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.

 

[occipitallobe]

Today, a minor update on diplomacy - we haven't quite reached Turn 3 yet.

My other focus will be on a Strength chart to give people a notion of how various Heavenstages/Great Realms compare to one another. At first I had decided not to do it, but now I'm thinking it might be helpful for omake writers to get a feeling of what their current strength means.

I'm thinking about the above post as well and making a spreadsheet (how did it come to this already?!) to centralise cultivation and Clan information in one spot as well.

 

[Alectai]

Today, a minor update on diplomacy - we haven't quite reached Turn 3 yet.

My other focus will be on a Strength chart to give people a notion of how various Heavenstages/Great Realms compare to one another. At first I had decided not to do it, but now I'm thinking it might be helpful for omake writers to get a feeling of what their current strength means.

I'm thinking about the above post as well and making a spreadsheet (how did it come to this already?!) to centralise cultivation and Clan information in one spot as well.

Click to shrink...

You can probably delegate that if you want, I'm sure we have spreadsheet wizards among the audience who'd love to help.

 

[occipitallobe]

I think as long as someone can be crash-raised to Nascent Soul, we'll be capable of enduring. It's losing our ability to front a Nascent Soul that'll be the game-ender (Because without our nuclear deterrent, it only takes one Nascent Soul rolling in to take us for all we're worth)

That being said, losing Manuel would be very bad for us. For obvious reasons.

Click to shrink...

As an aside on this, I think it might be worth putting into perspective how a Nascent Soul compares to everyone else.

If you took away the Jingshen Clan Nascent Souls, and just left them with 80 or so Core Formation Elders, 6,000 Foundation Building experts, and 300,000 Qi Condensation juniors or so, and put them up against Manuel, Manuel would win.

Not in one single blow, but Nascent Souls are incredibly fast. They can fly, and do so without limit. Core Formation cultivators might be able to use secret arts or magical items to temporarily sustain limited flight, but Nascent Souls can pick any fight they want. Unless they're forced to fight (usually in defense of something, or by a faster Nascent Soul), a Nascent Soul has zero need to ever take a dangerous fight.

Secondly, he's tough enough that Qi Condensation cultivators can't hurt him at all. You could take 300,000 Qi Condensation cultivators, give them all weapons, and have them line up to stab him all day. He could sleep through it. Even Foundation Building cultivators can at best annoy him.

Thirdly, he can kill weaker cultivators just by them being in near proximity to him, and him wanting them dead. Killing an entire city by thinking mean thoughts at it is a perfectly valid thing for a Nascent Soul to do.

Lastly, he's strong enough to kill anyone below his Realm in a single blow - if he finds a fight he can't win in one go, he can kill and kill until he gets tired, fly away, rest, and come back for more killing later.

Nascent Soul is the biggest gap (in the same way you tend to find a bottleneck every 3 Heavenstages, the biggest increase in strength is every 3 Great Realms... or so old clan books seem to state) between Great Realms you know about.

Other cultivators matter, sure, but in the end Manuel was able to go around extracting resources from allies and vassals because it doesn't matter how many other cultivators they have. To quote turn 1:

This was different. No weaknesses were possible, no possible minor losses in exchanging pointers, no friendly jostling for position. That would all happen later, and others would deal with the matter.

His message was far simpler.

"We have a mid Nascent Soul cultivator. You do not."

Click to shrink...

 

[ReaderOfFate]

HI @occipitallobe. I was wondering, could you choose to go the standard route with multiple Pillars even if you've reached the Thirteenth Heavenstage in a gamble to reach the Emperor's Pillars, or would you be locked into One-Pillar Foundation Establishment?

If you're not locked in, is there any good reason to have gone to the 13th in the first place instead of the 12th? But then again, you did say that perfecting every stage would yield more benefits than just perfecting one, so perhaps there's some additional benefits.

 

[occipitallobe]

HI @occipitallobe. I was wondering, could you choose to go the standard route with multiple Pillars even if you've reached the Thirteenth Heavenstage in a gamble to reach the Emperor's Pillars, or would you be locked into One-Pillar Foundation Establishment?

If you're not locked in, is there any good reason to have gone to the 13th in the first place instead of the 12th? But then again, you did say that perfecting every stage would yield more benefits than just perfecting one, so perhaps there's some additional benefits.

Click to shrink...

You absolutely can. The 13th Heavenstage will yield considerable benefits no matter what you do with it - though only once you break through to Foundation Establishment.

 

[Alectai]

Yeah.

