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.

 

[BungieONI]

Cerina Polya - Year 246, Turn 14,
Side Story 2: In Which Cerina Fist Fights a Building​

Cerina rolled a shoulder, hunched over a tiny desk in the winding, shifting halls of the Clan's Technique Palace. She was currently looking through the Index, scanning through phantasmal scroll after phantasmal scroll that spontaneously appeared whenever she asked for a new topic. Set to one side on her desk was the cause of her walking into this maze; her handwritten transcript of certain lines and fragments of information she had found spread across several dozen books of bloodline history in the Qi Condensation accessible Archives. Tucked away and forgotten, like so many other pieces.

Paratiritís upon the roads, roaming freely…striking down…

…Hiero Paratiritís… spanned between Cloud and Earth, foot upon each.

Windswift Paratērētaí, they who…

The most significant one, an entry in a historical appendix: Paratiritís, meaning eternal watcher. The attached sigil had been a single great eye. Oddly not unlike how she visualized the Golden Eye Array. She wasn't sure, but… if it wasn't connected to her, oh well. It looked to be leading her somewhere interesting at least. For one thing, the first three references she thought might be directing her towards Wind as an element to use or emulate.

She settled her cheek on a hand, puffing out a tired breath. So, she had come here seeking techniques to give her a leg up or specific ideas about what to do with herself. Something compatible with her constitution. Her hand slipped down to finger the seam that circled her neck, part of the hyper flexible joint her head sat on. A single eye, and a neck that could turn a full circle were unusual enough to have led her to the Palace, but they weren't much.

At least Cerina was pretty sure she wanted to focus on Body Cultivation in general. Legion Basic had also suited her well and punching and throwing things was fun. She wasn't going to think too hard about how she wanted to balance that with staff use, that had already been working itself out and she felt no need to go against the grain there.

The problem then was where to start in truly serious Body Cultivation. She'd used Contribution Points from killing Feng Shen and a few other missions to buy a slot to get in here, seeking out the basics it could, she hoped, provide. Currently on her desk were; Scout Techniques of the Seventh Demon Annihilating War, Techniques Listed By Relation to Flexibility, Techniques Listed by Elemental Alignment, Techniques for Spies In Windswept Plains, Techniques of the Bountiful Raiton; Hero of the Third Demon Annihilating War.

And she was being stymied by this senile and damaged old building spirit.

None of these had a single reference to Wind element techniques. Water, Wood, Poison, Thunder? Sure! Weeks and weeks of fruitless effort. She was nearing the end of her time for this slot. She leaned back, groaning and running her hands down her face. Cerina looked around her tiny room; a small monk's cube with a single desk, chair, and the door. Its walls of smooth grey stone, lit from nowhere in particular that she could discern. Once she found a technique compatible with her she'd been told it would expand into a training and meditation space.

"You know, I'd be okay with this. I'd be fine with this if I had found a technique that did use Wind but was too weak or out of alignment with my constitution. I'd be fine with that, genuinely!" Cerina said, standing up from her desk.

She started to pace. "I'd be able to accept that. I could go right to the Whirlwind Tree and everything instead of this shitty error infested trash heap."

There was no response. "Where are the Wind Techniques, Palace?" The girl asked.

There was a soft chime and then the palace 'spoke', the air filling with words in the Turtle World language.

Repeated Query. Error.

Are you looking for:

Techniques by the Five Elemental Sages

Techniques Listed by Elemental Alignment

Techni-

"Stop," Cerina commanded, the voice in the air ceasing immediately.

"I am looking for techniques that do the fwooshy fwooshy," she waved her hands violently, building up steam as she spoke quickly. "Great gusts that blow over the Plains, uprooting trees and drive hellish storms, winds that shake the Heavens! Things that let me shape the sky itself and run faster than the eye can see, you absolute failure of a construction. Your maker clearly fucked goats and concocted your design while high on smoking their mushroom laced dung! They obviously found great joy in eating poisons and writing your core functions while blithering into the sky about the greatness of their technique. It is the only way to explain the immense dishonor you bring to them and your function with your incompetence!"

She was shaking, breathing hard as she finished ranting at the thing.

Self-Defense measures activating.

"Oh!? Oh really? Give me my fucking technique you piece of tasteless marble!" Cerina shouted, throwing up her hands.

The next thing she knew the floor fell out from under her and she was suddenly falling into a pit with no visible bottom. Tumbling, spinning wildly, her yell echoed out into the void. She clawed for the walls flying past just out of reach. The sounds of grinding stone and crashing metal surrounded her. With a flash of yellow light, lines appeared on the walls, cutting it into dozens of perfect squares. These then flew apart, revealing them to be cubes of stone soaring through a dimly illuminated void.

Wind blew, whipping her white-blonde hair everywhere around her, buffeting her about and making it difficult to stabilize her orientation. Her head turned around and around, as she looked everywhere about herself, trying to see anything she could use to stop her fall. Her heart thudded in rising anger, a burning outrage that this thing was trying to kick her out or whatever this was when she was trying to use it!

A moment's more effort and expended Qi to try and yank herself into a stable orientation succeeded, causing her to fall too slow as she threw out her arms and legs. The wind kept blowing, but more Qi and subtle adjustments kept her stable. She looked around, watching the orbiting cubes.

"Well, come on then!" She dared it.

A cube the size of a cart rushed at her and she jerked herself around to meet it. Knuckles smashed into its stone surface as she punched it with both hands, and she was surprised to see it sent careening away. She hadn't expected it to be that light, she was only in the first Heavenstage still. Legion Basic also expected a solid and rooted stance, and that was evidently not present.

She didn't have much time to ponder on that though as she saw another cube racing towards her. She broke from the forms of Basic with it unable to help her, operating on instinct. That instinct, unable to twist around to punch it, interposed a foot, kicking out as hard as she could from a bad position. Again the cube and her limb met with a heavy crack, and the cube was sent flying away just like the last.

As it turned this time she noticed that it was covered in shelving on three of its faces.

She had a moment of dissonance. The Technique Palace was literally throwing bookshelves at her. She sighed. The next one came flying, and again was battered away. She scoffed. The wind hissed and she heard the clanking again. The Palace then sent two more cubes her way, sailing in from either side.

One punch, two, and they were sent tumbling. Weak. She could see the dents she was leaving in the stone with her knuckles even with the minimal amount of Qi she was using. With a rising sense of frustration emanating from the Palace the cubes came at her faster and faster and faster. Two, three, four at a time with shorter and shorter breaks in between. Soon she was less striking them away than using the momentum to dance and dodge through the storm of cubes. Winding through the storm of stone, moving much more nimbly than they could.

It seemed like this would be endless, which made her gut churn a bit. She couldn't keep this up forever, definitely not at the first stage. But like most things, it was not endless, and after passing through a particularly tight squeeze that left her facing what she thought was up towards where she had fallen, Cerina noticed a light above her. A little beacon shining between the cubes.

Right then. Somewhere to head towards in all of this chaos was better than nothing. When the next cube came slamming towards her instead of punching it she buried her fingers in it, flinging herself up its surface to the next one. Grabbing onto the shelving, books fell into the void and she started scrambling up the vortex of hostile geometry.

She climbed, punched, and leapt her way higher and higher, the wind unable to touch her as she burned through Qi to propel herself faster and faster. A cascade of books followed after her, and she heard a rising bell chime as she neared the sphere of light at the peak.

Moments later she was there and leaping towards the light. With a thump-thump she rolled through the light into another room a lot like the cell she'd fallen out of a few minutes ago. It's walls and floor were featureless, except for the door straight ahead of her. She rose carefully, dusting herself off and taking a deep breath to settle herself.

Behind her there was nothing but the void, the vortex of cubes still swirling. Ahead of her was the door she had seen out of this room. Nowhere else to go so… she stepped through the exit.

Error! Aspirant lost! Seeking… the Palace said as she passed through the door.

She did not dignify it with a response.


The space she had ended up in was sloped like an amphitheater, with dozens of the shelf cubes haphazardly dropped in piles around the chamber. Many had slots for jade slips with little title placards to identify their contents, as well as books, scrolls and other manuals. The titles were relatively clear amidst all the chaos, and told her this was a repository of elemental techniques. Fire, Water, Wood… oh that was Wind right over there.
Anger forgotten and smiling brightly Cerina hopped over to the shelf and plucked one jade slip from it.

Seeking lost Aspirant. Seeking…

Found you!

The Technique Palace said cheerily, a bright light blinking on in the space. Then it spoke again, and while it could not present a tone using its speech, its words were quite smug.

Self defense measures deactivated. Test passed!

Did you appreciate the lesson Junior Sister? Was it enlightening on the nature of Wind?

Cerina did not look away from the book in her hands. "Oh, not really. This jade slip is actually far more useful than you have been."

There was a clang from far above her. The light flickered.

She ignored its tantrum, entirely unworried. "Could I have a practice room please?" She asked brightly. She would hold her little victory over this damn thing for years.

***​

The training field was warm in the twilight, clouds of dust from the six fighters occluding the descending sun. Cerina was being attacked by two of the men she had hired to train with her. With a shout, Cerina parried the fist aiming for her face with one open hand, rotating closer to her first attacker in order to avoid the second attack coming from her flank. Her footwork sped her through the spin, kicking the legs out from the first man as the back of her fist smashed into her second enemy's nose with a meaty thwack.

Pulling in her limbs she spun faster, dancing away from the two stumbling men. As she came into range of the next man she unfurled from the neck down. One hand swooped out to ward off the punches from her third attacker. Her kick swept his legs out from under him and as he fell her fist met his sternum, sending him to the dirt on his ass, sliding away from the force of the blow.

The two remaining men at nine and three o'clock shared a look and then charged at her together. The right hand man went to kick her knees out from under her, while the other guy came at her with punches. She threw herself backwards over the kick, a rush of Qi speeding her move into a somersault. Coming up on hands and knees, she raced forward low to the ground.

Her arms caught the kicking leg of the right hand guy and the next thing he knew he was being flung like a human bludgeon into the other guy. They both yelled in surprise and went down like sacks of potatoes, moaning in pain. The other three men had recovered from her blows, shaking ringing heads and standing unsteadily as blood dripped from rapidly clotting injuries. For what that was worth anyway, all five of them were too beaten up to continue after the past twenty minutes of sparring with her.

She stood easily, mostly unmarked from this battle, and the day's worth of battles before this. She'd started this active training in the 36 Purifying Winds Style that she had found in the Technique Palace, after a week's worth of practice in the Palace's training rooms. But she was not satisfied. She wasn't going to go out using this Style until she could fight perfectly against greater numbers of opponents who also had a higher level of skill than these guys. This was just getting herself used to the style and its demands on her heavy body.

"Thank you all for your time. Anyone seriously hurt?" She asked her victims. She'd call them volunteers, but she clearly outclassed these men lured in by the quite hefty sum of Points she'd offered to get beaten up by her, so it was more like bullying.

There was a chorus of groans.

"No Miss Polya! I'm fine," the guy she'd smashed in the nose gurgled. Then he snorted wetly and there was a crack. "Bollocks," he shook his head and looked at her with interest. "Any chance you'd be up for more of this?" The sun sparked off his bluish hair.

She looked at his hopeful face and considered. Was he…? Probably? She wasn't sure and threw out the first thing that came to mind. "If you got more points," then winced as she realized he might take that badly.

The man laughed though and waved a hand. "I'll think about it! This was helpful!" He said brightly, then walked off the field. Maybe he was just a battle nut?

The other men all seemed unperturbed by Blue Hair's demeanor, slowly straightening and rubbing at injured limbs. Limping and wincing, they all walked off under their own power. Satisfied with that, Cerina made her own way out of the circle. She rolled her neck, stretching and yawning. She had to stay mobile for this style, in every respect, and that took a lot of energy. Right now she was trying to be Qi conservative in her training, eking out just a hair's breadth more efficiency in her foundation with this style.

That's why Cerina wasn't going back to her quarters after today's training; exhausted as she was, images still swirled so brightly in her mind's eye. Limbs and body sheathed in Qi, increased flexibility, and feats like standing on single bamboo leaves in a windstorm were all hinted at in her new style. And something big would apparently happen at the Tenth Heavenstage. It hinted at speed and special movement techniques that she was only beginning to wrap her head around. But that was so far away, she put it out of mind.

Instead she headed deeper into the Dawn Fortress, leaving the blinding light and sweltering heat of the summer sun for the cool embrace of stone halls and oil lamp lighting. Even now she was trying to practice the breathing cycle of her new style and to move with its teachings in mind. An immersive kind of training, to include pieces of it wherever she could in her life. Including her cultivation.

It had suited her well so far, often leaving her feeling lighter and fresher than a good night's sleep for a few hours when she cycled her Qi correctly. She knew such stamina and mobility benefits wouldn't last for long with her current level of skill, but eventually she theorized with practice she could reach a tipping point where they would become permanent. Along with all the other supernatural techniques purported by the style. That was why her feet led her up through the Fortress' winding stairways and halls until she reached the base of one of it's taller towers.

She climbed the thousands of steps towards the tower's peak, passing no one else at this time of the evening. Everyone else would be either returning to their quarters, of which there were none in this tower, or they would still be continuing training late into the night just like she would be. The steps eventually ended their spiraling climb and deposited her onto a balcony just beneath the roof of the tower. She paused there on the balcony as she looked out over a panorama that gently derailed her train of thought.

The Dawn Fortress was like a great amber or sandstone behemoth that had sprouted from the land around it, or laid down to sleep for a little while in the warm sun. The Fortress' many ancient spires and walls cast a web of shadows across its drilling grounds and forgotten corners, nestling deeply within the embrace of the stone before the shadow grew and spread in a great wave across the golden and green expanse of the Tall Wheat Fields. The Fields themselves seemed to extend endlessly towards the far horizon, where she could distantly see the purple haze of the faraway mountains. Her hand itched to paint it and hang the end result in her quarters as she meditated. But she tucked the urge away and returned her thoughts to her new style, for now. She had time to come back to painting later.

Climbing up to the roof itself was a simple matter of reaching up and flipping herself up onto slate tiled peak, before sitting down and settling in. The setting sun lay behind her, casting her spot in shade, with the wind in her face and the cooling tiles at her back. Setting her hands against one another she began to push and pull on each muscle in a slow moving meditation. She would do this until the sun rose again, trying to infuse her Qi into her body, and then start battling all over again. Wouldn't be long until she saw some real gains.

---

@ReaderOfFate @Kaboomatic first omake of the turn!

[Word Count: 3261]

I would like a Cultivation Boost please!

 

[Quest]

Wasn't in the mood to work on the other stuff I was writing today, so I put some musings together into this below. I was thinking about Xianxia cliches and how much effect our seeds could casually have on the world, which became this omake. Chronologically, it occurs sometime in turn 12 when Antonius is assigned to the What we Have, We Hold mission.

Antonius Emmanuel Eleanora 76
[Turn 12]
[Heavenly Sword Beauty]​

Heavenly Sword Beauty.

That was the martial name she had chosen. Because ever since she had awakened, as the impurities poured from her skin, she had known that she would be more beautiful than any other. Ever since she had held her weapon, she knew that her blade would be sharper than any others. And yet… a single finger traced the scar across her eye, now forever marring her face with its presence.

"A scar on the face is a beauty's shame." She said out loud, repeating her mother's words.

"A scar by a sword is a swordsman's shame." She said once more, repeating her father's words.

In a single spear stroke, Red Sky Princess had taken everything she was proud of and made her fail in the eyes of both of her parents. As she stared into the pool in front of her, she could see what all others would see. They would look upon her face and see the blemish on it, knowing it was caused by her own failure to parry.

Her hand reached for her blade hilt and gripped it tightly. Heavenly Sword Beauty would have her vengeance. She just needed to grow stronger. Drawing out her sword, she swung it in a practiced arc, channeling her inner spirit to sharpen the blow. The air sizzled as she swung her weapon and she smiled in satisfaction at the feeling of power.

"Oh? Interesting sword technique there."

Heavenly Sword Beauty flinched at the interruption and held out her sword as she turned to the source of the sound. Then she froze as she spotted the most beautiful man she had seen in her life. As if a bronze statue had been crafted by the hands of a god of beauty and then given life, was the heavenly creature who stood before her. His eyes were the deep blue of the oceans and his aura… it was an unfathomable power.

There were those in her village who had awakened twice. Red Sky Princess had achieved such a power when surpassing her, yet this hunk of a man felt far greater than even that. Third Awakening? Fourth? She wouldn't be surprised if he had awakened more than five times. As his eyes caught hers, she immediately averted her gaze and clasped her hands, bowing at the senior before her.

"Greetings, Bronze Immortal." She said, eyes carefully looking at the ground and resisting the urge to stare at him once more. "This Heavenly Sword Beauty thanks you for expressing interest in her lowly techniques."

"Heavenly Sword Beauty?" She heard him repeat quietly to himself and her cheeks burned at the hesitation in his voice. Of course, the Immortal would doubt her. How could he not, with the scar on her face?

"Forgive this one the hubris of claiming a name she does not deserve." She told him respectfully. "She simply endeavors to one day be worthy of it."

"Ah no, I simply didn't expect such a…" He trailed off and before she could puzzle out the meaning of his words, he spoke again. "Nevermind that. Please stand up and tell me about the technique you were using. Did you learn it from the Jingshen? We haven't had the time to review every village in the area."

At his instructions, she raised her head more, though she found she could not look at the man directly without staring at him so she fixed her gaze to the side. "What is… the Jingshen, honored immortal?" She asked him carefully. "This one inherited this technique from her father, who in turn learnt it from a sword immortal who visited our village three decades ago."

She could feel his gaze upon her as he studied her and hoped that he found her pleasing to the eye. Then she remembered her scar and held back a grimace. "If you don't know about the Jingshen, then it doesn't matter." He finally told her. "And this sword immortal is too long ago to bother about. Still, we'll send someone to check in later. Can you show me your technique? I'm curious."

Heavenly Sword Beauty nodded and looked away, glad to be able to distract herself with her blade. Holding it outwards, she swung it once more, her inner spirit crackling outwards in order to prove herself before this being. The way it sliced through the air helped her center her mind as always. "Is that sufficient, honored immortal?"

"Hmm. It's definitely a sword technique that invokes heavenly wrath," He replied before shaking his head. "Still, those sorts of techniques are common. It's nothing like her technique."

"Her?" She ventured curiously, wondering what sort of devilish being could have captured the heart of such heavenly bronze.

"A friend I had." He replied, shaking his head. "She retired."

She bowed her head in apology, recognizing the obvious euphemism for what it was. A lost love… her heart ached for the bronze immortal. "Could you offer some guidance for my technique, senior?" She asked, hoping to both distract him from his assuredly dark thoughts and perhaps also genuinely get some advice.

"I suppose that would be appropriate." The immortal said before frowning. "However, I cannot think of any suggestion that won't take me more time to teach than I can spare."

Heavenly Sword Beauty did not let her dismay show on her face, and simply nodded. "That is alright!" She said, smiling. "This one cannot expect to take too much time from the honored immortal's many duties."

The immortal smiled at her. "Don't worry, I didn't say I wouldn't help." He replied before holding out his arm, palm open and facing upwards. She felt a surge of qi and to her shock, a pouch appeared in his hand, tied tight with a rope that had a bronze token attached. Heavenly Sword Beauty's eyes widened at that - a Spatial Storage Ring!

He tossed the pouch towards and she nearly missed it, so caught up was she in shock. Pulling the rope, she opened the pouch and found herself feeling faint. Of course, the immortal would hand her a pouch of rare spirit stones as if tossing her some coins. Putting it aside, she bowed to the man. "I thank you for your gift, honored immortal."

"It should last you until the fifth heavenstage," He told her with his dazzling smile and she accepted that with a quickly growing jaded expectation. If a heaven stage was equivalent to her awakening, then he was sponsoring her growth to the power she had speculated him to have. Though given the feats he had so casually performed, she was certain his limits were far higher. "You know how to use those, yes?"

"Yes, Honored Immortal."

"Good." He replied, before glancing down at the pouch once more. "Oh and keep the token. If you show it to the census officer when he arrives, he will send you to the Dawn Fortress to study should you desire it."

Touched, she bowed once more as deep as she could. "Thank you for everything you have given me, honored immortal."

"It's no matter." He said, waving her off. "Now, I need to go but I hope to see you in the legions some day! Best of luck with your training!"

Heavenly Sword Beauty kept her head bowed until she was certain he left, clutching the pouch he had given her. then her eyes went to the pool beside her, catching her own face... and the wicked smile that it had. The immortal had implied that there was some time until his compatriot arrived - giving her time to train and perhaps close some loose ends. As she traced the scar over her eye, deliberately made to scar but not hurt her, she decided that she would very much enjoy that.

Perhaps Heavenly Sword Beauty would have her vengeance on the Red Sky Princess sooner than she expected.

 

[Alectai]

Rina Callista
Interlude: Redmoon 4​

The Qiguai Secret Realm was a place of mystery--where else would one find a portal to a strange, mysterious realm in the depths of the ocean, where treasures and perils far beyond the limitations of the Third Sea could be found. Where else could one seek out lucky chances that can turn an ordinary disciple into a Chosen?

Of course, most people don't speak of the deathrate. Even with exhaustive preparations taken to ensure one's safety, the majority of those who enter the Turtle Scale Realm are fortunate to escape with their lives, reserve treasures and secret arts exhausted and bearing wounds that would influence future cultivation. Many more find their assurances not up to the task, and slain in the crossfire between hungry wolves.

It was a place where grudges could be settled, free from the attentions of your seniors. It was here that the first generation of the Great Era's truest beneficaries could rise to power.

Naturally, it was a bloodbath, where the strong preyed upon the weak, robbing them from their treasures to enrich themselves. Despite this, at the end of any given session came the tally, as the Qiguai Clan took their due for their service as the wardens of the gateway.

Qiguai Shan was the one running the tallies today, and there had been no small number of excellent hauls. The rise of the Great Era had infused the Gateway with tremendous power, and it was almost all that the Clan could do to keep up with the demand from cultivators of all brackets. So far, it hadn't been an issue, but the wealth was building up faster than they could liquidate it--and with the Golden Devils rising in the Desert, and the Righteous Path finally getting their act together and starting to apply pressure on the neutrals… Well, being a valuable target wasn't a good place to be.

The Clan had walked the tightrope up until now by ensuring that the Tithes were immediately put to use empowering their next generation or paying the necessary security fees, that wasn't going to keep up for much longer though.

The next leaving disciple was some pale waif, clad in a fighting dress of fine silk with an elaborate shawl concealing much of her features from view. No big deal, some people liked discretion, and the Qiguai Clan didn't ask questions. She shook her head, and handed over her token.

Dark as a new moon night, huh.

"Rough trip?" Qiguai Shan commiserated. "Well, you've still got your life, and it doesn't look like you're in too bad shape either." Just to make sure it wasn't a trick though, he plugged the token into the analysis array, and confirmed that no treasures or resources had been claimed or integrated since entry into the Realm.

"It was never about treasures" She spoke. "My intent was to gain experience, in that, I was successful enough." Her head tilted ever so slightly to the side. "Your sympathy is appreciated though, do take care, these are troubled times."

"Ooof" Qiguai Shan winced. "Yeah, Great Eras don't tend to be kind to those left in it, even if you get some new legends out of it." He stamped the woman's papers. "Right, you're free to go, that'll get you past the security cordon."

"Thank you." She accepted the papers and tucked them into a part of the bundle at her back. "I will take my leave then."

She saunters off, the obvious weapon on her back bouncing loosely in its confines as Qiguai Shan watched her go. "Polite kid." He admitted. "Wish we'd get more of that sort instead of the typical batch of juniors."

He cracked his knuckles, and waved in for the next person. Sorting out the new arrivals was always such a chore, even with hundreds of experts devoted to nothing more than stamping everyone's papers and checking the tokens.

But still, sometimes you get a bit of excitement in this position, and it was well after mid-day that the first people spilled out. "D… Demon! A demon!" One of them cried out, the body of some other kid being carried before him. "You have to stop them! They're killing us!"

A flicker of motion, and one of the Clan's elders dropped in. "What's this disruption about?!" He bellowed, cowing the disciples with an exertion of his qi. "The rules of the Secret Realm are clear! Are you implying that you need an exception?"
"But… The demon!" The boy shuddered. "She killed them! She killed all of them! We didn't do anything at all, and she just… She just smiled, and walked up… The flowers…" He paled, and fell to his knees. "They got over everywhere, and people just… Started dropping dead…" His hands shook. "Brother Kai risked breaking through to stop her, using a treasure to delay the ejection. He put his fist through her sword and broke her ribs! But… She just kept going, and the flowers grew…"

He reclaimed himself, and pushed the body forward. "The body! You can see! Look what she did to him!"

