly reattached and that he was no longer in danger of dying from blood loss, Xiuying got to her feet slowly and painfully before dragging herself away from the battlefield.

"You are a worthy opponent, Xiuying Ten Jiang" Long Min finally admitted, just loud enough so that Xiuying could hear it. "Until the next duel then."

"...Until the next one, Long Min," Xiuying promised before continuing her departure. There was no need for further words between the two swordsmen. Only the promise of one final duel was all that was left between them.

With that, Xiuying left Long Min lying alone in the midst of a destroyed campsite littered with headless bodies and disembodied heads. As Long Min laid on the ground, catching his breath, he quickly remembered that he had thoughtlessly promised to ensure the safety of his juniors while in the Yuan Secret Realm, a promise that was now thoroughly broken. Not only that, his reputation would surely take a massive hit from this defeat. And his favourite sword was broken as well.

"...Well shit." Long Min cursed as he thought about the trouble he would have to face in the future. Still, Long Min could not help but turn his thoughts to that last final Cut. Despite having only a broken sword, the Cut that Xiuying Ten Jiang had made was a thing of beauty.

It was truly a beautiful cut.

…

The moment Xiuying left the Man-As-Mountain Array, she found herself stumbling over her feet. However, an old friend was there waiting outside to catch her.

"Hey Xiuying. Take it easy. I've got you, girl." Huoying said as she held Xiuying in her arms. Xiuying said nothing, choosing to instead relax her body and allow her best friend to hold her up. As Huoying helped Xiuying to her food wagon, Huoying could not help but inquire into Xiuying's current state. "You look like hell, Xiuying. What happened?"

Xiuying furrowed her brow as she recalled what had happened in the Yuan Secret Realm. The usual cooking, the first duel with Long Min, the hunting, the cooking, the ghostly sacrifice, more cooking and the second duel with Long Min and much crossed Xiuying's mind before she simply shrugged her shoulders and said the first thing that came to mind.

"Stuff happened."

...

Turn 13 Omake Bonus: LST

 

[adamashield]

Title: Krieg
​

The second builder journey to the secret real was also a great opportunity to check if the Scions' Squad was ready. Which, in his heart, he already knows that they were. But, as a leader, he needs to check one more time.

So, he will act as their leader. For a final time. He even gives them a scenario, he was simulating a 'close quarter cultivation', which is a luxury that only the fifth brother had ever done (to fifth's great displeasure), and in a normal secluded cultivation a disturbance could result in his death.

This is the last time he could check them for the loyalty, skills, and capacity to give face to their leaders.

So, he looked outside the armored sixteen-wheels bike and he witnesses what they are doing.

"Young Legionaries, you are clear to leave our lands. Safe travel to you" the group of scions clothed in black had need only 30 minutes to finish this spot.

The second builder had chosen the most stubborn, more 'by the rules' and the one voted in the board of the clan as 'the most annoying sentry guard' of the entire golden devil population. Their 'administratum skill' and decorum is on par. Good.

The bag of food was also well received by said sentry guard, which both sides had taken an absurd amount of time (10 minutes) double and triple checking their 'mini' version of clan laws book. Using those materials to see if that count as bribe.

Even with both parties and the second brother already know that the answer is no. Because having a guard being part of the local society (or, even better, be a local) and having (more) ways to promote unity just make sense. Because (honest) small gifts from both parts make bonds stronger!

There even 'legal' ways to bribe but neither the brotherhood neither Hàoyǔ would accept that 'vastness' no matter the size of the bribe.

[Kek] thought back the first builder. From the weak name joke.

After this 'quick and efficient check of papers' to leave the clan lands. Which continues to show their administrations skills. That up to par to their future needs. They finally move on.

Thinking once more of the training the brotherhood gave to the Scions. Which of course was after the basic training of the clan. They had received this 'advanced training' which made to be as close to the clan method as the brotherhood could possibly do.

Thinking once more that they had pass with flying colors both training and reach the enviable power of 4th heavenstage.

Looking to the next generation of the brotherhood scions. Truly made the elders in the brotherhood happy. Not for the young power. Or their fashionable dark capes, spiked helmets, and great gear. Like the armored bicycle or the cannon 'The Fist of Diomedes'. But the fact these scions will have a better future. There will be under a true Scion like senior Diomedes. A good seed that had become a foundation cultivator after reaching the 12th heavenstage.

So, to get these and future scions a bright future. The brotherhood truly went further beyond. And even ask these young ones to use 'spirit stones'.

That shocking request had almost broken the believe of some older brothers that his brother created by calling those stones 'evil stones'. Well evil. Because those stone created disparity. Made one kin higher in resources demands than some of their family. Made competition in the family. And even without that. The brotherhood is aware that get said stones is a business full of blood and tears. Even the origin of the stones is covered in tragedy with the death of that turtle.

But this time they will allow the young to continue to walk a path full of competition and blood. After all these young will have each other. And they will have a leader than can endure impressive tribulations from the heaven and earth.

And everything else fail the brotherhood will try to get more war gear for them. Smaller cannons, those things called 'rifles', ways to throw bags full of gunpowder called 'bombs', smoke bombs which are made by gunpowder treated in a different way. And, of course, more poisons bombs which are the traditional ones, so someone should call these bombs and the other ones 'gunpowder bombs'. His thoughts were getting away from the matter.

Anyway, they will also get any array that the clan or the brotherhood made more 'standard'.

Xxx

"…" the leader of the squad moves his hand in a circle follow by using the other hand as a first to meet the first hand.

"…" the recon specialist of the group that had a telescope, made to his brother many hand sights in the form of numbers on his hand. In a key sequence.

"…" the leader nod to that.

"…!" *stomp* *stomp* the rest of the squad energic reply with words and foot stomping. Still if they continue to have such filth mounts. New centurion or not these guys will eat soap and will meet third brother disappointed eyes.

[Brother they are still young] the first builder tried to easy the second [They are not veterans sewer cleaners. They are yet to earn those filth words that you created] but the second builder give no room.

The second builder witness the young ones throw multiple spears to force a giant bug in a certain direction to allow an easier shot by the cannon than a (free) moving giant grasshopper.

He watches that with a smile.