I mean, I'm the fucking madlad who's trying to turn Rina into the sort of character these stories would be told from the perspective of, just as a cute serial headpat victim instead of a murderous or utterly detached near-monk who has nothing in their heart but martial arts.

Just because I'm doing it though doesn't make it a good idea though! I'm only considering it because I feel I can write five to ten thousand words a turn and thus can lean on the fate bonuses and cultivation speed steroids that come with them to make it happen. Even then! I get some legitimate anxiety when the Fates are being generated!

 

[uri]

@occipitallobe since Yan is going to brave a secret realm (one that isn't actually all that secret at all) , this turn (turn 3), I thought it was prudent to ask how secret realms work, is it just one fate roll but with higher rewords and dangers or an x amount of separate rolls.

 

[AlphaDelta]

You can probably delegate that if you want, I'm sure we have spreadsheet wizards among the audience who'd love to help.

Click to shrink...

o/*

Honestly, I wouldn't mind doing this.

time for logistics good seed

 

[Alectai]

@occipitallobe since Yan is going to brave a secret realm (one that isn't actually all that secret at all) , this turn (turn 3), I thought it was prudent to ask how secret realms work, is it just one fate roll but with higher rewords and dangers or an x amount of separate rolls.

Click to shrink...

You're going in there without a Life Saving Treasure? Are you crazy?

EDIT: Oh, right, I see you just picked one up... Still pretty risky though, I'm having Rina pop in next turn myself, because that gives me time to pick up a second for a bit more safety.

 

[Nordlending]

How much influence can a mid tier Qi Condensation have on your average mortal in presence and ability? Manuel is to impressive to serve as a benchmark.

 

[ninjastar]

Achille Adephos III
Decisions and Discovery

"Then we'll have to be very careful," Caius frowned. "Everyone on your guard!"

The ten gathered Mehcnakios all had grim expressions as they rode towards the town. A huge gate blocked the entrance to Shen Dou, carved out of a massive boulder.

The twin sandworms approached the gate, slowing to a snail's pace.

Caius raised his palms, glowing bronze light-gathering into a projection of a spear over a shield, the regalia of the Legion.

The massive stone gate slowly moved open, spirit stones burning frantically to power the Arrays running it.

A dozen soldiers ran out of the gates to greet them. Their steel armour shone silver in the desert sun, the three-footed raven insignia fo Shen Kingdom proudly placed atop their hearts. One solider at their front sorted out, dressed in glimmering golden armour layered with elaborate carvings. Such armour would be relatively useless on the battlefield. Gold was a soft metal and the carvings would only decrease it's structural integrity, meaning it was ceremonial armour and the solider in the front was likely an officer of high standing rather than foot solider.

"We greet the Golden Devils!" the officer cried out, bowing.

The regular soldiers behind him all fell to thier knees in respect. That was the might that the Golden Devils commanded, especially compared to the Shen Kingdom which had but a single Core Formation king.

"I am Senior Mechanikos Kalleidus. Inform King Shen we have come to fix his Array," Kalleidus said impassively.

As someone in Mid Core Formation, King Shen was far above Kallaiudus in strength, yet due to his status as an Array-Engineer, Kaleidus was able to treat him as an equal. Normally one would have to request an audience several weeks in advance.

"Of course, at once," the officer said reaching into his pocket and grabbing slip of paper, crushing it in his palm.

'A message talisman,' Achille thought to himself. 'Although it is a little crudely made. It will stop functioning at a distance of less than a dozen miles'

Moments later, having seemingly received a response the officer smiled flatteringly.

"His majesty will see you at once, Seniors," the officer said.

"Then let's stop dilly-dallying," Kalleiuds harrumphed.

He jumped off the sandworm, the rest of the Array engineers doing the same. Caius whistled twice and the sandworms suddenly began to burrow into the sand, submerging themselves under the desert.

"Ths way, Seniors," the officer said, leading them within the massive stone city.

Achille looked around curiously. The city was packed with bustling citizens, running around. Many were carrying large wheel burrows filled with metals or gems. The Shen Kingdom was very much a mining kingdom, it's people skill in extracting metal from the rocks common within the Organ Meat Desert.

Achille and the other Mechanikos followed the gold armoured officer until they reached a fortified door. Unlike many rulers, the Shen Kingdom's palace was a heavily fortified underground complex rather than a gaudy or impressive fortress.

Achille had often heard this was because the Shen King was a coward, who was the first of his dynasty and the only Core Formation Expert in his power, making him very vulnerable, thus he hid like a rat under the ground.

