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.

 

[Insane-Not-Crazy]

[X] Strength Purity Sect

[x] Peng Kingdom

 

[LordEdric]

I go to bed and this happens. I would curse Minervina for getting away with something, but this turn Magnus had a better fate.

So Manuel finished off the 2 NS and probably has a very scary boost to his rep now, and with the treasures messed up, they don't have any NS to block us. We won the whole desert. It will be fun seeing our income next turn

 

[Olivebirdy]

[X] Strength Purity Sect
[X] Shen Kingdom

 

[Mochinator]

Inch by grinding inch the Golden Devils will have to take Jingshen land, and if they reach the Underworld Spirit Palace in the next fifty years I'll be much surprised. The Spirit Stones will dry up, and as they do, the Noble Devil Alliance will see a great resurgence. As they do…"

Click to shrink...

Boy, this did not age well for Old Cannibal. For maximum LOLs i like to imagine the moment after he said this a messenger comes in reporting that the Jingshen fell.

"We will strike as well."

Xinyue looked up at him eagerly. She knew she was only a tool to the man, but he had planned everything to this extent? Marvelous. Besides, being a tool was one thing, but a tool brought into Mid Nascent Soul was another entirely.

Click to shrink...

Honestly, this is incredibly hilarious to me. I just imagine the Bees mustering their forces, prepping the Supplies for their Great March and then the message comes with CANCEL EVERYTHING!

Xinyue must be going "CURSE YOU OLD GOOOOLD!" Her chance to be mid NS just went poof

 

[moon-llama]

[x] Strength Purity Sect

[x] Peng Kingdom

 

[ObsidianNoir]

Qinglong Shu 11 - Origin

"Elder Lang, do you know why people kill their family?"

The elder paused, his pipe almost touching his mouth. He turned his head, raising an eyebrow at the girl who asked that question. The girl was hugging her legs, bandages covering her body as she stared at nothing. She knew it was kind of a mood killer, given how they talked about tea brands and how much she liked the bitterness of certain types. Fortunately the elder gathered his wits rather swiftly and huffed and puffed before humming thoughtfully

"That is quite the heavy question, Shu. What brings this on?"

"Lull of the conversation I guess?" She replied with a shrug. From the look she received, he didn't believe the lie either. She trusted the man, but there were certain things that were... difficult to voice out. Though knowing him, he was going to coax it out of her, which she probably wanted. Waiting patiently, she perked up a bit as Elder Lang looked up at the calm, midday sky.

"I am not all knowing. I could think up several reasons. Desperation. Revenge. Thirst for power. Insanity. But I wouldn't know for certain what is the truth. The nuances." He gave her a tired look. "You shouldn't focus on that."

She blinked before narrowing her eyes a bit, her chest heating up a little.

"Why not?"

Elder Lang sighed, his shoulders slumping a bit. One would think there was more to celebrate after their victory over the Jingshen but with everything else occuring, the Blood Rain, the Heavens' Awakening, there was just so much she assumed. Not to mention his long, long past, compared to hers. He shook his head and turned to her with a small frown.

"Trying to understand your enemy. It never ends well. People go insane trying to search for answers. All those what ifs. Not to mention missed opportunities, as you chase after the shadows of others. The openings you leave, in peace and in war. You forget to live your own life." He smiled gently at her. "Wanting to know is no sin. But there has to be limits."

"That's wrong."

His smile wavered after she responded in an instance, conviction filling her voice. She knew that anyone else would be in their right to kill her. That he had the right to smite her for the disrespect. But her eyes glowed as she looked straight at him with no hesitation or doubt. His words… she knew them to be wise. But she also knew them to be wrong. So wrong her soul screamed at her to point it out. Yet instead of being angered, a glint appeared in his eyes as he leaned forward, rubbing his beard.

"Hoh? And why is that? Why do you want to know the reason your aunt killed and betrayed your clan? Why do you think it's so important to know?"

Why? It was a good question. But before she could even think about it, her heart, mouth and Dao spoke up immediately.

"Because Ignorance is the Greatest Evil."

Her voice reverbed a bit in the empty area. Elder Lang pressed his lips together, contemplating as he leaned back.

"Quite the conviction," he stated in a neutral tone. Shu laughed a bit before lowering her gaze.