Qiguai Shan couldn't help but take a peek himself, since his lineup was too busy staring at the scene to move along. His lips pursed, and he clicked his tongue at the sight. A pale corpse, untouched by violence, a serene smile on his face, as though he had died happily in his bed.

But there were still the fading emanations of a Dao Pillar wafting off of the slain cultivator.

The Elder frowned, kneeling over as he inspected the corpse more directly. He flicked a finger, a jet of qi slicing the wrist open. Clear water dripped out.

"Tch, Blood Path." He scoffed. "Tricky stunt there, telltale signs are usually exsanguination, but whatever art did this was high level enough to simply consume the idea of 'Blood' from the victim, leaving nothing but purified water in their veins. That alone would kill you--but looking at the expression…"

He grimaced, peeling open the boy's eyes, pupils dilated.

"Soul Attack, that would be the flowers. This is a peak level legacy here, Demonic Altar Sect Chosen, or maybe some newcomer who chanced upon something powerful unveiled in the Blood Mists."

He shrugged. "Not especially our concern, as it happened within the Secret Realm. Blood Path usually has little to gain within there, but it does happen from time to time. You just had a bad roll of the dice son."

The boy slumped over. "But… You can't just let a blood-drinking demon go free, right? You have to punish her!"

"You can certainly give us a description, and a name if it was provided, and we'll pass that along to the powers that be, but if we got into the habit of assisting in private grudges, we wouldn't have the time to manage the realm." He patted the boy on the shoulder. "I sympathize, but you knew the risks when you took up the token."

The boy looked shattered, and the Elder stood up, nodding. "Speaking of which, you'll need to be processed, just because you had a bad stroke of luck doesn't mean you're exempt from the Rules." He clapped his hands, and two orderlies emerged from the crowd, one to take the body, preparing them for return to their Sect of origin, and the other to guide the scion to one of the less occupied desks. The Elder then glanced around at the audience. "What are you all gawking at?!" He bellowed. "Get back to work!"

Qiguai Shan grinned wryly, and turned his attention back to his work. This kind of thing happened all the time in the Qiguai Door--sometimes you get lucky, and sometimes you're the center of a tragedy.

There were worse careers to be on, in this Great Era.

A/N:

Redmoon entered the Qiguai Secret Realm during Turn 13, and gained roughly 56 years of cultivation and a Tribulation Treasure, capturing the second of her Tribulation Guards. She suffered one light wound and a Badly Wounded Result--which was commuted to another Light Wound with an LST, leaving her at Wounded total, which heals to Lightly Wounded for the next turn.

She's likely to reach the 13th Heavenstage and break through next turn

 

[TehChron]

Aretaphila Myia
Supplementary: The Hive-Queen 1​

The sun shone harshly at the end of the world; mountain tops that pierced the canopy of the clouds to stand resolute before heaven. In the very south of a dead land, thousands of years worth of burrowing had carved out picturesque mesas.

Chaotic, without rhyme nor reason, and even so life - mortal life - had found a way to eke out its own existence, even flourish after a fashion. Rare were the creatures that braved the roof of the world, where proximity to the heavens would draw tribulation.

So deeply south that those who dared take the risk anyway were easy prey to the invisible hives that lay hidden within the crags. But even within those foreboding peaks were a type of beauty. Ancient artifice and centuries of effort had worn channels into the bedrock, in which the stuff that made up the clouds would be peeled apart and drawn into hidden grottos. Deep wellsprings which fed the life which existed at the rarified, isolated heights at the roof of the world.

Ten years ago very little grew at these heights. Subsistence farming, and the grazing of hardy beasts - docile behemoths of shaggy fur and immense bulk and fat - provided nutrition to the ignorant lives which lay hidden in obscurity.

Feng Yingtai remembered the day that changed. Only a few short years ago, searing words had appeared in the sky in a script she did not know yet intuitively understood; an instinct deep in her gut cowering at the domineering light that flashed in her eyes. The child she had been had fled, seeking to outrun the words. But they followed her. Ever in her sight. Inescapable.

All is Under Heaven.

The blind, panicked run of a child took her to a once bare cliff overlooking the churning and crimson clouds; a color she had never seen before. But the child Feng Yingtai had been had not paid attention to that, the air around her thrumming with some potential power. Sinking into the bare rock beneath her feet, it shifted, nearly pitching her over the side.

Those words burned in her eyes as the child she had been scrambled for purchase, sliding to the edge of the cliff as her fingers desperately tore at stone, then loose sod, then lichen, grass, and finally a firm, strong stem. A blood-tinged flower, dripping with pollen the same golden color as her hair.

In the present long, luxurious eyelashes blinked in the noontime sun, the faint outline of those characters visible to her even now. A chill wind blew, and the overpowering scent of Skyward Sacrifice Bloodcups filled Feng Yintai's senses. What had once been barren stone had become a beautiful field of crimson flowers, their rich floral smell undercut with a coppery bitterness which struck into the nose and flooded the mouth with it's taste.

A soft humming joined the sound of the wind, and sky blue eyes opened wide - meeting another pair that resembled two multifaceted gems of purest obsidian.

"Morning, Beatrice." The young woman said to her buzzing companion, the Human-Faced Bee her savior, her companion since that fateful day when her world changed. A slim, dainty hand pat the green grass next to herself, "Come oooooooon," Feng Yingtai pouted as the bee gnashed and growled, turning towards the blazing sun, "Even if it isn't really the morning, it's not like it makes any difference here, does it? Come, come!" The teenage girl said with a coaxing, charming smile, "Join me and relax, Beatrice. I won't tell if you won't." A wink was sent to her friend, and the Bee made a very human expression of fond exasperation before landing besides her, Yingtai's hand raising to pat its matted fur.

"See? Isn't it comfortable to just sit here and enjoy ourselves?"

"I've always thought the same myself."

Feng Yingtai blinked, turning to look at the Bee at her side, "Beatrice? You can talk?"

A deep, warm chuckle answered her, "No dear girl, I'm afraid that was me."

The blonde girls head snapped to the side, turning to look at the source of the voice. What met her was one of the Bloodcups, it's golden stamen having mysteriously grown the characteristics of a human face!

"Oh," Yingtai blinked, finally sitting up as she stared at eyes of incredibly deep, vivid brown. Hanging from the pollen without eyelids or even flesh, they were joined by a pair of pale red lips and a pair of thick, furry eyebrows, "I'm sorry Sir Flower, I didn't mean to disturb your rest."

The flowers' lips smacked against one another wetly, releasing a puff of pollen that Beatrice rose to intercept. The lidless orbs swiveled, their pupils following the Human Faced Bees actions. After a moment of holding the insects gaze, the flower seemed to flex and brought its eyes back to meet Yingtai's own.

"No need to apologize," The flower replied kindly, "I simply wanted to say hello. This is my first time here, and I was as surprised as you are." The flower chuckled, "May I have your name, Little Miss?"

Yingtai was not born of a great deal of caution, unfortunately. As one of her age and experience, it can hopefully be forgiven that she had been overtaken by a powerful curiosity. Starved for the new at her small, enclosed world, she thoughtlessly did as all children are wont to do, without ample warning to the contrary.
"My name is Feng Yingtai, Sir Flower." She said with a smile, reaching out with a grasping hand.

"My name is Diaxing," The flower said, it's eyebrows curled into arches that framed its eyes in a facsimile of warmness, one of the plants extending a petal out to meet her in kind.

"It's very nice to meet you."

—-​

Over the next several days Yingtai discussed much with the ever-curious Diaxing. He had explained that he had not known of the plateau mesas before, only drawn to them as a result of the events of That Day. Which made perfect sense to the still unknowing girl; of course the talking flower was brought by those events. It's not as if the Bloodbells had been growing before that!

And so, eager to have someone ask about her life, Yingtai told Diaxing everything she knew; the stories of the Mesa-People's oral history. The cunningly hidden bee hives from which Beatrice had originally hailed. The fact that once, long ago their people were said to have been dark of skin as well, but as time passed their skin became like jade, and warded away all pigmentation. The name Beatrice in particular was supposed to be taken from one of those old ancestors, said to have brought them up to the Mesa's to save them from some great calamity that had driven them south.

Then he had asked of the Bees themselves, and Yingtai eagerly explained that too - how the oldest of her village were only ever in their third decade, and upon reaching their fourth would descend into the Cleft in the Mountain, where they would feed the bees in order to keep them strong enough to pursue the stronger monsters that would occasionally rise up from the cloud cover.

Dixiangs eyes were eerie, but his eyebrows and lips were more than expressive enough to serve as an excellent audience. But after some time Yingtai felt that she could grasp his thoughts to a degree, and in turn she grew ever more comfortable with the strange, talking flower.

"This…Beatrice, your Ancestor." Dixiang had asked one day, "Do you know what happened to her?"

It had proven to be one of Yingtai's most memorable days since That Day, going around the mesa and asking for details. Scraps of record and folklore, all to answer the question that curious flower had asked. Not once had she mentioned Dixiang, of course. Yingtai was still a child, and holding of a child's selfishness, their need for secrets of their own. Thankfully, her inquiries bore fruit! Kept on a tablet with the rest of the oldest legacies of their settlement was the story of the original Beatrice.

"Bravely she lead us to this mountaintop in the wake of whatever cataclysm, her skin like metal and her hair shining." The young girl had declared proudly in the flower patch, "But unfortunately, she couldn't find a way back down. Not with so many people with her. So she went into the depths of the Hive In the Mountain, and from there negotiated with the Bees.

In exchange for her own flesh, and the flesh of any one over four decades of age, they would watch over our people and protect us from the monsters!" She grabbed her own Beatrice, the Bee's face joyful at the impromptu story.

"What a sweet, inspiring tale Yingtai'er." Dixiang had said, pursing his lips wetly in the way that she had learned meant he was satisfied with the answer. But his lips then twisted into a frown, his crawling eyebrows setting themselves at a sad looking angle. Even the fleshless eyes of the flower tilted, facing the grass beneath it.

"I haven't been fair to you," The flower sighed at last, "All I've done is take advantage of your hospitality and asked you nothing but questions of my own. The least I can do is repay you in kind." The Bloodbell bent backward on its stalk, seemingly taking on an imposing position relative to her.

"Ask this old Dixiang anything, and he'll do his best to answer."

Well, it was impossible for Dixiang to answer the young girl's real questions. But this strange flower had been such a source of new experiences for her already. Even if it could only tell lies, they would still cause her imagination to soar, adding a bit more color to the life she had been living at the roof of the world.

"What's the world beneath the clouds like?"

Dixiang's lips bent upwards in a satisfied grin.

—--​

The world below was vast beyond imagining. Stretching far beyond even the horizon she saw every day, looking down upon the clouds. Filled with flower patches that were infinitely more colorful, infinitely more spacious, that spanned farther than the eye could see.

A world of immortals, just like Ancient Beatrice had once been. Figures able to fight off the monsters single handedly - Immortals - and who ate meals far more diverse and flavorful than what she had become used to on this mountain. Dixiang had insisted his own favorite was something called long pork, that Fenzing knew for a fact she had never had before.

Water that floated above ground, "Lakes" and "Ocean" and water that even moved through the ground! It turned out that the clouds, despite being mostly made of water, unleashed most of it below them! What the Mesas had received was only every a terribly minor portion of the water they had had to offer.

"I want to see it."

She had said wistfully. Dixiang had smiled indulgently.

The next day, the flower she had befriended was withered. Trampled. She could no find no sign of Dixiang's bizarre and funny face on the Bloodbell that had been his body.

"Ah, Yingtai'er." The buzzing of Beatrice at her side drew her gaze towards the source of the voice.

Beyond the edge of the flower patch, hovering above the sea of clouds endlessly churning beneath them, was a man older than any she had ever seen. Large of nose, and long of hair…But what drew her attention were those deep, rich brown eyes. Even ensconced in pink flesh, that gaze was unmistakable to Feng Yingtai.

"Dixiang?" She asked hesitantly.

The man smiled, "Sorry for deceiving you, but it was necessary for my own reasons. You said you wanted to see it, didn't you?"

The young girl turned to stare into the pitch black eyes of her companion, before both nodded in affirmation.

"Y-yes."

"Excellent," The old man said cheerfully, "Then I'd like for you both to join me on a trip." His grin grew wider as he held out a hand to them.

"And don't worry; this old man made sure to pack a lunch for both of you. You said you had wanted to try out Long Pork, did you not? I made sure to prepare my very best for all three of us."

A.N.: I've actually been tossing around this character concept for quite a long time now, if you could believe it. I just never felt the opportunity to sit down and actually write it out. But now that I've managed to hammer out her Dao's specifics, I felt like this was as good a time as any to commit to writing it out. So I did!

Anyway, in contrast to Aretaphila's Heaven-Shaking Song, Feng Yingtai will eventually come to wield the Dao of the Hive-Queen, a community based Dao which low key plugs those who are loyal to her into a network of like minded individuals. In lower SP stages this just results in a weaker form of the coordination memes that the Buzzing Apocalypse uses to her own benefit, but as Yingtai's Pillar develops and matures that will change very drastically.

Into something closer resembling our own Elder of Intrigues intended Dao of Circles.

I'll elaborate on it in later omake, especially once she receives a proper lecture from Dixiang and a chance to meet her Senior Sisters, at which point she'll start to ponder out her own core. But she'll need to do it fast!

Based on her rolls for this turn, that lunch Old Cannibal provided for her and Beatrice shot them both up to the 10th Heavenstage right off the bat! If Aretaphila isn't careful, she's at risk of getting lapped again!

Squeaking this in right before the finish line!!!! Let's see if I can't get one more in so I can at least definitely beat 10k words this turn!

edit: wait I already did I guess, lol

 

[Nordlending]

Meeting the Centurions

"Let's get this meeting started," Demetrius declared to his fellow Centurions as they entered the tent, "We have received our marching orders. We are heading for Mountain Bell."
"Where is the Legate?" Centurion Julia Septimius said as she found her seat at the table. "Did you usurp his position and seal him away again?"
"Doubtful." Centurion Avalon responded as he found his own seat. "I saw the afterimage of him running away last night. It looked like death itself had whispered in his ear."
"He received a message that Old Lady Destasia has declared war on gravity, and he decided this was a good time to say goodbye to his loved ones," Demetrius answered. "Something about Gaius Antonius homebrewed apocalypse only being a prelude of what to come."
"That would explain it."
"The Legate would never run away from something as dull as death itself."

"What can we expect from the Mountain Bell sect?" Julia asked as she picked up a recording stone.
"You can think of them like the Myias, except they traded away durability and attitude for actual cores," Demetrius responded, "They mainly use their Demonic Tunes to cover for their lack of upper body strength. We are expected to save the day as they bravely retreat."
"Expected enemies?" Avalon questioned
"The usual suspects," Demetrius answered. "Demonic Altar, Heavenly Time, and the Ma Empire. The mysterious and elusive Gao Clan might show up.
"The Gao Clan. I have never heard of them." Julia said as she studied the map.
"Weren't they wiped out centuries ago?" Avalon asked
"The map of the Great Battlefield makes no mentions of the Gao Clan."
"That's not a map. That's a giant sheet with the word barbarians written on it."
"It's accurate enough for our purposes," Demetrius interjected. "The Gao Clan specializes in poisons and assassination. Our scouts have never encountered a Gao elite, so we suspect they are highly skilled in stealth.
"Anything else?" Avalon asked.
"Unfortunately, we will not encounter the Poison Crushing Forest and its twisted minions, the Noble Knowledge Sect," Demetrius responded with a sad look on his face. "In general, we will need to remind our men to not steal from our allies. If they see anything they like, they will have to take it as spoils after a duel like everyone else. If the target doesn't bite, they have our permission to insult their mother.

"Sounds good," Avalon responded. "How much time do we have?"
"According to our orders, we should have started marching two weeks ago."
"Shame, I heard Strenght Purity had a ghost who gives out freebies. I wanted to see what it had to offer."
"I am sure we can make time for it," Demetrius responded. "I had some plans to visit the Ten Million Spirit Stone Auction House while we were there."
"What about visiting the Cat Desert Cult. I heard they have a cat statue as tall as a mountain?" Julia interjected.
"I will add it to the list," Demetrius responded with a grin. "I am sure the flute blowers can hold out for a bit longer."

Omake Bonus
I have no idea if I actually produced something this turn. If not I want an LST.

 

[Alectai]

Rina Callista
Mutual Interrogation​

"No, seriously, what the hell happened over there?" Xu Zhen asked when the two schedules finally had enough wiggle room to allow for a meeting. "You go off thinking it's going to be a flag showing, and it goes into annexing a Great Clan's territory! And that even throws out the rumours tied to the Blood Mists!"

"Ughhhhhhh…" Rina rubbed her temples at the thought. "I don't even want to think about it, everything just kept escalating at every turn and everything went mad. First the Grand Elder whipped out what was apparently some reserve treasure that gave him an advantage--then there was the great weapon the Jingshen detonated to try and stop us that got turned back around on them--and then the Blood Mists happen right in the middle of the decisive battle! We were expecting a drawn out siege of manoeuvre that was going to bleed us white to force them back into their fortress before dictating surrender terms! Not, well…"

"The Jiingshen being paper tigers who had no ability to cope when their 'Throw Money at it to make it go away' strategy failed? " Xu Zhen winced. "Damnit, this causes problems, and then there was the show that your Noble Spirit Lord put on."

"Yeah, that came as a surprise--the Elder Council had been keeping what they were up to with most of the captured money under heavy security, but if it was reawakening some old legacy and empowering our bloodlines." Rina sighed. "We've had occasional throwbacks to the higher grades of the Blood, but they tended to be rare mutations rather than something consistent, and never had they been recognized by the Bells."

"Your Clan's been making a lot of people very nervous lately." Xu Zhen states the obvious, and slumps back on his chair. "Your own efforts here combined with some of the outreach have mitigated the damage considerably, but you didn't have much leeway to begin with. Now? You're going to start getting a great deal of scrutiny, especially with the rumours getting out."

"Ah, those ones." Rina's face fell.

"Yes, that Gaius fellow. No Five-Element Tribulation, and the Blood Mist coincided with it. Was it just the timing? Him being the fifth living King to rise to the position?"

"Hard to say." Rina shook her head. "I've been putting a great amount of thought into it--but I haven't exactly met him myself, but he's been extensively vetted for corruption, either of the Blood Path or something else, directly by the Grand Elder. By all indications, the Blood Mist was primed to fire at the next Single Pillar Ascension, and he just happened to be the one who was left holding the bag when it triggered. But…"

"A lot of people just needed an excuse, not a reason." Xu Zhen agrees. "And with the Demonic Altar destroyed, there's going to be a realignment in the aftermath. There's a lot of dead people and plenty of grudges to be sorted out."

"It's why I can't actually bring myself to criticise our actions in the War." Rina admitted. "Even if it was more aggressive than I'd have done, the war was waged ethically, as cleanly as it gets, and in light of the upcoming realignment, without a sufficient resource base, we're simply going to be struck down the next time the Righteous Path builds their strength again. That's an unacceptable outcome, not when there's so much rebuilding left to do--the Desert has existed under poor stewardship for much of its history. Under our banner, that will change."

"Your intentions might be good, but that doesn't mean the ones who end up in charge will see things the same way." Xu Zhen cautions. "We've got new talents springing up like bloody weeds, and I'm starting to get a bit worried about my position. Master's still supporting me, but she doesn't have as much time as she used to, between her exploits in the War and the time she needs to spend cultivating. If some little shit emerges from nowhere and goes from zero to Thirteenth Heavenstage in one go--even if they don't form the Single Pillar, they'd inherently be a better prospect than me, especially with how long my cultivation's been stalled out here."

"You could break through whenever you want though?" Rina asked, before her eyes widened. "Wait, you're going for an unorthodox method?"

"I mean, I did get as far as the 12th Heavenstage in Qi Condensation." Xu Zhen managed to bravely keep his face up at the reminder of his unreliable nature. "And as wild as things are getting, it struck me as… Impractical to just be a normal Elder. I've got to keep up with the times, you know? I don't have any of those same blessings that some people have, I'm just a guy with a stick and a decent enough mind. I've been putting most of my Contribution Points to use building up my foundation, trying to figure out the perfect alignment before breaking through. It's only relatively recently though that I had a breakthrough in that field. I think I'll be able to keep up with the times thanks to all that study."

Rina grinned there. "It's great that you've gotten a little more ambition though! I know you'd be able to do well in the front lines, I was getting a little worried for a while that you hit a bottleneck, I don't have so many friends that I'd be happy to leave any of them behind!"

Xu Zhen winced. "Friends, huh? You forgot about that contract, right?"

Rina shook her head. "That's that and this is this, we're both in a critical moment of our cultivation, and honestly I'm doing so much work to keep up with the demands of my own that there's not much time for anything along those lines. I've only shored up the most obvious fractures in my Pillar by this point, and it just means the others are leaking that much more! It's like an insatiable monster with no end in sight!" She fell back and pouted. "I almost wonder if I should have just set up a traditional set of Pillars instead of investing it all into my [Halo], but then I wouldn't have been able to influence things as much as I have. Definitely, I would have died when Lady Jiao tried to kill me."

Xu Zhen was just about to take a drink of wine, happily listening to Rina's little rant when she made that last remark. He wasn't so controlled that he avoided spraying it all out. "Wait, another Nascent Soul picked a fight with you?!?" He sputtered. "How are you still alive"

Rina preened under the attention. "Hehe, the Late Single Pillar Method gives many abilities, some that could be called unnatural, I flew away and dodged most of her strikes when they contacted my [Astral Voidguard]." Her lips puckered up a bit then. "Of course, that just convinced her to commit, but then a junior of mine called down tribulation on top of us, and the Grand Elder ran her through and picked her apart with that advantage. That probably was what decided the war for us right then and there--when we had two Nascent Souls to their one, he couldn't adequately respond to our two-pronged approach."

"Most people… Wouldn't really be able to play keepaway with a Nascent Soul for any time measurable in seconds." Xu Zhen shook his head. "And I'm pretty sure your cauldron doesn't go that fast."

Rina's grin returned, gestured with a hand, and… Started to levitate, still maintaining her sitting position.

"... Wait, what?" Xu Zhen stared blankly. "Unlimited flight? Really? Just mimicking the magic of a Nascent Soul isn't enough, now you can fly like one too?"

"I don't think just any Single Pillar could do the same." Rina admitted. "But I can effectively reduce my mass to close to zero, and then propel myself pretty much as I will. Hovering like this isn't a problem, but going at speed gets expensive really fast, and I still need to accelerate compared to a Nascent Soul just going from zero to full speed in an instant."

Her cheeks pinked then. "There's a problem though, I can't really wear an ordinary uniform or armour in it, because I can't actually reduce their weight down. I've made do with a lightweight cloak, but the rest is one of a Nascent Soul ancestor's outfits. I just can't bear to wear it in public though, even if it's compatible with my magic and doesn't weigh me down. My ancestor had a terrible sense of fashion."

"... By terrible sense of fashion, are we talking super gaudy or…" Xu Zhen asked.

"Straps." Rina curled up and buried her head in her knees, spinning around in the air slowly. "Just strategically placed straps, I'd never been more mortified in my life for the kinds of things I have to do to eke out more combat effectiveness. I'd never live it down if I lost my cloak in battle."

Xu Zhen tried to imagine that.

He failed.

"Uh… Hopefully you can find something you're more comfortable in? Later?" He tried to comfort her, patting her on the head when she spun into reach. "I mean, it's just Nascent Soul grade clothing, that's probably the least difficult thing to work with in that bracket, right?"

Now he had to comfort his fiancee, and prevent her from dwelling on her first clash with the Things Cultivators Sometimes Have To Do to Keep Up.

There were worse ways to spend an evening.

 

[BungieONI]

I love these two lovebirds. Xu Zhen is from Strength Purity right?

 

[Alectai]

I love these two lovebirds. Xu Zhen is from Strength Purity right?

Click to shrink...

Rina is a dork who always rolls Paladin and Xu Zhen is a long suffering realist who doesn't cope well with shenanigans, together they fight cultists and triumph over evil!

 

[adamashield]

Title The Second Great Elder March part 2

Alternative Title: The Shadow of The Worm Grown Larger​

[edit: Collab: Pleuron + Builder]

On his bowed position the builder looked up at the Mighty Mayor of the (lesser) devil city of Sunnydale. Even reaching the 10th​ heavenstage did not change that the leader of this great (and dark) city was stronger than him, more skilled than him and certainly having different goals.

Both of them have family-oriented goals but how much priority that enters their personal goal is what is causing this discussion.

"Ah, what are you thinking now, my loyal servant?" said the Master of Sunnydale.