The golden officer reached into his pocket, pulling out a jade amulet. The jade amulet glowed brightly for a split then darkened. The fortress dorr rumbled open, revealing an enormous tunnel. SLowly Achille and the other followed the officer through the tunnel randomly changing direction or splitting off into side tunnels. Achilles imagined that if anyone else tried to navigate the tunnels, they would probably end up dead.

Eventually, they arrived at yet another large stone gate. Achille was starting to think the theories of the paranoid and cowardly King Shen may be held some merit when the gate clicked open to reveal a massive throne room.

King Shen sat within the room, atop a massive throne with wings of thone. He was dressed in a bright yellow robe, his face immaculately clean and his hair well-groomed. Dozens of servants lined the walls around him, and twice as many guards. Achille swallowed as he looked at the guards. Each one had a horrifying Array applied to their body that would amongst other things, allow King Shen to kill them with a thought, prevent them from disobeying his orders and stop them from speaking any of his secrets.

"If it isn't the friends from the Golden Devil clan," King Shen greeted happily. "Luoshen! Bring some refreshments for our guests!"

A maid dressed in frilly clothing nodded, leaving the room.

"I'm afraid we don't have much time to chat," Caius said. "We suspect that something is afoot in your kingdom, your Majesty."

"Really? I was told by my head Engineer, that the Array had simply broken down. What do you think is going on," King Shen said, his gaze turning serious.

"It seems that the Blood Path Detection Array was deliberately sabotaged. Since that's the case, we think it's likely a powerful member of the Blood Path is planning something here," Caius said.

"What? That damned duplicitous engineer! I shall have his head for this! He must be in league with the Blood Path," King Shen roared angrily.

"Calm down," Caius said. "It's not like that. Most would be hard-pressed to tell if the Array had broken down naturally or been deliberately sabotaged. In fact, without our own Achille here, we might not have noticed!"

"Well, if the honoured guest vouch for him, I will spare the fool," King Shen said, having calmed down somewhat. "Which one of you is Achille? I want to give him my personal thanks."

"This here is Achille Adephos, a prized genius of our clan," Caius said happily, pointing to Achille.

King Shen stood up, walking over to Achille. The well-groomed king clapped Achille on the back.

"Good job! I'm sure in the future your prospects will be limitless," King Shen said. "So, how long do you think I will take to fix?"

"Normally it would take us a few weeks to isolate the issue and then and then a few hours to a few days depending on how bad it is," Caius said. "But with Achillhe help we can skip the first process."

"The Array is mostly intact. The only problem is that it's connection to the overall network is broken. It shouldn't take us longer than two hours to fix it since all we have to do is reconnect it," Achille said.

"Marvelous, Simply marvellous," King Shen congratulated. "Why don't you take this reward as a token of my appreciation?"

King Shen took out a copper coin, pressing it into Achille's hands.

"This is a Dharmic Dragon Copper. When activated, it will save your life from any single attack or damage by sacrificing itself. It's a rare and powerful life-saving treasure."

"Junior thanks your majesty for the generous gift," Achille said happily pocketing the coin. The assurance that it would save his life was simply incredible. "If you'll allow us, we can go fix the Array right now."

"Of course, of course! Don't let this old man delay you. Follow Officer Taiyi to the Array-Spire," King Shen said happily.

The gold-clad officer who had led them into the throne room began to lead them out through a separate tunnel, King Shen following the group of ten. This tunnel led right out into the center of the city, though the had to pass through multiple reinforced doors along the way.

Once they reached the city, Achille got a close look at the Array-Spire. A massively complicated Array was carved across the spire, one that would detect any Blood Paath Qi within its radius.

"Alright, everyone, time to get to work. Tools out, safety equipment on!" Caius instructed.

The group unfolded and began to work like a well-oiled machine, recarving lines of the Spire and painting elaborate symbols along the floor around it.

Eventually, all of the snipped connections had been repaired, pathways running through long underground pathways to the other spires. The Array glowed as it was repowered before the symbols and carving seemingly mettle away into the face of the stone. However, just as soon as the Array faded, blood red lines began to appear on it, a massive gonging sound pouring out of it.

"What does that mean?" Markus asked.

"It means Blood Path!" King Shen said solemnly.
---
@occipitallobe
I would like to ask for a life-saving treasure for this one(lmao, wished I had asked for that earlier)

 

[uri]

You're going in there without a Life Saving Treasure? Are you crazy?

EDIT: Oh, right, I see you just picked one up... Still pretty risky though, I'm having Rina pop in next turn myself, because that gives me time to pick up a second for a bit more safety.

Click to shrink...