After that they charge on the armored bicycle and allowed the heavy bike to hit the bug, multiple times, then cut the head of the giant creature, awaited 10 minutes, cut it's members. And only then started to loot the corpse from useful parts.

[They still allowing it to bleed! they can make hundreds of soups with that blood!] comment the first brother.

[We trained them in different ways, even if they made the ground into stone, there would still make them loose some blood] the second builder comment and continue [and we will not collect the earth that is soak in all that blood to make 'earth soup']. The second builder replied only to continue.

[The scenario is that we are in close quarter cultivation] he finished.

Which, of course, they were not doing that. Instead of that they are still trying to make the 'amulet of true will' into a stronger artifact by feeding it lots of Qi. Instead of doing said 'close quarter cultivation' and risk a strong cultivator attack their children while they were unware of the external world. So, they did keep a eye on the road while doing a lot of paperwork and reading books to learn new things.

Xxx

The second builder watch while the young repair the road.

"…" One scion made a hand sigh to the other.

"…" the second scion reply with an almost imperceptive head gesture.

Both hit the ground with their feet make a big stone pillar appear. They look at the engineer of the squad that was looking at a paper on his hands.

"…" And said engineer confirmed that they are clear to proceed. The two other scions made the pilar fall.

And with that made a small bridge to pass this point, which would be improved with the local vine and other materials to reinforce the bridge. This is the fifth bridge they made.

This road also has so many holes that was harder to fix even by using the armored bicycles to roll/beat some parts into a better road. For 15 miles/24km of horrible roads that had need to fix by breaking local stones and even using 'fire fist' art to make (low quality) cement. Of course, the cement become less horrible when they added their own blood to the product.

Still the horrible condition of the roads was the entire reason he selects this route.

They also are being paid by the locals. On this matter there will be a premium for their speed and quality of work. Which will probably feed their new centurion budget by a small amount; but any help counts.

And if they are not paid their dues without a just cause. And once more. New centurion or not. The locals will face the brotherhood lawyer 'the devil lawyer' if they don't not pay their dues.

[Yeah, 7th​ would be angry and would be even more meticulous than his normal work. It would be bloodless massacre. But still an epic one] the second builder nod his head to his brother loud thoughts.

Xxx

"…!" with killing intent, the scions allowed the Hoplite formation/shadow warrior weapon to move from where it was hide, and with a fast movement made the shadow one throws the bag full of poison that it keep on the end of the spear.

The second builder witness the young' bag hit the center of the campfire of these bandits. And it made an impressive poison cloud. Which cause horrible amount of damage. Because these are weak blood cultivators that would not endure the desert for long. Even if they had not met the scions.

"…!" the scion leader said to improve the morale of his brothers and made the shadow warrior charge. Into the flames. Where the prepared material on the shadow warrior (by ropes on his weapons) ignite.

"…!" "…!" "No quarter! no surrender! no mercy!" Said all brothers. With the leader putting more Qi to be listen even with the strong breathing masking that they all are using. Said mask could endure the worse that sewer in the brotherhood city could throw. And with number of forgotten experiments throwed there that said something. But was difficult to speak while using these masks.

Xxx

"Stop" the second builder said and was obeyed.

Otherwise, five of these young would continue to march to fight the 6th heavenstage goat ahead of them while the other five helping on the bicycle. But they listen to him and prepare to serve as supporters.

He watches one last time at their black and stylish clothes. Their black masks than can endure high level of 'pollution' and poisons from high level cultivator's sewers. The arrays the brotherhood put on their gear to endure the always changing conditions of the sewer, the work life as legionary under a rising start of cultivator with the unsaid rising threats to be face head on and even more exotic conditions.

Yeah, they were ready.

[Indeed brother! Now punch that goat. HARD.]

Indeed. "Drivers, move closer so that I can hit that beast with my first" he commanded.

And the last five scions that are serving as muscled for the bicycle did what they were commanded. And the implicit instruction of giving face to the elder. By bravely moving the vehicle ahead and preparing to use 'the raising pillar arts', their muscles and the vehicle own brake to prepare to what is coming when the two 6th​ heavenstage collide.

That goat decides to accept the challenge and rush to hit the armored bicycled.

So, the second builder take a last, long breath. Making a sound like a giant beast from said action. Push as much QI as one in his realm could then went a little beyond that. Transformed his fist into metal with an art. And send the signal to hit the goat with the cannon.

And said 'the fist of Diomedes' punch the goat.

HARD.

Then the second Builder use that opening to punch it even HARDER.

"…" The scions show no reaction to the rain of blood and said nothing! Excellent! they show no fear. They will be great subordinates. And even greater logistic soldiers.

But they will probably shine as Qi battery for the clan formation. For few can match the brotherhood in showing no fear when face with impossible odds. And the clan formation requires a strong will and unbreakable heart.

And they build themselves up to those tasks.

xxx

word count: 2015. word counting

@Alectai, @TehChron, @Humbaba another omake to our player base pile

edited.

 

[SeptimusMagisto]

Lipp Galanis in: Leaving the Hothouse​

Ever since being subjected to Despair in its purest form, Lipp found himself afflicted by a persistent anxiety about his abilities. Even as he soared through the eight and ninth heavenstages, growing more powerful by any objective standard, the anxiety only increased. Lipp had always believed that to build a tower of a height equal to Mt. Tao one had to begin by digging a foundation of infinite width. That's why he took pains to study every skill and every art, cultivator or mortal. But with the scales fallen from Lipp's eyes, it now seemed like his foundation was broad but shallow. He could forge a weapon better than any made by a mortal smith, but he couldn't match a cultivator who lived shackled to a forge. He could carve an array, but not nearly as well as an array master. He could brew a decent poison, but not one that would cross a great realm. Even his soup selection was limited compared to a proper Kitchenhand. Lipp possessed a plethora of middling skills, and though he hoped they would add up to something great, there was only one way to find out.

For the first time ever, Lipp would have to fight another cultivator.

Once the decision was made, justifications fell into place. The experience would be a kind of tribulation, allowing Lipp to evolve past his current self. He needed the practice for his upcoming trip to the Secret Realm, where he would surely be persecuted for being a Golden Devil. He could destroy an enemy of the clan. He really wanted to get a chance to dissect a cultivator's corpse to improve his skills as a chirurg and a biologist. And Grandmama was having some success with the cuttings he stole from the aborted shambler project and could use a fresh corpse to try them out on. In other words, all the usual reasons cultivators have for fighting and killing each other, risking their potential immortality against the only people who could kill them.

