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

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  • Threadmarks
    • occipitallobe said:
    Omake rewards are changed in line with the Great Era.

    Specifically, Impact Boosts are promoted from 1 Impact to 3 (as nobody ever took them), and Cultivation Boosts are boosted from 10 to 20. Hopefully this makes picking your reward a little more interesting.
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    Is this effective from now or back dated to when the Great Era took effect? I know some people got a retroactive adjustment last turn
     
    Lampshade said:
    One of these is not cash money.

    Also, could we save the Light Qi for later?

    @ Blacksmiths: We say nothing and send Manuel to help now. That way, we establish precedent and when they get invaded, we slide in there to "help" with every legion we can spare.
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    I can't find the fifteen million in my current post anywhere! What am I missing?

    edit: It might be the scale increase I mentioned awhile back. Purchases represent a percentage of the Clan's income rather than an actual $$$ amount, to make managing Wealth easier. Stuff gets cheaper, but the number of Purchases remain the same rather than having to constantly figure out prior wealth numbers. Also it means if you're on the upswing, saving Purchases can pay off bigtime!
     
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    Reviewing my plan I could see an argument for dropping the Mortal Networks of we're feeling masochistic to finally get a good look at our Demonic neighbor who uses Blood Path after the Mists tossed the whole region upside down. A little prep here could save us a world of pain later which is in line with my turn focus
     
    Yuan clan - Tempted to say they are about to get eaten by Altar Lord.
    Injured Nascent soul bordering a much bigger adversary
    We noticed the secret realm was bolstering the favoured, Altar Lord wants them to all die miserably.
    And a blood path rebellion with information on the ways through the mountain to sell him the info he needs.
    If you know he wasn't already doing that, given he isn't hitting the frontlines of the great battlefield right now.
    Would not bet on them surviving.

    Old cannibal.
    Letting Old Cannibal take the blacksmiths probably works best with the trap itself.
    Pins down the best route any Nascents can come through to hit us while he's hanging around there. And if he never gets round to attacking us, it provides a good no sell to a Righteous path that marches to retake the Sorrowful blacksmiths and then wonders if they should keep going a bit further.
    Still in favour of letting Old Cannibal fight his war on Righteous land rather than ours.
     
    Thoughts on backstabbing Weeping Anvil, purchasing instant desert in a bottle and using it to cut off the Colossus Footsteps from SPS? That way we can prime all the trap options offered against the incoming Cannibal invasion.
     
    We cant afford to throw the first punch at the SPS. Which is why backstabbing Weeping Anvil is totally kosher!

    Give me a second, I've settled on an approach now
     
    occipitallobe said:
    Yes, this is the ultimate deal with Purchases. You don't get more of them, they're just worth more.
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    If that's the case, could we please know how much it would cost now to supplement the NS tribulation treasures for immediate effect? They were supposed to be naturally ready in 5 turns last turn IIRC, with a 5 purchase cost to skip, so 4 with a discount could be managable now if it works that way.
     
    Lampshade said:
    Thoughts on backstabbing Weeping Anvil, purchasing instant desert in a bottle and using it to cut off the Colossus Footsteps from SPS? That way we can prime all the trap options offered against the incoming Cannibal invasion.
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    At this point, we would pretty much confirm the worst theories from the Righteous path concerning our designs for the regions and the Heaven's choosen would find it easy to turn pretty much all the Righteous powers against us.

    At this point in time, I'm not sure we need to necessarily panic about the Heaven's choosen hating us by default. We need to see it as an atack by the heavens aiming at countering us, but I think the biggest win for the heavens would be if we start isolating ourselves right now due to fear of future consequences. Sure there are many great talents that hate us, but it will take a long time before they seize leadership from most factions.

    And the centralisation of the righteous federation makes it even harder for the heaven's choosen to take power as long as the Wei Princess is alive. I think as long as we keep decent relations with the SPS and keep accruing power and influence, we can be fine.

    Now, my plan is audacious, but I think we shoud still aim for a grand power bloc of our own! The goal would be to form a power bloc with the Sorrowful Blacksmiths, the Yuan Clan and the Quiguai Clan.

