[X] Plan Old Dickory, Technique Palace Version
-[X] Accept the Deal
--[X] "It is regrettable that the Golden Devil Clan has little choice but to accept that their unjust demands of mere material wealth in the face of the noble and righteous efforts of the Strength Purity Sect are merely craven opportunism, the result of grasping too far to satiate their bottomless greed as members of the Demonic Powers. But given the Strength Purity Sect's many successes in the Ninth Demon Annihilating War, it is only natural that as the Golden Devils stand in awe of the Righteous Paths power and justice, that they give the Strength Purity Sect the necessary face of continuing to mete out Heaven-Sent justice upon the monstrous Blood Path Cultivators of the Demonic Altar Sect. And if some of their ill-begotten treasure, doubtless wrested from those poor innocents under their sway somehow leave their hands? It is only natural that they fall into those more needy than themselves, such as the paragons of justice: The ever-honorable Flood Dragon Gang, who's loss was the first shot in this tragic but necessary war."
-[X] Kill Him
--[X] "The Soul Draining Parasite is a subtle creature. It does not hatch, save when there is a great amount of ambient qi to nurture the egg and provide nourishment. From there it drains only a small amount, a droplet of qi from it's host to sustain itself in its larval form. Growing swiftly but steadily, matched to it's host like one of any number of parasites found in the wild. It remains, largely indistinguishable from it's hosts own Qi even as it draws more and more of its hosts energies into itself, fueling its growth until even a Nascent Soul is unable to sustain this burden without harm to themselves. What makes this all the more deadly, is that though the Soul Draining Parasite is a rare creature, to match its rarity and better enable the pursuit of its true hosts, why, this smallest of Demonic Beasts can - like the many insects in the world - reproduce and scatter its eggs upon the winds of Qi, and only requires that the prospective host take that Qi into themselves willingly, if not knowingly. Such a nefarious creature."
-[X] Training Soldiers - Raising Disciples to higher Realms is all well and good, but training them to be perfect members of Formations is better. Ensure your Clan is trained and ready for war. Your readiness to go to war will increase significantly, though this fades over time.
--[X] "Heraclius is a good man, if limited. Unfortunately, due to the needs of the moment and the desperation to consolidate our many gains these past few decades, it is necessity itself to integrate our command structure as thoroughly as possible to make up for the losses of two Protostrator within a century. The Trials are approaching, and thus we must do everything possible to retain as much strength as possible in order to take advantage of this newly chaotic landscape, where opportunity and danger await in equal measure. Ha! Just like always, in this unjust world of yours!"
-[X] Hunt An Enemy (The Seven Divine Saber Core Formation Elder) - Why not? Hunt down enemies, see if you can kill someone. Usually used against an opposing Nascent Soul. Potentially very dangerous.
--[X]"A most fortuitous circumstance in a larger tragedy, Lady Jiao. Preliminary investigations of the corpses condition have revealed that the poor man was afflicted with a fully matured Soul Draining Parasite. We have not performed an autopsy of course, but from all appearances it seems that this man was never intended to finish the journey to Jiangshen Clan along our Scorpion Road. Presumably the numerous efforts by our Golden Devils to renovate and improve the Road triggered the creature to hatch, and devoured the poor Elder to death before he completed his journey, though it seems odd to sacrifice an individual so valuable on such a poorly built frame job. Hmm? How do they reproduce you ask? Why, the eggs are implanted into a host by sending them along emanations of Qi, so it is all but impossible to implant one into an unwilling target you see, as they must be prepared to take in and integrate foreign Qi, a practice that is nominally restricted to the reproductive habits of certain-Is something the matter, Lady Jiao? You've gone rather pale all of a sudden."
-[X] Purchase Broken Eight-Hundred and Eighty-Hundred Technique Cultivation Palace (20 Wealth)
--[X]"A remarkable opportunity indeed. Ordinarily it would be a wiser choice to act on the opportunities already present, and prudence would stay our hand in favor of securing the lives of our fellows as much as possible. But here we have been presented an opportunity to gamble. Yes, our Juniors will be less prepared to weather the trials ahead of us. There is no helping that we have been immeasurably weakened by the conflicts we have already experienced this past hundred years. Yet. Here and now, lies an opportunity to permanently reverse the weakening of our Juniors. It is a strength that is not spent in one simple burst of power. A one-time expense of wealth made in desperation. This is a gamble, make no mistake, that our losses from these coming Trials will not be so ruinous as to destroy us. That the strength we can obtain from this coming Trial will mean that this is the weakest we shall ever be again. A renewed strength for our Qi Condensation Cultivators, and a new path. A new Grand Project. Should we repair this Technique Palace, all our Juniors shall benefit, new techniques, new power, and the retention of what would otherwise be lost in the greater investments of our Foundation Building and Core Condensing Cultivators. Let us take this gamble, a last, final pain to endure, for the sake of a far better tomorrow. That never again shall we fall so low as we have now."