A stranger's death warrant signed, all that remained was to find the perfect opponent. There was no shortage of potentials, even discounting active warzones. After carefully sifting through every known or suspected bandit, spy, and Blood Path cultivator in Clan territory, Lipp settled on an elderly cultivator suspected to be in the fifth or sixth heavenstage of Qi Concentration menacing caravans in the southwest. A hundred hours of collating reports later Lipp figured out the bandit's identity. Xi Lao, the former master of the now-defunct Ten Thousand Fists Sect. At his height he stood in the Great Circle of Foundation Building, but the attack that destroyed his home also damaged his foundation base. Without resources to repair it he must have regressed.

A perfect chance to kick a man while he's down.

With these facts in hand, Lipp was able to make the case that he should be the one to face the bandit instead of someone more in his league. He described how the old man's experience might make up for his current weakness and brought up the possibility that he was hiding strength, all the while desperately hoping that neither of those things were true.

To ensure that the bandit would show up on the first try, Lipp took what remained of his own spirit stones and cultivation aids, spread the genuine items over a cart full of convincing fakes, and made sure that any potential spies and gossips had the opportunity to take a good look. He then joined the carnival, using a combination of makeup, pills, and charms to disguise his true strength, making himself appear as a fifth heavenstage cultivator to any casual probes.

At this time Lipp's anxiety flared up worse than ever, so he assuaged it by going over his preparations on a daily basis. Three nourishing meals a day. A little store of carefully hoarded luck. A few personally crafted tools, far too minor to be called Treasures. The special spear that took a month of work to make. And what had to be a full quarter of the Technique Palace's contents, carefully memorized for just such an occasion. Certainly enough to overcome one old man past his prime.

...Better check everything again.

It happens at the beginning of the second week. A lone rider approaches the caravan from the open desert. The wagons slowly come to a stop and mortals carefully step away from Lipp, who advances to meet the newly-arrived bandit.

Xi Lao is everything Lipp expected, but somehow still a surprise. Lipp's seen cultivators approaching the end of their lifetime before. They often looked old, but they also looked healthy. This man is something different. He looks withered, with caved-in cheeks, thinning hair, and skin that's so thin and dry it looks almost transparent. Either Xi Lao had the majority of his body's vitality leak out, leaving him a dried-out shell of his former self, or he's doing a much better job of feigning weakness than Lipp is.

Better not wait around to find out.

Before the old man can say anything, Lipp unleashes the spear's greatest power. Two chains of tiny runes activate at the spear's base and run down the shaft, following tiny grooves carved into the spear's metal in a double helix pattern, like two spirals chasing each other. The runes meet at the spear's tip to activate the Yin Yang Curse-Poison Spiral. One half of this technique is a clinging, death aligned curse that will drain an opponent's qi and life in equal measure. It would leave a normal cultivator looking like Xi Lao already does. The other half is an organic poison that will use the stolen energy to grow within the opponent's body, spreading to every cell and bursting them from the inside like overripe grapes. A deadly art that takes advantage of many disparate skills and fuses them into one attack that continually builds on its own strength.

Xi Lao sidesteps it with an explosive burst of speed.

Okay. Not entirely unexpected. Plenty of tricks left.

Lipp grasps the spear tighter and swings it slowly. To an untrained eye it might look like he's trying and failing to be threatening, but in truth he's tracing a character in the air. The spear's tip leaves just enough floating residue to technically count as an inscription. When the complex rune is complete, it unleashes a wide blast of kinetic force. When the charging Xi Lao sees the sand thrown into the air, he crosses his arms to shield his face. He's driven back but does not lose balance.

Lipp pops his collar with a chin motion, stuffing a hidden harmonica into his mouth. He begins whistling a song that sounds like a demonic tune. It's not - Lipp's never had the time to master that particular skill - but is that a chance anyone would take? At the same time, he uses his still-free arms to throw a net. Each knot of this net contains a tiny metal bead, and each bead contains a little lightning qi.

Xi Lao throws his fist hard enough to create a blast of compressed air that prevents the net from ever reaching him. He's either ignoring the tune, or he's decided that another frontal attack is the best way to cut it off, because he charges Lipp again.

Not enough time to draw another rune, so instead Lipp lights a torch. It empties half of his qi, but in exchange every droplet of sweat on Xi Lao's body is immediately flash-boiled. Not quite on the same level as boiling someone's blood in their veins, but even for a cultivator being burned badly enough hurts.

But even with his thin skin breaking out in painful boils, Xi Lao is undeterred. He reaches Lipp with two lengthened strides. Lipp uses the spear's reach to keep him at bay for a moment, but his stabbing technique is inexpert. Xi Lao spots a weakness and grasps the shaft while the spear is full extended, then uses a trick of leverage to pull the spear from Lipp's hands and immediately toss it away.

Lipp backs away. Xi Lao advances, and as he passes over the spot where Lipp stood moments before, Lipp activates the next tricks. Most of his remaining qi drains into the little packets of seeds and fertilizer he dropped at his own feet the moment the fight began. The sorcery activates the seeds' growth and they burst out of the packets, growing into long vines festooned with wicked thorns that lash around Xi Lao. Before they finish growing, the old man puts on another burst of speed, ripping himself out of the tangle through momentum alone, at the cost of embedding many of the thorns deep into his flesh.

Finally within melee range, the desperate old man throws a hard punch, aiming to shatter Lipp's skull. For a moment it feels like she succeeded. A hundred years ago he might have. But Lipp's Blood of Bronze has been augmented, and at the ninth heavenstage there is already quite a bit of metal in his skull. The blow stuns Lipp and gives him a terrible headache, but it doesn't kill. The next blow is directed at Lipp's chest, and it has the same result. The wind is knocked from his lungs and his heart definitely skips a beat, but the reinforced ribs fail to break.

The Lipp lunges forward. Forget fancy sorcery and even basic fighting technique. He just throws himself at the old man and fumbles for his throat, managing to get one hand on it. Thumb searching for the windpipe, he desperately uses the other hand to pound Xi Lao, his simple blows nothing like Xi Lao's precision strikes.