    The information we have on the Sorrowful Blacksmiths allows us to poison the well between the SPS and them. If we arrive to the Sorrowful Blacksmiths with the info that we know the Bees are coming for them and it becomes clear the SPS won't help them, we are in a great negociating position (especially with the light Qi, our defensive formations, the nascent power Manuel will show this turn, etc.). At this point, we would need to assuage Weeping Anvil's well founded weariness. I think we can do that with a binding peace agreement and mutual access to the Legacy tower. Perhaps even a political marriage to bind our factions together (Kleisthenes or Xie Xinya maybe) but that might be too far?

    The Yuan Clan and the Quiguai Clan are also great alliance options. If we can somehow establish a monopoly on secret realms, they could rack up tha price and we could ask for most Heaven's Choosen to be blacklisted from the secret realms unless we or they find a way to mitigate the risk they pose to us.

    Not sure about a plan but I'll post this for now :

    [ ] The Great Patrician Alliance
    - [ ] Don't
    -- [ ] The fact that the Sorrowful Blacksmiths prentend they don't have the funds to contribute to the alliance but are somehow able to hire Manuel as a powerful mercenary should be enough for the SPS to doubt their good intentions. Combined with an offer from us to ally with them in a much more mutally beneficial way, we can have the Blacksmith rely on us rather than the alliance.
    - [ ] Destasia's Amazing Idea That Will Pay Off Bigtime
    -- [ ] Should the Blacksmith accept our offer of alliance, the lightbeast could be used to help defend their lands from a Devil Bees invasion.
    - [ ] Building Bridges (Sorrowful Blacksmiths) - Aim to create a power bloc to stabilize the East. Offer an alliance to the Sorrowful Blacksmiths, the Yuan Clan and the Quiguai Clan. For now, focus on the Sorrowful Blacksmiths, offer full support to them in exchange for joining an alliance with us.
    - [ ] Meditate on Heaven's Shadow - Try to understand the Shadow through the Key it has granted you. Gain Two Shadow Key Points.
    - [ ] Kleisthenes - Tend to Diplomacy - Kleisthenes will spend all her spare time working on her general diplomatic outreaches. This will apply a considerable bonus to any diplomatic actions this turn, as well as any diplomatic rolls that crop up naturally.
    - [ ] Purchases (2)
    -- [ ] The Mortal Networks (1 Purchase)
    -- [ ] Set Out Ten Thousand Caches (1 Purchase)

    Not too sure about the purchases, but that's the gist of my plan. Feel free to criticise.
     
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    Sparsebeard said:
    [X] The Great Patrician Alliance
    - [X] Don't
    -- [X] The fact that the Sorrowful Blacksmiths prentend they don't have the funds to contribute to the alliance but are somehow able to hire Manuel as a powerful mercenary should be enough for the SPS to doubt their good intentions. Combined with an offer from us to ally with them in a much more mutally beneficial way, we can have the Blacksmith rely on us rather than the alliance.
    - [X] Destasia's Amazing Idea That Will Pay Off Bigtime
    -- [X] Should the Blacksmith accept our offer of alliance, the lightbeast could be used to help defend their lands from a Devil Bees invasion.
    - [X] Building Bridges (Sorrowful Blacksmiths) - Aim to create a power bloc to stabilize the East. Offer an alliance to the Sorrowful Blacksmiths, the Yuan Clan and the Quiguai Clan. For now, focus on the Sorrowful Blacksmiths, offer full support to them in exchange for joining an alliance with us.
    - [X] Meditate on Heaven's Shadow - Try to understand the Shadow through the Key it has granted you. Gain Two Shadow Key Points.
    - [X] Kleisthenes - Tend to Diplomacy - Kleisthenes will spend all her spare time working on her general diplomatic outreaches. This will apply a considerable bonus to any diplomatic actions this turn, as well as any diplomatic rolls that crop up naturally.
    - [ ] Purchases (2)
    -- [ ] The Mortal Networks (1 Purchase)
    -- [ ] Set Out Ten Thousand Caches (1 Purchase)

    Not too sure about the purchases, but that's the gist of my plan. Feel free to criticise.
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    There's a moratorium on voting. Weeping Anvil in my opinion will take more effort to turn than all the other mountain clans combined. The man despises us just a little less than old Cannibal
     
    Sparsebeard said:
    At this point, we would need to assuage Weeping Anvil's well founded weariness. I think we can do that with a binding peace agreement and mutual access to the Legacy tower
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    I heavily doubt this is possible.