"My civic master, I am just thinking, that both of us are family men, but how that influences our actions in different ways". The second builder said honestly but gave this as a better flavor.

"Indeed, it is hard to be a family man in these lands, it is even harder to be a patriarch. It has been so long that I have acted in those tasks while also doing my work as Mayor, that I am feeling a bit. Unstable, it is the nerves" the very dangerous man said.

Still in a bowed position the legionary nodded to his (civilian) superior. "You already know that you will get better with time and that you will feel more stable and more at ease in your task as a father, in fact both you and your daughter will be more at ease with each other's presence and action. But let me speak as someone that had adopted many, many children of my own. And that is your loyal servant. Let me say that if you need our help. We will be eager to do so". The second Builder stated.

The older man smiled at the legionary while flexing his power. That is now at the Apex of the foundation stage.

"This is what I liked about your cult. You guys respect your elders, you guys respect the laws that are written and the unwrite laws, you all are productive members of society and perform your civic duties. You can be proud of what you created". Said the Master of Sunnydale.

The second builder just nodded once more. The first builder waited in silence since both brothers did know how close to a fight this can be with the mayor this unnerved. So, no flare of Qi to talk to each other.

"It is a shame that you people must temporarily leave this city" he said only to continue "and I, your superior, will command you to do just that using the legal laws and the contract that The Brotherhood and I wrote and built together in other legal documents. You must obey, do you not, mister builder". The Mayor did not ask the last part. He stated his will.

Once more the legionary nodded to his civilian superior "it so my civilian Master, the path I desire requires the Purest of Instead on my Dao, what was Built cannot be Broken be me if I wish the path that the Kings had walked before me". The Second builder answered once more as truthfully as possible.

"Good, good. It is nice to see some of the pacts I did remain true even in these dark times. You would not believe the things my wife did when she aged and I did not. Lashing out on me and breaking so many of our vows that we offered to each other." The Mayor Qi flared, showing a bit more of instability, he took a bit more of the air and continued.

"The things I endured and the money I used to make a city in the devil desert. The things I allowed your elders to unleash here to have the resources for the common good of my citizens. So that they could have the means to continue after all those, so called, 'trials'. All while laws and oaths were broken. But you know all of that already". The very dangerous man said. Took another breath only to snort in another moment.

"So, just to be clear, almost all of your people had left this city to work, meanwhile the damn blood mist had hit us. The only members of the Brotherhood here, no matter how distance, were four women and one baby. That you wish to search or hunt to discover what happened to them" the Mayor once more did not ask; he stated and waited for his reply.

"It is so, our appreciation for the Angelus and our desire to maintain the bonds we made with the Scions of that House to continue are well known. So, my people either worked there in these last decades or they followed me in a secret realm" the last part makes The Mayor raise an eyebrow. So, the second builder continued.

"So, I followed the Eldest Angelus Scion instructions to seek power and decided to enter a secret realm with the core members of my Brotherhood to cultivated in a secret realm, meanwhile the rest of our group made sure that the Angelus kindness was repaid, with their work that they did in the mines that was called, the infamous, 'Gold fever'. Said fever that I and the rest of the elders also joined when we returned from the secret realm". The second Builder resumed as clearly as possible.

"Yes, all that money, and those new opportunities, it was nice. Especially the part when not only you guys made sure to not make this new industry grow in a way that my city is not competing with the Angelus and also made sure that we had a fight change for the new contracts that had come from the Angelus. I appreciated that." The scary man nodded to himself. Then he slapped a hand on his fist and looked at a Windom. The city of Sunnydale had looked better some years ago, even with all the 'normal' monsters and fallen projects. Truly this city had some better days in the previous decades.

"And I appreciated the fact your group had joined mine in hunting the blood path in this city. And you did your part as best you could. Unlike the bone boy group. Unlike those fallen sorceresses, unlike that group that think themselves so wise and so watchful and unlike the lesser butcher girl. Your group, like my daughter, the best butcher girl, helped me in my time of need." The Mayor said, only to start walking to the bowed builder.

The Master of Sunnydale put both of his hands on the builder's face making sure that some of his finger also touched the iron ring in the legionary neck.

"So, I will allow you guys to leave so that my city is not damaged by your own war with that, so called, 'worm that builds' ". The Mayor said while smiling.

[I Command you my servant, make a new sanctuary, the ones around My City are compromised] said The Mayor with his mind and Qi. Which probably means that room was being watched.

"Your quotas of production of materials, products, art and services can be reduced, since you had so many decades of production above your obligations" continued the smiling Mayor while using a bit of the strength of his arms to make the Second Builder raise.

[You are to offer my firecracker, my Faith, support if she requires, you will do so if you can in your new city even if she does not request your aid] the foundation established said while flexing his QI and meeting the builder eye with his own eyes. His snake-like eyes.

"I understand my civic Master," said the second Builder.

[Even with all our history, you can be Sure that juniors are to be protected, Faith will be treated like our beloved children if something happens to you. The Sins and dues of a father should not fall on their children]. said the first Builder. Using the Mayor Qi presence to hide his own.

"Good, good. It is a shame that servants like you and yours are so rare" said the Mayor while gently pushing the younger man out of his office, with one hand on legionary back that still was touching the ring of iron.

[The Council of Watchers, the bone cultivator sect, the demonic sects, and the lesser butcher girl group will cause some trouble in my ascension to the core realm. A wild group led by a spirit beast that can follow something like the Dao of Building is a significant problem that we cannot have at this moment. My arrays must stay whole. And you said that thing will break anything that doesn't meet his alien standards] quickly said the Mayor.

Both men were at the door. The Mayor shook the Legionary hand. While putting another hand on the devil head (and the iron ring) in a gesture of affection.

"So, I hope that your new city gives your Brotherhood lots of good opportunities and that your good karma rewards you" said the Master of Sunnydale.

[I cannot protect my firecracker from all my enemies while in closed cultivation, nor I feel such a superiority in my skills that this divination war in my city can be ignored by me for too long. And I will not risk her fate. I failed to kill them for centuries at this point, but they also failed to kill me while we all acted under the rules of Old Gold. But now the Devils ruled supreme in the desert. Some of the rules will be rasher, some of our loopholes closed]. The civilian Master said in quick pulses of Qi. Only to continue.

[So, I will use this bond of ours to protect my girl. So, until next time. My friends] the mayor gave them a genuine smile.

So, while both trade their farewell gifts. The brothers got a 'bad stone' that looked (and felt) really nasty, and the mayor got a Big Cigar Box. Each cigar was actually a map or other important information that could be the key to the Mayor's victory.

The second Builder copied the Mayor and put his hand on the Mayor's head. The nasty bad stone presence made it possible to send a last comment from both builders by hiding their Qi.

"We will see each other again when we finish the war that the damned worm has started," said the second builder.

[We will keep in touch if you need our help] said the same brother using the iron ring.

[Still, given that we follow the same Dao as the worm, we expect this conflict to build for some time] the first builder joked with the Mayor for the last time.

The Mayor nodded to them. Walked to his officer and simply said "farewell and Old Gold Speed for you and yours".

Xxxx



I, Pleuron, must be better. Must serve my people better, most prepare for the new War with the hunters.

War is something I know. But reality shows that even with all my decades of being aware and the knowledge I, Pleuron, got. There is still more to learn about War.

For War is All.

And I, Pleuron, am a city. And I must excel in all fields to truly excel in my duties as a city. Especially a city at war at cultivators so much stronger than even my strongest avatar.

As protector of mortals. As a leader of cultivators. As the literal wall that protects my people of the harsh existence is this forsaken land in this cursed world. I, Pleuron, need to be More. To become a Paragon and Home.

In this I, Pleuron, would use the many lessons in my trials, mistakes, and victories.

Victories, Like Auspicious Nine improvements on my Qi energy. Which made my avatar, my champion, fiercer than before. And more useful as the choke point where the enemies of my people will die.

Experiences, like the Clan's board. Truly a source of knowledge, culture, and War. Sometimes literally so, when cultivators war among themselves in those forums. Economical wars, war of words. War of beliefs. Iron shaping Iron. All under the careful eyes of the Elders.

I, Pleuron, invested my gain upon myself, while exploring choices using other cultivators' resources. I witness the gain and losses of other cultivators' actions and investments that they did in the past and present. From their errors and successful hits, I learn while risking almost nothing.

The fruits of those successes I try to use on my own cultivators. Those that live inside I, Pleuron, are getting a guiding hand from myself. in the form of my many lesser avatars, my champion and/or by I, Pleuron, modifying myself to give them a little push in the right direction.

But my mind still cannot hold the vastness of myself. My 'left hand' truly doesn't know what my 'right hand' is doing.

So, using my avatar as 'general' I command myself.

And by listening to my people, their own trials and success. I grow as they grow.

Like Quasimodo, the builder of lesser copies of I, Pleuron, avatars.

By shielding and nurturing a little child. By being his protector, by nurturing his mind and body (as much as I, Pleuron, could at the time). I have gained much. By insisting on investing resources after that foul man broke part of the resources invested in that child. I gain even more.

My three ugly (lesser) avatars, gargoyle in appearance, had become gracious and beautiful. The care of the temple of the golden devils and the clock tower become far easier with Quasimodo's work.

And I learned of the needs of man. Man requires the company of other people, Man has his own dreams that I, Pleuron, must help in fulfilling. Just like Quasimodo needs to spread his wings and, maybe, get to I, Pleuron, more adorable children.

On the other hand, I, Pleuron, must know how much I can invest in each of my people. And on each of their champions.

For there are many problems demanding resources. For my people hunger, for my people fear. Which is breaking them of their dreams and Personal Goals.

The farms on I, pleuron, still need more workers. They were scarred by the magnitude of the last trials. Even my greatest defender. Jin Muyi's memory cannot bring more mortals to my field. And His fall, his terrible fall, made those fearful mortals, those scarred mortals from the war.

Well those mortals will either continue to run away without a Paragon to bring them hopes. Bringing them dreams.

The quality of my soldiers, my guards, my administration is still also suffering from that terrible trial. From lacking experience (they are too young), lacking interest, lacking time and/or lacking human resources when the desert hungers for so much with the new gains of the Clan.

But there still hope with the likes of the Auspicious and the Pleuron Family. And those distance constructors, which my new contract demands that they now work inside I, Pleuron. Instead of just sending my good quality glasswork and other products.

Still the work of a champion is never over. And a city never sleeps. If she wishes to become truly a great city.

My avatar feet step on another worm. While my avatar fist smashes a rat that had worms instead of eyes.

Around me, on the sewers of I, Pleuron, my avatar faces a legion. Unscarred and with my Dao heart held firm.

"You need to invest more in your sewers!!!" said the swarm, with thousands of tongues and many other means to produce sound from bugs that also had worms on them. At the front of that foul group there is a beast.

Some kind of Bull that was infested by worms, his form twisted in the shape of Man. A twisted form that makes even my helpers/my lesser avatars beautiful in comparison.

Said tainted Bull was smashing the wall of the sewer of I, Pleuron, using the corpse of a worker.

Said work was Marius. A Good Man, A Good Devil. A Good worker. A Great father of three (Thanasis, Theofylaktos and Theofanis), A Great husband for Alexia. He will be missed.

"Forgot the people! build for your own sake!!! Why are you devils such a disappointment for I, your great Grandfather?" The swarm continues to talk while I, Pleuron, modify my tunnels killing hundreds of worm-infested creatures. A quick flex of my Qi makes the water of the sewer of I, pleuron, even more deadly. For I have the spark of Heaven tribulation inside myself. And with that I can use lightning.

"I can hear your unspoken voice and your thoughts just by looking at you. I am a builder after all" the foul creature said while the Bull tried to capture my avatar, while the fouled and desecrated body of my work started to move alongside the swarm.

"Forget the people!!! Like the Devil Who Builds should also do" he continues while my avatar gives ground.

Above the sewer the soil where The Feast of Fools continues. Some of my workers are in position for my needs. They acquired alcohol that was considered unsafe for consumption (or that did not pay enough to that foul man).

And droop said alcohol. A spark makes the swarm burn.

"This is not enough to defeat me even if I was here, also I will kill your brewers for lacking care of their buildings and the quality of the beer!!! This substandard product will not be tolerated".

It was unsafe-

"I don't care, if they can't reach my standard as mortals, then they will reach those standards serving as tools, like you will if you continue to offend me!" the swarm answered while more corpses fell from the 'palace of justice' darkest dungeons to drop on this sewer.

At the same time wasted food and animals drooped here. All infested with worms.

He had invested too much here. Good.

"Wait, don't you dare to damage these walls" said the swarm while the bull punched a hole in the walls of I, pleuron, while the swarm scratched, and damaged said walls.

Hypocrite.

"What is True and Good for I, your Great, Great Grandfather. This Great one who is speaking to you and was true and acceptable for you, trash, is different. Even better trash, that can become better tools like you. What do you think of yourself? That you are a person? You need to be golden core cultivators to even enter the eyes of I, your grandfather". Said the worm with thousands of voices.

The beasts continue to talk to me while I punch the bull in the knee, while I move my knife to hold a pig on the wall. While my helpers/lesser avatar hit from above using bolts on many creatures.

Somehow, I doubt my enemy is a Core Elder.

"Silence! What once was will be once more be. I only need to wake up a little bit more. Even this trash, unclean, Ugly. New era will have enough resources to build myself to glory once more". Said the worm.

The human corpses are now in melee distance. For all this talk, these worms are barely above mere animals in strength. Making these 'soldiers' below even adult mortals. Only their appearance and the shock of fighting someone you know. Like those poor (and dead) beggars that failed to get jobs by the actions of that foul man. Even when I tried to help them.

"They could not fix their roof, why should I, your Great, Great, Great Grandfather allow them to waste even more money and food that belongs to some other trash that still could be useful?" said the corpses of said people.

Says the 'worm that builds' (nothing). While I break and punch many holes on the horde while giving ground.

"My tool. Close your foul mouth!" insisted the horde.

It is just trying to scare me, some of the worms start using the voices of their corpses to repeat words that those men used in life. Some of those bodies begged for their 'lives', to stop me from acting. They continue until I have no more ground to give.

"End of the line. You are now mine. Give me your heart!!!!" said the worm while I was at the end of this sewer tunnel.

The biggest of the bodies held me while the smaller creatures tried to rush to me even while my tunnels tried to smash them into pulp.

Just as planned.

"Wait what-" said the horde.

I became light, the worms on my avatar disappeared into dust. I become lightening. Pushing with my hands, the walls of I, Pleuron, I become speed.

The tunnel is the perfect size for my flying (avatar) self, that statement remains true even while boosting my avatar speed with jets of lightning, the arrays on my sewer boost my champion even further beyond and fuel my avatar reserves, and this tunnel is a straight line.

"Damn youuuuuuuu!" the swarm says while being reduced by dust. If any survive, then my tunnels will crush them. The fire will consume them, and the things my helpers are now dropping that they collected from the sewer of the Auspicious worse parts will poison them to death. Those things cannot be resisted by mere weak spirit beasts.

My avatar returns to flesh and stone just in time. The short time that I can maintain my techniques, even booster by I, Pleuron, was just enough to get the job done.

Still while my avatar ascends from the hole I, Pleuron, just created. I see my festival of fools.

Oh, my hollow avatar is covered in blood and other things. But I, Pleuron, most focus, because my avatar witness, my sweet Quasimodo crying.

He was behind a muscular old man that was covering him from an angry mob alongside a mortal woman that had some hunter blood on her veins. Broken ropes and rotting food were around the trio.

WHO DARES!

WHO EVER TOUCH MY BELOVED MORTALS WILL FACE MY WRAITH!

"I agree with what she said," Said the muscular elder. Wait what, he can-.

"Yes, Great city, we speak 'building'". How? why?

"Long history short, work for enough time under family and someone that has the Dao of Building and/or have family members that are deaf, mute, etc. Communication will be easier." Said the muscular man, while a muscular elder lady approached. Followed by muscular young people.

My calm (temporarily) restored (the probable goal of this elder) we now face, in a united front, the foul man at the front of the angry mob.

Claude Frollo.

word count (3804).

Author notes: Yeah this continue to be easier than '40th tales'.

@ReaderOfFate, @Kaboomatic, @no. another one for the pile. please put this one on the builder^^.

I will do a second post to help link this to the Pleuron omake list.

 

[adamashield]

Making here the second post, to link this to the omake pile of the Pleuron.

And I would request a healing treasure^^.

@ReaderOfFate, @Kaboomatic, @no.

 

[Quest]

Put this on Xiao Yingzi please. I just realized that she's the one who needs the wordcount this turn. It is a continuation of my last omake with Antonius which is here: Link As before, it chronologically occurs sometime in turn 12 when Antonius was assigned to the What we Have, We Hold mission. I had fun using a bunch of cliche lines with this, so I hope you have a lot of fun reading this too. Enjoy!

Xiao Yingzi Extra 1
[Turn 12]
[Heavenly Sword Beauty 2]​

Heavenly Sword Beauty meditated before the pool that was her secret training ground. She had been taught the basics of it by her father long ago, but like him, she did not see the value of such a practice. To sit still and condense the qi in the air was like trying to squeeze water out of stone. Performing swordsmanship routines while doing so might be far less efficient, but it was much more productive.

But the spirit stones the Bronze Immortal had gifted her was a precious treasure. Haji Village gained maybe five stones a year and of much lower quality, all of them saved for the most talented of martial artists. The ones she held now were more numerous and more powerful, each one likely worth more than the village itself. She would have to meditate in order to not waste it, despite her misgivings for the practice.

Such was the power within them, that she awakened twice reaching what the immortal had called the Third Heavenstage in a matter of days. It was only when she reached that towering level that she found herself stopping. With the pool near her, she had no issue with thirst but the hunger was beginning to be overpowering. And there was a feeling in the back of her mind that to rush through this level was unwise.

And so, she stopped there.

She had already surpassed any in her village, including that damned Red Sky Princess. With a vicious grin, she turned to look at her own face in the pool. The scar was still there around her eye, but it no longer filled her with rage and loathing. No, now all she felt was a feeling of righteous expectation. Soon, she would have justice for the wrongs done to her.

A similar wound wouldn't be enough. Perhaps both eyes?

I will repay her kindness twofold!

Heavenly Sword Beauty grinned in righteous anticipation.

| | | | | | | | | |​

She marched through the village in triumph, intending to challenge that witch immediately and settle things, however as she walked through her home, that feeling subsided and a frown worked its way onto her face. Where were the children playing in the streets? Where was the old lady who bickered with her whenever she disappeared out of the town?

Things in Haji Village were not as Heavenly Sword Beauty had left them.

She made her way to the training grounds where the Heaven-Piercing Sword was practiced, seeking out her fellow martial adepts for explanations. Even they seemed to be lesser in number than she expected, many of her fellow swordsmen clearly missing. When she arrived at the grounds, Heavenly Sword Sovereign, one of her closest companions approached her with clear relief on her face.

"Heavenly Sword Beauty! You are safe! We thought the worst." He said, walking up to her with his junior brother Mo Shi in tow. She nodded in concern, eyes habitually flashing towards his shirtless chest before looking up to meet his eyes. He carried his longsword unsheathed, as if prepared for a fight.

"Brother, what happened?" She asked, glancing once more at the state of the village. "It seems like something terrible has happened."

He grimaced and nodded. "A group of our own encountered a demonic beast during their hunts. It devoured them all, leaving only one survivor." There was a hint of rage and grief in his eyes that didn't belong in the eyes of her most determined companion. "We think it was the same one that consumed my junior brother, Mo Shi."

She grit her teeth and placed a hand on his shoulders. "We will hunt this beast down." She swore, flaring her aura to its full power and causing his eyes to widen. "I swear this in the name of the Heavenly Sword Beauty."

"You- How- " He stopped, then took a breath and then nodded, looking her in the eye. "I shall accept your oath then and hold you to it, martial sister."

She nodded in acceptance. "Take me to the survivor. Who was it?"

"It was Red Sky Princess." The man said, causing her to freeze. He looked at her for a moment, knowing her feelings on the woman.

She shook her head. "There will not be a problem." She replied. Not until we get this beast sorted out. She promised herself. But once that was done…. "Lead the way, martial brother."

He nodded slowly. "Come this way."

Heavenly Sword Beauty followed him, mind focusing on the beast that threatened her home.

| | | | | | | | |​

Most people look worse when they have just escaped from a demonic beast. Red Sky Princess somehow made even that look beautiful. The hints of tears in her eyes from sorrow made them shine all the brighter. Her clothes torn from the battle were nearly artistic in their placement and more than any of that, her skin remained utterly unblemished.

At the sight of the woman, Heavenly Sword Beauty felt a curdling hate rise within her heart but she suppressed it. There would be time for that later. Instead, she walked up to the woman and planted her feet. "Tell me of this beast you escaped from." She demanded. "I will hunt it down."

Red Sky Princess blinked at her, seeming surprised at her presence. "You would hunt it down?" She asked with a frown. "But you are merely at the first awakening. The demon would kill you where you stand."

Heavenly Sword Beauty gave her a smirk and surged her aura. "Did you think that I would have languished? I have already surpassed you."

The Princess' eyes widened as she felt her power. Then they narrowed with suspicion. "How!?" She asked. "Who did you- What insight did you gain?"

"Just like you," The Beauty lied. "I was blessed by insight from the very heavens."

Heavenly Sword Sovereign cut in at that moment, addressing the Princess, sword held across his shoulders. "She's reached the same level of power as you have."

Heavenly Sword Beauty smugly nodded at that, before freezing. "Did you say that I have reached the same power as her?"

Red Sky Princess had recovered from her shock and gave her the usual soft smile. "Indeed, I have." She said, bowing her head. "In the midst of battle, the heavens saw fit to reward me with insight. That is what allowed me to awaken once more and escape with my life."

Though Heavenly Sword Beauty maintained a serene smile at her rival, in her heart she screamed defiance at the damned heavens.

| | | | | | | | | |​

"It was a digger." Red Sky Princess explained, eyes closed as she remembered the battle."That was how it got us. It ambushed us from underground and took out the weakest of us before it targeted me. It was incredibly fast, enough that we could not sense its approach."

Heavenly Sword Sovereign spoke after that, turning to you. "That's how we think it entered the village and attacked Mo Shi without alerting the guard. My junior brother always had a strong affinity to the Earth. The creature must have wanted to eliminate him."

Heavenly Sword Beauty considered that. "It sounds dangerous." She replied, shaking her head. "How do you expect to hunt it? The best I can imagine is to act as bait to bring it to the surface."

"Oh yes." The Sovereign grinned. "And then I can cut it in half with my heaven-shaking sword. That's the way I'll honor my junior brother."
The Beauty frowned. "You are only at the First Awakening. How would you even stand against the beast?" With a grin, he flexed his qi and she blinked at his aura. "The Second Awakening? How?" Wasn't that impossible to reach a few days ago? It was as if once she surpassed it, the heavens started giving it away like candy.

"Red Sky Princess shared her spirit stones with me." He replied, clapping the woman's shoulders. "Combined with the heightened energies in the air, I was able to break through."

"I did not need them as much as you did," The woman replied, giving her a serene smile just on the edge of smugness. "It is the duty of martial brothers and sisters to share resources when they can."

Heavenly Sword Beauty frowned at that, feeling annoyed. How unfair was it that she could reach her level without spirit stones when she needed such treasures? "That was good of you, martial sister." She quickly said. "However, let us focus on the beast."

Sovereign nodded. "Having faced it before, you must have a plan, Martial Sister."

Red Sky Princess nodded. "I believe its den to be near the mountain cave. If we visit it, it will undoubtedly have to surface to defend its home."

Heavenly Sword Beauty frowned. "That's incredibly far from the village. If anything happens, it will be hard for us to call for help or escape."

"We must risk it anyway." She replied, her face a mask of determination. "How else will we avenge our fallen?"

The Sovereign nodded. "The Heaven-Shaking Sword never backs down from a challenge!"

Heavenly Sword Beauty looked between them and finally, she nodded. "Then that is what we will do."

| | | | | | | | | |​

The mountain cave was an hour's walk from their village, even with their enhanced strength. They arrived there ready for battle, expecting the creature to ambush them at any moment. Heavenly Sword Sovereign holding his long-sword over his shoulders to deliver his overhead attack, the Thunderbolt Strike. Red Sky Princess had her needle-like sword held outwards, ready to puncture her enemies while Heavenly Sword Beauty had her own hand on her hilt, ready to draw from her sheath at a moment's notice.

However, the creature did not attack. They stood at the mouth of the cave at readiness until time passed and that state began to take on an awkward air. Finally, Heavenly Sword Beauty turned to the Red Sky Princess with a frown. "Where is the creature?"
"Perhaps it isn't home?" She replied, looking as confused as they all felt. She looked around the area in confusion before kneeling down to touch the ground. "I don't sense anything."