But it doesn't matter. Because at this moment it becomes a contest of brute strength. Ninth heavenstage against sixth. Enhanced Blood of Bronze against ordinary flesh and blood. A well-nourished, muscular young body against an aging relic. Lipp wins the contest by dint of sheer strength, managing to get his free hand on top of Xi Lao's skull and snap his neck with a backwards shove. Panting and bruised all over, he pushes the old cultivator's body away and just barely resists falling to his knees. The job's not done. The corpse will need to be dissected while it's still fresh. And then it will need to be pickled to ensure it survives the rest of the trip. So get moving already!

There will be time to reevaluate fighting techniques later.

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

A/N: 1770 words

 

[Narasan]

I dont know how to ping the gm,never had to ping people, also im not a good writer, so sorry in advance

Lee the smith
Cool thing: Bronze bloodline, that combined with his singlemindedness turns him into an endurance beast (for his level)

Lee was born in a village so small and insignificant, they didnt even know his skin marked him as an inheritant of the bronze blood.
His mother died in childbirth and the father had been a traveller. He was later found by another traveling bronze devil, apprenticed to the smith, where he spend his entire day working tirelessly.
Tireless.
That was one way to describe him.
He slept for six hours and worked the other 18. Only stopping to eat.
He is strong for his age, but average for a child reared to cultivate.
He is slow,but so are all of bronze blood.
He is not knowledgable, or even smart, but his mind works tirelessly, if slowly, to comprehend the world around him.
Others would call him boring, or dull.
But if you were looking for someone who would set one foot infront of the other, endlessly, tiredlessly, no matter what the world threw at him?
This is your guy.
And what other is cultivation, then an endless slog through pain and suffering?

 

[Humbaba]

I dont know how to ping the gm,never had to ping people, also im not a good writer, so sorry in advance

Click to shrink...

Welcome to the quest.

If you want to ping people, type @ followed by their name. I.e. @ Humbaba without the spaces.

How would you like your seed to be added? We are currently coming up on the end of turn 12 but there is still space to add your seed. However, if you want an omake bonus you'd have to write another omake before the final good seed reports come out, as backgrounds don't count. The report will probably come out this weekend or next weekend.

Otherwise, I can add you into turn 13, but then you won't appear "on screen" for quite a while. Please let me know your preference.

 

[Narasan]

Lee the smith one


Hong runs .
He is running, because a giant is chasing him. He is playing runrunRUN, one of the games children like to play in the village. Its named after the words Je Chen screamed after inventing the game.
Hong runs, around corners, through bushes, between legs.The giant following him. He was trying to WIN the game.
`Im never gonna beat three ours! I have to hide! But where? WHere where WHERE?!`
Aquick look oveer his shoulders shows the giant following him. He is not even trying to run. He is taking fast, deliberate steps, never stopping, eyes locked on the thief.
Hong makes as if to throw the tongs, but the giants eyes dont leave him for a moment.
`Dammit Jun! How am I supposed to win if you use up all the tricks!`
Hong runs, into old Chens house, through the room, out of the window.
He can hear old Chen screaming at the giant following him.´Damnit´
He is already losing his breath, `too many corners, too much jumping, too soon after lunch`.Excuses that wont work, he didnt even last an hour` the others are going to laugh till...`
A hand grabs his shirt from behind.
The giant has him. Annoyed he turns around, staring into the empty eyes of his hunter.
" Cant you walk slower, or just look away for a second?"
Empty eyes staring. Not a muscle moves. Silence falls over them as Hong waits, clenching his teeth.
"No."
The tongs are taken from him, but the giant keeps staring.
"What, you gonna tell on me? To whom? Nobody cares! Its a game!Or you gonna hit me? You wont be able to work anymore! Old Wu is gonna throw you out.There is nothing you can do, so Let.Me.Go!"
Empty eyes staring. Silence again. The giant leans his head to the side as if listening.After what seems(to Hong) to be an eternity, he gets his answer.
"No"
"What?"
"No"
"What are you doing, where are you taking mehey!"
The giant throws him, headfirst, into a turd.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH you piece of! IS I Y OUTH pth spth pth pth"
Hong runs to the stream, frantically washing first his tongue, then his face. After about ten minutes. He looks up to find that the giant has left.
He runs to the smithy, finding his enemy at work.
"YOU THREW ME INTO A PILE OF SHIT!"
The giant doesnt aknowledge him. But old Wu looks at his apprentice with wide eyes.
"You did what!"
The giant looks up from his work. Staring at his mentor with empty eyes.
"We were playing run.run.run.He lost.So he got the punishment."
Old Wu raises an eyebrow.
"Oh? Thats ok then, go on with your work."
"THATS NOT PART OF THE GAME"
"Now it is."
" Hong, stop shouting. Its sad that you lost but its just a game.Go wash yourself.You still stink."
"But-"
"Leave, we have work to do."
Hong, head hung low, leaves the smithy.

 

[adamashield]

Lee the smith one

Click to shrink...

welcome to the team Friend/brother^^. I would suggest the the info post that the questmaster put in each page at the top. there have the people you should Ping, good info like what treasures you can request with the first omake of each turn in doubt ask for a 'live safe treasure' those guaranty survival/fiat.

and other stuff like a link for the discord. that had a lot of good stuff and help coordinate actions.

Plus lots of people with good seeds at foundation lvl. to help you with a collab omakes. since each turn you can also get 20 years of FREE/fiat grown to your character by having one of them teach you character

Once more welcome

 

[ObsidianNoir]

Qinglong Shu 10 - Limit Break

"Do you believe you get to have one duel with your enemy and that will be it?"

Shu blinked. She was about to turn her head when she remembered what she was doing. She remained still as a statue while carrying the weights in her hands and exhaling slowly. Then she licked her lips, her daydreams hitting her mind, the image of an epic duel to the death before she ripped Ma's teeth out. She banished the thought and emptied her mind as she gave the slightest of grunts.

"...I was hoping so, yes."