    From our conversation with Weeping Anvil's leader we know that he really doesn't like us.

    The Righteous Path due to policy will never let us have access to the Legacy tower.

    The Weeping Anvil want our legacies, we want our legacies and really don't want to share our legacies.

    Handing over the image of the Imperator, our clans greatest treasure to the favoured of Heaven sounds like a really bad idea to me.
     
    Insane-Not-Crazy said:
    There's a moratorium on voting. Weeping Anvil in my opinion will take more effort to turn than all the other mountain clans combined. The man despises us just a little less than old Cannibal
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    I don't know why I assumed the moratorium was over despite seeing nobody voting lol.

    I think it's more that Weeping Anvil is afraid and jealous of our resurgence or at worst greedy for our legacies. Especially considering we just crushed one of our Righteous Neighbour (which probably seemed unprovoked from the outside). The fact is that he is on our way to the plains, that he possesses many of our legacies and that we could very well hold a grudge for pushing us back in the desert.

    If we were in his shoes we would also act defensively and treat the words of the Golden Devils like wind. After all, it's a ruthless world, we have every reason to attack them or trick them that we haven't yet might just mean we lack the means to. Any advantage they give us might be used against them later (and probably will). We are very much an existantial threat for the Sorrowful Blacksmiths and our resurgence and the fact that the Righteous Path is occupied means huge trouble for him.
     
    Sparsebeard said:
    At this point, we would pretty much confirm the worst theories from the Righteous path concerning our designs for the regions and the Heaven's choosen would find it easy to turn pretty much all the Righteous powers against us.
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    You say that like it makes a difference with those Chosen, though.

    We've been nothing but helpful for them for the entirety of the game, and a single turns worth of appearing was enough for the Favored to throw all that hard work into doubt. When faced with an irresistible force you don't double down on a method that's doomed to fail, you adapt and prepare against failure.