"We should check inside." Heavenly Sword Sovereign added. "Perhaps we can find some clues, or perhaps even the bodies of the victims for burial."

."That sounds like a good plan, martial brother." The Red Sky Princess said, before turning to the other woman. "Would you guard the entrance while we check?"

"Why should I stay behind?" Heavenly Sword Beauty asked, frowning. "I can more than take care of myself."

The Princess nodded patiently. "Of course, that is why you should stay behind." She replied. "You are strong enough to escape and fight if it arrives but our Martial Brother is not. One of us needs to stay with him."

"Then why don't our martial brother and I be the ones to enter?" Heavenly Sky Beauty asked, glancing at the man in question. "We have trained the most together and are more familiar with each other's skills."

"That sounds good." Heavenly Sky Sovereign said, grinning at her. "I'd love to see what you can do now."

The Princess looked between them, a frown forming in her face before nodding reluctantly. "I suppose that works just as well."

And so it was decided.

| | | | | | | | | |​

Heavenly Sky Beauty and Heavenly Sky Sovereign stalked through the cave, weapons at the ready. It was comfortable being next to him. They had known each other since they had both started training and like her, he had sought the heights of martial arts. How many times had he tried to leave the village 'to see the breadth of Heaven and Earth'?

"This is perhaps not the best time for this…" The Beauty began to say, but without even turning, the man held up a hand and cut her off.

"I know you want to declare your eternal love for me in case we die," He said, without even looking at her. "But as I told you, I seek a true Jade Beauty, not a somewhat pretty village girl, even if that girl is you."

"You may have eyes, but you obviously cannot recognise Mount Tai even when it stands before you." She growled out at that, wanting to kick him but not willing to do that in hostile territory. "Do you really think that one such as I would settle for a frog like you, when I have seen the colors of the ocean?"

This time, he turned to her with a look of interest. "What did you see?"

She grinned. "A Bronze Immortal came to me as I trained, entranced by my skill and beauty. So greatly was he impressed, that he granted me Heaven-grade Spirit Stones and invited me to his sect to train with him."

"You weren't blessed by insight from the very heavens then?" He asked, repeating the excuse she had used in front of the Princess with a smirk. He held up a hand over his shoulders and rubbed his fingers together. "Remember to spread those insights around when you can."

"As soon as we're done here, I promise you that." She replied, grinning back. "And as for your sarcasm, you know what that woman did to me."

"It was just a battle wound." He said, waving her off. "And honestly, I think it's nowhere near as bad as you think. Makes for a neat battle-scar. Women love battle-scars."

"I don't think you have any idea what woman want." She replied drily. "If you did, at the very least you'd remember that most of us like men."

He shrugged. "Men. Women. What's the difference? They're both mostly the same!"

Heavenly Sword Beauty shook her head. "See, it's because of that kind of naivety that lets Red Sky Princess fool you with a smile." She said, "You have no idea what kind a bitch she actually is."

He suddenly stopped in front of her and she had to stop as well, or run into him. "What happened? Did you find something?"

He turned back to her, grim-faced. "You need to see this."

He moved to the side, letting her see what was in the back of the cave. As she took in what was in front of her, she began to frown.

This didn't seem at all like what a digger would do.

| | | | | | | | | |​

At the end of the mountain cave, bones had been strewn about, cracked open to suck the marrow out and then left in an unrecognizable pile. However, as she knelt in to look closer, Heavenly Sword Beauty knew without a doubt that they were the bones of her comrades that had been killed. Yet, this didn't seem at all like what a digger would do.
It was too clean.

Where was the splatter of blood and the smell of shit? No place a beast felt comfortable enough to lair in was this well-kept. Even the bones were gathered to a side and the place almost seemed scrubbed. There had been deliberate effort to clean up the mess here and that wasn't bestial… it was human.

There was a thud behind her as something heavy hit the floor and Heavenly Sword Beauty whirled around to turn to Sovereign lying on the ground. Red Sky Princess stood over his unconscious body, sword held up and hilt having just struck him on the head. A furious scowl was on her face, showing her true colors for everyone to see.

"YOU!" Heavenly Sword Beauty yelled, but even she was unsure of what she was going to say. Horror filled her as her mind raced to understand the implications of what she had just had thrust upon her and that had been perhaps what slowed down her counterstrike, as the Red Sky Princess struck her with her blade.

The edge of that accursed weapon sunk into her sword-hand, causing her to drop her weapon and then before she could react, the Princess swung at her with the side of the blade and hit her on the head. She fell over from the impact, black unconsciousness chasing her as her head hit the floor. That was too much for her however and any struggle faded quickly.

The last thing she heard was the gloating voice of that man-eating bitch.

"I always was better than you in swordsmanship."

That bitch.

| | | | | | | | | |​

Release from the darkness came rather quickly for Heavenly Sword Beauty. Her eyes opened and she saw the bones strewn in front of her, causing her to jump back instinctively. That is when she became aware of two things - her sword was missing and she was tied down by ropes to the floor of the cave.

Looking around, she saw Heavenly Sword Sovereign still unconscious on the wall across from her and their weapons strewn in the middle. The demonic Red Sky Princess stood over those weapons and turned to her. She grinned, holding up the bag of spirit stones that the Bronze Immortal had given her. "So this is how you managed to catch up to me." She said, smirking as she examined a stone. "Such an amazing find and you never even mentioned it. You are just such a selfish bitch, aren't you?"

Heavenly Sword Beauty spit at her. It landed halfway to her, on the cave floor. Red Sky Princess grimaced at that."I don't want to hear that from you, bitch." She said, grimacing. "You fucking ate them! Where do you get off calling me selfish, you little monster!"

"I'm just pursuing power in any way I can." She replied, shrugging. "I can't help it. It's the only way I can now. I bet you couldn't deal with the hunger half as well."

"The hunger…" Heavenly Sword Beauty frowned, remembering that sensation they had all faced on that day when heaven woke and the red mists fell from the sky. "That was why you changed your name. The night when Mo Shi died. Do you even regret it?"

"I'm just dealing with the hand I am dealt." She replied, grimacing before her face was replaced with a smirk. Holding up a spirit stone, she dropped it into the ground. "Do you want that back? Tell me where you got them."

The tied swordswoman raised an eyebrow at that. "I'm not telling you shit."

"Fine then." She replied, then she raised a foot and stomped on the stone, shattering it into millions of little pieces.

"NO!" Heavenly Sword Beauty jumped forward… only to fall to the side. "How could you just destroy that? Do you know how much they are worth?"

"I have no need for it in my path." She replied, smirking again.

Heavenly Sword Beauty looked at her stunned… before a thought crossed her mind. "You can't use them, can you? That's why you gave your spirit stone allotment to Sovereign. HA! The path to heaven is before you, yet you chose the path to hell! HA!"

"I was just fattening him up for later." Red Sky Princess retorted, though her annoyed look made it clear that it had hit home. "Whatever. I guess if you won't tell me, I'll just kill you and move on."

That reminded Heavenly Sword Beauty very quickly of her predicament. She glanced down at her weapons and then realized that Heavenly Sword Sovereign's eyes were open, staring at the Princess with a rare fury. He looked into her eyes, and though she did not know exactly what he was going to do, she knew he had a plan.

Her eyes snapped to the Red Sky Princess. "Fine! Fine! I'll tell you!" She said, grinning savagely. "It's not like you can do anything about it."

Triumphant, she kneeled closer to you. "I'll be the judge of that." She proclaimed. "Now speak up. Or else."

"I got it from a Bronze Immortal." She replied, smiling at her as Sovereign drew a knife that had been hidden somewhere in his clothes. "He was of unfathomable power - a whole sky above our sky!" Red Sky Princess frowned as she listened, while she grinned wider. "And he said that he'd be back. And when he is, he will kill you."

She was outright grimacing now and Heavenly Sword Beauty's eyes went to Sovereign who was now on his feet, ready to attack. The Princess looked right at her face and realized what was happening. "Too late!" The Beauty said, before flipping her legs back, body-weight resting on her neck and then launching her legs at the Princess' face.

Her eyes widened as she brought up her sword to deflect the blow when Heavenly Sword Sovereign smashed into her back, tossing her into the cave wall. Quickly, he picked up his long sword and tossed Beauty her own. "Get free, I'll keep her busy." Beauty caught the blade with her teeth and began to work on her bonds as the two clashed.

"Red Sky Princess!" His voice was loud and bombastic, but with a strange trill of madness at its end. "You have shown me and my juniors much hospitality! Let me return the kindness tenfold!" Saying that, he swung his weapon down upon her, more like a hammer than a sword. Red Sky Princess recovered quickly from the prior attack, blade meeting blade with her usual perfect form.

It was strange to see that sharp, thin sword be a match for Sovereign's man-sized weapon but the weight of the weapon allowed him to hold his own quite well against her superior cultivation. Then Princess' blade slipped past his guard as it always does but he was ready, using her own weapon as a lever to swing his own into her face.

She jumped back, grimacing with her back against the wall. "That's how you got past Heavenly Sword Beauty, didn't you?" He asked, grinning savagely as he held the sword behind his back and touched the ground with his other hand. "I watched that match! I learnt how you fought! Don't think I will fall for the same tricks!"

His blade charged with crackling qi, as he began to charge the full force of his Thunderbolt Strike. With a grunt he leapt forward and his blade swung forward like heaven's tribulation.

And then Red Sky Princess ducked under the wide attack, turning under his sword to strike at his heart with her blade.

But when the crackling blade struck the wall behind her, the earth shattered into many pieces, sending them straight to the woman's unprotected back.

"Like I said, I won't fall for your usual tricks!" He shouted as she stumbled, dropping his sword to punch her in the face. "DIE!" The strike sent her flying, her face smashing into the walls, after which she fell like a heap on the ground. He waited for a moment, collecting his sword, but she did not rise.

Relaxing, he turned to Heavenly Sword Beauty who had just finished cutting up the rope and was staring at him wide-eyed. Immediately, he tensed, turning to block the blow he knew was coming but he was too slow. A sword punctured through his chest and then was removed quickly.

Red Sky Princess walked over his fallen body, her nose broken and face a mess but still grinning victoriously. "True, you know my style." She said to the fallen man. "But you still cling to the limits of mortality. That is why I will surpass you."

That last line was turned to the Heavenly Sword Beauty, you just grit her teeth in response, eyes falling to her friend who lay bleeding out. She hefted her blade, crackling with power. "This blade of heaven shall punish your sins."

With a breath, she struck. "Your blood shall water my earth." Her opponent replied, deflecting her strike with her own blade, before repeating the same technique that she used before. Heavenly Sword Beauty grinned, drawing upon the deep wells of the Third Awakening to force her blade back on the right path with a thunderous boom.

"Lightning never follows the same path twice." She proclaimed that the Red Sky Princess was forced to retreat. "Do not expect to be able to deflect me again!"

"Lightning doesn't strike the same place twice." Her opponent corrected, "And anyway, you have yet to strike me once!"

As they danced along the cave, over the bleeding body of a comrade, the Beauty's new technique of heavenly redirection easily countered the Princess' preferred strategy of using her opponent's attacks against them. "I shall have my victory and my vengeance." The Beauty proclaimed, grinning in victory as the battle went on.

Then the Red Sky Princess smirked.

And as if on cue, Heavenly Sword Beauty felt her reserves flag.

Immediately, Red Sky Princess went on the offensive, her blade charging with sparks of its own. Heavenly Sword Beauty had to step back, defending herself, unable to gather qi for her technique. "You've only just jumped over the dragon's gate!" The Princess roared. "And already you are courting death!"

"You have no idea how to use your strength!" The Princess continued speaking, not bothering to go for a killing blow as she pushed her back to the wall. "You cling to the fruits of immortality, forgetting how precious they are." She pulled back her blade to deliver a finishing blow and the Beauty braced herself, fully spent. "That is why you will lose!"

And then the Red Sky Princess fell to the floor.

"You talk too much!" Heavenly Sword Sovereign's voice appeared as he wrestled her in the ground. Heavenly Sword Beauty stared at him dumbfoundedly, before scanning the cave and grinning. She realized his plan. Using that moment to catch her breath, she waited for the battle to get over.

For Red Sky Princess is in the Third Awakening and her opponent is in the Second. In terms of strength, there is little contest. Within moments, she escaped his clutches and kicked him back to the other side of the cave. "How do you even have the energy to fight me?" She exclaimed, grimacing but he just grinned victoriously.

Because in his hands is a pouch containing spirit stones.

Immediately, the Princess' eyes went to the spirit stones crushed on the ground, now completely devoid of energy. "YOU!" She screamed, rushing at him to take it back but he tossed it away and Heavenly Sword Beauty caught it, grinning the same grin as her friend.

As Red Sky Princess looked at her in horror, she held a spirit stone in her hands and felt its energy restore her flagging reserves. "Let me show you then." She said, smiling at her paling enemy. "The difference between my heaven and your earth."

Both woman charged their weapons with energy, and with the crack of the earth, they leapt at one another. As their blades met, they were both of equal power and deflected back but Heavenly Sword Beauty drew upon her new technique and her blade was forced back into its arc. Red Sky Princess quickly held up her blade to block, but her strength flagged and the charge on it dissipated.

A blade of heaven's wrath shattered another abandoned by the lightning.

Red Sky Princess stepped back, eyes widening as she saw the shattered blade and then the Beauty advancing on her. She immediately held up her hands. "I surrend-" Heavenly Sword Beauty cut her throat.

"The Heavens are merciless."

With that, she slid her sword back into her sheath.

| | | | | | | | | |​

Three months later, a scorpion skittered into the village. On her back was a legionnaire of the seventh heavenstage, wielding a spear and a clipboard. He surveyed the town as he entered, marking its population and state. As he reached the center of the village, there were two figures waiting for him - a woman with a scar on her eye, grinning as she held up an empty pouch with a bronze token attached to it and a man with without a shirt, with a wound on his heart and a long sword held across his back.

They were both at the fourth heavenstage.

 

[Alectai]

Rina Callista
Elder of the Callista​

"We're in trouble, aren't we?" Rina asked, to the uncomfortable shifting of the Callista Elder Council.

She wasn't wrong to say that either, given they had summoned her in order to give her yet another hat--as a member of the Elder Council herself. She had mixed feelings about it to be honest. While Hector had technically survived his run-in with Lady Jiao and the subsequent ambush through the use of his False-Death Doll, the damage dealt by the strike from a Nascent Soul had left him incapable of combat, relegating him to a paper Legate pending the raising of a replacement.

Two Callista Core Elders gone in two hundred years, it would have been a disaster if it wasn't for Rina's efforts, keeping the dynasty in a place of respect and relevance.

But…

"We had reserves enough to support Hector's rise, and enough to equip him for the trials at hand." One of the Elders explained. "But the loss of the False-Death Doll and his current inability to fight has left our income in dire straits. He can still serve as a coordinator, and we've transferred him to the Goldweavers as a suitable retirement position to help coordinate our expansion, but the Old-Blood lack a Legate as a result, and we have no truly viable candidates able to give it a try in less than sixty years."

Rina winced. "I was afraid of that, and so you need me to do my part as well…" She bit her bottom lip. "I'm not certain I've much to offer though. I'm vanguard trained, and the necessities of progressing my cultivation and maintaining the 302nd's combat readiness leave me with only a pittance in time to spare. As much as I'm flattered by the offer to join your ranks, I'm not sure it'll be more than a symbolic gesture in the end."

"Symbolism is what we need, above all else though." Another of the Elders chimed in. "The new lands we've seized have given plenty of opportunities for the Goldweavers to establish new garrisons and secure new reagents for their production. We have a new generation of scions rising to take their place in the Clan's ranks. What we need above all else is to give the appearance that everything's still fine. Your strength is enough to challenge Core Formation, as long as you'll be willing to make some time to help us show the flag from time to time, until a new Core can be raised, that's all we'll ask."

Rina frowned at that, and took a moment to consider. The XXXVII Legion--the Goldweavers--was one of the bare handful of active Legions numbered within the first hundred in the Clan's annals. On paper, the Goldweavers were a keystone in the Clan's logistics corps, specialising in the mass production of suitable arms, armour, and uniforms for the Legions of the Imperial Optimatoi, ensuring that every Legionnaire would have access to the standard panoply of a cultivator of their rank.

In practice, the Goldweavers were a Callista fiefdom for the most part, save for the Legate–a Five Star Blacksmith (One of the Clan's very few) who rose to power a few centuries ago and survived mostly because nobody could tell her what to do given her skills. Scions of the dynasty were universally granted an invitation within it upon a successful awakening, supplemented further by recruits drawn from the mortals living within the grounds of the Callista Estate. While their primary purpose remained the acquisition of supply lines and equipment production, they did have one additional property that let them stand apart.

They were the ones who let the Old-Blood serve as some of the Clan's best shock troops.

Because as it turns out, when your bloodline is renowned for maintaining a high degree of concentration, and your primary source of income is as armourers, you can equip your elites in the sort of equipment that ordinary Legionnaires can only dream of. Made up of the strongest and toughest cultivators the Callista contained, they were clad in the heaviest of armour, granted great shields, and mighty hammers through which to pound flat any resistance. Rarely deployed in great numbers, they specialised in storming fortified positions.

Which is precisely why Lady Jiao's ambush had caused so many problems. The aggressive tempo agreed upon by the Optimatoi's top brass required heavy usage of the Shock Corps to keep up with the timeline. The loss of so many in the face of a Nascent Soul's uncloaked power was a telling blow to the dynasty.

Which is why a girl just halfway through her third century was being offered a position typically held by those in their fourth, regardless of her power.

She hesitantly nodded. "I can't spare much time, that hasn't changed." She clarifies. "But if it's just an occasional bit of showing the flag, and taking on the occasional target… I'll try to make some time, it's the least I can do, after all the support you've given me in the past."

She wasn't going to be given any breaks in the near future, was she?

"On that note, however…" She adds. "In light of the approach of the Hundred Year Trials." Little surprise that the tension grew at the invocation of the Clan's centennial winnowing. "I'll need to request a degree of leave, my strength isn't where it needs to be when the Trials arrive, and if the Heavenly Star appears again, I'll need to be able to match her in combat."

The room goes quiet as all involved recall the terror that was Aasmi Bhardaj, the Purifying Heavenly Star, and the great swath she had cut through the Clan's best and brightest--forces that had otherwise found few matches even against the Fifth Sea's Hunters.

"You beat her before, did you not?" One asked. "Why risk yourself within the Secret Realm again?"

Rina shook her head. "I didn't defeat her, I merely surprised her using a trick that won't work a second time. Nothing less than the Great Circle of the Single Pillar Foundation Establishment can stand against a Heavenly Star, I think. If I can't rise to that level in time, I'd be fortunate to delay her, let alone drive her off."

She lets that sink in for a moment before continuing. "This isn't like my trip to Yuan. I've reached the Late Stage Single Pillar. I've been gathering strength for a powerful recovery spell as well, which will let me fight to the brink of death and still recover in time for the Trials, regardless of how serious the wounds are. I have the map of the realm that our ancestors gave me on my first trip to Qiguai. It's dangerous, but it's a risk I'll have to take. I have a premonition that this Trial is going to be a bad one, the Heavens have turned their gaze back to the Virtuous Flipper Region, and they aren't likely to let our current ascendance go unchecked. Not when the Silver-Lords have returned for the first time since antiquity, not when we control the Desert and may yet gain strength enough to stand against those who would seize what we have built."

Her expression grows more solemn as she goes on. "There is only one method I can take, as this Era begins in earnest, and that's risking the Qiguai Secret Realm. If I've done anything less than everything in my power to protect our Clan, then I'd not be able to look myself in the eye later."

There's a pause as she faces the Council--so many new faces compared to those she had met so early in her career.

But there are nods of acquiescence. "Then go, but take care--we have been receiving reports that there have been many changes in the Qiguai Secret Realm since the Great Era began, your information may no longer be accurate."

"A direction to look at is still better than going completely blind, I feel." Rina nodded. "But I'll be careful. I'll retreat if I have to." She lets herself grin a little again after a moment. "Might be a bit of a mess coming back though, I'm confident in the healing spell I've prepared, but it'll take some time to work, and I have no idea what kind of shape I'd be in for it to be required."

She would admit to some curiosity though, as to what kind of disaster would intervene. A great beast breaking into the Secret Realm? A magical sword that could cleave through souls? Some terrifying Blood Path Legacy?

The Heavens had awoken, they had made that very clear in the aftermath of the Blood Mists, and they had never rescinded their eternal punishment on the scions of the army that had challenged them.

She had to expect the worst, in the days to come.

 

[Pyro Hawk]

So what are our remaining 'Banes'? So far we've basically destroyed two of the three enemies we started with, and seen the third crippled. Even if we've gained an altogether much more dangerous one in return... We 'paid off' the bad luck Bane during the first Centennial, and I'm pretty sure we dropped one level of the Wealth Bane from so many words? Did we drop a second level because of how far we've spread the territory, seeing how it was said that claiming new territory directly weakens that curse as it uses up energy to cause the existing wealth in the territory to be diminished.

 

[TehChron]

We've burnt out the directly applied poor luck. We spent a Shadow Boon on negating the Wealth/Thin Qi Curse. We have taken out precisely 0 of our Starting Enemies because Old Cannibal is literally Ascendent out in the Verdant South, and the Seven Divine Saber Palace is still around despite being a Sect without any Nascent Souls purely off the backs of its own foundations, the Righteous Powers in general, and the Great Era empowering its scions.

We're also still suffering from the more rigorous Tribulation malus as well as the Centennial Cullings.

So we've taken out two of our maluses, and still have four of them left.

 

[Humbaba]

Seven Divine Sabre Palace Epilogue - Collab with @Insane-Not-Crazy and @CuriousRaptor

The Elder of the Pommel sighed as he closed the doors for the last time.

Here, in the impression where once an unsurpassed jewel would have sat on the divine sabre, were the remains of his sect. With the Elder of Day gone, with the Ancient Blood Devil eating away at their defences and his only righteous peer pinned in the North by the Altar Lord no help was coming.

The Sect was fallen.

The region belonged to the Blood Path. Millions would die screaming in agony, tortured and eaten. It was the end of history. Yet, were they not immortals? Did they not tread upon the path to Heaven itself? Had not it been the end of history when the Golden Legions marched across the nine worlds? When Demonic Soup Chef came with his apocalyptic power?

It was the end of history. Yet there was still hope.

The centre of the Seven Divine Sabre Palace was protected by a fragment of the will of the founder, strong as a near mythical Spirit Severing Elder. The Divine Sabre itself was crafted by one far above Spirit Severing. No mere nascent soul, no matter how powerful, could hope to touch it.

So the Elder had ordered a last resort option. He ordered as much of the mortal population as possible and a great number of disciples into the pommel itself. Therein lay a secret refuge, prepared against the worst. Spaces filled with plants and crops that could grow under the tyrannical Sabre intent that still infused the weapon. And therein, most importantly, lay the portal to the Sabre realm.

Here, in the darkness the sect would rebuild. Here generations of mortals might live and die and raise up the next. Here disciples and future Elders would be born and tempered, living always with the power of the Sabre above them. Every century, the greatest would visit the Sabre realm and be sharpened.

Here, one day, the Seven Divine Sabre Palace Sect would erupt anew, bringing forth justice to the monsters that claimed the lands around it.

One Day.

A day he would not live to see. For the Sect required one final sacrifice, one final sacrifice to ensure that none could find this place before they were ready. One final sacrifice to ensure that they only emerged once they were strong enough.

The Elder of the Pommel drew forth his sabre intent, harmonising with the passive energy of the divine sabre itself. He felt the formations generations of Elders had added on top of the Sabre itself, allowing the tiniest amount of control of the great weapon. Then he detonated his core, funnelling the power into the most simple of Sabre qi techniques. He reinforced the pommel of the sword, rendering it unchanging and unassailable. The doors fused shut, as strong and solid as the rest of the sword.
It would take centuries for the effect to fade on its own. Centuries, or a powerful enough, wise enough soul to control the Sabre Qi and unlock them early.

A Nascent soul who could stand against the blood tide.

Your hope.

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

Seven Divine Sabre Palace Post-mortem.


Right, now that things are over and the sequel quest is baking, I've been thinking about doing a bit of a "how you did" post-mortem for the quest.

So what went wrong, and what went right?

Firstly, the dice screwed you at several important points. The chance factor was a significant part of your downfall. That's the way it goes, and sadly a key factor in all quests. In particular, you rolled badly on several key anti-intrigue actions.

Still, luck is luck. What about your actions?

If I had to rate your overall performance I have to say that you played the long game excellently, but that it came several times at the expense of the short.

You spent a lot of time worrying about the desert and your potential enemies there, but substantially less on current crises.