"Personal experience. Maybe I'm wrong but... " She muttered, but she knew she wasn't wrong. Instead she looked up at the sky, her heart aching as past memories threatened to creep up. "Ignorance leads to fear. Fear leads to resentment. Resentment leads to evil. And evil... well, it is unforgivable."

"...have you committed evil in your eyes?" He asked quietly, worry in his voice. Shu scoffed, grimacing with a smile as she looked down.

"Heh. Started early... "

///

Lessons started early in the Four Beast Alliance. Not in terms of Cultivation, but in terms of martial sense. While most had to be relearned when mortals ascended, the most important thing that had to be imparted was the routine of combat. To get used to move in snap decisions, to actually feel the flesh of their opponent beforehand. To teach what mortals could do and what little breadcrumbs they could carry with them to the next stage.

Four year old Qinglong Shu was no different. And naturally, as an heir, she carried high expectations from others. Expectations she had easily met. There was a reason the title of 'Little Genius' stuck around even after the disaster. But the difference back then was simple. Qinglong Shu didn't deny that title. Quite the opposite. She basked in the praise. She loved it when she was taught a particular move and nailed it immediately. Naturally she also loved to rub it into her fellow children's faces.

"It's easy! Just go pow and fooo and faaa!"

She knew they didn't understand her words. Her motions. But that wasn't her fault, was it now? She was just built different. If they really wanted to learn faster, they just had to do it. She was already doing them favors enough of humoring the teachers and practice with her silly inferior clan members. She ignored the worried looks of the parents, of the elders, the looks of disapproval. After all, none of them stopped her so she couldn't possibly be in the wrong, could she now? The days went on like that, the days of training, in which she could show off, being bright and colorful.

Until one day, when she danced around her opponent before smacking him into the dirt, the boy had had enough.

"I refuse to spar with her!"

Her heart ached from the words. It was like someone stabbed her in the chest. She didn't get it. Shouldn't they feel honored to be taught by Shu? To be hit by Shu, so they could get used to getting attacked by a superior opponent? With the pride of a child, she huffed and crossed her arms.

"Hey, if you want to quit, be my guest."

The teacher, a mortal like many others, frowned and opened his mouth, but the boy wouldn't have it. Pointing a finger accusingly at her, he showed his teeth.

"I won't quit! But I learn nothing from dealing with a snobby thing that doesn't even try!"

"Listen-"

Shu felt her vision go red. With a snarl she leaned forward, not noticing how her eye color changed, causing the boy to gasp and back off a bit.

"Thing?! I'm no thing! I'm a person, you dummy! How is it my fault you can't handle me?! How much am I supposed to hold back on you talentless hacks?!"

"A person?! You're just a monster!"

Shu's eyes went wide. Looking back, she realized it was words said out of fear for her imposing aura, despite the fact she didn't have any Qi. That the way the adults gathered was to defuse, not to take his side. But a four year old, talented as she was, was just a four year old. Thus, she lacked control. Thus, she didn't have anything to keep back her dragonic rage.

She couldn't remember the details after leaping forward. All there was, was muffled noise. Her knuckles hurting more and more. And wetness splattering against her face, over and over. It felt like an eternal dream, but couldn't have lasted longer than a few seconds.

"SHU! ENOUGH!"

Qi slammed into her, the aura shaking her out of her blood rage. Blinking in innocent confusion, Shu looked around and flinched. They all looked at her. Wide eyed. Unreadable. Judging. Fearful. Why? Why were they acting like she was...Why did act like they saw a... She hissed as the pain caught up to her. Looking down at her hands, she saw her the skin split up, how much they bled. From herself... and from her victim. She stammered as she stumbled backwards and fell on her butt. His face was basically caved in. Teeth were knocked out. And tears and weak sobbing, so much...

She felt strong hands grasp her and carry her away in an instance. before she knew it, she was placed onto a pillow, in front of Granny herself. With a look filled with disappointment and repressed anger, Shu began to tear up. Yet another expression she didn't understand, never saw before? Why, why, why, what did she do?!

"Why did you do it?"

"Because... because... !"

Anger grasped her heart again. Then it all came flooding out of her.