    [ ] Plan for Closing Wings
    -[ ] Don't
    --[] "The presence and influence of these 'Favored' - as the Parakoimomenos has termed them - amongst the Righteous Powers is concerning, as is the cessation of the rather continuous trend of requesting our support out on the Plains in spite of the severity of the situation and growth of the Poison Maze. It is reasonable to conclude that the Blood Defiance Pact are trying to determine if they can rely on these Heaven-Empowered Juniors of theirs to make up the difference our Legions previously covered. I say...let them experiment. I'm sure that Elder Glorious Strike will appreciate the reminder of just to whom they owe their current successes to."
    -[ ] Destasia's Amazing Idea That Will Pay Off Bigtime
    --[] "Rather than a one-time strike at an Early Nascent Soul, like that miserable trap at Haoshen. Or another Array that was in turn subverted. We are best served enabling that Light Qi the agency by which to strike down those far more wicked than we. A Nascent-Grade beast is no mean deterrent, and it provides a unique ability to hold territory that otherwise would require the attention of one of our Clans vanishingly rare Nascent Souls in truth. Whether we do as Destasia requested and place it with one of our borders with the mountains powers, or we use it to hold some new and vital location matters not. This is an invaluable opportunity we cannot afford to see wasted as the Region seeks to entrap us within those Mountain Powers."
    -[ ] Increasing Wealth - More trade, more mines, more growth. Aim to find more Spirit Stones, tax more from traders, whatever works to increase your Clan Wealth. This earns you one purchase.
    --[] "If the Plains have no stomach for our Mercenary Work, then the Clan shall instead prepare for the Centennial Trials through the accumulation of wealth. There are legacies to unlock, tools to repair, weapons to craft, all to empower our Juniors to face these upcoming Trials. The Heaven's Shadow quivers, and I fear that the test we shall face shall be even more brutal than that which we faced 200 years prior. Ware, my Elders."
    -[ ] Manuel - Meditate on Heaven's Shadow - Try to understand the Shadow through the Key it has granted you. Gain Two Shadow Key Points.
    --[] "I shall spend such time until Weeping Anvil calls for me meditating on the Dao, and the newest tool with which we have to contest the Great Era that has come upon us. Though it possesses energy with which to access our long lost legacies, I can sense that there are deeper secrets that lie within. The sooner I can discern those secrets, the sooner that they can in turn become our strength for the trials ahead."
    -[ ] Kleisthenes - Assemble the Droplet of Rust and Ruin
    --[] "Elder Weeping Anvil of the Sorrowful Blacksmiths does not trust us. Good. As he is our enemy, it is only right that he fears our Golden Devil Clan. He shall busy himself with the hunting down of his wayward apprentice, unaware of the threats bearing down on him from the South. But we cannot allow Old Cannibal's subordinates to consume a Mid Nascent Soul, and risk either empowering the Corpse Devouring Fairy or Old Fish to Late Nascent Soul. Let alone the possibility of empowering either of the Devilish Twin Concubines to Mid Nascent soul either. When Old Cannibal comes for the Sorrowful Blacksmiths, he shall find nothing but bone to chew on, for we shall deny him both Bloodhammer and his former Master as resources to feed his Abyssal Demon Invasion. This is a necessity if we wish to maintain the tenuous balance upon which all hinges in this Great Era, for Old Cannibal is the enemy of many...But I fear that this move to seal the Colossus Footstep Path is as much about harming the Righteous Path as it is isolating us from the outside world."
    -[ ] The Yuan Spies (1 Purchase)
    --[] "Which brings me to my final and only authorized purchase for this meeting - The Yuan are in desperate straits. A neutral power, with their Patriarch heavily wounded in the suppression of a new Blood Path Nascent Soul. Bordering the stolen lands of the Sorrowful Blacksmiths, the moment Old Cannibal strikes that region the Yuan Clan shall be vulnerable to any Demonic Nascent Souls which seek to end their life and introduce even greater instability to the region. We need allies, or at least a means by which we can rely on further assistance as the Great Era further escalates. The Yuan are in turn a vanishing resource, and an opportunity for all parties to salivate over. Making the Yuan Secret Realm an exclusively Righteous Path resource is an intolerable risk, given the growth that those Favored are displaying. Our Juniors need access to its bounties merely to keep up against all our many foes. We do not know what our move to prevent the Yuan Patriarch from being devoured by Demonic or Righteous shall look like, but in order to make any choice we must first know what choices there are to make in the first place!"

    Right so.

    The Yuan Clan are actually in a very desperate situation right now, and that can go one of three ways under the current paradigm:

    • In desperation, the Yuan Clan beg the Righteous Powers for protection. Naturally, the price will be that they join the Blood Defiance Pact, and chances are the SPS will negotiate for nominal or total control over the Yuan Secret Realm in exchange.
    • Old Cannibal swoops in with his Nascent Souls after blowing out the Blacksmiths. After consuming Weeping Anvil, they make a hop skip and a jump north to take advantage of a target of opportunity and nab a second Mid Nascent Soul to feed to his subordinate Nascent Souls. Even assuming that Weeping Anvil alone is insufficient to raise up the Twins to Mid Nascent, Weeping Anvil and the Yuan Patriarch combined most assuredly will be enough to enable that jump.
    • The NDA move on the Yuan instead through the Gao, probably Altar Lord empowering the Blood Path rebels there and feeding the Yuan Patriarch to his own subordinates in the absence of the Altar. Maybe even consuming the Patriarch himself for a power boost of some kind. We honestly don't know, but unlike the ADI the NDA absolutely can hold the Yuan territory afterwards.

    Each of those three outcomes results in us losing access to the Yuan Secret Realm given this new chilliness we're seeing from the RP this turn.