Yes, it somewhat risky but I trust that Yan can hide from any threat in foundation establishment and below so he should be fine.

 

[occipitallobe]

@occipitallobe since Yan is going to brave a secret realm (one that isn't actually all that secret at all) , this turn (turn 3), I thought it was prudent to ask how secret realms work, is it just one fate roll but with higher rewords and dangers or an x amount of separate rolls.

Click to shrink...

It's a separate set of rolls.

Roughly speaking roll order goes like this.

Cultivation-Fate-Secret Realm Rolls.

If you do badly enough Fate-wise (wounded, crippled, use up your last lifesaving treasure) you just won't enter the Secret Realm.

You get to a roll a few times - if you roll badly enough your adventure ends, and you're wounded, crippled, or die.

All this means if you have a lifesaving treasures you're guaranteed not to die on a turn you have one. (edit: There are a few specific things you'll be able to do in future where this isn't true, but you'll need to explicitly choose to do them and I'll make the risks very clear). You can drastically increase your chances of losing it, though.

So basically you stop the first time you're about to die. Entering a Secret Realm is basically getting a few turns of souped-up Fate in one go, but your chances of being badly hurt/crippled/dying/etc are increased drastically as well.

 

[Alectai]

It's a separate set of rolls.

Roughly speaking roll order goes like this.

Cultivation-Fate-Secret Realm Rolls.

If you do badly enough Fate-wise (wounded, crippled, use up your last lifesaving treasure) you just won't enter the Secret Realm.

You get to a roll a few times - if you roll badly enough your adventure ends, and you're wounded, crippled, or die.

All this means if you have a lifesaving treasures you're guaranteed not to die on a turn you have one. You can drastically increase your chances of losing it, though.

So basically you stop the first time you're about to die. Entering a Secret Realm is basically getting a few turns of souped-up Fate in one go, but your chances of being badly hurt/crippled/dying/etc are increased drastically as well.

Click to shrink...

Huh, does your 'Effective strength within your realm' have any impact on the risk there?

Rina for instance being a lot less likely to run into trouble inside a Secret Realm of her level because she's operating at Qi Condensation 13th Heavenstage level? Or do Secret Realms just automatically scale to your strength but give better prizes the stronger you are?

 

[LordEdric]

speaking of special events, about the Yuan Clan special array, when is the next time it activates, and how much would it cost to join it?

 

[occipitallobe]

Huh, does your 'Effective strength within your realm' have any impact on the risk there?

Rina for instance being a lot less likely to run into trouble inside a Secret Realm of her level because she's operating at Qi Condensation 13th Heavenstage level? Or do Secret Realms just automatically scale to your strength but give better prizes the stronger you are?

Click to shrink...

Not so much scale, but Rina isn't going to be exploring the parts that have treasures appropriate for 6th Heavenstage cultivators. Why bother?

It makes too much sense if you're already going inside a weird and dangerous magic world to go for the best stuff you can reasonably get, so she'd more than likely look for treasures appropriate for her strength.

speaking of special events, about the Yuan Clan special array, when is the next time it activates, and how much would it cost to join it?

Click to shrink...

I'll be adding Secret Realm timing information once I get the Turn 3 post up.

 

[occipitallobe]

(I didn't officially call the vote, but it was pretty obvious how it ended, with an unanimous vote for the quoted:

[X] Plan A Truly Fortuitous Opportunity
-[X] Negotiate - If you choose to negotiate, ask for things below. The more you ask, the less chance of the offer being accepted, though. Negotiate is Accepting the Offer but asking for more before agreeing. To Negotiate, create a Plan with what you're asking for below.
--[X] More Land - The Scarred Lands, The Oasis Rebels
--[X] Child Corpse Gulper's Corpse and Immortal Aperture - An Immortal Aperture can be turned into valuable storage items, and there are likely many treasures stored within.
--[X] Wealth - Fuck you, pay me. Ask for Wealth in units. 1 Wealth is roughly 10 years of savings for the Clan, and 5 Wealth is worth as much as an additional piece of land. The corpse and Aperture is worth 10 Wealth, as is a Heavenly Treasure. (1 Unit)
---[X] Priorities: Corpse Gulper's Corpse/Aperture (The Red line, we walk if we don't get this). Oasis Rebels, Scarred Lands, The Wealth

Click to shrink...

Manuel smiled.

He had been negotiating with Old Cannibal for a few years, now.

The other man had been angry, wanting an agreement right away.