"I don't get it! Why are they acting like that?! Why are the other kids having such a hard time?! Why is it my fault if they are weird and weak and-and why-why-why-"

Her voice was hoarse, out of control, but soon, her anger gave way to sadness. Young as she was, even she could parse the situation eventually. And eventually, she broke down. Collapsing into herself, she pressed her head against the ground, hitting the floor with her fist over and over again.

"Why am I a monster?! Why did they all look at me like that?!" She looked up in utter despair. "Why don't I get it?!"

The old woman patiently looked at her. Then she sighed, shaking her head... and embraced her in a hug.

"You are no monster." Shu sobbed, shaking her head in denial. Granny shushed her and stroked her hair. "You are young. Foolish even. But what just happened is only what it means to be a person." Pushing her away a bit, she grasped Shu's shoulders with a firm look. "Your lack of understanding made you and the others panic."

Shu's eyes went wide, as if a lightning bolt hit her. She hung on those words like a lifeline, like a guiding like. That moment imprinted itself into her heart forever, now that she looked back on this moment.

"So... if I try to understand them, I... ?"

"You won't feel so angry anymore." Granny bit her lip before shaking her head with closed eyes. "What you did was wrong." With an encouraging nod, she took Shu's hand and began to guide her. "But you can do the right thing now, knowing your mistakes."

And she won't ever feel so alone anymore, Shu thought. She would never have to suffer everyone looking at her as if she was... as if she...

As if she didn't belong to this world. To their world. Starting from that moment, Shu was determined to burn her pride, in order to make way for true understanding. For the sake of others... and herself.

///

"And that's it I guess?" Back in the presence, Shu shrugged before sipping from her tea cup. A chuckle escaped her as she stretched out her legs. "Long story short, I was a hell of a little shit."

Elder Lang remained silent the entire time. Not saying a word of judgement. Now that her story was over however, he regarded her with a somber mood.

"Going the complete opposite way is not always the right way."

"Maybe." Shu shrugged somewhat nonchalantly. "But I'm more comfortable that way. Ego is the enemy and what not."

She realized that underestimating herself had its own faults. But at least that way…she wouldn't hurt someone ever again like that. Especially not family. She grit her teeth. Those kids... how many survived the betrayal? How many just... quit before that? The lack of knowing agonized her. Another regret in her history. She looked back at Elder Lang. He didn't say anything more about the topic. Didn't try to convince her to change her ways. Instead, he rose to his feet and rolled his shoulders a bit.

"Now then. Enough break time."

"Are we going to do the chain fighting again?" Shu asked, jumping up with energy fueling her voice. To her surprise however, the Elder shook his head.

"No. We have built up a solid foundation with the... chain fighting. Now you need experience. Which you can only get from... specialists."

Specialists. Excitement filled her heart. People with special traits she never faced before! Right, that was good training! Qinglong Ma could have had some tricks up her sleeve, so preparing for the unknown only made sense!

"So you prepared some for me?" She asked, giddiness filling her voice. Unfortunately, Elder Lang didn't share her enthusiasm and instead nodded slowly.

"I have plans to meet them, yes." At her pout, he rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I may be an Elder but I can't just drag people out of their own business willy nilly."

She felt like he could but he was just too nice about it. Oh well. She was just going to hope some of them accepted little ol' her as a partner!

 

[LordEdric]

[X] Strength Purity Sect

[x] Peng Kingdom

 

[Nyssar]

[X] Strength Purity Sect
[X] Shen Kingdom

 

[Shard]

[X] Gemstone Justice Sect

Not sure about the Vassals, but the Gemstone Justice sect has been trying to play everyone off against each other sort of.

 

[Insane-Not-Crazy]

[X] Gemstone Justice Sect

Not sure about the Vassals, but the Gemstone Justice sect has been trying to play everyone off against each other sort of.

Click to shrink...

When was this? They're only relevance in plot has been getting raided and allowing us to buy the Technique Palace

 

[Shard]

When was this? They're only relevance in plot has been getting raided and allowing us to buy the Technique Palace

Click to shrink...

Mostly these sections from the meeting update gave me that impression.

As soon as he begun speaking the other elders began to throw insults at him, jeering and shouting until the braided man of the Ma Clan sat down, shame in his eyes.

Tisamenos met his eyes for a moment and gave a tiny shrug, as if to offer the smallest amount of commiseration.