    We can't really afford to just let that happen. Each of our Good Seeds relies on their hitting the Secret Realms to bolster their Impact and Cultivation Years in order to keep up with the demands of the Quest and Missions at large. With our first crop of Core Formation breakthroughs, we also have Good Seeds getting another new round of visits to Secret Realms as well.

    We aren't going to have a lot of time to act on this, so we need to do so now.

    The most controversial move though, is going to be killing Weeping Anvil. Because he needs to die, not only because he's our enemy, but because he didn't manage to secure a buy in to the Blood Defiance Pact this turn, Old Cannibal will at least see him as a target of opportunity. Originally a more juicy one since Bloodhammer was positioned right nearby in order to assist in taking him down, but with Old Cannibals advantage in Nascent Souls thats a moot point, especially since the RP needs to act in order to suppress the growth of the Poison Maze.

    Like I outlined in the write in, Weeping Anvil isn't an independent actor. He's a juicy piece of loot to empower his subordinates, which they'll need after the beating they took last turn courtesy of the Righteous Powers. If we deny him Weeping Anvil and the Yuan Patriarch, we deny Old Cannibal two prizes at once when he makes his big and audacious move when we're supposedly too distracted by the upcoming Trials to do anything.

    As for the one that most people won't want to hear though...

    We have a ton of options next turn to prep for the Trials. Having 3 Purchases banked in addition to four Shadow Key activations will give us room to get...a great deal, really. If we play games with Clan Focus, we could even afford to pick up the Gravebronze Panoply, repair the Technique Palace, and even take one or two smaller purchases as well.

    Or we can face the Trials with that same amount of leeway, but room to go all in on the Councils recommended Trial Prep purchases at once.

    Or something in between the two.

    But what doesn't chance no matter which of those routes we take, is that we need to save money this turn in order to afford to go ham next turn.

    Because Old Cannibal is by all indications going to go full ham himself, and we need to be in a position to foil him or else this balancing act we've been playing since the start of the game will come crashing down around our ears.
     
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    Lampshade said:
    If that's the case, could we please know how much it would cost now to supplement the NS tribulation treasures for immediate effect? They were supposed to be naturally ready in 5 turns last turn IIRC, with a 5 purchase cost to skip, so 4 with a discount could be managable now if it works that way.
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    No change in purchase cost for these - there are still extra treasures to be bought, and a lot of this is 'buying the stuff you'll need to be able to cleanse them'.

    Edit: Realistically due to the change in Purchase worth it should be 3, sorry. I was thinking of loss of cost over time.
     
    TehChron said:
    You say that like it makes a difference with those Chosen, though.

    We've been nothing but helpful for them for the entirety of the game, and a single turns worth of appearing was enough for the Favored to throw all that hard work into doubt. When faced with an irresistible force you don't double down on a method that's doomed to fail, you adapt and prepare against failure.