Turning Old Cannibal's protege on him was inspired, and worked out pretty well. Unfortunately, he did eventually trace it back to you, creating the grudge. It bought you a lot of time though and helped your relations with the rich Jingshen, and also hurt your enemies.

Similarly, your managing to entice the Abyssal Devil Bees into attacking the Golden Devil instead of moving west was a very impressive move. It injured one of the Enemies you selected at the start of the game and damaged your most aggressive Eastern neighbour.

Unfortunately, you weren't able to capitalise on these gains. Now to be fair, you did try to capitalise on the Golden Devil and Old Cannibal weaknesses by allying with the Jingshen, but were stymied due to poor intrigue rolls.

However, this is also an example of prioritising long term gains at the cost of the short term game. The Golden Devils are absurdly far away from you and have limited means of messing with you. By contrast the Bees are right there, hostile and happy to raid everyone. They'd even successfully killed Little Sabre God a few turns prior. You had an excellent opportunity to drive into the Devil Bee's after they were weakened by their assault on the Golden Devils. This would have potentially given you territory and would have almost certainly have you coming out with significant prestige gains among the righteous powers due to actively fighting Demonic cultivators that had struck a major blow against you.

This was also your big mistake in the Demonic Alliance war. You made the classic mistake of prioritising your wants and positioning after the theoretical "victory" over actually winning. Going after the Flood Dragons as proxies for the Devils would have resulted in you having a better overall position among the righteous path… if you had won the war. Instead it angered the SPS, since they were now on the hook for reparations, and you barely got away with it due to a figleaf excuse.

You were extremely confident in your defences, so you felt able to take the risk of letting your Sect get raided to take out the Flood Dragons, which backfired. You also didn't have any good alliances with the local powers (they hated you). So you weren't able to go proactively hunting for Old Cannibal or his apprentices until he lured you into a trap.

Related to the above, knowing when to cut your losses. The Jingshen deal which you were hoping to leverage into a second Nascent fell through, but you had other options. Prioritising them further would have given you more wiggle room to take risks and more actions to pursue.

Q&A

1.Why did the Jingshen start to hate us? I thought that was going well and it just collapsed.

• A critfailed intrigue roll. They found evidence on the body of the guy you sent as a dual cultivation battery that he planned to reverse the polarity and drain her instead.

1a. Why didn't they come to us for an explanation? We didn't do that/know.

• Would you have refused him if he'd come back as a Nascent Soul? If not, then as far as they are concerned it doesn't matter if he was a lone wolf or you were planning the whole thing for him.

2. How did Old Cannibal get that info about our defences? I thought we had a bunch of Wills protecting us?

• The wills protect the absolute core of the sect, not all of it. There was enough information out there that he could combine with spies to know how your defences worked.

3. If we had rushed back instantly rather than trying to trap the Flood Dragons would that have made a difference?

• It would have given him a lot less time and freedom to root through your stuff.

4. Why didn't we have any strong allies around us to start?

• You didn't pick it at character gen and didn't make much effort to cultivate them during the game. You were top dog and everyone knew it, but the "Tyrannical" part of your Sabre arts leaches into your general attitudes. You were hegemons, not friends.

5. Will there be a sequel quest?

• Yes, I'm already doing some prep work. You will play as the remnants of the Sabre Palace some time after the events of the quest.

6. What was your favourite moment?

• The thread managing to convince Child Corpse Gulper to turn on Old Cannibal. He was a heaven defying talent on the blood path. Huge bullet dodged there.

7. What was your most head in hands moment?

• Seven turns of you failing to produce another Early Nascent Soul. For individual moments? I remember being really, really surprised you didn't go in on the Abyssal Bees after you'd successfully convinced them to raid your neighbour and get a bloody nose.

8. Not the Flood Dragon Betrayal?

• The thread did successfully calculate that you were too valuable to lose at least, much to Glorious Punch Princess' ire. Your poor rolls certainly turned it into a pretty huge misstep though.

9. What was the biggest turning point of the quest do you think?

• Probably Little Sabre God's death. The thread got very defensive minded after that, which meant you were hampered somewhat by not taking risks. It is also probably a lesson to me as a GM since people seemed to think the Sect was still impregnable due to the wills when the Ten Thousand Year Jade Sunlight Tower being shattered by the Devil Bees was supposed to help demonstrate the limits of them.

Huh, well it was one heck of a ride folks. We played our hand best as we could but the winds were against us

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Huh, well it was one heck of a ride folks. We played out hand best as we could the winds were against us

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I don't think it was quite all that. Look I don't want point fingers but certain people with certain ideas might as well have kicked us over the cliff towards this end. You know who I'm talking about.

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Oh listen, hear that? It's RagingFury pushing the usual passive aggressive crap like always. Where exactly were you in all the plan discussions or voting? Hmm, I distinctly remember certain sly comments advocating for the very strategies you're now dissing

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I didn't name anyone but I guess self awareness is not beyond possibility. Look, you can't deny that there was a definite bandwagon pushing the aggressive bullying posture, describing it as "being in character". Seems that sticking to character didn't exactly pay off here did it?

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Alright break it up you feuding cats. Don't let me get out the spray bottle. Keep it civil or else...

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So ignoring the whole cat fight above, why this option? It just seems like a losing move to me. OC has subverted our defences before and while it was not to this scale if OC even got one clone into this we just wasted a Core for nothing. Secondly, why did we not have a GC core, of which we still have a few, no try and push hard for NS, it's a risk yes but it earns us room while in our defences and gives us more time to set a fallback position if need be. Didn't the GD pull the same thing when Alexios bit it during trials?

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Alexios had an existing early nascent deputy for them to crash build to mid and more importantly, didn't have a late nascent camping his doorstep.

In the fullness of our defences a mid-nascent like the Elder of Day could reliably see off Old Cannibal. That's why he had to be lured into a trap. Per temporal, Early nascents have a horrific death rate, mostly due to unfamiliarity with their powers.

The other problem is this:

All of your treasures... all of them, as far as I could tell, link to the Saber Qi of your Divine Saber. Part of how you establish your tombs. An incredibly powerful treasure, true, but it can be... interfered with if you know how. You would of course need an array designed by one of the great masters of the Saber Qi of the Divine Saber, as well as a spy on the inside attuned to said Qi to let my array work at the opportune moment. Each of these sabers drastically weakens the use of all non-Blood Qi within its radius, and more importantly prevents any fragment of the Divine Saber's power leaking through here."

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All our artefacts are attuned to the Divine Sabre, and Old Cannibal has a way to temporarily neutralise that. In the worst case scenario that could mean that simply raising an early nascent is giving him an opportunity to slip in and eat another nascent level. There are probably ways to neutralise this with study, but Old Cannibal is unlikely to give us that time.

This is particularly important because we weren't able to identify his spy or where he got the array from. It may be historical (plotting against each other isn't exactly unprecedented amongst our sect) but if his spy is a current high level master then we'd be essentially ringing the dinner bell whenever we raised one.

So the Elder of the Pommel thinks that hunkering down for a few centuries in our impregnable base while Old Cannibal either gets distracted or dies and we get any potential new nascent to either mid-nascent or enough understanding of Sabre to jump small realms is the best option. Even if Old Cannibal's spy is in here with us there's not much they can do since Pommel sealed the doors so well.

Blood Path Elders don't tend to live long either. So OC is likely to either get outwitted and eaten or eat everyone and ascend in the next few centuries anyway.


On another note, I am going to miss this quest. It sounds from the Q&A like we played a bit suboptimally, but it could have worked out if the dice hadn't gone against us. Yeah it was frustrating at times, and the dicerolls got us in the end but it was a lot of fun.

Looking forward to the Sequel.

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This still does not address the fact that Oc had subjugated our defences once and now instead of actually getting the help of the SPS and everyone else, when they've already spent resources to give us breathing room once, instead of relying on them to be a much needed buffer, we're trying to turtle and sacrifice them to the Cannibals. If they survive we're going to pop out and be as nearly vilified as the GD for being a bunch of team killing fuckwits, and if we lose we now give OC plenty of time to try and break into our little demi-realm. Which is something he can likely do as he has done similar to defences before. Until the spy is identified, which we actually need help with, all this is essentially a giant buffet for them.

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I hate to break it to you but after the Flood Dragon Plot(™) "Team Killing fuckwits" is not exactly an inaccurate description of us.

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Are you still salty about that? Really?

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Since it was expressly called out as being part of what led to our demise? Yes, yes I am.

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Yeah yeah. Congrats Cassandra we should have listened to you. Ego tripped enough yet?

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Guys, what part of tone it down didn't you get?

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Yeah, sorry.

Anyway I don't feel like this is a bad place to end. We could try to continue, but again, late nascent camping our doorstep. We be very restricted in what we could do for a lot of turns. Better to have a clean break and restart after some time has passed in universe and the map has been re-drawn.

Hopefully we'll do a bit less metagaming this time about trying to take on our destined enemies despite them not really being in a position to hurt us.

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Hopefully we'll do a bit less metagaming this time about trying to take on our destined enemies despite them not really being in a position to hurt us.

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I mean at least it was good roleplay? Obsessing over long forgotten and pointless slight to the detriment of you and your sect is peak Xianxia.

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Quite. Honestly what was likely our biggest issue was how we sat idly by while the Bees gathered strength around Old Cannibal. We were not subtle about how we turned his apprentice against him, and we should have expected a grudge for it. When we didn;t hear of any massive battles in their lands, and all three started raiding, we should have convinced (read bullied) the smiths, drunkards and Chuan clan into interdicting them before they got momentum instead of sitting idly by and hoping we'd get them to hit a bad position. That lack of momentum forced us to play into their hands later, and cost us our only actual NS. Fortune favours the bold, and we were not bold. We were passive and it cost us dearly.

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Just doing some rolling for what happens in the timeskip to the new quest. Got some inspiration so have an interlude.

Epilogue Interlude: The End of Patience

Elder Baozhai of the Strength Purity Sect wished that the Council of Righteous Elders held court in a proper chamber, rather than this miniature amphitheatre. It would give her the satisfaction of kicking the door open.

She felt strongly that the sound of a door opening loudly should be heard when delivering news of this type. It gave it the proper atmosphere. A shame, but she would simply have to do her best.

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

Ugh they were still hung up on the name of the alliance. They'd been debating for months. Months, just for a name. Nevermind how many urgent issues or requests were waiting, nevermind how much territory the Noble Devil alliance consumed in it's relentless attack. The so called Council of Righteous Elders preferred to squabble over tiny scraps in the name of face. Well, today that would finally end.

"Enough debate." she shouted, silencing the babble. "Elder Scarletglyph brought word this morning. The Elder of Day fell to the Ancient Blood Devil."

The rotund, almost circular figure who she had interrupted gasped.

"You mean Sun Dixiang has killed the Elder of Day? Sister Baozhai, tell me it isn't so!"

Baozhai nodded at the woman, Elder Jue of Gemstone Justice.

"I have reports that he's risen into Late Nascent Soul. The Fish King escaped, but was almost hunted down by him even so and was forced to flee to the north and give us this information. I appreciate that we jockey for position,"
Baozhai internally rolled her eyes at this. "...but things are dire. Has the Council considered bringing my proposal before a grouping of allied Nascent Souls?"

"Sister Baozhai, it's not so simple as that. We need to agree on many, many things before we can even consider bringing such a proposal forward. It's very daring, and if we-"

The useless lump began prevaricating. Baozhai took great pleasure in cutting her off, not inclined to spend the afternoon listening to her avoid the word "no".

"I am aware that the agreement is all such proposals need to be considered by the Council of Righteous Elders before being presented as to avoid wasting our time. Let me speak frankly. The Noble Devil Alliance rapidly approaches parity in strength with us, and the Yuan and Qiguai Clans can hardly be relied upon, nor can the Jingshen. The Sorrowful Blacksmiths are members in name only, and speak of protecting their mountains. We are ten Nascent powers against what is in truth six, and perhaps eight in terms of strength. The balance of power is no longer so great that we can afford to simply argue with one another on irrelevant terms."

The lump smiled, her eyes lighting up and voice radiating sincerity. The room suddenly felt brighter, more inviting.
"Nonetheless, what is one or two years to reach a proper conclusion? We are hardly going to lose the war-"

Baozhi interrupted the obvious attempt to influence her by cursing appropriately before going on the attack.
"With all your Gemstone Justice Sect has suffered, still you're a merchant seeking advantage?" Then, mien appropriately serious, she unleashed her final weapon upon the collection of infighting fools.
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."

AN: Strength purity is absolutely done dealing with this crab bucket.

Huh. I wasn't expecting that.

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With Diaxiang rising to late nascent the Wei Princess is now potentially at a 2:1 disadvantage. In a fair fight she'd paste Old Cannibal, but she has to hang around in the North as Security against Altar Lord. Fooling both of them at once to let her come South and manage to force Diaxiang into battle is a very low probability option.

Old Bear is technically powerful enough to at least exchange blows with a late nascent, but is too slow to force engagements. If Diaxiang had risen without killing the Elder of Day then he (as one of the strongest mids) could have been used alongside the bear king to check his movements in case of an ambush.

So yeah. Strength Purity is tired of the RP messing about and pretending this isn't potentially a war for their survival.

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To give even more context to the above. Late Nascents can usually body several mids, and are really expensive/slow to build. On average, a mid-nascent will breakthrough at 1250 years old. On average the 1% of Nascent's that actually make it all the way take until they are 3000. Blood path short circuits that, but the RP as a whole can't count on another Late Nascent arising on their own.

In addition, the interlude points out that our death took the number of nascents actually deploying to the field down to near parity. Which is a big problem when Demonic cultivators are stronger on average than Righteous ones of the same level.

As the strategic war leaders, the SPS need to be able to move their forces to account for this and not have to spend 6 months playing politics just to get people, then spend every battle worrying about one part of those forces killing the others (or letting them die).

Will this also leave them top dog? Yes of course, but that doesn't mean they're wrong about the current approach being potentially war losing.

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spend every battle worrying about one part of those forces killing the others (or letting them die).

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Ouch. I think they felt that burn in the scorpion desert.

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3925 words
AN: A big thanks to my Collabs @Insane-Not-Crazy and @CuriousRaptor as well as everyone else in the discord for their suggestions. The dialogue from "the End of Patience" is from "At least there's no Nascent's this time" but from the Strength Purity Elder's perspective.

I have plans for a further interquel in this series, giving focus to the threads reactions to events occurring in the timeskip between the end of the quest and the start of the sequel, such as the Jingshen conquest and Blood Mists.

 

[Insane-Not-Crazy]

TURN 14, OMAKE 1 [Ferenike]
Ferenike 32: Seven Divine Saber Palace Negaverse Collab 1​

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

Seven Divine Sabre Palace Epilogue - Collab with @Insane-Not-Crazy and @CuriousRaptor The Elder of the Pommel sighed as he closed the doors for the last time. Here, in the impression where once an unsurpassed jewel would have sat on the divine sabre, were the remains of his sect. With the...

forums.sufficientvelocity.com

AN: (250 words) I am taking an LST and Ferenike is joining the Qiguai delve.

 

[Pyro Hawk]

We have taken out precisely 0 of our Starting Enemies because Old Cannibal is literally Ascendent out in the Verdant South, and the Seven Divine Saber Palace is still around

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Yeah, thought the Jingshen were one of our enemies but that was wrong. It was the Divine Saber Palace, Battle Cannibals and Abyssal Bees. And the Battle Cannibals were the second enemy I said we'd destroyed but in return gained a more dangerous enemy. Because we have destroyed the Cannibals. We just uh, also unleashed their Nascent Soul from being chained in the Desert. Thus allowing him to take over our other Demonic Enemy, merging their two ways together to devastate very rich regions for the Bloodpath thus merging tow enemies into one SUPER enemy. XD

And the Divine Sabers are crippled. They have a chance of rebuilding but... I really do put it down to a coin flip if they actually rebuild or get knocked off before they can. Because they've pissed off enough people that the Righteous might not want to see them regain their prominence even if they don't allow them to be destroyed. Sure, Great Eras mean the Righteous Powers get supercharged. But it also means a lot of chaos and turmoil, as well as new Righteous Powers arising. Considering that they're only slightly more friendly to fellow Righteous Powers than non-Blood Path (or similar behaviour) Demonic Powers, that's never a time to be a previously strong Righteous Great Power.

 

[TehChron]

We cant write off the Sabers until we've put them into the ground with our own two hands, sorry

Folks are stubborn that way, and so are we

 

[ilbgar123]

Hey cool, that Negaverse put us into 3 million words. Congratulations everybody!

 

[Aklyon]

Put enough words in one place and even cultivators have to pause to read it all.

 

[Insane-Not-Crazy]

TURN 14, OMAKE 1 [Lipita]
Lipita Delphi 35: Exceedingly Purple Prose​

Mysterious chanting intensifies

Part 1
The ritual invocation rings out into the liminal realms
Calling for insight, beckoning for intercession
O Thief, attend our pleas
We have planted the seeds of rescue and beseech a harvest of good fortune

Chorus
Another sacrifice has been given

O, ancient Mystery, reveal to us the occult history blocked off by the Tyrant's hand
We need more eyes to divine the path to our escape from enmity
Grant us thine blessing and save this pitiful remnant of glories past

Part 2
The Ink is spilled, the Blood poured out in offering
Lo, the ears of the Great One turn towards the the supplicants
The words of power shake Heaven and overturn Earth upon his lips
Salvation comes and the remnant sing in exaltation
The Shadow of Heaven brings a boon of knowledge and might
In eagerness, we hopeful few stand in readiness for the Thief's offering

AN: (180 words) Have a taste of bad poetry. Lipita will have an LST and joins the Qiquai gang.

 

[Alectai]

Rina Callista
Return to Qiguai (Pt. 1)​

The change in the Qiguai Gate Town was telling--the effort of years of build-up brought on by the Secret Realm's overexcited state and the current geopolitical concerns reminding the Qiguai Clan of the necessity of enforcing their neutrality, while nominally aligned with the Righteous Sects, their defensive posture in the mountains and willingness to open their Secret Realm to any who would provide a cut of the gains had made them convenient enough to avoid significant interference, but too much of a hassle to invade to make that a palatable decision--especially with the War in the Plains on a knife's edge with virtually every Nascent Soul committed to the field on one of the two major theatres.

It was a place where rivals and enemies could meet one another without violence being a great concern. After all, the Qiguai Clan took seriously any hint of their neutrality being abused, and there was no swifter way for elites to descend than to let any conversation escalate to drawn steel.

Today was the designated time for the gateway to be opened for any within Foundation Establishment who would test their wits and might against the Secret Realm's depths. Where once the gate would open once a century, creating a tide of experts in one fell swoop, with the additional Qi, it could be opened no less than twice a decade. Most had tried their luck in the first period, intending to take advantage of what was evidently a grand descent of Heavenly Light.

But not all--occupied either by the struggles of war or the agenda of household politics, some elites had only just now freed up the time to try their luck. The official at the gate read out the rules, but most of those who had gotten this far were survivors from a previous expedition, those who through strength, craft, or wealth, were able to enter the Secret Realm and come back alive again, oftentimes having even learned something along the way.

Within the depths of the crowd was a single cloaked, cowled figure, arms crossed as the introduction wore on, the same old warnings to retreat at the first sign of trouble, and that merely being a genius was no guarantee of victory within this place, cut off from space and time.

It was naturally Rina Callista. Who else would it be?

The Golden King may have profited from Qiguai in the past, gaining many treasures that had served her well in her early career. The mobility she had gained from Muqin Guo supported her, and the cultivation she had acquired gave her the might to stand against the Fifth Sea's hunters in Qi Condensation.

But previous success did not guarantee future victories. She had the list and locations of several legacies, but that didn't mean they hadn't been excavated in the many years since. Or if events had conspired to throw them down, or if the power of the Heavenly Light had twisted them in some fashion.

She recalled well the burning radiance wielded by Aasmi Bhardaj, and she had witnessed the victims of the trap set by the Jingshen. That power could twist anything, and for all the Heavens were focused on the Blood Path, they had still never forgiven the Optimatoi for… Whatever it was that had occured in antiquity.

So it was that even though she had heard all of this before, she still remained attentive to the speech. Alas, there were no special little tidbits to be had for those who were diligent listeners, this wasn't that kind of story.

The gate opened, and the usual rush into the Secret Realm began. Limited compared to the normal bedlam, but this merely gave the geniuses charging in more room to manoeuvre. Flight treasures were activated as space twisted, special techniques were spun up to break falls. By this point, if one had no solution to being thrown high in the air, they had no business risking themselves in such a dangerous place.

Rina was no exception, though her descent was significantly more graceful, caught in the wind as she reduced her mass to nothing, imposing the properties of the great communicator upon her physical form.

It gave her some time to survey this section of the Secret Realm. Qi Condensation was inevitably a madhouse--one often had nothing to lose save their life in that early reach of cultivation, and so there was a certain boldness there, people willing to risk it all for what treasures could be extracted.

Foundation Establishment was different. The first great winnowing had occurred among the cultivators, and nobody who reached that level could be called truly useless. They had surmounted the first Tribulation and were now trusted with greater responsibilities. The free-for-alls of the first Great Realm were over, and what remained was the thrust and parry of the Experts.

While Rina may reign supreme among those in the same Great Realm, that didn't guarantee she would have no enemies here. The reports on the Favoured showed that the agents of the Heavens had developed countermeasures to the supremacy of the Single Pillar--and while Yan had just formed his own and it lacked the projection force of a fully stabilised Early Pillar, that was no reason to take risks.

And she had found very few treasures since entering Foundation Establishment. If it wasn't for the depth of her Cultivation Base, she would struggle to keep up with the other rising talents of the Clan. She hadn't even found a suitable binding agent for her spear yet! It had been over a century since she started looking too!

Treasures, opportunities to refine her cultivation base to the Great Circle of Single Pillar, either would be acceptable. That she also needed to be wary of the Favoured and how they might hold an advantage against her didn't help.

And all of this completely ignores the reality that the Qiguai Secret Realm is a madhouse at the best of times, and now it has been exposed to a tremendous quantity of Heavenly Light for years.

Rina continued her descent, looking down upon the approaching surface of the Secret Realm. Already, she could sense the earliest signs of battle in the descent, freed from the attention of the Qiguai Clan's peacekeepers, old grudges could be put to rest before everyone went to ground.

The colour leached out from Rina's hair, the bronze tone of her skin lightening to a faintly iridescent shade. The ties that kept her hair bound together snapped, her cowl blowing back as her mane refused to be contained any further.

[Paragon Warbody], the form that best exemplifies the power of the Earth by Rina's reckoning. Using her Blood as a medium, she embodies the might of Stone, the tenacity of Flame, the flexibility of Water, and the speed of Wind without compromising in any regard. Lightning sparked in her veins, allowing motion and reaction beyond the speed of thought.

The [Halo] manifested behind her, and the sky shook as Rina propelled herself downward. There would be time enough for exploration later.

Before that moment came, she would need to ensure that a base camp was available, not everyone who braved the Secret Realm was adept in combat, and those who were not should have the opportunity to profit from this place too.

While people sorted out their grudges, she would secure a good site!

 

[Alectai]

Rina Callista
Return to Qiguai (Pt. 2)​

It's one thing to hear the reputation of the Qiguai Secret Realm--said to be a scale of the Turtle Child cast into the infinite abyss of the sea and encapsulating an entire small world within itself. It's another thing entirely to pay a visit.

Gu Bei had been in a bit of a rush to keep up with the madness of his life. He along with several of his friends were living peacefully in their small village, protected by the front lines that even now held against Demonic incursion, when a night full of brilliant light fell on the land, illuminating his friend Lin Chen. Apparently it 'Blessed and tempered his meridians' and it allowed for cultivation that needed half the work for twice the effect. When the cultivators coming to secure it found him, they gave him an opportunity to join in as an Inner Disciple from the start, along with several of the other Favoured that had been emerging.

Of course, any elite Cultivator needed allies and retainers to help handle the bits that they lacked the skills or the time to accomplish, and as a childhood friend, Gu Bei received one of the spots. This didn't mean though that he was entitled to a significant share of the cultivation aids used to rapidly build one's strength.

But the Qi in the air was plentiful, and he had access to some decent techniques, so he was able to quickly push through Qi Condensation and build his Foundation, a level far beyond what he could have dreamed of achieving back home.

Unfortunately, this was rapidly becoming an era where merely ordinary cultivators were becoming obsolete. In a time where a single Chosen or Favoured could descend upon a battlefield and crush anyone beneath their level with a gesture, an ordinary Early Foundation level expert didn't even qualify to be a side character. Lin Chen was a good guy, but he was always watched when it came time to deliver the pills and spirit stones, so getting a cut wasn't going to work out, and he wasn't entitled to any of the good legacies either.