"Well, stop hoping." The blunt response almost made her fall over from the logs she was standing on with one leg. Elder Lang huffed and puffed from a pipe before Shu sensed it being pointed at her. "The higher one goes in Cultivation, the longer the fights go. Once you reach that stage, fighting across years as you whittle down each other's treasures is common."

She grimaced at the thought. That sounded like a major pain in the ass. Also a massive waste of time. In that period, one could do so many better things, like being a good auntie or travel the world. Who would want to fight someone for so long? Then again... sometimes one didn't have a choice did they? Nevertheless, the idea that she had to fight her enemy for so long... well, she was willing to do anything, but a long hunt was worrying to say the least.

"Fortunately for you, your enemy is just Foundation Establishment." Elder Lang paused before letting out a chuckle. "Well, 'just' for me. Not for you." Clearing his throat, he moved on. "So at the very worst, it will take a few months, depending on the treasures you both own. But do not be mistaken." He put his leg on his left knee, frowning deeply at the back of her skull. "You will need more than one try to win. Which means you need to survive more than one fight."

Easier said than that. She threw herself at every training session Elder Lang gave her, but so far, it has been mainly about mediation, about pushing her Cultivation as much as they could before she jumped into the Qiqai Secret Realm. She shuddered. She heard both heroic and horror stories about that place. How some skyrocketed in talent and fortune and how others were lucky to just die instead of being so horrifically crippled, that if the injuries didn't kill them, they would do it themselves. Gulping, she heard the gong of the bell the Elder carried with him. Dropping the weights, cracking the ground in the process with ease, she turned around, arms crossed with a raised eyebrow.

"Soooo, what is the plan, Elder Lang?"

He hummed before standing up. Arms crossed behind his back, he began to pace back and forth in front of her.

"Your opponent uses the sword. While she may not be following the Dao of Cutting like most Sword Cultivators do, it is her main tool. Through that, she will channel all the techniques you most likely know better than me. Therefore, you need to fight sword fighters." He grinned at her like a predator at prey. "So often you will get sick of it."

She let out a nervous chuckle. Well, if he was saying that, it meant something. She liked sparring a lot. But before she could accept the task in front of her, Elder Lang raised his hand.

"Not only that. We need to replicate the circumstances. Or rather, your most likely state during your Tribulation."

"Aaaand that is?" She asked slowly. He let out a small laugh.

"Let's put it like this. It shall be very time efficient."

///

Elder Lang was insane. That was the thought that went through Peleos' head, no last name given. He was an orphan like many others in the Golden Devil Clan, yearning to make it big. To grasp destiny by its horns and overcome their meager status. He was one of the many talents that got past the first hurdle, a respectable warrior in the Fifth Heavenstage. To say he was proud of his sword skills, praised as one of the best in his generation, was putting it lightly. And yet, now, he felt his sword was heavier than ever on his hip. One final clash and the Elder whistled. His fellow swordswoman wiped the sweat off her head and bowed, a limp in her walk as she entered the rows of spectators and other Sword Cultivator. The other opponent remained in the arena.

Remained in the arena since the sun rose. By now, the sun was setting. This was the pattern of their day. A sword fighter walked in and then out. Either by losing if they were one of the first, interrupted by the Elder due to something foolish about to happen or if the unarmed individual just lost, passing out on the ground. But she didn't get much reprieve as the Elder promptly force fed her with some drink that woke her up again, but not heal. Peleos gulped. She certainly looked like it. Qinglong Shu was infamous. Heavenly Talent saw her burst through to the Tenth Heavenstage, a talent that was beyond regular talent like his. He always thought those Blessed would always be pristine. Eternally beyond hm as they showed off their perfection. The individual he saw was anything but.

Cuts all over her, causing blood to drip down. Sluggish movements, as she turned around at last, stopping to show off the Azure Dragon on her back. Her face had a blue tint, a symptom of lacking enough air in the lungs. Not only that, veins were clear as day, pressing against the insides of her skin. Bloodshot, dazed eyes, shaking fists. Not to mention the Qi exhaustion. This Cultivator didn't have a real break since this asinine lesson started and for all that was divine under the Heavens, Peleos had no fucking idea what the purpose of this was. For them, they still learned, fighting a superior opponent using Body Cultivation. But for her? To call it bullying was putting it lightly.

"Next."

And the bullying was not over. Not enough for the maniac that was their Elder. He was the last, number one hundred. Ordinarily he would welcome the chance to either show off his skills or receive pointers. But this? No, he had to object!

"W-with all due res-"

"Do not make me repeat myself."

He tried. The cold stare, not even a glare, he received was more than enough to push him forward. Walking closer, he realized something was off as he drew his sword and Qinglong Shu took on her stance, arms raised. It was like she was standing on her skeleton alone, to reduce the weight on her muscles as much as possible. Her movements were like someone controlling a marionette. Not from the outside but the inside. Was she using internal force to move? Not only that, he saw that she formed a fist with her right hand. A proper fist, despite the fact it was broken at around fight number fifty. He shouldn't be afraid of such a damaged opponent, but the glow of her eyes, her inhuman eyes, made his heart waver.

It was only thanks to her injuries that he won. His cuts didn't land. She simply used his force to spin with them, to avoid damage. Her hits, while weak, were still making him almost barf. Weakened as she was, she still underwent Body Purification. It was only because she stumbled, trying to circle around him at speeds a damaged person like her shouldn't be able to, that he saw a chance and went for a stab that was interrupted.

He barely won. Against someone who was closer to being a corpse than a true warrior. A corpse who maintained a persistent pressure against any foe despite time progressing, despite exhaustion and injuries piling up. He shivered as he shook his head, imagining the fight if she was still fresh. Even in her first fight, she was exhausted, as if she didn't sleep all night or went through a day's worth of training before the day even started. Qinglong Shu truly was monstrous, just as many other Good Seeds. WIth that in mind, he followed his fellow Sword Cultivators to get some res-

"Where are you going? The session is not over."

Everyone snapped their heads towards the elder in utter shock.

"But-but we all fought her?" Someone voiced out. Instead of explaining however, he tilted his head towards Shu, who Leng wasn't even sure was conscious with the empty look in her eyes.

"Hoplite Formation."

Gasps made their run through the lines, the implication clear. Elder Lang must truly want her dead. The Hoplite Formation was supposed to be used as many weak against the strong. And he wanted them to use it against her. The injured, half dead person. Overkill didn't even begin to describe this!