Another woman stood, fat, with a belly that made her almost entirely round, legs looking as though there was no way they could bear her weight. Her voice was sweet and honeyed, and Tisamenos found himself nodding along as soon as she spoke.

"The Gemstone Justice Sect finds the prior name to be a good one. Yet we cannot forget our allies in the Bear Enslavement Sect. Perhaps the Demon-Enslaving and Devil-Purifying Justice Coalition?"

A few claps rang out, and an archer stood, bow unstrung on his back.

"How quickly we forget the losses taken by the Thousand Arrows and Flowers. Sister Jue, can you not reconsider?"

She smiled at him, her cheeks reddening as she did so.

"The Demon-Enslaving and Devil-Purifying Fallen Flower Alliance. Does this not suit?"

Click to shrink...

Jue smiled, and it reached her eyes. Her face was angelic, and she spoke with sincerity.

"Nonetheless, what is one or two years to reach a proper conclusion? We are hardly going to lose the war-"

Baozhai cursed.

"With all your Gemstone Justice Sect has suffered, still you're a merchant seeking advantage? I have come bearing word from Scarletglyph and the Wei Princess. If the north will not fall in line on these matters, Strength Purity will no longer have an interest in defending you."

Jue turned white.

"But if we lose, and our Nascent Souls are taken, then what will you do?"

Baozhai scoffed.

"An ally who won't help? You can defend yourselves - or not, I don't care."

Click to shrink...

 

[Ptolemy]

[X] Strength Purity Sect

 

[Katana1515]

[X] Strength Purity Sect

[x] Peng Kingdom

 

[TehChron]

[X] Strength Purity Sect

[X] Peng Kingdom

Veryyyyyy pleased with this turn of events. Knowing that this triggered Altar Lords endgame is a huge load off my mind lol

 

[Shaper47]

[X] Strength Purity Sect

 

[no.]

5 Pawns. The clan has just had it's fifth Single Pillar King arise.

Rina has pretty clearly indicated she won't go through with Soup Chef's path, which would match with the single pawn that is blocked by it's own nature.

It seems to fit all too well.

Click to shrink...

But in that case, what is the rook? Manuel? His nature makes me think more of a knight or a bishop than the sturdy, straightforward rook, but I'm not sure who else it could be.

And, uhhh, wow. I didn't plan to do… whatever this is. Really sorry for the, like… maybe millions of deaths, region-wide? Gaius has attained narrative agency beyond my wildest dreams, and I only hope I can live up to the expectations now placed upon me.

[X] Strength Purity Sect

This is the Sect. We really ought to learn more about them.

 

[Humbaba]

But in that case, what is the rook? Manuel? His nature makes me think more of a knight or a bishop than the sturdy, straightforward rook, but I'm not sure who else it could be.

And, uhhh, wow. I didn't plan to do… whatever this is. Really sorry for the, like… maybe millions of deaths, region-wide? Gaius has attained narrative agency beyond my wildest dreams, and I only hope I can live up to the expectations now placed upon me.

[X] Strength Purity Sect

This is the Sect. We really ought to learn more about them.

Click to shrink...

Ji Shin I'd guess. The Game is against the Heavens.

Soup chef is the King. The SP Kings are Pawns. Ji Shin, as a direct disciple, seems to fit the Rook piece.

 

[Garlak]

Ji Shin I'd guess. The Game is against the Heavens.

Soup chef is the King. The SP Kings are Pawns. Ji Shin, as a direct disciple, seems to fit the Rook piece.

Click to shrink...

I thought the Soup Chef might be the king, but rereading this bit

He had dedicated his life to the two pieces his master would need on the game board, and while the latest pawn could well cross the board and be promoted, it could well be any of the others. Shatranj had proven to be instructive.

Click to shrink...

about "the two pieces his master would need on the game board" made me rethink that.

It could be that the Altar Lord needs 2 Single Pillar Kings, it could be he needs a Single Pillar and a Heavenly Treasure or Heavenly Star, it could be something else.

 

[TheCount]

a blood path emperor?

 

[Alratan]

Or double unorthodoxy?