All that was left was to take a gamble on acquiring a legacy or two buried in the Qiguai Secret Realm. If luck was with him, he could snap up some minor treasures here and there--without provoking one of the bigger fish to kill him and take his stuff.

He sighed, staring up through the burrow he had taken cover in, at the hulking landshark that was aggressively trying to hollow its way in. Who would have known he'd be dropped right into a nest of land colonising sea creatures? Was this really how his life was going to end? Embarrassingly devoured in the first hour of the Secret Realm's opening.

He had a few explosives on hand, if he was lucky, he could probably still take one out--but that'd just encourage the others if he knew his magical beasts. They didn't really have the most loyalty.

Still, if he was quick, there was a slight but measurable chance that he could escape in the confusion! He reached into a pouch, withdrawing a set of bombs, and ignited their wicks with a trace of fire qi. After all, the only thing he had to gamble with was his life!
The flames winked out, and the magical beast biting into the burrow lurched, a trace of fear visible on its savage eyes as it began to wriggle back.

Someone spoke words he didn't understand, a beautiful, angelic voice babbling nonsense as the landshark lurched again, and with a squeal of dismay, was pulled out of the hole, by a single dainty hand, shining like white gold, glittering with seven colours as the light struck it.

She spoke again, a lecturing tone, and clenched her fist around the tail, shattering serrated skin and leathery hide in one go. Absently--almost delicately--she hurled the shark into a collection of its fellows, and a hungry flame began to spread from where the woman had gripped it. It shrieked in pain and fear, barreling into two of its fellows, who both steadily ignited from the placed wound.

The woman observed the pack as they scattered aside, circling around for another go, and glanced towards Gu Bei for a moment. "I figure any site is as good as any other under the circumstances" She said, this time in a civilised tongue. "You seemed to be the one in the most imminent danger though."

"A thousand thanks for your grace, Senior!" He gave a martial salute as she turned her attention back to the sharks, gesturing sharply from time to time as the flames jumped from target to target, their attempt to scatter only slightly delaying their incineration. "I would have surely been devoured without it, how can I possibly repay you?"
As long as she wasn't going to extort him for everything he had, this was a fair price to pay for his life! He'd get through this one way or another.

"It's not about repayment, it's about saving lives." The woman--no, the angel!--mused. "Regardless, I tried to keep a low profile during the entry, I don't suppose you took a headcount of the participants?"

Gu Bei thought for a moment. "Three, maybe four hundred? The numbers are usually higher, but with the realm opening so much more often, people are simply attending when they have time, instead of making time for it."

"That should be workable." The woman nodded, assessing the state of the battle--the landsharks appeared to have finally given up the ghost, the bare handful of survivors diving into the earth and burrowing away. The scent of well cooked seafood began to emanate from the battleground as dozens of the beasts had fallen to the woman's hungry flames. "That's secure enough, I think." She added after a moment, judging by some invisible criteria, before stepping forward with a stomp. The ground quaked, and blocks of compacted stone and rubble began to sprout from the area around. She gestured from time to time, hollowing the blocks out, smoothing the space between them.

She was building a settlement, Gu Bei realised after observing for a moment. Indeed, while it wouldn't win any great aesthetic awards, her immortal magic was swifter than anything he had seen before, he couldn't even imagine what the expense of this gesture was.

And she didn't even look tired! Was she some Core Formation expert that somehow snuck into the Foundation Establishment gate?

She exhaled after a moment, several great blocks lifted from the earth and hollowed out into rudimentary shelters, a small well dug in the centre of the settlement with freshwater gushing out. It wouldn't house everybody that had come in--but for temporary residence and people regularly out looking for their lucky chances?

What a terrific power move!

The woman stepped forward, and with a gesture, a strange baton appeared from nowhere--a spatial ring? He had only heard rumours of such treasures in the past! Forged from the remnants of a Nascent Soul they were! So only a bare handful would be crafted in an era! She raised the baton up--and Gu Bei felt the wind begin to rush.

"My name is Rina Callista!" Her voice echoed strangely, coming from the woman before him and--seemingly--directly next to him as well. "In light of the current situation, I have taken it upon myself to prepare a neutral settlement for the duration of this expedition. All are welcome to attend, with their safety guaranteed by my good name. Any who would indulge in banditry within this settlement and a ten li neutral zone beyond it will have offended me personally, and will suffer punishment accordingly. Beyond that, the standard rules for the Qiguai Secret Realm's expeditions will apply. I will prepare a beacon so that any who would take advantage of this hospitality may do so promptly."

With that, she flicked her fingers, and a globe of bright red appeared in her hand. She hurled it high into the sky above the rudimentary settlement, where it began to glow with a ruddy light.

"Well now!" She smiled, and turned back to Gu Bei. "I don't know if you're here on a bet or if you're in dire straits, but you can take heart in knowing that this region, at least, is safe, should you have second thoughts or need some downtime. You may also be able to find a group that you can accompany as people arrive, though you have to keep in mind that's always a risk in a place where your seniors aren't enforcing good behaviour, and I'm afraid I'll need to be looking for my own lucky chances before long."

The iridescent metal she seemed made from began to darken, her features taking on duller bronze shade, though her hair was still spun of woven gold. She flicked her wrist and a few hair ties emerged, and she expertly began to tie her shining mane up into a braided bun on the top of her head.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to meditate for a short time. All that may have looked easy, but my Cultivation Base is near insatiable, and I'd rather not let it deplete when I'm not in the wilderness." She turned towards one of the buildings and waved her hand back. "Take care good sir, and try not to get eaten by the wildlife!"

Gu Bei supposed there were worse ways to start a suicide mission.

 

[Insane-Not-Crazy]

The Legions of the Imperial Optimatoi​

3rd Legion, Farflung Death

LEGATE: Legate Chu Yuzi

MOTTO: "Our spears lay low all, our fury fells even the mighty"

SIGIL: A pale tower in the middle of a brown field surrounded by impaled figures on stakes of ruddy brown

DESCRIPTION: The 3rd Legion are responsible for the maintenance of the Glass Javelin Array that provides widespread artillery support for the Golden Devil Clan. Their headquarters are in Epitiritis Tower beside the Bronzewall but the bulk of their strength runs throughout several nodes in Clan territory where the Grand Array reaches. Their Legate is a Grand Mechanikos nicknamed Monkey No-See, sitting on the council of the Array-Engineer Corps, who drew regard for creation of the Vile Blood Array. The legionnaires of the 3rd are currently stretched, leading the effort to extend the reach of Burning Glass Javelin towers to the newly gained territories.

[Credit Occipitallobe, Insane-Not-Crazy 1, 2]



7th Legion, Mountain-Shattering Spears

LEGATE: Legate Althea Dulcea

MOTTO: "If you see Mt. Tai, measure its slopes for your strike"

SIGIL: A golden spear piercing a range of mountains in silver, all upon a white background

DESCRIPTION: A storied legion from the very first offensives into the Nine Seas, the 7th have been lost and refounded innumerable times before. The latest incarnation is a vigorous force with a bitter memory of the wounds of the Clan from the Righteous Path in relatively recent times. Legate Althea is one of the best polearm users in the Clan, and possibly the region. Her halberd, Fulgrim, has defeated peak beasts, cultivators and stranger entities

[Credit Humbaba, Occipitallobe 1]



21st Legion, the Imperator's Own

LEGATE: Legatus Zarathustra

MOTTO: "The Blood overcomes all"

SIGIL: A braid of four metals in a wreath: bronze, silver, gold, iridescent platinum

DESCRIPTION: When Lord Alexios fell in the Hundred Year Trials, his loss was a grievous blow to the Clan as a whole but he left a lasting legacy from his centuries of rule. One part of this was the prestige accorded to the Legion he rose up from as a mere stripling of an Aspirant.

The Imperator's Own are a proud force who boast some of the best equipped and trained cultivators in the Clan. They cannot be called arrogant in boldly proclaiming their accolades because they have earned each achievement dearly. Their impeccable morale and nigh unbreakable fighting spirit has seen them time after time refuse to retreat in almost any circumstances unless directly ordered due to pride in themselves and the history they represent. Belligerent and stubborn, they are also surprisingly sensitive to those weaker than themselves, offering a hand up to sister Legions in hard times and helping mortals out without much fuss.

[Credit Occipitallobe, Insane-Not-Crazy 1]



27th Legion, the Inkhands

LEGATE: Legate Manus Tiande

MOTTO: "Our words carve through history"

SIGIL: A set of four characters black on white, 書法法書

DESCRIPTION: One of the triune Legions that make up the Array Engineering Corps, the Inkhands are a venerable force. Skilled talisman makers as well as array crafters, they are well known for their love for calligraphy and the art of the written word.

The beauty of Legate Manus' writing is only matched by the repulsive aroma that perpetually surrounds him forcing him to rely on written correspondence hence his moniker of Monkey No-Speak.

[Credit Insane-Not-Crazy 1]



33rd Legion, Ardent Prosecutors

LEGATE: Legate Evaristus Ingerinus

MOTTO: "Seize the jaws of defeat and crush them underfoot"

SIGIL: An black upraised fist ablaze in red upon a background of white

DESCRIPTION: The Ardent Prosecutors have spent the last several decades deployed to secure the Clan's gains from the Cannibal defeat, first manning the Burnished Crags and then the Blighted Lands. They are quick hitting, determined combatants. First in and last out is their creed. A young legion, they are suffused with the passion of their legate. Evaristus is fiery, angry, and obsessive. Reaching Mid Core Formation at a mere 360 years old, he is quite competent, but incredibly bullheaded and rushes into things, and then sticks to what he has chosen. Patience is not his strong suit, and once he has made a decision he will stick with it. He is likely to double down on any bad decisions he makes, though he will rarely be struck by indecision. In training, he has pushed his troops to the limit bringing out the best in them, but leaving some broken, unable to withstand the intensity. Genius and inexperience in leadership have led the legion to great feats of derring-do but also failure in more basic areas on occasion. Discipline in the ranks is excellent although sometimes there is chafing at what seems like an inability to distinguish honest mistakes from failings.

[Credit Occipitallobe, Insane-Not-Crazy 1]



35th Legion, the Wonder Workers

LEGATE: Legate Flavia Sarantapechos

MOTTO: "Inscribe upon the world your vision and bend it to your will"

SIGIL: A grey owl in flight on white

DESCRIPTION: Largest of the three component Legions of the Array-Engineer Corps, the 35th Legion serve along the width and breadth of the Clan's territory. Arrays are the lifeblood of the Golden Devil Clan, arrays which need repair and updating. Individually and in teams the Mechanikos of the 35th serve at home and in vassal lands, maintaining the infrastructure that provides the quality of life mortals enjoy in the Organ Meat Desert.

Perhaps the breadth of her subordinates activity and the vital nature of their activity is what motivates Legate Flavia's bullish manners but it certainly doesn't win her any favors among other Mechanikos from other legions who have to resort to quite flagrant displays to remind Monkey No-Hear that she is not their direct superior. The rise of the Second Elder has not helped any.

[Credit Insane-Not-Crazy 1]



37th Legion (Legion XXXVII), the Goldweavers

LEGATE: Legate Goldweaver

MOTTO: "In great armor shall we clad the Legions, and with mighty arms shall we equip them"

SIGIL: A dull bronze loom spinning bright golden thread

DESCRIPTION: The 37th Legion is an incredibly ancient Legion, one that is inextricably linked with the legacy of the Callista family. The Callista have shepherded this force since antiquity, building up its reputation and capacity to develop it into the premier armor and weapons producer of the Clan. The Goldweavers are a keystone in the Clan's logistics corps, specialising in the mass production of suitable arms, armour, and uniforms for the Legions of the Imperial Optimatoi, forming an integral part of the distribution chain that ensures that every Legionnaire would have access to the standard panoply of a cultivator of their rank. Much of the strength of their sister Legion under Callista influence, the 313th, is as a result of the Goldweavers' provisioning which allows the vaunted frontline shocktroopers and siegebreakers to plunge into the thick of the fray in exceptional panoply.

The rapid expansion of the Legions in recent years has been both boon and bane to the Goldweavers. Boon in that more Legionnaires means more customers to service at increased profit and concomitant expense. Bane in that as the Clan replenishes its Core Formation Elders the custom fits required for such cultivators places a greater demand on the time and resources of the Legion's Legate as the sole qualified craftsman available. The current Legate is a Lower Five Star Blacksmith who was born in the Callista territories and raised into the Goldweavers on their sponsoring but is not actually a main branch Callista herself. She is utterly obsessed with her work sacrificing even her name towards its advancement, hence she is simply referred to as Legate Goldweaver. She is one of the few Elders to survive near decimation of the Clan's senior leadership in the Trials solely because she was unwilling to leave a project. Her rare skills give her a lot of leverage dealing with the Callista elders and other seniors of the Clan.

[Credit: Alectai 1]



43rd Legion, The Best of the Best Men

LEGATE: Legate Seneca the Physician

MOTTO: "Bronze when polished, shines brightest."

SIGIL: A bronze silhouette with a fist raised high on a field of black.

DESCRIPTION: Revived by the Legate Alcaeus the Strong, it was originally a legion of body cultivators. Under his vision, he forged a legion that sought perfection of the blood of bronze, in both a physical and philosophical sense. While the resultant legionnaires are primarily warrior-philosophers, they have also developed a unique culture of nutritionists or health-focused food cultivators and bloodline-focused bronze-smiths.

Every smith and nutritionist is also expected to maintain enough fitness to participate in battle and every combatant is expected to know enough to take care of their own bodies. The members of this legion generally lack any distinctive arts instead focusing entirely on the clan formations and when alone, their physical strength. This along with their focus on discipline and self-mastery has led to a culture that favors soldiers over warriors. They are highly militarised in battle and even during training, disputes tend to follow a well-established pattern of debate and formalised duels.

With Alcaeus focusing much of his attention on training his legion, many of the less spectacular graduates of general training are often sent here. With his death however, the legion has been taken over by his late teacher - the thousand year old physician Seneca who only broke through due to Elder Duca's attentions. He is much more hands off compared to his predecessor and while much of the previous culture is still maintained, the competency has fallen except in the field of medicine as expected with a physician as Legate.

[Credit Quest 1 2]



54th Legion, Grudgebearers

LEGATE: Legate Ionnina Staurakia

MOTTO: "Let no slight go unmarked or unpaid"

SIGIL: A set of silver scales on black

DESCRIPTION: The Legion has spent quite some time deployed to hunt Blood Path rebels in the Clan's core territories. The original assignment came after Hundred Year Trials of 100 E.K. and they've been on suppression duty ever since. The assault by the Blood Path fended off by Jin Muyi saw the cordon on the Blood Bask weaken leading to more work for the legion and the Blood Mist barely two decades later wrecked all efforts at restoring the status quo easily. Ionnina is a cold woman, with a powerful manifestation of the Blood of Bronze. Early Core Formation at 440, she is meticulous and calculating. She is also easily slighted, and fumes over those slights for decades before returning them tenfold. She is a competent trainer, and the legion is excellent at planning and drawing up good regimes for its recruits, but the future prospects of several legionnaires who managed to offend their legate have been ruthlessly crushed. The Grudgebearers either work well with other legions or not at all since relations between their legate and her peers have been characterized by a commitment to wreak vengeance on those who slighted her, manifest in an exercise of any power she wields being bent to sabotaging the legions of those she hates in an effort to gain revenge. The legion as a whole abhors Blood Path as a corruption and betrayal of Clan identity, viciously executing their suppressive responsibility.

[Credit Occipitallobe, Insane-Not-Crazy 1]



63rd Legion, Ever-Seeking Sojourners

LEGATE: Legate Samus Aurelian

MOTTO: κανείς δεν έχει χαθεί που αναζητά τον πάντα μακρινό ορίζοντα, "None are lost who seek the ever distant horizon"

SIGIL: A vertical path of golden bricks upon a field of scarlet terminating in a half set sun

DESCRIPTION: The Sojourners are an interesting group that are more akin to explorers, tomb raiders, and delvers than your standard legion. Their structure is a loose arrangement of eclectic personalities of varying specialties. Their latest deployment was to the Blighted Lands, clearing out Cannibal remnants and uncovering what might lay hidden therein.

[Credit Insane-Not-Crazy. For in-story mentions see 1, 2, 3]



67th Legion, the Mapmakers

LEGATE: Legate Aristides

MOTTO: "Dusty feet and quick hands make good work"

SIGIL: A ruler, drawing compass and pencil form a six spoked star

DESCRIPTION: Currently deployed to the area of the Peng Kingdom for survey. They are a vassal focused legion, assessing the territories of vassals mostly to account for changes in settlements, resources and terrain. The reports that the Chamber of Administration works with do not solely come from its bureaucrats. The 67th concerns itself with investigating and understanding vassals, as well as quelling issues in those lands. They are roving reminders of the overlordship of the Clan, who help keep weaker vassals honest.

[Credit Occipitallobe, Insane-Not-Crazy 1]



69th Legion, the Wreath Bearers

LEGATE: Legate Tisamenos

MOTTO: Undecided, old creed was "Silken gloves over bronze fists"

SIGIL: A wreath of green having concealed thorns upon a white background

DESCRIPTION: Great Scribe, Noble Spirit Lord and many more titles elevate the figure of a humble junior who has blazed a spectacular ascent in both cultivation and career. This unassuming record-keeper and archivist first came to the notice of Clan superiors when he penned the definitive chronicle of the Miracle at Pleuron. It would be no embellishment to say that his works took the feats of those daring juniors during the Hundred-Year Trials and shaped them into a lasting legend, a tale of the Indomitable Thirteen. The reputation he earned (and likely convenience of availability and expendability) made him an easy choice when the Grand Elder sought out a secretary for the negotiations between himself and other Nascent Souls in the wake of the Battle Blood Cannibal Sect's fall.

From that moment, he seemed to find himself at the centerpiece of pivotal moments in the Clan's relations with its peer powers. His brief tenure on the Council of Righteous Elders representing the Clan as an observer has proven very profitable for the Golden Devils. To his many accomplished feats, he adds the achievement of being the first Silver-Blood Elder the Imperial Optimatoi have seen in many centuries and a record-holder for ascent to the third great realm in the fallen Third Sea. This unexpected elevation has been a forceful learning experience for the shining prize of Project Amphora. He lacks much of the experience expected of Core Formation Elders and is doubly contesting with the innate traits engendered in him by the Blood of Silver. These have made the transition to head of a Legion much more stressful than normal.

The 69th Legion is an old Legion that was extinguished at the start of Manuel Konstaninos' apprenticeship to the late Archegetes Alexios and its banner was retired. Tisamenos has chosen to revive this old legacy upon his recognition as an Elder of the Clan. The Legion under his command is largely a nominal force as he is far too busy preoccupied coming to grips with the rapid changes in his person and status. At present it consists of a small retinue, just suitable to serve the needs of an Elder. With the passing of time, the new Legate has managed to mostly overcome the Silver Blood and now looks to wider ambitions. Perhaps it is serendipity or the Fates at work that in this time, word has arrived that Ferenike, Tisamenos' beloved then senior now junior, has returned from retirement and is once more drawing notice. It seems that this is truly a time for revivals and resurrection as the new entrant to command ponders his future.

[Credit: Occipitallobe, Insane-Not-Crazy 1, 2]



77th Legion, The Watchers

LEGATE: Legate Aanya Surve aka Selene Scala

MOTTO: "Vigilance and Valor"

SIGIL: A blazing star overlaid upon embossed concentric circles.

DESCRIPTION: The Watchers are an old legion, formed long before the Clan's current predicaments. They are typically employed as guards, guides, or scouts and can generally be found protecting roads and settlements, investigating old sites of interest, or securing new finds. The times when this legion has been at full strength can be counted on one hand, however this matters very little for their true and rarely discussed purpose: a testbed for cultivation practices aimed at fully utilizing the blood of bronze. This Legion rarely sees heavy action and its movements are firmly coordinated by its enigmatic Legate, a person who has been met only by a few due to the stresses of her cultivation technique on the surroundings. However they regularly patrol the Scorpion Road. The Resounding Bronze Choir is one of the more totemic techniques of the legion, mastery of it is required for every Centurion.

[Credit Falconis 1, 2]



95th Legion, the Compass Rose

LEGATE: Legate Calliope Delphi

MOTTO: δείτε πέρα από την ομίχλη της άγνοιας για να αρπάξετε τη δόξα, "See beyond the mist of ignorance to seize glory"

SIGIL: A 16 pointed compass rose of bronze upon a field of utter black

DESCRIPTION: The 95th Legion is the epitome of a 'Family Legion' stuffed to the brim with members of the Delphi family. Ordinarily the Aspirant bidding process after Induction would prevent such a concentration of a single bloodline in one legion but the persistent curse of the Harrowing that dogs the Delphi leaves other legions reluctant to bid for legionnaires who require specialist training and accomodation. After successive generations of Delphi dominance, the family and legion are inseparable. Members joke that the compass rose is in fact a caltrop wedged in the eyes of an unfortunate, referring to the Harrowing. The legion officially focuses on production efforts from the three hubs within the heartlands. Traditionally the more martial inclined have joined scouting and gathering corps. Recently the legion joined the settlement efforts in the Blighted Lands.

[Credit to Insane-Not-Crazy. See 1]



96th Legion, House Taurus

LEGATE: Legate 'Matriarch' Ariadne Taurus

MOTTO: "Blood above heart, but none above bronze."

SIGIL: A bronze spiral with a bull's head at the centre on an earthy field.

DESCRIPTION: The 96th legion has been under the control of the Taurus clan for millennia despite the mark-up for recruiting relatives into the same legion. They maintain a fund that is added to by each member that allows them to ensure that any blood relative or promising candidates are added to the legion. They are assigned to one of smaller cohorts within the legion - each dedicated to a specific specialty of the family. Members work here and are taught the advanced skill-sets necessary for their art. Legion members are assigned their specialty during an aptitude test before general training and upon graduating are allowed to take a second name that better reflects their ideals.

Much of this is tolerated due to the family's traditional devotion to the clan as a whole and the usefulness of their family techniques. As long as it's led by an elder in Core Formation, the Labyrinthine Thread technique practiced by the Taurus family can create a metaphysical web of qi that allows sharing of power akin to the clan formations but put to use in the creation of arrays. Though it is most famous for its use in battle, it is most often used outside of that due to its vulnerability to the slightest tremor in one's dao heart. Primarily, its use is during array creation and maintenance where it allows incredible feats of productivity that are often crucial in the wake of one of the Hundred Year Trials.

Outsiders are sometimes recruited based upon talent and potential and are then added to an appropriate cohort. Originally treated as auxiliary vassals, the most loyal and skilled were further tied to the family through adoption or marriage. In its modern form, former matriarch Wilhemina has refined it into the Specialist system. Members of the House who don't show interest in their specialties or similar outsiders who were considered promising but who didn't fit with her family's arts are labelled specialists who are kept separate from the legion's traditional cohorts and allowed to operate freely. So long as they tithed a degree of contribution points to the legion funds, they were free to take any work they wished.

[Credit Quest 1 2 3]



98th Legion, 1st Mobile Infantry

LEGATE: Legate Auxiliary Gui Hua, succeeding Jin Muyi/Xiao Yi

MOTTO: "Lances forward, break them before our charge"

SIGIL: A centauroid figure in black racing on background of gold

DESCRIPTION: Hero of the Indomitable 13, Jin Muyi took a shattered legion and transformed them wholly. No more were they the messengers and couriers of the legions, tasked to aid in communicating to assist in the Clan's strategic goal. They were now meant to be the Clan's Arrow, the first into any conflict to buy time for the Clan to muster its forces.

He provided his force with a rare Cultivation Art meant for Beast Tamers allowing them to include bonded mounts into the Clan's iconic formations. He also introduced a novel variation of his own making to the Kataphraktoi Formation, the Philoctetes modification, emphasizing mobility and harassing fire.

With the passing of the hero, his daughter has stepped in to manage the legion in his absence.

[Credit Mochinator, Insane-Not-Crazy 1, 2]



99th Legion, The Hydra

LEGATE: Legate Ninth Prince

MOTTO: "Who dares face our venom?"

SIGIL: A nine headed hydra of greyish green on white

DESCRIPTION: The aftermath of the Trials of 100 EK were a massive blow to the strength of the Golden Devil legions, particularly the loss of Core Formation leadership. An emergency measure was launched to put a stopgap to the bleeding, raising up particularly promising Foundation Experts to the rank of legate, to be reassessed after things settled. Along with Jin Muyi, the foreign adoptee from the Fifth Sea, the Ninth Prince, was selected to participate in this effort. The 99th have gone on to justify the risk of their founding, fighting well on the Great Battlefield and at home. Currently the legion is in a bit of limbo with the death of the Ninth Prince and the promise of his resurrection preventing a permanent succession.