Manuel knew that time was on his side. Why hurry? With each year the Cannibal Sect grew a little weaker, Old Cannibal a little more prone to giving in to his demands. Jingshen Clan were hardly likely to make an agreement with a Demonic Sect of this sort - trading agreements were one thing, but openly allying with a Demonic Sect Nascent Soul to kill his enemy? The potential loss of face would be extreme, and so they would hold out for even more benefits than he would.

Still, Old Cannibal had his bottom line as well.

Manuel had negotiated well, and had eventually managed to strike three possible deals. All would be enforced by the Eye of the Devil Judge, a magical treasure that could seal an agreement between Nascent Souls. Once used, breaking the deal would mean death.

[ ] Got Me A Corpse

Obtain Child Corpse Gulper's corpse and Immortal Aperture, the original lands and the 100-year truce. Original deal otherwise applies - a hundred year truce between the two Nascent Souls (Cannibal and Manuel), where Old Cannibal will not act against Manuel to invade him. Manuel is not so restricted. He will take up ~30% of the brunt of the fight, and has only a miniscule risk of harm.

[ ] Need Somewhere To Bury Him

Obtain Child Corpse Gulper's corpse and Immortal Aperture and all other benefits as above. However, also gain the Scarred Lands. In return, Manuel will sign onto the truce, and will not act against Cannibal Sect for 100 years in the same way Old Cannibal is restricted. In addition, he is required to take up ~50% of the fighting effort against Child Corpse Gulper, which gives him a small chance of being Wounded.

[ ] I Want It All

Obtain Child Corpse Gulper's corpse and Immortal Aperture and all other benefits as above. Also gain the Oasis Rebels, Scarred Lands, and Wealth. In return, Manuel will sign onto the truce, and will not act against Cannibal Sect for 100 years in the same way Old Cannibal is restricted. He will also agree to return any Core Formation Elders who are caught in Golden Devil lands the first time, for the first fifty years of their agreement. In addition, he is required to take up ~70%of the fighting effort against Child Corpse Gulper, which gives him a high chance of being Wounded - and a small chance of being Badly Wounded.

 

[ReaderOfFate]

[X] Need Somewhere To Bury Him

Good enough for me. The benefit of "I Want It All" isn't nearly high enough for me to accept that massively increased chance of injury. However, I can accept a small chance of injury for 15% increased wealth through the Scarred Lands.

 

[Alectai]

Curious that Old Cannibal considers the Oasis Rebels to also be very close to his red line. Only accepting it if we take the brunt of the fighting for the upcoming throwdown and a very unpleasant truce that lets him keep sending his own Elders in while limiting the strength of our own to check them (Since the first time we catch them for fifty years, we have to release them--which means apprehending them makes our side more likely to take casualties trying)

Basically, he's only willing to give it up if he can also put us in a position where he's very likely to see us ruined. On the other hand, it might also be a ploy on his part to try and bait us into taking that gamble.

 

[occipitallobe]

Curious that Old Cannibal considers the Oasis Rebels to also be very close to his red line. Only accepting it if we take the brunt of the fighting for the upcoming throwdown and a very unpleasant truce that lets him keep sending his own Elders in while limiting the strength of our own to check them.

Basically, he's only willing to give it up if he can also put us in a position where he's very likely to see us ruined. On the other hand, it might also be a ploy on his part.

Click to shrink...

In Manuel's mind, this basically boils down to 'the Oasis Rebels rule a more fertile land naturally and the population grows more quickly'.

For the Clan, these regions are roughly equivalent in wealth, but for the Cannibal Sect, areas with more natural population increase are more valuable.

Not everyone has Arrays capable of making the land fertile and the water flow, refined over thousands of years of effort and thought from a united Array-focused clan.

 

[Kingmally]

[X] Got Me A Corpse
Don't want to risk Manuel for some depopulated land.

 

[gale]

[X] Got Me A Corpse

 

[Alectai]

[X] Need Somewhere To Bury Him

Yeah, this is good. A small chance of a light injury for a significant territorial gain and the corpse is very good for us.

It's not the order I'd prefer, but it doesn't give Old Cannibal a free reign to have his Elders rampage in our territory unopposed while our own Elders have to pull their punches to take them alive. Between this and the Jingshen's own gains, the Blood Cannibals should have their recovery severely impacted, while we can focus most of our efforts on the Devil Bees and the upcoming Hundred Year Trials.

 

[MooGoesCow21]

[X] Need Somewhere To Bury Him

 

[LordEdric]

[X] Need Somewhere To Bury Him

small risk for a good chunk of land and increased income. And the Jingshen Clan still holds about 10% of the Blood Cannibal's land, they will fight each other first