 

[LordEdric]

Magnus Centenius
​

Magnus Pt. 25- 7th Pillar, Battle and New Poisons-

With new Dantians, Magnus's pillars quickly moved into the their matching elemental core. After a year of fusing and growing use to having his Qi split amongst 8 dantians along his spine and heart(think 8 gates from Naruto), Magnus was ready to begin pushing his cultivation forward again. He had know for some time that his last 2 pillars would be focused on the Yin and yang, but with the new weapons he stole from that unlucky elder, he got glimpses into Time and Space as well. Thanks to both his new weapons, and the elemental core, Magnus was able to create an even more powerful 7th pillar than he would normally be able to. His 7th Pillar of Yang only formed a month before he was forced into battle again. It not only contained what he understood about the Yang energy of the world, but also a bit of Spatial law. Yang is the energy of the physical and while space is a concept, it is something peopel can see and measure to an extent, therefor making it the more physical of the Space Time Law. With this pillar of White energy in his 7th core, Magnus could now use the Sharpened Ruler with greater ease and sense the general direction of where someone flees with a spatial talisman.

This new sense proved extremely useful when he ran into that same elder that crippled him on his mission.

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Magnus, along with many of his brethren, had been tasked with protecting the lands conquered form the Jingshen from sabotage. To this end, Magnus "planted" many of his cactus puppet in inconspicuous areas all around the city he was protecting to act as weapons against attacks and traps to slow enemies in case he had to run.

During a return trip to the city from planting yet another "grove" of puppet cactus, Magnus almost literally ran into the same Core Jingshen Elder that crippled him in the secret realm decades ago. Luckly for Magnus, this time, he had somewhat better control over his weapons and was able to instantly jumps next to the Elder and stab him with a fast acting poison. The Elder, while quick to react and strike back, was hindered by the large artifact in his arms. The Elder's blow went wide as Magnus adjusted his own time and escaped.

With the poison now taking effect, the Elder could feel his control and power wavering slightly, and fled to defend the giant target that was the artifact. Magnus used a combination of his mounted puppets and the Ruler to keep up with the Core Jingshen Elder and pepper him with poison bombs. The Elder almost escaped using a teleportation talisman if he had not jump behind one of the puppet cactus Magnus had set up in the area. The cactus exploded in a blast of razor sharp needles and poison gas, flinging the Elder far away and separating him from the artifact.

The Core Jingshen Elder was injuried badly enough that he chose to flee instead of retrieving his artifact and Magnus's next attack just missed him as he ran away.

Now free to study the strange artifact, Magnus carefully examines the strange thing. It is a metal box with a series of dials and gauges, but nothing is labeled. It started glowing and shot a beam of light into the air. Magnus tried fiddling with the dials hoping to get a reaction from the artifact, but except a few lights glowing brighter, nothing happens. That was when a blinding light began to appear from the city. Magnus decided that to be safe he would just smash the artifact and be done with it.

As soon as his fist went through the artifact, the series of bright lights lasted from an array under the city scattered and blasted randomly into the sky, killing and crippling many clansmen. It wasn't until later that Magnus learned he had destroyed the aiming formation of the array causing it to misfire wildly and saving thousands. With a smile on his face, Magnus returned to the city to visit the dungeons holding Jingshen Clan members who were captured.

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The All-Blinding Array that nearly devastated his legion left many traces of Light Qi for Magnus to experiment with. In a wondrous stroke of luck, Light Qi was a part of the Yang Law and Magnus used some of it to farther strengthening of his Dao pillar of Yang. While the power of the Light Qi also tried to eat any part of the body that touched it, Magnus was able to use a mic of Yang Qi and Fire Qi to hold it back until he could infuse it into some liquid poisons. With the power of this Light Qi Poison Paste, any cultivators will have their bodies slowly devoured into light. Surprisingly, it mattered not if you were demonic or righteous aligned cultivators. The Light Qi burned everything away anyways. It seemed the Qi focused on burning away secrets and apparently skin and flesh hide what was underneath. It was a strange and rather frightening use of it, and Magnus decided that it would be his new main weapon.

In addition to this, as training for condensing his Yin Dao Pillar. Magnus also made a Darkness/shadows infused Poison that turned into a kind of opaque mass that when coming in contact with air, would rapidly devour any Qi in the area to grow covering all it touched, preventing anything from seeing inside. It would grow until saturated, and then just increase its hardness. It made an excellent capture tool as it would drain the Qi from the victim while using that Qi to strengthen itself. Now if only Magnus could get it to stop growing before it reached 10,000X its original size.