[Credit Kaboomatic 1, 2, 3]



111th Legion, Darksouth Legion

LEGATE: Legate Thanatos

MOTTO: "All face death's inevitable end"

SIGIL: A horned skull in white upon a field of black weeping crimson tears

DESCRIPTION: The Darksouth have been one of the most actively deployed legions in the last couple of centuries. After their deployment to the Xin Kingdom to face off against the Battle Blood Cannibals, they were in the vanguard at the climax where the Archegetes forced Sun Diaxing to abandon nearly a hundred thousand troops. Again they were with Second Elder Sarantapechos when she assaulted the Heavenly Beauty Palace and faced off against Jingshen Junjie himself in defense of his harem of concubines. Being at the epicenter of Nascent conflict has seen them savaged, almost extinguished this last time but the embers grimly fight to stay alive and reconstitute. They are one of the more martially organized legions, favoring conventional Clan doctrine and formations. The recent introduction of Scorpion based mobility rankled certain traditionalist elements in the legion but their efficiency in delivering the legion to the battlefield against opponents has won over the leadership to the new Protostrator.

[Credit Occipitallobe, Insane-Not-Crazy See 1, 2]



125th​ Legion, Grand Officials of Terrestrial Bureaucracy

LEGATE: Legate Quanli Dengji

MOTTO: "Stamp all Creation under our Seal"

SIGIL: A bronze two-headed Eagle pecking down on a jade green turtle on its back in a circle of black upon a white background

DESCRIPTION: When Casia Zsimisce assumed her office as Stratopedarches, the staffers in the Office of Administration looked to Quanli Dengji's behavior for direction. His sincere bow to the new mistress of their office earned Casia their approval and paved the way for a smooth takeover. This was the proud legacy of a lifetime of labor in the administration of the Golden Devil Clan by Quanli Dengji. This capable administrator has neither desired nor known any other life other than the career track of a bureaucrat since before he first became a cultivator. A foundling adopted by Eunomia Socrates, the Stratopedarches before Euphrosyne Sarantapechos, Quanli has always been drawn to the order of hierarchy, the civilizing influence of bureaucracy and the beauty of competent administration.

He has sought to become a paragon of these ideals, serving in several roles of the clan's administration within vassals and in the core territories. The aged official was in the twilight of his service, as hardworking in the face of his impending mortality as ever when Destasia Duca's missive identified him as a candidates for Project Amphora. Well aware of the general nature of this project from his privileged access, Quanli only hesitated to ensure that a capable junior was in place in the event he failed his tribulation. His success was a hard won effort as his Third Sea heritage impeded his path but he grasped victory nonetheless. The strength of the Blood of Silver is a welcome thing to Quanli of course but the authority of command is a far more appreciated gift. With renewed vigor and purpose he aspires to transform the Clan's conquests into productive gain for the Imperial Optimatoi.

The 125th​ Legion can trace its legacy to the earliest presence of the Imperial Optimatoi in the Third Sea, when the Sea-Conquering Army ruled over all Nine Seas of the Turtle Realm. Their vision was to be an absolute bureaucracy in the domains under Optimatoi control, exerting such control and supervision as to seem divine. When Quanli Dengji ascended he knew that there was no more fitting match for his ambitions. While the Legate he is still a novice in his new role, he is a veteran administrator. As such where others in his position would have been assigned to less critical areas to acclimate, Quanli's request to be deployed to assist the assimilation of the Jingshen conquest was given serious consideration. Quanli is currently headquartered in the newly constructed Underworld Devil Fortress, doing his commendable best to establish it as a secondary hub for clan administration along with other more experienced Elders. He brought with him a core of reliable bright juniors and old hands from the Chamber of Administration to establish his new Legion, all eager to remind everyone that they are not limp wristed scribes. All Legionnaires, even those from administrative legions must be competent fighters since much of their duties involve combat people - against beasts, rebels, bandits, Blood Path - etc. In the Third Sea, being a capable administrator of resources involves much violence in the extraction. The 125th, like others of their ilk, tend to focus more on smaller teams and individuals, as well as practised diplomacy so as to not irk the people they are working with.

[Credit: Occipitallobe, Insane-Not-Crazy]



137th Legion, The Forge of Bronze

LEGATE: Legate Augustus

MOTTO: "To forge the motes of dust into unyielding bronze"

SIGIL: A stream of dots entering a forge and bronze blooded exiting from the other end.

DESCRIPTION: Situated near the Dawn Fortress, the Forge of Bronze are a small sized legion and are responsible for assisting in the training of many of the raw recruits that lack anything to make them stand out before they leave the dawn fortress for their legions .

The Legion's legionnaires tend to take the less glamorous jobs such as patrols,farming,and the mass of the lower tier alchemy,and array crafting that the specialist legions would be wasted on.

The members of the 137th are considered to be highly skilled trainers and their services are highly sought after to assist in the training and growth of new legionnaires. Once a batch of legionnaires is considered by their legions to be of adequate skill level and might leave the Dawn Fortress to do their duties under their legions elsewhere.

Centurions: Diomedes Cestus

[Credit Moonllama]



217th Legion, Everburning Phoenixes

LEGATE: Legate Auxiliary Xie Jun the Elder, succeeding Xie Xinya

MOTTO: "A thousand times fallen, a thousand times arisen"

SIGIL: A scarlet phoenix bursting free from a pyre of grey ashes

DESCRIPTION: Every legate shapes their legion around themselves, and the Phoenixes are no different. Before her ascent to the post of Parakoimomenos, Xie Xinya instilled into her forces a character of hard work, loyalty and disciplined corruption. Never one to let go of power once grasped, she ensured that a scion of her family within the ranks was maneuvered into the best position to inherit her post. Now the 217th are often deployed to the Scorpion Road, a posting well amenable to sideways enrichment as well as monitoring foreign travel into and out of Clan territory. Nepotism runs deep in the legion even still.

The Legion sent out a detachment of 2500 troops together with 10,000 Hong Xuan Cultivators (1 Core and lessers). Force butchered. Combined survivors 650, experts and juniors.

[Credit Occipitallobe, Insane-Not-Crazy 1, 2]



302nd Legion (Legion CCCII), Silverine Bracer

LEGATE: Legate Rina Callista

MOTTO: "For Justice and Honor, we fight"

SIGIL: A bundle of six silver spears pointing in six directions

DESCRIPTION: Many are the Legions that lost their colours in the catastrophic Trials of Year 100 of the Reign of Manuel Konstantinos. The Legates had been struck down by a single hostile Nascent Soul, evading the consequences through some unknown artifice and only brought low by great sacrifice. In the years since, the standards from which Legates were picked had been… Relaxed somewhat, with the strongest among the Clan's Foundation-level cohorts granted acting Legate status over many legions.

Less openly stated was the intent of the Optimatoi's top brass in testing the abilities of the Single Pillar Kings that had begun sprouting up as the Great Era prepared to descend. First among them was the Golden King--Rina Callista--and she took advantage of the opportunity to scratch-raise a Legion to her own liking, taking up the colours of Athenia Callista's old Legion to pay homage to the Grand Elder who's Will influenced her ambitions to their present day form. Taking upon herself to handpick from newly inducted Aspirants and unattached Legionnaires in the build-up to war with the Battle Blood Cannibal Sect. Drawing from surviving records of successful small unit experiments, she trained her newly inducted Bracers with a focus on controlling territory, small cohorts pieced together from soldiers with high synergy, and augmented further with an overstrength relay and runner corps.

In battle, the Silverine Bracers are divided based on the needs of the battlefield, focusing on detailed communication and heavy usage of the Twin-Headed Eagle Formation to redeploy swiftly, the individual elements converging upon enemy contact until sufficient force is mustered to overcome the danger In a sense, this tendency to work as a series of smaller cohorts makes the Silverine Bracers a comparably poor choice for pitched battle compared to a more traditional Legion--but they excel at countering deep raiders and Blood Path Cults, due to their experience as auxiliaries participating in the Demon Annihilating War.

Culturally, the Legion is cosmopolitan in nature, their regular deployments to the Green Scale Plains at the side of coalition forces has given them opportunities to recruit from populations that would otherwise be out of reach. While this has never led to any particular intelligence coups to date, there are rumours that Legate Callista has been integrating elements of shattered and broken minor Sects into her Legion, giving a surprisingly wide variety of tactics beyond what one might expect from a Legion of the Optimatoi.

In times of peace, the Silverine Bracers often pass the time serving as military police within the lands of the Clan, ensuring that the Laws are upheld and hostile Spirit Beasts brought low before they can do much damage. While a valuable role, it isn't one that makes a tremendous amount of Contribution Points--thus, individual cohorts of the Silverine Bracers often take a side job as adventurers, delving and securing caverns and ruins for future exploitation as the Clan's reach expands throughout the Desert realms.

[Credit Alectai 1, 2]



303rd Legion, The Beast-Blooded

LEGATE: Legate Nicara Rantakos

MOTTO: "Seize the strength of the mighty, walk in the shadow of Beasts"

SIGIL: A bronze figure of legionnaire with upraised spear who cast the shadow of a tiger, scorpion and snake

DESCRIPTION: The 303rd are a newly constituted legion formed around their Legate who had risen by her own ability into Core Formation, establishing her Beast-Blooded Legion. Their signature techniques are arts of fusing beast blood into the body to facilitate transformations. They are a quick-striking Legion, and one that has often become companions of Lady Yao.

[Credit Occipitallobe 1, 2]



313th Legion, the Old-Blood

LEGATE: Legate Auxiliary Megaera Callista standing in for the crippled Hector Callista, who succeeded Aikaterine Callista

MOTTO: "Through millennia, unbroken"

SIGIL: A Two-Headed Eagle clutching bronze spears.

DESCRIPTION: Despite being the younger of the two Legions under Callista influence, the 313th Legion is the one most secure in the family's grasp. The Blood of Bronze runs thick in the Callista and its scions make excellent vanguard forces which the Old-Blood eagerly accept. The support of the Goldweavers provides a steady supply of quality equipment suitable for elite troops. Made up of the strongest and toughest cultivators the Callista contained, they were clad in the heaviest of armour, granted great shields, and mighty hammers through which to pound flat any resistance. Rarely deployed in great numbers, they specialised in storming fortified positions.

Currently under reconstitution after being the focus of a personal strike by Jingshen Jiao during the Jingshen conquest. The legate is technically alive after the usage of a Life-Saving Treasure, the Falae-Death Doll, to fake his death, but has no ability to fight and has been retired to an administrative position.

The Old-Blood have been hard hit these past centuries losing multiple legates in succession. Now they are returning to active duty after their mauling bereft of strong leadership.

[Credit Occipitallobe, Alectai 1, 2, 3, 4]



353rd Legion, Defiant Slayers of Giants

LEGATE: Legatus Potorius Rex, succeeding Legate Alypius Lucaenus

MOTTO: "Those Great Heights We Topple" (Official), "Enjoy the view while you can" (Unofficial)

SIGIL: An indistinct legionnaire in bronze holding up a giant's head of jade

DESCRIPTION: The Giantslayers are a familiar sight to any making use of the Colossus Footsteps Path. Deployed to guard the entrance into Clan territory they maintain a fortified camp in the foothills of the Hard Shell Mountains where almost a hundred thousand mortals live, serving twenty thousand cultivators. Outsiders aren't allowed in, but there's a small shanty town outside where you can sell things to the Legions. They are the first true bulwark against invasion and also the first tax collectors, monitoring the Grand Mountainwall.

[Credit Occipitallobe, TehChron 1, 2]



433rd Legion, Stargazers

LEGATE: Legate Gaius Antonius

MOTTO: "Neither height nor depth or any flight shall keep us from our quarry"

SIGIL: A three-eyed skull of gold on black

DESCRIPTION: A brand new legion, freshly formed by a newly-ascended King. As such, their heraldry and motto are still undecided, and their battle prowess is untested.

In theory, the Legion is intended as an elite group of fast-moving outriders, scouting deep into enemy territory to swiftly attack priority targets rather than participating in pitched battles and sieges. As such, they prioritize quality over quantity - Fifth Heavenstage Legionnaires are not allowed in the Stargazers, only Sixth and above. Even the Aspirants who perform the menial labor are all in the Fourth Heavenstage. An Aspirant who rises into the Fifth in the Stargazers is given the unofficial rank of Senior Aspirant, rather than Legionnaire.

The founding members include Gaius, Special Officer Abel Angelus, the hundred-strong Engineer Corps, thirteen Centurions and their accompanying Centuries.

[Credit DblDtchBs/no. 1]



461st Legion, the Coinpurse

LEGATE: Legate Tyche Ploutos

MOTTO: "Our hands transform dross lead into gold"

SIGIL: Five stavratons on a string, gold coins on black

DESCRIPTION: The 461th is an economic development legion with an unassuming Core leader. They are currently deployed to the Former Cannibal Lands on economic development duties, and taking secondments of other legionnaires for that purpose although like many others they sent detachments to the Jingshen offensive.

They are mostly based around the Dawn Fortress but are often present in larger Golden Devil settlements, particularly the waystations. They handle a mix of trade, admin and industry, with the array expertise to keep it running but are not a heavily array focused legion.

Currently the rising star of the legion is Konstantinos whose Bucephalus Times is expanding the influence of his home legion along with his personal wealth. Legate Tyche is keeping an eye on this promising junior as well as another Expert who has managed the feat of defecating wealth.

[Credit nothingtoseehere, Insane-Not-Crazy 1]



465th Legion, Defiant Amazons

LEGATE: Legate Atalanta Gynos

MOTTO: "The Maiden weaves, the Mother measures, the Crone cuts"

SIGIL: Three female masks of bronze upon blue

DESCRIPTION: Not many legions in recent years can claim to have furthered the rise of a legend of the Clan, much less two. Euphrosyne Sarantapechos, and Kleisthenes Sarantapechos, the martyr of Tribulation of the Trials and the Second Grand Elder once called this legion home before they ever sat upon the Council of Elders. They led it for a time before moving on to higher responsibility and the current legate, Atalanta, feels burdened by the legacy entrusted to her. The Amazons are not a unisex legion but women are heavily represented in its ranks. The legion maintains a shrine cult to a three faced ideal of femininity linked to secret arts of fertility, mortality and seduction.

[Credit Occipitallobe, Insane-Not-Crazy 1]



499th Legion, the Promethean Philosophers

LEGATE: Legate Aristotle Onassis, succeeding Destasia Duca

MOTTO: "Knowledge is the flame that banished the darkness of ignorance"

SIGIL: A metal grey torch lit with a golden flame on a black background

DESCRIPTION: Being at the epicenter of genius at work is in turns glorious and utterly terrifying. The Philosophers were previously under the mandate of the current Elder of Disciples known as much for startling intellect as her flightiness and her influence remains. Legate Onassis inherited a legion whose command structure resembles more a herd of pontificating cats than anything else. Experimental formations, prototype artifacts, revolutionary techniques, all these and more are endlessly generated and discarded within the legion. For all their research, the legion is a solid fighting force though best deployed around fixed fortifications to best make use of the technical and material resources of the legion. They are also one the most well traveled legions, having been deployed in the Hua Empire against the Devil Bees near the Night Devil Fortress, Twelve City Alliance lands and Fortune Stork Clan territory in just a few decades. Destasia maintains a close link with her former legion and still picks up interesting specimens and material from time to time.

[Credit Occipitallobe, Insane-Not-Crazy 1]



501st Legion, Fist of Dawn

LEGATE: Legate Aretaphila Myia

MOTTO: "Glory with every Sunrise" (Official), "Our fists shine where the Sun Doesn't" (Unofficial)

SIGIL: A silver fist wreathed in golden flame, backed against a blood red banner

DESCRIPTION: Raised in emulation of the ancient Iron Legions of the Theodoroi and to be as suitable a vessel for the powers of the Heaven Shaking Song, the 501st Legion is an elite Heavy Shock Infantry formation capable of forcing breakthroughs and holding the line, destroying their foes as an all-encompassing grinder. Owing to the eclectic personalities of its founding members, the 501st is also used to conducting unconventional operations, both deep within enemy lines and with unusual objectives. Officially, the calling card of the Legion is its indomitable endurance, both physical and mental. Unofficially, it is the most dysfunctional functional Legion the Optimatoi have. The blatant book cooking that the Legion conducts has been disregarded for the moment, owing to their successes and relatively benign intentions. The Legion is currently barracked at Waycastle Myia, though in light of the recent conquests to the east this trend may not continue.

The 501st was founded by Legatus Aretaphilla Myia, Pilus Priors Lampo Vatatzves, Alexandria Drakos, Aegus Sideros and the enigmatic 'Centurion XXI' (actually Katha Theodoros in a mask), Pilus Auxilia Li Wei of the Sorrowful Blacksmiths, and Principales Katha Theodoros. Legionnaire Qinglong Shu joined in Turn 13 (see here)

[Credit to TehChron 1]



525th Legion, the Stalwart Redoubt

LEGATE: Legate Eustachius Kerularios

MOTTO: "So long as there is breath in us, the walls shall never fall"

SIGIL: A closed portcullis of iron within gray stone

DESCRIPTION: Legate Eustachius Kerularios is a true cultivation talent, managing to reach Late Core Formation within a mere 600 years. Eustachius is known to be a somewhat offensive man, but he is an excellent soldier, and commands the respect of the Legions. His lack of interpersonal skills may cause parts of his command to suffer, but strategically and logistically he is a genius, and is one of the best commanders in a siege in the entire Clan. He was known to be arrogant, however, suffering through the Tribulation of the Trials has softened his edge somewhat. His pride still stings over being passed up for consideration for Protostrator a second time in favor of Olympiodora and Sheng Yu. The 525th legion is strongest on the defense, well suited to reinforcing sagging walls and holding fortifications.

[Credit Occipitallobe, Insane-Not-Crazy 1]



555th Legion, the Five Element Painters

LEGATE: Legate Auxiliary Yuri Maras, succeeding Matthaios Panagellis

MOTTO: De hoc mundo in aeternum, "From the eternal to the world"

SIGIL: 5 paintbrushes each dipped in a different color ink to represent the 5 elements forming a 5 pointed star

DESCRIPTION: The 555th was formed in the first millennia after the arrival of the Sea Conquering Army. It was first founded by Elder Veniamin Salliades, an Array Master famous for her skill in arrays of illusion and mystery.
Current headquarters is still under construction in Apoikía Bucephalus, a large cave complex under renovation.

The 555th despite its artistic tendencies is a very tightly organized and regimented legion. Every member is expected to meet a quota of array commissions and legion standing is largely based on customer satisfaction.

[Credit fictionfan 1]



571st​ Legion, the Watchful Minds

LEGATE: Legate Maurikius

MOTTO: "All plans must meet with reality at some point"

SIGIL: An optio's bronze helmet with the red plume of rank on a white background

DESCRIPTION: Founded by the famed Elder Theodosius, author of the Strategikon, the 571st​ are known for producing many acclaimed strategoi and Protostrators for the Clan. They follow in the tradition of their founder in seeking to advance the usage and knowledge of formations in warfare, very much a taktika support Legion. Setting aside their reputation for producing competent tactical commanders and strategic generals, the Watchful Minds are a Legion whose combat doctrine is designed around causing terrible attrition to their enemies while maintaining a threat in potential presence, an adaptation from the conditions of the Organ Meat Desert.

Enemies see and fight them off and on in irregular spurts, as though they were besieging their opponents physically and mentally. Their weakness is that their reliance on attrition makes them poor at force projection, capable of being aggressive on the defense within Clan territory but not as good in aggressive conquest. Ferenike of the Indomitable was a promising junior once among their ranks and her recent return from retirement has hopes of an eventful comeback stirring in both command and the ranks.

[Credit: BungieOni, Insane-Not-Crazy 1]



576th Legion, the Bulls that Shook the Heavens

LEGATE: Legate Asterios Crete, succeeded Heraclius Staurakius

MOTTO: "Forwards, ever forward! Trample all that would stand against the Bronze!"

SIGIL: A bronze bull's head lowered in a charge on red background

DESCRIPTION: The Bronze Bull of Itola, Heraclius, made the Heavenshaking Bulls a force to be feared before handing over the reins to take up the post of Protostrator. He was one of the best commanders of the Clan in recent years by a significant margin, and the most experienced, a little more skilled than the late prodigy Aikaterine Callista, even. Legate Asterios inherited a legion deeply imprinted by the legacy of a long-lived warrior who held his lance aloft at the fore of his legion till his 900th year. The Bulls are a well-balanced force, good on offense and defense. They excel however in the charge of the Kataphraktoi, their lances blasting away all that stands in their path.

[Credit Occipitallobe, Kaboomatic, DawnOfBloom, Insane-Not-Crazy 1, 2]



607th Legion, the Forlorn Ambassadors

LEGATE: Legate Kenpachi Unohana, succeeding Casia Zimisce

MOTTO: "Honey soothes many wounds but it is the possession of stinging bees"

SIGIL: A caduceus of amber on black

DESCRIPTION: The former legion of the current Stratopedarches, Casia Zimisce, is a support legion, rebuilding arrays and healing cultivators, and is often deployed to the vassal territories. Previously split into several sections among the Clan's northern vassals, raising money and goodwill amongst them, they are currently deployed to the conquered Jingshen lands to assist in the assimilation of the newly sworn into the Golden Devil Clan. Good friends with the 1034th as fellow support legions, they are often seen as soft by their more martial colleagues, characterized as well trained but not fully tempered for adversity. They are surprisingly unbloodied amongst the ranks though they do appreciate the necessity of the scalpel's edge. They are sometimes a bit too generous for the desert, overly accommodating mortal interests and suffering incompetence much longer than usual. The current legate is an odd pick, a skilled healer with a reputation for tyrannical bloodlust.

[Credit Occipitallobe, Insane-Not-Crazy 1]



616th Legion, The Liminal Guardians [Designation: Damnatio]

LEGATE: Legate Zhi Zimisce, Succeeding Brutus Apion

MOTTO: "Dream of hope where none would dare!"

SIGIL: A brown chest overflowing with blood and a golden star sticking out on a jade green field

DESCRIPTION: Founded by Monima Angelus long ago when the Seas barely knew of the Sea Conquering Army. The Legion has a long history of dealing with the more esoteric threats the clan faces. They are often seen tending to the wounded -as well as the ghosts- of the Clans conflicts and in times of peace the legion searches the lands for hidden danger through scrying and conventional means. As a damned legion they may no longer receive less of the Clans grace for their efforts after so long, but the fact of their missing banner since the fall of Ares Angelos and his wretched 500 into Blood Path 3000 years ago means they are still not seen as a redeemed legion by the Clan at large. Only the steadfast resistance by the Auxiliary of her time Maria Dialis allowed this legion to continue its service, even as the Banner went missing in the fighting between hidden realms.

Headquarters: Former: N/A, Now: Waycastle Zimisce near Spirit Oasis Road, Composition: In times of war, they function as a siege support unit and in times of war, they split into cohesive platoons, patrolling the spiritually important parts of Clanland. A proper Field trip into the unknown has not been undertaken since the Fall. Apart from every legionnaire possessing at least decent divination arts, every Squad contains at least one mechanikos able to assemble a combat functioning ballistae.

Specialties: Scrying, Purification, Scouting, Tomb raiding, Arrays

Responsibilities: Counterscrying, Scouting for spiritual problems, Tending to the dead wherever they are.

Notable Persons: Ares Angelos, Maria Dialis

[Credit: Occipitallobe, Juugo, 1 ]



698th Legion, the Three Starred Furnace

LEGATE: Legate Auxiliary Cassius Panopolis, succeeding Furnace-Mistress Amelia Panopolis.

MOTTO: Per Ignem ad Lucem, "Through fire to the light"

SIGIL: A silver pill furnace surrounded by three bronze stars on a black field.

DESCRIPTION: Founded by Zosimus Panopolis. Currently headquartered in the Argent Pinnacle, a fortress and refinery in the Pill-Forge Forest. Possess a specialised sub-section of the Clan Contribution Board from a rare and treasured Division Anchor that is kept in the Argent Pinnacle allowing legionnaires access to a 'Private Board' from terminals anywhere in Golden Devil territory for discounted access to supplies and curated missions.

[Credit to Katana1515. For more detail SV, 2]



716th Legion, The Windswept Ten Thousand

LEGATE: Legate Yi Hoshuan

MOTTO: "Storms above, bodies below"

SIGIL: A racing chariot leaving a dust cloud

DESCRIPTION: The Windswept Ten Thousand are a reformed Legion led by one of the new Early Core Formation cultivators. Primarily standard cultivators equipped with the largesse of the Clan - flying Spirit Beasts, artifacts, and endless funding of Spirit Stones, they are explicitly designed to be easily redeployed. They are not shock troops, but rather might be considered analogous to mortal mounted infantry. The Clan brings them to the battlefield with their superior strategic mobility and then deploys them into battle in the usual way.