    [ ] Plan for Closing Wings
    -[ ] Don't
    --[] "The presence and influence of these 'Favored' - as the Parakoimomenos has termed them - amongst the Righteous Powers is concerning, as is the cessation of the rather continuous trend of requesting our support out on the Plains in spite of the severity of the situation and growth of the Poison Maze. It is reasonable to conclude that the Blood Defiance Pact are trying to determine if they can rely on these Heaven-Empowered Juniors of theirs to make up the difference our Legions previously covered. I say...let them experiment. I'm sure that Elder Glorious Strike will appreciate the reminder of just to whom they owe their current successes to."
    -[ ] Destasia's Amazing Idea That Will Pay Off Bigtime
    --[] "Rather than a one-time strike at an Early Nascent Soul, like that miserable trap at Haoshen. Or another Array that was in turn subverted. We are best served enabling that Light Qi the agency by which to strike down those far more wicked than we. A Nascent-Grade beast is no mean deterrent, and it provides a unique ability to hold territory that otherwise would require the attention of one of our Clans vanishingly rare Nascent Souls in truth. Whether we do as Destasia requested and place it with one of our borders with the mountains powers, or we use it to hold some new and vital location matters not. This is an invaluable opportunity we cannot afford to see wasted as the Region seeks to entrap us within those Mountain Powers."
    -[ ] Increasing Wealth - More trade, more mines, more growth. Aim to find more Spirit Stones, tax more from traders, whatever works to increase your Clan Wealth. This earns you one purchase.
    --[] "If the Plains have no stomach for our Mercenary Work, then the Clan shall instead prepare for the Centennial Trials through the accumulation of wealth. There are legacies to unlock, tools to repair, weapons to craft, all to empower our Juniors to face these upcoming Trials. The Heaven's Shadow quivers, and I fear that the test we shall face shall be even more brutal than that which we faced 200 years prior. Ware, my Elders."
    -[ ] Manuel - Meditate on Heaven's Shadow - Try to understand the Shadow through the Key it has granted you. Gain Two Shadow Key Points.
    --[] "I shall spend such time until Weeping Anvil calls for me meditating on the Dao, and the newest tool with which we have to contest the Great Era that has come upon us. Though it possesses energy with which to access our long lost legacies, I can sense that there are deeper secrets that lie within. The sooner I can discern those secrets, the sooner that they can in turn become our strength for the trials ahead."
    -[ ] Kleisthenes - Assemble the Droplet of Rust and Ruin
    --[] "Elder Weeping Anvil of the Sorrowful Blacksmiths does not trust us. Good. As he is our enemy, it is only right that he fears our Golden Devil Clan. He shall busy himself with the hunting down of his wayward apprentice, unaware of the threats bearing down on him from the South. But we cannot allow Old Cannibal's subordinates to consume a Mid Nascent Soul, and risk either empowering the Corpse Devouring Fairy or Old Fish to Late Nascent Soul. Let alone the possibility of empowering either of the Devilish Twin Concubines to Mid Nascent soul either. When Old Cannibal comes for the Sorrowful Blacksmiths, he shall find nothing but bone to chew on, for we shall deny him both Bloodhammer and his former Master as resources to feed his Abyssal Demon Invasion. This is a necessity if we wish to maintain the tenuous balance upon which all hinges in this Great Era, for Old Cannibal is the enemy of many...But I fear that this move to seal the Colossus Footstep Path is as much about harming the Righteous Path as it is isolating us from the outside world."
    -[ ] The Yuan Spies (1 Purchase)
    --[] "Which brings me to my final and only authorized purchase for this meeting - The Yuan are in desperate straits. A neutral power, with their Patriarch heavily wounded in the suppression of a new Blood Path Nascent Soul. Bordering the stolen lands of the Sorrowful Blacksmiths, the moment Old Cannibal strikes that region the Yuan Clan shall be vulnerable to any Demonic Nascent Souls which seek to end their life and introduce even greater instability to the region. We need allies, or at least a means by which we can rely on further assistance as the Great Era further escalates. The Yuan are in turn a vanishing resource, and an opportunity for all parties to salivate over. Making the Yuan Secret Realm an exclusively Righteous Path resource is an intolerable risk, given the growth that those Favored are displaying. Our Juniors need access to its bounties merely to keep up against all our many foes. We do not know what our move to prevent the Yuan Patriarch from being devoured by Demonic or Righteous shall look like, but in order to make any choice we must first know what choices there are to make in the first place!"

    Right so.

    The Yuan Clan are actually in a very desperate situation right now, and that can go one of three ways under the current paradigm:

    • In desperation, the Yuan Clan beg the Righteous Powers for protection. Naturally, the price will be that they join the Blood Defiance Pact, and chances are the SPS will negotiate for nominal or total control over the Yuan Secret Realm in exchange.
    • Old Cannibal swoops in with his Nascent Souls after blowing out the Blacksmiths. After consuming Weeping Anvil, they make a hop skip and a jump north to take advantage of a target of opportunity and nab a second Mid Nascent Soul to feed to his subordinate Nascent Souls. Even assuming that Weeping Anvil alone is insufficient to raise up the Twins to Mid Nascent, Weeping Anvil and the Yuan Patriarch combined most assuredly will be enough to enable that jump.
    • The NDA move on the Yuan instead through the Gao, probably Altar Lord empowering the Blood Path rebels there and feeding the Yuan Patriarch to his own subordinates in the absence of the Altar. Maybe even consuming the Patriarch himself for a power boost of some kind. We honestly don't know, but unlike the ADI the NDA absolutely can hold the Yuan territory afterwards.