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About another 1K words, not bad for me.

I would like a Cultivation boost next turn

@TehChron @Kaboomatic @ReaderOfFate

 

[Insane-Not-Crazy]

I would like a Cultivation boost next turn

Click to shrink...

Are you out of secret realms? Are you taking Cloud Caves at Core?

 

[ReaderOfFate]

I would like a Cultivation boost next turn

Click to shrink...

I'd recommend taking LSTs and then heading for the Cloud Caves if you want to reach Eight Pillars, LordEdric.

There's a good +75 years if you're able to complete all the Core floors while in Foundation, and if you head into the Caves while you're closer to Eight Pillars, you'll be able to head in while you're at Core.

(Though, to be honest, if I were you, I'd just head for Core at this point. Eight Pillars are 238 years away, you can only get 75 years even if you pull a Gaius, which is INSANELY HARD without his writing output, so you'd still need 163 more years... Needless to say this is a bit of a problem. You're likely to only hit it near the end of the game, while you could have had Core level Impact and affected the Clan on the grand scale for far before that.)

[X] Strength Purity Sect

[X] Peng Kingdom

 

[ObsidianNoir]

Qinglong Shu 12 - Crimson Rain

It would have been unnatural if Shu didn't notice it. The massive build up in Qi. The shock that went down her spine as the very air was filled with lightning. And just as most others, she couldn't help her curiosity, the sort of curiosity that remained in the heart of men that started since birth….and looked up.

"What in the... ?"

"SHU, DON'T LO-"

Elder Lang's warning was too late. Many would see a hint of a Tribulation. Perhaps see the phantoms of a Senior Brother of the Golden Devil Clan. Yes, that was what most saw, they saw nothing beyond it, but the thunder, the person who caused it and a mysterious bloody rain. But Shu?

Shu saw something else entirely, as her Azure Eyes turned into Azure Fire, as the world disappeared around her. The bloody rain shifted, twisted, deformed, until a whirlpool expanded and expanded and devoured her whole. Shu lost all sensation of her body, as it was melted away, ripped away, erased away. All she had left was her own spirit as it was dragged all over the place. In such a chaos, she should've lost her mind. She should've broken. But instead, a singular thought maintained her ego, her identity.

What?

Yes, it was not willpower. Not some heroic motivation. No, what kept her sane, ironically enough, was the sheer confusion. From that confusion, desire was born.

Desire to know. And that desire guided her, a lifeline in the stormy sea of blood. She recognized nothing in this endless darkness, this endless light, filled with all and nothing. But then, a miracle occured and she could make out two shapes. The first shape suddenly expanded when she turned her 'head' towards it and opened its maw.

An Altar. Why an Altar? What was the meaning of the Altar? It was filled with so much anger. Anger, angerangerangeranger, anger not her own. Anger of the killers, anger of the killed. Outrage at the process, outrage at the result, outrage at the beginning. So much hate, so much despair, against the rules of heaven, against their own situation. Gluttony, Greed, Lust for power, more and more power. Such a futile existence, they all knew it, but they sacrificed, sacrificed and sacrificed to the Altar, for more power, more might, more hope to break Heaven's rules, but why, what was the point, why did they hate it so much, who were those people?! How did they gain power from killing, from eating, from drinking, why did they do things that only made them angrier, why is everything so red?!

….u….

Like a rusty nail scratching against the surface, the screeching noise hurt her 'ears'. Ah, why wouldn't they be quiet, why did they keep screaming, why why why, why so much anger, why did it try to infect her, where the fuck was she?!?!

….hu….!

She was spat out, no answers, only mysteries. Spat out right in front of the second shape. A shadow. A bloody mist. A something. An old man? Why an old man? Could be young, but no, old, body old, soul old, Dao old, so so so so old, and so so so so so different, why, why why.

Altar broken, subservient. Old man master. How master? Why broken? Too different. Anger different. Same fire, different color, different intensity. No Gluttony or Greed like others, no want to consume for consuming, no power for power's sake, knows the truth, what truth, truth against heavens, under heavens, what Heavens.

...S...Hu….Shu... !