"Elder Lang, I must ob-"

"Now. Do not hold back or I will punish you personally." He turned to the would be victim and gave her a stern nod. "Shu. Combine everything you have learned."

They all shared a worried look, but they heeded the command. This was nothing against Shu. If an Elder demanded they jumped into a pit of Blood Scorpions naked, well, they just had to do it, didn't they? They all drew their swords. As one, they breathed in. As one, they breathed out. The shadow rose from them. Instead of the traditional spear however, it wielded a sword alongside the shield. It was a quirk the Clan found out, when they put only Sword Cultivators into the formation. Naturally this wasn't done, because the odds of an entire legion being only Sword Cultivators was low. Not to mention a waste. This sub version may have more speed, but it sacrificed power. Power that could be used to hurt a superior opponent. Hitting them meant nothing if not even flesh was cut. But in this scenario? Well, their opponent was not stronger than them. That was the belief they all shared.

That was before Qinglong Shu defied all common sense. For the first time in this ludicrous session, she screamed, exploding into motion. The shield came up just in time, despite the shock that ran through them, instilled discipline kicking in for them. And yet, their shield, their shadow, their entire formation, was forced back ever so slightly. Immediately, they all narrowed their eyes, erasing any thoughts of looking down on their opponent. They swung their sword, but they only cut through air as Shu seemed to flow up the sword like a reverse rain drop. But it wasn't enough, as they aimed with their shield to smack her down. Yet she pushed down the sword with her feet and escaped once more. A single hit would mean her defeat and yet they couldn't hit her. Despite the fact they held no arrogance in their hearts anymore. Despite the fact they didn't hold back. It was then that Legn realized what she was doing to produce such power when he saw that she was getting more injured than before.

She was using everything. The singular drop of Qi in the desert that was her soul. The most minimal of movements for maximum momentum. No need to heal a fist whose fingers could still move, broken as they were. No need to use more Qi if one could just overcome the limits of muscles, tearing them up just enough to compensate but not enough to cripple. Each blow damaged herself, bones cracking, flesh bleeding, but it multiplied her attack force enough to cause their titan to stumble. They attacked and guarded as best as they could, but their movements became more sluggish as Shu became faster and faster, blood spilling out of her. It was then that Leng realized why she was so strong.

She desired victory. No matter what. It wasn't a hope or a dream that she could win. No, there was not a hint of logic in her manic eyes, in her wide, deranged smile. It was like a hunger. A thirst. It didn't matter what the odds were or if she knew she was going to lose.

She was filled with Conviction. Obsessed, deranged Conviction, for what, he had no idea. That gave way for Tenacity. And those with Tenacity were the strongest. That was the thought that cemented itself in Leng's head.

Fear grasped his heart, his eyes wide. He took a step back. He wasn't the only one. And fear had no place in a Hoplite. The massive shadow shattered. Reflexively, Leng closed his eyes, letting out a whimper. But before Shu ( The Dragon) could finish it, a strong aura slammed into all of them. They all went down on their knees, with one exception. Her knees buckled like a newborn, her face blue due to lack of breathing, her head tilted back as she faced the heavens, but Qinglong still stood tall.

"That's enough." Elder Lang nodded at his personal student, a wry smile appearing on his face. "Shu, we will go through everything later. For now, feel free to pass out for good."

A split second later and the girl planted her face into the ground, a muffled noise escaping her in rhythm. Leng couldn't help but gape. Was she…snoring?!

"And you." He sighed, shaking his head. "If this is enough to make you lose your spirits, you are as good as dead in the Trials."

His disappointment stung. They wouldn't have lost, if they had kept their wits about them Shu was destroying herself too much to actually threaten them if they kept up their spirits. Leng had to admit, if he ever learned how to bring out so much power, to find out how to squeeze out every last bit before the cliff of being a cripple, he would become so much more powerful. But he could only the sheer agony of it. The feeling of not being able to breathe. That each breath you could breathe was akin to choking on glass. To feel so cold without any blood that was supposed to be there.

"W-why go this far?"

The Elder paused, who was about to leave them. Then, he seemed to grow older as his shoulders slumped a bit.

"Because if I don't, this foolish girl will get herself killed." He smiled at them, a sad smile before shaking his head. "She is aiming to kill a Foundation Establishment Expert after all."

Suffice to say, the news of Qinglong Shu's goal spread like a wildfire.

 

[occipitallobe]

A brief note before this one. The overall Mission results for the last two missions are intertwining in an interesting way, along with the fate of our Cloud Cave runner, Gaius. So I'll be doing all remaining Fates, and then there'll be a single storypost to address everything.

---

Katha Theodoros
Bonus: LST
Fate: Katha entered the Qiguai Secret Realm, but Fate simply opposed her. Her first attempt to recover an artifact saw her gain an ancient piece of Theodoroi Family Bronze (+2 Impact) from an ancestor millennia ago, powerful enough to be forged in spear or shield, one of high renown. After finding it, she was ambushed and beaten down by a furious Jingshen scion, avoiding the worst of his blows through use of a treasure. She fled, and he pursued her, looking to win glory for himself by killing a promising cultivator of another Clan. Hunting her down, he forced the use of a second treasure, and then forced her into a field of torn space, crippling her meridians and leaving her for dead, only the space tearing itself to pieces preventing him from killing her entirely. She left immiserated and weak, barely alive.
Impact: 4 (+2)
Cultivation: 12th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 233 (+0)
Health: Healthy --> Wounded --> Healthy (LST) --> Badly Wounded --> Lightly Wounded (LST) --> Crippled

yan
Bonus: Tribulation boost
Fate: What an utterly uneventful time Yan had. He managed to seize two parts of an important detection array around the Palace, but avoided too much conflict and after a few missions, returned to ascend into the Clan's fifth Single-Pillar King.
Impact: 9 (+0)
Cultivation: Single Pillar 1 of ???
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 300 (+0)
Health: Healthy --> Healthy