    Each of those three outcomes results in us losing access to the Yuan Secret Realm given this new chilliness we're seeing from the RP this turn.

    We can't really afford to just let that happen. Each of our Good Seeds relies on their hitting the Secret Realms to bolster their Impact and Cultivation Years in order to keep up with the demands of the Quest and Missions at large. With our first crop of Core Formation breakthroughs, we also have Good Seeds getting another new round of visits to Secret Realms as well.

    We aren't going to have a lot of time to act on this, so we need to do so now.

    The most controversial move though, is going to be killing Weeping Anvil. Because he needs to die, not only because he's our enemy, but because he didn't manage to secure a buy in to the Blood Defiance Pact this turn, Old Cannibal will at least see him as a target of opportunity. Originally a more juicy one since Bloodhammer was positioned right nearby in order to assist in taking him down, but with Old Cannibals advantage in Nascent Souls thats a moot point, especially since the RP needs to act in order to suppress the growth of the Poison Maze.

    Like I outlined in the write in, Weeping Anvil isn't an independent actor. He's a juicy piece of loot to empower his subordinates, which they'll need after the beating they took last turn courtesy of the Righteous Powers. If we deny him Weeping Anvil and the Yuan Patriarch, we deny Old Cannibal two prizes at once when he makes his big and audacious move when we're supposedly too distracted by the upcoming Trials to do anything.

    As for the one that most people won't want to hear though...

    We have a ton of options next turn to prep for the Trials. Having 3 Purchases banked in addition to four Shadow Key activations will give us room to get...a great deal, really. If we play games with Clan Focus, we could even afford to pick up the Gravebronze Panoply, repair the Technique Palace, and even take one or two smaller purchases as well.

    Or we can face the Trials with that same amount of leeway, but room to go all in on the Councils recommended Trial Prep purchases at once.

    Or something in between the two.

    But what doesn't chance no matter which of those routes we take, is that we need to save money this turn in order to afford to go ham next turn.

    Because Old Cannibal is by all indications going to go full ham himself, and we need to be in a position to foil him or else this balancing act we've been playing since the start of the game will come crashing down around our ears.
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    Yeah I'll go for this. Yuan's current and in future worse vulnerability is an intriguing path to take to summon a more secure position for ourselves.
     
    "Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays."
    -Sun Tzu, Art of War

    [] Plan All-In
    -[] Don't
    --[] "Despite our performance against the Maze, the Righteous Path made their stance clear. All that remains is to wish them good luck."
    -[] Destasia's Amazing Idea That Will Pay Off Bigtime
    --[] "True brilliance is self-evident."
    -[] Purchase - Tribulation Treasure Supplements - Promote Xie Xinya to Nascent Soul
    --[] "The empowerment of the Dao of Circles will aid in the Trials while also being immediately useful."
    -[] Manuel - Stay in Blacksmith lands after helping to Hunt an Enemy ( Weeping Anvil )
    --[] "The Sorrowful Blacksmiths simply don't have the manpower to keep track of Manuel. Weeping Anvil believes that he will be the mantis, stalking a cicada while watching for an oriole in the back. But with the power of the Spear, Manuel is a whole different kind of animal. Make is fast."
    -[] Kleisthenes, Xie Xinya, Clan - War ( Yuan Clan )
    --[] "We cannot afford to let the Yuan Clan be consumed, or their secret realm to be monopolized by the Blood Defiance Federation. So we will ensure it is in the most capable hands possible — Ours. Their only Nascent Soul is wounded and their Core Elders equally matched with the rebels. This will be over before the next Council session is in order, and the plundered wealth will fuel all the Trial preparations we could wish for."
     
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