Emotion weird. Deeper, lighter, greater, worse, what was it, person, emotions, made no sense, make sense damn it. Chessboard? Pieces? No, bullshit, no pieces, people. Apathy, dismissal, glee, whatwhatwhat

"....thank you... "

Who did that man thank? Why? Why was he filled with so much happiness and rage at the same time?! What did he want, why did he look down on everyone-

Whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy-

"SHU!!!"

A punch broke through the illusion, reality, dream, fake, material and slammed into the shapeless torn ghost and reformed it back into a human body. Qinglong Shu flew through the air and crashed into the wall. Her brain needed to restart for a couple minutes... and then the pain hit all at once. She groaned as she twisted and made it even worse. Bones cracked, muscle torn...

Alright, understanding, or at least trying to, whatever the fuck that was? Hurt more than expected.

"Are you back to your senses at last?" Elder Lang asked, his clothes ruffled, his eyes a bit bloodshot. The look didn't suit him but Shu knew this wasn't the type. She spat to the side and leaned her head back a bit, looking up at the ceiling of the building she landed in.

"Owie."

Was she bleeding? She felt like she was bleeding. Out of every hole she had and more. Coughing, she retched out a big bile of blood and adjusted her broken nose with a swift hand movement. Moving her tongue a bit, she raised an eyebrow at Elder Lang. Even the teeth? He ignored her stare, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"Good." A dark chuckle escaped him. "For a Qi Condensation, even at the Tenth Stage, you have quite the punch. And quite the bite."

Oh wow, there were actual bite marks on his arm. Not something she would call deep but the fact they existed at all...

"What... What happened?" She muttered. Elder Lang pushed her head down, forcing her to look down. She realized that was the reason she went fucking bonkers and saw whatever she saw and made sure to keep her eyes towards the ground. Then the Elder let out a hissing breath.

"Quite frankly? I have not a single fucking idea."

She resisted the urge to look up at the risk of seeing... that. Instead she let her shock visible with her body language, as in still as a statue. She heard a sigh as a response.

"What I do know is that one of the Good Seeds is partially responsible for this and that the mere sight is sending anyone with a brain into an intense bloodrage."

... Okay? Was that it? She felt like she saw a lot more than that. Maybe he wanted to keep it shor-

Her eyes widened as the implications hit her. She almost looked up but she resisted the urge. Letting out a snarl, she turned to a certain direction.

"Oh shit, my family!"

She hesitated. But then Elder Lang pushed her back without hesitation instead.

"Go! I have plenty of other Good Seeds to handle here! Just don't look up again!"

She gave him a grateful smile, or at least his feet, before putting all her strength into running. If she went berserk, she didn't want to imagine what happened at her village. A wry, hysteric smile appeared on her face.

Haha... guess it was a good thing she was back here, wasn't it?

///

"SIS!"

The first thing that was off, positively speaking yet still weird, was the lack of blood in the air. Well, the lack of blood besides the raining and what not. Thankfully it stopped by now, but everything was just drenched in all that crap. Anyway, it was weird. Buildings were alight, no c-corpses... She felt her heart soar when the doors opened all around the city. The first one she saw made her almost cry on the spot. Instead she jumped forward and wrapped her arms around the only close family she had left.

"Shu! Thank goodness, you are alright!" Big Sis said, hugging her back tightly.

"I'm trying to reach Single Pillar, I'm made of sterner stuff!" Shu proclaimed, pointing at herself with her thumb, wisely hiding the fact she did go rabid. Instead she looked around with wide eyes. "I'm more surprised about you guys."

The heir of the White Tiger Clan chuckled. The mortals laughed as well, nervous as they were.

"Retired cultivator or not, I still have my instincts. And they listen to me. Even the little ones."

It was then that she explained. The second the Cultivator felt the change in the air, she immediately commanded everyone to keep their heads down. There was no guarantee it would have worked at all at the time, but they all had deep trust in the heirs that led the remnants. Thus, in the duration that clusterfuck happened, they kept low and more importantly, didn't look up. It was hard to believe, that they reacted in time, to withstand their own curiosity.

"...zero casualties... ?" Shu muttered and Big Sis nodded with a wide smile.

"None. We are fine."

"Oh good. Good... "

The world began to tilt. Oh wow, how hard did she push herself? That was the last thought that went through her head before her eyes rolled up and gravity took a hold of her body.

 

[Mellowfellow]

[X] Strength Purity Sect

[x] Peng Kingdom