Tolis Athanotis
Bonus: LST
Fate: Tolis joined one of the sabotage crews, aiming to assault minor information-collection arrays around the Palace. While there, he came across a stored Starfield Ascension Herb (+30 cultivation) that had been hidden from one rival or another and so taken out of the palace. The herb could be absorbed over decades to push cultivation forward, and Tolis used much of his time in the Jingshen lands advancing until he reached the Ninth Heavenstage.
Impact: 0 (+0)
Cultivation: 9th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 70 (+30)
Health: Lightly Wounded --> Healthy

Victor Wulf
Bonus: LST
Fate: Victor found an ancient map within the Qiguai realm, the Spiral Qi Map. He managed to break it, tearing off a significant piece of the artifact. The resulting explosion fused its nature into his very being, giving him a Qi-sense that ran almost fifty li with near-supreme accuracy. It would be named the Spiral Mapping Constitution once he returned to the Clan (+2 Impact). He was wounded by an explosion from the map, leaving him Lightly Wounded. On leaving, he managed to ambush a Jingshen scion ambushing Clan cultivators in turn, taking two Flame Spirit Flowers (+10 cultivation each, +20 total) from them as his prize.
Impact: 4 (+2)
Cultivation: 9th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 72 (+25)
Health: Healthy --> Lightly Wounded --> Healthy

Helel Ben Sahar
Bonus: Tribulation boost
Fate: Helel entered the Qiguai Secret Realm, and found himself rapidly battered. He found a broken map that had exploded, leaving the remnants of a powerful Spirit Stone within. This remnant of a Supreme-Grade Spirit Stone advanced his cultivation (+20 cultivation-years). He also found two Flame Spirit Flowers, though he was unable to keep them. On leaving the map, he found himself attacked by a Jingshen scion who Lightly Wounded him, and he abandoned the flowers to buy himself a moment to escape. Once he did, he fled into the sky-sea. There he found an abandoned trial site of some long-faded ghost, which had left him the Fire Monkey Blade (+3 Impact). A chittering, friendly monkey that could transform into a powerful blade of Fire Qi for a few minutes a day, sufficient to tear through most defenses. On leaving, he was late back to the exit, leaping into the spatial portal with seconds to spare. This foolish act would've killed him if not for the use of a treasure, and even so he was Badly Wounded.
Impact: 3 (+3)
Cultivation: 10th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 116 (+20)
Health: Healthy --> Lightly Wounded --> Dead (LST) --> Badly Wounded --> Wounded (End of Turn)

Kakos Alexikeravno
Bonus: LST
Fate: Kakos was luckier than many of his contemporaries. Joining a sabotage crew with Tolis Athanotis, he found some useful resources, did some useful things, and lastly and most importantly managed to find a targeting array just inside the boundaries of the Underworld Spirit Palace. The defenses there did not automatically target Qi Condensation cultivators, and so sneaking past a Foundation expert, he managed to seize the Blood-Finding Bow (+4 Impact), a bow that sought blood it had been daubed with without failure. A single cut upon an enemy in a fight could give him a practically unavoidable attack, though it could be difficult and cumbersome to use.
Impact: 4 (+4)
Cultivation: 9th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 77 (+6)
Health: Wounded --> Lightly Wounded --> Dead (LST) --> Badly Wounded --> Wounded (End of Turn)

Constantine Nikeodemos
Bonus: LST
Fate: Constantine practically soared into the heavens, the Qiguai Secret Realm meeting him with an ancient Nikeodemos legacy. One of his ancestors left a treasure there, a Refining Stone (+60 cultivation-years), as well as a space of warped time in which to use it (+60 cultivation-years). The Stone allowed him to pour energy into his cultivation unstoppably, and saw him advance massively during his time in the Secret Realm. With his own personal efforts unceasing, he reached the Eleventh Heavenstage at the age most struggled to reach the Fifth. This newfound strength left him unbalanced and arrogant, however. He saw a Jingshen scion in the Ninth Heavenstage attack one of his own, and leapt to confront him. The woman simply ran him through with a crystal spear of immense strength despite his advantage, a treasure preserving his life and leaving him Badly Wounded.
Impact: 2 (+0)
Cultivation: 11th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 191 (+131)
Health: Healthy --> Dead (LST) --> Badly Wounded --> Wounded (end of turn)

 

[ObsidianNoir]

Welp looks like rising super star Katha got her teeth kicked in

Guess luck doesn't last forever rip

 

[Sirrocco]

Welp looks like rising super star Katha got her teeth kicked in

Guess luck doesn't last forever rip

Click to shrink...

Eh... she's not dead yet. Give the girl a healing treasure and she'll be fine. Heck - she even gained some impact.

 

[Swordomatic]

Katha Theodoros
Bonus: LST
Fate: Katha entered the Qiguai Secret Realm, but Fate simply opposed her. Her first attempt to recover an artifact saw her gain an ancient piece of Theodoroi Family Bronze (+2 Impact) from an ancestor millennia ago, powerful enough to be forged in spear or shield, one of high renown. After finding it, she was ambushed and beaten down by a furious Jingshen scion, avoiding the worst of his blows through use of a treasure. She fled, and he pursued her, looking to win glory for himself by killing a promising cultivator of another Clan. Hunting her down, he forced the use of a second treasure, and then forced her into a field of torn space, crippling her meridians and leaving her for dead, only the space tearing itself to pieces preventing him from killing her entirely. She left immiserated and weak, barely alive.
Impact: 4 (+2)
Cultivation: 12th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 233 (+0)
Health: Healthy --> Wounded --> Healthy (LST) --> Badly Wounded --> Lightly Wounded (LST) --> Crippled

Click to shrink...

I think she's found a rival.

Katha nearly died let's GOOOOOOOOOO

 

[no.]

My oh my, Eleventh Heavenstage in his 50's? Truly, Young Master Constantine is set to be a great hero of legend. His potential is bottomless! If anything, we underestimated him!