Numbers: 10,000 Qi Condensation disciples, 100 Foundation Establishment experts, 1 Core Formation Legate.

Morale: Superb. Some of the best Legionnaires the Optimatoi have to offer unified with the best equipment, the 716th feel invincible at this point in time.

A dedicated logistics expert, Legate Yi spent most of his time as a scribe and administrator in the Contribution Board department of the Clan. However, it is his keen skill at moving troops and supplying them that led him to be the Legate of the Windswept Ten Thousand. Despite being only a mediocre battle commander, his excellence in ensuring that the 716th will be able to move wherever they are required meant he was the obvious choice for command.

[Credit Katana1515]



721st Legion, Desert Raiders

Legate: Legate Korsarro Khan, succeeding Sheng Yu

MOTTO: "Strike first, strike fast, strike hard"

SIGIL: A lance of bronze held aloft on a field of blue

DESCRIPTION: The Desert Raiders have always been an aggressive legion, eager to go on the offensive and meet their opponents on the battlefield. With the introduction of the Scorpion Cavalry they were wholly transformed into an improbable combination: fast attack legionnaires. The very first adopters of the new resource, they are the fastest conventional force available to the Clan comparable only to peers like the 1st Mobile Infantry. Always with an appreciation of the novel, they were one of the first legions to adopt the Century Oasis Formation en masse and were key contributors to its development into the Millennium Oasis Formation for Clan-wide use. They have participated in the most recent wars for the clan against Jingshen, striking the first blows in a series of raids under the leadership of the current Protostrator, further going on to form the tip of a southern offensive under the Second Elder. Legate Khan is a speed aficionado, racing with his favorite scorpion mount beneath him to reach the enemy first.

[Credit Occipitallobe, Insane-Not-Crazy 1]



800th​ Legion, the Hands of Midas

LEGATE: Legate Kuan Yu Hermeia

MOTTO: "Money cannot buy happiness but it can buy opportunities for it"

SIGIL: A golden hand cradling a heart

DESCRIPTION: Sickly as a child, Kuan Yu never had much of an interest for martial pursuits. She had a quick mind but learning for its own sake bored her. Where her passions drew her was the art of the deal. The ability of currency tokens to transform time and energy into transferable receipts fascinated her as well as the social engagement of doing business. Receiving the Blood of Bronze strengthened her frames but did nothing for her disinterest in soldiery. As a Legionnaire, she took up missions that demanded expertise in commerce and slowly built up a reputation as a wandering merchant. The accumulation of money did not hold Kuan Yu's heart, it was the challenge of acquisition that drove her. She spent wealth as freely as she gained it, exploring various ventures and schemes. Many failed, some broke even and a precious few provided abundant returns. Kuan Yu would have had nothing else. The chance to ascend with the Blood of Silver was an unexpected opportunity that her mercantile character would not let her deny even with the risk. Now she seeks to expand the scope of her businesses wider and in depth with her new status.

The 800th​ were a struggling Legion when Kuan Yu came to them, lacking an Elder in charge and much diminished in strength from disasters in their portfolios. The Hands of Midas in the past few centuries seemed to turn every opportunity that came their way into lead, fumbling investments and being on the wrong side of rapid developments in the Clan. Kuan Yu offered them a hope of revitalization, a return to the wealth and glory of their bygone years. Newly installed as legate, she is going against the market by looking away from the Spirit Stone trade in the assimilation of the Jingshen and placing her focus in the newly created Scorpion Trade Palace, seeing potential in developing a wide ranging trade network throughout the entirety of the vassal territories.

[Credit: Occipitallobe, Insane-Not-Crazy]



801st Legion, the Dogs of War

LEGATE: Legate Lu Bu, succeeded Ioannes Vatatzes

MOTTO: "Loyal unto the end"

SIGIL: A dog's head in black upon gold

DESCRIPTION: Not many legions work with spirit beasts, since Beast-Taming Arts are not the Clan's forte but the Dogs of War are a rare exception. The legion has maintained a kennel of varied dog breeds, optimized for pursuit, attack and security. Squads work with assigned dogs under a Centurion, not individuals. The current legate, unusually enough does have a personal beast companion though not a dog but a spirit horse ruddy in color and vicious in temperament.

[Credit Occipitallobe, ninjastar, Insane-Not-Crazy 1, 2]



828th Legion, the Bloodsworn Fellowship

LEGATE: Legate Angron Spartacus, succeeding Staurakios Palaiologos

MOTTO: "My blood for my brother's, my sister's life for mine"

SIGIL: Two clasped hands of crimson on black

DESCRIPTION: The Golden Devils have contended with the depredations of Blood Path in the desert for centuries now. Over this time, the depraved competence of Old Cannibal proved its mark in the slave farms of the Battle Blood Cannibal Sect. Several clashes between the two factions led to the liberation of numerous mortals, some who joined the Golden Devils to fight against the horrors they'd endured. This is the genesis of the Bloodsworn Fellowship, born from an elder who rose to Core with a sworn band of fellow slaves. His successors continued the traditions laid by their founders, taking in many escaped slaves and forming a reputation of consummate discipline and unity. Legate Angron is the latest bearer of the Heartsblood Shackles, an artifact that allows the legionnaires of the 828 to willing yoke themselves together, heightening synergy, sharing health and enhancing formations.

[Credit Occipitallobe, Insane-Not-Crazy 1]



855th Legion, the Night Wraiths

LEGATE: Legate Hassan-i-Sabah, succeeded Nikephoros Theophylaktos

MOTTO: "Masks beneath masks and knives enough for all the world"

SIGIL: A human skull in white with a crimson blindfold on a black background

DESCRIPTION: Some problems require more subtlety than an armored column and shining legionnaires. The Night Wraiths are an intelligence and counterintelligence focused force. Infiltration of vassals, monitoring border regions, assassinating troublemakers: these are all the remit of the 855th. A small legion, each member is handpicked for affinity in subterfuge, sabotage, espionage and more secretive arts. Legate Hassan-i-Sabah is a superlative killer, an odd figure with roots from a distant sea. It is whispered that the Archegetes himself spent time in this legion before his ascent, after all his handpicked apprentice once headed this group. These rumors are fanned by the legion's possession of the Umbral Shroud, a mask said to be infused by the Dao of the Grand Elder himself that turns night to day and peels back at hidden secrets.

[Credit Occipitallobe, Insane-Not-Crazy 1, 2]



869th Legion, the Brazen Shields

LEGATE: Legate Olympiodora Rhangabe

MOTTO: "In the Imperator's name, we stand defiant eternally"

SIGIL: Two crossed spears across a Hoplite shield, bronze on scarlet

DESCRIPTION: The Brazen Shields are the epitome of the legions of the Imperial Optimatoi. Resolute in defense, accomplished in formations, competent if not masterful array-crafters; they are the image the Virtuous Flipper Region holds of the Golden Devils.

Legate Olympiodora is a quiet woman, and has grown quieter over the years. She is more than 500 years old, and in Late Core Formation already. Her talent is undeniable, and where her skills are unpolished, the Clan's leadership believe she is more an unpolished jade than anything else. She picks up every skill she has with relative ease, and has been considered for the post of Protostrator twice before. She is competent in all areas of traditional Clan warfare, having excellent defensive skills, and is a skilled logistician. She comes from a more traditional school of thought, however, and is not so talented at the notion of projecting power past the Clan's borders

[Credit Occipitallobe, Insane-Not-Crazy 1, 2]



903rd Legion, Storm Chasers

LEGATE: Legate Agathangelou

MOTTO: "The fury of the tempest is ours"

SIGIL: A golden whirlwind winged by two thunderbolts on each side on a black background

DESCRIPTION: Not many of the Legions are fast moving so when Sheng Yu began developing the Scorpion Cavalry, the Storm Chasers were at the top of his list. They are one of the few legions to still make use of the Bronzemaned Horses. They have not retired their old companions but expanded the legion to take on new arachnid riders. Legate Agathangelou is satisfied with her forces showing during the northern Jingshen offensive, raiders under her command handily countering an equally mobile force using low-flying ships fueled by Spirit Stones.

[Credit Occipitallobe, Insane-Not-Crazy 1]



925th Legion, the Argent Farstriders

LEGATE: Silverlord Absyrtus the Explorer

MOTTO: "Ite audacter in terras ignotas et quaerite ubi sint leones; profundissima maria exquirunt dracones" Go boldly into unknown lands and seek out where there be lions; delve into the deepest seas and seek out dragons

SIGIL: A silver eye magnified through the lens of a bronze spyglass

DESCRIPTION: Abystrus the Explorer was a veteran Centurion of the Darksouth Legion before he rose into Core Formation and raised again the banner of the 925th Legion as an Elder in his own right. He is a veteran combatant, having served with his former Legion in the fortifications of the New Shieldwall at the borders of Xin Kingdom territory defending against the threat the Battle Blood Cannibal Sect when the Blood Path power was still extant in the desert. He served commendably in that position despite scurrilous rumors of ill-advised contractual negotiations while drunk. The defeat of the Cannibal Sect relaxed the Clan's need to watch certain borders and so the Explorer was allowed the opportunity to partake in the exercise that earned him his moniker. Skill in manning defensive walls is something Abystrus learned in his service to the Clan but his passion has ever been to seek out what lay beyond the known borders, to search out what lay over the ever distant horizon. A hunger to learn everything, to discover all things burned in him for that is the only way understanding of the world can be achieved. This belief carried him up through the realms of Foundation Establishment until he stood on the cusp of ascension. It was at that precipice that fortune smiled down on him. The resurgence of the Blood of Silver in the Golden Devil Clan is no mere momentary throwback but a resurrection of a lost legacy. Abystrus is the forerunner of the second generation of Silverlords and represents a future of expansive growth as the Clan secures its position as hegemon of the desert.

[Credit: Insane-Not-Crazy, Occipitallobe: 1]



1010th Legion, Stewards of the Hearth

LEGATE: Elder of Sanitation Eutropia Cincinnatus

MOTTO: "Purity and Order are the cornerstones of a sound stronghold"

SIGIL: A gray bonfire consuming charred bones on white background

DESCRIPTION: From within the Optimatoi Koinon rule the Council of Elders who supervise the Golden Devil Clan. The Grand Elder is advised chiefly by the Elders of War, Administration, Diplomacy, Intrigue and Disciples but there are other Elders of authority who oversee narrower portfolios. The Elder of Sanitation is one such office, a post given to the master steward of the Dawn Fortress' physical maintenance. For many centuries through the rule of two Archegetes, Eutropia Cincinnatus has held that title.

Many with a shallow knowledge of the workings of the Imperial Optimatoi bureaucracy consider the position of Elder of Sanitation to be that of the lowest-ranked Elder, but those with more wisdom and discernment respect the caretakers of the Clan's capital. Cultivators produce many strange and varied waste from industry, research and advancement, and the Dawn Fortress as the largest concentration of such superhuman figures in Clan territory accumulates a greater scope of such. Veteran staff of the 1010th have a plethora of tales about the horrors in the sewers to put off any inquisitive souls. The gunk that builds up in the gutters would haunt even Legionnaires' dreams. However much of the public reputation of the Office of Sanitation is an obfuscation of secrets behind obvious truths. The Elder of Sanitation is in fact actually in charge of a lot of Dawn Fortress counter-intel and sanitation duties were historically taken up because it was thought that if someone needed to guard and ensure the sewers don't see people sneaking in, they might as well work to the fullest as a guard against all intruding filth and vermin.

Eutropia is a combat-focused cultivator with a Dao of Purification. Her combat expertise as someone who attained the 10th Heavenstage and wields an artifact that strikes one small realm upwards is wholly necessary for a cleaner in her position since she occasionally has to face Core-level garbage spirits while inside the Dawn Fortress i.e. conduct a Core level battle with no collateral damage. She's a Spear Artist whose techniques mostly revolve around incredible precision. She wields a spear and shield, and mostly fights by wreathing her attacks in holy fire in melee, jabbing out barrages of extremely fast and compact Spear Qi at range, and using body arts which give her brief but intense bursts of speed to zig-zag in unpredictable patterns. Her style is one based on fast, powerful, linear motions, which means she fares well against hard styles and poorly against soft styles. Her Dao of Purification lends itself to a combat philosophy of targeted destruction, striking a target but only destroying one aspect of it. In a pinch she can be a fantastic doctor, simply driving her spear through a subject and ripping out a tumor without even breaking the skin.

She's getting old, in her last century of life but is still able to discharge her duties. Most of her service was spent during Alexios' reign, and while she greatly respects Manuel's accomplishments she respected Alexios as a man more, though she'd never say that out loud, of course. Alexios' direct style and righteous manner appealed to her greatly. She herself used to be an ultra-zealous crusader in the pursuit of her responsibility, but has eventually settled down as the superlative janitor when she got older, and found that her current job is one she enjoys more than warfare. Still, that terrifying conqueror comes out again when she rides off to war. The recent stay of Yao Zhihao and the endless experiments of Destasia Duca have provided her with enough work to keep her on her toes. Bizarre amalgams of alchemical effluence and Core Formation parasites are just some of her recent opponents.

Under her leadership, the Stewards of the Hearth have been drilled into a professional custodial and counter-intelligence force. She is not an enjoyable person to work for because while she's not cruel to her subordinates exactly, she will get the job done at any cost as seen when she punishes a traitor to the clan by painfully burning their Bronze out from within such that the molten bronze burns them alive from inside. Eutropia is very severe when on the job, which is almost all the time but also being pretty relaxed and very sleepy when she's off the job. If caught off work she is actually very suggestible, as long as any suggestions don't involve creating waste in any capacity. The Stewards are not lacking in opportunity to earn contribution points from their significant salaries and earnings from turning in valuable garbage.

[Credit: DblDtchBs, Occipitallobe]



1034th (MXXXIV) Legion, the Reliable Hands

LEGATE: Legate Asclepius Apollos

MOTTO: "Even in war, the hearth needs tending"

SIGIL: An axe and sickle crossed, gold on red

DESCRIPTION: The MXXXIV is a support legion focusing on construction, fieldworks and logistics. They can hold their ground well enough but are often in the tail end of legion deployments. They are currently understaffed for medics, though certain promising juniors have caught the idea of the officers.

[Credit Occipitallobe, wrecksalot 1, 2]



1112th Legion, the Daring Buccaneers

LEGATE: Legate Auxiliary Jason Aeson, succeeding Theodosis Pentekonter

MOTTO: "Catch the wind and seek your fortune"

SIGIL: Three white sails in red on brown

DESCRIPTION: In his youthful wanderings the late Theodosis Pentekonter had the fortune to journey along the coast of the Green Scale Plains. The majesty and power of the watery expanse enraptured him such that even centuries long afterwards he sought to sail those waters. Unfortunately the lands of the Golden Devils lie within the Organ Meat Desert and the southern reaches of their territory that border the sea are a lethal maelstrom of distorted qi currents. Old Pentekonter long campaigned for the Clan to form a Navy to little success. While he could never take the Golden Devils upon the sea, he did manage to create a facsimile upon the sands.

Expensive and complicated to build, the sandships of the Buccaneers are unique sights. They are not flying boats or airships, those requiring far more wealth to procure and maintain but they are akin to landships, hulls inlaid with jade and sails woven from spirit beasts to propel them fast across the dunes. With the passing of Theodosis, the future of the legion is in jeopardy without the wealth of the Pentekonter family to back them. Legate Auxiliary Jason Aeson wonders if the Heavens have maliciously answered his prayers for the renewed qi in the atmosphere has reduced his operating costs in this Great Era.

[Credit occipitallobe, Gajoti, Insane-Not-Crazy 1, 2, 3]



1178th Legion, The Unbowed

LEGATE: None

MOTTO: "Through Innumerable Deaths, Unshaken"

SIGIL: A Bronze Skull with a Banner of Black

DESCRIPTION: An ancient legion that was known to resort to sacrificial rituals, using their deaths to harm their enemy or empower their allies. It was wiped out in the Hundred Year Trial that occured two centuries before Archigetes Konstantinos took control of the clan in a last stand that allowed others to escape against a powerful group of hunters. The current likely inheritor of the Legion is one Centurion Xiao Yingzi should she make it to Core.

She has found two artifacts of the Legion - a Banner turned Spear that contained fragments of the wills of many former legates that had been lost in the Qiguai Secret Realm before the clan was forced into the desert and a Ring found in the site of the Legion's Last Stand that can feed on the willing death of legionnaires to empower centurions and store lives as a form of life-saving treasure.

[Credit occipitallobe, Quest, 1, 2, 3]



1313th Legion, The Followers

LEGATE: Legate Nero Cagulia

MOTTO: "Follow your training. Follow your guts. Follow your hearts."

SIGIL: A golden spoked wagon wheel leaving behind a trail of stars

DESCRIPTION: The Followers are a relatively obscure legion with past records filled with large gaps and inconsistencies. On paper, its members are tasked with spreading themselves out across clan territory and generally attaching themselves to other legions as auxiliary support and maintaining surveillance over key figures. In reality, the members of the Followers are generally self-sufficient cultivators who have little incentive in going under the command of more orthodox legions and are told to go make themselves useful by supporting other legions. The exact origins of the Followers are unknown. Whether it is a new legion that was formed recently or an ancient legion whose history goes back to the early days of the clan is unknown. What is currently known about the Followers is that it is maintained by the efforts of the Cagulia, a family of merchants, soldiers, and performers. The current Legate, Nero Cagulia, has a very hands-off approach towards commanding the Followers, allowing its members to do as they pleased as long as they do not intentionally hinder or damage the clan. Due to the scattered nature of the legion, the actual numbers of Followers are unknown.

[Credit to Shibosho 1]



1444th Legion, the Punished.

LEGATE: Maggot. Had lost the privilege of a name (bottleneck as early Core)

MOTTO: "Look at our works, ye mighty, and despair!" (official). "Oh, the hubris!" (unofficial).

SIGIL: The original was lost, the new one was sealed. They can use their own spears as their sigil or a single coin.

DESCRIPTION: Madmen, absolutely madmen. Some people take forgiveness as their deserved due but the Punished pursue a self inflicted penance that makes onlookers shake their heads at the leadership of their legate.

Their headquarters is a beautiful mansion, truly one of a kind. None that are alive, in the legion, had ever stepped inside said headquarters. To be in 1444th the legionary needs to be either: unlucky, have a problem, have something to prove and/or the legate paid you to get in his legion. Their Legate erred in the past and has spent his life ever since in self assigned recompense. He tried to escape that punishment by dying in an experiment. He failed to do so.

Their mission is to make each and every single road in the control of the Golden Devils be pristine. They have timed quotas to do so. They have never met their quotas; those are literally impossible. But there is still hope in madness.*

Notable Persons: Legate Maggot; Centurion: Praesentinus Diogenus; Legionaries: the builder and The Brotherhood.

[Credit to adamashield]

 

[Alectai]

Rina Callista
Return to Qiguai (Pt. 3)​

The days since the establishment of the Foundation Base Camp had been far better than Gu Bei had dared to hope. The tales of the Qiguai Secret Realm he had gathered in the months travelling up to the mountains and residing in town said that these sort of things usually tended to crop up from time to time, but there were better than even odds that once they reached a certain level of success, they'd be struck by opportunists looking for an easy payday, and since there was only so much one could do to fortify in the field like this, those incidents tended to favour the attacker.

It wasn't like Qi Condensation, where the small difference in strength between a newly awakened disciple and a senior on the verge of Foundation Establishment ensured that the usual peace of a neutral town was respected. In comparison, an expert at the height of Foundation Establishment could likely crush a significant number of their lesser peers--even disregarding the possibility of any special treasures that could turn the table.

To enforce peace, one needed a deterrent that nobody dared to challenge.

"And so we got the Golden King herself." Jai Ren shook his head--a forward thinker, he had loaded a Ten-Ox Bag with fine immortal wines and delicacies in hopes of selling them for a share of people's findings in the Secret Realm. He had promptly claimed one of the larger structures and established an impromptu inn there. Business was good, and as a fellow resident of the Base Camp, Gu Bei had taken it upon himself to befriend the other Expert.

Mostly by carrying some of the stuff and helping him put some furniture together, but help was help. At least he got useful information from time to time.

"She's famous enough to have a title like that?" Gu Bei wondered, the memory of the foreign woman still strong even now, days after his salvation. "What's she doing testing her luck in a place like this?"

"Probably the only spot that'll open for her." Jai Ren shrugged, sorting through his wine as he talked. "She's a Golden Devil after all, they're not very popular at the best of times, and they've been growing strong off of profiteering from the great war."

"That's an intimidating name." Gu Bei commented. "Are they a strong power?"

"They used to barely qualify! That's the weird thing!" Jai Ren gave a bark of amusement. "About two and a half centuries ago, they lost their Patriarch to an accident somewhere, and his second was a squirrely old man who barely made it to Nascent Soul in the first place. Then they lost all but a fifth of their Elders in a later attack, including their Elder of War! Three times in a century!"

Gu Bei winced. "Sounds like a dying power, but from what you're saying, that changed?"

"Yeah, first they managed to push some of their Chosen through Qi Condensation's unorthodox reach. The Golden King's the first of them, who reached the Thirteenth Heavenstage and entered the Single-Pillar Foundation Establishment method."

Go Bei stared blankly at the aspiring bartender, who chuckled and shook his head. "Come on, everyone knows about that! You reach the thirteenth Heavenstage and condense your entire Qi Sea into a single Dao Pillar. Nobody used to know more than 'It's a lot stronger than normal Foundation Establishment', but people have been learning a lot since the Golden King started kicking a lot of really scary people around in the Great Battlefield. She even capstoned the whole thing with surviving an assassination attempt by one of the Demonic Altar Sect's Nascent Souls."

Gu Bei lurched at that. "I'm sorry, what? Even a half-baked cultivator like me knows that should be impossible, isn't a Nascent Soul trying to kill you more-or-less just getting snuffed out like a candle flame?"

"Pretty much" Jai Ren agreed. "They just kind of reach out with their cultivation base and smother your soul out. The exact form of horrible thing that happens to you apparently depends on the Dao of the one using it, but either way, you're a dead man the moment one turns their attention to you… Unless you're the Golden King anyway, who apparently parried that and was up and going again within a few months. She might not have the sheer, unrelenting offence of the Young Saber Lord or the Bladebinding Sage, but her defensive abilities are top classed, and unlike them, she's got all kinds of weird magic from her unorthodox Cultivation. While there's probably some other secret experts who are being held in reserve by their own respective influences, the three of them are widely considered to be at the top of the Young Emperor List. It's said they'd already be in Core Formation if they weren't waiting for a perfect breakthrough!"

"And someone like that is just risking their life in one of the most dangerous Secret Realms around?" Gu Bei shook his head in wonder. "It doesn't make sense, someone like that could just take what they want, not get down in the trenches with the rest of us minor characters."

"She's known for her integrity and honour after all, which is odd because the Golden Devils are generally considered a Demonic Power--though not one associated with the Noble Devil Alliance fortunately." Jai Ren observed. "And since the Desert is a giant pile of sand, useless for everything but spirit stones, it doesn't matter that they control most of it, because there's just not enough good stuff to raise your elites with. She probably has to come in here because she's feeling pressured by the Favoured--apparently a junior who recently reached the Single Pillar stage themselves got pasted by one of them, and they only just started appearing in the past forty years or so."

"Survival's as good a motivation as any." Gu Bei admitted. "And it's good that we've got an expert like that guaranteeing our protection--though what happens if someone decides to attack while she's looking for lucky chances?"

"Have you seen her move?" Jai Ren laughed. "She can apparently cross half the Foundation Establishment region within ten minutes, and even ordinary characters like us can last that long if we're just focusing on keeping ourselves alive. The actual best of the best are probably just being trained in their own Sects right now, so unless there's a hidden expert hiding who's also craven enough to bully the weak, everything should be just fine."

Gu Bei winced then. "Come on brother! You can't just say that" He leans forward and speaks in a harsh whisper. "It's like you're just asking for calamity to fall on us! I just want a boring, uneventful trip here where we get a modest reward so that we can live comfortably in the days ahead, no more, no less."

"Friend! You're in Qiguai at the same time a legend of the younger generation is!" Jai Ren chuckled, leaned over, and patted Gu Bei on the back. "The absolute last thing that'll happen is an 'Uneventful trip!' Just be ready to ride the waves of fortune when they come along!"

Gu Bei was surrounded by idiots, unaware of their own mortality.

How deep of a hole could he dig before the inevitable backlash from this arrogance struck home? He'd best get started as soon as possible...