 

[occipitallobe]

Mildgyð Galene
Bonus: LST
Fate: Mildgyo was one of the final two to deliver the Contamination Spike. Finding the weakpoint that would deliver its filthy Qi to the treasure storehouse within, he ignored the sounds of battle around him, and shoved it into that point. The resulting explosion would've killed him, and a defensive treasure saved him. The last thing he saw before falling unconscious was the face of a furious Nascent Soul...
Impact: 5 (+0)
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment 3-Pillar (Mid)
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 170 (+12.0)
Health: Healthy --> Dead --> Badly Wounded (LST) --> Wounded (end of turn)

Achille Adephos
Bonus: Healing Treasure
Fate: Achille joined the team who were sent to sabotage a particular defense, managing to destroy it with relative ease. A small set of Spirit Cannons that would prevent the escape of the team sent to contaminate the Palace itself were destroyed, Achille retreating in good order, rising into Mid Foundation as he did so.
Impact: 6 (+0)
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment 3-Pillar (Mid)
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 170 (+19.0)
Health: Healthy --> Healthy

Savvas Nicolidis
Bonus: LST
Fate: Savvas was caught by Jingshen Jiao as Mildgyo was about to deliver the final piece of the Contamination Spike. The entire thing as it so happened had been a trap, luring them in to kill many of the Clan's best cultivators and to destroy whatever siege tool they were using to weaken the Palace's defenses. A proactive weakness to allow the Jingshen to hold out for that much longer. A single blow disconnected Savvas's body and soul, and yet unlike everyone else this had happened to, he did not die. He returned as a disembodied soul, a ghost cultivator riding high on an explosion of filthy Qi and the Qi of an angry Nascent Soul. This he wrapped together into several attacks, matching blows with Lady Jiao several times, saving Mildgyo until the Qi ran out after nearly thirty seconds. He faded, though his body was still intact - but his soul was disconnected from it almost entirely, able to act indepedently for as long as his body remained alive.
Impact: 9 (+0)
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment 2-Pillar
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 147 (+0)
Health: Healthy --> Dead --> Badly Wounded (LST) --> Wounded (end of turn)

Xiao Yingzi
Bonus: LST
Fate: Yingzi joined Achille, but was caught on her retreat, killing two Jingshen Foundation Experts to escape, recovering from one a Qi-Infusion Pill (+10 CY). Her time was otherwise uneventful, enabling the next team to begin their incursion into the Palace.
Impact: 33 (+0)
Cultivation: nan
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 223 (+18.0)
Health: Wounded --> Lightly Wounded

Zeno Angelus
Bonus: LST
Fate: Zeno's theft of the Jingshen tribulation artifact (detailed in a prior main story post) left him doing little more than retracing his steps. He, Minervina, and Aretaphilia were the second part of the incursion in the Underworld Spirit Palace. To open a pathway for a few desperate souls to bring the Contamination Spike to a weakpoint near the storage and detonate it, a distraction had to be had. Zeno's return attracted much attention, and he fled, guards hot on his trails. Nonetheless on the way out he pilfered three fragments of a Supreme-Grade Spirit Stone (+30 CY) and escpaed unharmed entirely.
Impact: 0 (+-10)
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment 5-Pillar (Late)
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 235 (+39.0)
Health: Lightly Wounded --> Healthy

Minervina Barda
Bonus: Cultivation Boost
Fate: Minervina snuck in with Zeno, releasing three powerful poisons, disabling guards and cultivators for miles around. This, unfortunately gained her the attention of Junjie Jingshen, who struck at her with a rarely-seen fury. If he had not needed to carefully control his own strength to preserve the Palace, she would've died outright. That she survived was luck and a treasure used together, and if there had been a second blow, she would have died without a doubt. Instead, what came next saved her.
Impact: 12 (+0)
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment 7 Pillar (Great Circle)
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 491 (+26.0)
Health: Healthy --> Dead --> Badly Wounded (LST) --> Wounded (end of turn)

Demetrius Ceres
Bonus: LST
Fate: Demetrius's dug his hole deeper, and in fact managed to turn up something of importance. A Jingshen Spirit Explosive, set there to collapse an entire cave system under their feet in the event of a sally hit his shovel at the final moment - a shovel that touched on the detonator directly. The resulting explosion would've killed him if not for the use of a defensive treasure, however, being directed up into the sky meant that his companions went untouched (mostly) from the explosions.
Impact: 8 (+0)
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment True 1-Pillar (Fortified Pillar)
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 139 (+13.0)
Health: Healthy --> Dead --> Badly Wounded (LST) --> Wounded (end of turn)

Aretaphila Myia
Bonus: LST
Fate: Aretaphilia saw Minervina fall, and did the sensible thing. With her song and Dao, she rose up to challenge Junjie Jingshen, spreading disaster and despair around her, forcing him to engage her. No second blow came, though, and despite the Jingshen being in complete disarray, the blow that came next was an unexpected one entirely... From the battle that ensued, a powerful artifact fell from the sky. The Bloodhorn (+3 Impact), a horn capable of rousing all who shared the wielder's blood to greater power temporarily in return for a cost to their cultivation. Useful beyond measure if an army is about to lose.
Impact: 16 (+3)
Cultivation: Single Pillar 2
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 363 (+28.0)
Health: Healthy --> Healthy

 

[Daemon Hunter]

...what kind of miracle did we just pull off?

 

[occipitallobe]

Up next is the one big chapter that ties this all together!

Then the unaffiliated Fates, then finally the next Turn!

 

[fictionfan]

It looks like a success. Do the Jingshen have any options at this point? They barely have any territory left and most of their sub clans seem to be ready to switch over to us.

 

[Faraway-R]

Well...

From the Fates and the hints, it seems like this:

1) Enemy Nascent Souls have arranged to make a trap for our Good Seeds, staking their Tribulation Treasures as a lure.

2) For some unfathomable reason, they actually used those Tribulation Treasures, and our Good Seeds corrupted them successfully

3) By this point, the Jingshen Nascents were already using their might against our Good Seeds, except their first attacks apparently failed to inflict truly lethal damage thanks to all the saved LSTs

4) And they also failed to follow up because something else took their attention. Probably one of our own NSs.

 

[fictionfan]

In Lady Jiao's current condition if she shows her face anywhere one of our two nascents are going to immediately try and take the opportunity to finish her off.

 

[Sirrocco]

Well, it sounds like the spike detonation was at least reasonably effective. It also sounds like they managed to get a fair bit of general disruption in the USP while we were there... and the Jingshen Nascents were forced into battle from an unfavorable position. Jiao won't have recovered fully from being corpse-dolled at this point, and Junjie took some hits from the backfiring of his array.

I think this is pretty much endgame.